Chapter 157 Empire Version of Swindling Couples
A translucent surface filled with a mist of pink.
Shanasheng lay on the floor despondently, gazing up at the unchanging sky, floor, and walls, and let out a deep sigh.
Why was I so foolish at the beginning and chose such a color scheme? There's no warmth of a hibiscus canopy, only a growing sense of loneliness, desolation and coldness when I look at it for too long...
In the pink overwhelming with girlish charm, all was silent except for oneself, clearly, this was a hundred thousand times more devastating blow to a young girl.
Even the simplest shade of gray and white would not be more agonizing than the present.
She couldn't imagine that Roger would be so uncooperative, but instead, he joined forces with the Eternal Night Empress and locked her up here.
In short, everything is Roger's fault!
The little angel enlarged the iron pot over someone's head by an additional circle.
Although her true identity was that of a time shepherd, skilled in time magic, all of it was based on divine power to be cast.
Shana is able to use her magic to cast a basic level time freeze spell on her own.
But what use is it in the boredom that already feels like an eternity?
Go to sleep, but can't fall asleep again.
After all, there was nothing that required physical exertion either.
A certain anticipation emanating from within her body, she imagined herself learning the actions that bastard had performed, in pursuit of a modicum of pleasure...
But there aren't even any covers here. What if the Green Vines Empire's negotiation team enters at this time? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?
Once, I was also a six-winged angel. As the second strongest under the empress of the empire now, do I not deserve any respect?
Therefore, I obediently laid there, waiting for either Little Ao or another citizen of the Empire to come and unlock the door to set me free.
Despite feeling a gnawing itch within, their only source of entertainment was themselves. And yet they were unable to play, thus left to languish in boredom.
Waiting until they began to doubt their own existence, waiting until they began to doubt whether Little Ao had forgotten about them...
She accidentally guessed it correctly.
If it weren't for the boredom of the two people over there and the reminder from Roger, the Eternal Night Empress would have really forgotten about her.
In Shana's perception, it seemed as if thousands of years had passed, until finally she sensed a slight disturbance in the fabric of space.
She sprang up with a "swoosh" and obediently gazed upon the spot where the spatial door appeared, through which Roger and the Queen of Eternal Night emerged with laughter and conversation.
"So, Your Majesty has actually visited such an interesting dimension before..."
"Yes, the dimensional laws there are very strange. Things are born old and then slowly become younger..."
Hmm, it was quite boring at first, but then I thought of Shana, which made me think of the Seven Gods, which in turn made me think of dimensional travel.
So the two of them began to share stories about the strange worlds they had seen and visited, and found new topics to talk about.
This is the normal state when men and women are attracted to each other.
The hustle and bustle outside is just an excuse for us to get closer and understand each other better.
What does it matter if it's an angel, the information it brings is roughly the same as a movie or a roasted sweet potato.
Both of them just found excuses to spend time together, doing whatever they could to occupy themselves.
Therefore, these two individuals were chatting casually until they approached Shana. Despite the lack of intimate gestures between them, Shana could sense from their tone and demeanor a pungent and overpowering sour odor emanating even from a distance.
In harmony with the pink background, the lone little angel looked on as others paired up, resulting in a billionfold critical strike.
Well, it's not spring, so you two lovebirds just calm down!
Shana rubbed her eyes and cleaned her ears, suspecting that she might be experiencing hallucinations due to being trapped in this place for too long.
Speaking of which, the formal encounter of the two major factions should not have been carried out with such solemnity and gravity, for the purposes of conducting business and exchanging intelligence.
Even when faced with a sober and deadly interrogation, she thought it was normal.
However, as they strolled along in idle conversation, the Eternal Night Queen took a casual glance at her and asked, "What have you been thinking about? Do you wish to continue talking?"
Shana's mentality collapsed directly.
Do you really value me at all?
This is absolutely like asking a barbecue stall owner at night whether they're still in business or not, are you kidding me!
We are about to trade, but in this multiverse, don't you think it would be valuable to have information on the top-level factions and strongest individuals?
Roger watched Shana's fluctuating expression, tangled up like weeds, before he sighed and said, "It seems that she hasn't made a final decision yet, so let's go somewhere else to play."
"Okay." The Evernight Queen complied readily and once again opened the spatial door.
"Wait, wait a moment!" Shana exclaimed, quickly stopping them.
Are you two teasing me? I haven't even spoken and you've already made a judgement?
I had already thought it through, I am willing to trade!
The young girl's formation was completely disrupted, afraid that these two people would leave like this, then forget about her, and not knowing when she would be locked up next.
Roger turned around and somewhat impatiently asked, "Do you have something else you need?"
The indifferent tone made Shana, who believed she held the key to an important trade deal, begin to doubt herself.
Are there any other angels that fell into little Ao's hands?
Have they already gathered enough intelligence, so they completely disregarded the information I provided them?
So, in this way, it didn't matter to them how long I was kept imprisoned as it didn't cause them any losses. The only consequence was my extreme boredom here...
Between flashes of lightning, Shana had already thought of dozens of possibilities. She felt that if she didn't trade intelligence soon, it wouldn't be a matter of waiting for a good price, but of being caught by the subject and being bored here until that happened. So, she said carefully, "Actually, I can trade it."
"What are the conditions?" The Queen of Eternal Night turned around and asked with great reserve.
"That..." Shana looked at Roger unwillingly and felt hopeless about making any more unreasonable requests. As for Yazi, who seemed defeated, she said, "Let me go, and I will answer three questions for you!"
The Queen of Eternal Night and Roger exchanged a glance, and both burst into loud laughter.
"My dear, you're right. As long as I want to go, she can hardly wait."
"This move is a unique skill that my Charles family doesn't pass on."
"Very good, very good, we'll have another opportunity to collaborate in the future!"
"No problem, I understand very well the self-cultivation of actors!"
The two people chatted amongst themselves as if Shana didn't exist.
Alas, the stench of dog food grew increasingly pungent, I felt like weeping!
Sha Na lowered her head in frustration and looked at her hands, as if they were not skin, but rather made of silicone products...
So, it turns out I wasn't really an important captive after all, just a little prop to help them bond and liven up their lives, right?
A single girl who yearns for love, but is fed dog food crazily by her parents.
As Shana was lost in contemplation about the world being unworthy and her desire to return to the divine kingdom, the Queen of Eternal Night solemnly handed her a lengthy checklist.
"You can leave once you have accumulated 100 points."
Shana held the carefully designed sheet which contained hundreds of questions, each followed by a list of points indicating that it was part of a larger scheme.
These two individuals are practicing the strategy of "retreating in order to advance." In reality, they highly value her intelligence, but they intentionally behave as though she had lost her worth to make the lowest possible investment and then obtain her cooperation.
This move is a feint. It's clear that she has used it before, but the Queen of Eternal Night wasn't fooled back then.
Now, as a result, the Eternal Night Queen and Roger teamed up to use it, but she didn't see the emergence of the opponent's insidiousness and directly begged them not to leave...
Is this good for tying the heart?
Are you both doing this on purpose as revenge?
Is it really okay for two adults to collaborate and ambush a baby less than three days old?
Shana held this list and wished to tear it to pieces, and let out a roar, "I will never stoop so low as to answer any test or exam!"
But at this moment, she followed the space portal that the Queen of Eternal Night had not yet closed and caught a glimpse of the prosperous world of the mysterious capital.
The Queen of Eternal Night herself stood charmingly at the door, gazing at Chana. Her articulate and lovely eyes seemed to inquire whether she had seen herself beckoning freely.
Just answer a few simple questions and you can leave this boring and empty pink semi-plane behind and go enjoy life!
Roger took out a large hourglass from the space ring, indicating to Shana through his actions that this was a timed puzzle.
Shana was not doing well at all.
Do not do this to me, I cannot bear it, I really cannot bear it...
Freedom is within sight, but counting down to freedom, being locked up here is truly tedious...
Lowering her head, she looked at the list of questions and began to select and calculate how to reveal the least amount of critical information in exchange for her freedom.
She accepts it.
...
...
The hourglass is about to run out of time.
Shana also returned the list to the Queen of the Evernight with a look of frustration and indignation on her face, and harshly uttered, "Treacherous humans!"
This list is a magical artifact.
Just by silently pondering the question in your mind, you can input the corresponding answer without requiring you to manually write it down.
At the same time, the authenticity verification function had a certain level. Shana wanted to intentionally input incorrect information. However, when she had malicious intentions, she was unable to input her responses.
The information she doesn't know cannot be made up.
The lie detection function doesn't come from the list itself, but rather from a backdoor left inside her body that works in conjunction with the list.
So Shana felt even more aggrieved.
She had no idea how many tricks the Night Queen had left in her body, which made her feel uneasy as she looked at this woman now.
Who knows how many tricks she still has up her sleeve, yet she easily took care of herself.
Even though he could easily defeat me, he still played mind games and tormented me with a pathetic little projection. You are really cruel!
Her little Ao shouldn't be like this...
It must be Roger who led her astray!
Roger felt so wronged when the girl gave him another inexplicable glare.
Why should I care if that arrogant queen likes to keep her backdoor open?
Although it is true that everything, from the list of questions to their coordination tonight with the Queen of the Night, was all his idea...
But you, this foolish projection of yourself, don't even have thick enough nerves and yet you blame me?
The Queen of Eternal Night took back the list and confirmed that Shana's response had met their bottom line. She then took a step aside, making way for the portal.
"You are free now."
"Is that all?"
Shana couldn't help but freeze in place.
According to the memories inherited from her original body, Nalin easily manipulated people through a series of carefully crafted conditions, slowly draining them of all their worth.
Upon seeing the lengthy list of issues, she had an inkling that addressing merely one-tenth of them would suffice to depart from the checklist that determined her score. Such was the familiar cadence that she sensed.
The other party presented this object, with a serious intent of engaging in trade with her.
Because these questions were all carefully designed, and the subsequent integration was also very scientific (that is, beneficial to Party A).
When one side shows considerable greed, it may actually lower the other side's vigilance, since those who are content and desireless are the most difficult to deal with.
Shana was already mentally prepared for the other party to nitpick on various reasons, then say that she had not completed it, and demand more answers in order to extract more value.
She was at a disadvantage from the beginning of this game, so she didn't expect to take the initiative. She could only be at the mercy of others, just like the targets that had been played with by Nailinai in the past.
The current outcome is that the Queen of Eternal Night declared her freedom directly.
"You can leave at any time."
The Eternal Night Queen felt a sense of pleasure as she gazed upon the unexpected expression on her face.
Can I guess it, mother?
This was supposed to be their leisure time together, with a list full of prying questions about gossip and privacy, unrelated to each other's core interests.
Therefore, with the basic goal achieved, even if they have the upper hand, they won't become greedy.
This is a respect for promises, rather than setting various petty rules.
Moreover, she still had an ace up her sleeve - the little angel with nowhere else to go - and hoped to actively seek refuge with the empire.
Therefore, the Eternal Night Queen left behind Shana, who was still puzzled, and took Roger away with her through teleportation.
The portal was still open, and Shana could sense that this reinforced space, which had once been sealed off, suddenly lost its barriers. From now on, she could come and go freely.
"So, this is the true nature of a trade..."
Shana's twisted worldview was finally corrected.
Trade is a mutually beneficial exchange where both parties receive what they need, rather than one party manipulating the rules to win twice in a single transaction.
However, this can also be explained as the other person not valuing her so much, but rather being immersed in the joy of their own world, where she was just a temporary source of amusement.
"How can this be? How can this be? I will make sure you all take me seriously, sooner or later! Definitely!"
She kept mumbling about leaving the space that she had long grown tired of, and then casually destroyed the half-plane that symbolized her dark past.
Returning to Odoo, this time without a guide, I found myself quite unfamiliar with this world and unsure of where to go.
Fortunately, her appearance is distinct enough from that of Charlotte's, and her attire clearly indicates that she is from an affluent family, making it unlikely for anyone to bother her while she idles by the roadside.
"Firstly, I require further information... the grand library?"
Shana recalled some of the introductions Roger had made for her and knew that they were about the wonders of the Green Vines Empire. She understood that one could easily visit them as long as they had reached the level of a senior level magician, regardless of their nationality.
The silver and red interwoven long hair shone under the moonlight. In order to once again grasp the rules and become a leader who could easily manipulate that jerk Roger, the little angel chose to postpone the time for fun and instead gain more intelligence through studying.
To enjoy life, one cannot really frolic like an animal. Being able to eat, play, and having a refined taste is necessary, isn't it?
While being locked in space, she also had repeated analysis and a brief "confrontation" with Roger, understanding the disdain in his eyes.
Next time, I'll let you down!
The losses that I have suffered, I will eventually reclaim them one by one!
