Why can't humans do it too?

"..."

This time, Suer really didn't dare to respond. Without a doubt, every word Xin Ke uttered from the bottom of her heart was directed at a certain divine being—the chosen one was easy to guess, it could only be the forest god of the forest elves themselves.

Suer glanced nervously at Xinke, then nervously at the Divine Fire Furnace on the other side. He was really afraid that the pillar of fire there would suddenly transform into a burning fire giant, shouting that the flames would purify everything and then smash down with a hammer.

The goblins currently engaged in a fierce battle undoubtedly want their creator to be elevated to the status of a single god, or to put it more bluntly, this is simply an order from the God of Forging.

Xin Ke's outrageous curse directly included the God of Forging as well.

I held my breath and watched, ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds—nothing happened.

'Is the God of Forging really this good-tempered?!' Suer was somewhat stunned.

Perhaps knowing her place... Xin Ke quickly shut her mouth and focused on examining the huge spiritual artifact. She even used magic to send herself over to record the spells that she couldn't see from the angle earlier.

For a moment, only Suer remained on the small platform.

Tense and bored, he could hear the explosions coming from below the city, but after the sound traveled through so many layers, it had become a faint muffled sound like firecrackers going off outside tightly closed doors and windows.

Chapter Seventy But I Refusal

The longer he waited, the more anxious he became. The feeling that he could do nothing fueled his panic, and Suer's heart seemed to be suspended in mid-air.

Constantly wondering when the commotion below would end, and how long the fleeing forest elves could hold out, Suer lay on the edge of the platform, gazing down. He couldn't help but repeatedly turn his head to look at Xinke, hesitating whether to urge the forest elf on.

Does doing bad things require such a long preparation time?

[Perhaps this entire planet will be destroyed? After all, the Forest Elves possess weapons powerful enough to defeat them~]

Xin Ke's words and that nonchalant smile resurfaced in her mind. Neither race intended to control the intensity of the war within an acceptable range. When they discovered that one side possessed a weapon capable of destroying the world, their first thought was not to control this power and deter each other, but rather to try their best to develop even more destructive weapons and destroy the other side before they themselves were destroyed.

Even knowing that this overwhelming power would completely destroy the planet on which they depend for survival.

Suddenly, looking around at the city that was so similar to the industrial civilization of his previous life, and the huge robot that stood tall beside him, Suer suddenly realized that all his previous goodwill toward the goblins had vanished.

How far must this world be destroyed before you're satisfied...?

Xin Ke landed lightly beside Su Er on a magic circle, and kicked him without any malice as he lay on the ground looking down at the city.

"...Is it finished?" Suer asked dejectedly.

"Hmm? They're just checking out the thought process. The moles must have only just started this research. Their ambitions are a bit too big," Xin Ke sneered contemptuously. "I thought they simply wanted to use the inactive divine essence as cannon fodder, but after a closer look, I found that they're heading in the direction of directly utilizing the concepts contained within the divine essence."

Directly utilizing concepts? Wouldn't that be equivalent to directly controlling a god-like being?!

"...Can they do it?" This audacious idea really made Suer quite nervous. Directly manipulating the divine species could be compared to a nuclear weapon among nuclear weapons, right?

"Impossible," Xin Ke said firmly, shaking her head vigorously. "This isn't just a matter of how many years it's been; it's a matter that requires several generations to study. Compared to utilizing the concepts in the Divine Essence, I think it's more realistic for the Gophers to directly study how to detonate the Divine Essence."

The forest elf with long, pale golden hair made no attempt to hide her disdain in her words. As one of the most talented researchers in her race, she held firm to her beliefs on such matters.

"I see," Su Er nodded knowingly. "Then let's hurry up and leave. Have you already taken precautions with the Divine Essence? It won't explode before we've reached a safe distance, will it?"

As he stood up from the ground, Su Er straightened his clothes and spoke to Xin Ke, but Xin Ke's expression was even more surprised than his.

"Detonate the Divine Essence? Who told you to detonate the Divine Essence?" Xin Ke was genuinely baffled this time. "If I set up a long-duration spell, the returning gophers will definitely find it, and a short-duration spell simply can't guarantee that I can reach a safe area at the speed of a submarine before detonating the Divine Essence... I don't want to die with the gophers in a place like this!"

Violate.

Suer's movements suddenly froze.

"So—are we just going to leave like this?" He stretched out his hand as if to gesture, but he didn't know how to express his thoughts at that moment.

He just felt that leaving like this was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"...Didn't you say you were going to burn this city to ashes?" In the end, all Suer could do was dryly repeat Xin Ke's words.

"Ah~, it only caused a little damage. I did some preparation earlier... Although I really wanted to burn the mole's nest to ashes, unrealistic fantasies are not allowed~", Xin Ke replied with a smile, as she approached Su Er step by step until she was close to his face.

It was indeed an option, but Suer still felt it wasn't enough, far from enough. He couldn't explain why; he just felt it wouldn't work.

“Mr. Monkey seems a little reluctant?” Observing Suer’s eyes up close, Xin Ke felt as if she could see into his soul. “...You want me to detonate this divine essence?”

"...No! I..."

He opened his mouth to refute, but Suer suddenly didn't know how to refute. She was right. Xin Ke had directly expressed his deepest desire.

"You want the essence to explode right here, you want to see the gophers pay a heavy price—you want me buried here too... right?"

"..."

Unable to answer.

Even though Xinke said that Suer wanted her to die here as well, she didn't seem angry or upset at all, and even smiled until this moment.

"...You want to destroy yourself here, to drag me down with you, but you subconsciously resist the thought," Xin Ke said curiously. "You want to die, but you don't want to die, and you don't want to commit suicide, yet you are actively seeking death...Are all monkeys like you?"

Suer's hands were clenched into fists and trembling.

“Although Mr. Monkey has always been in the habit of recording all the information he sees, even you know that you can’t go back… So who are these records for?” Xin Ke strolled around the small platform, her raised finger twirling lightly in the air.

"Back when I was at the bottom, the suggestion that I go and liberate those prisoners was made with the same idea in mind. I wanted to watch myself get dragged to my death here. But unfortunately, as you expected, I made the choice to abandon them again~", Xin Ke said with a smile. "Knowing that I would make this choice, you still refused to give up and made that suggestion. You are still asking here whether to detonate the Divine Essence. Just in terms of courage, Mr. Monkey is enough to be classified as a daring type."

“Yet even so, your first instinct after climbing here was to find a way to survive… It’s too complicated,” Xin Ke walked up to Su Er and gently cupped his cheeks. “The complexity of your soul surpasses that of any living thing I have ever seen. Even gods who have lived for countless years are more innocent than a child in your presence…”

Chapter Seventy-One: The Third Party

"Not to mention my empty-headed people, the Skywing race whose minds are filled only with the heads of other races are not even worthy of carrying shoes. In this war where everyone is only thinking about killing each other, your soul and thoughts are more complex than you can imagine..."

“Even among your own kind, Mr. Monkey is probably out of place, isn’t he?” Xin Ke’s eyes held a strange pity. “He can hardly move an inch among those simple souls. Even if he wanted to express his thoughts, no one could understand him, even though they all have the same body.”

Suer tried to break free from Xinke's grasp, but encountered little resistance. He swayed slightly and took a step back.

He is afraid.

Even only Suer knew that what he was thinking was far more outrageous than what Xinke had described—

He resented Riku, resented Cor, resented Lennie and Credo... along with Nona, and everyone else.

Why can they still stay peacefully in the cave and eat cooked food?

Why can they still light a campfire when they feel cold?

Why are they still alive and well?

The peace he gained at the cost of his life.

This is a resentment that one knows should not be acted upon, yet cannot be eliminated.

“…That’s not how it is,” Suer murmured in protest. “I’m just…an ordinary person.”

An ordinary person, but not without his own thoughts. He likes to eat sweets, play games, travel happily with friends, and watch erotic videos alone in his room... just like any ordinary person.

He was not a saint bathed in light.

So, in that desert where he encountered the forest elves, he should have given up all resistance the moment he was attacked, and even if he discovered that the magic had no effect on him, he shouldn't have shown any abnormality. But he still couldn't help but throw that punch and ran away in terror.

He doesn't want to die.

He has done enough.

He used his life to cover the escape of others, and exiled himself from the settlement simply because of a doubt, struggling in a world where fragile creatures could not survive on their own... Suer had had enough, he had had enough of the blades that were constantly being swung at him.

Once, twice—why is it happening three times?!

Why him of all people?!

The warmth that surged from within his body when he set out had long since cooled and frozen into ice amidst the smog-filled sky. The courage that had risen like a flame, when it covered the cold ice, had congealed into a quagmire, hindering every step of Su'er's journey. The initial passion had long since faded.

He felt immense regret, regretting his choice to be exiled, yet not regretting his choice at all. This cycle repeated endlessly. Every night before falling asleep, he would weep and vow to return to the settlement the next day, only to continue westward after waking up, until he reached the farthest place.

What followed was a series of earth-shattering and fantastical adventures, and even Suer himself was secretly glad about this experience—he no longer needed to worry about it.

Before being discovered and killed by the goblin species, he could finally live as he pleased. The beautiful forest elf who discovered his abnormality because of his unwilling struggle would also accompany him to sleep eternally ten thousand meters underground... Could there be anything more profitable than this?

Is being beautiful useful? Is being arrogant useful? Is being a genius useful?

It doesn't matter how arrogant this forest elf is, or how many anomalies she discovers, or how much curiosity or malice she harbors—they will all die here.

Nothing will be left behind, and nothing will be taken away.

This is the perfect result.

Suer had always told himself this, and he still had.

The faint sounds of explosions could still be heard from below. Across from them, the submarine was parked safely and intact. If they could just get on it now, they could leave immediately and escape the goblin kingdom alive. Why could they really escape alive?

Suer looked on in bewilderment and questioned.

He couldn't even say anything to encourage Xin Ke to detonate the divine essence for the sake of the entire forest elf race. He didn't even need to say it. Su Er knew that Xin Ke would never sacrifice her life for the victory of the entire forest elf race.

He really wanted to live.

It would be even better if Xinke could stay here.

The true thoughts that Suer had always been unwilling to face were laid bare in Xin Ke's fragmented words, but Suer was powerless to do anything about it.

He did not pose a direct threat.

Confused and questioning his own heart, Suer wondered what he should do... Should he just keep living like this?

Just like the vow I once made to myself in that desert—

From now on, live for yourself until you can no longer survive even when you have exhausted all your strength.