Chapter 1006 The Elf Queen

Hearing Hilda's question, Hao Ren smiled. "You mean Becky? She's kind of our companion, but only when we're active in 'this world.' She's not too clear on some of our affairs, so there were things I couldn't say directly when you met this afternoon."

As he spoke, Hao Ren stood up and offered his hand to Hilda in a friendly gesture. "Let me reintroduce myself. Hao Ren, inspector for the Space-Time Administration, specializing in dealing with all kinds of abnormal cross-dimensional events."

Hilda awkwardly grasped Hao Ren's wrist and shook it up and down, her face full of curiosity. "Space-Time Administration? What's that? The name of your research institute?"

Hao Ren was momentarily embarrassed. He had been hoping to impress the other party with such a grand title, but he had forgotten about cultural differences. It seemed that empiricism really could kill a person. He chuckled dryly and explained, "Actually, like you, I'm not from this world either—but the difference between you and me is that you ended up here by accident, while I actively run around all over the place, specifically dealing with lost travelers like you. The Space-Time Administration is..."

Hao Ren told the other party about the Space-Time Administration and the concept of the macro-world as simply and clearly as possible. Hilda listened with increasing amazement, and when Hao Ren finished, she couldn't help but stand up. "Are you serious?!"

Vivian spread her hands to the side. "There's no need to lie to you."

Hilda seemed a little confused. Although she had just experienced a cross-dimensional event, she never imagined that there would be a relevant department specifically managing such things. She looked at Hao Ren with suspicion, clearly in a state of disbelief. No matter how eloquently Hao Ren spoke, she would not rashly believe him. Hao Ren, of course, knew that his credibility based on mere words was limited. He was simply following the instructions in the work manual: when facing the person involved, he should state his identity and explain the subsequent work requirements as soon as conditions allowed, to ensure that subsequent work was carried out with the knowledge of both parties. Whether the person involved believed it or not was up to them; it was just part of the work process.

"That's the situation," Hao Ren said, sitting down across from Hilda after explaining his identity. "You probably won't believe it right away, but you just need to know one thing: we have no ties to you, no grudges, so we wouldn't bother making up such a whopper to fool you. We're here this time to carry out another mission, and meeting a dimensional traveler like you was purely accidental, but when we go back, we'll take you to the organization's office, where there's specialized equipment that can send you home... uh, if my superior wasn't bluffing, she should have complete equipment there."

Hilda was still dazed, but she at least knew that now was not the time to pursue minor details. At this moment, rather than doubting pointlessly, it was better to cooperate with these strangers who seemed somewhat credible. She nodded. "I still don't understand what you mean by the Space-Time Administration... but I'm willing to believe your good intentions. As long as you can send me back, I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Actually, there's nothing you need to do. It's my job," Hao Ren waved his hand. "If I had to say something... just be open and honest about how you came here, so I at least know how to write this report."

Hilda hesitated for a moment, but she quickly realized that even if she had some great secret back home, there was no need to keep it secret here. No one in this entire world knew her. Thinking of this, Hilda slowly took off her hood. What entered Hao Ren's eyes, in addition to a dazzling head of golden, slightly curly long hair, were two pointed, long ears. "Hilda Vitas, from a world called Aerym. I am the queen there."

Hao Ren's gaze was completely focused on the other party's pointed ears, so much so that he only realized Hilda's mention of her identity after exclaiming. "An elf? Uh... what did you say, a queen?"

Hilda looked at Hao Ren suspiciously. "A Space-Time Administration inspector seems like a big shot. Is it necessary for you to be so surprised? You jumped pretty high just now."

Hao Ren embarrassedly sat back down in his seat, thinking that this sister's blunt way of speaking was really not something an ordinary person could accept. He touched his nose and explained apologetically, "Ahem, elves are quite rare, and our inspectors are also divided into regions. The area I manage doesn't really have any elves..."

He was really too embarrassed to admit that he was just a temporary worker with no experience...

The others also gathered around at this time. Lily was the first to impatiently ask, "Wait a minute, did you just say you're a queen?! Really? Really?"

"There's no need for me to make up a queen's identity for myself in this alien world," Hilda's lips revealed a slight arc, "especially when this identity can't even bring me a piece of dry food."

Lily thought for a moment, and her tail suddenly perked up with a "pop." "A big shot!"

Vivian impatiently pushed Lily away. "Don't rub your tail around, you're shedding, and you'll get it all over me."

Hao Ren told the two troublemakers beside him to be quiet and looked at Hilda apologetically. "Don't mind them. They're usually like this, acting crazy. Now, tell me about your situation. How did you get here?"

Hilda glanced at Hao Ren and slowly lowered her eyes. "I was sent here because of a portal accident. Our planet is on the verge of depletion, and in order to find a new home where our race can survive, we built a huge space-time accelerator, but there was a problem after the device was activated."

Hilda stopped there and didn't continue. Of course, even if she said more details, the people in front of her wouldn't be able to understand, after all, it was something from another world.

Hao Ren nodded, but he suddenly thought of a question: Was Hilda really from another world? Was it possible that she was from another planet?

He had been to space and other planets, after all, and his way of thinking was much broader than before. At this time, he remembered a sentence he had seen in the work manual: many "travelers" mistakenly judged that they had come to an alien world due to insufficient knowledge reserves or limited self-identification methods, but in many cases, they had only come to another planet in this universe, because intra-universe transmission was easier than inter-world transmission, so this kind of misjudgment accounted for the vast majority.

"I know what you mean," Hilda said, hearing Hao Ren's question and taking out a delicate small disc from her close-fitting clothes as if she had expected it. "This is a device that can observe background radiation. Our astrologers believe that space background radiation and the underlying structure of matter are the 'standard codes' that determine the identity of a universe. I initially suspected that I had been transmitted to a different planet in the same universe. If that were the case, our portal would be considered successful in another sense, but after a simple observation, I found that... although it's hard to believe, I should be in another universe. For some reason, the basic physical laws of this universe are almost the same as those of my hometown, but the significant differences in background radiation made me realize that I had indeed come to another world."

As she spoke, Hilda smiled self-deprecatingly. "A group of astrologers has been insisting on the theory of alien worlds, but I have never supported them in the Royal Council. Now that I think about it... if I can go back, the first thing I must do is bring them to the Royal Astrology Tower."

At this moment, the data terminal's voice suddenly came from behind Hao Ren. "The identification code of the world is not just as simple as background radiation, but you are indeed from another world—this machine has just checked your information characteristics, and you have very obvious traces of crossing over."

Hao Ren turned his head and found that the data terminal was floating two meters away behind him, but it still couldn't get rid of Dou Dou's clutches: the little mermaid was sitting on the data terminal, her little hands tightly grasping the two ribs of this "flying disc." Seeing Hao Ren turn his head, the little guy waved her tail happily, but she just wouldn't let go!

The data terminal sighed. "This machine tried very hard, but your daughter seems to think this machine is a mount. See when you can solve her worldview..."

"It's not heavy anyway, just let her ride," Hao Ren shrugged indifferently. "You're always hiding in my pocket hitching a ride, and I haven't said anything."

The data terminal immediately intended to lash out, but before it could move, Hao Ren had already turned his head away. The latter looked at Hilda. "Alright, I basically understand your situation. It looks like you were indeed blasted into another world by accident. After our mission here is completed, we will take you back. Don't worry, everything will be quick."

"If you really have a way, please do so as soon as possible," Hilda stood up and bowed deeply to Hao Ren without hesitation. "Before I left, our entire country was already in an extreme state. The explosion accident of the transmission device is likely to have pushed my people past the psychological tipping point. Now they have no resources, no hope, and no queen. I must go back before the situation gets worse!"

Hao Ren didn't expect the other party to put down all pretenses and perform such a great gift. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation, and the other party was still a queen, which made him instinctively jump up from his chair and help Hilda up in a flustered manner. "Okay, okay, I'll do it as soon as possible, I'll do it as soon as possible. Don't do this, I can't accept it..."

Under the comfort of Hao Ren and Vivian, Hilda calmed down again, and then sat silently on a chair in the corner of the room: Now she didn't care about anything except going home. As long as they didn't talk about her hometown, she would sit there like a puppet.

The data terminal, carrying Dou Dou, discussed with Hao Ren and the others on the other side. "This situation is actually quite rare. The technical difficulty of crossing the void is higher than you think. She was blasted into the Dream Plane by a low-level transmission device... This machine thinks there are many things worth investigating in the middle."

"That has to be investigated after going home," Hao Ren nodded. "Now let's figure out how to go to the lake center tonight..."