After the fleeting probe, the Purple Commander abandoned his plans to execute the silver-haired girl.

Above him, the gentle spring rain began to ease, and cold winds swept through, the dark clouds shifting in the sky. It wouldn’t be long until sunlight broke through.

After a moment of silence, he spoke in a tone of guarded caution, “Why have you been lingering around Kux for so long, continuously attacking the Mother Nest guards? Which lord sent you? What is your purpose?”

It was evident that he had begun to suspect the silver-haired girl was not a local lord of the Black Tide Continent but an outsider, like himself. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to engage in so many strange and baffling activities nearby.

Yvette shook her head and replied, “What if I said I have no mission and am merely driven by curiosity?”

The Purple Commander thought to himself that she might as well claim to be enchanted by Abella; that would be more believable. Then, he coldly responded, “I don’t like jokes.”

Yvette sighed inwardly. Curiosity was indeed a part of her motivation, but admitting she was there to recruit the Mother Nest’s guards as practice for her “Inferno Magic Compendium” would come across as ridiculous.

Instead, she continued, “I know what you’re doing here. The Goddess won’t allow such activities. Is the King of the Ocean Depths prepared for this?”

The Purple Commander’s heart sank; the worst-case scenario was indeed coming true. Could this girl have been sent by another lord specifically to gather evidence against the King of the Ocean Depths?

Yet, he maintained his cool facade, replying with an icy tone, “You have no proof.”

Yvette said, “Does the Goddess require evidence to make judgments? The population of aberrations in this region is already scarce, and the Blessed Ones of the Mechanical Clan suffered significant losses in Kux. What’s the reason for that?”

Mentioning the incident with the Blessed Ones caused a noticeable shift in the Purple Commander’s demeanor. He gritted his teeth and replied, “This… has nothing to do with the ‘King’! It was my personal decision!”

After a pause, he seemed to think of something, his expression darkening as he asked, “What exactly are you trying to convey with these comments?”

“My meaning is quite simple: a hush payment or, if you prefer, a form of nourishment,” Yvette said, a slight, somewhat wicked smile gracing her lips, making her appear both charming and diabolical. She continued, “I assume you wouldn’t want it to be widely known that the Purple Commander of the King of the Ocean Depths has been secretly crossing into the Black Tide Continent to plunder nutrients?”

Upon hearing this, the Purple Commander fell silent. He regarded the silver-haired girl with penetrating eyes, the flickering thoughts evident on his face as he weighed his options.

…

The tense standoff lasted for nearly half an hour.

Of course, that was merely from an observer’s point of view.

In reality, after proposing her demand and considering it for about five minutes, the Purple Commander agreed—after all, as long as she wasn’t sent by other lords to investigate him, hush payments were a minor concern.

The only thing was that transporting nutrients from the Pale Mother Nest took time, so that half-hour was more akin to waiting for a delivery.

Half an hour later, the nutrients arrived, and from the mouth of a transporting Whale emerged a large chunk of purplish-red flesh.

To avoid the prying eyes behind her, Yvette stepped into the mouth of the Mountain Whale and, in a hidden area, used her tendrils to absorb every drop, collecting approximately 4000 points of aberrant mana.

This was already equivalent to the harvest a substantial part of Agasha could gather.

Once finished, Yvette returned to the valley entrance in high spirits.

Although she wasn’t certain what the Purple Commander thought, she was quite pleased with the hush payment. If she had engaged him in full combat, the outcome might have been unpredictable. Even if she could win, she would likely pay a hefty price in the thousands of aberrant mana, and there was no way to guarantee he wouldn’t escape, which posed significant risks.

However, now, through simple negotiations, she had acquired 4000 points for free, and even after deducting the minor expenses from her encounter with the Purple Commander, her aberrant mana had climbed to over 53,000—a financial gain without any loss.

“Remember your words; do not leak this information. Otherwise, I won’t let you go, and neither will the King.”

After finishing his statement, the Purple Commander cast Yvette a meaningful glance, then turned abruptly and led the enormous pod of whales back to their domain.

… Check latest chapters at NoveI[F]ire.net

The aggressive aberrant forces had voluntarily retreated, an unexpected turn of events that left the dolls in the valley in stunned silence.

Many among them were mentally prepared for a battle to the death, emotionally gearing themselves for the worst. Now, with the crisis averted, it felt as if they had been lifted from hell to heaven in an instant.

This sudden shift made them, including Ice Rain, who believed she understood Yvette well, feel even more aware of the silver-haired girl’s exceptional nature.

This was something even the Blessed Ones would struggle to achieve; why could she?

Did this mean her cultivation had surpassed even that of the Blessed Ones?

In light of these thoughts, Copper Skin, the most senior administrator in the kingdom, recalled a long-ago read book from human civilization, which detailed a plethora of stories where just a few clever words had compelled enemies to retreat.

He felt the recent events closely resembled those tales.

Though Yvette had previously evaluated those books and deemed them mere entertaining novels, Copper Skin still held a belief that those stories could indeed hold truth, albeit exaggerated, far exceeding the understanding of the Mechanical Clan—but not for the great creator.

With her remarkable human cultivation mimicking similar effects, Yvette was drawing closer to the essence of that great creator.

Could it be that she was truly a hidden envoy of the Gods?

…

Soon, with the crisis resolved, the Doll Kingdom appeared to return to a state of tranquility.

Of course, this was merely a facade; the waves of emotion within their hearts would likely ripple for quite some time.

The most direct manifestation of this change came the following morning when Yvette awoke to a grander display of extravagant salutes from the dolls, many times more than usual, as if they had fully begun to view her as an envoy of the Gods, their attitudes considerably more respectful.

She felt quite uncomfortable with this attention, thinking that if she were to reveal her true identity, wouldn’t these dolls collectively kneel before her?

This was not an impossible scenario; after all, she had previously discovered a poorly written fictional romance novel based on a royal background that had gained popularity in the Doll Kingdom, causing many of the dolls to become influenced by its content.

Thus, it was very difficult to predict how they would react upon discovering Yvette was human.

However…

Having been here for so long, and with her original intention of uncovering the secrets of Kux now achieved, she pondered it was time to pack her belongings and set off for the next destination.

Nine years was not an overly long span, but it was not short either.

…

Since her decision was rather sudden, Yvette communicated her intention to leave to Dugrabi and Ice Rain the afternoon after the crisis ended.

Dugrabi reacted with calm demeanor, merely responding with an “Oh,” although Yvette could tell he felt a hint of regret. Maybe having stayed here for so long had fostered some attachment, and he was reluctant to show it outright.

Ice Rain, on the other hand, was not surprised. Being a traveler herself, she had anticipated leaving, and if it had not been for Yvette’s exceedingly wild sense of time, she might have set off for her next adventure years ago.

Back at her vehicle, Yvette, seeking some amusement, opened her surveillance devices to monitor—no, to spy on—Kux’s situation.

Yes, she had installed cameras on the mountains surrounding Kux to monitor the broader city activities. The signal transmission devices were provided by the Doll Kingdom, originally meant as back-up parts for maintaining the sanctum’s altar. They used elemental waves for signal transmission—tools previously utilized during Dugrabi’s assessments.

Otherwise, when Dugrabi snuck off to Kux and ended up nearly beaten to death by the Spider Witch, she wouldn’t have detected it so quickly; she wasn’t a prophet.

After activating the surveillance, it took only a short while for Yvette to notice that something peculiar was occurring within Kux. Large numbers of aberrations were collectively mobilizing, unusually converging into the mouths of the Mountain Whales parked on the ground.

Once the mouths were filled, these Mountain Whales would ascend into the sky, clearly intending to cross the ridge and head toward the Source Ocean North behind the mountains.

This was…

Military transport?

No, wait—was it relocation?

Not long after, as she watched the enormous Pale Mother Nest being awkwardly transported on the backs of the whales, with its frail legs attempting to move, Yvette soon confirmed that this was indeed a large-scale retreat operation of the aberrant forces from Kux.

After all, there was no reason for the Pale Mother Nest to be out and about unless it involved something significant, causing a stir among the aberrations.

Watching the whales laboriously carry the Pale Mother Nest away, a smile unconsciously crept onto Yvette’s face.

She mused on how, after yesterday’s confrontation, today they were already packing their bags. The Purple Commander’s actions were indeed decisive, it felt almost as if they had been scared off by her… What would happen if she suddenly went over to greet him now? Would he feel embarrassed?

But she wasn’t that bored, and so she let the thought pass.

Moreover, she was somewhat curious about the central area of Kux. After the Purple Commander and his aberrant army left entirely, she intended to explore and see if there were any other valuable discoveries to be made.