IRM Chapter 136

Seeing Dominic’s hesitant appearance, Ji Chi looked at him quietly. “Can’t you say it?”

Dominic shook his head and sighed. “This isn’t any kind of taboo, but for the elven race, this also isn’t a glorious matter… Many clansmen are unwilling to mention it, and newly born elves have gradually forgotten these things.”

Dominic walked to the table and tapped the firefly lamp, waking up a firefly inside that had been slacking off and dozing. “A long time ago, the Light Spirits and Dark Spirits lived together with us beneath the Mother Tree. But for some unknown reason, the Light Spirits were the first to leave the tribe. The reason they gave was… the Mother Tree had abandoned them.”

A trace of confusion flashed through Dominic’s eyes. “It was the same with the Dark Spirits. They originally also lived harmoniously together with the elves. But one day, they also left. The clansmen thought they had betrayed the Mother Goddess and were unwilling to accept them anymore.”

“The relationship between the elves grew worse and worse. In a fit of anger, some Dark Spirits even ran off to live in Demon City. Over time, people on the continent also mistakenly believed that Dark Spirits were part of the demon race…”

What he said about the past matched with the reason for the Elven God’s exhaustion. Ji Chi sighed inwardly and asked, “Are they still in the Elven Forest now?”

Dominic nodded. “The Elven Forest is ultimately the most suitable place for spirits to survive. They should be living in some corner of the forest, it’s just that no one has found them until now.”

Ji Chi frowned. The map of the Elven Forest was too large. Even in the simplified game version, it was large enough to drive players to despair. In reality, trying to search through it bit by bit would take many years.

Dominic saw his concern and comforted him. “But there’s no need to worry. As long as they’re living here, they’ll definitely leave traces. Now that the vegetation has returned to normal, I can ask some flower and grass fairies to help find their whereabouts.”

Ji Chi breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good then.”

Dominic: “Mm, once again, thank you for everything you did for the elven race today… I wish you sweet dreams.”

Ji Chi smiled and nodded. “You should also rest well tonight. Don’t doze off while doing quests.”

Dominic rubbed his sleepy eyes and laughed. “Of course. After everything is over, I’m going to sleep in my room for a month…”

The next morning, Ji Chi woke up early.

Dawn light filtered through the dense forest onto the vine-wrapped windowsill. The room was filled with a refreshing and pleasant fragrance. The fireflies had glowed all night and were also tired, drowsily falling asleep inside the lampshade.

By the time Ji Chi followed the attendant to the dining room, quite a few companions were already gathered around the dining table drinking tea.

Brandon set down his teacup and used a snow-white handkerchief to meticulously wipe his already clean lips. When he saw Ji Chi enter the dining room, his gaze shifted to Dominic and he asked, “What’s the result of your discussion last night? Where are we going now?”

Hearing this, the companions all stopped what they were doing and looked up at the two of them.

Dominic had originally been slouched against the back of his chair, drowsy, but hearing about serious business, he struggled to prop himself up and roughly explained the plan.

“Ah… this really isn’t easy. Searching for the places where two types of elemental spirits live throughout the entire forest—we’ll definitely need to make a lot of preparations.” Linton fiddled with the ring on his hand, and a spark of inspiration suddenly arose in his mind. Perhaps after returning to the Academy, he could research some pathfinding equipment.

Hearing this, Ji Chi laughed inwardly. Two elements is nothing… You haven’t experienced the brand new version with ten elements—the kind that could drive a person insane.

He sat down in the chair the attendant pulled out for him and said to Chloe, who was gnawing on magic crystals, “Chloe, can you scan the density of magical creatures within the forest? Spirits like quiet living places, so if there’s an area where magical creatures have obviously decreased, it’s very likely to be the place we’re looking for.”

Chloe frowned, making a troubled expression on her delicate, beautiful face that was very humanlike.

Your expressions have really become so much richer!

Ji Chi marveled inwardly and laughed out loud at her. “There’s no need to scan the entire forest. I think the Light Spirits and Dark Spirits don’t want to be near the Mother Tree, and they probably also wouldn’t want adventurers from the forest’s edge disturbing their lives… Perhaps you only need to scan the middle areas.”

Chloe lowered her head and added and subtracted on the map of the Elven Forest. Finally, she nodded and said, “Okay. Chloe will go scan now.”

She stuffed the remaining magic crystals into her mouth, elegantly set down her napkin and stood up, even smoothing out non-existent wrinkles on her skirt, then grabbed onto a third-floor window and jumped out—

Ji Chi: “…”

Ji Chi looked at the companions who had grown accustomed to this with an expression beyond words. “Did none of you explain to her how normal humans go out?”

Look at what you’ve taught this child!

Brandon had experienced disillusionment several times and was now unfazed by anything.

He glanced at the swaying vines by the window, cut off a piece of leaf and put it in his mouth. Only after completely swallowing it did he speak leisurely, “This is a very philosophical question. For Chloe, what’s the difference between the first floor in human form and the third or fourth floor in mechanical form? Should she view everything with human thinking, or judge everything with mechanical scanning?”

Ji Chi: “…I think it’s not that complicated. Just tell her to go down the stairs and find a larger exit to walk out through…”

Chloe didn’t hear their discussion and didn’t experience a certain old father’s painstaking worries. She soon jumped back in through the open window and drew two circles on the map.

“It’s these two places.” Chloe nodded. “This range is the limit of what Chloe can narrow down. More clues will need to be found once we get there.”

Dominic took the map and observed it carefully, imperceptibly letting out a breath. “Thank you, Chloe. After that, just leave it to me. Your ability has already saved me a lot of trouble.”

Chloe nodded with restraint. “No need to thank me.”

After they roughly agreed on the plan, they prepared to set out. Before leaving, Dominic went to the bedroom to visit Beatrice.

After yesterday’s changes to the Mother Tree, Beatrice’s complexion was obviously much more rosy, but she still couldn’t hear sounds or see light.

She sat quietly by the window, her gaze cast distantly toward some unknown direction.

Dominic came behind her and gently touched her long hair, then bent down to grasp her hand and wrote on it. “I’ve already found a way to help the Mother Tree recover its power. Stay obediently in the palace, and after I return, we’ll watch the meteor shower together again.”

As he spoke, he bit his lip hard, stopped the writing movements in his hand, and said softly, “I’m sorry, Beatrice… Perhaps, perhaps I shouldn’t have let you bear such power, but…”

Beatrice couldn’t know what he was saying, but she sensed his emotions through their telepathic connection as twins and turned to hug his waist. “Are you blaming yourself, brother?”

She was quiet for a moment, then continued. “After that disaster passed, when I realized that my power was exchanged for your remaining lifespan, I blamed myself so much I wanted to die immediately…”

“But brother,” Beatrice raised her face, opening her eyes wide and trying hard to see him clearly, “I don’t regret it at all now, because I made a promise with myself to let your remaining time be carefree and leisurely, spending each day in peace. That is the meaning of my continuing to live.”

“So…” Beatrice stretched out her hand, tentatively touching Dominic’s warm face, “Brother, focus on saving me, okay? Leave all future matters to me.”

Dominic didn’t know for a moment whether to be moved or embarrassed. He twitched his lips. “…Am I really that lazy?”

Beatrice raised the corners of her mouth and shook her head. “Brother isn’t very lazy—you’re ex-treme-ly lazy!”

She spread her hands to show an exaggeratedly large distance and giggled.

Dominic also helplessly laughed along with her, his eyes full of tenderness.

****

In the southeastern direction of the Elven Forest, Dominic flipped down from the unicorn’s back.

He looked around in all directions and finally found a small clearing in the forest. He crouched down, his right hand gently touching a cluster of pure white, fragrant lily of the valley.

“Pop—” Before long, a flower bud at the top of the lily of the valley suddenly bloomed, and a tiny figure flew out yawning.

She was only as tall as a normal person’s pinky finger, standing on tiptoe on the lily of the valley branch, pressing the slender stem down until it drooped.

The little flower fairy put her hands on her hips, puffing out her cheeks in dissatisfaction, complaining angrily, “So early in the morning, why are you disturbing my sleep!”

Dominic good-naturedly took out a drop of emerald-like Mother Tree sap and handed it to the little flower fairy to hold with both hands. “Sorry to disturb you. I want to ask, do you know where the Light Spirits live?”

The little flower fairy had been slurping the Mother Tree sap with shining eyes, but upon suddenly hearing about Light Spirits, her fingernail-sized white wings trembled and she nearly threw the sap in her hands.

Her eyes shifted as she stammered. “Why are you asking about that? I… I don’t know.”

The little flower fairy quickly glanced at the golden patterns on the wings behind Dominic, looking down at the remaining half of the sap with a pained expression, hesitating about whether to return it.

As if! In the Elven Forest, who didn’t know that Light Spirits hated things related to the Mother Tree the most? If she betrayed the Light Spirits and was discovered, they would definitely pull her out by the roots and throw her into a dark tree hollow!

The little flower fairy shuddered all over, shoved the remaining small portion of sap back into Dominic’s hands, and frantically flapped her wings, trying to hide back inside the lily of the valley flower.

Dominic smiled slightly, quickly pinched her wings with two fingers, and said to her softly, “Things the Light Spirits can use to threaten you, I can also do~”

Ji Chi’s footsteps paused for a moment as he approached. Sure enough, there wasn’t a single completely innocent one among those who could survive in this team…

The little flower fairy was on the verge of tears as she took back the sap she had just returned, drinking while crying. “You elves are so annoying! I’m just an innocent little fairy!”

After finishing it, she dejectedly patted her hands and mustered the courage to glance upward. “Fine, fine, but! I want lots and lots of compensation!”

Dominic narrowed his eyes.

The little flower fairy rolled around on the leaf, wailing at the top of her lungs. “How can the King of the elven race be so domineering! Disturbing my sleep so early in the morning is one thing, but you also want me to risk my life for free!”

Dominic’s head ached from her noise. Helplessly: “Then what do you want? I can agree to anything, okay?”

Hearing this, Linton’s ears perked up sensitively. He simply couldn’t tolerate a deal reached without haggling!

Linton rushed forward in one stride, swiftly looping his arm around Dominic’s neck and yanking it back, facing the little flower fairy fiercely and asking in a deep voice, “Wait, first state your price. How many gold coins of compensation can you accept?”

The little flower fairy lifted her eyelids to look him up and down, then rolled her round eyes. “Hah, gold coins. Only humans would use such dirty things for trading.”

The strangled and breathless Dominic shakily raised his hand. “Elves… also use gold coins for trading…”

The little flower fairy was caught in a dilemma. She didn’t want to offend the Twin Elven King, nor did she want to offend the Light Spirits, so she thought of a good idea—to propose an astronomical price and make them back down when faced with difficulty!

The little flower fairy wasn’t afraid anymore. She stood proudly on the branch, crossed her arms, cleared her throat, and raised her tiny head. “My compensation… I want an Aurora Scale dropped by the Phantom Light Dragon from Yura Summit, the Burning Soul Fire from the eyes of the Skeleton Mage in the Abyss, and also the Seven-Colored Fragments from the back of the lizard in the Fren Desert mining area!”

These were all famously difficult materials to obtain on the continent. They were located in the most remote places on the continent, on the most difficult monsters to deal with. In the game, they even had refresh limits—only spawning once a week. For players eager to use the materials, it was simply maddening.

However, it was also thanks to this mechanism that Ji Chi, who had once been a relatively normal youth, was forced to become a world-shaking hoarder hamster.

He lowered his eyes to look at the backpack full to bursting with numerous high-level materials and revealed a smile that looked down upon all living beings.

He had been waiting for this day—to throw all the materials in the face of those game developers who loved nested quests, loved tormenting players, and loved their sick pay-to-win schemes, and shout—

I’ve already hoarded everything in advance!