The moment Silver Wolf saw the Warden standing before her instead of Fu Zhu, she almost instinctively threw her arms up to shield herself. The Warden's attack followed instantly, a heavy fist slamming into her forearms.
The immense force sent Silver Wolf staggering backward. She stumbled and fell to the ground, a sharp pain radiating from her arms. She wouldn't be surprised if the bones were broken.
With a miserable look on her face, Silver Wolf was already starting to regret agreeing to Elio's plan to enter the Simulated Universe. Ever since she'd arrived, she hadn't had a single chance to properly "play the game." Right out of the starting village, she had run into one monster after another that she stood no chance against.
"This kind of sensory game is no fun at all!"
Just as the complaint left her lips, the Warden in front of her roared and charged in her direction. Panicked, Silver Wolf scrambled to her feet. She slashed through space with the pixelated blade in her hand, dove through the rift, and reappeared on a high ledge several meters away, barely evading the Warden's pursuit.
Before Silver Wolf could even catch her breath, another strange sound came from nearby. Startled, she immediately switched the device on her right arm from blade to cannon mode, aiming it at the source of the noise.
But when she turned her head, she found that the sound wasn't coming from the pursuing Warden, but from Fu Zhu, who was in the middle of opening a wooden chest.
Fu Zhu also noticed Silver Wolf, who had suddenly appeared on the ledge beside him via a spatial rift. The two locked eyes.
"What are you doing here?" they asked in unison.
Silver Wolf noticed the chest Fu Zhu was opening. She pointed at it in disbelief and demanded, "We're being chased by a monster, and you actually have the spare time to open chests?"
"Watch your wording, Silver Wolf."
Fu Zhu gave the contents of the chest a cursory glance before sweeping everything into his inventory, planning to sort through it all later when he had a moment.
He had to admit, the loot in the Ancient City was top-notch. He had even found one or two high-level gems.
"You're the only one being chased by a monster. And by the way, that monster's name is the Warden. It lives up to its name."
After dropping that line, Fu Zhu immediately pulled out an Ender Pearl and tossed it into the distance, leaving Silver Wolf alone on the ledge to ponder the meaning of his words.
"It lives up to its name...?"
A sudden realization dawned on Silver Wolf. She whipped her head around to look back in the direction she had teleported from. The Darkness effect on her had yet to wear off, so she couldn't see anything in the distance, but she could faintly hear the Warden panting heavily, as if preparing for something.
"I'm screwed!"
Although she couldn't see what the Warden was doing, the scene was eerily similar to a boss in a game charging up a powerful attack. She immediately turned tail and ran.
At almost the exact same moment she took off, a visible sonic boom attack slammed into the spot where she had been standing. If she had been a second slower, she would have taken the hit head-on.
Meanwhile, after teleporting a safe distance away, Fu Zhu immediately pulled out some wool to pillar up, step by step, back to Herta's group, who were already hovering high in the sky.
Seeing the three of them watching Silver Wolf play cat and mouse with the Warden below, Fu Zhu couldn't help but grumble, "You three are real sharp. The moment you saw trouble, you flew up here without even giving me a lift."
A smile played on Herta's lips. She crossed her arms and retorted sarcastically, "Look who's talking. You ran off pretty fast yourself, without even taking that little pipsqueak with you."
Fu Zhu placed a hand over his heart with a serious expression. "I will not forget her sacrifice."
Herta: "..."
Finding herself unable to win a war of words with Fu Zhu, Herta decided to change the subject back to the matter at hand. "Fu Zhu, I don't see any spawners around. Can this monster appear without one?"
"Yep. The Warden's mechanics are different from other mobs. It doesn't need a spawner. It's summoned by those Sculk Shriekers growing on the ground. As long as you make a certain amount of noise on that strange Sculk, a Warden will appear and hunt its target until it's dead. What's more troublesome is that their numbers are, well, infinite."
Hearing Fu Zhu's explanation, the three of them couldn't help but click their tongues. This Warden was far more terrifying than any other monster they had encountered, whether in terms of attack power or speed. Nothing else could compare.
More importantly, Herta had also detected the power of the Path of [The Hunt] on the Warden.
"The Hunt, Destruction, Propagation, Preservation, Erudition, Finality... only a few Paths are missing..."
Herta's eyes twinkled as she stared at the Warden. A bold hypothesis was beginning to form in her mind.
What were Paths? At this stage, no one could give a precise answer. They could only be described using the simple and understandable concept of a philosophy. The only certainty was that they were a part of the Imaginary.
When a being fulfilled certain conditions, that part of the Imaginary energy would be occupied by it.
Unlike the outside world, this world had no [Aeons]. Or rather, there was a single being who controlled all the Paths of this world. That was why these creatures only ever displayed a power level that did not exceed that of an Emanator.
The only candidate who fit that description was Fu Zhu, the one who created and sustained this world's existence.
Many minor details had already served to corroborate this point. For example, when Fu Zhu was not in the Simulated Universe, this world did not exist. Only when he appeared did the world begin to operate normally.
The only outlier that Herta couldn't quite figure out was the Ender Dragon. Perhaps seeing it would make everything clear.
Perhaps, this entire world was just a game for a creator god?
"How absurd... Would I really make such an absurd guess?"
Herta gave a cryptic smile, then turned her head and stared at Fu Zhu's profile, lost in thought.
Fu Zhu, what exactly are you? Don't tell me you're a being from the Tree itself?
Just as Herta was lost in her thoughts while staring at Fu Zhu's profile, Fu Zhu suddenly turned his head and asked with a strange look, "What is it? Why are you staring at me?"
Herta quickly averted her gaze, explaining with a hint of panic, "It's nothing. I was just thinking about something."
Fu Zhu: "?"
Nearby, Ruan Mei witnessed this exchange. The corners of her eyes crinkled, and a subtle smile touched her lips.
"Ho ho, so even a genius like Herta can be moved? How interesting and worthy of observation."
"Hmm?"
Screwllum heard Ruan Mei's soft muttering and asked, uncomprehending, "What is it?"
"It's nothing. Screwllum, you can continue with your research. I seem to have found another, more interesting subject to study."