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

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere?" Li asked with concern.

“No… these are just minor injuries,” the older sister stopped sobbing and gave a simple smile. “I’m just so happy. So Akihabara really is here…”

"If possible, could you please take us to Akihabara?" the younger sister said on behalf of her uneasy older sister. "We've come to Akihabara to seek refuge. You can leave us here, but we just want a safe place."

"Calm down, calm down," Li reassured them. "It's okay, you're safe now. We'll take you to Akihabara."

"Really?!" A delighted smile spread across her sister's face.

"Really." Li smiled slightly, then turned to the other three men, "You've just had a thrilling escape, do you need to rest a bit before you go?"

"Thank you for your concern, Ambassador," the young man smiled. "We're energetic men, after all. This little bit of trouble is nothing. Shouldn't we be getting them both to Akihabara as soon as possible?"

“Yes, Ambassador, we’re not related.” The middle-aged man had already picked up their luggage again. “We need to ensure their safety first.”

"Is that so..." After thinking for a moment, he said, "Alright then, let's set off immediately and get back as soon as possible. Let's go, Ning."

“Okay.” Ning nodded, then glanced at the two sisters. “Please stay close to us, or you might get lost in this maze forever.”

"Okay, okay!"

Li and Ning remained at the very front of the group, with three men bringing up the rear to protect the two girls in the middle. This didn't mean Li and Ning trusted the two men; they were simply maintaining a neutral stance, refraining from excessive interference, and handling the situation according to their usual methods.

In reality, the two women deliberately took a longer route instead of choosing the shortcut, constantly turning corners within the maze. Newcomers were certainly not very familiar with the maze, so they would naturally believe those who seemed trustworthy. Li and Ning took advantage of this lack of knowledge to deceive them.

The reason for taking the long way was twofold: firstly, to confuse the two girls and make them think that the maze was truly terrifying; secondly, to prevent them from memorizing the route, since who knows if the two girls might be ghosts, and if they were remembered, Akihabara would be in trouble.

On the way, Li asked, "By the way, why did you two come here? It must be very dangerous outside right now. How did you get here?"

Li and Ning walked at the front of the group to discuss some countermeasures. First, they had to use the standard phrases.

"Huh? Why did we come here?" the older sister, still a little uneasy, replied. "We heard about Akihabara from the Adventurers' Guild... and then, many adventurers said that Akihabara is the safest place in the world right now, so we asked someone to bring us here."

"Huh? Then why are there only two of you?" Li asked the obvious question.

"Well, the adventurers at the Adventurers' Guild really support everyone coming here," the younger sister explained. "So, the guild organized an escort team to bring those who want to come to Akihabara here. Because time was tight and they couldn't escort too many people at once, they just dropped us off at the entrance, gave us a map, and hurriedly went back..."

"That's really irresponsible..." Ning said calmly. "They only gave us a map and then put the weak into the maze... So, where is that map now?"

"I'm so sorry... we accidentally lost it while we were being chased by monsters..." the older sister said shamefully. "If I had kept the map safe, we wouldn't have caused those three so much trouble..."

"Hehe, it's alright, it's alright." The middle-aged man chuckled. "It's only natural for men to protect women, you don't need to be so polite."

"You're so reliable!" my sister exclaimed.

The middle-aged man blushed and turned his head away, probably because he was both shy and very happy after being innocently praised by his younger sister... So easy to understand...

"Eh... so it's the Adventurers' Guild doing this kind of thing?" Li exclaimed. "Back then, we received a lot of help from them..."

According to what the two said, they were able to reach the labyrinth because of the Adventurers' Guild's help. The reason why there were only two of them was that they couldn't escort too many people at the same time and time was too tight. They were only escorted to the entrance of the labyrinth, given a rough map of the labyrinth, and then left.

Putting aside whether these things are even possible, logically speaking, Scott is not the kind of person who would do such a thing. He is an old man with a strong sense of justice, and he would not just leave a helpless girl in the labyrinth like that. Even his group of adventurers would not do that.

That's precisely why these two are even more worthy of suspicion...

"How is it outside now?" Li thought to herself, since it's a way of getting information out of people, she might as well try to get some information about the outside world as well.

In any case, they will not trust what the two girls say for the time being. The second step after getting information out of them is to verify it. The two of them will go outside to observe and then compare the situation with what the two girls said before making a decision. For now, it is not bad to hear some information from outside as a reference.

"Outside?" A bitter expression appeared on the older sister's face. "It's terrible, absolutely terrible... We came from the new kingdom of Alyas. Since the queen took the throne, the internal strife has never stopped, and monsters are constantly attacking human settlements. The outside world has become hell... especially the new kingdom... Although the queen is trying her best to protect us, the old kingdom's power is too great, and she can't change the situation anytime soon. We came here with the help of the Adventurers' Guild because we couldn't stand this dangerous life anymore."

Is that so...? It seems things aren't going very smoothly on Alice's end...

Neither Li nor Ning spoke, because it was already quite commendable that Alice had managed to seize power in such a short time and make so many efforts. They just hadn't expected the bald king's power to be so stubborn… It seemed Alice still had a long way to go…

"What about the principality?" Li asked.

"The Duchy?" the older sister said apologetically. "I'm sorry... because the New Kingdom and the Duchy are too far apart, and the situation outside is very bad right now. There are monsters and the weather is very chaotic, so there is almost no contact and no way to know about the situation in other places... However, I heard from the adventurers who escorted us that the situation in the Duchy is not bad, and there are people there who are trying to come to Akihabara."

How are things at Saiwei too...?

Even though Rin is now fully focused on rebuilding Akihabara, she's still very concerned about the situation of her former comrades. Alice is having a rough time in the kingdom—no, in the new kingdom of Alas—but at least she's safe. Sevi seems to be safe in the duchy as well… As for the Demon King, he should be fine… because that guy Genze is like that… Sigh, never mind…

“That’s why we came to Akihabara,” the younger sister suddenly chimed in. “Although I only found out recently, the biggest contributors to saving the world this time are all from the Principality of Akihabara! I’d heard before that the people of Akihabara were strange but incredibly powerful, but I never imagined they were this powerful! The adventurers all said that Akihabara has five dragon kings helping them, and so many other amazing people!”

"That's why people say Akihabara is the safest place... is that it..." Ri sighed helplessly.

According to these two, all of this might be orchestrated by the Adventurers' Guild... but that doesn't seem quite right... oh well, I'll think about that later. However, given this trend, many more people will likely flock to Akihabara, and the problems will probably only increase, not decrease. We need to consider countermeasures in advance.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. After all, compared to other countries, Akihabara has five Dragon Kings guarding it, and there's also a labyrinth as the first layer of protection. Very few people can break through the labyrinth, let alone with the Dragon Kings guarding it. Anyone would think that this is currently the safest place in the world...

What Rin and Ning couldn't understand was, if what the two said was true, then why would Chairman Koster do this? There shouldn't be any reason for him to do this yet, right?

Akihabara was inexplicably thrust onto the world stage by adventurers, and its fame will likely grow rapidly through word of mouth among them... With five dragon kings guarding its safe haven, it's the most popular place in this world right now, and that alone is enough to attract a large number of people.

Fortunately, Akihabara's current nation-building doesn't lack land; what it lacks most is people. If these people could be retained and become citizens of the future nation, that would be quite good. But whether this is possible depends on whether what the two girls said is true.

After returning to Akihabara, Riho and Ning handed over the task of settling the girl to others, and then quickly convened a meeting with their companions to tell them what they had seen and heard, and then discussed relevant countermeasures together.

First, there's the issue of the water source. The water source marked on the holographic map is located on the outer edge of the maze, making it quite dangerous. If they want to bring the water here, they need to find another way. The group has prepared two plans: one is to dig a canal, and the other is an underground waterway. However, they will need to investigate the condition of the water source area afterward to decide which plan to adopt.

Then there's the issue of the two girls. For now, observe them, giving them ample freedom and assistance, and maintaining a degree of confidentiality, until it's verified that their main claims are true. Meanwhile, advance the exploration outside the maze; in the short term, deploy guards at various entrances to the maze to act as greeters in case of any outsiders.

The above is the content of the emergency meeting.

Chapter 20 Outer Sweep

According to the two girls, many people should be heading here soon, but Akihabara doesn't have the capacity to bring them back due to a severe shortage of manpower. A larger influx would be a different story, and with monsters constantly attacking the dungeon, the guards are on high alert, ready to fight at any moment.

In this situation, sending more people out to bring back the outsiders would place too much burden on some individuals. Therefore, Li and Ning decided to resolve the issue all at once, as for the method...

That means sweeping through the area outside the maze.

Akihabara has always been rebuilt within its labyrinthine walls, but this time is different. They plan to venture out and eliminate the invading monsters. Well, putting everything else aside, if they use their full strength, it should only take a few days to clear them out. So why undertake such a sweep?

First and foremost, of course, is to ensure the safety of Akihabara. These monsters are unusually strong, and a single misstep could lead to serious problems. Therefore, Rihime and Ning decided to eliminate these dangerous creatures first. The area to be cleared is roughly within a 4,000-meter radius of the labyrinth. Hopefully, this sweep will deter these monsters and prevent them from approaching the labyrinth again.

At the same time, it was also meant to give the mastermind behind the scenes a little bit of deterrence.

Secondly, it was also to ensure the safe arrival of some outsiders in the labyrinth. They couldn't leave Akihabara to pick up these people because Akihabara needed far more people than they imagined, and they didn't have enough manpower to do these things. So, this was all the hospitality they could offer. At least, ensuring safety over such a large area was something that other countries couldn't do at the moment.

Of course, we have to exclude the guys from the Demon Clan territory; those people can't be judged by common sense.

In short, it's all about maintaining stability in the area around the labyrinth, which should attract quite a few people. Because for this world, only a safe and peaceful life is what everyone desires. Well... even so, Akihabara is really just barely surviving thanks to Ritsu... If the key to solving the problems of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation isn't found in the short term, everyone will be doomed.

Well, anyway, everyone in Akihabara is full of confidence in this, because there are people like Ri in Akihabara, which is enough for them to fight for the future.

In the days following their exploration of the maze, the group found a reliable source of monster meat: the meat of the Mountain-Piercing Stone Boar! It was tender, intensely flavorful, high in lean meat, and richly aromatic. It was fatty yet not greasy, lean yet not dry. The meat was elastic, chewy, and had a wonderful texture. Simply perfect! It received unanimous praise from everyone who tried it!

Well, afterwards Ning complained, "Isn't this just wild boar meat?" Later, Rin realized that it didn't seem any different. Apparently, they had killed a huge pangolin that time, but due to various issues, they didn't bring back all the meat, and Rin seemed to have gotten angry...

The outcome is unclear, but it seems the rock-boars outside the maze are in for a rough time.

Then came the issue of water supply. It was ultimately decided to build an underground irrigation canal to divert water to Akihabara, and the construction work naturally fell to Negi's team. They had only recently finished building all the houses, and now they were already moving on to the next project. Li was slightly worried about the physical condition of the construction team members.

Akihabara is steadily being rebuilt, and the two girls haven't done anything particularly unusual. During this period of observation, nothing has come of it that has raised any concerns. They are trying to integrate into Akihabara in their own way, which is a good thing... Of course, we can only confirm this after we determine their identities.

The day of the sweep is drawing ever closer...

On the day of the outer perimeter sweep operation...

"Xiao, don't swing your sword in a place like this."

Wow! Hahahaha!

"Let her be happy."

The three sisters went out together today because they were all heading to the same place.

Today, Xiao received the new weapon she had been looking forward to. This time it was also a pair of small katana. However, Ning made some minor adjustments to these swords based on her growth, making them more suitable for their owner. This way, Xiao could make fuller use of her abilities.

This was crucial for the upcoming battle, because according to the subsequent investigation, the number of monsters lingering on the outskirts of the maze was unexpectedly large, and their levels were also unexpectedly high, with some even reaching level 600. This was enough to warrant the two's attention. If the monsters here alone were terrifyingly strong, Li began to worry about the situation on the other side.

Xiao, excited about her new knife, was like a child, waving it around as she walked. Each slice of air left tiny marks, a testament to its sharpness. Knowing this wasn't a toy, Li helplessly tried to stop her, but Xiao didn't listen. Ning smiled wryly, telling Li to turn a blind eye.

In less than a year, Akatsuki has grown taller and is starting to look more like a young woman, but she's still a child at heart. Thanks to Nao, Akatsuki has always been very obedient. However, Rin really hopes she'll stop waving her little sword around while walking... that's just too dangerous...

As Xiao swung his sword, the resulting wind from the blade swept across the stone wall, leaving rather small cuts. It should be noted that the stone walls of the Time Corridor labyrinth are exceptionally strong; ordinary attacks are practically incapable of damaging them, let alone weapons like swords. Anyone would know not to risk death with a slashing weapon, yet Xiao's sword possessed such power with just two swings, which is why Li was quite terrified.

If you accidentally slip and fling the swords away, it could be troublesome if they hurt someone passing by. Those two small swords are not just decorations.

However, seeing Xiao so happy, Li didn't know what to say, so he decided to treat it as compensation.

Rika followed behind the elated Akatsuki, both of them keeping their attention on the small katana in her hands, in case anything unexpected happened.

The design of the two short swords is basically the same as Akatsuki's previous two weapons, but this time Ning was in charge of making them. Their performance has been improved. For someone as pure as Akatsuki, adding extra abilities to these weapons would only be a burden.

Li and Ning watched their little sister happily walk into Akihabara. Life in Akihabara was gradually returning to normal, and everyone was busy with their own things.

Of course, the most important tasks are still those key missions, which naturally include the guards' sweeping operations.

Because of this mission, all the members of the guard team have gathered together, accompanied by two dragon kings: Frost Dragon King Finor and Flame Dragon King Salid.

With the help of these two Dragon Kings, the sweep will definitely be much easier.

In this team poised for action, the three captains, Seria, East, and Wu Ke, stood at the forefront, while the two Dragon Kings stood in the middle.

"I've been waiting for you guys for a long time!" Wu Ke patted his bald head and greeted the three of them.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Li immediately greeted them. "I apologize for being late."

"Let's skip the pleasantries for now," Ning interrupted them to get to the point. "We already told you beforehand that our mission today is to clear out the monsters around this maze, understand?"

No one questioned it; everyone nodded, indicating that they understood.

"Wait a moment, we will open a portal here, directly connecting to the outside of the maze," Ning stated calmly. "We will open countless portals. We don't know where you will be teleported to, or what you will encounter. However, you must find a way to survive and overcome these difficulties. I think this shouldn't be too difficult for you who have survived the apocalypse."

"Of course, leave it to us!"

"Oh, oh, oh! Finally, I can have a good, satisfying match!"

Bring it on! No matter what comes our way, we won't lose!

The guards all seemed very excited, which is a good thing, but it would be better if they could also stay calm and not get too carried away.

"Ha..." Ning sighed helplessly, "Seeing how excited you all are, I don't think I need to emphasize anything more."

Ning knew very well how capable this group was, so he simply trusted them.

“Wait,” Li quickly interjected, “Although Ning said that, I still want to say that you must not push yourselves. If you encounter an enemy you can’t handle, then run away quickly and come to us immediately, okay?”

"Understood!"

Faced with Li's concern, everyone answered in unison that they understood, but whether they truly understood was still unknown, though Li's concern was genuine.

The average level of the monsters was just a guess made by Ri and Ning together, but the actual situation could only be worse, so Ri hoped they wouldn't act recklessly. Akihabara was already short-handed; if anything went wrong, it would be a huge loss.

Then, Rie opened the portal, and the large group passed through it directly to the surrounding area outside the maze, launching a sweeping operation. The destination of the teleportation was basically random. After the three sisters entered at the same time, Rie and Akatsuki were teleported to the same place, while Ning was nowhere to be seen. Several members of the guard team were with them.

Upon arriving in the outside world, Li's first impression was one of desolation—the kind of desolation that follows the apocalypse, leaving only rubble. The terrain outside the labyrinth had been utterly destroyed by geological activity. The place where Li and her companions were was a high cliff, with a bottomless abyss below.

There was nothing there... It was far more desolate than the maze itself...

Li dared not imagine what the world would have become if she hadn't blocked the two's attacks. No, she couldn't even begin to imagine what it would have been like. But now, the Mystic Eyes had given her a warning, and Li had to pull herself out of her complicated emotions and return to reality. Now, all she had to do was wipe out the monsters in the vicinity.

"Everyone! Prepare for battle!"

After Li gave the instructions, everyone gathered around her, preparing for battle. Xiao drew her small katana with two sharp clangs, signaling the immediate activation of her magic. The monster—no, the demon—that appeared before them was a lightning spirit.

The ball of lightning, wrapped in massive electric current, possessed a certain level of consciousness. Just by looking at the restless lightning around it, one could tell that being entangled by these currents would definitely not be pleasant. In addition, they were currently standing at the edge of a cliff, and these lightning sprites had already surrounded them, making this situation unavoidable.

"Get out of here first! You guys follow me!"

Li quickly made the right judgment, retrieving a briefcase from the void and using it as a shield to charge at the forefront. The others followed without hesitation, watching as a group of people lined up in a straight line and charged towards their lightning sprites. Without hesitation, they launched a fierce attack, unleashing a roar of electricity as thick as tree trunks.

However, all of these currents were blocked by Li. With her resistance skills fully activated, Li was completely unfazed by the lightning attacks of these spirits. She simply smashed through the lightning blockade with the suitcase on her back, and then slammed the suitcase down on the lightning spirit in front of her. Xiao, who rushed out behind her, wrapped her blade with spiritual energy with the help of Wense, forming a thin layer of spiritual energy blade. With a wave of her small hand, the blade flashed, and then she quickly sheathed it.

Countless fine wounds suddenly appeared on the bodies of several Thunder Spirits near her, and they were instantly hacked to pieces. Aside from Xiao quickly dispatching the Thunder Spirits with astonishing strength, the others took a little longer. As for Li, she used a Spatial Explosion to pulverize that spirit.

Even so, they encountered the same situation they had in the labyrinth before: these spirits wouldn't disappear. And no matter who it was, no one could inflict fatal damage on them. This was the most puzzling part; the HP bar shown by the Magic Eye wasn't completely depleted, and no amount of additional damage could kill the remaining sliver of HP.

"Ambassador, what should we do about these?" a guard asked.

“…Let’s just leave them like this…” Li thought for a moment, then said, “No, let’s move them to a farther place.”

Li felt that this incident was definitely related to these elves, but they seemed unable to communicate... For now, this was the only way to handle it. Li opened a portal, had everyone throw them into it to be teleported to a more distant location, and then continued on their way to other places.

Not long after, Ning joined them... coming directly from the other side towards Li...

Chapter 21 A Large Number of Elves

"Whoa, that scared me to death! I thought it was some super powerful monster when such a fierce magic suddenly attacked."

"Alright, alright, as long as the result is good, isn't that enough? Besides, nothing really went wrong, right?"

Just a short while ago, Li and Xiao's team were surrounded by elves.

Ning immediately unleashed a powerful spell, blasting it directly at their location. If Li hadn't reacted quickly and used spacetime magic to create a defense, they would likely have been blasted to smithereens by Ning. Li is currently complaining to Ning about this, but Ning is shirking responsibility and showing no remorse whatsoever.