Why can't humans do it too?

They are all forest elves.

Even as Suer concealed himself and adjusted to the unsettling scene, a large door in the building opened, and a small airship drifted in, landing on one side of the mountain of corpses before opening the opening below.

It was still the forest elves. As if it were raining, the corpses falling from the open hatches were all motionless, their faces stained with blood. Men, women, young and old, seemed to have just died. Suer even saw some limbs still twitching reflexively.

If hell truly exists, then this is the hell for the forest elves.

The stench of blood mingled with the acrid smell of burning corpses, and even faintly carried the aroma of roasted meat. Suer covered his mouth tightly and gagged silently.

The eyes of those forest elves were wide open in a furious, unseeing rage. They had resisted, but the result was not different. Looking down from above, Suer could see many hateful gazes staring blankly at him—why?

Suer looked at Xinke beside him with a questioning gaze.

why?

Why go through all the trouble of dragging the battle to your own lair to do such a cruel thing when you can just defeat them on the battlefield?

Noticing Suer's question, Xinke simply raised her hand and tapped her forehead—there were four beautiful gems there, arranged in a vertical rhombus shape. At the top was a large red rhombus gem, with two slightly smaller blue rhombus gems positioned to the left and right below it. Directly below the red rhombus gem was a red round gem. With the help of the shimmering green flames rising into the sky beside it, Suer could see that these beautiful gems were sparkling.

Because he was worried about offending Xin Ke, Su Er had not examined the seemingly decorative gems closely. Only now, with permission, could he realize up close that these gems were not decorations he had previously thought were attached, but rather closely connected to the skin and flesh on Xin Ke's forehead, or rather, gems that had simply grown out of the flesh.

“Soul Stone,” Xin Ke said softly, “is a gem that grows on the forehead of every forest elf, and it is also the mineral that the ground squirrels crave the most.”

Suer understood.

Looking down the corridor once more, the corpses of the forest elves, piled high with blood-stained faces, all shared one thing in common—regardless of their size or shape, the soul stones on their foreheads had all vanished.

This is the most brutal form of resource plunder, the most primitive form of blood and flesh pasture.

Chapter Fifty-Two: Getting Angry

Even without the need for their creators to wage war against each other over the throne of the One God, the special resources produced only by forest elves would be enough to keep forest elves and goblins killing each other endlessly.

In an instant, he understood this irreconcilable contradiction. Furthermore, Suer suspected that even 10,000 meters below the surface, the goblin species might be raising some forest elves like humans raise cattle and sheep, and periodically harvesting these automatically growing fruits.

To them, the forest elves are like flowers planted in a flowerpot, producing the minerals they need. This is the greatest value of the forest elves. In fact, due to reproductive isolation and different aesthetics, they don't even need certain special needs. The flesh and blood of the forest elves are just a breeding ground for mineral growth. Classifications such as old and young, male and female are completely irrelevant.

Thinking of the dark gray furballs he had seen shortly after sneaking out of the submarine, Suer couldn't help but shudder. He had actually thought those furballs were quite cute.

Given this long-standing hatred, it's likely that neither the forest elves nor the goblins have ever regarded each other as living beings.

Just as most humans don't feel fear when they see the carcasses of other animals like pigs, cows, and sheep, but only think about how to cook them, they become terrified when they see the carcasses of other humans. The stiff expressions on the corpses, which are different from when they were alive, can trigger people's fear. Suer wondered if the forest elves also possessed such a deep-rooted instinct.

But more than anything, it's probably anger, right?

They were outraged by the deaths of their own people, outraged by their own powerlessness, and outraged by the atrocities committed by the goblin race...

Sul moved quietly to the back, keeping his distance from Xinke, whose emotions he couldn't read. He was worried that the light golden-haired forest elf would lose control of her rage and detonate the place.

"It seems to be more than just soldiers on the battlefield..."

As Suer was moving toward the door, he suddenly heard Xin Ke muttering to herself with a frown. Carefully observing her body exposed outside her robe, Suer noticed that even now, the Forest Spirit's hands were relaxed, not clenched into fists in extreme anger.

Is she in such a good mood? Or does she have other plans?

Sul racked his brains, trying to guess what kind of mood Xin Ke was feeling at that moment.

"Oh my? Mr. Monkey wasn't scared enough to freeze?" After a brief moment of thought, Xin Ke came to her senses and turned around to see Su Er making a move to escape. "He's got such a cowardly attitude. He wouldn't even be able to be sold as a slave if he acted like that."

"I'm truly sorry for your cowardice, isn't I?" Xin Ke's words, which were exactly the same as before, did indeed put Su Er at ease. He said in an annoyed tone, "So, does the great Miss Nirbalian have anything to do?"

"Huh? What are you doing?" But Xin Ke's reaction was even more surprised than his.

"Huh?" Sur asked blankly. "These dead people were your people, weren't they? Do you want to avenge them?"

"...For example, destroy some of the goblin's key things?" Sul suggested cautiously, watching Xin Ke's chin peeking out from under her hood. In this enemy stronghold filled with key facilities, it should be quite easy to take something down with you before you die.

“Absolutely not,” Xin Ke replied without hesitation, stating matter-of-factly, “They’re already dead, no different from the stones and dirt on the roadside. It’s unreasonable to make living people die because of dead things, isn’t it?”

"Moreover, compared to their worthless lives, the greatest loss would be if I, a genius, were to die. If they could pave a path for me with their lives, that would be the most valuable thing for them," Xin Ke said frankly, her arrogant condescension never changing, or more accurately, she never concealed it in front of a lowly monkey like Su Er.

"..."

Unable to accept such values, Suer opened his mouth as if to say something, but then realized that such behavior was meaningless.

"...So, what did the great Miss Nirbalian think of?" In the end, all Su could do was ask dryly.

"Ah~, I think I'm starting to see some progress~", Xin Ke said, closing the iron gate behind her as she left the building. "Winning this big battle and all that..."

"Win?!" Sur looked at the slender forest elf beside him in astonishment.

Did he mishear?

Is this crucial intelligence concerning victory in this infinitely long and endless war? When was it obtained?

Suer turned around as if sensing something, wondering if there was any crucial information left in the corpses of the forest elves inside the iron gate.

He had a conditioned reflex to take out his paper and pen, but he didn't dare.

"Hmm~", Xin Ke seemed to be in a good mood, completely ignoring Su Er's unusual behavior. "Yes, in short~ it's a world where all those damned gophers have been eradicated~"

"What if all the troublesome creatures, whether they were gods or any other race, were wiped out? How sweet would the air be in such a world?" With a deep breath, Xin Ke walked steadily into the depths of the dark pipe.

Su Er lowered his hand from where he kept his paper and pen on his chest, and his anxious desire to find out something ceased.

So... you're still angry, aren't you? This forest elf?

Is she angry? She probably is.

Whether it was because she was shot down from the sky by the goblin seed or because she witnessed everything that had just happened, even if she said that it had nothing to do with her, she was probably really angry.

That's what Suer guessed.

"Are you staying there to be smeared to ashes by the gophers, Mr. Monkey?"

The voice of a grumpy guy came from a dark corner at the bottom of the stairs ahead.

"Ah, sorry, I'll be right there." He took a deep breath, turned around and glanced at the locked iron door. The heat emanating from the huge flames inside could be felt even through the wall.

The mountain of forest elf corpses that Sull would probably never forget was something he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Faced with death, these races that I once considered superior seem no different from humans, both being treated as lambs to the slaughter.

Shaking his head, before Xin Ke could speak again, Su Er lowered his body and quickly followed.

Chapter Fifty-Three: Eavesdropping

"This is ridiculous! Is it even possible for something like that to actually happen?"

"Who knows? Although I also think it's unlikely, Ronnie said it, so he must have his reasons, right?"

"Indeed, after all, it's Ronnie... Didn't Big Daddy object?"

"Hahaha, how could Big Daddy possibly object? He just laughed it off as usual whenever Ronnie came up with a brilliant idea, leaving with a simple 'Go for it!' and that was it."

"Pfft, that's just like Daddy's personality, hahaha."

"Who says it isn't?"

"..."

Two dark gray furballs sat side by side—I mean furry—on the edge of a plaza-like platform, chatting casually, much like many workers relaxing after work with barbecue and beer.

Shifting your gaze slightly downwards, right below this platform, in the gap where it meets the adjacent building, Suer and Xinke are lying motionless, listening quietly to the conversation of the two furry balls above their heads.

To be precise, only Suer was listening.

"But didn't we win this war against the long-eared ones? Although we suffered heavy losses, those long-eared ones suffered even greater losses, right? Now we just need to press on and win decisively."

"Well, I did hope so too, but those long-eared ones aren't so easy to deal with. Didn't the captured long-eared ones shout that Lord Huaguan would avenge them before they died?"

"That's true. Ronnie's outrageous idea to Big Daddy as soon as he got back was probably influenced by these things, right?"

"There's nothing we can do. The newly appointed Flower Crown Lord on Long Ears' side seems quite capable. She alone managed to catch up with the weapons Ronnie forged. Ronnie must have realized this during this great battle, which is why he felt some pressure, right?"

"Pressure? Don't be ridiculous, that's Ronnie! Long-eared Ronnie, who can barely keep up with him, is supposed to put pressure on him?!"

Although it's unclear what those two furry balls are talking about or who Ronnie is, Sull is certain they're about to start fighting each other.

Then a fight actually broke out.

The sounds were somewhat noisy. Suer rolled over slightly and pricked up his still-intact ear, trying his best to catch the words that had been broken up by the physical struggle between the two tangled balls of fur.

Clearly, this was a battle between a fan of that Ronnie's goblin race and a passerby. Sull couldn't help but secretly marvel at how worship and idol worship truly have a market no matter where you go.

"In short, given Ronnie's emotional limits, those long-eared guys absolutely cannot catch up!"

The hand-to-hand combat above seemed to be coming to an end, and Suer heard someone shouting in a loud voice.

"I never said he'd be surpassed!!" the furry ball, still furious after being beaten up, shouted back, "But no matter what, using divine essence directly as a weapon is still a bit ahead of the weapons forged in the past, right? We can't even help Ronnie's men right now!"

Sull held his breath.

The essence?

Using divine essence as weapons?

is that a lie?

“That’s true,” said Pinkball, a fanatical fan of Ronnie. She suddenly became dejected after hearing this. “Forget it, let’s get back to work. I’m in great shape today. I feel like I can finish forging the new ship’s hull in one go.”

"Ha, then I'll have to take a good look. Let's go."

The physical conflict seemed to have no effect on the relationship between the two goblins. With a strange mechanical clicking sound, Sull saw the two furry balls tumble and disappear into the gaps in the steel.