CHAPTER 63: 63 MY BABY! (1/3)

"Trust me, this is really good stuff!"

"Look at the design, look at the material, look at the texture... It’s absolutely perfect for opening doors!"

Herbert kept enticing, trying to get Valentina to accept this heartfelt gift of his.

Just take it!

Don’t tear it apart, it’s for the kids!

But Valentina, who had already grown cautious, showed little interest, glancing briefly before withdrawing her gaze.

"Ha."

She snorted lightly, continuing to chew the food in her mouth.

(Chew, chew, chew)

Do they think they can win me over with this kind of thing?

Impossible!

Absolutely impossible!

"Mm-mm-mm!" ("I don’t want it!")

She casually chewed the food in her mouth, oblivious to the fact that she had long been bribed by the food.

(Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew)

After Herbert tried to persuade her for a long time, he finally saw she was still unwilling to relent and shook his head helplessly.

"Sigh."

He sighed, somewhat helplessly holding the Ring of Suffering, stroking the large gemstone embedded on it.

"Putting aside everything else, just look at this gemstone on it! Isn’t it top-notch?"

Gemstone?

Valentina’s chewing noticeably paused, her gaze uncontrollably fell on it.

It really is a gemstone!

Moreover, it’s a high-purity, finely cut sapphire.

Perhaps because she never had a proper Dragon Nest of her own, her fondness for treasures wasn’t as high as other Giant Dragons.

Those things over there may look nice, but you can’t carry them around with you.

But if you ask whether her dragon bloodline instinct likes it or not, she probably does.

Gulp.

She surreptitiously swallowed hard, struggling to turn her head to the side.

But then, she had already proclaimed her stern words and Valentina now absolutely would not lower her proud head!

Dragons never bow!

Click.

The slight sound made Valentina’s ears twitch, she secretly glanced back and found Herbert placing the Ring of Suffering in front of the railing.

"...I said I don’t want it."

Valentina hesitated for a moment but finally spoke gloomily, "Take it away, take it away quickly."

Take it away quickly!

Otherwise, I’m... afraid I won’t be able to hold on.

The more she looked at it, the more she felt like her heart was bleeding.

"I won’t take it. If you want to throw it away, do it yourself, haha."

Herbert chuckled, turned around, walked to the other side, and said without turning back, "Since I’ve given it to you, there’s no reason to take it back."

"Alright, you eat first, I’m going to check on the other prisoners."

Herbert left.

Valentina could confirm this; his scent disappeared from here.

"..."

Feeling somewhat guilty, she looked around, then slowly moved her body over to the front of the Ring of Suffering.

It’s mine!

She instinctively reached out to grab it, but suddenly remembered something, halting her hand midway.

After hesitating briefly, Valentina gently blew on her palm, releasing a small burst of flame.

Fwoosh—

The flame dissipated, and her fair hand was naturally unharmed. Instead, all the oil stains were instantly burned clean.

If Herbert saw this, he would definitely be moved to tears.

Family, my dog has finally learned to wash hands after meals!

Valentina, with clean hands, carefully and gently hooked the Ring of Suffering with her finger.

Looking at this magical artifact and the sapphire on it, her smile gradually relaxed, rubbing the sapphire with her cheek, she began to giggle silly.

"...Hehe."

My treasure.

My treasure!

As a special dragon living alone and unaccepted by the clan, this was her first time officially owning a treasure of her own.

What’s even more important is, this treasure wasn’t something she took from others.

Rather, it was given to her voluntarily by someone else!

Before this, she had never received a gift from anyone—of course, the tributes given by low-level demons she lured and enslaved with her dragon might don’t count.

She never hoped anyone would give her anything.

Valentina had always been alone, and she would remain lonely.

She had already accepted this fact and didn’t intend to fight against it.

It’s normal for the strong to be lonely.

But now.

In her most desolate and miserable time, someone appeared before her and hoped to become friends with her.

Brought her food, talked with her, laughed and played together, gave her gifts...

Will I still continue being lonely?

Valentina didn’t know.

But at this moment, she hoped her future... wouldn’t be as lonely as her past!

If possible, Valentina hoped never to lose this somewhat annoying yet always able to make her happy... friend.

"Ah, right."

At that moment, Valentina suddenly recalled something her former female warlock subordinate mentioned.

"Accepting a gift means you should... give back? No, that doesn’t seem right."

Her uneducated pure mind was somewhat confused now, trying hard to recall what that person once told her.

"Is it an eye for an eye? Or a tooth for a tooth? That doesn’t seem right either."

"Tsk! How exactly did she say it..."

.

.

Meanwhile, Herbert indeed left the Endless Maze.

However, this time he didn’t enter Deep Water Prison but wandered in the maze for a bit longer, reaching a strange door.

Hesitating for a moment, Herbert pushed the door open and immediately entered a pitch-black space.

In the darkness, Herbert silently laughed and nodded joyfully.

"Haha, I guessed right!"

The Third Commandment Hall, the Third Region, Prison of Darkness!

"Indeed, the Endless Maze is not just about changing scenes on the surface..."

After gaining the Archbishop’s permission, Herbert acquired the abilities of Monster Girl.

But this wasn’t just a straightforward increase; instead, he was granted higher-level access.

Herbert’s Prison Warden authority was noticeably elevated!

If all permissions were divided into nine levels, then he probably just rose from level three to level five.

His power just surpassed halfway, allowing him to make free decisions without causing major disasters.

Promoted!

Upgraded from a bottom-level laborer to a mid-level manager.

And this level-five management authority allowed him to easily change the cell specifications and added some other functionalities.

Most of the other abilities required Herbert to further explore and research, but the most immediate and practical right now—was allowing him to directly access any of the first five regions from the Endless Maze!

Yes, this ability is...

A magic door!