[First item successfully obtained. Initializing dimensional storage...]
[System Space unlocked. Host may now store and retrieve system-granted items at will.]
Theo exhaled a long breath of relief. For a second, he thought the weapon was going to materialize right onto his lap, exposing his new cheat to the Merchant.
"Store it." he commanded.
The item card shattered into a brief shower of silver sparks and vanished.
A small interface appeared in the corner of his eye, showing a tiny icon of the scythe resting in the first slot of an empty inventory.
It was a relief. Having a hidden weapon was infinitely better than having no weapon at all.
He turned his head slightly, his gaze resting on the girl chained to the wagon wheel beside him.
The Reborn Empress was resting, conserving whatever little energy that single mouthful of water had given her.
He had managed to trigger the system and gain an upgrade, but what was his next move supposed to be? He had nothing left in his pockets.
No food, no money, and his bamboo flask was bone dry. He didn’t even know what to give her next to trigger another investment reward.
Moreover, a darker thought began to creep into his mind. What happens when they actually break free?
If he somehow managed to unlock her chains and restore her power, what was stopping her from just standing up, dusting off her hands, and walking away?
Or worse, what if she decided a lowly slave who witnessed her humiliating downfall was a loose end that needed to be tied up?
However, he pushed the paranoid thoughts aside.
He couldn’t afford to worry about being betrayed by an Empress when he was still chained to a fat merchant’s cart. Survival first, politics later.
The wagon rolled on for what felt like hours, the three suns slowly beginning their descent toward the horizon.
"Halt! Inspection!" a voice echoed ahead.
The wagon ground to a sudden stop. Theo leaned forward, trying to get a look over the edge of the cart.
They had arrived at a compound nestled at the base of a dark mountain.
The area was fortified with tall wooden palisades, but inside, it looked like an open-air laboratory.
Row upon row of large, bronze cauldrons were set up over roaring fire pits.
Men and women in grey robes scurried around, carrying baskets of dried herbs and buckets of steaming liquid.
"State your business, merchant," an armored guard said, approaching the front of the cart with a halberd resting on his shoulder.
"Merchant Vane, from the eastern route." Vane’s overly cheerful voice rang out. "I brought the latest shipment of low-grade charcoal, just as requested by the Pharmacy Branch. And I even brought a couple of fresh laborers to help tend the furnace fires!"
Theo’s eyes widened slightly. A pharmacy branch?
He looked around the compound with intense focus.
It made sense now... the academy they passed earlier was for the elite students; this place was the industrial backbone.
It was where they produced the low-level pills and healing salves needed to keep a sect running.
Even so, it wasn’t a peaceful place. Just beyond the bronze cauldrons, carved into the face of the mountain, were cave entrances.
Heavily armed cultivators stood guard near the cave mouths.
The sect likely set up the pharmacy branch here to have direct access to fresh beast cores and rare bloodlines for their pill recipes.
Theo’s heart sank as he scanned the guards patrolling the compound.
With his new Minor Purity Water Body, he might be able to outrun one of the exhausted laborers, but against these cultivators? He wouldn’t make it ten steps before a spear pinned him to the dirt.
Escaping from here right now was impossible.
He slumped back against the wagon, feeling a headache coming on.
Though, as he looked back at Liana, a sudden realization hit him. He didn’t really need to panic.
If he just looked at this situation through the lens of a classic story, the Reborn Empress’s path was clear.
Even without his system, she would survive this place.
She was a crippled genius thrown into a medicinal labor camp.
She would tend the fires, sneakily ingest the discarded medicinal dregs, and slowly repair her shattered veins over the next few months.
Then, once she recovered a fraction of her past power, she would slaughter every single guard in this compound, steal their best pills, and walk out the front gates.
That was just how these things worked...
His job wasn’t to save her from certain death; his job was to somehow make himself indispensable before she reached the ’slaughter everyone’ phase of her recovery.
"Get them down!" Vane yelled, interrupting Theo’s train of thought.
Two gruff laborers walked to the back of the cart. They unlocked the chains from the wagon ring, but left the tight cuffs on Theo and Liana’s wrists.
"Move it, you two," one of the men grunted, shoving Theo roughly by the shoulder. "The furnace master is waiting for fresh hands."
Theo stumbled, catching his balance. He offered a nod and began walking toward the compound.
Liana followed close behind.
They were led past several bronze cauldrons.
After hearing such words from the guards earlier, Theo knew they were heading straight for the lower furnaces.
They were going to be tasked with carrying charcoal and stoking the fires under the pill cauldrons.
"Keep your heads down," the laborer guiding them warned, pointing toward a stone building that radiated intense heat. "The alchemists here don’t like distractions. If you mess up the heat control, they’ll throw you into the fire to replace the charcoal."
Theo nodded again, keeping his face blank.
"You..."
Theo paused, glancing over his shoulder.
The Reborn Empress tilted her head slightly. "Huh? When did your body become like this in just a few hours?"