“The failures have already paid the rent, Your Majesty. We can move the things inside now.”
Shuang Ling’s voice was very calm.
In her eyes, the failures were simply failures, and as a successful creation, she naturally stood above them.
Yet when those words fell into Ella’s ears, they still made her heart tighten slightly.
Right now they did not even have their own ship.
In such a situation, she still very much hoped that they, who were now grasshoppers tied to the same rope, could stay united.
Ella clutched the ice-cold metal key in her hand.
The key was crudely shaped, its edges even somewhat sharp.
It was clearly no refined object, which matched the temperament of this old warehouse quite well.
She walked up to the mottled, rust-covered warehouse doors, took a deep breath, and slowly inserted the key into the lock hole.
Click.
A crisp sound rang out in the empty alleyway.
The rusty iron lock opened in response.
Ella casually placed the lock on the ground.
She raised both arms, grabbed the doors on either side, and pulled outward with all her strength.
However, the smooth sliding scene she had imagined did not appear.
“Mmmph! Mmm! Open up!”
Ella clenched her teeth.
Her cheeks puffed up like an angry hamster.
The muscles on her arms tightened slightly.
Fine beads of sweat even seeped from her forehead.
Yet the heavy iron doors stood as if rooted in place, not moving an inch.
Only rust fell rustling down, covering her hands in gray dust.
“Mmmph!”
Unwilling to give up, she exerted force again.
Her entire face flushed red, and even her neck took on a faint pink hue.
But the doors remained stubbornly shut, as if mocking her.
“Forget it, Your Majesty. Your current body is not suited for this kind of physical labor.”
Shuang Ling stood to the side, speaking in a flat tone.
There was no mockery in her voice, yet every word struck directly at Ella’s sore spot.
“Damn it! It must be stuck! It has definitely been unused for too long and rusted shut!” Ella stomped her foot angrily.
Her heart was filled with frustration.
She had once been a ruler, yet now she could not even deal with a broken door.
The gap was truly hard to accept.
Just as she was about to try again, her body suddenly felt light.
Her feet instantly left the ground, then landed steadily once more.
“Huh? You?”
Ella let out a puzzled, trembling sound.
Her mind went completely blank.
What is going on?!
She lowered her head and looked at her own collar, which had been grabbed.
She instantly understood.
Shuang Ling had actually lifted her by the collar with one hand and moved her aside like she was carrying a kitten!
Is Shuang Ling treating me like some kind of pet?! She actually moved me away in such a casual manner?!
A storm instantly surged in Ella’s heart.
Shame and anger intertwined, nearly breaking through the shackles of reason.
She wanted nothing more than to wave her hands wildly and shout at Shuang Ling to vent the displeasure in her chest.
Yet the dignity of being Your Majesty forced her to suppress the impulse.
She could only stand to the side with her hands on her hips, puffing her cheeks angrily, while also taking the chance to see exactly what Shuang Ling’s stats were like.
In Ella’s imagination, Shuang Ling’s next actions should be extremely impactful.
She would grab both sides of the doors with her hands, exert strength with both arms, muscles taut, and forcefully push the stuck sliding doors open amid a harsh screech of metal.
Even if the process was strenuous, it would definitely display strength far beyond her own.
All right. Here it comes.
Ella stared unblinkingly at Shuang Ling.
She watched as the other girl slowly walked up to the doors and steadily reached out to grab them.
The next second, Shuang Ling gave a light… push?
The doors… opened?
“Your Majesty, this door opens outward. It is not a sliding door.”
Shuang Ling’s voice remained calm, even carrying a trace of imperceptible helplessness, as if wondering why Your Majesty would get something so simple wrong.
The expression on Ella’s face instantly froze.
Her originally tense features cracked bit by bit.
Embarrassment immediately flooded over her.
I forgot about that.
She roared wildly in her heart, yet her face struggled to maintain composure.
“Huh?”
Shuang Ling looked at her in confusion, not understanding why Your Majesty had suddenly gone silent.
“I said—”
Ella slowly raised her head.
Her expression gradually turned nuclear good.
She narrowed her eyes.
The corners of her mouth curved upward slightly, as if smiling, yet there was not a trace of amusement in her eyes.
The threatening intent spread through the air like a tangible substance, as if the very atmosphere had frozen at this moment.
Shuang Ling’s heart gave a violent jolt.
A strong sense of foreboding instantly swept through her entire body.
“Yes! Your Majesty! Nothing happened here!” Shuang Ling immediately straightened her back and respectfully lowered her head, her tone incomparably sincere.
“Mm.”
Ella nodded in satisfaction.
She barely managed to suppress the embarrassment and annoyance in her heart.
Forget it. I won’t argue with her. There are more important things to do right now.
She walked past Shuang Ling and looked into the warehouse.
Inside was pitch black.
The light tubes overhead had long since shattered, leaving only a few exposed wires hanging down.
The air was filled with dust and a moldy smell.
Thick spiderwebs clung to the corners—Zhuluo’s relatives, huh.
Though the environment was crude, the space was quite spacious.
Ella roughly estimated the warehouse’s length, width, and height.
Forget about the two large fish caught from the sea—even if they added a few more, they could easily fit inside.
“Mm… Looking at it this way, these two fish alone don’t seem like enough…”
Ella rubbed her chin.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
Filling the warehouse with just these two fish still left quite a gap.
But the moment she thought of the Strider’s size once it fully matured, she could not help but frown.
Once that giant beast completely grew, forget this warehouse—even a much larger building would probably be easily toppled.
Warehouse damage did not matter.
The key issue was that the size gap between the two fish and the Strider was far too great.
This amount of food might not be enough to support the Strider reaching full development.
“Half-finished product… should be fine…”
Only see how it goes later…
“Your Majesty, please step aside.”
Before Ella could respond, Shuang Ling spoke again.
Ella subconsciously dodged to the side.
The moment she stood firm, two enormous black shadows flew past her eyes.
Shuang Ling had actually lifted one fish in each hand and casually thrown both massive creatures deep into the warehouse.
Her movements were smooth and natural.
Were the things in her hands actually cotton?!
Boom! Boom!
Two heavy landing sounds came from inside the warehouse.
The ground trembled slightly.
Ella watched this scene.
Her pupils shrank slightly.
She was secretly amazed in her heart.
Whoa… truly terrifying stats…
She had of course known that Shuang Ling possessed great strength.
Yet personally witnessing this scene still deeply shocked her.
These two creatures were so large that ordinary people would find them extremely difficult to move, let alone throw.
But Shuang Ling had lifted one in each hand and tossed them out effortlessly.
At this moment, Ella finally truly understood exactly how much strength Shuang Ling had been holding back when dealing with her before.
With Shuang Ling’s terrifying brute force, when she wall-donged her, forget about breaking her wrist—even directly crushing her would have been a matter of minutes.
“Shuang Ling, go check the surrounding warehouses. See if there are any other warehouses storing food. These two fish are not enough to let the Strider fully develop.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Good. Then this warehouse now only has myself left.