Why can't humans do it too?

Xin Ke wanted to keep him confined, to let him live like livestock, and might even attack the other humans scattered across the continent for research purposes... She couldn't empathize with him.

No one with their own will could accept such a future. In the past, he could neither commit suicide nor escape, but now, Suer suddenly finds such an opportunity right in front of him.

Gripping his dagger, he killed Xin Ke on the submarine. Any pursuers who might be chasing him would be satisfied after seeing the Forest Elf's corpse and return underground—then he would be safe, and he would be free.

This is a gift.

A gift from Ronnie.

Chapter 87 Pulling

His feverish palms were now covered in slippery sweat. His thumbs unconsciously brushed against the linen wrapped around the dagger hilt, and once again Suer felt that strange illusion—as if he were standing at a crossroads of fate.

Unable to see the road ahead, he could only rely on his own judgment to act; his choices concerned the rest of his life... and his future.

It was just like those few nights before I was exiled from the settlement.

Her thigh twitched and lifted up, only to fall back down the next second. After repeating this several times, Suer finally tiptoed to her feet. Xinke remained sitting there, motionless as if asleep, neither looking up nor saying anything.

The distance between him and Xin Ke was constantly closing. Throat, lower abdomen, chest... Su Er's gaze swept over these areas hidden under his robe. At this distance, if he lunged forward, he could seriously injure Xin Ke again, or even kill her on the spot.

His fingers fidgeted restlessly on the hilt of the dagger. The initial burning sensation had disappeared, and Suer found his dagger inexplicably cold.

"Did the humans in Mr. Monkey's previous world all possess powers like yours?"

In the silence that had already stretched Suer's nerves to the limit, Xin Ke's voice suddenly rang in his ears. Without opening her eyes or raising her head, her voice, amidst the humming of the various instruments on the submarine, inexplicably sent a chill down Suer's spine.

“…No,” Surprisingly, he didn’t seem flustered at all. He calmly replied, “There are no supernatural forces in our world.”

"Is it possible that the mutation occurred after you came into this world?"

"It's possible. After all, some fruits are sweet and sour on the south bank of a river, but sour and astringent on the north bank. It's hard to draw a conclusion without a second or even more examples for comparison."

"Indeed, many otherworldly creatures summoned in the past were enough to harm ordinary creatures simply by existing... Mr. Monkey's way of thinking is quite interesting, isn't it?"

“Really? Then I must thank Miss Nielbaren for the compliment.”

"You're welcome~, this is a compliment you deserve—so, shall we get started?"

During this casual chat, which resembled that between two close friends, Su Er unknowingly squatted down next to Xin Ke, and the eyes of Liu Ling, which resided within him, had opened at some point and were now staring at him.

“…I just wanted to see if I could pry it open,” Suer said, a lie no one believed, as he looked down at Xinke’s ankle.

"Ah~, is that so~", Xin Ke answered lightly, even stretching out the leg that had been curled up under her robe in front of Su Er with composure and elegance, as if the question she had just asked did not exist at all.

It was stained with a lot of dirt and traces of congealed blood, but you could still see the original whiteness and delicacy of Xin Ke's skin. Her slender calves had no excess fat. The only thing that ruined this beauty was the ring locked around her ankle.

The idea that there was no gap and that he could pry it open with a dagger was just nonsense that Su Er blurted out unconsciously. But at this moment, he was seriously putting this lie into practice, constantly tapping the ring with the dagger, making a crisp sound.

"...What color is the sky in your world?" Feeling as comfortable as if she were at home, Xin Ke seemed to have unguardedly exposed her weakness to Su Er. Her piercing eyes closed once again as she asked the question as if in a dream.

“This world once had a sun,” he began briefly, as Suer tried to pull the ring off Xinke’s ankle, but failed after several attempts. “Although I heard from Okan that it was destroyed countless years ago.”

“And this planet also has an atmosphere and clouds, so… if the sun really still exists, it must be a clear blue sky, right?” Suer said, sitting cross-legged on the ground, deep in thought. “Just like the color of the ocean. You’ve seen the ocean, haven’t you?”

“Ah, the place where those idiots live,” Xin Ke nodded affirmatively, “but isn’t it dark black?”

“…Pfft, I didn’t express myself clearly,” Su Er paused for a moment and then suddenly laughed. “To be more precise, it should be the color of the shallow sea under the sunlight.”

Although he didn't know who the idiot Xin Ke had just mentioned was, he suddenly realized that he himself, in his current naive description, was also an idiot—it would be a miracle if anyone understood him.

"Really? That sounds pretty good~", but Xin Ke casually agreed, "No need to try anymore. If you can't use the sprite to accurately disconnect the internal connections, you can't safely remove it. Forcibly disassembling it will only cause an explosion... Maybe you can give it a try?"

After a moment of silence, Suer simply shook his head.

“Then what if we just cut the foot off?” Suer suddenly thought of a solution. “It’s not like those slaves who wear it around their necks. We can just cut off the foot, take it off, and then put it back on… We should be able to put it back on, right?”

After all, once the clasp is removed, Xin Ke can use magic to heal herself again.

"Pfft, hahahaha!" As if she had heard an extremely funny joke, Xin Ke paused for a moment and then burst into laughter. "That's really a cruel suggestion to myself, but I refuse to use a method that would leave me disabled~"

“The most important point is that if it’s not put into hibernation by disconnecting the connection point, it will also explode if it suddenly detects that it has lost its restraints… Do you understand?” Xin Ke continued without any hesitation, “So if Mr. Monkey wants to kill me, now is the best opportunity.”

Once again, Xin Ke was even inviting Su Er to attack her.

"The body, which is usually teeming with the energy of the spirits, became sore and weak after suddenly losing the power of the spirits. The wound on the abdomen has only healed the surface; the internal organs inside are still aching..."

As Suer listened, the forest elf with pale golden hair seemed to go mad, exposing all its weakness and vulnerability—he found that he couldn't fathom the forest elf's thoughts at all.

What was she thinking?

Does she really not care about her own life?

Or is this just a show of weakness to lure him into making the first move?

Suer's Adam's apple twitched slightly.

Xin Ke's gaze fell on Su Er's dagger, which was already soaked with sweat. She even boldly placed her locked leg on Su Er's legs as he sat cross-legged and playfully rubbed against it.

Chapter Eighty-Eight: Freedom?

With her eyes closed and a deep breath, Suer lowered Xinke's leg, which was draped over her lap, and even thoughtfully tucked it back under Xinke's robe.

Unable to wield the dagger.

Suer was absolutely certain that this had nothing to do with love or any other romantic thoughts. He had never had any affection or love for Xin Ke. Even though her appearance was considered beautiful among humans, it was completely different from his own. In fact, it could be said that her values ​​were completely opposite to his own, which completely obliterated her beauty. He was not a beast whose thoughts were controlled by his lower body.

And this was absolutely unrelated to his own flesh and blood. He and Xin Ke had never had any mysterious connection with Asano Shirasu. Even the suggestive influence had been completely dispelled by Xin Ke. According to Okan, the huge difference in their elven abilities negated this magical power.

Even when he suffered a severe abdominal injury, Xin Ke did not choose to leave him there. Instead, she took him with her and jumped into the submarine that was currently escaping from the goblin city.

Living on the path of life.

This is the heaviest boulder.

If Xinke were to suddenly die on her own at this moment, Suer would not feel sad or regretful at all; on the contrary, he would feel genuinely fortunate—he simply couldn't do it himself.

Having finally confirmed this, Suer sighed silently in his heart, stood up, and returned to the corner where he had started.

The number on the screen displaying the depth was approaching one thousand; at this rate, it wouldn't be long before they returned to the surface.

Lying on the cold steel floor, Suer didn't fall asleep again. He stared blankly at the steel patterns above his head, seemingly lost in thought. After a long while, he suddenly asked, "Will it explode?"

As he recalled his harrowing escape, he suddenly remembered the magic that Xin Ke had cast on the inactive marrow before he ascended.

"Huh? No, it's just a decorative pattern. But it's enough to fool the poor little brains of those gophers."

"Just a fun little gift~"

Her sweet voice held a magical power, with a hint of teasing. Just hearing it made one want to find out what kind of gift she had left behind, but Su Er kept looking at the steel plate above his head.

is it?

As expected of you, Captain Xinke.

He had a rough idea of ​​what was going on.

--------------

The continuously humming instruments finally quieted down. After a final stretch of tilting and returning to level, the submarine finally came to a stop. Suddenly, a burst of hot steam erupted, and the hatches, which had been closed for several hours, finally opened.

There was no bright light, but the red glow shining in and the cold air seeping into the cabin clearly told Suer that the outside world was the surface.

"Then let's part ways here." After repacking his few remaining belongings, most importantly the notebook, Suer stood at the hatch and looked at Xin Ke, who was still sitting there watching him, and said, "With Miss Nirbalian's strength, she should be able to survive safely as long as she gets close to any area where forest elves are active."

This is a lie.

Returning to the forest elf settlement alone was not a problem for Xin Ke, whose magic was not sealed. However, for her, who was unable to use magic at the moment, it was equivalent to letting this forest elf, who had always been extremely noble since birth, experience a world full of dangers that only humans in this world knew about.

She didn't know how to find food, nor how to hide safely. Even the spirits on her body hadn't disappeared, but had gathered into a ball, which was like a beacon to the vampires or demons who were hunting for the spirits... and there were also goblins who might come after her.

There is a greater than 90%, or even a near 100%, chance that Xinke will die. The time spent returning to the ground this time is far less than the time spent initially venturing into the goblin's territory. In other words, the two are still within the goblin's range of activity.

Not kicking someone when they're down was Su'er's last stand.

After the sudden invitation from the forging god Okan, Xinke already knew that Suer was not a human in this world. Therefore, Suer was convinced that the humans in this world had once again become worthless monkeys to her.

Besides, given the proud nature of this forest elf, perhaps she'll soon stop caring about these things? Goblins are her most hated enemies right now, unless some human foolishly jumps around in front of her... if she can survive.

Thinking of Xin Ke's proud words after she had expelled the influence of his blood on her mind, Su Er couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself.

Without waiting for Xin Ke's response, and strangely enough, Xin Ke didn't respond either. She just watched as Su Er politely nodded at her before walking out of the cabin and disappearing from sight.

become free.

Freedom that came out of nowhere, so suddenly, so unexpectedly.

A gift from Ronnie.

The stinging sensation of the cold, fresh air as it was inhaled through his nostrils instantly cleared Suer's mind. After leaving the slightly warm submarine, the cold air around him tried to seep in through the gaps in his clothes.

A breeze was gradually picking up. Although the black ash rain hadn't started falling yet, based on Suer's experience, it wasn't long before the black ash began to fall. It wasn't until he ran his hands over his icy cheeks that Suer belatedly realized a problem—he had given the robe he used to shield himself from the falling black ash to Xinke, and without it, the black ash would fall directly onto his skin and hair.

What should we do? Should we go back and ask Xin Ke for the robe back?

Such a thought only flashed through Suer's mind for a split second before he swiftly extinguished it. Without even considering it, if he dared to go back and make such a request, the pale golden-haired forest elf would definitely pounce on him and bite his throat off on the spot.

That woman is absolutely capable of doing something like that!

With a silent sigh, Suer hurried on, continuing to climb through the hidden crevices. His only hope now was to find the emergency supplies stored in some hidden locations set up by the settlement throughout the continent. As the former second-in-command of the settlement, he remembered these locations quite clearly, and he could only find another robe there.

—Then leave the notes, filled with a great deal of important information, there.

Suer touched the papers in his pocket and made this plan.