Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 206 Building a Stronghold and Fighting a Tough Battle! The Elf with Stockholm Syndrome! (Please Subscribe)

In a modern office.

Li Weiguo stood up straight, his voice steady and powerful as he reported.

"...That's the general situation! Our plan is to first open up inland waterway transportation, and at the same time start construction from both the east and west sides of the ruins mountain range to carve through the mountains and establish two permanent logistics channels to ensure the supply of materials to the new base."

The leader, seated behind his desk, tapped his knuckles lightly on the surface, producing a dull "tap-tap" sound. He didn't look up; his gaze remained fixed on the map.

"How is the cleanup of the undead in the north progressing?"

"Reporting to the leader, the current cleanup area is concentrated within a 35-kilometer radius of the oil field. We have deployed 40 platoon-level units in rotation to carry out cleanup and guard duties. Because we need to ensure absolute safety, the ammunition consumption is very high, and it is approaching the level of counterinsurgency warfare."

"A new war of counterinsurgency in the new world! It's all about logistics and money." The leader smiled and finally looked up. "Luckily, there was a loophole. Otherwise, just getting the oil back would have required building an underground armored pipeline thousands of kilometers long. The cost... tsk."

Li Weiguo nodded in deep agreement.

A large time portal with a cooldown time of up to twenty-two hours has high strategic value, but it is cumbersome to transport in daily life.

The emergence of the small, empty door that could only transport inanimate objects revitalized the entire situation.

"We must remain calm and lay a solid foundation! We are not incapable of expansion now, but we must take things one step at a time." The leader's tone was calm and unhurried, yet carried an undeniable decisiveness. "First, we must thoroughly digest the territories we have already occupied, transforming our achievements into our foundation to support ourselves. Without a solid foundation, even the fastest expansion is just a castle in the air."

Li Weiguo nodded.

The leader picked up the teacup on the table, blew on it to cool it down, and said, "Military expansion requires both conventional and unconventional tactics. The worst thing we can do is to be greedy for quick results and rush into things recklessly..."

The new world is not peaceful in many places.

Although the University of Tokyo doesn't have the scale of the Eagles' operations in various places and their military spending is in the trillions, it is only consolidating its foundation, but military projects always cost money like water.

Tokyo University is not without the strength to continue expanding in the other world, but it needs to consolidate its achievements, gradually transforming them into a foundation to support itself, before venturing into new frontiers.

You can think of this as similar to Zeng Guofan's strategy of "building camps and fighting tough battles" from decades ago.

Dongda University is not like the Eagles, who sacrifice long-term gains for short-term profits.

Without unwavering patience and a consistent approach, it is difficult to successfully pioneer new land.

Even if things go well, they will eventually suffer the consequences of being greedy and reckless.

It's like you're dating a girl, you've just added her on WeChat, you've said "good morning" a couple of times, and she immediately asks, "Want to go see the sunrise tomorrow?" That's just as absurd.

That's not being greedy or reckless; it's condemning an unfulfilled romance to death, and it will become fodder for gossip among young women ["I added a guy who seemed nice at first glance the other day, but who knew he was a brainless idiot"], turning into a laughing stock for others.

Li Weiguo listened quietly, memorizing every word.

After the routine work reports were finished, the atmosphere in the office relaxed a little.

The leader shifted into a more comfortable position, leaning back in his chair, and asked casually, "By the way, any new developments regarding Target Number One?"

Upon hearing this, Li Weiguo's expression instantly turned somewhat strange, and he pulled out a briefing that had just been encrypted.

"Report: Target No. 1 is in stable condition and in a normal mood. Recently... he's still the same as always, either discussing scripts with people, studying storyboards for new animated films, or going to art galleries to gather inspiration and cultivate his mind."

lead:"……"

His fingers holding the cigarette paused slightly, then he let out a low laugh.

The laughter grew louder and louder, making one's chest heave.

"Good." He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, his eyes shining with an unprecedented brilliance. "He has the interest to study animation and art. He's a good person! A good comrade who has transcended vulgar interests! But having a child and a family will make him even more mature."

Li Weiguo's lips twitched, and he could only offer an awkward but polite smile.

The leader stood up, stretched, and then paced in front of the map. "Continue with the highest level of observation and protection! Give him whatever he needs! Animation team? Get him one! Art performances? Arrange it!"

"Ok!"

"Go on, the comrades in the reclamation team have been working hard lately." The leader's voice softened. "We must pass on the warmth of the organization, stabilize the situation, and then we will have a chance to fight the battles to come."

"Yes!"

Li Weiguo saluted, turned and left, his steps lighter than ever.

The office door closed gently, isolating it from the outside world.

Only the leader remained in the room, his face obscured by the swirling smoke.

Instead of immediately diving into the next document, he leaned back in his chair and sat quietly for a few minutes.

He then opened an internal network interface and searched for information about Lin Li...

Soon, an extremely simple media player without any unnecessary labels popped up.

File name: [A Few Things About Raising a Little Dragon].

The screen pops up with a silly animation that features simple lines but is full of dynamics.

A tiny green dragon, no bigger than a palm, swaggered across the screen with an arrogant and domineering gait.

It puffed out its cheeks, spat out a small flame, ignited something, and then jumped three feet high in fright, its face full of bewildered expressions, as if asking, "Who am I? Where am I? What did I do?"

In the silly animation, the researchers and soldiers were not angry at all. Instead, each of them had a fire extinguisher and skillfully followed behind Xiaolong to put out the fire, with doting auntie smiles on their faces.

Upon seeing this, the leader's tense facial lines completely relaxed, and a burst of laughter escaped his throat.

This kid is actually quite entertaining with cartoons!
He then opened the script synopsis sent by someone he had placed in Linli's company to see how things would develop.

As the little dragon grew larger each day, its appetite increased exponentially, putting immense pressure on the pioneering team's canteen, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. To solve the food problem, the entire team voted to send the little dragon to perform, establishing a "Little Dragon Theme Park," to be self-sufficient...

[Note: After the park's announcement, the Western world was once again outraged, condemning Tokyo University for exploiting rare species from another world and having no regard for dragon ethics. However, after the park opened, tickets became extremely difficult to obtain, with black market prices soaring to astronomical levels...]

Upon seeing this, the leader's smile deepened.

Well, this animation is interesting; it even takes international public opinion and economic benefits into account.

"It's just a dragon, how could it possibly go bankrupt from all that eating? Could it really grow to the point where it can consume thousands of tons of meat a day?"

He chuckled and shook his head, then quickly pulled up a document about the dragon.

That was the Academy of Sciences' assessment report on the growth of the dragon cubs.

The data and graphs above clearly show the little dragon's growth rate and energy consumption.

In just two days, the little green dragon has grown several centimeters and its appetite has also increased.

According to model calculations, even when they reach adulthood, their peak daily meat consumption will only be a few tens of tons.

A few dozen tons of meat, no big deal.

The amount of pigs produced by Dongda University every year is enough to meet the needs of the other party.

The leader's gaze swept across the vast body of water on the map, marked as Long Lake.

The fishery resources there are extremely abundant; one net cast would probably be enough to feed it for more than half a month.

The idea of ​​earning a living by performing in this animation is purely for laughs.

but……

The leader's fingertips tapped lightly on the table, making a soft "tap, tap" sound.

Although the reason is a bit funny, the idea of ​​this "theme park" is not entirely unfounded.

He picked up a pen, turned to a new page in a thick notebook, and solemnly wrote down a few words.

[Dragon Paradise - A Feasibility Assessment for the Future.]

"Although the idea of ​​the dragon performing for food as described in Target 1 is a bit funny, if the dragon's appetite turns out to be terrifying, we might actually have to start this project!"

The leader thought about it, then scribbled in a notebook before closing it.

His gaze returned to the huge map of another world on the wall.

The gaze passed over the already established oil fields and bases, finally settling on an unknown sea area marked in gray.

"Devil's Sea..."

"I wonder what dangers the Ice River Tribe is talking about in the Devil's Sea! I hope there are some good things there that will benefit the technological advancement of Dongda University!"

When the natives of the Ice River tribe mentioned this sea area, their faces showed genuine fear.

A sharp glint flashed in the leader's eyes.

The more dangerous the place, the more valuable the hidden things are, right?

Just like the far north of another world, although it is occupied by the undead scourge, it has abundant oil resources.

In addition to oil and natural gas, the survey team also found large quantities of coal resources.

With the various mineral resources discovered near the mountains... humans can build a complete steel industry base in the north!

As they explored the north, the leaders increasingly felt that this was their promised land.

……

Zhuhe Grassland, at a newly constructed airport.

As Li Weiguo stepped off the plane and breathed in the cold air, he subconsciously squinted his eyes.

Although he only stayed on the grassland for a short time, a few months, he gradually fell in love with the place.

Hidden within the new city of the grassland region, the time portal, with the diligent assistance of the pioneering team, constantly transports materials and various rare resources back to the modern world.

The modern world is undergoing dramatic changes in all areas due to new materials from another world.

The shells and barrels made by combining technology from another world with that of the modern world have higher chamber pressure and longer lifespan. Although the refining process involves a few more steps than in the modern world, the cost is almost the same. However, the shells have a much longer lifespan with long-term use, and the frequency of barrel replacement is reduced.

Develop industry on a large scale!
In addition to this, copper wires with higher transmission efficiency have a wider range of applications.

The simplest application is in ultra-high voltage power transmission cables, but apart from that, it can greatly enhance performance in almost all electrical-related fields.

Just like the motor drive inside the robot uses otherworldly red mountain copper.

Motors made with new materials are not only more efficient, but also more energy-saving, quieter, more wear-resistant, and have a lifespan increased by tens of percent.

It was also because a large number of materials from the other world were smelted and used extensively, which greatly increased the technological level of the pioneering team.

Just like the previous robots, their performance and stability have increased dramatically, and they have already begun to have practical combat capabilities.

Of course, the robots used by the pioneering team in the early stages are good in certain situations, but using them in complex environments requires a higher level of skill from the pilots.

Although artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly, with general-purpose robots and algorithms being updated to adapt to more scenarios, it will still take some time before they are truly deployed on the battlefield.

The most commonly used combat units on the battlefield are low-profile mechanical wolf combat teams.

These low-profile targets are very inexpensive; even military-grade anti-jamming enhanced versions cost only tens of thousands of yuan, while cheaper ones can be found for a few thousand yuan.

In combat, the four groups of robotic wolves can form a fearless and extremely fast attack team.

They carry all kinds of firearms, and there are even games where they carry anti-tank mines and do anti-tank gymnastics.

They were also very popular among the soldiers.

When Wang Kaixuan saw Li Weiguo while waiting for his leader to return, he immediately jogged over to greet him.

Wang Kaixuan greeted him with his usual hearty smile: "President Li, you're finally back!"

"Hmm." Li Weiguo exhaled a puff of white breath and casually asked, "What happened while I was gone?"

"What trouble could possibly happen? Everything's calm and peaceful!" Wang Kaixuan chuckled and lowered his voice. "It's just that the security department invited a few international friends back for tea again! Same old story, trying to probe our Zhuhe side."

He gestured, his tone slightly mocking: "Those people are still the same old three things: acting as travel bloggers, food reviewers, creating spectacles, bribing security personnel, it's all the same stuff."

international friend?

They were just gathering intelligence!
Li Weiguo almost laughed when he heard this, but shook his head.

These people are getting more and more creative, but unfortunately their brains haven't improved much.

In fact, there have always been people who want to explore the situation, but with the advancement of technology, many things now have solutions.

Some time ago, they also dealt with a group of people who attempted to use shared power banks to implant eavesdropping programs into mobile phones and steal critical communication information.

Then, unsurprisingly, a problem arose.

"Okay, it's good that they caught him. It means our security personnel haven't been idle."

The construction on the Zhuhe side is spread out too far, like a cake dripping with honey, always attracting swarms of flies.

One group leaves, another arrives. It's annoying, but it also proves the base's growing importance.

After passing through the noisy construction site and returning to his office, Li Weiguo threw himself into a chair.

Compared to when the project first started, he is indeed much more relaxed now. Many specific tasks have been delegated, so he no longer needs to do everything himself or sign documents until his hand is sore.

His main job now is to monitor the overall progress of the exploration in the other world and to make some general adjustments to ensure that everything proceeds according to plan.

For example, ensuring the logistical security of military agricultural reclamation and providing a stable food supply to the front lines.

Continue to advance the mapping of the world's mountains, rivers, minerals, and forests to lay the foundation for subsequent industrial development.

Of course, there was also the incident where the leader personally named him.

Li Weiguo pulled out the report from the bottom of a pile of documents; it was contained in a red folder.

The cover features only four large, bold characters: "[Devil's Sea]".

He opened the report, which contained nautical charts based on descriptions from the Ice River tribe natives and data collected by drones.

The nautical chart is not large; the signal will dissipate less than 100 kilometers into the ocean.

The area of ​​sea highlighted in gray paint occupies a vast area of ​​the map.

In the north, however, the drawings were covered in red ink, depicting skulls, unknown giant beasts, and the like.

"The ocean is great, but the leaders are picking on the tough nuts to crack, which is a bit difficult," Li Weiguo muttered to himself.

Originally, Li Weiguo's plan was to continue improving the industrial and firepower systems of the other world before starting to explore it. However, since the leader said that they could conduct a reconnaissance mission, he decided to send some resources to check the situation.

Moreover, the people of Kitano say that the Devil's Sea is extremely dangerous.

But in their view, danger means greater opportunity.

Just like the undead calamity in the north, although terrifying, it stands on a vast amount of resources that can support the entire Dongda industrial system.

He wrote and stopped frequently, and soon a well-written document was completed.

The next messenger will deliver this information to Su Mingjin in the other world!
……

One day later in another world.

The north wind howled, stinging people's cheeks.

Deng Dakang rubbed his hands, which were stiff from the cold, and exhaled a thick puff of white breath. His eyes were fixed intently on the specially made boards with special energy patterns that had just been unloaded from the truck.

"Reporting to Engineer Deng, 167 pieces of imitation energy-concentrating patterned panels, not one missing, all delivered!" A soldier ran over and reported loudly.

"You've worked hard!" Deng Dakang nodded emphatically, then turned to Wang Hu beside him and grinned, his excitement barely concealed. "Old Wang, once these boards are up and installed, we'll get electricity to Tie Touwa's new house. That little guy will be ecstatic!"

Wang Hu chuckled憨厚ly: "Of course, we've gone from rags to riches and are now living in a fully furnished luxury mansion."

This was the third day since they discovered and studied the little dragon.

In just three days, the research progressed at an astonishing pace. Deng Dakang's team has confirmed that the little dragon itself is a natural magical particle energy field. Its special scales and body structure allow it to automatically absorb free-floating magical particles in the air, much like a sponge absorbs water. Furthermore, it even emits faint amounts of magical particles that are not fully absorbed by its body.

This little guy has a strong preference for high-temperature environments, as heat can accelerate its growth.

Watching Wang Hu and his men carefully move the boards engraved with intricate patterns in preparation for building a new energy-absorbing room, Deng Dakang couldn't resist the urge and turned to walk towards the little dragon's current temporary residence.

The warm room, built using waste heat from the steel plant, is now the exclusive playground for the little dragon "Iron Head Boy".

Although this guy sleeps for 20 hours out of 24, during the few hours he's awake, he either eats or runs around the house, his energy is unbelievable.

Three days ago, when it was first discovered, its wingspan was only 25 centimeters and its body length was just over 12 centimeters.

Now, its wingspan has quietly increased to 28 centimeters, and its body length has exceeded 13 centimeters.

In three days, it grew three centimeters!

What's even more astonishing is that its weight hardly changed; it's incredibly light.

Someone secretly did the math: if it continues to grow at this crazy rate of one centimeter a day, in less than a year, this little thing will reach a length of three and a half meters and a wingspan of more than eight meters.

What a massive, living thing!

That's why the scientists at the base, who usually bury themselves in old papers, have recently become incredibly enthusiastic, rushing over as soon as they get off work to apply for the qualifications to "feed the dragon" and "pet the dragon".

Everyone knew that this might be the only chance to get up close and personal with this legendary creature.

In a few months, when it grows bigger than a Siberian tiger, you'd be a tough guy if you could just stand in front of it without your legs trembling.

As soon as Deng Dakang reached the door, he saw a researcher holding an infrared thermometer and carefully pointing it at Tie Touwa, who was eating barbecue.

The mutton wasn't marinated, but the dragon ate it with great relish!

"The core temperature at the tail is 51 degrees Celsius, which is 0.5 degrees higher than yesterday's record. The body temperature is continuing to rise steadily!"

On the other side, a young man responsible for recording data excitedly shouted: "The range of the magic particle sensing field has been confirmed, with a radius of 53 centimeters! It has expanded by 3 centimeters compared to yesterday! The previous prediction was correct; as its size increased, the expansion of the magic particle field also synchronized perfectly."

"I wonder how much magical particle influence this little guy will have when he grows up."

Ironhead, who was devouring jerky, seemed to sense Deng Dakang's gaze. His scarlet eyes turned around, he blinked, and let out a short "squeak" as if to greet this old acquaintance who came to see him every day.

"The little guy has such good eyesight."

A smile appeared on Deng Dakang's face, and the gloom in his heart was temporarily dispelled.

He waved a specially made insulated box in his hand: "Ironhead, look what good stuff I brought you."

As he spoke, he opened the box and used a pair of long tweezers to pick up a piece of squid that was still twitching slightly.

The little dragon Ironhead twitched its nose a few times and let out a curious squeaking sound, but it didn't pounce on it immediately. Instead, it raised its little head and pointed at a charcoal grill that was burning brightly not far away.

Seeing Jiang Ruixuan busy at work, Deng Dakang immediately understood what he meant.

It wants to try something cooked.

Deng Dakang chuckled to himself; this little guy was getting smarter and smarter.

He handed the squid to Jiang Ruixuan, who was grilling meat in front of the grill. This engineer, who originally wanted to make a name for himself, is now willingly taking on the role of a barbecue chef.

"Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Jiang."

"You're too kind, Mr. Deng." Jiang Ruixuan skillfully took the squid, cleaned it in a few quick movements, clamped it with an iron mesh, and placed it on the charcoal fire.

Shila-

As the oil drips, the aroma instantly fills the air.

Deng Dakang turned to look at Ming Yufei, who was feeding the little dragon: "How is it today? Has it pooped?"

"No! It's eating even more than yesterday, but it's not excreting anything! The law of conservation of energy is almost breaking down for it."

As Ming Yufei answered, he picked up a piece of the special mutton that Tie Touwa loved most and handed it to him.

The little guy swallowed it in one gulp, chewed it twice, but suddenly stopped, then spat out the mutton and grumbled at Ming Yufei in dissatisfaction.

"Squeak~!"

"Hey, this little guy has even learned to be a picky eater?" Deng Dakang chuckled.

Ming Yufei was both amused and exasperated: "It thinks the piece I gave it has cartilage in it."

"Squeak~!" Ironhead seemed to understand and called out to Deng Dakang as if he were complaining. Then he flapped his wings and turned his body around.

It actually turned its back to Deng Dakang, its tail tip still swishing.

"What? You don't want to see me?"

Deng Dakang scratched his head, then burst into laughter, leaning closer to examine it closely.

In just a few days, the sharp fins on its back have begun to harden, and the color of the fine, milky-white scales on its belly has become brighter, even faintly shimmering with a warm luster under the light.

These past few days, it has been eating well and sleeping soundly, and every scale on this little creature looks healthy.

"I wonder when it will finally defecate and shed its scales! Let's take a good look at what's on its body!" Deng Dakang muttered to himself, but his mind was racing.

It is absolutely abnormal for something to only go in and not out.

Did it absorb all that energy and matter?

Why does it gain weight so slowly even though it doesn't defecate?
zizi...

The aroma of the grilled squid grew stronger and stronger.

Ironhead Baby's little nose twitched suddenly, instantly throwing its previous "little mood" to the winds. It turned around, its red eyes fixed on the grill, its mouth practically watering.

Jiang Ruixuan used tongs to cut off a small piece of the golden-brown squid tentacles and then held it to Tie Touwa's mouth.

The little guy couldn't wait and took a bite, making a "gurgling" sound in his throat.

Watching it eat so carefree, Deng Dakang laughed, but his eyes were fixed on Tie Touwa's snake-like throat as it kept swallowing, and the increasingly shiny scales on its belly.

"Could it be that the food we eat, besides being absorbed and transformed into nutrients, is all converted into magical particles?"

Deng Dakang's heart skipped a beat.

If this guess is true, then this little guy will be even more interesting!
-

In another world, dozens of kilometers away, in the southern forest belt, in the new detention area for elven captives, next to the Institute for the Observation of Humanities of Otherworldly Races.

Gong Pengfei was currently engrossed in watching the video materials on his tablet.

In the scene, the young green dragon named Ironhead is staring longingly at the lamb and various foods that Ming Yufei is grilling in front of it.

When Gong Pengfei saw the little dragon skillfully gesturing that it wanted to eat the grilled squid, the corner of his eye twitched involuntarily.

It's so satisfying to raise a mythical creature from Western fantasy into a sophisticated foodie!
"Team leader, look, look! It even complains about the cartilage! It's so smart!" Tang Huanzhu leaned over and pointed at the clip on the screen where Tie Touwa spat out a piece of mutton and turned its head away in a huff. Her eyes sparkled. "Now everyone in our team is talking about this. They're all applying to take a picture with Tie Touwa. They're saying that once it grows up, we won't be able to pet it so easily anymore."

Before Gong Pengfei could speak, Tang Huanzhu waved her phone with a smug look on her face: "Once we're done here, let's apply to use our points to take a group photo!"

"It's probably going to be a queue to apply now," Gong Pengfei said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

"Don't worry, I already applied for both of us! I even used the expedited process!" Tang Huanzhu proudly raised her chin. "First come, first served!"

“You…” Gong Pengfei pointed at her, then changed the subject, his expression turning serious, “But then again, according to the data, at most another month, this little thing will have already become a regional threat. We’d better hurry, or we won’t be able to touch it.”

Tiger cubs grow at an astonishing rate, and they are most dangerous a few months from now.

The little dragon is growing faster, and should theoretically enter a dangerous period in a few months.

It can now spray incredibly powerful dragonfire, and scientists have verified that the dragonfire of the demon dragon is extremely difficult to extinguish because it is mixed with magical particles.

If a human were to take a bite of that, they would either die or lose half their life.

"Received! Thank you for the reminder, team leader!" Tang Huanzhu immediately straightened her back.

Gong Pengfei paused the video on the scene of Tie Touwa staring longingly at the grilled squid, and gently tapped the screen with his fingertip.

"Is it time for the elves to eat?"

"Hmm, are we going to find someone to ask and answer questions now?" Tang Huanzhu quickly switched back to work mode.

"Hmm, we're planning to start with those little elf leaders tomorrow. We're just finding a pretext now!" Gong Pengfei's gaze was profound. "Tell me, what kind of expression do you think these self-proclaimed noble elves will have when they see that we humans not only keep a dragon as a pet, but are also teaching it how to barbecue..."

Tang Huanzhu's lips curled into a wide grin: "I think they'll definitely be unable to hold back and come running to ask us how we established this... um, food-related connection with the Demon Dragon!"

Gong Pengfei didn't say anything more. He turned off the video, pulled up another prepared Q&A plan, and started checking it word by word.

He was about to have another round of exchanges with those elven captives.

This time, he wants to firmly grasp the initiative in his own hands.

Looking at the frozen image on the screen, the dragon's face gradually revealing its ferocity and majesty, Gong Pengfei slowly exhaled.

He straightened his collar and strode towards the elves...

……

In the canteen of the labor reform area specially set up for prisoners of war, Annies was eating her meal in small bites.

In addition to the standard vegetables found in human prisoner-of-war camps, there was also a small box of bright red strawberries on the plate.

These are luxury items she redeemed using her labor points.

She gracefully picked one up, put it in her mouth, and the sweet and sour juice exploded on her taste buds.

But this brief sweetness was quickly overshadowed by the cold metallic touch on her neck.

Annie subconsciously touched the magic-suppressing collar, and the feeling of the brief lifting of the blockade a couple of days ago involuntarily came to mind.

The exhilarating feeling of magic flowing through my body like a rushing river now seems like an unreal dream.

We only realize the value of something when we lose it.

Once, breathing freely and absorbing magic was as natural as an instinct.

But now, the collar restricts the magic flowing into the body to a trickle, barely enough to sustain the most basic life activities.

This is a deeper form of imprisonment, more despairing than a cage.

Fortunately, humanity has given them hope again!
How wicked and cunning humans are!

"Annis, have you heard?" An elven companion sat down beside her with a tray, lowering his voice and sounding somewhat excited. "The prison's opinion-gathering meeting has been moved up! It's this afternoon!"

"In advance?" Annie paused in her chewing.

The so-called prison opinion exchange meeting is actually a "prisoner rights protection meeting" held by humans about once every ten days.

At the meeting, they can raise their opinions on issues such as food, accommodation, and labor intensity.

At first, most elves scoffed at this, thinking it was nothing more than a hypocritical trick by humans.

But when they asked for more fruit, just to give it a try, the cafeteria menu really did change a few days later.

Humans have reduced the amount of dry staple foods they consume, while the variety and quantity of vegetables and fruits have increased significantly.

Of course, many items require points earned through labor to redeem.

After several such incidents, the elves' will to resist had indeed been worn down considerably; at least, the foolish act of attacking the guards on their own initiative had become rare.

But this does not mean they have given in.

Annies's gaze subtly swept across another corner of the dining hall, where an elf who had recently taken the initiative to communicate with the human guards was being isolated by her own kind, eating alone in silence.

The elven captives had already shown internal cracks.

Just like her, she was ostracized many times!

"Why is it earlier?" Annie asked curiously, putting down the strawberries.

“Who knows,” my friend shrugged, picked up a slice of watermelon, and complained in a low voice, “Maybe they’re trying to find something to do because we’ve been too quiet lately? But that’s fine too. I was just thinking of suggesting that we change the shower gel we redeemed with points to the vanilla scent that we elves usually use.”

Annies did not respond.

Her intuition told her that things couldn't be that simple.

Humans never do anything meaningless.

For example, at the beginning, in order to guard against the magic of the elves, she directly cut off her long hair, which she relied on to absorb magic power.

From replacing them with collars that precisely control their magic absorption to using various subtle, persuasive policies to divide them... every step carries an unspoken purpose.

This method is the most sophisticated and also the most difficult to defend against.

She repeatedly revealed secrets of the elven race to humans because of small favors or a bit of goodwill.

She felt ashamed every time she thought about it.

But your life is your own!

She no longer dares to return to the Elf Kingdom and undergo the Holy Tree's memory magic examination.

She... just wanted to live a good life.

What are they planning to do this time?
Annie sighed inwardly.

Human methods are always like this, making you gradually sink deeper into depravity without you even realizing it.

She looked at the few bright red, juicy strawberries on the plate and suddenly felt they were a bit too much for her.

Behind the other party's seemingly benevolent actions, there must be a deeper scheme at play.

But she seems to be a little tied up!

Just then, a slight commotion arose at the entrance of the cafeteria.

Gong Pengfei, accompanied by several researchers and escorted by a team of fully armed soldiers, entered.

His gaze swept across the cafeteria, pausing briefly for half a second when it landed on Annie's table before moving on to other places.

Annies saw the other person and saw that the other person was looking at her.

Her heart sank.

"Are humans going to reveal that I leaked information before?"

She lowered her head, not daring to look at the other person.

As time went on, Annies developed strange feelings toward humans.

On her tribe's side, she showed a fear of humans.

However, when interacting with humans, she pretends to be reserved while trying to show off.

She felt touched when the other person treated her with such politeness...

The other party is clearly the culprit who imprisoned them.

But she developed complex feelings towards humans!
If Annie knew about Stockholm syndrome, she would definitely adjust her mindset and her feelings towards humans.

Unfortunately, she didn't know any of this because she didn't have much knowledge to pass on.

She's gotten so deeply involved that she can't get out of it!
(End of this chapter)