When Ash regained consciousness, he felt someone in his arms.

He blinked and looked down slowly...

Then I saw a pair of long legs in black and white stockings.

The witch put her legs on him and curled up like a child in Sword Princess's arms. Although Ash was relieved that there was no Operator in his arms, he couldn't let it go that the witch was using him as a footrest - and the witch hadn't taken off her boots yet!

When Ash woke up, Sonia also regained consciousness. She first felt the soft touch in her arms, blushed slightly and looked over. She was relieved to see that it was the witch, and then she turned around and saw Ash.

Noticing the reproach in Ash's eyes, Sonia's nose twitched slightly, she pouted to avoid looking at Ash, and pushed the witch: "Wake up!"

Diya sat up sleepily. Her hair color had returned to normal. She yawned and said, "I'm so tired..."

"I remember that Sword Princess and I were not able to swim across the Golden River..." Ash said while glancing at Sonia, who pretended not to see it.

"I pulled you up here," Diya said, "but I wasn't stupid enough to turn back in the Golden River. I climbed to the shore first and then pulled you up there."

Sonia was so ashamed that her face turned red to her ears - she was actually called a fool by the witch, and she couldn't refute it.

"But what are you using to pull us..." Ash knew the answer halfway through his sentence.

Aquatic line!

There are water lines around his and Jian Ji's necks set by the witch! Originally, this was just a "line of mutual destruction" to make the witch feel at ease, but unexpectedly it became a "lifeline" for the witch to save them!

Sonia asked, "But won't you just cut our necks with the aquatic line?"

"I can increase the weight of the water magic spirit, making the water line soft and tough." Diya spread out her palms and said, "For example, the water line I hold with both hands is as comfortable as a little bear's hand, and I won't cut my own hands no matter how hard I try."

"How long have we rested?" Ash asked.

"Probably a few minutes." Diya was not sure: "After I dragged you out of Liujin River, I was so tired that I collapsed to the ground."

Ash opened the virtual map and found that everything in the surrounding area was normal, and there was no trace of the Heroic Soul Corps. Although Ash didn't know how long this section of the Golden River stretched, the Heroic Soul Corps didn't know either - in the commander's map, the Golden River was the only landmark that could not be marked, because the location of the Golden River was different every day, every hour, and even every second.

The Liujin River is the trace left by the white bull. The white bull is moving every minute and every second, so the Liujin River is also constantly changing. Generally speaking, there are only two Liujin Rivers, corresponding to the two front feet, but the two main veins branch out into countless branches, just like the branches of a tree, forming a normal flowing space-time.

The tributary they had just crossed might be the terminal branch, and they would reach the end just a few dozen meters away; but it might also be a third-level or even second-level branch, stretching for several kilometers. The Heroic Soul Legion would not be able to reach them for several hours.

In other words, even if the Heroic Soul Corps really rushed over in time, Ash would be helpless. Their soul energy was already exhausted just to repair their soul bodies, and they no longer had any extra energy to move.

Moving in the virtual realm consumes soul energy. Before, they could just take a car, so they could avoid this part of the expense. But now the sports cars are scrapped and they have no other means of transportation... wait?

Ash suddenly remembered that maybe the Stand could also carry him on its back?

Although he can only summon one Stand, but the Stand carries him on his back, he carries Fiora, and Fiora carries the Witch, forming a four-person Jenga formation. Can't they move normally?

When Ash made this suggestion, he was unanimously opposed by Sword Lady and Witch.

Sonia: "How far can the substitute go? If the Heroic Soul Army really comes to find us, the substitute will definitely not be able to escape; if the Heroic Soul Army can't find us, we can stay here for a few more minutes and then leave. There is no need to make trouble."

"It's weird just thinking about it." Diya said, "But the stand can actually be used like this... Speaking of which, is the stand a rare magic spirit?"

"Not in my case." The village girl shook her head. "But it's not very useful. The substitute can neither inherit the magic spirit of the magician nor speak to perform precise operations. Moreover, it will collapse at the slightest touch. It can only play a traction role in battle, that is, it can be responsible for some simple housework in daily life. But the substitute magic spirit has a big appetite. It needs to eat a silver coin every few days, which is two or three times that of an ordinary magic spirit... If a magician is particularly lazy, he may specially purchase a substitute magic spirit."

Diya nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "Indeed."

Ash also gave up this idea. After all, because of the Flowing Golden River, the surrounding area is actually quite safe. All creatures in the virtual realm will consciously stay away from the Flowing Golden River.

If they walked further away, perhaps a magician's projection or a wandering fish-slaying dragon would come looking for them, and if they moved any more they would become weakened and be kicked out of the virtual realm. It would be too unfortunate for them to finally escape but violate the contract and die instantly.

"Then let's sort out what we just lost." Ash rubbed his temple: "Sword Princess, you..."

"Witch, it's all thanks to you." Sonia stretched out her hand to press down Diya's raised alopecia: "If it weren't for you, we definitely wouldn't be able to get through. Witch is the most powerful!"

"Hehe." Diya scratched her head embarrassedly and said, "It's not that great..."

"It is indeed the witch who has done a great job this time." Ash also wanted to reach out and touch the witch to show his praise, but was avoided by Diya: "Compared to her, Sword Princess, you..."

"Are we still in the Spider Tower area tomorrow?"

Ash opened the map of the virtual world and took a look. "White Bull will be in the Spider Tower area for half of tomorrow night, but the requirement of "mandatory stay for three hours" only takes effect once "Sky Car Bull enters the Spider Tower area". The next time it takes effect will be when White Bull enters the Spider Tower area again. In other words, it doesn't matter if we don't come to the virtual world tomorrow."

"Is the car falling apart okay? Will the newly built alchemy throne become ineffective?"

"It should be fine..."

"Oh, yeah, witch, you know that your tone just now was very arrogant. I'll imitate it for you..."

…

…

Was fooled by Sword Lady.

Ash returned to reality, feeling a little depressed.

Fiora's act of saving people in the Golden River was so stupid that Ash originally wanted to find an opportunity to give her a good scolding, and he had to do it in front of the witch to prove that he was a captain who could distinguish between public and private affairs, had the same strict requirements for every operator, and would never cover up for a stupid teammate.

However, Sword Lady showed her social prowess at this time, making it impossible for Ash to get a chance to interrupt. Actually, it was not that he couldn't find a chance, but whenever Ash wanted to speak, he would be interrupted by Sword Lady's pitiful eyes, forcing him to continue to choose his words.

By the time Ash had come up with a set of stern yet gentle words in his mind, three hours had passed in the virtual world's working hours without him noticing. Sword Lady clocked out instantly, not giving Ash any chance to hold a meeting.

But Ash also knew that he was actually unwilling to blame Sword Lady.

After all, he is the leader of a cult, not a living saint. Sword Girl actually dared to turn back and save him under that situation. Even if this approach was wrong and did not help, it would be strange if Ash did not feel grateful in his heart.

But Ash needs to consider the team.

In this battle with the Queen's Spirit, the cracks in their team's relationship have been exposed. It's okay at ordinary times, but when it comes to a real critical moment, the witch will subconsciously not trust the two of them. If she has to abandon them, the witch will think that she will be the first secondary team member to be abandoned.

In fact, the witch's feeling was indeed right.

It is precisely because of favoritism that we can distinguish between close and distant people. Ash is a human being, not a god. How can he be "fair and just" without any emotion?

Even the Blood Moon Lord prefers Blood Saint Moon Shadow.

But even though he thought about it, he certainly couldn't do it. Ash had to find a way to make his attitude clear, otherwise the team would become divided sooner or later.

It's time to show your true people management skills!

But it's so troublesome with only three of us now, how will we lead the team when it gets bigger in the future...

Ash sighed, and just as he remembered, he suddenly felt someone in his arms.

He looked down and saw another pair of feet.

It was Liz's. She was sleeping next to Ash, with her little feet on Ash's belly, drooling as she slept with her teddy bear. Ash also remembered that Liz said she wanted to sleep with him last night. Ash thought that he was going to the virtual world anyway, so he let her do it.

Why do they all like to use me as a footrest...

It was still daybreak, so Ash lay back down, summoned the Gospel, opened Aurora's Sorcerer's Manual, and a message popped up immediately.

"Death Mad Sword Princess' Growth Report 5.17~5.23"

"Swordsmanship Faction: Gold → Gold"

"Light Mage Faction: Silver → Silver"

"Water Buffs: Silver → Silver"

"Time Faction: Silver → Gold"

"Spell Power: One Golden Feather → Two Golden Feathers"

"Training evaluation: A!"

"Because she received an A-level evaluation, the Death Mad Sword Princess received a job enhancement in the Magician's Handbook: The Metal Magician of Extermination → Remnant!"

"Remnant Soldier·Professional Features: Deal an additional 20% damage to the Heroic Soul Commander, and each hit can break a layer of soldier armor."

…

"Growth Report of the Black and White Witch 5.17~5.23"

"Bond level: 1 → 2 (40% experience sharing)"

"Psychic Faction: Silver → Silver"

"Fist and Claw Faction: Gold → Gold"

"Time Faction: Silver → Gold"

"Water Buffs: Silver → Silver"

"Magic power: Two golden feathers → Three golden feathers"

"Training evaluation: A!"

"Because she received an A-level evaluation, the Black and White Witch received a job enhancement in the Sorcerer's Manual: Exterminate Followers → Death Soldier!"

"Death Soldier: Deals an additional 20% damage to the Heroic Soul Commander. Each attack can cause a brief pause to the Heroic Soul Commander."

Ash immediately noticed something was wrong - how come Sword Lady and Witch's time factions were both promoted to gold! ?

It would be fine if the witch was promoted to gold, after all, the witch has the talent of time, but the sword lady’s time faction realm was obtained in the amnesia cabin, she has never practiced at all!

The cult leader realized something, opened his operator interface and found that his own time faction had also reached the gold level!

His swordsmanship faction is still at the silver level at this time!

What is this? The income from hard work is not as good as the sudden wealth from windfall?

Ash knew the reason for the sudden increase in their time faction just by using his toenails - the Golden River!

The virtual realm is the most fair, you can get as much as you put in. Although Ash and the other two had a near-death experience in the Flowing Gold River, they also personally faced the essence of time and gained a lot of time faction experience, which directly raised their faction realm to the gold level!

However, this kind of thing should be a one-time thing, and only the first adventure can bring such huge benefits. Even if they can gain experience the second time, it will not allow their faction realm to be raised to the Sanctuary level.

The new professions of Sword Lady and Witch, "Remnant Soldiers" and "Death Soldiers", are quite interesting. They are designed to deal with the Heroic Soul Legion. But they don't even have time to avoid the Heroic Soul Legion, so how could they provoke those monsters?

In addition, the witch's bond level has also been upgraded. I wonder if it is the increase brought about by the life and death together just now.

"Um……"

Liz made a lazy sound, kicked her legs on his stomach, smacked her lips and came to hug Ash, wiping the saliva on her face on Ash's clothes. Ash pushed away the dozens of kilograms of pendant and got up to wash up.

Ash was halfway through brushing his teeth when Liz came into the bathroom sleepily, tore open a new toothbrush cup and brushed her teeth next to him.

The little girl opened her eyes and glanced at the mirror, her body slightly startled. Then she quickly finished rinsing her mouth and washing her face, turned around and hugged Ash.

"...There's a towel nearby, why do you have to use my pajamas to wipe your hands?" Ash said helplessly.

Liz shook her head and wiggled around in Ash's arms like a pig.

"Why are you so clingy today?"

“…I had a dream last night.”

"Nightmare?"

Liz thought about it and shook her head again, "I dreamed that everyone else was loved, but I was the only one who was excluded."

"Don't worry, dreams are the opposite of reality. In reality, it must be you who excluded everyone else."

After washing his face, Ash took 'Liz' to the dressing table and said as he helped her comb her hair, "Let me help you tie your hair."

"Eh? Didn't she always ask me to ask Aunt Borgin for help?" Liz was a little surprised.

"What if Aunt Bokin doesn't stay with us in the future?" Ash said calmly, "We can't always rely on him, right?"

"But even if I don't ask Aunt Borgin, I can ask Aunt Annan, Uncle Panji, and Uncle Harvey for help!"

Ash felt extremely humiliated: "It's fine if I can't compare to Annan Panji, but why can't I even compare to Harvey!?"

"Isn't Alice very beautiful..." 'Liz' muttered, "But, is Aunt Borgin really going to leave us?"

"To be precise, they don't need friends like us anymore." Ash shrugged. "The train of life is getting on and off. Some people get off because of demolition, some get off because of going home to inherit the family business, and some get off because of being helped by their father-in-law. Only cattle and horses stay on the train... I've gotten used to it."

"But what if Aunt Borgin is deceived?"

"Him? A fraudster? Got cheated?"

"Didn't Aunt Borgin often say that she was fooled by you? He seems to be easily fooled by fools."

"What you said seems to make sense... Are you scolding me?"

After hitting Liz on the head, Ash pondered and said, "Speaking of which, it is indeed strange that Beldette values ​​Igula... As his family, we should do a good job of checking for Igula and confirm Beldette's sincerity!"

Liz blinked: "Are you so kind?"

"It's mainly because although I really want to wish him a happy wedding, I'm not big enough to accept the success of a friend." Ash said seriously, "It would be great if I could justifiably destroy his happiness."