"I'm not a vagrant, I was just robbed, lost my money, and then accidentally ate some poisoned porridge..." Ryan Carter hurriedly explained.

"Does it make any difference? She has already achieved her goal." Empress said coldly.

"What goal?"

As soon as Ryan Carter spoke, he realized how stupid his question was.

What other goal could there be?

If Empress was overthrown, there would be many ways to humiliate her. One of them was exactly this: to have her, the supreme ruler, forced to couple with a vagrant from the very bottom of society. This relationship would instantly turn her lofty, sacred, and untouchable image into something "lowly" and "filthy."

If even the most humble rats on the street could freely tangle with the most sacred Valkyrie, then what difference was there between her and a prostitute? Oh, no, at least a prostitute gets to choose her clients.

After figuring this out, Ryan Carter couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

So he was being used as a tool to inflict the greatest humiliation on a woman. As expected, there really is no such thing as free porridge in this world.

"By the way, there were quite a few refugees who were knocked out by the poison along with me. Could it be that they also..." Ryan Carter suddenly remembered this.

"If you want to die, I can grant your wish right now." Valkyrie's pearly teeth were clenched so hard they almost shattered, and her eyes flashed with murderous intent.

If she weren't so weak right now, she really would have torn Ryan Carter apart.

"Ahem." Ryan Carter looked embarrassed. Why did he have to bring up the worst possible topic?

Valkyrie looked utterly dejected, but after a while, her gaze regained focus. She stared at the small window, clearly trying to figure out a way to escape.

Although she wanted to kill the man beside her, Valkyrie had also picked up on a key piece of information from Ryan Carter's words: there were other vagrants imprisoned outside besides Ryan Carter.

If they sent in a different man every day, she would rather bite her tongue and end her life right now than suffer such humiliation.

She had to find a way out of here. She didn't want what happened last night to happen again, especially since this was only the beginning.

"Let's find a way to get out of here," Ryan Carter said seriously.

Empress didn't even listen to Ryan Carter. She hadn't been driven to complete madness or despair by what had happened. Maybe she was, deep down, but she would only show her true despair and pain after calmly solving the immediate crisis and taking her revenge.

Ryan Carter felt he bore some responsibility too, even though she was the one who made the first move last night...

In any case, they had to find a way out.

"Great, little one, you're awake!" Ryan Carter suddenly said excitedly.

Ryan Carter opened his right palm, and like a magician, produced a milky-white little ice worm.

The little ice worm's plump, round body would occasionally ripple with a ring of tender, glistening baby fat. As it wriggled, it looked rather silly and cute, and its big, blinking eyes gave it an extraordinary charm.

Empress glanced at Ryan Carter and saw him holding a little white worm in his hand. She couldn't help but snort coldly.

Ignorant optimism—he actually had the mood to play with bugs.

"Go, go unlock the lock. I know you can do it," Ryan Carter said to the little ice worm.

The little ice worm crawled up the stone wall and quickly found the iron window.

"Clang~~~~~~"

Soon, the sound of a chain falling off followed.

Seeing this, Empress's eyes immediately lit up, and she couldn't hide the joy on her face.

"Heh heh, my little ice worm can do anything," Ryan Carter said to Empress with a smile.

"Help me up," Empress said, her whole body weak, clearly affected by some lingering aphrodisiac.

She was barefoot, stepping onto Ryan Carter's shoulder.

With effort, she climbed out of the dungeon. Empress hesitated and looked back at Ryan Carter.

Ryan Carter stood in the dungeon, watching her.

Sure enough, Empress turned around and left the dungeon alone, leaving Ryan Carter behind.

So ruthless!

The dungeon's stone walls were smooth; without someone to pull you up, it was impossible to climb out.

"Women— the more beautiful they are, the less you can trust them." Ryan Carter shook his head helplessly. He was just about to ask the little ice worm to spin some silk so he could climb up when suddenly, light, cat-like footsteps sounded above his head.

"Put this on, I'll pull you up," Empress said, having found two large burlap sacks from somewhere in the dungeon. She tore them open and made makeshift clothes.

A smile immediately appeared on Ryan Carter's face. He quickly put on the burlap sack clothes and grasped Empress's slender, fair hand.

After all, they had spent a whole night tangled together without much rest!

...

After pulling Ryan Carter up, Empress was panting, her chest heaving violently. It seemed the poison was still in her system; as someone with great martial strength, she was now no different from a weak woman.

"Follow me, and don't make a sound," Empress whispered.

"Are you familiar with this dungeon?" Ryan Carter whispered back.

"I used to imprison myself here."

Ryan Carter was full of confusion.

Imprison yourself??

Are you crazy?

...

Valkyrie was indeed very familiar with this dungeon. If Ryan Carter had tried to get out on his own, he wouldn't have made it even without guards—the dungeon was as big as a maze.

In the end, they successfully left the city through a secret passage.