In the silent Temple, Huai Shi raised the Bell with both paws, lifted the lid, and stared inside with wide eyes.

It was completely empty. Fu Yi? Where was Fu Yi? How could such a large weasel, which was just inside, vanish?

Huai Shi looked at the Bell doubtfully for a long time. Then, after thoroughly searching every inch of the Temple, he suddenly turned back and looked at Jonathan.

"Do you have any clues?"

Jonathan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head like a rattle-drum.

Then, he saw Huai Shi's tail lift, the Great Sword raised, and swung down toward his face.

"—Since you have no clues, then you don't need to keep your head!"

CRASH!

The Great Sword struck the ground, and Jonathan vanished like a burst bubble.

In his place, a Crystal Lizard, tied up with Psychokinesis and its mouth stuffed full of leftover iron materials, was struggling mightily.

Seeing that Huai Shi had noticed him, tears welled up in the lizard's eyes, and he made whimpering sounds, begging Huai Shi to quickly save him.

He didn't know when it had happened, but he had been tied up, and only an illusion had been left in his place.

Huai Shi fell silent for a moment and shook his head helplessly. "Fu Yi, have you had enough fun?"

If he had not struck Jonathan with his sword in a fit of rage, he probably would have been truly fooled and let her slip away this time, right?

So, from the previously empty Bell, a White Weasel, so ethereal it seemed like condensed mist, poked out its head, glanced at him, and quickly retracted.

"Not this one," Huai Shi pouted. "Bring out a real one."

From in front of Huai Shi's nose came the sound of a bubble bursting. The White Weasel, sitting there covering its eyes, peered at Huai Shi through the gaps in its paws.

Was this the real one? Probably.

Huai Shi couldn't guess anymore. In fact, he couldn't tell the difference; he just bluffed based on his understanding of Fu Yi.

"What was that just now?" he asked.

"An Ability acquired after three Metamorphoses."

Fu Yi spun around in place, displaying her increasingly faint presence. It was far beyond merely semi-transparent—it looked like the misty outline sketched by vapor. Even her weight was nearly non-existent.

"Real Illusion, capable of creating an illusion that's nearly identical to the original, able to speak and attack. But it's basically useless. One poke and it bursts, only good for deceiving people," Fu Yi confessed earnestly, and then tentatively asked, "Are you mad?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Really," Huai Shi sighed. "Can I even beat you up?"

He raised his paw and gestured at the gap between them. Let alone beating her, it felt like a mere pat would make Fu Yi dissipate. After so many years as good friends, could he really be upset with Fu Yi for deceiving him?

"You really don't want to go out?"

He sighed deeply, examining Fu Yi as if he were looking at a friend who, after a family squabble, had come to stay at his place. He wouldn't drive her out, but he also didn't wish for her to keep up this runaway appearance. But what could he say to persuade her? The heavens rain, and the mother remarries. He couldn't even stop Old Fu when he went after people... Moreover, after consecutive setbacks, Huai Shi no longer harbored the delusion that he could solve all the problems in the world.

"Isn't it still fine?" Fu Yi jumped up and patted his nose. "If there's trouble, I'll be the first to run, okay? I promise not to care whether you live or die. Besides, without me to use cheats for you, what would you do? Rely on him?"

Saying this, she pointed at the trapped Jonathan. Jonathan's whimpering grew louder. He was still struggling, and yet no one had attended to him.

Yeah, he definitely seemed unreliable. Indeed, in a crucial moment, you still had to rely on your own friends.

"Can you promise?" Huai Shi asked seriously. "If you want to play games, you can have all the ones at my place. But this isn't really a good place for an autumn outing, especially since autumn is about to end, right? If there's any danger, or if I ask you to leave next time, can you guarantee that you'll absolutely follow my request?"

"I promise." Fu Yi blinked her bright eyes and swore flamboyantly with her little paws. "Don't worry, Old Pal. I'm not so immature as to make my parents lose a daughter over a little tantrum."

A dog and a weasel solemnly high-fived.

Huai Shi nodded, lifted the tied-up Jonathan with his tail, sent him out the door, and undid his bonds.

"Let's get one thing straight. I can pretend nothing happened with your prior secrecy," Huai Shi glared at his face. "But I don't want to see this kind of concealment a second time. Otherwise, you wouldn't want a Professional Kitchen Demon, a Disastrous Musician, and a formal Military Officer of the Jurisdiction Bureau to come knocking at your door to 'reason' with you, right?"

Jonathan nodded like he was pounding garlic.

Falling prey to this deadly duo was like being cursed for eight generations.

When his thirst for knowledge was stymied by Huai Shi's intimidation, a hint of dread finally emerged from the depths of his heart. What if his negligence had truly caused an accident for Fu Yi? Not to mention failing to answer to his own teacher, he feared that Creator·Niflheim would harshly hold it against him. Dealing with the disfavor of two Creators and a keen-edged Military Officer... Could he even call this living anymore?

Now that Huai Shi was willing to let bygones be bygones and even allowed him to stay and continue studying the Divine Body's transformations, he was grateful beyond measure. The last thing he wanted to do was cause more trouble.

Everyone here was a respectable, mature member of society. When given a way out, he'd better take it—otherwise, he'd really be throwing face away. As for the dignity of Scholars... haha, what was that?

As the stone door closed, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to research the Divine Body's transformation and operation. To encounter a symbiotic ecology among the Abyssal Creatures, which was rare and even involved the Owner of the Great Mob, was an opportunity too good to miss. It was a topic worthy of study.

On his way there, he habitually checked the map. He felt something was amiss but couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was just eye strain from overuse?

He closed the map, his thoughts entirely focused on the upcoming observations of the Divine Body.

No one noticed that Fu Yi's name... had completely vanished from the map.

And even if they did, it wasn't a matter of concern. Trivial matters, right? Trivial matters!

And so, Jonathan hummed a tune as he disappeared into the night.

.

.

"Has the botanist from the Pioneer Group sent over their report yet?"

"We're finalizing it. We've encountered a new species with partial plant, biological, and mineral characteristics, and it's currently being categorized. The metallographer has already submitted a new metallurgical report and geological exploration analysis."

"Mineral exploration... If Jonathan were here, this task would be much easier... Can we get in touch with him?"

"We reached him yesterday. He seems to have gone to the surface under special permission from the Creator. Maybe he has some other mission? Lucky bastard. Tch."

"Can you all stop bickering, please? During the mission, can't we all just be a little more cooperative?"

"HA! Even if I die and my bones rot in the soil, I will use my decaying vocal cords to shout out loud—Geology is not a science!"

"Shit, I haven't even started on social psychology yet! Shut your mouth!"

"Alright, enough! Are you all that idle? What about the sociological analysis of the Rat-man and Goblin societal structures? There have been several frictions in the past few days. Do I have to brainwash them myself? Can't you quickly come up with a new social structure?"

"I'll speed up, I'll speed up..."

"And the external combustion engines have been in place for so long. Why aren't the new internal combustion engines equipped yet?"

"Go ask the Botanist Group and the Mineral Group. I've already handled the laws and principles and laid out eight or nine designs. Issues with new fuel utilization and metal fatigue haven't been resolved yet. That's not my fault, right? If you ask me, let's skip ahead and settle the geothermal power group. There's so much magma; it'd be a waste not to use it."

"Technology buildup, do you understand? If you skip this step looking for shortcuts, you'll have to backtrack later to make up for missed lessons. A weak link is a disaster waiting to happen. You guys in the Industrial Group had better save us some trouble."

"Are you sure it's not because you, that bastard, are still obsessed with that 'more rivets, more steam, more steel' nonsense? Steam power should have been eliminated years ago! Why can't you old-timers just accept reality?"

"Shut up! You can insult me, but you can't insult my faith!"

"Bullshit faith! Just the other day, I saw you wasting time with those designs for a Super Great-scale Decisive Battle Robot Initial Model!"

"You... Don't slander me baselessly! What's wrong with me working on robots? How is faith a waste of time?"

Amidst the laughter and noise, a joyful atmosphere of perceived persecution filled the meeting room. Then the group of Scholars started arguing over new problems.

This place was indeed tens of kilometers below the surface—a Demon Realm that surface beings couldn't imagine. But now, this dark world was already brightly illuminated by blazing lights.

Amidst the thunderous noise of steel, dozens of gigantic steel columns rose into the sky like lighthouses, casting their light ceaselessly day and night, brightening everything around.

And banners hung from the dome above, marked in both Goblin and Rat-man languages:

[Happy to work, Safe return home], [Safety is paramount for a blissful family], [No Speeding in the Construction Area], [More children, more trees]...

The glaring crimson lettering marked every conspicuous spot, and the omnipresent roar of machinery echoed over the immense construction site.

As rivers of magma flowed, countless furnaces churned with molten metal, radiating fierce light as it streamed through channels. After cooling, forging, and processing, it turned into individual parts on the assembly line, transported by trucks to all corners.

Everything within sight had transformed into a bustling construction site and production base.

With the collective effort (?) of dozens of Scholars, the ignorant Goblins, Rat-men, and other creatures of the Underground World—as well as the evolved groups of Explorers—had all been amalgamated into a new group and collective. They were striving for a common goal under the influence of various psychological manipulations and adjustments.

"Speaking of which," amidst the height of work, a Dog-headed Man Scholar suddenly looked up and asked, "we've been working on this place without giving it a name, haven't we?"

"Emmmm..." the red fox suggested, "How about the Eternal Titan Empire?"

As usual, someone always had to object. Immediately, someone asked, "Where's the 'eternal'? Where's the 'Titan'? Where's the 'Emperor'?"

"I think it's good," another Scholar leading the group nodded in approval. "It's certainly better than the Holy Roman Empire."

"I like it too. It's decided then."

Others nodded in agreement, disregarding the objector's opinion. Ten minutes later, a huge metallic plaque rose slowly above the embryonic city.

—Underground World·Eternal Titan Empire!