The Iron-Blood Fortress was not wheelchair accessible.
It was a massive citadel built into a canyon wall, designed to repel armies. The entrance was a steep, jagged staircase cut directly into the rock—three hundred steps of uneven, slippery stone.
Princess Zhao Ling sat in her Golden Lotus Pod at the bottom, looking up. The pod hovered effortlessly, but the incline was too steep for the stabilizers to lock safely. The jagged rocks confused the terrain sensors.
[ Alert: Terrain Grade Exceeds Safety Protocol. ] [ Auto-Lock Engaged. ]
The chair froze. It refused to move forward.
"Damn it," the Princess whispered, hitting the armrest. "Override. Override!"
"It's a safety feature," Yun Xi said, standing beside her. The wind whipped the maid's skirt. "Gu Ling programmed it so you wouldn't tumble backward down a mountain."
"I am the Imperial Princess!" Zhao Ling hissed, her eyes wet with frustration. "And I am defeated by... stairs."
She looked at the mercenaries guarding the gate at the top. They were pointing and laughing.
"Look! The Royal floaty-chair got stuck!" "Need a tow, Your Highness?"
The shame burned hotter than any fire Qi. In the palace, ramps were deployed for her. Here, in the real world, the environment didn't care.
"I will carry you," Yun Xi said. It wasn't a question.
"No," Zhao Ling gripped the armrests until her knuckles turned white. "If I enter that Guild in your arms, like a child, I have no authority. They will eat us alive."
"If you stay here," Yun Xi adjusted her gloves, "you will rust. The meeting starts in ten minutes."
Yun Xi didn't wait for permission. She reached into her inventory and pulled out a heavy leather strap. She clipped it to the front of the Lotus Pod and threw the other end over her shoulder.
"I won't carry you," Yun Xi said, turning her back to the Princess. "I will tow you. You are the chariot. I am the warhorse. Sit up straight, Princess. Look down on them, even if I am the one dragging you up."
The Princess stared at Yun Xi's broad back. It was humiliating. But it was also... practical.
"Fine," Zhao Ling wiped her eyes fiercely. "Mush."
MEANWHILE: THE INVISIBLE HAZARD
Back at Sector 01, inside the Alchemy Lab.
Su Qing was working on the "Air Conditioned Underwear" coolant gel. It was a volatile mixture of Frost-Mint Oil and Explosive Slime.
"Three drops of mint," Su Qing whispered, her hand steady.
She reached for the blue bottle on her left.
But earlier that morning, a clumsy disciple had bumped the table. The blue bottle (Frost-Mint) and the red bottle (Liquid Magma) had swapped places.
Su Qing couldn't see the color. Both bottles felt identical—smooth glass, cork stoppers.
She uncorked the red bottle. She sniffed.
Nothing. Liquid Magma was odorless until it ignited.
"Strange," she murmured. "Did the mint lose its potency?"
She tilted the bottle over the volatile mixture.
If she poured the Magma into the Explosive Slime, the resulting reaction wouldn't just ruin the underwear; it would vaporize the east wing of the Sect.
A hand gently caught her wrist.
Su Qing froze. She hadn't heard anyone enter.
"That's the spicy sauce," Jiang Fan's voice was right next to her ear. "You want the cool sauce."
He didn't grab the bottle violently. He just guided her hand back to the table and swapped the bottles.
"Jiang Fan?" Su Qing breathed, her heart hammering. "I... I checked the placement this morning. Someone moved them."
"Accidents happen," Jiang Fan yawned. "That's why systems need redundancy."
He tapped the table.
"I'm going to etch runes into the glass for you. Frost rune feels cold. Fire rune feels hot. No more guessing."
Su Qing lowered her head. "I almost blew us up. The Guild was right. A blind alchemist is a liability."
"Su Qing," Jiang Fan said, leaning against the counter. "You can smell a goblin from three miles away. You can tell the purity of gold by licking it. You aren't a liability."
He took her hand and placed it on the cool, etched glass of the correct bottle.
"You just need the world to stop being so poorly designed. Now, finish the gel. My butt is getting sweaty in this heat."
Su Qing smiled. The fear in her chest loosened. He didn't scold her. He just fixed the interface.
"Yes, Boss."
THE NEGOTIATION
Yun Xi dragged the heavy Golden Lotus Pod up the final step. Her boots scraped against the stone, but her breathing remained steady.
They reached the top. The Mercenary Guild Hall was a chaotic tavern filled with smoke, sweat, and heavy metal.
Commander Iron-Tooth sat on a throne made of beast skulls. He was a giant of a man, picking his teeth with a dagger.
"Well, well," Iron-Tooth bellowed. "The Princess made it. And she brought her pack mule."
The entire hall erupted in laughter.
Yun Xi unhooked the strap. She stepped back, panting slightly, and took her place as the guard.
The Princess floated forward. Her face was pale from the bumpy ascent—the vibrations triggered nerve spasms in her lower back that felt like electric shocks—but her expression was stone.
"Commander," Zhao Ling said, her voice cutting through the noise. "We are here to discuss the tax rate."
"The tax is 40%," Iron-Tooth grinned. "But for a cripple? Maybe 50%. Since you take up so much space."
He stood up and walked toward her. He towered over the pod.
"You know, Princess," Iron-Tooth sneered. "This is a No-Fly Zone."
He stomped his foot.
[ Trap Activated: Anti-Magic Field. ]
Runes etched into the floor flared.
The Golden Lotus Pod relied on Spirit Qi to hover. The moment the field activated, the engines died.
CRASH.
The pod dropped three feet. It hit the stone floor hard.
"Ah!" The Princess cried out as the impact jarred her paralyzed spine. The pod tilted sideways, dumping her out.
She sprawled onto the dirty floor. Her legs lay uselessly behind her, tangled in her silk dress.
The mercenaries roared with laughter.
"Look at her!" Iron-Tooth mocked. "Without her toy, she's just a broken doll on the floor!"
Yun Xi's eyes went red. She reached for her mace.
"Stop!" The Princess screamed from the floor.
Yun Xi froze.
Zhao Ling pushed herself up. Her arms trembled. She couldn't stand. She couldn't kneel. She could only drag herself up by her elbows.
She looked up at Iron-Tooth from the ground.
Most people would cry. Most people would beg.
But Zhao Ling was a Princess. And she had spent two weeks watching a man who defeated armies in his pajamas.
"You think this humiliates me?" Zhao Ling whispered.
She reached into her robe and pulled out a small, metallic cylinder.
"You turned off the magic," she said, a dark smile touching her lips. "Which was a mistake. Because Gu Ling's new toys... don't run on magic."
She pressed the button.
[ System: Kinetic Pulse Cannon (Compressed Air) - Online. ]
The cylinder in her hand expanded into a heavy-barreled handcannon.
"They run on physics."
BOOM.
The blast was deafening. It wasn't a fireball. It was a slug of compressed air hitting with the force of a train.
It hit Iron-Tooth in the kneecap.
CRUNCH.
The giant commander screamed as his leg shattered backward. He fell to the ground, writhing in agony.
Now, he was on the floor with her.
The Princess dragged herself forward, pulling her paralyzed body across the stone until she was face-to-face with the screaming commander.
She pressed the hot barrel of the cannon against his forehead.
"Now look at us," the Princess hissed. "We are eye-to-eye."
The room was dead silent. The mercenaries stared in horror. Their anti-magic field was useless against mechanical engineering.
"The tax," the Princess said calmly, "is 0%."
"Yes!" Iron-Tooth shrieked, clutching his ruined knee. "Zero! It's zero!"
"And," the Princess looked at the stairs. "You are going to build a ramp. A nice one. With railings."
"We will! We will build it today!"
"Good."
The Princess looked at Yun Xi.
"Yun Xi. Put me back in my chair. We have business to conclude."
Yun Xi walked over. She didn't look at the mercenaries. She bent down and gently lifted the Princess, placing her back into the pod (which rebooted as the Commander deactivated the trap in terror).
Yun Xi brushed the dust off the Princess's dress.
"You missed a spot," Yun Xi said quietly, pointing to a smudge on the hem.
"Shut up," the Princess smiled weakly. Her hands were shaking, the adrenaline fading, leaving her exhausted and in pain.
"You did good," Yun Xi whispered.
THE RETURN
The ride back was quiet.
The Princess sat in her pod, staring at the moon.
"Yun Xi," she said softly.
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"My legs... they spasmed when I fell. It hurt."
"I know."
"I hate this," the Princess admitted. "I hate that I have to carry a cannon to be respected. I hate that I can't climb stairs."
"Jiang Fan hates walking," Yun Xi noted. "He avoids stairs at all costs."
The Princess laughed, a short, sharp sound.
"He does, doesn't he?"
She looked at the contract in her hand. 0% tax.
"I think..." The Princess touched the control panel of her chair. "I think I understand why Gu Ling loves the machine. It doesn't judge you. It just gives you the recoil you need."
"You are fitting in," Yun Xi said, checking her compass. "You are weird, violent, and broken. You are definitely part of Sector 01 now."
The Princess leaned back, closing her eyes.
"Yun Xi?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for being the warhorse."
"Don't get used to it. Next time, I'm installing a rocket booster on that chair."