Jiang Qiao did not go to Hai Lan's divine shard plane using his Summoner role but instead summoned a ghostly entity similar to a probe.
The star map projection appeared in front of Jiang Qiao, who took the ghostly entity and placed it into the plane of Hai Lan's divine shard on the star map.
This transmission consumed less than a hundred Creation Energy from Jiang Qiao, as the ghostly entity had no combat power and was only meant for reconnaissance.
Having done all this, Jiang Qiao found a chair to sit on, leaned back, and closed his eyes to establish a visual connection with the ghostly entity far in Hai Lan's divine shard plane.
"Aren't you coming?" Jiang Qiao glanced at Hai Lan, who was looking at the star map beside him.
Hai Lan's cherry-red lips moved slightly, but she shook her head faintly in the end.
"Alright then."
Jiang Qiao didn't force her; he closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found himself floating in mid-air.
The sky had changed from the blue and white of the holy realm to a gloomy gray. Below him, Jiang Qiao saw a city, a city with somewhat peculiar architectural styles. He could vaguely make out the city walls, castle palaces, and… the battlefield outside the city walls.
"This is indeed a scene of heavy casualties."
Jiang Qiao floated over the battlefield outside the city walls. As far as the eye could see, there were only corpses lying on the ground, soldiers from two enemy nations clad in armor, stabbing each other with swords until both sides died together, forever frozen in this moment in time.
There were no living people on the battlefield; the blood had completely dried up. Jiang Qiao approached a dead soldier, and the ghostly entity extended an 'arm' to remove the soldier's helmet.
The corpse beneath the helmet had lost all moisture, not turning into a skeleton; the dried skin clung to the soldier's bones, resembling an Egyptian mummy.
"These have turned into dried corpses. Could it be that once players arrive, these guys will come back to life?" Jiang Qiao could already guess what the primary enemies of this instance were.
The plane of Hai Lan's divine shard was a level sixty instance, and when the real attack happened, these dried corpses on the battlefield would likely all come back to life.
"I wonder if setting fire to them would work. Let's check out other places first."
Jiang Qiao put the helmet back on the soldier and floated towards the city's interior.
To Jiang Qiao's surprise... the city was still alive, or at least it appeared to be alive.
On the streets, Jiang Qiao could still see commoners walking around, vendors setting up their stalls and trading with passing residents, children chasing and playing, and carriages moving to and fro on the streets. In the corners of the streets, Jiang Qiao could even see thieves and robbers extorting from the commoners.
Just looking at it this way, it indeed seemed like a vibrant city, but there was one problem… all the residents inside were dead.
Every resident, like the soldiers outside the city, had dry, desiccated skin. It was as if they were puppet-like, repeating the same day over and over in the city.
This reminded Jiang Qiao of a state from a game he had played before… living dead, which means exactly what it suggests: living corpses.
"Hello, your head fell off," Jiang Qiao floated in front of a female living dead, waving his 'hand' to remind the woman that her head had rolled to the side of the road...
But she ignored Jiang Qiao and continued to haggle with the vendor in front of her for a dried-up carrot.
"As expected, no consciousness."
Jiang Qiao's gaze turned towards the direction of the city's castle and floated directly towards it.
In ghostly form, it was easy for Jiang Qiao to pass through the castle, where he unexpectedly heard someone talking inside. He immediately hid in the castle corridor on a rafter.
Two figures dressed like nobles… corpses were walking slowly down the corridor. Although they had also turned into the living dead, they still retained their original consciousness.
"Queen Mei has finally found a new divine shard fragment of the Sea Blue Goddess!"
"Shh! Don't mention that name! Do you want Queen Mei to strip you of the right to sleep?"
"I know, I know... I don't know when we'll be able to escape this endless cycle. If not for the chance to sleep for decades at a time, I might have gone mad already."
"Who hasn't? Those who still maintain their sanity are probably just Her Majesty the Queen's knights and the axe-wielding men. Let's wake them up quickly and break this damned cycle."
"I just want to taste good wine again."
Hiding in the corridor, Jiang Qiao listened to the two corpses talking in dry voices about these topics. It made Jiang Qiao feel that he had come at just the right time… just in time to hear the most crucial part of their conversation.
In this plane, there were still quite a few living dead who retained their consciousness, likely serving as lesser bosses and elite monsters, while the ultimate boss was Queen Mei.
Following his sense of direction, Jiang Qiao headed deeper into the castle, arriving at the palace where the ruler of this country sat.
When Jiang Qiao saw the figure seated on the throne in the palace… he had an extremely, extremely, extremely bad feeling.
"Damn it." Jiang Qiao, almost in disbelief, cast a reconnaissance technique on the figure, and her data instantly appeared in front of Jiang Qiao.
'Name: Traitor Meier Stearn, Level: 68, Class: Magic/Warrior/Priest, Description: A human queen who devoured the divine shard fragment of Hai Lan. She has been quietly waiting for the opportunity to restore her fragmented country.'
These data points weren't what was important; what mattered was the reconnaissance technique revealing her health value.
66,390,117/95,123,511.
Her health cap was around 95 million, but her current health was only around 66 million, perhaps due to some reason causing her life value to be damaged.
Here, life value didn't refer to her 'physical condition' but to the plane's overall resistance. Simply put, if Jiang Qiao set the living dead commoners on fire outside, her health would also drop.
The prerequisite being that the living dead could indeed be burned.
Her life value was shared with the entire plane.
A mere 66 million health, backed by the players with the Devouring God's rule, was a somewhat challenging number, but what really troubled Jiang Qiao was…
This boss was stunningly beautiful, wasn't she?
In his ghostly form, Jiang Qiao circled Queen Mei once. She had already 'died' on her throne.
At least that's how it seemed to Jiang Qiao—a longsword had pierced through Queen Mei's chest, pinning her to her throne.
But this did not diminish the dazzling radiance of her exquisite appearance under a dim holy light.
This queen had not become a living dead. She kept her eyes tightly closed, her head bowed, and her long hair, transitioning from silver-gray to pale gold, cascaded down from her ears under the holy light. Even up close, Jiang Qiao could not find any flaw on her fair skin, while her beautiful face held a slightly stern expression.
It gave her a sanctity that made her untouchable.
This was truly a goddess, wasn't she? Coach, my Hai Lan is definitely a fake!
Jiang Qiao unconsciously compared her to that gluttonous goddess; this Queen Mei completely overshadowed Hai Lan in aura and looks!
Jiang Qiao could not sense the queen's breath, although blood continued to drip from the wound in her chest caused by the longsword, down along her legs and onto the ground.
Only then did Jiang Qiao notice that... the queen's blood spread across the floor, seeping into the castle, or perhaps, spreading throughout the entire plane.
She was using this method to sustain her nation, ensuring it could continue to 'live.'
Jiang Qiao carefully floated in front of the queen, tentatively reaching out to pull the sword from her chest.
But just as Jiang Qiao's 'hand' was about to touch the hilt of the sword in her chest, the queen's right hand suddenly grasped Jiang Qiao's outstretched hand.
Her initial grip was surprisingly fierce, but as she firmly took hold, the grip became exceedingly gentle. When Jiang Qiao lifted his eyes again, he saw her ice-blue pupils.
"Why disturb the rest of a dead person?" Her voice lacked any emotional tone, "Ah… I sense a presence on you… one I despise."
As she spoke, she gently released Jiang Qiao's hand, and Jiang Qiao quickly retreated a few steps, at which point she slowly got up from her seat.
As she stood, she pressed her left hand against her chest and violently pulled out the longsword embedded in her chest, causing blood to gush out once more.
"Hai Lan, the great goddess, once my only belief, now the enemy I must erase." She spoke in a haunting voice, her bare feet stepping through the blood as she slowly approached Jiang Qiao.
Hey, hey, hey, is this turning into a boss battle scene already?
"Miss Mei, could you wait a moment? I have a few questions before we start the boss fight," Jiang Qiao said, only to find his vision split in two.
This made Jiang Qiao realize… his ghostly form had been sliced in half by Miss Mei.
At that moment, Jiang Qiao felt the ghostly entity he had created being absorbed by Queen Mei, forcing him to spend another ten Creation Energy points to revive his ghostly entity.
"Is there no room for any conversation before the battle?"
Jiang Qiao used his hands to piece together his split body.
"A conversation?" She tilted her head slightly in thought, and the next second, she swung her sword at Jiang Qiao again, splitting him into two once more. "I will no longer succumb to the Devouring God's deceit."
Hai Lan, just how bad is your reputation? Your old followers don't side with you anymore!
Jiang Qiao mocked his goddess's infamous reputation on the star map as he spent another ten Creation Energy points to revive near Queen Mei.
"I am not conversing with you in the capacity of the Devouring God but as a game planner. I believe we can make a deal," Jiang Qiao said, only to be instantly slashed by Queen Mei again, this time splitting him into three parts.
So there's no room for negotiation?