Chapter 448: The Witchs Golden Fish
June 10, middle level Nabistin, Belldate Wonderland World.
“Wow, Ashe, look! From above, Azura looks just like a blooming flower!”
“Hey? This foggy clock tower of Vamora, these carvings, this structure, this appearance… It’s definitely the creation of a necromancer. It might even be personally overseen by that Six Heraldry legendary necromancer!”
“I actually had some expectations for your taste, Harvey. That was clearly my mistake.”
“Has Hemera become this beautiful? The last time I was here was thirty years ago…”
“Young Lady, don’t hold on to me so tightly! Are you afraid of heights?”
“Me? How could I be afraid of heights? And this is just an illusion created by an illusion spellcaster. How could I possibly—Ah! Don’t push me out! You jerk!”
As “Flying Gospel” ended, Annan furiously punched Ashe on the shoulder. “Did you really just scare me earlier!?”
Ashe couldn’t help but laugh. “Didn’t you used to live hundreds of meters up in the Inverted Skyscraper? You would usually drive a hovercar through the air too. How can you be afraid of heights now?”
Annabelle angrily pummeled Ashe’s arm relentlessly. “That’s different! I knew I was safe in those situations. But this illusion removed the cable car, and we were directly flying over the city. I haven’t specifically trained for flying with virtual wings, so of course, I’d feel a bit uneasy!”“Little Ashe!”
Just then, Lise came over and pulled Ashe by the hand. “Let’s go to the next attraction! Our reservation is about to come up!”
“Alright, alright…”
Though they wore cloaks to conceal their identities, the Funeral party naturally blended into the crowd. Other travelers were also dressed in diverse styles. The ‘Extreme Cutting Carp Overlord Lord’ and ‘Red Hat Bunny Girl’ who just passed by were much more eye-catching than they were.
They even saw someone dressed as ‘Ashe Heath’. With so many impersonators around, no one would think Ashe was the real deal even if he didn’t disguise himself.
Looking for the Mermaid was an event from the night before last. Yesterday, they had to switch hotels because Helephes drowned from dehydration at the central square. Then, Annan unexpectedly showed a rare kindness and suggested that they relax a bit before “Assassinate the Princess” by having a team-building outing to Belldate Wonderland World in the middle level Nabistin.
Yes, even the underground city of Nabistin has entertainment venues, actually more than ordinary cities. After all, the lower and middle levels were once the Imperial Capital, and the original site of this Wonderland World was the old imperial palace. Furthermore, many of the transient population in the underground city are ‘underground Na-drifters’. Their emotional needs are extremely high, and they desperately require various forms of entertainment to fill their mental void.
By the way, Vamora has the fewest entertainment facilities because the physiological desires of the Six Heraldry clansmen are satisfied by white mist, and their spiritual needs are met by Family Dream. Hence, Vamora has always produced more than it consumed, even to the extent of unilaterally dumping goods to other regions. Qenna’s wealth is not without reason.
Some might wonder how the underground city can be so peaceful, given that ‘underground city’ conjures images of freedom and turmoil. Even before he came, Ashe thought it was an extremely chaotic slum where fresh flesh fed the Lala Fatty daily.
The underground city, though it doesn’t have Red Hat, has already established a certain order due to the supervision and intervention of various consortium families. Unregulated by law, it is even more prosperous than many surface cities.
The biggest difference between an underground city and a surface city is that battle spellcasters are the highest-paid T0 profession here. This is because conflicts of interest in the underground city are resolved directly through “Spellcasting Blood Battles.” The decision-making committee from the Nabistin lower level, mentioned by the Mermaid, is an organization responsible for hosting these “Spellcasting Blood Battles.”
As the only bloody competition in all of Gospel where there are no rules, most battle spellcasters participate in “Spellcasting Blood Battles” to gain combat experience. It can even be said that every ranked individual on the current Battle Sect ranking list spent their youth as ‘underground Na-drifters.’
Annan is so familiar with the underground city because she once fought in blood battles here for three months.
However, the stories of the underground city had nothing to do with Ashe and his companions. They were simply here to enjoy the amusement park before heading to the ground city to “Assassinate the Princess.”
It was quite clear that this team-building suggestion was meant to accommodate Lise. Among Lise’s sisters, only the Little Witch had a relatively young mental age. The other sisters well surpassed the mental age of a child, with the eldest, the White Queen, nearing 25. Consequently, their feelings towards Wonderland World…
…were something they could not resist at all!
“Lise” eagerly dragged Ashe to the entrance of the “Virtual Realm Thriller.” The staff had just started admitting guests. Thanks to their reservation in the Gospel Book, they could directly board the exploration ship and even snagged the front seats!
“This attraction is very thrilling and exciting. Children need to be closely accompanied by a guardian. Little Ashe, hold my hand tight. This ride might splash water, so please take necessary precautions. Don’t worry, we have our cloaks on. This ride…”
Ashe listened to the long-winded instructions from “Lise” and obediently held her small hand. He couldn’t help but wonder if Lise really loved amusement parks this much. Her personality seemed to have completely changed.
For starters, Ashe’s designation shifted several times. When they first entered the amusement park, it was “Dad,” then it was “Ash,” and now it’s “Little Ashe.” Ashe thought he might need to discuss with Annan. If Lise called him “Little she” next, Annan would have to deal with Lise’s cheeky antics.
It wasn’t just the names that changed. Lise’s attitude towards him shifted constantly. Sometimes she acted like a little girl, sometimes a teenager, and now she suddenly behaved so maturely, as if she were his guardian.
The temperament of a little girl truly changes five times in a moment…
The exploration ship suddenly started moving, passing through a short tunnel and arriving at the dense white mist of the Sea of Knowledge. As Ashe tried to find the boundaries, a dozen or so ferocious Blade Fish Dragons suddenly darted out from the white mist. Instinctively, Ashe put his fingers in his mouth, ready to draw out the Honey Sword.
However, the Blade Fish Dragons merely passed over their exploration ship, sending countless splashes of water around them. Before the passengers could look back, a small island suddenly appeared ahead. On the island, Foxlamp Dragons summoned Foxfire Lamps to launch long-range attacks. As the flames chased after them, the exploration ship’s speed suddenly surged, causing Ashe and the others to tense up instinctively, as if they genuinely feared the fire would scorch their boat.
Spellcaster projections, Mud Fish Dragons, Swordfish Dragons, and other common sights of the Sea of Knowledge made their appearances. There were even classic attractions that Ashe had never seen before, like the “Great Road,” “Sea Waterfall,” and “Sky Bubble.”
Even though they were already two-wing spellcasters who had left the Sea of Knowledge, they were still awestruck, like players who had left the beginner village discovering countless hidden secrets upon returning.
As they sailed on, fleeing from endless knowledge creatures chasing them from behind, the exploration ship suddenly tilted and plunged into the sea, startling everyone. Lise held onto Ashe with both hands tightly.
They quickly realized they were imitating the “Whirlpool” journey. The exploration ship soon exited the “Whirlpool” tunnel and returned to the surface.
Just when the passengers thought the ride was about to end, their seats suddenly extended a pair of silver wings. The environment around them began to rapidly descend, making it look like they were flapping virtual wings to soar upwards!
“Flying upwards to reach the Time Continent?” Igor chuckled from behind. “The designer of this ride has quite the imagination.”
“Even a silver spellcaster with a flying spirit couldn’t fly that long,” Harvey noted. “Unless they had a pair of virtual wings.”
“A silver spellcaster with virtual wings wouldn’t be a silver spellcaster anymore,” Banjeet remarked.
“If two silver spellcasters with fully formed silver wings met in the Virtual Realm, they might meet the conditions,” Annan suggested. “Two spellcasters holding hands and flapping their virtual wings together… It sounds like something out of a fairy tale.”
While the passengers marveled at the creativity of this idea, the pair in the front row, a large one and a small one, were already caught in a storm of waves within their minds!
Ashe could never have imagined that someone would blatantly leak the Secret Toxin of the Golden Fish, and even more audaciously, incorporate it into an amusement ride, as if they were afraid others wouldn’t notice!
But that’s how strange the world can be. Even for top-tier two-wings spellcasters like Annan and Igor, who had experienced mechanisms, creatures, and environments in the Sea of Knowledge identical to the true Virtual Realm, it was hard to believe this whimsical flight segment could be the real method to locate the Golden Fish.
Ashe could somewhat understand their skepticism. For silver spellcasters, “flying” was an incredibly difficult feat to achieve. With such seemingly impossible goals, it wasn’t just a matter of them not believing-it was more that they refused to believe.
Wait a minute, following this logic, the method to find the Rainbow Tail should also be something completely unattainable for two-wings spellcasters…
“Little Ashe, come closer,” Lise suddenly called out. “And then close your eyes.”
Ashe complied, then felt his face being kissed rapidly four times.
“…Are you that happy?” Ashe wiped his face and cleared his throat. “While I’m glad you’re happy, let’s not do this outside. It’s a bit embarrassing for me… and I’d prefer not to, even at home. I’m not used to such affectionate gestures…”
“No, this is just what I owed you before. I’m just making up for it now,” Lise replied.
“Huh? When did I ever owe you?”
“In any case, you just did, Little Ashe,” Lise looked at him with eyes gleaming mysteriously, and then glanced down at the hand mirror showing her other four sisters.
Little Witch: “Ahhh, White Queen, give me back my body! I really want to play Virtual Realm Thriller too!”
White Queen: “Turns out, the Secret Toxin of the Golden Fish is real.”
Black Butler: “Observer and Sword Princess must have discovered the Golden Fish by holding hands and flying through the Sea of Knowledge like this.”
Scarlet Dead Apostles: “I’ve never doubted the authenticity of the Secret Toxin of the Golden Fish.”
Secret Princess: “Back then, it wasn’t that we didn’t believe in the Golden Fish Secret Toxin; rather, we couldn’t believe that there could be two spellcasters in this world who trust each other so deeply, willing to become each other’s wings and leave the lonely sea together…”
“But now…”
Lise looked at Ashe and reversed her hand to grasp his. Ashe glanced at her, relaxed his palm, and let her squeeze as she pleased.
“We’ve found the Golden Fish as well.”
Suddenly, a stream of information flowed into the minds of the witch sisters.
“Golden Fish Secret Toxin”
“Number of Secret Toxin Infections: 15”
“Secret Toxin Strength: 15%”
“Current Effects of the Secret Toxin: You can convert silver spellforce into golden spellforce at a ratio of 65:35. (Decreasing the strength to 10% provides significant enhancement; reaching 51% results in negative effects.)”
The Secret Toxin that the Observer and Sword Princess couldn’t infect with, no matter how many times they tried, was successfully contracted by the witch in an amusement facility in Wonderland World!