After leaving the team, the adventurer ladies regretted it deeply-Chapter 785 - 539, Lia: Why do you look exactly like Lin Da?

Lin Da asked a few questions that only his sister would know.

After confirming that this consciousness belonged to his sister and not some disguise by the Demon King, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Although I can’t return to human form, I can shrink down."

The magical dragon brought Lin Da some good news, transmitting its voice through magic power: "My body can become tiny enough to fit inside brother’s pocket!"

"You truly recognize me."

"Well, this character is frequently seen."

Lin Xi occasionally glanced at the screen and saw Dark Shadow pop up the most.

"I have many questions I want to ask you." The joy of reunion was buried in Lin Da’s heart; urgent matters loomed too large.

He spoke seriously: "What is the purpose of Dragon’s Rest Tomb coming here?

Has Coldmoon Duke Evelyn betrayed us to join the Demons?

Have you met her on the Devil’s Continent?"

The Twelve Belongings and the Four Heavenly Kings had the privilege to enter the Demon King’s Castle, and if Lin Xi had encountered Evelyn, then her identity as a traitor would be confirmed.

"Um... Sorry."

"Your ’sorry’ makes me feel awful."

Lin Da sighed.

The magical dragon awkwardly explained: "After making a wish in Dark Night City, I feel as though I fell into a slumber, with just my subconscious controlling Xilin’s actions. Whatever Xilin did, she wouldn’t tell me."

Simply put, Lin Xi was Lin Xi, and Xilin was merely a witch who shared some traits of Lin Xi’s personality.

When Delgon crushed the Witch’s Stone and turned Xilin into a magical dragon, Xilin had already died.

The vision of that pink-haired succubus flashed before Lin Da’s eyes, leaving him somewhat melancholic.

Perhaps, she could be regarded as half a sister to him.

But as long as Xilin existed, Lin Xi could not return, leaving him no choice but to decide between the two—he could only choose Lin Xi.

"You truly don’t know anything?" Lin Da pressed relentlessly.

"Not exactly. Occasionally, I regain some consciousness and borrow Xilin’s eyes to ’see’ the outside world. As for Coldmoon Duke Evelyn, I have seen her in the outer hall of the Demon King’s Castle."

"..."

Everyone exchanged glances.

"How is that possible?" Lia exclaimed in shock. "She’s one of the Four Great Dukes..."

Lin Da fell into a contemplative silence.

Clues began to gather in his mind.

——Oren and his two companions hidden in the Ice Abyss, presumably placed there deliberately by Evelyn. Today, she returned to the Ice Abyss. Meanwhile, Dragon’s Rest Tomb was converging at Dragon Fall Mountain Peak.

Something critical was bound to happen.

An uneasy feeling sprang up in Lin Da’s heart.

Could their aim be the Azure Tree?

Was the [Cangqing Tree Firelight] event being forcefully accelerated by two years?

If Evelyn personally intervened, the difficulty level would be exceptionally high.

Across the two continents combined, Evelyn’s combat power ranked in the top five, likely above Level 95.

Battling a Level 95 legend? Don’t even joke about it.

Lin Da couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.

Why had Evelyn scheduled her test for today, sending those Ice Abyss apprentices to the 30th floor? freēwēbηovel.c૦m

With over three thousand students from the Ice Abyss, representing the bulk of Cyan Province’s younger elite, capturing them all in one fell swoop would surely earn favor in the Demon King’s Castle.

Yet Evelyn sent them to the "safest" 30th floor of the Great Mystery Continent.

"Do you know the purpose of Dragon’s Rest Tomb?" Lin Da asked.

The magical dragon shook its head: "The only insider is Delgon."

Another layer of mystery.

Lin Da frowned.

Acting recklessly could alert Evelyn.

He pondered for a moment and decided to contact the outside world.

At the same time, he planned to gather Phoenix Tail Flower Team members and observe the unfolding situation.

Lin Da posed his third question, one all adventurers on the Mystic Continent cared about:

"What does the Demon King look like? How strong is he?"

Lia and Anna perked up their ears with curiosity.

After threatening the Mystic Continent for tens of thousands of years, the Demon King had proven impossible to kill, with the best efforts resulting only in sealing him. Just how terrifying was he?

Whispering across the barrier between worlds, he tempted naive girls into signing contracts.

Through the force of corruption, he manipulated their bodies—even their minds.

What was the Demon King’s law?

He seemed vastly more powerful than an ordinary legend.

Lia secretly compared the Coldmoon Duke to the Demon King: it appeared that the Coldmoon Duke was far behind the Demon King.

The three stared intently at the magical dragon.

"Uh...

Hehe, I don’t know."

The magical dragon stuck out its tongue, trying to act cute.

Lin Da’s mouth twisted in frustration: "You truly know nothing, useless witch!"

"It’s hardly my fault."

The magical dragon complained pitifully, "Even if you captured one of the Four Heavenly Kings, like [Golden Armor] or [New Moon Knight], they wouldn’t offer much insight either."

"What do you mean?"

The Four Heavenly Kings were the highest-ranking officers under the Demon King. How was it possible they didn’t know what the Demon King looked like?

Lin Da recalled from the game that the Demon King was merely a black shadow, with the glowing number 99 above his head and a massive, ominous health bar.

Some players speculated the Demon King might be a grotesque mass of flesh.

Others suggested he could be a small, white-haired loli.

Yet another theory proposed he might be an overwhelmingly endowed mature woman, whose body could cradle someone to sleep.

Lin Da personally suspected she was a beautiful maiden introduced during the New Year event to bait players into spending money.

Too bad he had been transported into this world before reaching the New Year update.

The magical dragon elaborated: "No one has actually seen the Demon King. The inner hall doors have always been shut tightly, with only the Four Heavenly Kings’ leader—known as [Angel]—allowed to enter. The Demon King’s will is solely communicated through her. Put it this way, [Angel] is the Demon King’s proxy, and we all obey her."

"Angel..."

Lin Da murmured to himself.

She wasn’t a character in the game; where did she suddenly emerge from?

As the leader of the Four Heavenly Kings, her level was undoubtedly high.

For now, his priority was to contact the outside world and assess the situation in the Ice Abyss.

Lin Da privately prayed, hoping it wouldn’t be engulfed in flames—he didn’t want to return home only to find it destroyed...

A sensor ladybug flew out from his pocket, and its screen on its belly lit up.

A burst of hissing noises followed.

An image appeared.

"Lin Da, how are things on your end? The White Dove United crew is waiting to celebrate your return!"

A brown-haired man with a flashy afro excitedly appeared on the screen.

Behind him was a long table loaded with lavish dishes.

"It’s a long story. Robert, what about your side? Any abnormalities?"

Lin Da had contacted Robert, one of the core members of White Dove United and the captain of the Valiant Adventure Team.

Robert asked in confusion: "Abnormalities? What kind?"

"For example... any Demons approaching the Azure Tree?"

"Haha, Lin Da, stop joking. With Coldmoon Duke guarding the place, where would the Demons get the nerve?"

"Where is the Coldmoon Duke?"

"Still at the square, waiting for your group’s return."

"Understood. Keep an eye on your surroundings and contact me if anything unusual happens."

After disconnecting the sensor ladybug, Lin Da rested his head on his hand, pondering: What was Evelyn waiting for?

He casually pulled out a Signal Flare Scroll, notifying the nearby Phoenix Tail Flower Team members.

Cyan City was fraught with hidden dangers; the sooner he left, the better.

Gazing toward the north, Lin Da made a resolution: if the worst situation arose, only one place could save Cyan City.

The Royal Capital!

The center of power in the Mystic Continent, protected by legendary adventurers, the Eternal City: Olie!

He had learned from Bailuo that half of Primordial’s old team members resided in the Royal Capital.

Perhaps someone there had fallen victim to the Demon King’s influence and become a witch.

During the battle at Dragon Fall Mountain Peak, Lin Da initially intended to purify his sister and acquire the third Experience Card to merge into a permanent transformation.

That way, he could switch between dual templates, granting Dark Shadow a shield and supercharging his combat strength to greater-than-double effectiveness.

However, with Lin Xi transformed into a magical dragon, his previous plan to obtain trust-based rewards became unachievable.

This left him unable to collect three Experience Cards, no matter how careful he was.

He could only venture to the Royal Capital in search of a new witch.

Fortunately, not all was lost.

He had successfully retrieved Lin Xi, whose combat strength as a magical dragon was vastly superior to that of a witch, at a level around 77. Additionally, her innate ability stats as a dragon were exceptionally high, making even Extreme Heavenly Rank challengers manageable.

Most importantly, adventurers could **ride dragons**!

There was a certain skill known as [Dragon Taming Skill], allowing an adventurer to bind with their mount. The health points of both were then treated as one entity, and adventurers gained bonus damage when battling atop their dragon.

Dragons inherently had massive health points—and so did Lin Da, a Healing Hero.

Combined, they became an indestructible tank, even for those at the Law Tier!

However, Lin Xi was essentially still an adventurer and could equip gear to further enhance her ability stats. The downside was that the thickness of her Life Barrier would be reduced.

A Level 77 wild magical dragon could boast roughly ten million health points, but Lin Xi, the magical dragon, wouldn’t have nearly that much.

Lin Da asked her for an estimate, and Lin Xi guessed it would be around 500,000—a far cry from the wild variant.

Lia exclaimed: "500,000? That much?"

Anna was equally shocked: "I’m a Level 69 Heavy Armored Warrior, and my Life Barrier value is only 100,000..."

Lin Da, a dedicated blood tank, had just 150,000.

Lin Xi chuckled playfully: "I’ve got a big body, so there’s more blood inside me."

Well... that made a bit of sense.

Lin Da mentally calculated: if he learned Dragon Taming Skill and unified their health as one, they would have 650,000 total health.

Over four times his current amount!

If the combined health could amplify Verdant Shield, producing a shield thickness of over 300,000, the result would be absolutely game-breaking.

Regardless, Lin Da was determined to ride this magical dragon.

He planned to take his team—and himself—to the Royal Capital on her back!

Before leaving, he also needed to bring Wendy along—he had her stationed in a basement in the civilian district, diligently brewing magic potions.

"Dark Shadow-sama, may I ask a favor?" Lia appeared slightly embarrassed.

"What is it?"

"Your Rule Fragment... Could I take a look at it?"

Lia looked at him with hopeful eyes.

She had wanted to ask for a while but hadn’t mustered the courage. Rule Fragments, prior to being condensed into a core, were notoriously fragile. Giving them to someone else to inspect was akin to handing over your lifeblood—any misuse could have dire consequences.

"Just that request?" Lin Da raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, yes!"

Lia exclaimed excitedly: "Are you seriously going to let me see it?"

Rumors in the newspapers painted Dark Shadow as an emotionally cold, selfish, and indifferent adventurer, yet here he was coming across as nothing short of a generous-hearted person!

"Sure, take a look."

Lin Da flicked his fingers, and a jagged black fragment floated toward Lia.

The heavy aura of destruction emanating from it warped the surrounding space slightly—the tiny fragment carried a power so immense it could level an entire city!

Lia hesitantly extended her trembling hand, struggling to find words: "Th-thank you, Dai Lian... I-I’m actually a fan of yours. Your sword—it’s so cool."

"Do you want to touch it?"

"Is that allowed?"

Lia was astonished.

What was up with this Dark Shadow—why was he so agreeable?

Not only had he let her inspect his Rule Fragment, but now he was offering his Demon Sword [Philo] to her!

She couldn’t help but grow suspicious. Could Dark Shadow be hiding some shady intentions?

With Hu Er’s unfortunate incident serving as a cautionary tale, Lia immediately became on guard.

"Sorry, but this lady already belongs to the Oath-bound!"

Lia grit her teeth and handed the Rule Fragment back: "I’d rather not look at it, actually."

"Idiot, haven’t you realized yet? Did you truly think I’d casually place my Rule Fragment into the hands of someone I just met?" Lin Da said with exasperation.

"Huh, what?"

Lia’s ruby-like eyes brimmed with confusion.

She stared blankly at Lin Da, whose amused expression seemed oddly reminiscent of someone else.

Someone who knew Lin Xi, was close to Anna, and even spoke with the same tone.

Lin Da disappeared, and Dark Shadow subsequently appeared.

Lia’s head reeled. She stammered: "Y-you-you-you’re..."

"Indeed," Lin Da nodded, casually removing his mask with a slight, knowing smile.

Black hair, eyes dark as ink, a rugged yet unassuming face—at first glance, ordinary, but with an aura akin to polished granite weathered by wind and sun.

Lia stared wide-eyed, jaw slack in disbelief, her mouth agape as though ready to fit an entire steamed bun.

Dark Shadow... had the exact same appearance as Lin Da!