The game continued.

Even though the Overseer’s Eye had opened once, not a single player came to question BS Rita.

No one asked whether they needed to be more careful moving forward.

No one demanded an explanation.

Meanwhile, Rita stood high above the battlefield, contemplating a single problem:

How could she obtain that eye?

It had been a very long time since she had wanted something this badly.

The last time had been GodDraw77.

World Sigh rested in her open left palm.

As she organized her abilities, she continuously flipped through the countless Divine Talent entries and authority records stored within the book.

Nivalis, who was busy leading troops to conquer prisons, took some time to fly up and visit her.

Originally, she had simply wanted to bring BS Rita a snack she had obtained from one of the reward draws.

But when she arrived and saw Rita’s eyes shining as she studied World Sigh, she suddenly found herself unable to interrupt.

She could read the chat channels.

Naturally, she knew BS Rita intended to give up World Sigh.

She could also sense the anxiety, frustration, and helplessness that had lingered within Rita these past days.

As though she herself had become the longest sigh in existence.

Ever since the BS War, Nivalis had never again seen BS Rita this purely happy.

Yet the moment the Overseer’s Eye opened...

Nivalis had clearly felt the surge of joy and longing within her.

It was completely different from the heaviness she carried when thinking about responsibilities and the future of the worlds.

This was the feeling BS Rita only experienced when she found something worth chasing.

When it came to pursuing power, no amount of difficulty or hardship could discourage her.

They only made her more excited.

Nivalis chose not to disturb her.

Instead, she happily flapped her wings and flew away.

Ash Inspector: [Why are you so happy?] 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Starsea Little Dragon: "What’s it to you?"

Ash Inspector: [I don’t understand her as well as you do.]

[I arrived too late.]

[Senior, please teach me.]

Starsea Little Dragon: "That old thing B80, always pretending to be cute, isn’t nearly as advanced as you are. My words, not yours."

Ash Inspector: [Is it really cute?]

[How cute?]

[Does your master like cute things?]

[That surprises me.]

[Based on my calculations, I assumed she only liked people who were powerful, dominant, and beautiful.]

[She’s quite busy, isn’t she?]

[Did she realize B80 was pretending?]

Starsea Little Dragon: "..."

"Do you still want to hear the important part or not?! Stop asking weird questions!"

Ash Inspector: [My apologies.]

[So why are you happy?]

Starsea Little Dragon: "Because I haven’t seen her like this in a long time."

"For once, she’s forgotten about responsibility."

"For once, she’s focused entirely on pursuing power."

Ash Inspector: [Do you know what she wants right now?]

Starsea Little Dragon: "Whatever she wants, she’ll definitely get it."

Ash Inspector: [You trust her that much?]

Starsea Little Dragon: "Yes."

"Even if one day she told me she created dragons herself, I’d believe her."

...

Rita spent the entire day thinking.

She handed all prison-conquering responsibilities over to the players.

At this point, two hundred prisons were being invaded simultaneously.

Whenever another fifty prisons were unlocked, the players would send Nivalis up to remind BS Rita to update the game.

For example:

Building new Bridges of Sighs to connect recently unlocked prisons.

Using newly acquired authority and soul fire reserves.

Unlocking additional skill slots.

Or helping them pull sealed items over from the Twelfth Epoch.

Rita remained immersed in her plans.

Every time someone poked her, she’d issue another update.

She resembled a game developer desperately pushing patches before the game shut down.

What else could the players do?

They could only go along with it.

They couldn’t exactly expect her to spoon-feed everything into everyone’s mouths.

Their pride wouldn’t allow it.

Whenever Rita briefly emerged from her thoughts, she would find new ways to ask Ash Inspector just how powerful the Overseer’s Eye really was.

The answer remained consistent.

When the Overseer’s Eye emitted light, it could instantly purge all 9,999 prisons within the exile zone.

And restart Ash Inspector’s entire program.

StarseaPrisoner: "Then how did you..."

"...retain any records at all?"

Ash Inspector: [She manipulated time.]

StarseaPrisoner: "Right."

"Are there branching timelines here?"

Ash Inspector: [No.]

StarseaPrisoner: "Then what happens if a Prisoner uses a time-based ability?"

"Wouldn’t alternate possibilities appear?"

"Wouldn’t different choices create different futures?"

Ash Inspector: [No.]

[Whether one travels into the past or the future, the journey is merely part of destiny.]

[Why would alternative possibilities appear?]

[As for choices...]

[There are no "what ifs" here.]

Then why create so many timelines?

That was the thing Rita understood least.

Why had they introduced the concept of multiple timelines in the future they came from?

At that moment, Nivalis, now effectively a professional messenger, flew up again.

It was time for another update.

Of course, they could communicate directly through their pet connection.

But Nivalis worried that suddenly speaking might interrupt Rita’s thoughts.

So she always came personally.

As long as Rita wasn’t deep in a crucial realization, she’d respond the moment Nivalis appeared.

Rita snapped back to reality and glanced down at the battlefield.

Nearly half the cube prisons had already broken apart.

The gentle moonlight emitted by the keys illuminated the drifting prison fragments, creating an atmosphere of peace and warmth.

Holding World Sigh, she prepared to mobilize the soul fire she had accumulated through the players and further strengthen them.

Then her gaze suddenly landed on the nearest cube prison.

The prison chambers shifted slightly.

They rotated and misaligned in a strangely precise way.

From Rita’s current angle, she could perfectly see the First Moon floating within the central chamber.

And then—

She laughed.

It was the first genuine smile she had shown in days.

Nivalis had no idea what was so funny.

But when BS Rita smiled, she smiled too.

When BS Rita was happy, she was happy.

Rita patted her on the head and said with a grin:

"Remember how we made our fortune?"

"Huh?"

"Cut the Moonlight."

The SSS-rank skill.

Cut the Moonlight.

—

When moonlight falls into your eyes, you briefly embrace the world.