Chapter 347

Chapter 347: Changed! The Daughter Who Radiates Coldness!

Upon waking to find a large gray ant silently observing her with impassive eyes in the bedroom, the white-haired girl startled. She couldn’t tell how long the creature had been stationed there.

Had it been watching her sleep this whole time?

Under Darkling Stalker’s unblinking scrutiny, Lin Yu averted her gaze. A glance toward both sides of the bed revealed Army Lady and Stealth One’s absence – likely due to her late rising. Those two daughters always rose with the dawn.

Lin Yu studied Darkling Stalker, unfamiliarity tightening her throat. Though she’d grown more talkative with her daughters over recent years, her natural reticence resurfaced around this particular child. To break the stifling silence, she finally spoke.

“Darkling Stalker? You’ve… returned.”

The gray ant dipped its head mechanically, ocular sensors never wavering from Lin Yu’s face.

“And… the dragon’s lair?”

«Situation optimal.»

The ant’s reply carried synthetic flatness, though a brief glimmer flickered through its ocular lenses before vanishing.

“I see…”

This likely meant the Class A Monsters near the lair had been mostly neutralized.

«Can mother bestow metamorphosis upon daughter?»

The query emerged in the same toneless cadence.

“Y-yes.”

I’d planned to do this anyway! Really! I just needed a moment to collect myself…

Lin Yu cleared her throat twice. When she refocused on Darkling Stalker, her customary frosty demeanor had crystallized again.

“Approach when prepared.”

She shifted to perch on the bed’s edge. Though the ant’s expression remained neutral, its quivering antennae betrayed inner turbulence. The creature advanced until halting before the white-haired girl’s suspended feet.

«Ready.»

Lin Yu’s throat constricted as she nodded. Without further hesitation, she activated her Unique Skill, channeling the “Transformation” ability into her daughter.

/Skill activation successful.

Relief flooded Lin Yu as she observed the ant-daughter for reactions, her clinical gaze belying maternal concern.

“It worked…”

She watched Darkling Stalker remain motionless for a long moment before the gray ant finally spoke softly. Raising her head to gaze at Lin Yu, she activated the skill 「Transformation」.

In an instant, the gray ant’s form dissolved.

Appearing in the bedroom stood a young woman who seemed around twenty-two years old—barely a year or two younger than Magic Rainbow. Her short ash-gray hair framed lustrous silver eyes that sparkled like gemstones. Though her striking beauty mirrored the white-haired girl’s allure, her marble-smooth expression exuded an icy detachment, as forbidding as winter frost. Her figure, too, was arresting; the curves of her body were only slightly less pronounced than Magic Rainbow’s. The contrast between her sculpted silhouette and glacial demeanor instantly conjured the term “Ice Beauty” in Lin Yu’s mind.

*Even colder than the persona I once cultivated…*

*Back in my past life, they called me the “Ice Queen of the Campus.”*

*Truly, she’s my daughter through and through.*

Lin Yu’s eyes lingered on the transformed figure. Like her other daughters after successful metamorphosis, the gray-haired woman stood unclothed—a vision of pale, shiver-inducing elegance.

“Mother.”

The Ice Beauty’s voice matched her demeanor: crisp, emotionless, like wind over frozen lake.

“I am not dressed.”

“Ah! Just—wait a moment!”

Lin Yu scrambled from the bed, tiny feet pattering to the wardrobe. She recalled storing several oversized garments here, though they no longer fit her diminished frame. As she rummaged through folded fabrics, a faint rustle whispered behind her.

She whirled around.

Darkling Stalker now wore a sleek charcoal-gray ensemble that accentuated her silver-lit eyes and cropped hair.

*You said you had no clothes! Where did that outfit even—*

A breeze stirred. Before Lin Yu could react, Darkling Stalker materialized inches away, making her stumble backward. A slender arm snapped around her waist.

“D-Darkling Stalker…?”

“For you, Mother.”

The Ice Beauty’s expression remained impassive as she produced a bracelet from her space backpack, clasping it around Lin Yu’s wrist.

“A bracelet?”

Intricate patterns swirled across its surface—beautifully crafted, yet…

Lin Yu’s initial delight curdled into unease. Her fingers flew instinctively to her Attribute Panel.

*Magic Restriction.*

The words glowed crimson. Her blood turned to ice.

*This is made from non-elemental Magic Stone!*

Panic surged as skills greyed out—「Magic Shield」, 「Identification」, even 「Unique Skill – Queen Ant」. The mental threads connecting her to all daughters snapped. No status checks. No location tracking. The “Bestow” and “Possession” functions—gone.

“What are you doing?!” Lin Yu’s composed mask shattered.

Darkling Stalker’s breath hitched momentarily before steadying. “Why did I hunt endlessly in the forests? Why slaughter Earth Dragons alone? Now my strength is sufficient…” Her silver gaze dropped to the bracelet. “With this, no ant can oppose me—not even you, Mother.”

“You—?!”

Lin Yu clawed at the ornament, but it clung to her wrist like fused metal.

“Mother cannot remove it.” The Ice Beauty’s voice softened, almost tender. “I’ve measured your pulse too many nights to err.”