Ye Lian and Bai Xue stepped outside upon hearing the noise.
They saw fifty mechanical puppets dragging over twenty other puppets that looked similar in design but were slightly smaller in size.
“Such high efficiency,” Bai Xue remarked with admiration.
They had only chatted for a short while, and the puppets had already completed their task and returned.
“Not bad,” Ye Lian nodded lightly.
When the puppets reached them, Ye Lian immediately took control of the struggling ones.
“Master, it seems like another group hasn’t come back yet,” Bai Xue said after doing a quick count. Excluding the captured ones, half the mechanical puppets were still missing.
“It looks like they ran into trouble. Let’s go check on them.”
Ye Lian received the other group’s location from the lead puppet.
“Yes, Master!” Bai Xue responded swiftly and followed after her.
The puppets in the rear began to move as well.
A large group set off together in grand procession.
***
Not long after, they arrived at the central plaza of Mo City.
The plaza was vast—wide open yet not desolate.
At the center, dozens of mechanical puppets were surrounding and attacking a massive black spider.
‘Wait—no, that was a mechanical puppet too!’
“It’s huge! About the same size as those big ones outside!” Bai Xue exclaimed in surprise.
No wonder the missing puppets hadn’t returned—they were caught up by this giant spider.
Rather than a spider, it looked more like a war machine.
Despite being surrounded by mechanical puppets, it moved with ease, occasionally blasting them away or stomping wildly.
If the other puppets weren’t so sturdy and well-crafted, they would have long since been reduced to scrap.
“I’m going in to help,” Ye Lian said.
“Be careful, Master!”
“Mm.”
In a flash, Ye Lian became a streak of white lightning and dropped from the sky.
The puppet spider seemed to sense something and turned its eight blood-red eyes upward.
A flash of white light streaked past.
The spider was instantly struck by a powerful impact that made its entire body tremble.
All eight legs were forced downward under the pressure.
Ye Lian pressed a hand to its head and began to invade its system.
But the puppet spider wasn’t about to give in that easily.
It began spinning rapidly, nearly throwing Ye Lian off.
The surrounding puppets saw their master clinging to its body and charged in without hesitation.
Over a hundred mechanical puppets swarmed forward, piling onto the spider to suppress it.
The spider thrashed wildly in resistance.
However, with all its limbs restrained, it couldn’t generate any real force.
Seizing the opportunity, Ye Lian invaded deeper and began rewriting its core system.
Before long, silver patterns spread across the spider’s body, and it gradually fell still.
“It’s done. Everyone, back off.”
At her command, the mechanical puppets quickly withdrew from the spider.
Moments later, the puppet spider restarted. Its blood-red eyes flashed, and its massive body slowly rose.
Ye Lian jumped down from its back, and a faint smile appeared on her pretty face beneath the armor.
After this third round of system invasion, she had confirmed it—the cores of these puppets were all constructed in the same way.
The only differences lay in their movement protocols and mission settings.
Invasion, rewriting, and control? None of that was difficult for her.
Once her proficiency in divine-level alchemy improves, she’ll even be able to modify and enhance the puppets.
‘One step at a time. Let’s start with a small goal—take control of all the mechanical puppets in the city!’
With that thought in mind, Ye Lian called for Bai Xue, and the two set off for their next destination.
The city fortress!
It wasn’t far from the central plaza—just a ten-minute walk.
Bai Xue followed behind Ye Lian, glancing back at the hundred-plus mechanical puppets and the towering puppet spider.
Her heart surged with excitement.
With such a massive force behind them, they could wander the city freely without a care in the world.
They were completely safe.
And even better, her master could keep gaining control over more mechanical puppets, continuously expanding their power.
Even in the real world, Bai Xue had never felt such a profound sense of security.
***
The Mo City fortress was enormous.
Its outer walls were dark gray, giving off a sense of overwhelming weight and strength.
The gates stood wide open—wide enough for several small cars to pass through at the same time.
As far as the eye could see, the interior was completely empty.
It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
“So quiet. I don’t even see a single puppet,” Bai Xue whispered.
“Maybe they haven’t been activated yet,” Ye Lian said, stepping forward.
“Let’s go in and check it out.”
Inside, they found what looked like a training ground.
Off to the side, there was a spectator stand that could hold over a thousand people.
“Master, this can’t be a puppet training ground, right?” Bai Xue asked in confusion.
“Definitely not. What would puppets need a training ground for?” Ye Lian shook her head.
“But there’s not even half a shadow of a person here. It’s like a ghost town.”
Bai Xue glanced left and right, still seeing no signs of life.
“It is a ghost town,” Ye Lian replied.
“So it really is,” Bai Xue murmured, biting her lip.
She felt a bit disappointed.
She had hoped that coming to the city would mean encountering NPCs or non-player characters.
But up to now, the only things they had seen were various types of mechanical puppets.
“A ghost town is perfect. Makes it easier to take over.” Ye Lian smiled.
NPCs weren’t really necessary for this kind of game.
In fact, if there were too many of them, it would actually become a problem.
After all, ‘those who are not our kin surely have different hearts.’
The relationship between nightmare creatures and humans was destined to be irreconcilable.
To Ye Lian, everything in this nightmare space was made of malice.
Entering this place meant crushing that malice—to bring light back to the outside world…
But that wasn’t going to happen.
Her original goal was simply to find a way to break free from the nightmare invasion through the game—to save herself.
Now that she had achieved that goal and had some breathing room, she had finally begun to think about the world outside.
“Are you from Huadu?” Ye Lian suddenly asked.
“Yes, Master,” Bai Xue nodded gently.
“I live in Jiuyuanli, Huadu.”
“…”
Ye Lian was slightly surprised.
Bai Xue actually lived in the same district as her.
‘What a small world.’
“From your accent, Master, you sound like you’re from Huadu too. Could it be…” Bai Xue’s heart leapt.
Maybe they were from the same hometown!
“I’m from Huadu as well,” Ye Lian said, switching to the local dialect.
Bai Xue trembled with excitement.
Fate—it was fate that brought them together!
“Master, where in Huadu do you live?”
“I don’t have a fixed place,” Ye Lian lied casually.
She didn’t want to get too entangled with Bai Xue in the real world.
As for why… it was because there was no such thing as a ‘Silvermoon Knight’ in the real world.
“Master, why don’t you come stay at my place after the beta test ends? My home’s pretty spacious!”
Bai Xue offered.
She thought Ye Lian might be a homeless girl.
Taking her in would be a way to repay the kindness she had received.
“No need. I like being free,” Ye Lian declined.
“But Master, it’s dangerous out there now. A girl wandering around alone… it’s just not safe. Why not come to my place? I’ve been living alone recently. No one will bother you.”
Bai Xue tried to persuade her.
The beta test wasn’t over yet, so it might be too early to bring this up—but if she didn’t say it now, she might not get the chance once they logged out.
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