Volume 3, Chapter 10 – Exposure

Although a few little accidents had indeed happened when Tianyin woke up that morning, after paying a small price, she managed to deal with the matter involving Xiaomengyao quite easily.

At the same time, after getting up, Tianyin heard from Xingyu Muxi that traces of a large army’s movements had been discovered not far from Eden City…

“Sister Xiaomu… wait… those army tracks, could they be from the undead?”

Right now, Tianyin was inside the room Xingyu Muxi used for handling official matters.

The room was simply decorated, not worth describing in detail. At this moment, the only two people in the room were Tianyin, who had just spoken, and Xingyu Muxi herself.

And the reason Tianyin instinctively assumed the army tracks mentioned by Xingyu Muxi belonged to the Graveyard’s undead forces was quite simple.

After all, although the Graveyard had been defeated following the death of the Undead Grand Duke Sargus, its armies hadn’t completely collapsed.

Most of the Graveyard’s higher-ups had survived the war, and a portion of the undead remained in the Main World, stubbornly guarding the territories that had once belonged to the Graveyard.

Though, in the eyes of the world, the fall of the Graveyard was long since inevitable, its leaders refused to accept that fact. On the contrary, some of the undead, under their command, continued to linger on in the Main World.

And precisely because of that, the area where Tianyin’s Eden City was located actually lay within what was still considered the Graveyard’s sphere of influence.

Even though the Undead Grand Duke Sargus had once promised not to attack Tianyin’s people, now that Sargus was dead…

Would the remaining undead leaders still be willing to uphold the promise he had made?

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Tianyin had already been mentally prepared for this possibility. So when Xingyu Muxi came to her today, saying that army movements had been found on the outskirts of Eden City, Tianyin naturally thought…

It must be the undead army from the Graveyard.

“But Xiaoyin, according to the intelligence gathered by the half-beastman scouts, it’s probably not the undead.”

Tianyin was surprised when Xingyu Muxi directly denied her guess.

“Not the undead?… Eh, how could it not be the undead?”

Tianyin was genuinely shocked.

Even though the undead had been defeated, the remnants of their forces still lingered.

And since Eden City was situated deep within the Graveyard’s former territory, logically, only the Graveyard’s armies should be moving around this area. No other army should be here at all…

Unless…

A sudden possibility crossed Tianyin’s mind.

“Sister Xiaomu, could it be the armies of those outsider lords?”

By “outsider lords,” Tianyin meant the so-called “player lords.”

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The reason she thought of that was because, lately, many players in the Main World had begun building cities of their own, just like Tianyin had done.

Most of those new cities were established in territories that once belonged to the Graveyard.

Of course, most were in abandoned or ownerless regions, but many of those player lords had already joined one of the Eight Great Factions.

Although those players’ cities were generally built near the outer borders of the Graveyard’s influence, Tianyin couldn’t rule out the possibility that some might have, like her, founded cities deep within its territory.

If those players not only built their own cities but also somehow discovered Eden’s existence…

Then sending out troops, or even small scouting units, to investigate would explain why there were signs of army movement near Eden City.

“Well, Xiaoyin, I can’t rule that out either…”

Though Tianyin spoke with speculation, Xingyu Muxi’s tone was much more cautious.

“No matter what, the fact that there are signs of unknown military activity this close to Eden means our Eden has been exposed.”

Though Tianyin didn’t want to admit it, Xingyu Muxi’s reasoning pointed to the most critical problem.

At this stage, Eden, hidden in the shadows, should have been quietly developing, strengthening itself in secret.

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But now, someone from outside had discovered it.

Even if the other side hadn’t yet taken any direct action, the fact that Eden had been exposed was already an undeniable reality.

“Seriously… I never considered something like this could happen. But now that we know Eden’s been exposed, Xiaoyin, it looks like we’ll have to start preparing ahead of time.”

Xingyu Muxi sighed softly, her brows slightly furrowed as her expression grew more serious.

“Preparing?”

Tianyin looked confused.

“Of course, preparing for war. I don’t want to say it, but Xiaoyin, since Eden City has been exposed, that means we have to be ready for battle with whoever found us.”

“W-war… war…”

Although Tianyin could tell Sister Xiaomu was completely serious, she still wished she were just joking.

To be honest, for the old Tianyin, war, no matter how cruel or tragic, had always been something distant, something that had nothing to do with her.

No matter how the factions in this virtual world fought each other, as long as the people she cared about could stay with her, that was all that mattered.

It might have been a selfish way of thinking, but to Tianyin, war had always felt far, far away.

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Even when she created the Ninth Faction, Dawn…

Even when she built this city of Eden with her own hands…

Tianyin had never once imagined that one day, she’d have to start preparing for war.

“Do we really… really have to do this, Sister Xiaomu? There hasn’t even been an attack yet… Do we really need to be worrying like this?”

Seeing Tianyin’s hesitant expression, Xingyu Muxi slowly walked over to her.

Then she reached out and gently patted Tianyin’s head.

“Xiaoyin, you have to remember. You’re the Lord of Eden now, the leader of Dawn.”

“So, this Xiaoyin… still has to protect me, Xiaomengyao, and Xiaobingxue~”

Feeling Sister Xiaomu’s hand softly brushing through her hair, Tianyin fell into…

A long, deep silence.