In the real world, at Rosen Hotel.

The moment a black business car pulled up to the entrance, several girls came running over. It was none other than Nangong Lin and the others.

As soon as Yae-hime stepped out of the car, she was immediately surrounded. After some light chatter, the group headed up to the top floor.

At that moment, dinner was already being served in the suite’s dining room. The delicious aroma spread throughout the room, making the food all the more tempting. The group chatted as they ate, filling the dining room with a cheerful atmosphere.

After dinner. Everyone gathered in the living room for tea, using the chance to hold a meeting.

“Everyone should already know about that dungeon, right?” Yae-hime asked.

Everyone nodded. On the tablet screen, Rakshasa and Little Fairy also nodded obediently. Tonight, they were unable to come in person.

Rakshasa needed to rush her quest progress, while Little Fairy had matters at home to deal with. Both felt somewhat regretful.

“This time, regarding the newly opened dungeon, we should first collect some information before making plans. Personally, I feel this dungeon will be enormous, and the danger level will be extremely high,” Yae-hime said.

After all, it was a dungeon tied to an Artifact. For it to be small would have been strange.

“At last, we can raid a dungeon!?” Sachiel exclaimed excitedly. These past days, she had been constantly fending off Serubelya’s courtship, to the point of sheer exasperation.

Everyone else got to enjoy the thrill of fighting and killing. But her? Her days consisted of receiving gift after gift. Only occasionally, with Serubelya’s help, did she get to hunt a few monsters.

Life had become boring, monotonous, and stifling. Now that she heard about a dungeon raid, how could she not be excited? Unfortunately, Yae-hime’s next words poured over her like a bucket of cold water.

“Those of you with bloodline quests must prioritize completing them first. This dungeon’s location is still unknown. If it happens to open within the Jade Empire, you might not make it in time.”

“That’s true,” Nangong Lin nodded. Although she also wanted to raid the dungeon with Princess, the physical distance was simply too great to overcome for now.

Unless she could persuade the Elf Queen to activate an ancient teleportation array to send her across. Otherwise, who knew how long it would take before she could reach Jade City.

‘Godmother would almost certainly never allow me to leave.’ At that thought, Nangong Lin sighed inwardly.

“This is just depressing,” Pixie said helplessly.

On the screen, Rakshasa lowered her head, disappointment clouding her delicate face.

Mylene, however, showed little concern. She had been meeting Yae-hime quite often lately anyway.

“Don’t be so discouraged. We still don’t know what kind of dungeon this is. For all we know, there might be a way to temporarily teleport directly to a specific location when the time comes,” Yae-hime reassured them.

“Mm, I hope so,” Sachiel replied with a smile, though she didn’t hold out much hope in her heart.

Nangong Lin and the others felt the same. Just then, Mylene’s phone suddenly beeped. Everyone turned toward her, causing her to look slightly embarrassed.

“It’s a message, let me check.” She pulled out her special phone, glanced at the camera, and the screen unlocked automatically a second later.

Sure enough, a new message appeared on the bright display. The sender was Xina. The message contained only one document. She quickly opened it and scanned the contents, her expression gradually shifting to astonishment.

“What’s wrong? An urgent matter at the Bureau?” Yae-hime asked.

At his words, Mylene shook her head and replied, “Sis, they’ve found a lead on the bearer of the Abyss Crown.” The moment those words left her lips, everyone froze for a beat, then expressions of shock spread across their faces.

That Artifact had only just surfaced not long ago, and the Ability Management Bureau had already tracked down its possessor? Their efficiency was unbelievable!

“Who is it?” Yae-hime asked urgently.

“S.K.Y.” Mylene revealed directly, not keeping them in suspense.

Hearing that all-too-familiar name, Yae-hime felt utterly bewildered. In her eyes, S.K.Y. had always been nothing more than a chive she could cut down from time to time. How had he suddenly become the wielder of an Artifact?

It was utterly absurd, something beyond belief.

“Are you sure there’s no mistake?” she asked.

“No, not exactly. We haven’t fully confirmed it’s him yet. But for now, all the evidence points toward S.K.Y. He’s the prime suspect.” As she spoke, Mylene cast her phone screen onto the television so everyone could see the contents of the document.

“Not long ago, Taurus posted a bounty of thirty million on the forums for S.K.Y.’s head. Whether that referred to killing him in reality or just in-game, we don’t know. But what we can be sure of is that S.K.Y. and Taurus have completely fallen out. More than that, it seems there’s a deep-seated hatred between them. Otherwise, Taurus would never have gone so far as to post such a bounty.”

“According to intel from our people in Jade City, Taurus left the city alone earlier tonight. Afterward, our informant planted in the Death of Love guild discovered that Taurus’ avatar had turned red. In other words, he had been killed.”

“Not long after, players outside Jade City witnessed a pitch-black dragon-like creature soaring up from the nearby grove, ridden by an equally dark figure. Roughly fifteen minutes later, Taurus, offline at the time, sent a message to one of his guild officers, telling him to go check the grove.”

“Once the officer confirmed, Taurus went back online. His respawn point? None other than that very grove.”

At this point, Mylene paused, letting out a quiet breath before continuing.

“Immediately after, all guild members present heard Taurus’ furious roar. He shouted that the Purple Sword and an important item had vanished, and that he was going to kill S.K.Y. Based on our analysis, Taurus should have been stronger than S.K.Y. But the time between him leaving the city and being killed was far too short. With S.K.Y.’s known strength, it should have been impossible.”

“Unless… he had an Artifact.”

“The timing of the Artifact Rankings appearing and Taurus’ death lined up almost perfectly. If S.K.Y. really had an Artifact, it would explain everything. Of course, for now it’s still speculation. We don’t have concrete proof.”

After hearing Mylene’s analysis, the room fell silent. Everyone seemed to be digesting the information.

“To think that S.K.Y. had been hiding such depths all along.” Yae-hime leaned back, her expression grave. Truthfully, she had never spared this petty clown so much as a proper glance. She had always seen him as nothing more than an oversized chive to be cut whenever convenient.

Who could have imagined that this chive would be lucky enough to get his hands on an Artifact?

Yae-hime had no objections to Mylene’s reasoning. With so many key details, a bit of deduction easily pointed to a likely conclusion. The chance that S.K.Y.1 had been the bearer of the Abyss Crown was at least seventy percent.

“We must find S.K.Y. as soon as possible,” Yae-hime said. In her view, he was very likely the one who could trigger the dungeon.

“Mm. We’ve already assigned more people to track him down,” Mylene replied.

“That’s enough for tonight. Everyone get some rest. Tomorrow, focus on your own tasks and give it your best.”

A glance at the time showed it was already late. Yae-hime exhaled softly, easing her expression as she spoke. After saying her farewells, she left Rosen Hotel with a packed supper in hand.

Then she had Little Blue teleport her home. For such a short-range jump, Yae-hime considered it harmless. The chance of anything going wrong was simply too low.

With a flash of white light, Yae-hime finally returned to her own home.