Chapter 146: The Micro-World of the Gingerbread House

As long as any of the three boss targets under Dorsey's three guardians are eliminated, a single undead minion can be obtained from Dorsey in return. There is no choice regarding the type of undead; it will strictly be one of the ragdolls, tin-man toys, or eggshell figurines currently crafted by Dorsey. Dorsey guarantees that every undead minion is of Level 1 Blue quality.

If two of the bosses affecting the micro-world are defeated, Dorsey will provide one of her rare wind-up toy trains, a mount part-undead and part-mechanical that can freely travel between the mortal realm and the underworld. Its movement speed is 160% of a normal human's walking pace. Aside from the master of the mount, the five trailing carriages can accommodate up to five friends, five undead minions, or resource stockpiles that cannot be otherwise stored.

If all three bosses are wiped out, Dorsey will produce her finest currently possible undead doll—a small Level 1 Purple quality entity—as a reward. Of course, it is not as though Dorsey cannot make Level 2 undead dolls, but the ones she currently produces are merely of basic White quality, holding little utility and unworthy of being offered as a prize.

Finally, should the mastermind who invaded this micro-world be eradicated and the portal severed, Dorsey will yield a pair of silver shoes as her reward. These silver shoes have been passed down through generations of her family and exist as a Level 3 Purple quality artifact.

Bai Qi understood at last that Liu Zong had come this time precisely for these silver shoes. Yet, a trace of puzzlement lingered in his mind: these were women's shoes, and since Liu Zong was a man, what use could he possibly have for them even if he acquired them? He certainly could not wear them.

To this question, Liu Zong offered no reply. After confirming that all drops from the micro-world bosses would belong entirely to him, Liu Zong instructed Dorsey to open the portal and transport both him and Bai Qi into the micro-world.

Upon entering the micro-world, Liu Zong and Bai Qi found themselves inside a small cottage constructed entirely of candy. The cottage covered an area of about three hundred square meters. Its walls were made of cake, with thick layers of buttercream sandwiched between the layers, while the roof consisted of massive sheets of biscuits. Countless candies were embedded directly into the walls, the cottage's windows were fitted with chocolate frames, and the floor was paved with thumb-sized fruit hard candies.

Stepping outside, Liu Zong could see bags of flour, blocks of sugar, and eggs being delivered from all directions toward the cottage, where they were tossed into a large pool behind the building.

In addition to these, milk from a nearby river of milk, chocolate mud from a chocolate marsh, and various other materials were continuously channeled into the massive pool.

Shortly thereafter, pastries and candies of assorted designs would materialize inside the cottage, eventually to be collected by Dorsey.

However, what caught the attention of Liu Zong and Bai Qi most of all was a body pressed against the edge of the cottage—the corpse of a woman who appeared to have been crushed to death by the structure, with only a pair of bare legs protruding outward. Dorsey paid no heed to this spectacle, leaving the corpse abandoned right where it lay. It was truly impossible to fathom her intentions.

Glancing briefly at the cotton candy drifting across the sky, Bai Qi finally spoke, "State the intelligence you've gathered. I assume you didn't go to such great lengths to invite me here just to accompany you on a candy-tasting trip."

Liu Zong tossed aside the candy in his hand and said with certainty, "This micro-world has been malfunctioning for several years now. I found out about it quite by accident, and I've had people look into how it was handled in the past.

"I made a discovery that I find quite intriguing: the five bosses in this world are all Level 1. If you invite Level 2 or Level 3 players to deal with them, these bosses are instantly obliterated, only to respawn once those players depart.

"However, if Level 1 players are sent to handle them, as the combat reaches its latter stages, the bosses' power suddenly surges to Level 3, instantly killing the players."

Bai Qi tilted his head and looked at Liu Zong. "You mean..."

"They refuse to play by our rules," Liu Zong stated firmly. "When Level 2 and Level 3 players arrive, they conceal the critical trigger. When Level 1 players arrive, they wipe them out. In truth, the targets we actually need to eliminate are those bosses whose power escalates to the Level 3 tier.

"Only by slaying them will we have the opportunity to sever the passage and resolve the crisis plaguing this micro-world."

Bai Qi stared at Liu Zong for a long moment before finally responding, "This is all just your speculation; whether it will actually work remains uncertain. Still, you're calling the shots. I'll just be here to watch your back."

Liu Zong pressed the matter no further. He unfurled the map provided by Dorsey, glanced over it briefly, and then pointed in a certain direction. "Let's first deal with the boss associated with the scarecrow closest to our location."

Why was the scarecrow considered the closest? Because the chocolate marsh lay right beside the milk river, and the source of the milk river originated right here at the cottage. By boarding a boat here, they could simply drift downstream to reach their destination.

The vessel itself was quite absurd—it was literally a massive slab of chocolate. Once tossed into the water, it managed to float on the surface, though riding upon it was remarkably uncomfortable.

As Liu Zong leaped onto the boat and prepared to snap off two candy canes to serve as oars for steering, Bai Qi intervened directly. "There's no need for such trouble. Just sit tight."

Liu Zong froze for a moment. Before he could react, Bai Qi plunged one of his legs straight into the milk. Bai Qi was dressed in full beach-vacation attire, complete with flip-flops on his feet, which were now submerged directly into the milk. Imagining that this very milk would later be used to bake cakes, Liu Zong felt a sudden, profound certainty that he would never buy pastries from this shop again.

Yet Bai Qi gave no thought to such trivialities. As he gently stirred the milk with his right hand, Liu Zong felt the milk begin to surge violently.

In front of the chocolate slab, a pair of horse heads magically formed from the milk emerged, as though two phantom steeds were towing the chocolate raft from beneath the water.

Liu Zong looked at Bai Qi with a hint of bewilderment, trying to guess his profession. Bai Qi, however, remained entirely unbothered, radiating an attitude of: *You won't figure it out anyway, and I'm having a great time.*

For a moment, the atmosphere upon the chocolate slab grew rather awkward, leaving the two men completely devoid of conversation.

Fortunately, the scope of this micro-world was not particularly vast. After navigating several bends, the milk river flowed onward toward the chocolate marsh.

Catching sight of the so-called chocolate marsh from afar, Liu Zong felt that the name was utterly undeserved. Across an expanse nearly a thousand mu in area, everything that met the eye was a sea of golden, fully ripened wheat.

Near the wheat fields, several waterwheels and windmill mills operated incessantly, grinding the newly harvested wheat into flour and dispatching it toward the distant candy house.

In the very center of the wheat fields, a towering scarecrow bounded back and forth, frantically attempting to catch or drive away something, yet failing repeatedly and only succeeding in plunging the wheat fields into utter chaos.

Liu Zong and Bai Qi stepped off the boat and prepared to approach for a closer look when a streak of green light hurtled straight toward them. Liu Zong reached out and snatched it out of the air, capturing... a small bear?