It wasn't just using brain compute power to mine.

This device, while constantly using the brain, also continually stimulated different parts of the brain.

It didn't induce hallucinations so much as directly trigger corresponding emotions through physical stimulation.

Negative emotions, positive emotions, and then, through another portion of the brain's compute power, those emotions were converted in a strange way into corresponding magical energy.

This machine was not simple.

The Three Corpses were fully functional, so this sort of mining was not difficult for their brains. With a little disguise, the machine's feedback would merely show low compute power, not enough to trigger optimization.

And as witches, the negative emotions they could provide were clearly above what ordinary miners could supply.

High yield plus low compute power meant that in the end, the entire factory would even divert extra machines to provide compute power for this side, helping convert negative emotions into polluted magic.

Most of that polluted magic produced by the conversion was still needed to maintain Witch Shion's own existence—this mining facility's machines weren't strong enough to snatch polluted magic out of her hands.

Shion allocated it herself, ensuring the counterpart's input and output looked normal, avoiding detection and optimization; the remaining polluted magic was kept.

This method of converting magic meant Shion didn't need to keep her consciousness attached to the witch's Three Corpses all the time, which was convenient. She even planned to lie here indefinitely.

She would become the one who stole electricity while the factory harvested compute power like wool.

Hidden among countless gears, stealing the factory's chances, this was truly survival...

Without needing to constantly maintain Witch Shion's control, her consciousness gained some freedom, merging with demonic sense into a divine mind, following those machine cables to survey the entire mine's structure.

The mine was huge. Besides the mining platforms, there were many other platforms, each with different structures and internal operations.

It wasn't just mining—there also seemed to be garbage processing work. Below, several platforms were doing incineration and waste sorting.

And there were a lot of corpses.

Outside, in the garbage piles, there were almost no bodies, but under this factory, bodies tumbled in heaps.

Each corpse was preserved very well, with no damage, and those handling the bodies were a group of Disaster Beasts.

Indeed, humanoid Disaster Beasts. Though they looked strikingly human, with hands and feet and clothes, their skull structure was undeniably pure Disaster Beast material. That unadulterated polluted magic—Shion could not be mistaken.

"I heard Raincoat caught new meat again this time?"

"Dragged them off to mine."

"Too bad, haven't had fresh meat in a while."

"Be grateful. Out here on Chongxu's periphery, lowly beasts like us can only eat scraps. The big heads are above..."

They could even speak like people.

Shion's divine mind latched onto one of the Disaster Beasts.

This Disaster Beast had a head like a moose; beside it was a lizard-headed Disaster Beast, processing corpses while flicking a forked tongue that seemed to sense something.

Under the machine rolled human corpses cut into pieces and carried away. The lizard Disaster Beast suddenly grabbed one and asked the moose-headed Disaster Beast, which was controlled by the gacha, "That one, did you see it?"

The moose cocked its head at the corpse; its belly wasn't very full.

The lizard's tongue quivered as it snorted coldly, "Learn well. This is prime goods."

"Why?"

The lizard ran its claw lightly across the belly, "Look, lots of fat!"

The moose's eyelid twitched, instinctively holding its breath, "That's constipation, damn it."

"Look at this one, this is also top quality, it's half-liquid inside!"

"Damn, that's diarrhea."

"This one has bursting pearls, great texture."

"Damn, that's hemorrhoids..."

They grew weary. The moose, who wanted to ask more, couldn't speak under the assault of blood and stench.

Only after those corpses were taken away did the lizard pat its shoulder, "You need to learn. Picking out premium goods earns bonuses. If you just rely on your base pay, when will you leave this rotten place to go to Chongxu?"

Hearing that, the moose immediately nodded, "You are right."

The whole factory was actually rather lifeless, filled only with workshops and machines, the hum of machinery and the clack of gears meshing.

Like a deserted forest stirred by wind, leaves lifting in waves, there was only desolate dead air and emptiness.

In this steel forest, only this small platform with Disaster Beasts had a bit of vigor.

Their mimicry of human speech made Shion think of legends of the Heavenly Realm being controlled by great demons after ascension.

But these Disaster Beasts seemed low-tier; working as screw-turners here hardly looked like demonic overlords.

"How do we get to Chongxu?"

While picking through bodies, the moose asked casually.

Sure enough, the lizard Disaster Beast took a drag from a cigarette and tapped its forehead with its hand.

Its hands were covered in scales, but ultimately human hands, "You again, asking."

The moose must have asked many times before. The lizard sounded impatient.

The moose glanced at the cigarette butt by the other’s mouth. Ordinary, plain cigarettes, but the actions of smoking, flicking ash, and blowing smoke rings were disturbingly humanlike.

So anthropomorphic it was terrifying.

"We locals here, once we earn enough, we can go back. Chongxu is all about money. If we have a way to survive, be satisfied. Look at these bodies—didn't any of them used to be better than us? In the end they all died like stray dogs..."

Hearing the lizard willing to talk about Chongxu, the moose continued, "Is it only locals like us? What about outsiders? Like that outsider Raincoat captured before?"

"Mine for life."

The lizard sneered, "Once you become a mining machine, you think you'll leave? Your brain will rot in a few years."

"What if it doesn't rot?"

"You brat." The lizard flicked ash into its face, chuckling, "Still dreaming, huh. Don't worry about our factory's mining machines. They won't survive. Even if they do, it's useless. Outsiders have no household registration, they have no local bloodline; they can't get into Chongxu."

Finally hitting the point, the moose blew calmly, letting ash fall into the lizard's eyes, which scalded it. The lizard rubbed its eyes furiously.

"So that means if you possessed a local with bloodline, you'd get in?"

"Possess? What's that?"

"Occupy someone else's body."

"Not possible. Chongxu is strict. Entering via possession has long been blocked. Souls carry Chongxu marks; without a mark you can't get in. Chongxu actively absorbs those who meet the standard. No one knows where Chongxu is, so you can't actively enter. You can only be taken when you meet the standard."

"I see, thanks."

The lizard frowned at the moose, "You—no, you're not..."

The moose nodded, then grabbed the lizard's head.

Before the lizard could react, the moose slammed it down into the nearby machine!

The corpse-processing machine began to grind the lizard's skull to pieces!

After stuffing the lizard in, the moose jumped in too.

Sharp alarms blared throughout the factory!

Even worker Disaster Beasts getting rolled into accidents triggered alarms.

Apparently the safety staff here were lax, but the factory's safety systems made up for that.

Shion withdrew her demonic sense and nodded with satisfaction.

Survival? Who doesn't do it?

...

Witch Shion slept in the factory while Dragon Lord Shion above, to ensure world authority and security, also began to meditate.

They didn't need much effort to control things.

When Jiang Si left the Illusory Moon Cavern Dwelling, already out of transformation, he glanced up at the sky.

He could vaguely see his Dragon Lord form.

With three hosts now available, he could pick any one of them to transform. Because Bingtang had kept nagging him with reminders earlier, when he returned Jiang Si chose to use the original Shion.

Dragon Lord Shion remained above with the Emperor and the Little Black Dragon.

Even while Dragon Lord Shion meditated, the Emperor and Little Black Dragon could come out and chat with Fengqin, who existed only in chaotic space.

They might learn some negotiation tricks from Fengqin, try to squeeze more info from her.

From what was already known, the ground where Witch Shion was mining indeed wasn't Chongxu itself, but Chongxu's periphery.

That made sense.

Classic gathering spots outside dungeons: fringe markets beyond the chaotic stars, large anomalous space stations outside planets, interstellar expedition pioneer groups, suburbs beyond Beihai's Fifth Ring...

Feeling slightly reassured, Chongxu itself would indeed be that grand.

A low-level Disaster Beast might not know the truth, and the Witch Association couldn't necessarily be trusted.

Looks like this golden miner of mine needs to move a bit...

The Emperor and Little Black Dragon—those two fools—spent most of their time asking about Lu Ya.

Useless as ever.

Bingtang also stepped out of the Illusory Moon Cavern Dwelling, "Don't forget the time."

While speaking, she put the small gloves she had knitted onto Jiang Si's hands and straightened his collar, "Handle Keke's situation carefully. Don't rush. Don't force things to grow faster."

"I know."

After she said that, Bingtang waved lightly and sent Jiang Si off.

At first, Jiang Si wasn't particularly interested in being a groomsman.

The Mirror Kingdom annulment had soured him on weddings. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

But Bingtang said they could use the venue to stage a perfect annulment ceremony for him.

That piqued his interest.

The earlier plan had returned to course in the end, but midway line flubs and identity swaps made the performance a failure and unpleasant.

With incomplete intention, one cannot fake mastery.

If he could have a perfect annulment ceremony, it would make up for regrets.

Still, being a groomsman or bridesmaid—how much could they really accomplish? Jiang Si didn't expect too much.

Walking through the streets, looking at Beihai's celebrations, Jiang Si felt a bit tired.

Shion's photos, portraits, and hastily made merchandise were everywhere on Beihai's streets.

Azure Cloud Sect had already handled some of the licensing, but the merchandise sales had previously been mediocre.

When Beihai was rescued from the disaster-human realm, Shion-related merchandise had already heated up.

But it was limited to Beihai, and because Azure Cloud Sect needed to authorize, Bingtang had been strict about copyright, so Shion merchandise spread slowly after that rescue.

After rescuing South China and destroying the Mirror Kingdom this time, demand for Shion merchandise exploded. Bingtang's production chain was ready, and Shion merch sprouted like bamboo shoots after rain across many places.

Demand was highest in South China. Rumor had it a signed photo of Shion fetched a sky-high price there.

Jiang Si even considered taking a few selfies to sign for money.

Although he no longer lacked money, poverty had taught him to seize any small profit, and those signed Shion photos were truly expensive...

"Hey, the superstar's boyfriend."

Approaching the park, Jialan arrived early as planned.

Sitting on the swing Twins used to sit on, swinging, Jialan gazed at the surrounding Shion-themed cars, Shion balloons, and Shion billboards, sighing, "Global superstar! Regret it? Breaking up with such a huge star, you'll never get a chance again."

The Emperor ignored her, but took a Miracle Seed from his pocket and tossed it to Jialan.

Swinging in midair, Jialan jumped down and caught the seed.

After grabbing that Full Bloom replicable Miracle Seed, before she could react, the swing behind her came crashing into the back of her head.

"Ouch!"

Jialan clutched the Miracle Seed and fell to the ground.

After a long while she got up, dusted herself off as if nothing happened, held down the incoming swing, and scolded Jiang Si a little, "Be careful, that's valuable!"

"I brought you a Full Bloom Miracle Seed."

Jiang Si said calmly, "The Mirror Kingdom's Full Bloom technique is almost sorted out, but you know the rules."

"I know, I know. You won't hand it over until we tell you how to go to Chongxu."

Caressing the Full Bloom seed, which only the Mirror Kingdom could produce, Jialan finally smiled, "Mirror Kingdom really is amazing. We searched many worlds, but none could replicate Full Bloom Miracle Seeds like them. In capability, Mirror Kingdom might even be more astonishing than Azure Cloud Sect."

"Talk in your dreams."

"I'm talking about technology."

"Azure Cloud Sect is the strongest in every way."

"Fine, fine. Didn't expect you, big-browed and big-eyed, to be an Azure fan."

Jialan didn't bother, then took out her phone, "Actually, me too."

Jiang Si saw it was the Magical Girl Idol Project.

Several Full Limit Shion cards.

"You must have pulled them too?"

"No."

"Come on, fake fan." Jialan glared, "Because of fake fans like you, our Shion gacha can't top the charts!"

There had been a joint promotion by the Disaster Control Bureau and Azure Cloud Sect for a Shion gacha previously, and sales were not negligible.

But Shion ranked lower in the Magical Girl Idol Project at that time because Shion's fandom wasn't as intense then.

Many places still had prejudice against Azure Cloud Sect and Shion, so the gacha's revenue after promotion wasn't large.

Most importantly, because Shion's gacha ranked low, fans felt embarrassed and less confident in fights.

"Powerful combat? So what? What's your gacha ranking? Compare me with my Little Kingfisher Mom and Yingbao?"

"Don't let Iris use you to boost her standing, okay?"

"Here we go again. Clearly it's Shion trying to ride coattails and embarrass herself..."

Jialan had heard many arguments like this.

Now she had nothing to worry about—Shion had swept through the real world and her fans had flooded the internet peacefully; no one dared criticize.

Fans' disgrace always tied to the idol; once the idol dominated everywhere, nothing could tarnish them...

"Actually, secret: I didn't tell you—I'm Shion's superfan. I manage her fan threads. For Shion, I've had so many haters banned—oh, I mean account bans, not killing."

"I know. I was asking about Chongxu."

"But Shion's superfan squad isn't just me. There's a really powerful one, Sonora. She's the one who can open boxes offline in reality. She doesn't kill people either, but she can make people depressed."

"Enough. I asked—"

"Sonora is the necessary key to enter Chongxu."

That made Jiang Si quiet. Jialan squeezed the seed, peering at Jiang Si through it, "Do you know Sonora is a vampire?"

"Cosplay?" Jiang Si sounded disdainful, "Kids play that stuff."

"...No." Jialan was exasperated, "A real vampire."

"If a vampire bites you, not only does your bloodline change, your soul also gets marked, becoming a Chongxu local." Jialan swung on the swing, "That's why the President sent her over."

"But after all, she comes from a clan that controls immigration resources," Shan Lan wore an unapproachable expression, "Vampires' conditions for biting people are very strict."

"Especially Sonora."

As she spoke, the girl mischievously cocked her head at Jiang Si:

"First, you need to court her, make her fall for you, make her like you, only then will it work."