“Master, welcome home!” Before Yae-hime could even steady her footing, she heard a sweet and adorable voice ring out.

Immediately after, Little Blue’s figure appeared out of thin air, darting toward Yae-hime in a flying pounce. However, before she could crash into her master, Yae-hime caught her mid-air and held her dangling in front of her.

“M-Master?” Seeing her master’s smiling face that didn’t quite reach her eyes, Little Blue’s heart skipped a beat. A foreboding sense of doom welled up inside her.

And as expected, ominous premonitions always had a way of coming true. The next instant, several translucent tentacles bound her arms and legs, stretching her out in the shape of a cross, face pressed down toward the floor.

“You’ve been far too mischievous lately. A lesson is in order,” Yae-hime said with a smile. But that smile carried a chill.

Hearing this, Little Blue knew she was in trouble. She immediately began to plead for mercy. “Master, I won’t do it again!”

She had only swapped her master’s clothes as a harmless prank, thinking Yae-hime would never notice. She never imagined not only would Yae-hime notice, she would even go into a duel while wearing them.

**Smack!**

A sharp, crisp sound rang out.

“Ahh!” Little Blue shrieked in pain. Her little peach had been struck hard. And that was only the prelude.

Vera 1, 2, 3, and 17 and 18 all stood frozen in place, not daring to approach. Because the rhythm of those relentless smacking sounds was simply too terrifying.

“Her little butt is going to swell up…” Vera 18 murmured, her face pale.

“It definitely will,” Vera 17 whispered back.

At that moment, Little Blue’s pitiful cries and the sharp slapping sounds blended into a duet that echoed throughout the City of Chaos.

Three minutes later.

“Wuuuu… my poor little butt…” The punishment finally ended. Little Blue clutched her now swollen peach, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Vera 1, 2, and 3 stared at her intently, thinking to themselves: Never, ever make Master angry!

“Master, thank you for your hard work!” Vera 17 and 18 spoke up obediently.

“Mhm. Finally, that troublesome matter is dealt with,” Yae-hime said, patting their heads. “I also picked up some late-night snacks. Eat them while they’re hot.”

Everyone looked toward her feet, where two large plastic bags were lying on the ground. A faint whiff of fragrance confirmed it was indeed food.

“Yay, midnight snacks!” Little Blue exclaimed excitedly. It was as if her crying from just moments ago had been nothing but an act.

The six little ones hurriedly swarmed in, grabbing the food and rushing to the dining room. They devoured the snacks with unrestrained delight.

“This blue lobster is so tasty!”

“The caramel abalone too!”

“Wuuuu, these durian pig trotters are divine!”1

“The braised Green Island prawns are amazing too!”

Watching them eat so joyfully, Yae-hime felt a wave of healing wash over her. The heavy pressure on her shoulders eased bit by bit.

Once the table was wiped clean of food, Yae-hime called Little Blue over.

“Master!” The little one threw her arms around Yae-hime’s neck, rubbing her cheek against it.

“Alright, enough. Down you go,” Yae-hime said, pulling her off. “I’ve got something I need you to check.”

“Mhm, mhm! What does Master want me to investigate?” Little Blue immediately put on a serious expression.

“One of my chives in the game ran off not long ago. See if you can find him in reality.”

S.K.Y.’s basic information was easy enough to dig up. A quick search on Baidu turned up plenty. With those details, Little Blue could pull countless valuable pieces of intel from the net. It didn’t take long before she rotated the virtual screen toward Yae-hime, showing the results of her search.

“This guy seems to have gone into hiding,” Yae-hime muttered in disappointment after scanning the report. The latest piece of intel was an Electronic Toll Collection record from a road somewhere in Huadu.

S.K.Y. had already driven his Porsche 911 out of Huadu, his destination unknown.

“Can we track him through his online wallet transactions?” Yae-hime asked.

“Let me check.” Little Blue waved her hands, then quickly spoke again. “Master, I only found records of his spending in Huadu. After that, it looks like he switched to using cash. Also, his phone is still in a Huadu hotel. I activated the camera and microphone, but there was no one around. I suspect he deliberately left it there.”

“So cautious. Seems he planned this well in advance.” Yae-hime frowned slightly, and suddenly, someone came to mind. “This guy seems to be imitating Honda Yu.”

“You mean that closed-beta player who disappeared?” Little Blue vaguely remembered hearing about such a person.

“Yes. After being sent back by the stationed U.S. forces, she vanished completely. Recently, she has been slaughtering foreigners in-game. I heard she nearly wiped out all the American players.” As she said this, Yae-hime brushed her long hair back and continued. “Before S.K.Y. killed Taurus, he must have secured some hidden refuge.”

“He’s deliberately erasing his trail. Finding him won’t be simple,” Little Blue replied.

“Forget it. Don’t waste time on him. Monitoring Aqua Blue Star is the real priority. By the way, has there been any change in today’s recovery rate?” Yae-hime asked.

S.K.Y. and the Abyss Crown were indeed concerns, but compared to the recovery of Aqua Blue Star, they seemed trivial.

“No, it’s still the same as before.” Little Blue lightly tapped the virtual screen, closing it.

“Good. Hopefully it stays that way for a while. If there’s any sudden movement from those ancient creatures or singularities, notify me immediately.” As long as the recovery didn’t accelerate abruptly, Yae-hime still had time to prepare for the impact.

“Mhm!” Little Blue nodded.

“Oh, right, Little Blue, during that long-distance teleportation earlier, did you notice anything unusual?” At that moment, Yae-hime recalled the incident and asked.

“There was something odd… could it be that Master was displaced far, far away?” Little Blue tilted her head slightly.

“Exactly. Here’s what happened…” Yae-hime explained her experience in detail. When she finished, Little Blue’s eyes flew wide open and her mouth dropped into the shape of an egg.

“That’s impossible!”

“It’s the truth,” Yae-hime said gravely.

“To interfere with the teleportation of the City of Chaos… could that mysterious existence be…” Mid-sentence, Little Blue clapped her hands over her mouth. She glanced left, right, up, and down, panic flashing across her face.

“Could it be what?” Yae-hime narrowed her eyes slightly, puzzled. This little one had always been skittish; she was almost used to it by now.

“I can’t say, I can’t say!” Little Blue cried, terrified.

“Do you want your butt smacked again?” Yae-hime’s tone turned icy.

“Uh… fine, I’ll tell you!” Little Blue’s expression looked ready to burst into tears. “Master’s City of Chaos is of the Demon God level. Only beings of equal or higher rank can forcibly interfere with its teleportation.”

After she said this, she once again darted her eyes around nervously. It was as if she feared something might suddenly appear.

“I see.” Yae-hime nodded. “Relax. Whoever it was, they should be on our side.”

Hearing this, Little Blue finally calmed down a little. “I never thought this world could harbor such a supreme existence. It’s incredible!”

Words spoken without intent, yet the listener caught their weight. Sparks of thought flashed through Yae-hime’s mind, connecting in an instant. But she quickly pressed them down.

‘Now isn’t the time for that.’

After chatting a while longer with her little cuties, Yae-hime returned to her room, changed into pajamas, and lay down to rest. She had expended a great deal of energy today and needed to recover as quickly as possible.