Wasteland covered in snow, ruins covered in city-states That perfectly describes the scene before me.
A place perpetually shrouded in darkness, plagued by monster attacks, where even the roar of machinery brings no comfort to daily life.
A place with brightly lit residential areas, yet nobody dares venture beyond their own living circles.
Even the roadside garbage cans are completely empty.
Empty...
No, wait, I think I see a pair of horns peeking out from that silver-white garbage can.
Those horns are even trembling slightly.
A moment later, the garbage can suddenly began to shake, its lid falling to the ground from the vibration.
"Whew!"
Look at that, the garbage can just produced a beautiful girl.
Wait, beautiful girl?
"Ow... that hurt so much," the beautiful girl emerged from the garbage can with a pitiful expression, brushing dust off herself.
"Theresia? Theresia?" she tried calling out to her Highness, but after waiting a long while, there was no response.
Surely she couldn't have been knocked unconscious too?
Tian An looked around in bewilderment, discovering row after row of old yet brightly illuminated residential facilities.
And a group of little brats standing motionless, staring at her.
Oh my goodness, what the @@ is this, where the hell did you send me?
Tian An looked left and right, feeling this place somehow seemed familiar.
No sunlight, no sky... mining district style...
This is the underground district of Beloberg!
Tian Ning only played with a figure, how did it directly transport her down here?
Ah, right, where's my FrostNova?
Tian An remembered that the figure should have come down with her. She went back to the garbage can and examined it carefully.
She found it completely empty, with only a thick layer of dust around the garbage can.
Great, my FrostNova is missing.
Tian An felt like crying, but before she could continue searching, one of the children in the group tugged at the hem of her white dress.
"Big sister... don't look anymore. I have food, you can have some," the little boy said innocently, taking a few candies from his pouch and offering them to Tian An. His face was marked with black smudges, but his eyes looked brightly at the pink-haired big sister before him.
If you looked carefully, you could see his nose was running.
Am I being mistaken for a homeless beggar...?
"Sister isn't hungry, sister is just looking for something," Tian An had to let go of the seemingly trembling garbage can and turned to pat the little boy's head.
"Little brother, have you seen a model figure about this big of a white-haired sister?" Tian An tried hard to gesture the size of the "figure" she remembered.
The little boy shook his head, then pointed at the garbage can and asked, "Is this your home?"
"..."
Tian An now possessed the same urge to retort as Star.
"This is the property of a gray-haired big sister, okay? When she comes, make sure to say hello to her!" Tian An smiled and pinched the little boy's cheek.
She felt she'd been somewhat infected by Star, but not too much.
The little boy nodded as if half-understanding, then ran back to his group.
"By the way, little one, do you know where Natasha's clinic is?" Tian An suddenly remembered and called out to the retreating figure.
Now that she was in the underground district, apart from going to the clinic, there probably weren't many better options.
Upon hearing the question, the group of children uniformly pointed in one direction.
It seems Natasha is quite famous in the underground district.
"Now... hmm... let me see where I am," Tian An carefully tried to identify nearby landmark buildings.
But after looking around for a while, she still couldn't figure out which part of the district she was in.
After all, the game map couldn't compare to reality. Tian An felt that this district was at least several times larger than in the game.
"Sigh, when I get back, I'll definitely have to teach Tian Ning a lesson," Tian An muttered.
But honestly, even Tian Ning herself probably doesn't know why playing with a figure could transport someone away.
And so, Tian An followed the path the children pointed out, setting off to find "FrostNova" and the clinic.
It must be said, if Tian An had to live here, she definitely couldn't get used to it.
The streets of the underground city were permeated with the smell of metal and smelting, occasionally mixed with traces of burned kerosene—a complete negative industrial punk atmosphere.
Though Tian An's appearance was beautiful, it might make people wonder if she was some noble from the upper level. After all, in this sunless underground district, wearing something too vibrant was basically announcing your upper-class identity.
So upon entering the densely populated area, Tian An started to attract attention from all kinds of people, especially with her conspicuous long hair and horns on her head.
But fortunately, the people here weren't the vicious type, and no one had come to give her trouble yet.
"Sister FrostNova, where are you?" Tian An looked everywhere but couldn't find that white figurine.
Of course, such a delicate item had probably already been picked up and taken home by someone.
"What are you looking for?" As Tian An continued walking, a cold voice came from behind her.
Tian An froze slightly. She felt nervous, but also thought the voice sounded familiar.
"For the safety of the people in the underground district, I must verify your identity! So..."
"Sambo?" Tian An finally recognized the voice and turned around.
"Oh... Well, honored guest, so you know old Sambo! My apologies for bothering you with my shortsightedness."
"Uh..." Tian An looked at Sambo's sleazy face, remembering all the setbacks he suffered in the storyline, and somehow felt like laughing.
"Well, honored guest, one look and I can tell you're a noble person from the upper district. You must be looking for... this, right?"
Sambo produced a white object from his hand like a magician.
"Is it FrostNova?" Just as Tian An was about to lean in for a closer look, Sambo pulled it away.
"Hey~ honored guest, this item is so exquisite, I, old Sambo, went to great lengths to snatch it back from those muscle-bound, vicious people. Almost lost my life there."
Sambo's face did have a certain handsome roguishness, and combined with his tight-fitting clothes, someone who didn't know his identity might actually believe him.
"So what reward do you want?" Tian An caught his drift. Since Sambo knew what she was looking for, there was no need to hide it.
"Oh, not much, not much. Just need you to produce a bit of that special stone."
"What do you want that for?" Tian An was puzzled. Was Sambo planning to make soup with it?
"You get what you pay for. It's up to the miss whether she's willing or not," Sambo deliberately drew out his tone.
"Or would you like to taste my scythe?"
"Scythe? Of course not, that thing..."
Sambo was about to give a complete answer when he sensed something was wrong.
Then his entire body was hoisted up into the air.