I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

Chapter 475 I know you're in a hurry, but wait... Holy crap?!

"Witch Game: Wooden Man..."

Duke stared at the puppet in the comical, shabby clothes before him, opened his mouth but remained silent. This was the witch game that introduced him to Amber, and the first witch game he had conquered after his "amnesia." So much time had passed that Duke couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia.

But soon, he suddenly realized what was happening and looked around, trying to find Amber in the room—unfortunately, Duke's efforts were fruitless; he didn't see Amber in the room, but only the elusive Carol.

"It seems we're still a long way from the finish line."

Carol, who always chatters around when there's nothing wrong, but disappears the moment something happens, reappeared beside Duke. While sizing up the puppet in the distance, she said with a grin:

"But at least this time you won't be subjected to domestic violence by Cecil—I remember she wasn't involved in your 'Statues Game,' right?"

“That’s right, we hadn’t made up yet back then.” Duke nodded, then glanced at Carol with a hint of something in his eyes. “How did you know? Were you keeping an eye on my every move?”

Carol then realized she had misspoke. Her expression stiffened slightly, but she turned her head away without batting an eye: "No, I was just guessing."

"Can't you at least be a little more sincere when you lie?"

Duke's lips twitched slightly, then he looked down at his inventory, where there was an item he hadn't used at all:

[Item Name: Pinocchio's Heart]

[Item Description: Pinocchio's heart, but can a wooden figure also have a heartbeat and pulse?]

[Item Effect: Grants life to any wooden object.]

This prop was obtained by Duke from the game of "Statues," but he had never found a suitable opportunity to use it. The only time he had a chance to use it was in the Cinderella game, when he planned to use it to give life to the Wishing Tree so it could fight against the Headless Fairy. But in fact, in that witch's game, both the Headless Fairy and the Wishing Tree appeared because Duke had this concept in his mind.

In the final loop, after uncovering all the truth and destroying the time loop he himself created, neither the headless fairy nor the wishing tree mattered anymore, and Pinocchio's heart was naturally no longer needed.

After that, Duke really didn't have any more opportunities to use this item... except for the Tree of Life event, which was many playthroughs ago.

"The leaf of the Tree of Life should also be considered a 'wooden item,' right? Even my original divine body could essentially be considered a 'wooden item,' right? Tsk, thinking about it this way, I should just steal the genuine leaf of the Tree of Life from Noelle and use the Heart of Pinocchio to create another living divine body for myself..."

"What are you muttering about?" Carol didn't hear what Duke was muttering, so she tilted her head curiously, leaned closer to Duke, and asked curiously, "Is there something hidden in this 'Statues' game?"

"There was indeed something hidden here, but back then I didn't have the ability to explore what was hidden here, and now there's no need for me to explore it."

Duke pursed his lips. Of course, something was hidden here—otherwise, why would there only be "Pinocchio's heart" and "Pinocchio's old leg"? What about the rest of Pinocchio's body? But it wouldn't be worth it for Duke to spend his time exploring these things.

Just like the "Gambling Tower" back then, he and Cecil only cleared the first level. There were many more levels behind the Gambling Tower, but Duke never went there again.

"Let's find Amber first... Where is she?"

Duke gritted his teeth, completely ignoring the puppet that had turned around, and continued searching the room for clues about the possible existence of amber or a way to reach the next possible world. This provocative behavior angered the puppet, which suddenly stomped down and appeared next to Duke in an instant, slapping him hard across the face.

Then, the divine fire was lit.

Duke punched the puppet to the ground, stomped it under his foot, and then slowly pulled another "Pinocchio's heart" from its chest. He then curled his lip and said to the struggling puppet beneath him:

"I'm sorry, I'm not the same person I used to be."

After saying this, Duke turned his gaze to other parts of the room, because he did not sense "fate" from the puppet in front of him... But at this moment, some threads of fate came in from outside the room and wrapped around his body at a time that Duke did not expect.

"Huh?"

The next instant, Duke, who was still holding Pinocchio's heart in his hand, was slightly stunned. The scene in front of him changed instantly, from an empty room with only a broken puppet to high-rise buildings and residents passing by on the street - Tyrannosaurus Rex and ants.

Before he knew it, he had arrived in the Cretaceous world, a world of Tyrannosaurus Rex and ants.

Duke was stunned, because this was the witch's game he and Cecil had experienced together. Amber was not supposed to appear here, so why did fate lead him here?

"Roar--"

The roar of a Tyrannosaurus Rex echoed behind them. The massive T-Rex raised its head, and the ants, whether perched on its back or crawling on the dragon city, also raised their heads. The inhabitants of this distorted world simultaneously looked up at the sky. Duke, instinctively, followed suit, and together they saw what was falling from the sky… not a shooting star:

"Holy crap! That thing is a flying saucer?! What the hell is that?"

"Is this the Dark Witch Game you and Cecil experienced together?" Carol looked up, but she didn't know what the swarms of disc-shaped objects flying towards the ground were. Instead of being nervous, she asked curiously, "It looks a lot like a world built with advanced magical technology..."

Stop lamenting here, run!

"...I know you're in a hurry, but don't rush. Can you explain to me why we're running away?"

Duke managed to calm down and pointed to the space fleet of at least tens of thousands of flying saucers in the sky, saying slowly to Carol, "You can imagine it as ten thousand little princes (aliens) arriving in groups at the floating city."

Carol: "?"

Chapter 476 Embracing

Duke was panting heavily. He looked at Carol, who was still standing beside him, and asked breathlessly, "Carol, do you know why this happened?"

They were no longer in the Cretaceous Game, but inside the Tower of Babel, before entering the Turtle Soup Witch Game. In fact, before arriving here, Duke and his companion had experienced no fewer than ten possible worlds. Some were like the Wooden Man Game, which were witch games Duke had experienced earlier, so they were relatively easy to deal with regardless of the changes. However, some were like the Cretaceous Game, where earth-shattering changes occurred (the meteor shower turned into a swarm of UFOs), or like the Cinderella Game, where unexpected differences in the characters' states appeared (Cecil and others possessed unexpectedly powerful abilities).

When faced with tens of thousands of UFOs in the Cretaceous game, even Carol, who had been in a carefree and fun-loving state since entering the Possibility World, couldn't quite enjoy herself anymore. Later, Duke relied on igniting the divine fire and cheating tools to fight his way to the most important UFO among them. He risked being shot down by the UFOs' lasers and killed that UFO, barely managing to escape the Possibility World where amber did not exist.

The Cretaceous Game might be the most dangerous of all the possible worlds so far, but the others are no less dangerous. Even for a top-tier strategy master like Duke, the key issue is that he sees no possibility of ending this series of interconnected possible worlds. Even if he could grasp the key points upon entering a possible world (which method to use to forcefully break down doors, and conquer the possible world in the fastest, simplest, and most brutal way), he would still find it difficult to withstand this intense "relay race."

Just like in the previous possible world, he returned to Sleeping Beauty, where Talia had directly usurped the divine position of the Mute (Ida) and become the new world's Camille, beating up "Duke" who tried to stop her. Coincidentally, Duke and Carol entered this possible world just as she ascended to godhood, replacing the "Duke" of that world to fight against Talia.

Duke fought desperately to finally defeat and kill Talia, which is why he is in such a sorry state. If his condition hadn't recovered as the world changed after entering the next possible world, Duke would probably still be dragging his half-dead body to continue exploring.

More importantly, he didn't feel like he was getting closer to where the amber was.

"You're also starting to get lost in this quantum cloud, and Amber's state is affecting yours as well."

Compared to the utterly disheveled Duke, Carol appeared much more composed. She calmly exhaled and gave an extremely meticulous answer.

They had originally planned to find the amber in this quantum cloud by leveraging Duke's destiny, which was intertwined with that of the amber. However, unexpectedly, Duke was instead affected by this intertwined destiny, and together with the amber, they became lost in this endless world of possibilities.

Duke gritted his teeth. The aftereffects of fighting against the goddess Talia in the previous world were gradually making his soul feel numb. The physical damage had indeed been repaired by the world of possibilities, but the fatigue and overdraft of his soul could not be recovered in a short time.

"Was the first-generation Space Witch also trapped in the quantum cloud back then?" Duke slowly exhaled, staring at Carol and questioning, "Carol, how exactly did you rescue her back then? Tell me your method of success!"

Carol frowned, seemingly deep in thought, but after a long while she shook her head:

"I really don't remember."

She wasn't lying; she was just a possibility Carol had set up beforehand—it was indeed nonsense for her to say that "she was pitiful, weak, and helpless," but the things she said she didn't remember seemed to genuinely mean they didn't.

Duke gritted his teeth, barely managing to stand up, wanting to move forward, deeper into the Tower of Babel, and into that turtle soup game.

His mind remained tense. After continuous battles and calculations, even he was on the verge of collapse. However, the amber, which was about to be permanently lost in the quantum cloud, was like a Damocles' sword hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment. Duke simply could not bear the consequences of losing the amber, so he had to keep moving forward without stopping and seize the last bit of time and opportunity.

Duke actually knew what he needed to do to rescue Amber—and that was what Carol wanted him to do.

To grasp a legendary destiny in the realm of fate.

But how easy is that? Countless heroic professionals spend their entire lives without ever reaching the threshold of legendary status, let alone comprehending the destiny of a legend. Duke doesn't believe he lacks the talent to become a legend, but in a short period, circumstances have not only forced him to grasp the destiny of a legend, but have also limited the type of that destiny he can attain.

"Death," something so commonplace, simply won't work, not even Cecil's "I think."

What he needs is a legendary destiny directly related to fate, and only by using this legendary destiny can he bring her out of this quantum cloud through his destiny, which is bound to Amber's.

"...We have no choice but to continue."

Just then, a somewhat surprised voice suddenly sounded behind Duke:

Duke?

Carol, who was next to Duke, disappeared again without warning, and Duke subconsciously turned around and saw a familiar face.

Cecil, all alone.

However, the moment Duke saw Cecil, he didn't feel reassured or safe. Instead, he immediately became wary, even preparing for battle and igniting his Starfire. This was a world of possibilities; in this endless, layered world, anything could happen, and Cecil could very well be his enemy.

Ok.

Even if Cecil and Duke have a good relationship in this possible world, it doesn't mean Duke is safe. She could very well see him as a bad guy trying to impersonate Duke and then start a fight.

Having learned his lesson, Duke remained vigilant.

Guangbao, on the other hand, also keenly sensed Duke's wariness. She tilted her head in surprise, and then she saw something more—she saw a rare "vulnerability" in Duke.

For some reason, Cecil felt that Duke was on the verge of collapse. He was still holding on, but he was about to give up.

why?

Cecil had such a thought in his mind, but he quickly dismissed it and strode toward Duke.

She paid no attention to the flames burning on Duke, nor did she care about his wary gaze. She simply felt that the person she loved was currently enduring pain she was unaware of.

So Cecil walked up to Duke, opened his arms to him, and said with a smile:

"Give me a hug."

"Huh?"

Cecil had no intention of giving Duke a chance to refuse. In the instant Duke was stunned, she took another step forward, took the initiative to hug Duke, and their bodies were tightly embraced. Then she pressed her cheek intimately against Duke's cheek, but said nothing, just quietly held him like that.

Carol did not pause the world, but at this moment, time seemed to stand still forever at this beautiful moment.

Chapter 477 What's it like to have your chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) diary read aloud to your face?

Carol watched Duke and Cecil embrace and fell silent.

She wasn't envious of her friend being able to do such intimate things with Duke. After all, if she wanted, Carol could stop time at any time and hold Duke for as long as she wanted... But Carol envied the bond between Cecil and Duke.

She could see, of course, that Duke, who was being held tightly in Cecil's arms, had all his fatigue, exhaustion, numbness, and vulnerability swept away in a short time. He was completely refreshed and had regained the necessary sharpness and initiative.

Duke's transformation was a welcome development for Carol's plans. He needed to comprehend a legendary destiny during this journey of fate, and it had to be a destiny-related legendary destiny. If he couldn't, he wouldn't be able to save Amber or the Floating City.

But Carol couldn't be happy at all, because she realized that not only Amber, but also Cecil's status in Duke's heart had unknowingly risen to this point.

Amber was the goal that Duke worked hard for and strived for, and Cecil gave Duke the motivation to heal and continue to work hard.

And what about her?

He's probably just a minor, insignificant character.

Carol slowly exhaled. Then, the aura of the next possible world enveloped Duke in Cecil's arms. She subconsciously paused time, walked to Duke's side, and entered the next possible world with him.

At this moment, they were physically close, but emotionally distant, so far that it chilled one to the bone.

……

Duke slowly exhaled, feeling the lingering warmth of Cecil's embrace, and gazed at the world that was about to change once again.

After embracing Cecil, they didn't exchange a single word before once again causing a change in the world, leading them to a new world of possibilities. But just one hug was enough for Duke to pull himself together.

Her embrace symbolized the preciousness of everyday life, giving Duke the courage to start afresh and strengthening his resolve—he had to get Amber out of the quantum cloud no matter what, in order to return to normal life.

"Only when everyone returns to their daily lives safely..."