Silver Wolf struggled to breathe with the hand clamped around her neck. The intense pain made her eyes flutter half-shut as she squeezed out her question through gritted teeth.
"Phantylia... why are you here?!"
But as soon as the words left her mouth, she immediately remembered. Didn't Fu Zhu build the Nether Portal on the Luofu specifically to seal the Lord of the Annihilation Gang, Phantylia, in the Nether?
But then why... why would the Nether Portal on the Luofu connect to the Nether Portal inside the Simulated Universe?!
This world was supposed to be a fabrication... how could it connect to the real world? This was just too absurd!
Silver Wolf cursed Elio in her mind. It was all because of him that she had traveled all the way to Herta Space Station, and now she was about to lose her life here!
At this moment, Silver Wolf found herself missing Herta and Fu Zhu. Although their attitude toward her, an intruder, hadn't been very friendly, at least they hadn't intended to kill her.
The Phantylia before her was a different story. She was a Lord of the Annihilation Gang!
A being who could obliterate a planet on a whim. And she was just a weak and helpless little hacker!
Phantylia's face was cold. She didn't answer Silver Wolf's question, instead tightening her grip on her neck.
"You're the one who should be answering questions. What right do you have to question me? This is your last chance. Tell me, what is your relationship with Fu Zhu, and how are you able to open a Nether Portal?!"
Phantylia was certain that the Nether Portal was Fu Zhu's technology. Someone with a poor relationship with him would absolutely never know how to open one.
The hand on her throat suddenly tightened, and Silver Wolf let out a choked gasp. In that instant, her mind raced.
Her years of experience playing all kinds of games told her that her next words would determine her fate.
In a daze, Silver Wolf almost saw three galgame-style options pop up in front of her.
A. I'm Fu Zhu's partner. You'd better let me go right now, Phantylia!
B. I'm Fu Zhu's enemy. I'm actually here to rescue you, Lady Phantylia!
C. I'm just a little hacker who secretly learned how to build the Nether Portal.
Given that Phantylia was sealed in the Nether by Fu Zhu, option A was out. The answer had to be between B and C.
Silver Wolf decisively chose C. She had no desire to get involved in the conflict between Fu Zhu and Phantylia.
"I'm just a little hacker who secretly learned how to build a Nether Portal!"
Hearing this, Phantylia's eyes turned colder.
"You're saying... you stole Fu Zhu's technology?"
Silver Wolf was about to nod when she suddenly noticed something was wrong with Phantylia's expression. Before she could explain, the hand gripping her throat tightened with immense force.
Crack.
Phantylia snapped Silver Wolf's neck.
As she died, Silver Wolf heard Phantylia's cold voice say one last thing.
"His techniques... are you worthy of using them?"
Dammit, so option A was the correct one?
[Player Silver Wolf was slain by Phantylia.]
Fu Zhu, who was in the middle of building a mob grinder and an iron farm, suddenly saw the message pop up in the bottom-left corner of his vision. He froze.
"Silver Wolf? Phantylia? What happened?"
Fu Zhu immediately stopped his work and flew back towards the village.
Meanwhile, in the village, Herta, Screwllum, and Ruan Mei, who were about to head out to find Fu Zhu, also saw the death message pop up in their vision. The three of them were taken aback.
Screwllum stroked his chin, pondering, "Phantylia... is that the same Phantylia who is one of the Lords of the Annihilation Gang? Did the Simulated Universe simulate her as well?"
"Impossible." Herta immediately dismissed Screwllum's guess. "There are so many Lords of the Annihilation Gang, what are the odds it would simulate Phantylia? If my memory serves me right, Fu Zhu sealed Phantylia in the Nether on the Luofu. That little pipsqueak must have secretly gone to the Nether, didn't she?"
Herta tried to open the chat log to review previous messages. Since she had been focused on other things, she hadn't noticed the achievement notification that had popped up earlier.
She scrolled up and, sure enough, found a strange achievement notification.
[Player Silver Wolf has made the advancement [We Need to Go Deeper]]
Although the advancement didn't explicitly mention the Nether, Herta was certain that Silver Wolf had snuck into it and encountered the Phantylia who had been sealed there by Fu Zhu.
As for how the Nether Portal on the Luofu could connect to the Nether Portal inside the Simulated Universe, leading to the same Nether... that was something that surprised Herta a little.
"Change of plans. Let's find that pipsqueak first and get a clear picture of the situation."
Screwllum and Ruan Mei had no objections. However, before they could even move, Silver Wolf came running out from a house with its walls torn down. Seeing the three of them, she breathed a sigh of relief and, ignoring her previous conflicts with Herta, ran straight over.
"This is bad! In the Nether..."
"There's a Lord of the Annihilation Gang, Phantylia, right?" Herta finished Silver Wolf's sentence with a playful look.
Seeing Herta's calm demeanor, Silver Wolf couldn't help but ask, "You guys aren't worried?"
Herta scoffed. "Worried about what? It's just Phantylia. This is my turf. You think I'd be afraid of her?"
Even if she were alone, she wouldn't fear Phantylia in the slightest, let alone with Screwllum and Ruan Mei by her side.
Besides, Fu Zhu was still in this world. With his absolute control over it, Herta didn't think Phantylia alone could stir up any trouble.
In fact, Phantylia's appearance made her quite excited. A living Lord of the Annihilation Gang was an absolutely fantastic research subject.
As they were talking, the ground in the center of the village suddenly exploded, and Phantylia flew out from beneath the earth.
She floated in mid-air, greedily breathing in the air that was so completely different from the Nether's, and couldn't help but shout. "I'm finally out! Fu Zhu, you can't imprison me!"
"Ahem!"
Herta coughed loudly, immediately drawing Phantylia's gaze.
Phantylia gave them a cursory glance, her eyes finally landing on Silver Wolf. She asked, a little surprised, "You're not dead?"
When she had killed Silver Wolf in the Nether, her body had simply vanished, which had puzzled her. Now, seeing Silver Wolf standing there perfectly fine, she was even more certain that she hadn't actually killed her earlier.
"I say, is a little pipsqueak like her really worth ignoring me for, Phantylia?"
Seeing that Phantylia was completely ignoring her, Herta grew displeased. She raised the staff in her hand and shot a beam of light toward Phantylia.
Phantylia sensed the power within the beam and hastily dodged it, then turned to look at the three with a shocked expression.
"You three look familiar... Herta of the Genius Society?!"