It seems that with her sharp intuition, she already realized that Ryou didn't plan to let her live, which explains her sudden resolute attitude.
Had she begged for mercy, he would likely have pretended to agree, only to extract all her secrets before disposing of her.
But unexpectedly, her request was something entirely different.
This woman, even on the brink of death, still cares so much about her dignity...
Ryou couldn't help but sigh inwardly before agreeing to her request.
Seeing this, a strange glint flashed in Wu Zetian's eyes as she slowly began to speak.
"Alright, you want to know who the Queen is? I'll tell you. Her name is..."
Suddenly, Ryou felt a pang of unease, and a strong sense of impending danger overwhelmed him. Every cell in his body trembled as if he would die in the next second if he didn't act.
The greatest source of danger was none other than Wu Zetian, lying on the ground at that very moment!
Without thinking, he immediately used the [Descent Card], entering the Possession state, and with a powerful push of his feet, swiftly distanced himself from Wu Zetian.
Almost at the exact moment, he began to move...
Wu Zetian, who had appeared calm, suddenly had a drastic change in expression. Her once-charming face was now filled with boundless malice and hatred.
She suddenly screamed, "You humiliate me like this? How could I ever let you go! You shall accompany me to the Paradise! Ahahaha!!!"
As she finished speaking, she began to laugh maniacally.
Accompanying her laughter, a dim green light suddenly ignited in her chest, initially like a small flame. Within seconds, the green light intensified immensely, as if a green sun were slowly rising from her chest.
When the green light reached a certain intensity, it exploded.
A thick green mist rapidly spread out.
A terrifying scene unfolded — wherever the green mist touched, vegetation instantly withered. The exposed ground beneath the green mist began to erode and melt away.
The dreadful green toxic mist expanded outward for nearly a kilometer before slowing down.
From above, one could see a green cloud covering a 5-kilometer diameter area over the barren island, lingering for a long time.
The ground covered by the toxic mist had been eroded by about a foot in depth.
Fortunately, Ryou had dodged just in time, barely escaping the range of the toxic mist.
Even so, he accidentally inhaled a small amount of the toxic mist.
He immediately felt dizzy, his vision blurred, and the scene before him doubled. The skin that had come into contact with the mist started to blacken and rot, with green pus-filled blisters forming.
He was horrified. His endurance attribute was the highest, even when restricted to C-level. Combined with the boosts from his Noble Phantasm and Mystic Codes, his endurance was nearly equivalent to B-level.
With this level of endurance, he could withstand some weaker Phantasmal Species poisons. Yet, he found himself struggling against the toxic mist from Wu Zetian's self-detonation!
Ryou quickly retreated while opening the system to exchange for five bottles each of the highest-grade antidote and healing potions. He bit off the caps and downed them.
Anything produced by the system was top-notch.
The poison's effects were soon suppressed, and the healing potion, combined with his powerful regenerative abilities, allowed him to recover quickly. The poison-corroded skin peeled off, revealing fresh new skin underneath.
"What a terrifying woman..."
Ryou muttered with lingering fear.
She would rather self-detonate than be humiliated.
"And she still tried to drag me down with her at the end, this is just..."
Ryou smiled bitterly.
Considering her actions before and after, he quickly deduced her intentions.
It was evident that she had been cursed by the so-called Queen. If she attempted to reveal the Queen's identity, the curse would immediately activate, turning her into a highly toxic bomb.
The Queen who cursed Wu Zetian was incredibly malicious.
Such an earth-shattering secret would typically be shared in a face-to-face, whispered exchange.
Once Wu Zetian triggered the curse, the surrounding five to six kilometers would be reduced to a dead zone, ensuring that both the leaker and the person who learned the secret would perish, thus achieving the goal of sealing lips.
Wu Zetian had detected this trick planted by the Queen, but she either couldn't or didn't try to remove the curse.
So, instead, she used the curse to try and take Ryou down with her.
Suppose it killed him, great. If not, it didn't matter.
Once a curse of this nature is triggered, it inevitably alerts the person who cast it.
Ryou was 90% certain that the mysterious Queen had already sensed her servant triggering the curse.
Any rational person would come to investigate if her property had been tampered with, regardless of the outcome.
Ryou would naturally be exposed to the so-called Queen.
To complete the hidden core main quest, would inevitably have to confront her.
From the start, their relationship was predestined to be one of mortal enemies.
Given her ability to create several powerful Kabaneri like Wu Zetian, this Queen was undoubtedly formidable.
Ryou immediately understood that the difficulty of the hidden main quest likely rested on this mysterious Queen.
Just as he was about to leave, a golden light flashed from within the gradually dispersing toxic mist.
His heart skipped a beat, but he patiently waited until the toxic mist had completely cleared before flying toward the location of Wu Zetian's corpse.
Looking down, he saw a circular crater about 6 kilometers in diameter. From above, it resembled a giant dish.
Flying to the center, he found that Wu Zetian's body had long since vanished without a trace. However, in the middle of the barren, sandy ground, there was an incredibly vibrant flower.
The flower was unlike any species he had ever seen, but its beauty was akin to that of a work of art, appearing as if it were carved from jade, with a translucent green hue.
Suspended above the open petals was a square crystal, about the size of an eyeball, radiating a golden glow.
Ryou hesitated for a moment, exchanged for antidotes and healing potions, placing them within easy reach, and then slowly extended his hand towards the crystal.
[Ding!]
At that moment, the system suddenly sent a notification.
Ryou's hand had already touched the crystal itself, but he felt no discomfort.
After a brief hesitation, he opened the system panel.
[Congratulations, host, for discovering — Abyssal Crystal D-Class (Purified)]
[With this crystal, the host can exchange for skills, Noble Phantasms, Mystic Code, etc., in the Workshop. Please handle it with care.]
[(Note: The aura emitted by the Abyssal Crystal will attract the attention of other elite demonic aberrations, who may even attempt to snatch it. Please be cautious!)]
Ryou's body trembled instantly. "Abyssal Crystal," "Demonic Aberration Elite," "Workshop" — these were three terms he had never heard of before.
His guess was correct. The previous instances had been arranged by the system as practice, akin to a tutorial level in a game.
But now, things were getting serious.
The system had also started to gradually unlock features that weren't available before, such as the [Workshop], where he could exchange skills, Noble Phantasms, and Mystic Code.
The appearance of Demonic Aberration Elites indicated that the demonic aberration he encountered in the Danmachi world was merely a foot soldier — a low-level monster meant to familiarize him with the enemy.
If even a mere foot soldier was that terrifying, this so-called Demonic Aberration Elite was far more formidable than he had imagined.
Moreover, judging by the situation in this instance, the enemy wasn't just a mindless beast. The system information confirmed that the mastermind behind this hidden core main quest was indeed his arch-nemesis — the Demonic Aberration.
Perhaps it should even be called the Elite Demonic Aberration.
As for Wu Zetian, she was undoubtedly a native of the Kabaneri world, but she had been specially resurrected by the enemy, becoming their minion and cannon fodder.
As expected, the system immediately issued the next piece of information.
[Ding!]
[Host has discovered a core truth clue of this world (20%).]
Killing Wu Zetian had directly increased the progress bar to 20%.
According to her, there were two others like her: one in Russia and another in America.
Judging by Wu Zetian's situation, killing those two should bring the progress bar to 50%.
Various thoughts raced through his mind as he flew back to the Shimakaze.
From a distance, he saw a small figure sitting by the ship's railing — it was Shimakaze-chan.
She was tightly hugging a Twin Gun-Chan in her arms. Perhaps because it was a bit hot, the Twin Gun-Chan couldn't move and pouted, showing a distressed expression.
Two other Twin Gun-Chan were playing nearby, running around the deck.
Shimakaze herself had her hand resting on the Twin Gun-Chan, her chin propped up, staring blankly at the sea with a lost expression.
Ryou lightly landed on the deck, but no matter how softly he moved, it was useless — the entire ship was part of Shimakaze-chan's body, so it was like he was stepping directly on her.
"Admiral~!"
Shimakaze immediately noticed him and leaped up, running toward him like the wind.
When she got close, Shimakaze didn't hesitate to jump into his arms.
Ryou quickly caught her, spun her around once, and gently put her down.
"Have you been waiting long? Sorry, something came up and delayed me a bit."
"No! As long as it's you, Admiral, Shimakaze will wait as long as it takes!"
Shimakaze's heartfelt words sent a wave of emotion through him.
Before his transmigration, he had played several shipgirl mobile games like Kantai Collection and Azur Lane. To him, it was just a pastime, and he never considered how his shipgirls might feel after he abandoned the game.
Now that he had crossed into this world, he couldn't help but wonder: in another world, could his shipgirls still be waiting day after day, year after year for his return?
Ryou shook his head, brushing aside the thoughts. The past was gone, and he could only look forward. Otherwise, he risked losing the precious things around him.
He gently patted Shimakaze's head and patiently listened to her somewhat childish chatter.
The Shimakaze's main engine roared back to life, sailing toward the depths of the ocean.
Back in his room, he began seriously reflecting.
Wu Zetian's self-destruction had taught him a valuable lesson: no enemy should ever be underestimated. Otherwise, he could find himself in a situation like today, almost falling to a weaker opponent.
Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.
Only dead enemies are truly defeated enemies.
After a day of sailing, the Shimakaze once again docked at Keelung Harbor. In just a day, not much had changed.
Upon returning, Ryou threw himself into the intense and busy work of development.
The population under his rule had doubled, and since he had chosen a dictatorship route, he didn't need to manage every detail. However, he still had to steer the major decisions.
...
Three days later, at midnight.
On the deserted island where Wu Zetian had self-destructed, the spreading toxin had turned the already barren island into a dead zone.
Plants had withered, animals had perished, and seabirds had fled in panic.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the eerie silence of the island was shattered by a sound resembling a typhoon's howl.
Boom!
A massive figure, standing five meters tall, crashed down heavily, causing the ground to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.
Heavy footsteps echoed as the giant figure stepped into the moonlight.
It was a gargoyle-like creature.
However, unlike the slender gargoyles of myth, this one had bulging muscles beneath its purplish-gray skin, exuding an aura of raw power.
The monster approached the spot where Wu Zetian had self-destructed.
Aside from a withered flower that had once held the Abyssal Crystal, there was nothing else.
The monster extended its massive claw and pinched the flower with its nails. But as soon as it touched it, the flower crumbled to ash, blown away by the sea breeze.
A deep buzzing sound followed — the monster was speaking.
"That useless thing must have died here."
It then brought its nails to its nose and sniffed.
A rare expression of ecstasy appeared on its grotesque face.
"No doubt about it. That's the scent of the crystal! Damn it! Some lowly human took it! I have to get it back!"
Insatiable greed twisted the monster's face.
"I remember that useless thing was ordered by the Queen to guard this location."
The monster pondered for a moment, identified a direction, and spread its massive wings. With a fierce gust of wind, it flew westward — toward the capital.
Ryou had no idea he had caught the attention of a terrifying enemy.
He was busy every day, and during his occasional breaks, he either bonded with Yamato, teased Shimakaze, or sparred with Ais.
Meanwhile, after Ryou abducted the Empress Dowager, the Forbidden City was thrown into chaos.
The commander of the Imperial Guards took advantage of the situation, seizing control of the Forbidden City in the absence of a leader. His ambitions ran deep, and he now lived comfortably, protected by guards outside the palace and served by maids inside. He even slept on the emperor's dragon bed, with maids warming it for him, living almost like an emperor.
But soon, other thoughts would come to his mind.
If given the choice, he would never sit on that throne.