276: Fingers shortened by 3cm

Shang Wan Ning smiled, "What I want is that feeling of 'killing an old master with a flurry of chaotic punches.'"

Xiao Si sighed, holding his forehead. "great host, as long as you're happy." He silently lit a row of candles for Chen Yu in the data stream.

Meng Jiang's face was filled with madness as she casually added, "A Ning, remember to buy good work-related injury insurance for the White-Haired Loli, and name me as the beneficiary."

"If she really blows up the Demon, the compensation will be enough to fund the startup of my next project."

Shang Wan Ning: "Does Sister Meng want to go crazy with me?"

Meng Jiang toyed with a strand of hair. "I've been eking out an existence for thousands of years; what's wrong with going a little crazy?"

She looked up, and her peach blossom eyes—usually filled with flirtatious anger—now held a stillness Shang Wan Ning had never seen before.

"If we lose, at worst we just close the Demon passage and hide like cowards."

"I've lost once before; I'm not afraid anymore."

Then, the stillness was replaced by a scorching flame. She spoke each word with weight and conviction: "As long as we win this once, that's enough."

Shang Wan Ning: "..." (*⊙~⊙)!

For once, Her Majesty the Empress's face went blank. Her phoenix eyes widened as she looked at Sister Meng, who had switched from "conservative" to "all-in maniac" in a single second.

[Fickle woman!]

Shang Wan Ning's mind was filled with scrolling thoughts.

One moment she was earnestly advising her not to go head-to-head, and the next she was ready to flip the table with her.

This speed of change was like the meeting of a twenty-year-old "little puppy" and a fifty-year-old rich woman in love.

Meng Jiang seemed satisfied with the Empress's shock. She stood up gracefully and adjusted her hair with effortless charm.

She threw Shang Wan Ning a "you know what I mean" wink, her voice trailing off soft and long.

"Your Majesty, since the plan is set, I shall go to 'work' now~ Remember, work-related injury insurance, beneficiary, name me~"

Before her voice faded, her figure turned into smoke and mist, silently merging into the shadows, leaving behind only a faint scent of the flower of the other shore.

Before Shang Wan Ning could process Sister Meng's change in attitude, a blue light flashed before her eyes, and Xiao Si's projection "zoomed" right up to the tip of her nose.

The expression simulated by the data stream carried an excitement that said "the bigger the trouble, the better."

"great host."

Xiao Si was as jubilant as if he had just won the lottery. "Do you need some accelerant? To make this fire burn even brighter?"

"Accelerant?"

Shang Wan Ning raised an eyebrow, sensing the system was about to pull some more nonsense.

"Ta-da!"

Xiao Si's light point instantly expanded, simulating fireworks. Simultaneously, a virtual panel flashing with a mandatory red light popped up out of thin air, hovering before Shang Wan Ning.

[Ding! Detected that the Host's decision aligns with the core logic of 'breaking the deadlock.' Main quest phase two is forcibly activated.]

[Quest Name: Demon Mystery · Determined to Win]

[Core Objective: Thoroughly map out the power distribution of the Demon and achieve actual control over the Demon plane.]

[Time Limit: Twenty years]

[Quest Rewards: Department of Judges (Full divine office construction authority), Law of Reincarnation Shards (3/10)]

[Failure Penalty: Fingers shortened by 3cm (Forcibly applied to divine bodies below the tenth rank; non-exemptible, irreversible).]

The air seemed to freeze.

Shang Wan Ning's phoenix eyes, which looked down upon the netherworld, stared at the penalty clause at the bottom of the panel.

"Fingers shortened by 3cm?"

The Empress's brain rarely stalled for a moment.

Even though she had experienced rebuilding the Underworld, being hit in the head by Ling Qi's abacus, and being driven to a near-heart attack by Chen Yu, she never imagined that one day she would face such a... such a precise and vicious punishment!!!

It was even crueler than Ling Qi using financial reports to hint at her "risk of seborrheic alopecia." Hair loss could still be hidden with an Imperial Crown, or at worst, a wig to keep up appearances.

But fingers shortening???

Shang Wan Ning instinctively looked down at her well-defined hands.

[Shortened by 3cm?]

She could almost see Ling Qi holding a precision ruler, expressionlessly measuring the length of her fingers.

In the reflection of the gold-rimmed glasses, the four cold words "Pillow Princess" were clearly visible.

Her consciousness conjured an image of the White-Haired Loli crouching in a corner, shoulders shaking like a sieve, her face flushed red from trying to hold back a snide laugh.

She could even clearly picture certain moments of "negative distance communication"; Lin Ran's fingertips suddenly pinching her waist, turning her head away during extreme intimacy, with a pause in her eyes that was "thirty percent playful and seventy percent pitying."

For Shang Wan Ning, who pursued pleasure, this was an absolute catastrophe, more unbearable than being forced to sweep the silt from the bottom of the Wangchuan River.

A chill, mixed with absurdity and rage, surged from the soles of Shang Wan Ning's feet to the top of her head.

Her face was as black as the bottom of a pot. What imperial poise? Under the terrifying threat of "fingers shortening," it was shattered into pieces.

"Xiao Si."

Shang Wan Ning's tone was cold enough to produce hail. "Explain. Why suddenly issue such an... uncouth penalty for a quest?"

Xiao Si "slid" into a corner. "great host, this was automatically triggered by the system logic. Pure coincidence, hehe..."

[It's definitely revenge. Just because I haven't humored her for a few years, the system's heart is smaller than the eye of a needle.]

Shang Wan Ning was fuming. Her divine sense locked onto the blue light ball, and the Spiritual Lamps flickered under her pressure.

"The quest is bound and cannot be revoked. Think about the Law of Reincarnation Shards, think about the Department of Judges. For this value..."

"Value?"

Shang Wan Ning laughed out of sheer anger, Golden Light of Reincarnation overflowing from her fingertips. "Maybe letting you experience 'data stream shortening by 3cm' would be even more valuable."

"Wanling, spare me!" The Xiao Si light ball bristled.

"I was wrong, it was wrong of me to use public office for private revenge. I'll help you strip Ao Ya to his underwear to make up for it."

Seeing this cowardly state where data was leaking out from fear, Shang Wan Ning's anger subsided slightly. She snorted and dispersed the golden light.

The priority was to complete the quest. Mapping out the Demon in twenty years was tight, but not impossible.

"The Department of Judges and Law of Reincarnation Shards."

She whispered the rewards, her eyes sharpening.

These two were crucial for perfecting the authority of the Underworld, enough for her to take this risk.

"Xiao Si." She regained her cold tone.

"Present! Please give your orders, my Queen."

The blue light ball immediately floated closer like a lackey, its little face showing post-disaster flattery.

"Compile all currently known intelligence on the forces in the Demon, especially any clues that might be related to Zhu Yan and Ao Ya, into a book and mark the risk levels."

Shang Wan Ning commanded, "At the same time, establish a 'Chen Yu Performance Art Observation Log' to synchronize her every move in the Demon in real-time. Report any abnormalities immediately."

"Understood."

Xiao Si switched to a mature sisterly voice, full of energy. "Mission guaranteed to be completed. My Queen is wise and divine."

Shang Wan Ning didn't bother with the flattery. She turned her gaze to where Meng Jiang had disappeared, then thought of A-Yu, who was about to stir up a "storm" in the Demon.

[If a woman isn't ruthless, her status won't be stable.]

"Sister Meng... Chen Yu..." she murmured to herself. Her fingertips tapped lightly on the table, weighing the force of her "chaotic punches."

The twenty-year countdown silently started in her Sea of Consciousness.

(After finishing a set of essay questions for the civil service exam, my writing has a faint 'civil service exam' flavor.)