In the following over an hour, progress was smooth. Twenty tree monsters have achieved neutrality, obtaining two types of essence in equal measure. Averaging out, it took about four minutes to settle one tree.

This speed isn't fast for now, but it's just the beginning, and Chun is very confident.

Then suddenly, a neutral tree monster turned green under Six's relentless brainwashing singing!

Six's singing grew even more exuberant!

Bilenna rejoiced, "Dear, isn't this Six's first follower?"

Chun was both happy and anxious; anxious because this change to green might lead to an onslaught from other tree monsters!

Chun immediately instructed, "Six, command this follower to escape, protect it with everything you've got!"

Six's singing was filled with battle intent!

Bilenna laughed, "Watch me!"

She then spat a long-lost blood mist onto the battlefield, instantly obscuring the perception of the tree monster group.

Great! Mina, keep going!

With Mina's consecutive success, the inevitable happened — system notification: Congratulations! Nine dancing girl evil spirits in your team have been tempered by battle and successfully advanced to entry-level dream charm! Their strength has qualitatively improved.

The Mina team cheered, "Master, our group has advanced!"

Chun was immensely relieved, "Very good, keep going!"

Last time Chun helped Mina advance to this entry-level was in the Bronze City prison, delving into the dreams of 30 prisoners, which consequently allowed Mina to acquire initial ability to penetrate normal people's dreams. Now, all nine dancing girls have advanced to this level, the overall enhancement is imaginable. More importantly, all nine have advanced, how far can a full team advancement be?

Mina decisively re-tuned the team, "The advanced group 1 will handle targets independently, I'll lead group 2!"

Very good.

As expected, under Mina's direct leadership, group 2 also advanced smoothly.

Then, a second tree monster successfully submitted!

The snowball starts rolling officially!

Chun felt completely relieved, or rather, there was nothing left for him to do, so he decided to catch up on some sleep, avoiding an all-nighter as per his age. He was overly excited, and listening to Bilenna's relentless raving, even a seasoned veteran like him couldn't bear it…

...

Ten Lords Chat Group.

Sariel was accompanying a mermaid fighting in the jungle, but the Eye of Omniscience monitoring from above the village suddenly detected an anomaly: a female NPC in a white physician coat, wearing a white sunhat, boots for hiking, dragging a large wheeled suitcase boarded a small boat and set off from the village, looking like she was heading on an important trip, not towards the jungle frontline, but seemingly towards Black Iron City?

Sariel was surprised, remembering this female NPC named White seemed to be the most beautiful woman in the village, nicknamed the White Rose of Canyon Village! With her high status, where could she be going?

Sariel immediately instructed his butler, "Dispatch spies in Black Iron City to follow her movements."

Butler: "Yes, sir..."

Two hours later, the butler reported, "Sir, she's entered Black Iron City and heading towards the teleportation array!"

Sariel was astonished, "Is she going to another city?"

Sariel immediately took it seriously, notifying the group, "Metatron, Raphael, Gabriel, keep an eye on your cities' teleportation arrays..."

Gabriel sighed, "I'm already at sea, let my butler take care of it."

Sariel sighed helplessly, "Butler, please check Silver City's teleportation array too."

"Okay."

In the next moment, the butler reported, "Reporting to Miss Gabriel, she's arrived in Oak City!"

Everyone was astonished, "What's going on?"

Sariel was startled, "She must be a spy sent from Chun Village. Gabriel, send players to monitor her every move immediately!"

Gabriel took it seriously, swiftly contacting her subordinate unit, "Peace Elite Group 1, keep live monitoring!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Yes, ma'am!"

The live feed displayed White looking around, seeming like a country bumpkin who had never seen the world.

She then asked a passerby in the square, and after paying 1 mining coin in tips, headed towards the Academy District and arrived at the admissions office of Oak Medical College.

Gabriel was surprised, "Is she here to study abroad?!"

Sariel became anxious, "She must be a spy!"

Gabriel asked, "Boss, what do you think?"

Michael laughed, "Someone studying abroad at her own expense can only get into the outer academy, she won't infiltrate the inner academy, how can she be a spy?"

Gabriel sighed, "I just find it odd, I leave and she arrives."

Sariel was inspired, "That's right, she never left the village before, now with such a big event happening there, she leaves, definitely there's a plan, a conspiracy!"

Sela laughed, "If that's the case, Gabriel, then just head back."

Gabriel spoke grumpily, "This is the Oak Ark warship, and with Liya accompanying, I invoked a lot of privileges to invite her along."

Sela chuckled, "Invoking privileges just to snatch this small bit of credit from me."

Gabriel retorted, "Boss already said it's for my protection, seeing you in danger, to come save you!"

Sela laughed, "You really hope I encounter danger, otherwise, your privilege points would be wasted."

Michael sighed, "Ladies, enough quarreling. Gabriel only has to send someone to keep a close watch."

"Understood..."

...

Game time, 5 PM.

Sela was aboard the Black Iron Blade, having advanced at full speed for 10 hours, and had reached the Thousand Island Archipelago area, where twilight descended upon the sea. The twilight and the distinctive fog of the area instantly brought a tense, solemn atmosphere.

However, the Chinese players in the group showed no hint of tension, cheering in the channel like bumpkins, thrilled they could idle and level up at sea. Sela already irritated by Gabriel felt even more annoyed.

Up ahead, another Black Iron City treasure hunting ship appeared, initiating communication with the command cabin, as the target area became increasingly precise.

Sela indeed found it increasingly incredible, after all, these areas had been intensively searched by treasure hunting ships from other cities over the past three or four days, yielding no movements at all!

When Sela saw the location of Oak Ark on the sea chart, she became intrigued and teased Fafnir, "Oak Ark is also nearby, has the other side received intel as well?"

Fafnir sighed, "The strength of Oak City vastly surpasses that of my Black Iron City, it's normal for them to receive intelligence."

Sela asked, "Doesn't this mean most of the credit is being taken from Miss?"

Fafnir laughed awkwardly, "We're all contributing to the Empire. Besides, with her help, we also have an easier time."

Sela found it amusing. Clearly, Fafnir wanted to hog the credit alone, has she willingly accepted?

Nonetheless, the Ten Lords were never in it to uphold the Empire but to control the first-generation AI to become the Emperor. Fostering dissent within her regarding the Empire could be advantageous in winning her over, perhaps continuing to incite?

But just then, Gabriel suddenly called for help in the group: "Sela, come quickly! I'm encountering heavy fog and strong soundwave interference. I can hear the Siren's song! The Siren is active!"

Everyone was astonished, "Siren!?"

Metatron exclaimed, "There could also be the Pirate King. The last attack by the Pirate King on an imperial guard ship was 7 days ago. I calculate the pirate ship was out of energy and needed 7 days to recover! Now precisely 7 days!"

Sela burst into laughter, "Gabriel, you came to save me? Didn't expect you to be the one under attack! But—"

Sela sighed, "My situation differs from yours. I can't command the Black Iron Blade, and it hasn't received your SOS. You must make every effort to approach me..."