"Where is this…?"
The previously dark world gradually brightened, and what greeted Bella's eyes was a brilliant starry sky and the desolate snowfield all around.
"Did I… transmigrate?"
Bella truly hadn't expected that a plot from a novel would actually happen in reality, and so coincidentally to herself.
In her previous life, as a direct descendant of her family, Bella displayed astonishing talent at the age of three, earning her the title of the family's rising hope, the family's prodigy.
At fifteen, she became the family head and began managing family affairs. In just two and a half years, she expanded the family business globally, making it a top-tier family in the world.
However, just as Bella was contemplating retirement and a leisurely life, she discovered…
Her family had developed too quickly because of her, and at some point, the family members could no longer keep up with her pace…
Left with no choice, Bella had to manage family affairs while simultaneously cultivating talent to succeed her.
Yet, just when she had finally nurtured a successor and was preparing to let go of everything to retire behind the scenes, Bella's last memory was of being ambushed by assassins on her way back from work, hearing a loud explosion, followed by a sharp pain in her chest before she lost consciousness.
"Sigh."
Bella secretly sighed. The good news was that her successor wasn't with her this time.
Although that person's personality was a bit, well, hard to describe.
But at least with her, the family wouldn't instantly collapse after losing her.
After all, Bella herself had personally chosen and trained her.
It's just…
"Mother… will be sad, won't she?"
Thinking of her Mother, whose gentle personality would only hardens when it concerned Bella, Bella felt a slight pain in her heart.
"But what's done is done. Thinking about it now is useless. I should clarify my current situation."
Bella believed her successor would take good care of Mother, after all…
As if remembering something, Bella's anxious heart relaxed slightly.
"Moreover, I toiled my entire previous life. Now that I have a chance to be reborn without those trivial matters, I can finally live a peaceful retirement (slacker) life, right? Hehe."
As Bella thought this, she was about to turn her head to see where she was, when she suddenly realized.
She… couldn't turn her head?
It was then that Bella realized she seemed to be inside a massive ice crystal.
"And those are wings..? Mine?"
Bella caught sight of a pair of blue wings in her peripheral vision.
The wings' framework was white, covered by a layer of sky-blue membrane.
"Uh."
For some reason, Bella felt her leisurely retirement life as a slacker seemed to be drifting away from her.
"No, no, this isn't the time to think about that. I need to figure out how to get out of here first."
Because she couldn't move inside the ice crystal, Bella could only assess her body's condition at that moment.
The good news was that Bella found that from her awakening until now, her body, which had been devoid of strength, seemed to be slowly filling with power.
Bella could clearly feel an unknown energy from outside flowing into her body imperceptibly, and she seemed to be able to control this energy.
She tried to guide this energy into the ice crystal that was sealing her.
Bella was pleasantly surprised to find a crack appearing on the ice crystal before her eyes.
Bella quickly increased the outflow of energy.
As more and more energy was channeled, the cracks on the ice crystal grew larger and larger.
"Boom!"
After a loud bang, the ice crystal shattered.
As her body stretched, Bella realized that she… seemed to have become a dragon after transmigrating.
In the desolate snowfield, if there were outsiders present, they would see a unique dragon with four eyes, a pure white skeleton, and an overall deep blue color.
The dragon's neck and abdomen were also deep blue, but adorned with beautiful sky-blue stripes.
But even more striking were its two massive wings spread outwards, with the wing membranes and claws a brilliant sky blue, while the base color of the wing membranes was a profound blue.
This dragon appeared particularly magnificent in the snowfield, full of mystery and power.
Bella lowered her head to examine her body, and for some reason, she felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had seen this body somewhere before.
"Hmm, my species has changed, and my gender, uh…"
It seemed she would be a cute dragon girl from now on.
"A dragon girl, huh? Hehe, that doesn't seem bad."
"Although I'm sorry to my brothers who were single with me for over 20 years in my previous life, now I can stick with girls without any worries, right?"
A mischievous smile appeared on Bella's face.
"No, no, this isn't the time to think about that."
Bella quickly shook her head, pulling her wandering thoughts back.
Turning to look around, what greeted her eyes was a desolate snowfield.
"I wonder if anyone lives around here, and also…"
Bella flapped her wings, then looked at her massive body with a hint of helplessness.
"I probably shouldn't just appear in front of people looking like this, should I?"
"Ding! Detecting host's needs. The World's Strongest Dragon Girl System is binding."
"Host, do you wish to bind the system?"
As a mechanical female voice echoed in Bella's mind, Bella's eyes lit up.
Indeed, novels did not deceive her.
After all, there weren't many forms of entertainment that could relieve her fatigue during her previous life, and reading novels was one of them.
Bella naturally knew a thing or two about the cheat-like system that transmigration protagonists typically had.
It's just, Bella looked at the two options that appeared before her.
Hiss, how should she put it?
"System, is there something wrong with these two options? Why do I see two 'Yes'?"
After a moment of silence.
"Please confirm if you wish to bind the system, Host."
Bella looked at the options before her, which, after a blurry transformation, changed from two "Yes" to two "yes", and fell silent.
"Please confirm if you wish to bind the system as soon as possible, great Host."
She wondered if it was her imagination, but Bella seemed to hear a hint of a tremor in the system's voice?
But…
Bella stared with dead-fish eyes at the two options, which, after a blurry transformation, once again changed from two "yes" to one "OK" and the other "OK?".
"This system… seems a bit… off."