Why can't humans do it too?

Chapter Eighty-Five: The Gift

"...Ronnie?"

The battlefield above, which had almost destroyed half of the city, undoubtedly attracted the attention of all the other goblins as well. When everything returned to silence, a young furball looked up at the figure falling from the height and murmured.

Before them, the inactive divine essence, which had been wrapped in layers of Xin Ke's magic, still floated quietly in mid-air. It had been temporarily caught and controlled, and apart from the dark green light that would occasionally light up and then gradually dim, there was nothing unusual about it.

"Quick, quick, go save Ronnie!"

They shouted in a panic, disregarding the divine essence for Ronnie's safety. A large number of furballs controlled their spirit armor and quickly rose into the air, flying towards the falling Ronnie.

For a fragile human, being pierced through the chest by a steel rod would be a matter of writing their last will and testament, but for the goblins, it was merely a minor injury. Before long, Ronnie stood up again, and the wound on his chest showed no outward signs of injury.

“…Rayleigh, take a small team and follow the trail,” Ronnie calmly ordered as soon as he regained his ability to speak, his right hand on his chest. “That long-eared creature’s clumsy handling should be enough for you to figure out where it’s headed—you haven’t forgotten everything, have you?”

"Ah, the flow between us is different, the long-eared ones don't understand this, so leave it to me," a fluffy ball standing next to Ronnie casually flicked its body hair before decisively pointing a few people and flying towards the port at the bottom.

Ronnie's intentions seem to go beyond the small gift he just threw out.

Unaware of what Sull and Xinke, who were still unaware of the new pursuers behind them, were doing, Ronnie approached the inactive divine marrow with a serious expression. Even though he maintained the most hostile relationship with the long-eared creatures, he would not underestimate the strength of the long-eared creature with light golden hair.

Without a doubt, she possesses power that rivals her own.

So what should we do with this divine essence that is obviously a trap set in front of us?

Without a doubt, this is the time for the goblins to use their most prized asset—their intuition. Guided by their emotions and guided by this instinctive inspiration, they find the safest and simplest solution among all the available methods.

Ronnie swung his hammer.

The dark green light gradually receded into the original magic circle within the iron-bucket-like instrument that Ronnie had created. Logically, it should have completely released the restraints in one step, safely releasing the massive elves that had been bound into the air. However, under the watchful eyes of all the goblins and Ronnie, an anomaly occurred.

The elves did not disperse; they were regrouping and weaving until they formed a pure white flower. The principle and efficacy of this spell were unknown, but the sheer number of elves was enough to demonstrate its power.

"Ronnie!!!"

The shouts reached his ears, and out of the corner of Ronnie's eye, he saw some goblins hurriedly leading the rest to safety, while others rushed towards him in a panic, trying to shield him... But he didn't need to do any of that. Ronnie took a few light steps and avoided his brethren, his gaze still fixed on the pure white elven flower.

Then, the flowers bloomed.

"One~ Two~"

"Still hiding? Or are you lost?"

"If it pops up, fill it in the black ash~"

"All those gophers deserve to die down there!"

"Nobody remembers."

No one remembers.

"..."

A pure and innocent child's voice emanated from the still slowly rotating white flower. It wasn't the voice of the forest elf, but Ronnie knew the song... a children's song that circulated among the common forest elves. He had heard it before.

"..."

"The false god will fall."

"Including all the gophers~"

"That kind of world is the best!"

The scene fell silent for a moment, and all the goblins held their breath. The short nursery rhyme soon came to an end, like fireworks, with ribbons of magical light occasionally splashing out from the swirling flowers, creating beautiful white specks as they landed on the ground.

As the last syllable fell, the original pure white flower had transformed into a small tree radiating a glowing green light, but it had no treetop. Instead, a string of shimmering characters floated where the treetop should have been.

Next time, I'll definitely kill you!

The words floated crookedly in the air, each stroke seemingly possessing its own will, desperately trying to break away from the main body. Even the words written by the youngest goblin were much better than these. Just seeing them made Ronnie want to laugh out loud... but at this moment, he only had a twitch at the corner of his mouth with a blank expression.

This was the first thing Xinke learned from Suer along the way, and it is also the only piece of goblin language she has learned so far.

As if knowing it had delivered the message to its master, a small horn even appeared after the string of characters. After blowing two "dudu" sounds, everything exploded and scattered into the most basic spirits.

The essence remained intact, and the forest elf had not set any dangerous traps.

No one was injured, and nothing was damaged, but Ronnie remained standing motionless, his clenched fists trembling slightly.

It was just a simple gift.

It came from a kind guest who wished to remain anonymous.

Behind them, the towering divine furnace erupted violently like a volcano, its flames shooting high into the sky, creating dazzling fireworks in the highest part of the city.

Hahahaha!!

In a hazy state, Ronnie seemed to hear Big Daddy laughing heartily in his ear, but without any malice; it was as if he were witnessing a good show.

“…Ah,” Ronnie took a deep breath, a strange smile on his lips. He twisted his neck unnaturally, making a cracking sound.

"Then let's have a proper game next time... you long-eared bastard."

This is a provocation, but it could also be seen as an invitation to a game.

"Hey! Get your act together!" Ronnie yelled, turning around abruptly and raising his hand high at the people staring at him. "What are you all standing around for? Let's restore the city... no, we need to forge it even better than before!"

"Then—let's go teach those long-eared guys a lesson!!"

"oh!!!"

His words were met with a resounding cheer, refusing to be discouraged.

Yes, that's the nature of goblins; they never see failure.

All you need to do is... bring the hammer down!

Clang!

Chapter 86 Bewilderment

It felt as if the heart and soul within the body had been flung out.

Although she successfully repelled Ronnie temporarily, Xin Ke's condition was far from good; in fact, she was in a sorry state when she finally rushed into the submarine with Sue.

"Are you alright, Miss Nielbaren?!" Ignoring the waves of nausea and dizziness that were washing over him, Suer scrambled to his feet. He was absolutely certain he hadn't misread anything; Xin Ke's abdomen was severely injured, and she was still healing it with magic—the emerald green light was gone?

Before the bewildered Suer could figure out what this meant, his outstretched hand to help Xin Ke was forcefully pushed away, and a slender palm pressed against his chest. With a familiar magical light, the feeling he had experienced when Xin Ke cast a spell on him during his first time aboard the submarine reappeared in his body.

Without uttering a word, without the laughter and smugness that followed defeating the goblin named Ronnie and successfully avenging himself, all of Suer's past plans had fallen through. Xin Ke simply staggered to the control panel at the very front of the submarine, her hands on the control panel sprouting engravings covered with forest elf script. Just looking at her figure, one could feel her anxiety, as if the slightest delay would mean instant death.

The cold hull trembled slightly before settling back down, and the open hatches quickly closed. As the ship began to turn, Suer understood that the submarine had begun its journey back to the surface. But even now, Xin Ke showed no sign of joy, nor did she laugh at the successful escape from the mole's nest and the chaotic scene she had created before leaving... This was not like her.

Seemingly having exhausted all her strength, Xin Ke slumped down against the control panel, her two straight and slender legs stretching out relaxedly from under her tattered robe, which had been damaged in the midst of a series of battles. Suddenly, Su Er noticed something familiar on one of Xin Ke's ankles—a dark gray iron ring.

He was certain that Xinke had never had anything like this on her ankle before, and the yellow light that flowed past like a breathing light, resembling the pattern of an electronic board, indicated that it was a creation of the goblin race. Suer remembered... he had seen something like this on the necks of prisoners captured at the bottom of the goblin city.

A clasp that has the effect of imprisoning spirits.

It gathers the spirits within the wearer together, and if forcibly disassembled, it will explode. The more spirits the wearer has, the more powerful the explosion will be. Xin Ke's number of spirits is unparalleled among all the forest elves.

So... Xin Ke can no longer cast spells?

Sur reacted to this fact in a daze, not even knowing what expression to make.

Suddenly, I remembered the mechanical cracking sound I vaguely heard when I was first carried into the submarine. So that's what it was.

He tried calling out a few times but received no response from Xin Ke. The forest elf with light golden hair seemed to be asleep, leaning against the control panel with her head down and motionless.

Unsure if Xin Ke was pondering a solution, Su Er didn't dare disturb her and could only curl up in a corner and slowly close her eyes, just like last time.

The time needed to return to the ground should be similar to, or even shorter than, the last time. There might be goblin soldiers chasing after them, after all, their entire city was almost blown up in the final battle, so it would be strange if no pursuers appeared.

This might be the last rest time. Suer tried to clear his mind and fall asleep quickly. The once incredibly powerful Xin Ke was now like a captured slave, having lost the ability to cast spells. What did this mean for him, and what kind of impact would it have?

...Should we kill her while she's at her weakest?

Suer was confused.

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It was cold and shaky, but not on a train. The dim light was from the lights of instruments whose purpose was unknown, and the numbers on the depth display screen were now rapidly decreasing.

Almost there, we're getting closer and closer to that cold, bloodthirsty surface world.

Suer had gotten enough sleep, and now he was looking at Xinke, who was still sitting leaning against the control panel, with an uncertain expression on his face.

Without the assistance of elves, the forest elves, relying solely on their physical strength, are far inferior to the goblins. After all, compared to the goblins' mineral-like bodies, the forest elves are more like flesh and blood creatures, and they are no match for the orcs who rely solely on their physical strength.

Even though her body is still stronger than a human's, she is not completely unharmed. Although she looks much better now than when she first escaped into the submarine, the feeling of weakness has not dissipated. In the end, she did suffer very serious injuries. Even the process of healing herself was abruptly interrupted because the elf was locked up... Could this be her disguise? A bait to lure me into attacking.

How can I approach her without arousing her suspicion? How can I launch a surprise attack without being anticipated? She's probably on high alert, just as wary of me right now—wait a minute!

Suer suddenly realized something... Why did he so naturally start thinking about how to successfully kill Xin Ke here? Just when she and he had escaped from the goblin city?

He asked the question, but without even needing to think, the answer quietly appeared in his mind.

No matter what they went through together, no matter how amicable their interactions appeared on the surface, their relationship remained unchanged.

Researchers and experimental subjects.

Winners and losers.

Sull would never overlook this, nor would he be fooled by superficial illusions.