Before the war on this side had even ended, Ye Qingning had already wandered—quite unintentionally—into Romance Country.
In truth, she had simply gotten addicted to collecting things.
And it seemed this was yet another country that had once bullied Hua Country.
From what she had overheard from soldiers earlier, Romance Country was currently very powerful. The ultimate goal of Svastika Country’s attacks on Windmill Country and Blue Country was Romance Country.
It had better not disappoint her expectations.
After passing through Blue Country, she had already gained experience.
First, head to places like ports—gold was definitely being transferred there.
So if Svastika Country won, would they pack up all the gold and take it away? But she hadn’t found that much gold in Svastika Country… or had she already taken it?
Gold was her favorite, after all.
Sure enough, she found it—but the quantity felt off. Some of it had probably already been moved.
This time, she couldn’t understand the language at all, but she didn’t care. As long as the gold was in her hands, it didn’t matter what they said.
By now, it was already late at night.
Ye Qingning rode her electric scooter toward the City of Romance.
The people of Romance Country seemed completely unaffected by the war. Laughter and joy filled the air everywhere.
Look—one household was celebrating a child’s birthday, another was holding a wedding, and elsewhere there were parties.
War seemed like something distant to them, even though the borders had already been breached.
They had spent twelve years and nearly five billion building a defensive line, yet it had been completely bypassed. Svastika Country’s army had simply sent armored units through a difficult highland route, going around the defenses entirely.
She had heard this from drivers she had hitchhiked with—didn’t they know?
Maybe they simply didn’t care.
Or perhaps they didn’t concern themselves with national affairs. After all, in the past decade, they had changed over twenty presidents. They were probably numb to it by now.
What difference would one more make?
By the time Ye Qingning arrived in the City of Romance, it was already a new day.
The streets were filled with people hurrying to work and school.
She casually bought a bouquet of flowers, enjoying the fragrant scent. A newspaper boy tried to sell her a paper, and she paid without much thought.
She had definitely overpaid—otherwise, the boy wouldn’t have looked so happy.
She wasn’t particularly interested in foreign currency anyway.
Strangely, there was very little war coverage in the newspaper. Even without being able to read much, she could tell most of it was advertisements.
She needed rest now, so she found the most eye-catching hotel and checked into the most luxurious suite.
She knew how to enjoy life.
The moment she took off her shoes, she froze in disbelief.
Why did her feet smell?
It must be the poor quality of the shoes.
And Yiren too—why hadn’t she stocked up on better ones? She was probably just as poor as she used to be.
As for her dirty clothes and shoes, she simply discarded them after wearing them. She had no time to wash them—she tossed them into an empty area of her space and let them decompose.
Thankfully, her life space was intelligent enough not to treat her as garbage and decompose her too.
Ye Qingning slept until sunset.
The City of Romance was a city that never slept.
Back in the 18th century, criminals used the cover of darkness to commit crimes, and crime rates were high. At the time, the police required every household to place a candle or oil lamp by their window, lighting up the entire city and turning it into a “city of lights.”
Back then, they were already being so extravagant. Meanwhile, in the 19th century, her grandfather had still been trying to save candles.
Right—she needed to stockpile candles too. In the future, she would let her grandfather light dozens every night, even fill the courtyard with them.
She couldn’t sleep anymore. It was time to “work.”
Under the night sky, couples strolled through the streets, street performers entertained passersby, and dazzling dance halls and bars beckoned.
Ye Qingning chose to take a boat tour.
After all, her main purpose wasn’t sightseeing.
Anything that had characteristics of Hua Country had to be taken.
If she accidentally packed a little extra, well… that was just a mistake.
After all, there was so much—anyone would slip up sometimes.
Besides, she was just a little baby now.
And little babies loved colorful, shiny things.
Why was this bank burning money? Would they rather destroy it than let Svastika Country take it?
Then she would take it instead.
In the future, if she came across something she liked, she would pay for it!
What a waste otherwise.
Were the contents of the bank vaults also being abandoned?
She might as well collect them.
And there were other banks too.
She had to hurry! What if they all got burned?
Forget the boat—she trusted her legs more.
Waste was shameful.
After wandering Romance Country for over ten days, Ye Qingning found herself missing something.
Back in the apocalypse, she had thought low-level crystal cores were useless. Now, she wished she had more of them.
If she had known, she would have accepted every core the Zombie King gave her.
Why had she been so picky back then?
Now look—she had none.
Nearly a month had passed, and her ability level hadn’t improved at all.
The only thing that had increased was her spatial perception. Just using that alone could drain her energy for an entire day.
Ah! She had been too careless and failed to control her abilities—she had almost been killed in an air raid.
Leaning against a wall to rest, many people mistook her for a beggar.
Some even tossed coins at her.
Oh, poor little cabbage, growing yellow in the field… when would she finally return home?
So miserable—she had become a beggar.
After wandering in circles, Ye Qingning somehow ended up near Miracle Beach.
If her abilities were just a bit stronger, she wouldn’t have doubled back here. Wasn’t this the very place she had arrived at when she first came to Romance Country?
She had actually wanted to head toward Boot Country.
But since she was already here, perhaps she could follow the retreating military ships to Mist Country?
The Queen of Windmill Country had taken a lot of gold with her.
And besides, Mist Country was also an enemy.
She had to go!
The ship was small and packed with soldiers. Ye Qingning was squeezed among them like a meatball. Perhaps because everyone was focused on escaping, no one noticed her.
She had originally planned to cling to the side of the ship, but that wasn’t necessary at all.
Mist Country.
The air was polluted, filled with coal smoke that irritated the throat.
No wonder people there liked to carry umbrellas and wear hats.
She felt that if she stayed too long, her lungs would suffer.
Most people were dressed in coats or suits, looking quite proper.
Hmm. Wealthy.
But in practice, the national treasury didn’t seem as rich as she had imagined.
Not compared to the residences of officials and nobles.
She wasn’t someone who took everything she saw—she only took a little more than usual.
The emptied royal and bureaucratic mansions: You dare call that “a little”?!
Tch. This was all the fault of war. It had nothing to do with Ye Qingning.
The two queens shouldn’t argue—they should maintain elegance and dignity. Look at her now, walking on tiptoe and spinning in circles—so noble.
She was a cute little princess! A future queen!
After wandering for a week and trying plenty of local food, she realized something.
She still loved Hua Country’s food the most.
There was no helping it.
She was no longer the Ye Qingning who would eat anything out of desperation.
She was now Ye Qingning with endless delicacies at her disposal.
Her stomach had grown delicate.
And it was all because she had spoiled it.