Chapter 98 The Rise and the Countless Falls

Space Bubble Battlefield.

Unknowingly, another day had passed.

“How… how… how could it be like this!” Another death, another corpse run—the snake-headed man and the guy with sunglasses were utterly disheartened, tears of despair threatening to spill.

After a day and a night of fierce combat, the two now bore the dazzling golden mark of Level 20 atop their foreheads. And it was certain—this was the highest level, no further ascension possible.

They could leap onto rooftops five or six stories high, shatter walls with a single punch; they possessed might like never before, a fierceness previously unimagined!

All earned after a day and night without food, drink, or rest.

But… though leveling up was exhilarating, the experience was one of utter despair!

For the difficulty of the game had not eased with their advancement. In fact, only the earliest levels brought a fleeting sense of triumph; soon enough, laughter was replaced by helpless cries, and they found themselves back in the cycle: death, corpse run, battle, death again, corpse run once more…

They had managed to drag Old Bull out of the ruins, but as the henchmen grew stronger, every step in the quest line was pushed forward by blood, tears, and bodies.

Moreover, after countless trials, hardships, and deaths, they finally found a bull for Old Bull, only for the self-assured, two-hundred-year-old Old Bull to whisper, barely clinging to life, “This… this isn’t… isn’t… the bull I’m looking for…”

By now, the two had learned that Old Bull wasn’t searching for his own bull.

If it wasn’t his own bull, any bull should suffice, right? Why bother with distinctions?

But no, this one wasn’t right…

So they had to keep searching—and, naturally, keep dying.

“How… how… how could it be like this!” What they shed now was blood and tears.

“What’s so strange about it? Isn’t life just a series of ups and downs and downs and downs and downs… and downs?” Alpha Princess was unfazed by their misery.

The reason was simple: the henchmen leveled up, too.

And their leveling had no upper limit; with time, they grew stronger, endlessly stacking power.

Imagine a round of League of Legends stretching several days…

The heroes were maxed out, fully equipped, ready to buy one get one free, yet they couldn’t find a place to purchase gear; nor did they have talents stacking attributes for kills. So while they could demolish structures, fighting henchmen was like scratching an itch.

Just last night, the duo lived and died and died and lived, only to confirm a cruel fact—they couldn’t win anymore, and it was only getting worse.

This was effort, only to discover true despair.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” Sipping milk, then biting down on garlic, Alpha Princess enjoyed her breakfast while watching the two suffer, their confusion and pain reminiscent of neutered cats. Delicious food, comedy right before her eyes—it was almost as if she’d returned to the days before disaster!

In the midst of her delight, a voice suddenly sounded: “S-sorry.”

It was, of course, Ye Chao’s voice, awkward as if his tongue were twisted into a Möbius loop.

“What did you say?” Alpha Princess wondered if she was hallucinating.

“I said, I’m sorry, I was wrong…” Ye Chao spoke, glancing at Rolling Bear gesturing in front of him, his face puzzled: Would saying this bring Alpha Princess back?

Rolling Bear patted his chest: Trust me, this will work.

Alpha Princess looked up at the sky, mainly at the newly risen sun: This iron-willed man apologizing to her? The sun must be rising in the west! Did he take the wrong medicine last night? Or was he up too early and not fully awake?

“You were wrong? Wrong about what?”

Wrong about what? Where did I go wrong? Ye Chao looked at Rolling Bear.

Rolling Bear covered his face with his paw: You have to ask me? Don’t you have any sense of your own mistakes?

No, truly none… Ye Chao was lost.

Was Alpha Princess angry because he kept secret the matter of the Three-Star Remote and materialization from her?

Ye Chao had a general idea of the situation, but was Alpha Princess really angry enough to stay away over this? It didn’t make sense.

First, the Three-Star Remote targeted imagined Fire Seed weapons, referring to physical objects.

Was she a physical object? She was his blade, his little sun.

Even if he’d materialized some things, it was all an extension of his abilities, which lay in communication.

That is, the flash drive he imagined—Four-Star could remotely modify it, Five-Star could change its size, weight, and so on. Whether Three-Star could do it, and if so, why—it was hard to say…

So it needed observation, needed testing.

Even more, he couldn’t tell her. Materialization was profoundly mysterious; to get accurate results, he needed three phases of data—him alone, Alpha Princess unaware and uncooperative; Alpha Princess alone, him uncooperative; and both working together.

The first two phases were crucial, like a double-blind drug trial—how could he explain?

Besides, Alpha Princess had been born and raised in a lab, observed and tested all her life; these things were second nature, ingrained in her bones.

To notify her, to discuss it, would be doubting her professionalism!

So Ye Chao couldn’t fathom…

Why was she angry, after all? Was she truly angry, or did she simply want a vacation? Handling these messy affairs every day was exhausting; wanting a break was perfectly normal.

The iron-willed man was perplexed, unable to answer, as if suffering from intestinal blockage.

Why had he gone silent? Was he thinking, speaking offhand, or simply not awake? Alpha Princess was frustrated as well.

If only she hadn’t added that question! He could ace cultural exams’ bonus questions, but for emotional intelligence exams… even square-rooted and multiplied by ten, he’d never pass. Could he answer the bonus question?

The air grew silent.

Nothing is more unsettling than sudden silence.

Just as they stood worlds apart yet side by side, a sudden crash shattered the door; several people stormed in like a whirlwind, full of menace.

“What are you trying to do…” Ye Chao’s call abruptly ended in this chaos.

Something was wrong! There was trouble at home!

Alpha Princess sprang to her feet, no longer caring for her milk or garlic, waving to the two despairing men in the distance: “Hurry up and die, get over here and regroup!” With that, she dove headfirst, dying ahead as a gesture of respect.

She had to return, she must return; Ye Chao seemed to be in trouble. But… she couldn’t go back unless she cleared the Space Bubble.

How to clear it?

Those two over there were nearly constipated trying to clear it.

“Let’s delete the main quest together and reset the instance!”

It was just that simple!