Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

Furthermore, we cannot rule out the possibility that these two points of doubt are related, because perhaps the mastermind is after the labyrinth... But why the labyrinth? What kind of being is capable of commanding monsters, demons, and elves?

"…Let's forget about going out," Ning said calmly. "Right now, our situation is more serious than what's happening outside. No matter how many monsters come from outside, we and the Dragon King are there, so it's practically impossible for anything to go wrong. Therefore, our primary task right now is to find that so-called control panel."

"Hehe, just like I thought." Li chuckled. "This will make it easier for us to continue searching for those three missing people, right?"

"Think whatever you want," Ning sighed helplessly, "but don't forget to keep an eye on your magic eye and don't miss anything crucial."

The two continued walking through the familiar maze-like corridors, both agreeing that the control panel existed and that finding it would definitely bring about a breakthrough in the current situation.

“Speaking of which,” Li asked as they walked, “Ning, who do you think is behind those monsters?”

I've heard many of Ning's speculations, but I haven't heard her complete speculation about the whole incident. She doesn't regard unknown or uncertain factors as answers, but this time I want to hear what Ning thinks.

"Hmm? Oh, you mean the mastermind?" Ning brought her attention back a little. "It's hard to say, but I think there's a high probability that it's Ghost."

"——!?"

The Ghosts were the direct troops of the King of Alyas during the old Kingdom of Alyas. They possessed extremely strong combat capabilities, as well as unimaginably twisted personalities and worldviews, making them a very wicked group. Ning's reminder brought Li back to reality, reminding him of this group.

“The people we defeated might only be a part of that old bald man’s power.” Ning’s expression gradually turned serious. “Perhaps the forces of Old Alyas haven’t been completely wiped out yet, especially the Ghosts. I don’t know if we’ve really eliminated all the Ghosts, but considering the possibility that a large number of them still remain, it’s not impossible that they will continue doing those things, manipulating monsters and elves to attack the labyrinth…”

Li gasped, a chill creeping down her spine at the thought that the ghosts might not have been completely eradicated.

Chapter 18 Outsiders

Night was approaching in this world, but instead of the day-night cycle seen on Earth, the sky seemed to magically change color, as if the curtain of the sky had been transformed. It had been nearly three hours since Li and Ning had separated from the others. They had been searching for the three missing people and the control panel they longed for, while simultaneously fighting off invading monsters and demons on the outskirts of the maze.

"Reason is above."

"OK." Shattering Slash!

Ding!

A flash of silver light, and Li's magic swiftly pierced through the rock wall, cleaving apart the monster, the Flame Tiger, that was about to attack. Because it wasn't a purely elemental monster, the Flame Tiger didn't dissipate, but Li and Ning couldn't find anything they needed on it.

Not everyone enjoys being constantly harassed by monsters, and the two women shared this sentiment. However, to alleviate the pressure on the Akihabara security forces, they decided to do it as a side effect. Furthermore, while such incidents were unavoidable, if they could choose which monster to attack, they would gladly choose the Blazing Thunder Wolf.

The Blazing Thunder Wolves, being the monsters that had shown care to Li from the very beginning, still garnered considerable attention from her, particularly regarding their precious hearts. They had previously conducted a small experiment on these hearts while in the labyrinth, proving that the Blazing Thunder Heart could function as a power source.

After that, when Akihabara began to try to develop electricity, they also looked for this guy quite a few times. However, at that time, most of the power equipment built in Akihabara had been destroyed by the Kingdom Army. They did not have the time to study and modify the original power equipment design. Therefore, they urgently needed a batch of Blazing Thunder Wolves to plunder a wave of hearts and rebuild these power equipment. In this way, the huge pile of electrical appliances stored in the Borg Merchant Guild warehouse could be put to use.

Especially the appliances used in cooking. If the believers knew about this, they would probably celebrate for a whole day and night. In this world, the destructive power of desserts is enormous, even comparable to Ning's hydrogen bomb magic, although it is second only to their impact on the spiritual realm.

The two women walked around the corpse of the Demon Tiger, which had been cleaved in two by magic. Disgusted and lacking any useful materials, they simply left. They figured the corpse would eventually be eaten by monsters anyway, so they didn't bother dealing with it.

The numerous monsters they cleared along the way significantly boosted their levels, especially Li's. Her Goddess Substitute skill seemed to have amplified, propelling her to level 152. Ning, on the other hand, reached level 173. These high-level monsters seemed to be simply free experience points, allowing Li and Ning to continuously defeat them, level up, and become stronger. No matter what kind of monster came, they dealt with it as easily as cutting vegetables, like the Demon Flame Tiger they had just encountered.

"Hmm..." Li looked at the pocket watch he had brought out of the cave. "Ah... it's almost eight o'clock."

"Really?" Ning Xiaoxiao was surprised. "It is indeed getting late... We should probably head back now."

"Eh...wait a minute?"

Rie, who was about to open the portal, suddenly stopped constructing the magic circle and let it dissipate into the air. Ning looked at her in confusion, but Rie ignored Ning's question and walked around, sniffing at something.

"It smells...it smells like water! And it smells like earth!" Li exclaimed in delight.

"Are you a dog...?"

Ning's face twitched slightly. Then she sniffed the air and suddenly, the fragrance of earth mixed with a hint of moisture entered her nose. This smell was undoubtedly... from water.

"There really is water..." Ning immediately started walking. "We should go now, let's find the water source first."

"Oh, wait a minute?! Were you just being sarcastic again?!"

"You think too much."

Why is water so important? First, a person can survive for about five days without food, but three days without food or water will be fatal. The resource scarcity faced by Akihabara includes water. The Time Corridor is a labyrinth entirely made of stone, making it difficult to find water within its walls.

The two followed the scent of water and walked quickly, avoiding fights along the way as much as possible. Eventually, they found the water source.

It was a hidden room. At first, they thought there might be undiscovered items or treasures inside, but upon closer inspection, they found nothing but water. However, it wasn't a complete loss…

"Wow! It's huge!?"

"It's much bigger than I imagined..."

Both of them were startled by the sight before them. There was a very large pool of water, and above the other end of the pool, there was a spout that continuously spouted water, creating high waves and a roaring sound. How to put it... it felt like visiting a tourist attraction in a tourist area.

The two walked towards the pool, their feet sinking into the damp mud. Rin had already used her magic eyes to scan the surroundings, confirming that there were no other living beings nearby. Ning knelt on one knee beside the pool, scooped up a handful of water, and drank it, tasting it while analyzing its composition.

"How is it?" Li asked, squatting down beside her.

"Gulp..." Ning swallowed the water and said, "Yes, it's clean water. Drinking it won't have any negative effects. I analyzed it and there are no substances that are harmful to the human body. This water is safe to drink."

"Wow, finally one problem solved!" Li happily scooped up a puddle of water and drank it down. "It's so sweet! With this water, we can maintain our basic living environment for now, right?"

“We can’t make that judgment yet,” Ning shook his head. “We don’t know exactly how much water there is here, or how long it will last us, so it’s better not to be too optimistic.”

"Hmm...too."

After being doused with cold water, Li calmed down. At least she had solved one of the problems, which, although only the beginning, made her very happy. Looking at the water in front of her, she felt as if she had been healed.

Then, the Mystic Eyes of Reason caught a glimpse of something strange...

"This is……?"

Li walked towards the object that was lying not far from her and picked it up. Ning noticed that something seemed off about Li, so she followed her over. She saw that Li was holding something that looked like a kettle.

"When did you take the kettle out?" Ning asked.

“Huh? This isn’t mine…” Li shook her head. “I picked it up from the ground…”

"Picked it up?"

Logically speaking, such a secluded place should be impossible for anyone other than Li and Ning to discover. However, the presence of something resembling a kettle suggests that someone might have arrived here before them.

“Li,” Ning patted Li on the shoulder, “use your magic eye to scan this place, look for footprints. We may have found a clue to the three missing people.”

"I think so too……"

Golden flames surged within her eyes as the demonic eye swiftly located the footprints and automatically categorized them, marking them with different colors. At a glance, there were approximately seven colors, meaning that besides the two of them, five other people had been here.

“That’s strange… why are there seven footprints…” Li lowered her eyes. “If there were only the footprints of the three missing people, then even including the two of us, there should only be five footprints, right? Why are there two extra?”

“Seven?” Ning stroked his chin. “Although I had considered that they might be separated for some special reason, I really didn’t expect this to happen. Not only did they not lose any members, but their numbers even increased… Li, observe the direction of the footprints and see if you can find out where they went.”

“I’ve looked…” Li began to get nervous. “These footprints were relatively neat when they came in, but they started to get messy in the middle. Although they are a bit hard to distinguish, I found out where they went.”

“Is that so…” Ning nodded. “They’re probably being chased by something. Let’s hurry and follow them and lead the way.”

"Ok!"

Ning quickly used the map crystal to record the location, then put the crystal away and left with Li. Li's magic eye locked onto the footprints of the five people and also showed them in other places. The two of them ran quickly along these footprints, hoping to catch up with the five people in time. Even if they didn't want to find the three people, they at least had to rescue them.

"...!?"

"what happened?"

"The footprints are getting blurry! Some are no longer visible!"

For some reason, perhaps because they had been away from that damp, muddy ground for a while, the soles of their shoes no longer had any mud to leave marks on this hard stone floor, making it difficult for the Magic Eye to search, and the footprints were becoming increasingly unclear. If they still couldn't find it by now, they would probably have to rely on themselves.

Ding!

A faint sound came from nearby...

Ding dong!

It seems to be getting clearer and clearer—

Bang! Boom—!

"You heard that!?"

Li instinctively exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, I heard that too!"

Both of them heard the sound—the sound of battle, the sound of weapons clashing against something, and possibly even magical explosions. Someone was fighting nearby. The Magic Eye's superior intelligence allowed it to focus its calculations on locating the battle and quickly marked the location on the map, including the amount of magical energy reflected at that spot.

Five...no! Eight!

"time to go!"

"Ah."

Rin instinctively activated her half-dragon form, unfurling her pure silver dragon wings. The two sped towards the battle's location, eventually catching up with the fight. Three men were battling a meteor spirit, with an injured girl protected behind them. It seemed they had been caught while fleeing, but this was a wise move, buying Rin and Ning enough time to arrive.

Ouch—! "It's so hot!"

The temperature around the three meteor spirits began to rise rapidly, and the flames on their bodies turned blue, as if they were preparing to unleash a powerful attack. The rapidly rising temperature also affected the surrounding area; the metal sword in the hand of the leading middle-aged man turned red-hot, causing him to cry out in pain and drop the sword. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the three meteor spirits launched a fierce attack.

"Will I let you succeed?!"

bump!bump!bump!

Li's shout, accompanied by three consecutive thuds, sent the three Meteor Spirits flying through the air using the suitcase. The Meteor Spirits that were sent flying crashed into the rock wall, and cracks could even be seen on their bodies, showing how much force was applied in that attack.

"Go die."

Immediately following, accompanied by Ning's cold voice, three powerful water cannons roared down. The meteorite spirit, embedded in the rock wall, was unable to escape for the time being and was directly hit by the water cannons. Due to the rapid cooling effect, the meteorite spirit expanded and contracted due to the temperature change and exploded on the spot. Li used spatial magic to raise an invisible barrier to protect the five people behind her.

The entire battle lasted less than a minute and was overwhelmingly decisive. The three men were dumbfounded, but when they noticed the two figures, they all exclaimed in surprise.

"Ambassador!? Miss Ning!?"

"Oh... now I don't even need to ask." A mysterious smile appeared on Ning's face.

"We finally found you guys." Li walked over with a suitcase. "The captain told us that the three of you were missing, so we came out to look for you. Honestly, you guys actually came all the way to the outskirts."

"Uh, sorry, we didn't expect to come this far... We're really sorry to have troubled you both."

All three bowed politely to thank the two men. Their personalities were impeccable, and Ning didn't intend to make fun of them. Besides, it wasn't really their fault, so she simply changed the subject.

“By the way,” Ning pointed to the two girls over there, “who are those two?”

“Oh, those two are from outside…” the middle-aged man in the lead said. “We stumbled into the outer area by accident and encountered them being chased by monsters at the exit, so we stepped in to help. We never expected to cause such a huge mess.”

“It’s alright,” Ning smiled. “You did a great job, didn’t you? Li?”

"Eh? Oh... yeah..." Startled by the sudden mention, Rin panicked for a moment, then hurriedly said, "It's good that you were saved. It's a miracle that the three of you are still alive..."

"Hahaha, really? If it weren't for the two of you, we might be dead here."

At this moment, they appeared to be chatting and laughing, but both Li and Ning were thinking about the same question: how did these two get to the maze from such a harsh environment outside? And what was that thing...?

Was it guiding them here?

Chapter 19 Akihabara's Sudden Rise to Fame

The two people who were thinking about this question at the same time couldn't help but be wary of the two foreign girls. No matter how you looked at it, these two girls didn't seem to be capable of dealing with the monsters outside whose average level was over 100. Their magic fluctuations weren't strong, their overall stats weren't high, and they didn't have any particularly advanced skills. How did these two get to Akihabara?

Although it felt a bit unfair to the two girls in front of her if Li and Ning thought this way, the most difficult thing in this situation was not to arouse suspicion. Before ascertaining their identities, Li and Ning would maintain their normal demeanor for the time being.

“Well, now that we’ve found the three of you,” Li urged, “we should head back now. The exploration of the maze is over.”

"Huh? Huh, is it over?" The young man was dumbfounded.

“Yes, that’s right.” Ning nodded. “Regarding this, we could have avoided this dangerous exploration, but neither Li nor I gave you a map of the maze beforehand, which led to this situation. Here, we want to apologize to you first.”

"I'm sorry. It was our oversight." Lian Li also apologized sincerely.

"No, no, please don't do this," the middle-aged man said in a panic. "In the end, it's because we were too eager to break through the status quo that things turned out this way. You two have no reason to apologize."

"Yes, yes, Ambassador, you are not wrong."

The two young men quickly nodded in agreement.

"Sorry for making you laugh." Ning returned to her original state. "Now we just need to get back as soon as possible. The two of us will take you back with us."

"Really?" one of the young men exclaimed excitedly. "Haha, finally we can go back and get some rest!"

"Excuse me for... a moment."

At this moment, one of the girls mustered up the courage to speak to them, and everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to the girl who seemed to want to say something but hesitated.

The girl hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Excuse me," the girl asked, "are you going back to Akihabara?"

“Yes, that’s right.” Ning nodded. “We’re going back to Akihabara next.”

"Is that so... That's great... It really is true..."

"elder sister!?"

Upon hearing Ning's words, the older woman burst into tears. The suddenness of the conversation caught the three men off guard, and the younger woman was also at a loss. Li and Ning, however, observed the other woman's expression and found no sign of feigned emotion... Perhaps they were just overthinking things.