The entire Underground Mine was a trial ground created by a powerful entity known as the "System" for a human.
Not long ago, this place was just an ordinary mine within The Chasm, but under the power of the System, the flow of time here was accelerated.
The Slime Queen, who had no lifespan limit, was an ordinary Water Slime that had existed here since the establishment of the Underground Mine.
The time flow rate here was sped up; only a few days had passed in the world outside the Underground Mine, but hundreds of years had already gone by inside.
A terrifying time flow rate of one day to one hundred years caused the monsters who knew the truth to have long since died of old age.
And the Slime Queen, the only one who knew the truth, was unable to reveal the news.
Hundreds of years ago, an ignorant and naive Water Slime signed a contract with the "System" under the witness of Rex Lapis: to act as a qualified final BOSS, providing trials for those who entered the Underground Mine.
In exchange, this Slime gained a miraculous ability called "Fusion."
[Fusion: A skill developed by the System for the Water Slime, allowing it to merge with other Slimes to stack power. (Note: Inspiration comes from the Harmony Aeon Himeko)]
Hundreds of years later, the Water Slime grew into the Slime Queen, striking fear into the hearts of monsters within the Underground Mine.
Compared to the power she gained, the price the Slime Queen paid seemed negligible.
But after being the Queen for so long, was the Slime Queen truly willing to be defeated by a trial-taker and revert to being an ordinary, bullied Water Slime? Naturally not; that was more painful than death!
Thus, the Slime Queen tried every possible means to find a way to resist her predetermined fate, but all resistance seemed futile in the face of the "System's" immense power.
Consequently, the obsessed Slime Queen began her journey of slaughter.
In fact, in the last twenty floors out of the one hundred and twenty floors of the Underdark, there was no BOSS stronger than the Slime Queen; those last twenty floors were the Slime Queen's nursery.
All the powerful monsters were torn apart by her and used to nurture Slimes; those ordinary monsters from the last twenty floors were actually Slimes in disguise.
The fact that the current BOSSes in the first hundred floors, including the Dark Geo Vishap, were still alive was only because the flesh and blood of the powerful monsters cultivated in the nursery on the last twenty floors had not yet been used up.
For hundreds of years, the entire Underground Mine had long become the Slime Queen's testing ground; powerful monsters were constantly harvested like cutting leeks, and then various peculiar Slimes were cultivated.
For instance, the tentacled Geo Slime that ambushed Lu Mings Clone earlier was one of the more successful cultivations among the many Slimes.
Logically, the Slime Queen's immense strength and her actions should have instilled fear in the Dark Geo Vishap, but this little lizard with a stone head truly lived up to being specially selected and sent in by the System.
Life and death are trivial; if you disagree, then fight!
The Dark Geo Vishap utterly despised people who were tyrannical and cruel when oppressing others, but cried and begged for mercy when it was their turn to be oppressed.
Since this was the path he chose, he had to see it through even if he cried his eyes out.
If one commits evil deeds, one must have the awareness of being an evildoer; if one harms others, one must expect to be harmed doubly in return.
Only daring to attack the weak, yet never daring to resist the powerful "System," instead begging for mercy at every turn—this was truly disgraceful.
While expressing contempt for the Slime Queen, the Dark Geo Vishap also became interested in Arkz.
"The trial-taker should be a worthy opponent!!!"
...
Achoo!
Arkz, unaware that he was being targeted by a lizard, sneezed, blowing away the dandelions in front of him.
"Couldn't hold it in; I must remember to bring a mask next time I go out. Achoo, I didn't expect this pollen to cause sneezing so easily."
Arkz had long forgotten the events happening inside the mine; he was busy Foraging on the wilderness to increase his Foraging and gathering levels.
As for the Clone that was resummoned, Arkz assigned him to refine copper ore.
[Furnace: Converts ore and coal into metal blocks.]
[Furnace Recipe: Copper Ore * 20, Shitou * 25.]
By using the System's power to craft a few Furnaces by hand, and then using the Furnaces to smelt Copper Ore into Copper Ingots, Arkz calculated that smelting it himself was cheaper and yielded better quality than purchasing Copper Ingots from Wagner, the blacksmith in Mondstadt City.
If he doesn't smelt copper ore, how can Springvale Farm develop!
For Arkz, the matters inside the Underground Mine were no more important than developing the farm; letting his Springvale Farm develop remained Arkz's most important task currently.
...
Inside Mondstadt City.
The Good Hunter Restaurant was completely packed with people; one plate of honey glazed carrot fried meat officially made The Good Hunter the best restaurant in all of Mondstadt.
Anyone who tasted that honey glazed carrot fried meat would never question this.
"Sigh! The Good Hunter is closed today; I still wanted to order another portion of honey glazed carrot fried meat to try."
Amber looked regretfully at the 'Temporarily Closed' sign posted at The Good Hunter Restaurant's entrance, and the 'rabbit ears' on her head drooped with disappointment.
Bang—!
Ouch!
Dejectedly, Amber walked with her head down, failing to see the path ahead, and bumped right into a pedestrian.
"I'm sorry... Wait!"
Amber quickly got up and pulled the person she bumped into to their feet, just as she was about to apologize, she clearly saw the attire of the person in front of her and was instantly stunned.
She saw the person opposite wearing a long black robe and a mask, looking shifty and suspicious; Amber immediately thought of the Treasure Hoarders.
Seriousness entered Amber's eyes; she grabbed the wrist of the man in the black robe and said coldly, "Sir, I apologize for bumping into you. Given your suspicious behavior, I must now check your identity. Please remove your black robe immediately. Here is my Knights of Favonius identification."
The man in the black robe sighed. Under Amber's vigilant gaze, he took out a Knights of Favonius badge from his pocket, and then, when Amber's vigilance relaxed, he pulled her into an alley.
Pulled into the alley, Amber thought for a moment, then pulled out the bow and arrows at her waist and said coldly, "This does not prove your identity; you might have stolen my colleague's badge. Please remove your black robe, or I will attack!"
"Wait, don't get agitated!"
"Amber!"
"It's me!"
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