Why can't humans do it too?

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 was 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.

To live in this world for oneself...

“It truly inspires a desire to explore,” Xin Ke said softly, unaware of Su Er’s inner turmoil, as she gently stroked his eyes with her finger. “What is it about this complex and ever-changing soul that has given rise to this unique contradiction within you?”

Suer's golden pupils met the eyes of the six-sided pupils that resided in front of him.

“…Let’s go quickly,” Su’er said, turning his head slightly, his voice a little hoarse. “The forest elves below shouldn’t be able to hold out for long.”

"It's alright~, I left a spell on Lord Baltiru, and judging from the current situation, they should be able to buy us a lot more time~", Xin Ke's voice was still full and cheerful, as if everything was under her control.

"Yes, I'm also a little curious... about the story between the long-eared monkey."

Suddenly, the arrogant and rude voice of a third party shattered the silence between the two. Xin Ke's smiling expression changed abruptly. The next moment, she casually picked up Su Er and leaped to the other side. The instant she raised her other hand, an eight-layered magic circle burst open, shooting out a beam of light towards the direction from which the voice came.

boom!!!

It seemed to have hit something unknown. Although the huge explosion was clearly not faked, Xin Ke's serious expression did not relax at all. The smoke from the explosion was slowly blown aside by a wind that seemed to come from somewhere deep underground, and some sparks were scattered in the air.

"Hey, hey, hey, as a gift for this sudden reunion... isn't this a bit too intense?"

The smoke hadn't completely dissipated, but the unfamiliar male voice was clearly unharmed. Even before seeing the voice's owner, the chilling aura emanating from him was already overwhelming.

Suer's heart stirred slightly, and he suddenly remembered something.

Chapter Seventy-Two Ronnie

It wasn't an unfamiliar voice, at least not completely unfamiliar.

It was so unique that Suer suddenly remembered the voice he had just heard not long ago. Even though it was only a short sentence, it was enough to leave a deep impression and make it unforgettable.

It was that male goblin named Ronnie, who wasn't in his furry form, who directed another goblin to retrieve raw materials, and indirectly saved Suer and Xinke by calling away that goblin when they were about to be discovered.

The billowing smoke was eventually blown away completely, and the owner of the voice appeared before the two of them. Jagged, jagged blades, like serrated teeth, surrounded him. It was a huge steel throne, and even though he wasn't very tall, he looked very spacious sitting on it, but it didn't give off a comical or ridiculous feeling at all.

At such close range, Suer realized that this goblin's eyes were completely different from the silvery-white eyes of other goblins; they were fiery red, arrogant and fierce. Even when attacked by Xinke, it remained unmoved, brazenly crossing its legs and looking the two of them up and down.

That's too pretentious.

How can there be such a pretentious person?

He had been secretly eavesdropping on Suer and Xinke's conversation, but after being discovered, he suddenly produced this cool steel throne from who-knows-where, and even struck a pose...

Also, what's with your broken Senju language?

His pronunciation was absolutely terrible; if it were anywhere else, Suer might have burst out laughing. But at least it was still somewhat understandable.

There were so many flaws that even Suer was speechless at this critical moment. Do all the geniuses in these races have some kind of serious illness?

"That's strange, isn't it? Long Ears getting so close to a monkey," Ronnie said, his mockery overflowing, even revealing his sharp teeth. "Your first reaction was to run away with the monkey?"

"Sinko Nielbaren," as if she hadn't heard the broken Senju language, Sinko floated in mid-air and carefully examined Ronnie for a moment before suddenly speaking.

"Huh?" This strange reaction really puzzled Ronnie, but then he remembered something.

This is a response.

A belated response to what happened in that desert.

At that moment, the forest elf seemed to be in a daze and did not respond to his words.

"Ah, I'll remember that," Ronnie grinned even wider, finally abandoning his pose and standing up from the steel throne. "But it seems there won't be a next time... Although I haven't had time to make the most satisfactory spirit armor since I came back, this old piece of junk should be enough."

As he spoke, the steel throne behind him rapidly transformed, the towering sword blade and the floating fragments coalescing together, twisting like a spiraling python, until it transformed into a broad greatsword.

Although they had said something like "let's play again next time" when they met last time, the time has come too quickly. He was still looking forward to seeing what new and interesting things this long-eared creature would do next.

It is absolutely for such a simple reason.

“Yes, after today, the little mole will never touch the flame again.” Despite being discovered by the enemy, Xin Ke showed no fear and even mocked, “Have you thought about leaving something behind? How about leaving this sentence—the mole died stupidly here…how about it?”

"...You really are sharp-tongued," he said impatiently, twisting his neck. He didn't know which of Xin Ke's words had hit a nerve, but his already terrible Senjing language became even worse, and you had to guess to understand what he meant. "Aren't you really going to tell me the story? The story between the long-eared monkey? I'm really enjoying it."

"A complex and special soul, huh? Haha, I really should have drawn what you looked like just now. Long ears and you can make that disgusting expression?" Ronnie had to get back at them immediately. He couldn't allow himself to be outdone by this elf in front of Big Daddy. "You said it yourself, didn't you? This monkey wants you dead here, you know?"

"Hey, hey, hey, long-eared guy, you're not really going to have something happen with a monkey, are you?" Ronnie even put down his greatsword and laughed out loud. "Does this guy even deserve to be called an intelligent race? He really has some heavy tastes. What would your compatriots think of you if they found out?"

"Ah~, compared to those destructive gophers, Mr. Monkey is indeed on a higher level. If I had to make a comparison, the gophers are like small mounds, while Mr. Monkey's soul is a mountain peak," Xin Ke retorted mercilessly. "But you mere gophers don't need to feel ashamed. Even I would politely express my sympathy~"