Chapter 13: Successful Escape

"How about it? Do you understand what's going on now?"

Heimu asked in a calm tone, hoping to clear up some earlier misunderstandings.

(Inner thought: This time they should finally know I'm not some perverted kidnapper, right?)

Bai Hang's eyes darted away, her hands nervously twisted together, and she muttered softly, "Iron…"

The moment the word left her mouth, she shook her head sharply as if scalded and said, "N-nothing!"

She then lowered her head anxiously, and her snow‑white Fox Ears twitched slightly with unease.

Heimu understood instantly.

Good fellow!

The Hu Niang girl linked the "Iron Tomb, Black Tower, former names" she just introduced to herself with the newly received background that "Iron Tomb" was the source of the Weng Fa Luo Si disaster!

She basically took herself for the actual ultimate BOSS "Iron Tomb" that caused the calamity!

(Inner monologue: Uh... from a certain angle, this body of mine is indeed an incarnation of "Iron Tomb"... but this Iron Tomb is not that Iron Tomb! What a huge misunderstanding! I'm just an innocent transmigrator who inherited an account and a skin!)

However, seeing Bai Hang's cautious demeanor, fearing to anger the "World‑Ending Demon Lord," Heimu did not immediately speak to explain.

On one hand, she felt the matter couldn't be clarified in a few words; on the other… watching the usually lively Fox People girl now trembling, she inexplicably felt a slight… hmm, subtle amusement?

(Heimu: "Ahem, it must have been infected by Aha!")

"Fine," she waved her hand, deciding to set the misunderstanding aside for now and prioritize the Task.

So, Heimu didn't dwell on Bai Hang's misunderstanding, but said in a flat tone, "I'll go out for a walk; you stay here."

As she spoke, she raised her hand and sliced the air; a portal edged with flickering violet light opened silently.

Heimu didn't look back at Bai Hang, stepped straight through, her figure vanishing behind the wavering light curtain, and the portal closed behind her.

The portal closed silently behind her.

In System Space, only Bai Hang remained.

She looked at where Heimu vanished, truly exhaled, patted her impressively sized chest, and whispered, "That scared me to death... I thought they'd silence me..."

Yet her gaze, involuntarily curious, drifted toward the nearby still‑standing black door leading to the place where Xi Lian was imprisoned.

The door was shut tight, yet seemed to emit an invisible pull.

(Bai Hang's inner thought: That pink‑haired girl... so pitiful... the master (Great Demon King) left... can I... sneak a peek at her? Just a quick look?)

Black Curtain Lady stepped gracefully out of the portal, her feet now on the mirror‑smooth corridor floor of the Black Tower Space Station.

She quickly tilted her head to survey the surroundings; although she'd seen it countless times in the game, standing there in person, hearing the distant mechanical hum, still sparked a hint of novelty in her heart.

She tugged the wide brim of her Mo Nu Mao, hiding most of her face in shadow, revealing only a gracefully contoured jaw and a faintly colored lip.

She thought she must be cautious; although Aha's power helped mask her presence, if she ran into the main target... the fun would be over.

The corridor was silent, only the emergency indicator lights casting a faint blue glow.

Heimu carefully sensed the surroundings, trying to determine the current Time Node.

"The chaos traces of the Antimatter Legion's invasion, the clerks are also a bit rushed... looks like it's after the attack at the start of the Plot."

She thought to herself, "Then finding an inconspicuous 'Spare Parts' should be much easier."

Heimu didn't flaunt her power, merely extending a wisp of energy centered on herself, gently spreading outward like a jellyfish's tentacle, sensing energy within a hundred meters.

"Black Tower Doll... Black Tower Doll..."

She whispered the target, as if playing hide‑and‑seek known only to herself.

Soon, she halted before a door that required permission authentication.

The sign beside the door indicated it was a Spare Parts storage room.

This is the place.

Heimu's mouth twitched upward, and she extended her right hand, gloved in black lace, fingertips gently pressing the cold identification panel.

A filament of violet‑red data, as fine as a hair, slipped into the interface like a living vine; the complex permission authentication became null before the power of "Corrosion"— with a soft "ding," the door slid open.

The room was unlit, only the corridor light slanted in, outlining the silhouette of a Black Tower Doll standing back to the doorway, in standby mode.

Its iconic beret and petite figure seemed to emit an alluring "Repair Degree" glow in Heimu's eyes.

"My apologies, Black Tower Lady... borrowing your doll for a moment."

Heimu thought without any guilt, stepping lightly toward the doll.

She raised her hand, palm aimed at the doll, and a richer violet‑red data stream surged out, like a living web, instantly enveloping the doll.

The intricate construct rapidly disintegrated under the data flow, turning into basic information units, which Heimu then reclaimed.

The whole process took only a few breaths; the spot was empty.

Yet, just as the data flow was about to fully retract, Heimu's peripheral vision caught a frozen figure at the doorway.

Xing was bewildered.

She had just received a concise message from Black Tower Lady—"Come test the simulated universe."

Simulated universe? Sounds grand, but what exactly is it?

She poked at her phone trying to navigate while aimlessly strolling down the empty corridor.

As she passed a half‑open room, she instinctively glanced inside, and her steps instantly froze.

In the light spilling from the corridor, she vaguely saw a figure.

A... woman's back, wearing a gigantic hat and a lavish dress?

That outfit was way too eye‑catching for a tech‑styled space station.

Even more surprising, standing before the woman was a Black Tower Doll!

Then she witnessed a fantastical scene—the mysterious woman simply brushed her hand, and violet‑red light enveloped the Black Tower Doll, and then... the doll vanished into thin air!

Xing stared dumbfounded, causing this newly formed brain to crash on the spot.

At that moment, the mysterious woman seemed to notice her presence and slowly turned her head.

The light was dim; Xing couldn't make out the other person's exact features, but she clearly felt those eyes—pupils of purplish black lacking any highlight, like a bottomless cold pool, gazing at her calmly and without ripples.

Just being stared at by those eyes, Xing felt an inexplicable chill surge up from her spine, and she instinctively stepped back two paces, almost tripping over her own feet.

"You……"

She had just opened her mouth to ask when the mysterious woman's body once again emanated that ominous (in her view) purplish-red data stream, from the tip of her hat to the heels of her boots, the whole person vanishing as if erased by an eraser, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

The corridor held only Xing alone, staring blankly at the empty room.