In the Lord’s manor, now unrecognizable after being transformed by bionic servants, Lin Lan was calmly putting on a light gray work suit.

This outfit was one he had snatched from a factory in the Ideal Outer City, light and durable, greatly favored by Lin Lan.

Bai stood in front of the young man, patiently tidying his collar.

"Lin Lan~ I also want to go to the new subquest~"

The blond Witch leaned in, looking eagerly into Lin Lan’s eyes.

"Based on my past experience, I probably won’t survive the first time entering a subquest."

Lin Lan reached out and tousled her ear-length short hair: "You should know, me dying in the subquest doesn’t matter, but if anything happens to others, my mind will be in a sluggish state for a long time, affecting the next subquest exploration."

He laughed: "How about I take you with me after I figure out the situation inside?"

"Alright, alright." Lucia sighed with hands on her hips, no longer pestering him.

She put on her goggles and picked up a small Light Beam Cutter, then started working on the casing of a Messenger communicator on the nearest table: "Then I’ll wait for you to come back."

Lin Lan nodded, taking the woven bag handed over by Bai.

Everything was ready.

Lin Lan didn’t plan to carry any extra tools, so as not to waste them in the new subquest.

His plan was quite simple: Once inside, without saying a word, just start scavenging around, grabbing whatever he could!

Lin Lan rubbed his hands together eagerly.

The next second, a delicate Divine Spirit card appeared in the Foreigner’s palm.

The eerie snake scale patterns on the card’s surface tore through space, and a deep fissure opened on both sides, revealing a giant ’eye’ hovering in front of Lin Lan.

The deep pupil began to shift left and right, as if indifferently observing everything in the world. Lucia’s breath caught as she realized she couldn’t move under its gaze.

The girl blinked with difficulty and found that Lin Lan’s expression remained unchanged, as if unaffected.

He stepped forward.

"Loading ’Celestial Principle Divine Kingdom caught in the whirlpool of fate’ for you!"

"Single entry time limit... Eh, it’s all question marks..."

"Explore this subquest to obtain items of golden quality nya!"

"Stop reading, I can see the pop-ups..."

The giant eye slowly closed.

·

...

Falling...

The moment he stepped through the subquest’s door, Lin Lan fell into a long descent.

Compared to the old subquests in the Ideal City, the loading time of the Celestial Principle Divine Kingdom was extraordinarily long, and this subquest was clearly different...

[Remaining exploration time: ???]

Lin Lan glanced at the system panel, lost in thought.

He asked, "Vivian, do you know about Dr. Tianli’s Divine Kingdom?"

"Of course not, do you think gods can just visit each other at will?"

The black cat on the panel looked quite excited: "Gods are born in the Divine Kingdom and eternally trapped in the Divine Kingdom. The rules and concepts can’t be meddled with nya."

This cheap goddess was, as usual, useless...

"Lin Lan, I’ve never personally experienced the exciting world outside!"

The goddess cried out.

Looking into those shining eyes, Lin Lan’s gaze softened.

But the next moment, there was a loud ’bang’.

Lin Lan unexpectedly let out a muffled grunt, as if he had hit an invisible barrier.

In the black cat’s exclamation, the ’barrier’ was smashed open by the Foreigner, shattered snake scales flying everywhere, as if a pained hiss echoed from the otherworldly depths.

Then, the boundless void was replaced by pure light.

Lin Lan lifted his eyelids dizzily.

He seemed to be held up by some kind of anti-gravity force, preventing him from becoming a pancake as soon as the adventure began, thus allowed to continue.

He stood straight, finding himself in an incredibly spacious hall.

The hall was empty, without any extra decorations in the space. The four silvery-white walls were inlaid with grand doors carved with elaborate reliefs on their surfaces.

Lin Lan’s eyes gradually widened in surprise to find he wasn’t the only living being in the hall!

Amidst the surrounding chatter, scattered around were various people in exotic outfits.

Looking around, there were sharp-eyed elders in luxurious clothes, imposing middle-aged figures, and aloof women crowned with pitch-black diadems...

They were protected and surrounded by several attendants, maintaining distances among themselves, with all possessing mysterious and extraordinary auras.

Lin Lan was almost dazzled by their ornate decorations.

The next second, a series of gazes locked onto the strange figure descending from above, their eyes filled with vigilance and scrutiny.

"Uh... hello everyone?"

Lin Lan extended his hand, trying to greet the crowd.

No one responded, and people averted their gazes, their eyes full of indifference.

Lin Lan: ...

He felt a bit confused, the young man looked around and walked toward the nearest young man in a black robe.

The young man sat quietly on the ground, seemingly meditating, with a cold-looking girl standing beside him.

She wore a ponytail, her arms hidden in the wide sleeves of her elegant robe, with a black and gold blade over two meters long hanging at her waist.

Lin Lan politely asked, "Excuse me, sir, may I ask where this is—"

Clang!

Before Lin Lan could approach, the girl unsheathed the blade, longer than herself, with an incredible speed, pointing the blade forward and looking at Lin Lan as if he were filth.

"Stop here, mind your words."

She said coldly, "Take another step towards the Saint Emperor, and I’ll cut off your head."

Saint Emperor?

Lin Lan was stunned, looking at the young man in the black robe, yet even with the commotion, he didn’t so much as lift an eyelid.

"Darn it! This is infuriating! What kind of attitude is this!"

The black cat in the system panel jumped around anxiously: "How dare they look down on us! Lin Lan, quickly shout out about our relationship to open their eyes!"

Lin Lan just smiled, turned, and left.

It had to be said, Lin Lan’s attire was indeed shabby, wearing a dingy salvage worker’s suit and holding a giant woven bag.

The young man stood in the hall like a chicken amid cranes, akin to a beggar in an upper-class banquet.

But Lin Lan was not so naive to be angered by others’ indifference; instead, he observed the surroundings curiously.

People seemed to be waiting for something.

This new subquest’s gameplay was evidently not merely scavenging, his curiosity piqued even more, reminiscent of his early days exploring the Otherworld.

At this moment, someone tapped Lin Lan’s shoulder. He turned around to see a young, handsome face appear before him.

The person was a suave young man wearing a white garment and a white crown.

"My friend, judging from your appearance, you must have just gained the qualification to enter here?"

He wore a gentle and warm smile, with an affable demeanor: "Just call me the White Crown King."

"I’m Lin Lan, just a minor Lord."

Lin Lan nodded, his eyes curious: "So this place is..."

"We generally call this the ’Hall of Destiny’, and having come here means you hold the identity of a ’Civilization Leader’."

The White Crown King smiled and said, "Don’t mind the aloofness of others, as you can see, there are just too many ’Monarchs’ here."

A hint of surprise finally appeared in Lin Lan’s eyes: "You mean to say, everyone in this hall is of prominent status, a King?"