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

She looked like she didn't believe it. Even Li herself thought that if she were Yan, she definitely wouldn't believe it either, because she didn't have a way to prove that she had a relationship with the goddess. The only way was the Demon Eye, but the Demon Eye only worked on her and couldn't be shared with others.

“Let’s just assume that’s how it is,” Yan said, not immediately trusting him. “I was wondering why you guys were suddenly being so friendly to me…”

"Believe it or not," Ning said calmly. "All you need to know now is that we are partners acting together for the same purpose."

“I’m well aware of this,” Yan nodded. “I also know that, for now, we have no choice but to seek help from others…”

As they talked, Yan's expression became somewhat subtle.

"Unfortunately," Yan sighed, "it seems like no one really wants to ask others for help."

"What's wrong?" Li asked.

“Sigh, it’s just a small matter,” Yan explained. “As I mentioned earlier, our job as elves is to maintain the normal operation of the core. And the way we repair this core is to re-inject a large amount of magic power into it. We need to find out where the problem is before we inject magic power.”

"That's why you're always running around..."

Now I can understand why we saw elves everywhere recently; they were probably searching for something wrong.

“That forest is actually the result of us concentrating the overflowing magic,” Yan explained. “If we find the place where the problem occurred, we can quickly take these crystals there to replenish the magic. But that day, we seemed to be misled by someone with ulterior motives. Someone used some special method to damage the city's ley lines, creating the illusion that there was a problem there, luring us there. Because the situation was so serious, we didn't have time to explain, which led to that outcome.”

The elves' retreat wasn't solely due to the Demon King's appearance; there were also some anomalies they discovered. After the Demon King arrived, they found the previously abnormal ley lines had returned to normal, meaning they were wrong. Someone must have done something to cause this situation, Yan thought. If they had cooperated with humans beforehand, this problem certainly wouldn't have occurred.

However, while she had this idea, she lacked the courage to propose it. So, she tried to establish contact with humans in this way, hoping to prevent this situation from happening again. Ultimately, she still didn't quite understand why the other elves were so stubborn.

"So... someone's up to no good, right?"

Both Li and Ning thought of the same person: Ghost.

"If only we had been willing to communicate with humans back then..." Yan sighed, "But everyone kept saying that time was running out, that we had to hurry and do everything we could to fix it..."

“You’re really special…” Ning’s words were not meant to be sarcastic.

"Because I felt this wouldn't work, I came here alone..." Yan smiled. "To be honest, I came here unprepared. If you don't cooperate, I don't know what to do. I'll go back and talk to you later..."

“No, don’t tell the other elves about this yet,” Ning interrupted her. “Keep it a secret from them for now, and pretend that nothing happened.”

"Huh? Why?" Li tilted his head.

“I know it’s better to talk things out with the elves now, but…” A cold glint flashed in Ning’s eyes, “I want that culprit to pay a small price, so I hope you can cooperate with us first. We will definitely catch that culprit. If he keeps causing trouble like this, you won’t be able to find the source of the problem, will you?”

“That’s true…” The simple-minded Yan didn’t notice this.

"Then please keep it a secret for now." Ning extended her hand.

Yan also reached out and shook hands with Ning, temporarily forming a secret alliance.

Chapter 18 The meeting ends

"Are you done?"

Seeing the three people walking back to the office, Xuanze asked.

“Yes, we’ve finished discussing it.” Li looked at Alice. “We just went to confirm with her and confirmed one thing. There’s a reason why the elves attacked the kingdom. Someone probably used some special method to disrupt the kingdom’s underground ley lines. Elves usually judge whether there’s a problem by the condition of the ley lines and then rush to repair it.”

“Legion veins…” Elise pondered for a moment, “I’ve looked into the existence of legion veins before. I always thought they were a way to pray for national prosperity and peace. I never imagined that such things actually exist…”

“Of course they exist!” Yan interjected. “Earth veins are also called dragon veins. They are the conduits used to transport magic power! They are usually found in places like dungeons and labyrinths, but humans with weaker magic power perception cannot see them.”

"I feel like I've unintentionally learned a lot of incredible things..."

Lihua felt like her head was about to explode. In just one day, she had learned so many things that ordinary people couldn't even dream of. This Time-Space Dragon King was indeed extraordinary. While admiring Lihua's ability to handle this situation, she also tried to sort through the information she had gathered. Her mind was a little overwhelmed, and she knew it would take her quite some time to accurately organize all this information.

"That's why monsters keep appearing in this world..." Xuanze seemed to understand something.

“I see,” Ning gave an example. “This core is no different from the human heart, and these ley lines are the blood vessels that constantly supply blood, or magic, to the whole body. What’s really broken are these ley lines. They’ve been damaged for various reasons and can no longer supply blood to all parts of the body to maintain normal bodily functions. Let’s put it that way.”

"Ah!! I think I understand now!!" Rin understood after he said that. "So, the real problem is with these ley lines, right? The overflow of magic power is also due to this problem, which is why it caused the large-scale demonization."

While the heavenly principle did prevent the immediate destruction of the world, its power still damaged the dragon vein two thousand meters below the surface. With the dragon vein supplying magic power destroyed, the magic power within the conduit overflowed, causing a series of subsequent effects. This explains everything…

"Hmm..." Xuanze became slightly interested. "Earth veins... If we compare them to the heart, it does make them easier to understand."

"In short, what we need to repair is the ley lines, right?" Ning Xiangyan confirmed.

"Why are you guys so skilled?!" Yan didn't answer first, but instead loudly complained, "Don't you guys know how to do this?! You know it like the back of your hand! Since you already know it, why did you ask me?"

"No... I just asked you a question, why did you suddenly get angry?"

Everyone was puzzled by Yan's sudden outburst, but how could they know Yan's current mood? She had originally thought that she had finally established a cooperative relationship with humans and was thinking about teaching them, the laymen, how to repair the core. But from the beginning, they had been speculating on their own and their speculations were completely correct. Didn't they not need her help at all?

I was hoping that she could finally be of some use, but now it seems that even without her and the elves, this group of people would gradually figure out the problem and then solve it.

“Your speculation is absolutely correct.” Yan was on the verge of tears. “Just as you said, if only one or two small ley lines had problems, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But this time, the damage to the ley lines is so severe that the core can barely receive any magic power, and even the core’s self-repair mechanism can’t keep up. That’s why we elves need to intervene. The magic crystals we transported to the New Kingdom of Alyas that night were to replenish the magic power of the ley lines there, so that the core would have enough magic power to repair the ley lines there. So I’m really sorry…”

“Alright, alright, I’m not the kind of woman who just keeps harping on other people’s mistakes.” Alice sighed. “You’re just being long-winded, aren’t you? I know you feel guilty about this, but it’s not just your fault… There’s definitely someone behind this… I have to find that person…”

Everyone's suspicions were directed at the same person: the Ghosts, a group of madmen trained by Seric. These madmen would surely inherit Seric's will, carry out his ideas, and try to recreate the scene of that day.

“Everyone,” Elise said coldly, “I’m really angry now. We should settle things with the ghosts; these dangerous people can’t stay here any longer.”

"Ah~ I'm getting tired of this too." Xuanze said uninterestedly, "It's been so long, and this is all we've managed to do. I thought the old bald guy and his ghosts could cause some big trouble, but it's just this. It's boring, and there's no point in keeping them around."

Although Xuanze spoke somewhat indirectly, his acquaintances could all understand his meaning; their goal was the same: to eliminate the ghost.

"Ghosts..." Li Hua felt a chill run down her spine. "Although I've never had direct contact with them, I always had a feeling they weren't a kind group..."

“They’re a bunch of bastards even worse than you think.” Savi patted her head and comforted her. “Don’t worry, your brother is here to protect you, you’ll be fine. Besides, my friends have gathered together too.”

Sevier glanced deeply at his companions: Demon King Xuanze, Princess Alice, General Edman, Time-Space Dragon King Li, and her sister Ning. He believed that with them by his side, peace would soon arrive; united, they could overcome any difficulty. With the four great powers gathered, their combined strength could defeat even the Kingdom of Alyas, wielding ten holy swords—let alone those lowly minions known as ghosts.

At best, they are just elite monsters whose names you can't recall.

“Indeed… it’s time to deal with the ghost problem.” Li nodded, agreeing with their idea.

The Ghosts, these dangerous individuals, kept Li and Ning on their guard many times during this period. They were in the open, while the Ghosts were in the shadows, and their actions were so covert that they were almost impossible to detect. If they did something in secret, even the two of them wouldn't be able to know immediately. Letting them continue like this would only cause trouble for everyone, so it was better to get rid of them as soon as possible.

Moreover, this incident was most likely caused by their ghosts. If they all possessed the method to mislead the elves, all existing human cities would be in grave danger. They must resolve this issue as soon as possible before confirming this.

"Hmm~ I don't know what you're talking about," Yan nodded, "If you need my help, I'll be there whenever you call."

"Thank you so much." Ning said, as she moved closer to Yan and placed something in her hand. "Take this."

"Ok?"

What was placed in Yan's palm was something the size of a bean. Yan looked at it curiously and asked, "What is this?"

"These are earphones," Ning explained. "As long as you infuse them with magic, you can use them to contact us. Remember not to infuse too much magic, understand?"

"Huh?!" Yan exclaimed in surprise, "This thing that looks like a little bean? Wow... It's incredible. While we were guarding the core, humans had already created something this amazing?"

"Hmm," Ning demonstrated it to her perfunctorily, "If you put it in your ear like this, it won't be easily noticed, and it's also very convenient. After that, you can take this back and contact us. If you're worried that this thing won't work, then try using it on the way. I'll get back to you soon. If you don't get a reply, it's not too late to come back and exchange it."

"Okay, I understand." Yan nodded. "I'll come back if anything goes wrong. I'm getting ready to leave now."

"Have you finished speaking?" Ning asked, confirming.

"Okay, I'm done."

"Okay, then, reason."

"Eh...? Oh... okay..."

Buzz————

A silvery magical light illuminated the office, forming a beautiful silver magic circle. As this circle closed, Yan vanished from the office. However, a sound then came through the earpiece…

【Hey! How can you do that?!】

Yes, the voice coming from the earpiece was Yan's. Just now, Li used spacetime magic to teleport Yan directly to the vicinity of the Crystal Forest; she should be there now.

"It's nothing," Ning said calmly. "I just had Li use magic to send you to the vicinity of the Crystal Forest so it would be easier for you to get back. How about that, can you believe me now?"

【Huh? Wait...where are you?】

Yan didn't seem to have put on his headphones. After a while, a rustling sound came from the other end of the headphones.

"Oh my god~~ I heard it, I heard it!" Yan put on the headphones, her voice full of surprise. "This thing is amazing! It can actually have conversations!!"

"Alright, alright," Ning reassured her, "Stop playing around, let's get down to business. Now that we've confirmed the headphones are working, you should head back quickly. Remember, don't reveal what we agreed on, understand?"

Okay, I got it. I'll head back now!

The other side agreed, but Ning was still worried about Yan's situation. Yan was similar to Li in their family—both were the adorably naive type. However, since Yan had already gone back, to be on the safe side, she wouldn't contact her for the time being to avoid being exposed. So, she could only pray that nothing bad would happen to Yan.

“Alright,” Ning turned to face the others, “We’ve sent the elf back. Now we need to get down to business. Li and I are going to set up the portal in a bit. Are you guys planning to go back?”

Ning was asking Alice and Xuanze. Xuanze yawned, preparing to refuse, because he had spent the whole night asking Yan and having Heiyu verify the information in order to understand the true situation. He was very tired now, and had already fallen asleep once during the meeting. He decided to rest first.

But then, Alice grabbed his hand.

“Yes,” Elise said. “I’ll go back to the New Kingdom with Xuanze and tell him what we just talked about.”

"Oh...right," Li reminded him just in case, "Xuanze, don't wander off. I need you to take us to the Demon Realm later. I don't have any information or data about the Demon Realm here, so I'll have to ask you for help."

If a teleportation portal were to be established, naturally every faction would need at least one. To this day, Li has never been to the Demon Realm, so she has no information about it. Under these circumstances, setting up a teleportation portal there is impossible. Today, she and Ning are simply preparing the location and materials for the teleportation portal before continuing their journey to the Demon Realm.

Honestly, they're already busy enough, so they're trying to cut corners as much as possible. They have so many things to consider: the portal's location, type, materials, size, and so on. Time is of the essence; the sooner the portal is built, the greater their advantage will be.

Once the portal is complete, it's as if the four factions scattered across the world are now connected. At this point, efficiency will be significantly improved for both evacuation and mutual support. It will then become much more difficult for the Ghosts to infiltrate the area.

"...Okay, okay, I understand. Open the door."

Xuanze probably thought so too, and he quickly accepted everyone's suggestion, obediently disappearing into the silver light with Alice. Now, only a few of them remained in the office. Suddenly, Li turned around and grabbed Lihua's hand.

"Um," Li said somewhat awkwardly, "can I borrow Lihua for a moment?"

"Huh!?" Savi was stunned. "Wait a minute!? Um! My sister isn't gay!!"

He didn't even know what he was doing; the words just slipped out unconsciously. He regretted it immediately afterward and blushed. His sister, Lihua, was even more embarrassed and couldn't bear to look at anyone. Without hesitation, she turned around and delivered a heavy knee strike to her own brother.

"You freak, bro!"

Shouting these words, Li Hua grabbed Li Fei and ran out quickly. Ning smiled and cast a pitying glance at Sai Wei, who was lying on the ground.

"Do you know why?" Ning asked.

"Why what?" Savi asked, lying on the ground, puzzled.

"I don't even know what to say to you..." Ning shrugged helplessly. "Don't you understand? Li is avoiding you."

"Avoiding me?" Savi sat up. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Ning said matter-of-factly. "I can't be bothered with your business. You made this mess of yourself, so you have to deal with it yourself. By the way, we only took Lihua away so she could show us the way. You're the one who's got the wrong idea."

“No,” Saivi retorted, “I can lead the way too!”

"Sigh... You're incredibly stupid." Ning didn't even bother to say anything more to him. "By the way, there's another reason why I'm not taking you. If neither of you is here and something happens, there'll be no one to take responsibility. That's all, I'm leaving now."

"Hello--!"

Savi really couldn't find a reason to refute Ning, so he could only watch as she followed the two people out of the office. He stood there stunned for a long time, then glanced at Edman, who was patting his shoulder and looking at him with a meaningful gaze, and hesitated to speak.

"Your future is fraught with difficulties...young man..."

Edelman said this.

Chapter 19 On the land where Akihabara once existed

"So, what are you planning to do?" Li Hua asked. "Since you called me out, there must be something you need my help with, right?"

"Yes, that's true." Li nodded.

Lihua and Lining walked side by side down the road, a sight that attracted many men to stop and gaze at them. Some had already recognized the pink and blue duo. As for Lihua, how could they not know her? Everyone wisely refrained from approaching them, because they all shared the same consensus: such a beautiful scene should be shared by everyone.

Of course, anyone who dared to intervene would punish the thief who had tainted the flowers, even without anyone else's involvement. However, they seemed oblivious to the barrier magic that moved with the three of them. It was Ning's creation, and she was also in charge of controlling it. As for what would happen if they encountered this barrier, no one but her knew.

“I want to check the current situation in these places,” Li said, taking out a rough map of the duchy. “The places marked with an X are where we plan to build the teleportation portals. I want to visit each of these places before we finalize the plan.”

“I see…” Lihua took the map and looked at it. “Hmm… I see. These locations are all in the neighborhood… Is there a particular reason for this?”

“Actually, these locations were determined after Ning and I discussed them,” Li explained. “We should have mentioned the concept of ley lines earlier, right? There are ley lines beneath ordinary cities. Ley lines are channels for transporting magic power. Maintaining and using a portal requires a huge amount of magic power, and this consumption will change depending on the size of the portal.”

The amount of magic power required to support a portal is beyond what humans can possess. This enormous demand for magic power cannot be sustained by humans alone. The portals she previously set up were short-term portals that she infused with a large amount of magic power to maintain their existence. They could be used normally for about two months before the magic power was exhausted. But if magic power had to be replenished every time, wouldn't that be too troublesome?

Although they have developed the electrical box and a series of related electrical appliances, they have not yet been able to integrate it with certain functional magic, such as the portal. Although the electrical box can store and absorb magic power from the surrounding air, it takes at least a month for this magic power to fully activate the portal once.

That would prevent the achievement of close exchanges between countries. Secondly, after repairing the core issues, the magical energy in the air should be significantly reduced, at least not to the point where it could cause the entire world to become magically transformed. At that time, the magical energy in the air will also be greatly reduced, so the amount of magical energy the power box can collect will decrease, and the longer it takes, the lower the efficiency will be.

Therefore, Li and Ning decided to take action based on the matter of the ley lines. They had already learned that the ley lines were magical conduits. Li then used her magic eye to search for information about them. The magical power they transported was more than a thousand times that required for a large portal to operate completely once. If they could utilize this magical power, that would be ideal, and taking one-thousandth of it would not cause any major problems.

With the help of reason's magical eyes and Ning's keen magical perception, the two had gradually figured out the city's ley lines. Although they had never worked with anything like this before, their intuition told them that this was the right thing to do. Therefore, the map actually contained some information about the city's ley lines.

"Huh? Do you know where there are ley lines?" Lihua asked in surprise.

“Uh… we can only roughly sense it,” Li explained. “Ning and I are both quite sensitive to magic, so it’s not difficult for us to detect some of the magic’s state. We can use some skills to sense the differences in magic concentration and then sort it out. Then, we hand it over to the more specialized elves for help.”

The reason the two were so confident about the map was because they had Yan confirm it. Elves have a stronger ability to perceive magic, and having Yan confirm it would make the map more accurate and convincing.