When the plot-skips players into the game world

Aiwass was preparing to leave after getting the autographs when he encountered Yulia in the hallway.

"Brother!"

Her eyes widened slightly, and she charged over like a little cannonball, crashing into Aiwass's arms and hugging him tightly.

The girl nuzzled into Aiwass's chest like a kitten, her warm breath tickling him a bit.

"Don't do that, Yulia."

Aiwass said helplessly, "You should be glad I took a bath and didn't come here with a smell of blood mixed with essential oils... otherwise, it might have suffocated you."

——That was originally his concern for the elderly Gryphon.

"It just smells like bath powder."

Yulia murmured softly.

She looked up, her eyes filled with anticipation, "Brother, I can make bath powder now... Will you use mine from now on?"

"Sure."

Aiwass teased, "When I come back, I'll switch to yours. If it's good, I'll ask Queen Sofia if we can replace all the bath powder in the palace with the one you make."

Bath powder was similar to the shower gel of that era, a product of alchemy.

When added to water, it would transform the bathtub water into a kind of sparkling water with tiny bubbles. Unlike shower gel, it did not foam up, but it could be used both for showering and soaking in the tub. It allowed for cleaning the body while saving water.

Probably the only downside was that it didn't smell very good... It had a clear sulfur odor that took a while to dissipate.

"Then don't wait till you come back! I have a batch right now—remember to take it with you, brother!"

Yulia said, dragging Aiwass all the way back to her room.

Perhaps because she sometimes did alchemy experiments, her room was not as close to Isabel as Aiwass's. Aiwass's room was just a corridor away from Isabel, less than a three-minute walk.

But Isabel and Yulia's rooms were basically mirror images of each other... It could be said that even if there was an explosion here, Isabel wouldn't be harmed.

Yulia had been busy catching up on alchemy. Aiwass didn't want to disturb her and didn't know when she would be in her room, so he hadn't come to see her.

Seeing Yulia's room, he felt it quite matched his impression—although Roning Street No. 14 had been attacked, damaging many of her alchemy devices beyond use.

But now her batch of alchemy devices was even more complete!

What's more, they looked a lot more expensive.

Although Aiwass didn't know anything about alchemy equipment.

It was like the difference between a top-end graphics card with LED lights and a water-cooling system and a two-generations-old graphics card with air-cooling—visible to the naked eye.

"These were given to me by my teacher."

Yulia said proudly, "Like this crucible, this one is..."

She subconsciously wanted to explain and boast to Aiwass.

But she quickly realized that Aiwass was short on time today, so she reined in her excitement and abruptly cut off her own topic.

She packed up a large stack of powder packaged like teabags and handed it over to Aiwass.

She also picked out a set of potions for Aiwass. These were a series of test tubes with stands, which could be fixed inside a travel case.

"These are the best potions I've made so far, I've saved them all for you."

Yulia's eyes shone brightly as she pointed and introduced, "These three bottles are Vitality Potions, which can speed up the recovery of vitality, especially prepared for you; this bottle is Snake Venom Ointment, a very potent poison that can be applied to weapons and is a nerve poison; this jar is Hemostatic Powder, I specially added herbs to prevent scarring, if you want to save mana, you can use this for the same effect.

"This bottle is the Featherfall Potion, after drinking it reduces body weight to one-sixth. In addition to preventing falls, it also allows for higher jumps and faster running!

"This bottle is the Petrification Potion, after drinking it you will enter a petrified state. If you are poisoned with something severe, you can use this to save your life, or you can give it to others to drink, or just smash it over them. Anything splashed by the liquid will also petrify.

"This bottle is a salve for reversing petrification... I didn't make this. Because the teacher said the Petrification Potion is very dangerous, it must be used with a reversing potion, so I put it in there too."

Yulia bounced excitedly on the spot, looking at Aiwass with eager anticipation, "How about it, how about it!"

"You're very impressive, Yuli."

Aiwass said with a smile, patting her head to encourage her, "You've now advanced to the second energy level, and I'm sure you'll make even better alchemical concoctions in the future."

Although Yulia's potions were of no use to Aiwass... he still decided to take them with him.

They were a token of Yulia's heart after all.

Yulia opened the travel case and fixed the potions inside, "Look, brother! I also prepared some clothes for you..."

"... Lily will take care of that, Yuli."

Aiwass was somewhat helpless.

He immediately noticed that Yulia wanted to load the potions into the case for Aiwass. But feeling that the travel case was too empty, she just filled it up with clothes and miscellaneous items.

Aiwass even spotted "Mr. Dade," Yulia's favorite stuffed toy, which resembled both a rabbit and a bear. This strange cult toy was also stuffed in by Yulia.

"I might cause trouble if I go, so let Mr. Dade go in my stead."

Yulia said with a beaming smile.

She paused, suddenly remembering something, "Oh, right... and this. I almost forgot."

Yulia spoke and dug out a delicate jewelry box from the travel case.

Aiwass opened it and found inside a silver necklace with a drop-shaped emerald pendant.

This was precisely the necklace that Isabel often wore to school!

"This is something Sister Isabel asked me to put in for you,"

Yulia explained from the side, "She said, this is something she personally lends you... because if it were a gift, she was worried you wouldn't accept it."

Aiwass gently touched the teardrop-shaped emerald, seemingly still able to sense a bit of warmth from it.

—It wasn't an illusion. Indeed, it was emanating a slight warmth, slightly warmer than Aiwass's own body temperature.

And as Aiwass touched the necklace, a light screen unfolded before his eyes: Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire

[Ysolda's Teardrops]

[Extraordinary Equipment (Deep Purple)]

[Accessory-Necklace]

[Extraordinary Trait: When receiving a fatal injury, there's a 50% chance to reduce the severity of the injury by half (only once)]

[Extraordinary Trait: When seriously injured, there's a 50% chance each hour to prevent the injury from worsening for one hour]

[Spell: Holy Healing (limited to female use, once per day)]

[Requirement: Light 3]

[Instant, Contact, Immediate Effect]

["—This is Ysolda's Tears. Whose tears are these?"]

The object was so valuable that it stupefied Aiwass for a moment.

"...Is it that precious?"

Without a doubt, this was something Queen Sofia gave to Isabel to prevent death—it wasn't something to be loaned out lightly, even if Aiwass was about to be appointed as the Minister of the Department of Care of Magical Creatures.

Although it was only deep purple, it was probably more precious to the royal family than even gold equipment.

Moreover, its most important effect would be invalidated after being triggered once. Even though it was only lent to Aiwass, if he actually triggered the effect, its value would greatly decrease.

But Aiwass also knew that if he really returned the necklace... Isabel would probably be heartbroken.

So he simply hung the necklace around his neck.

Though it was a necklace for women, it was surprisingly not unattractive.

Aiwass placed the jewelry box into his suitcase and said to Yuli, "Please thank Isabel for me."

"Okay~"

Yuli, with her hands behind her back, said with a drawn-out tone and significant implication.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Hayna had already woken up from a nap on the train.

The train was so slow that Hayna felt she could easily outrun it. Perhaps its only advantage was saving energy.

Because of the continuous clatter and shaking of the carriage, she didn't sleep very well.

Hayna, who woke up beside the window, yawned and took a sip from her water bottle.

"—Is that alcohol?"

Just then, someone across from her spoke up.

"It's water, sir."

Hayna glanced over and answered politely.

That was a man with quite distinctive features—not handsome but not ugly either, yet someone who left a memorable impression.

He was a man thin as a withered tree.

His height was nearly two meters. His spine was slightly hunched, and his shoulder-length black hair hung like damp seaweed, forming into small, tight curls.

—Wild Elves?

Hayna speculated the man's identity in her mind, but remained courteous without showing it.

"I was thinking... A young Inspector like you probably wouldn't drink alcohol in the morning,"

The man chuckled, his slightly hoarse, magnetic voice sounding out, "Are you also headed to Shepherd Bay County?"

His voice wasn't bad, Hayna thought.

Steady and graceful, it conveyed a sense of good upbringing. That tone reminded Hayna of Chief Inspector Edward.

"Yes, I'm from Shepherd Bay County,"

Hayna replied briskly.

Yet for some reason, she felt a bit on guard.

It was the complete opposite of the first time she met Aiwass—back then, her common sense told her there was something wrong with Aiwass, but her subconscious constantly assured her he was harmless; now, she couldn't see anything wrong with the man, yet her instincts kept warning her—this person is suspicious, dangerous.

"What is your profession?"

Hayna asked reflexively.

As she spoke, she realized she may have been impolite, "Sorry... occupational habit."

"It's fine. There's nothing that can't be discussed."

The nobleman who seemed to be a Wild Elf responded with a gentle smile, "My name is Ye Zhi, I am a poet."