TOMWDET Chapter 182.1

Mortal Chapter (4.1)

According to what Egbert would later say while almost crying and wailing, things like: “Lord Su Li’s heart truly had my image in it all along.”

“Not only was he constantly paying attention to our growth and changes, but he even deliberately selected a faster growth path for us.”

“Lord Su Li, how could he be so kind…”

Su Li’s unified attitude toward all of this was: Can’t hear it.jpg

As long as he pretended not to hear it, everything this world displayed would still be something he could currently accept.

It was just somewhat regrettable that Bartholomew didn’t seem to understand this human sentiment.

The unicorn looked at the scene of a mermaid surrounding all the humans except Su Li, and fell into brief contemplation.

Later, he even said directly, “In the situation where your personal strength has already achieved suppression of all of us, going to cultivate those humans’ strength doesn’t seem to have any meaning.”

“In my view, you acting alone would be much easier than letting them follow along by your side. Unless… you enjoy hearing the various nauseating flattery that human says?”

Su Li revealed a smile devoid of any emotion.

Bartholomew immediately shut his mouth, no longer continuing that topic which, aside from making Su Li uncomfortable, also made the unicorn himself feel somewhat disgusted.

Egbert was truly a peculiar person.

Bartholomew didn’t want to continue speaking, but Elvi said, “You really are a strange human.”

“If someone wanted to treat me as a tool, whether sincerely or just lip service, as long as they showed this attitude, I would never let them off.” The dragon always felt that her hands and feet weren’t her own.

But as long as she could still speak, Elvi would never put down her pride.

“This might be the difference between dragons and humans.”

When Su Li replied with this sentence, he was thinking that during the working phase, which worker wasn’t a tool under their boss’s hand?

Of course, this attitude was merely a form of self-mockery.

“You need to maintain your own power, whether in strength or weakness, but I don’t need to.”

Elvi was inexplicably stunned.

Dragons always needed to maintain their strength, but Su Li could calmly admit his own weakness.

Elvi couldn’t let go of the label of strength others had given her, unable to admit that she also already belonged to the weak category. But humans always felt they were weak, and even if one person could suppress everyone else’s strength, Su Li still didn’t think he was anything special.

What was special was Castor, who had created the elemental absorption device and used spatial rings to store elements, combining the two.

But perhaps due to attitudinal differences, Elvi tried to evaluate Su Li in her own way.

But the final result was only that the dragon said to the unicorn who hadn’t participated in the conversation: “Very frightening, isn’t he, Su Li.”

Bartholomew silently nodded.

He hadn’t quite understood before why Elvi always hypnotized herself, saying it was best not to listen to any word Su Li said.

This youth was filled with bewitching qualities that even he himself hadn’t discovered.

It wasn’t deception, nor was it seduction, but just seeing him was like looking into a mirror that reflected certain hidden qualities of oneself.

Good and bad, everything was laid bare under those lake-like pupils.

It made monster beasts feel disgust, yet they couldn’t control their desire to get closer.

Meanwhile, Su Li, who believed he hadn’t said anything special yet received such evaluation, obviously lacked the awareness that he was frightening. He just asked, “Who do you think can win this battle?”

“Leia,” Elvi said decisively.

“A draw,” Bartholomew said, glancing at the mermaid floating above the seawater.

Elvi: “Those humans are too immature. Even if Leia were on land, they would have no possibility of victory. Moreover, now they’re in the ocean, Leia’s exclusive domain.”

One spoke from facts.

The other spoke from the heart.

Bartholomew: “Leia won’t show obvious overwhelming superiority. Just as Elvi said, this ocean is his domain, so no one would be more skilled than him at controlling their power, keeping themselves always just a little stronger than those humans, yet forever only just a little stronger.”

Mermaids were accustomed to lurking.

The kingly existences of this otherworld weren’t like the royal bearing that circulated online before transmigration.

In dynasties where conspiracies and schemes flourished, a king could hardly display any personal preferences or desires. Ministers skilled at guessing hearts, even with the saying “accompanying the king is like accompanying a tiger,” were themselves surviving under the king’s gaze—how could they not learn to read the sacred heart?

But this world was different.

Among the kingly existences of this world, Su Li hadn’t seen any who were skilled in scheming.

Just like Bartholomew’s current calm evaluation, unless they were monster beasts whose brains were also full of muscle, basically anyone could see through Leia’s characteristics.

Precisely because of this, Su Li had never discovered that the frightening perception monster beasts had of him originated exactly from here.

“Both correct,” Su Li said. “But Leia can’t possibly be forever just a little stronger than them. There will always be that moment when everything is in delicate balance.”

“But not now,” Bartholomew’s tone carried strange sincerity.

“It doesn’t matter, I can wait.”

Su Li had never hidden his disapproval of transformed monster beasts, nor had he ever denied his favoritism toward humans.

This attitude made it easy for the unicorn and dragon to understand that although Su Li wanted to stop the war, the youth actually didn’t particularly care about the survival of the Winged Tribe.

Precisely because of this, he could squeeze out maximum time from seemingly limited time, allowing other humans to slowly grow.

Inexplicable feelings circulated in their hearts, and upon deep thought, they made the frightening discovery that it was actually jealousy.

—Jealousy that humans would be favored by him…?

Once this thought appeared, whether it was Elvi or Bartholomew, both monster beasts instantly felt completely awful.

Once again: Don’t listen to any word Su Li says!

Unless they could completely stop thinking in Su Li’s presence, their unstoppable thoughts would ultimately become the very hands that pushed them into the abyss.

….

Su Li ultimately chose to bring the Raven along to the Winged Tribe.

He indeed had enough time to wait for others’ growth, but the others were unwilling to accept that because of their weakness, they were actually dragging down Su Li’s progress.

This scene, like mutual devotion, made Elvi’s heart particularly uncomfortable, while Leia immediately voiced his thoughts: “If humans were all like you, beings who could empathetically understand others, then no matter what, neither Amikbi nor Rota County would exist for so long.”

The former was a seemingly orderly and logical kingdom that was actually chaotic as hell, while the latter had even formed a systematic channel for contributing human transformees to monster beast society.

For humans, both were equally terrible.

“But precisely because they could understand each other, these humans were able to reach monster beast society as humans, a place traditional humans had never set foot in,” Bartholomew said calmly.

Egbert lay on the beach, saying weakly, “Even you can see how terrible Amikbi and Rota County are, yet we, who are understood by Lord Su Li, have never made obvious changes to these two places, guiding them toward the future Lord Su Li wants.”

“Are you… blaming yourself?” A flash of surprise crossed Elvi’s face.

Whether it was the dragon clan’s development or her subordinates’ survival needs, Elvi had always felt these were her responsibilities, and her subordinate monster beasts had always acted only according to orders.

“What else?” Egbert asked back. “If I were just a machine that only needed to follow instructions to act perfectly, then Castor could have long ago created such tools that could perfectly serve Lord Su Li with his fanatical attitude toward research.”

“But since Castor hasn’t, it can only mean that what Lord Su Li hopes for isn’t how obedient I am, but whether my heart can grow to have self-needs and the courage to take responsibility. And whether my brain can develop to the point of worrying about his concerns in advance and thinking his thoughts.”

“Oh…” Egbert’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Since this battle between the Water Tribe and Beast Tribe has been forcibly stopped by Lord Su Li, and you don’t have the strength to fight each other, why don’t you help me think about how to solve Rota County and prevent the possibility of a second Rota County appearing?”

“You really dare to dream, human,” Elvi looked at Egbert with cold eyes.

“Thinking about possibilities isn’t illegal. Since the envisioned possibilities would bring benefits when successful, and wouldn’t bring harm when failed, attempting to realize such possibilities is equivalent to doing good from the very beginning.” Egbert felt no pressure.

Success would gain the informational help of monster beasts who were already in monster beast society, and failure…?

At most, it would just list the dragon as the next experience package.

A cold light flashed in the depths of Egbert’s eyes that even the dragon didn’t notice.

“Humans… really are strange,” Elvi’s voice was so low it was barely audible.

“So do you agree?”

“No…”

“But I can tell you the original reason for Rota County’s establishment. What happens next depends entirely on yourself.”

“That’s wonderful.” Egbert’s face showed a smile so brilliant it was dazzling.

Since Elvi’s existing judgments about human fear and strength hadn’t been updated, she was destined to be unable to discover that the seemingly sincere and harmless Egbert was essentially just using her.

“Since failed possibilities won’t bring harm, while success can bring benefits, attempting to realize such possibilities is inherently a good thing.”

This was something Su Li had said before, originally meant as gentle guidance, but in the eyes of the former Son of Light who was no longer bright, these words seemed separated by a thin barrier of dark elements.

There was both a good side that made Egbert’s heart increasingly firm, and this current chaotic extension, because Egbert had heard from the Raven’s mouth that Victoria had died in Elvi’s helpless arms at that time.

If Elvi had also possessed this understanding of possibilities then, would the dragon have tried to seek help from Leia?

What she would have gained would have been nothing more than insignificant mockery. But what she might have obtained could have been Leia, skilled in manipulating water elements and also having manipulative power over blood, maintaining Victoria’s vitality.

No matter how incredible and unrealizable this imagination and thinking seemed, just as Egbert said: it was equivalent to doing good from the very beginning.

Egbert subtly influenced the dragon’s mind. But in Elvi’s eyes, because of his weakness, she couldn’t raise vigilance toward him, so the dragon could only judge this as nothing more than human cleverness.

On the other side, Su Li, flying high in the sky, had already vaguely seen the Winged Tribe’s territory.

This time, he finally had a map.

The map was given by the unicorn.

When Bartholomew gave the map, he had even circled several key areas on it, saying, “These are the positions where the King will attack the Winged Tribe.”

Su Li had pondered for a while and said, “Even if you don’t tell me these things, I won’t do anything to you.”

Bartholomew had also remained silent for a long time, then looked up at the youth’s eyes. There was a barely perceptible flame in the unicorn’s eyes, or it could be said, a spark that hadn’t yet been extinguished.

“Since we’re captives controlled by you, we’ll eventually face your interrogation anyway. Rather than confess everything after suffering torture, it’s better to recognize reality.”

But anyone knew that interrogating this unicorn who had developed physical strength to the extreme was the most unprofitable deal.

After Su Li accepted the map, he only said, “I understand.”

Bartholomew couldn’t distinguish what Su Li understood, but seeing Su Li’s unchanged expression, Bartholomew felt that Su Li probably understood everything…

Although at that time, the youth knew nothing about what the Beast King even looked like.

—–

Winged Tribe territory.

The attack speed here actually lacked the efficiency of the Beast Tribe immediately going to war upon encountering the Water Tribe.

On the contrary, when Su Li arrived, he could still vaguely hear a voice saying: “Matilda, you should understand that you have no possibility of victory.”

“Surrender, give up fighting, choose submission—this is the only chance you can fight for to continue living.”

Then Matilda, the Winged Tribe Queen, responded in a slightly deep tone. “You know, Clemens, this is impossible.”

“I expelled the dragon, choosing to let the Dragon Clan leave the entire Winged Tribe, precisely because I was already prepared to meet battle.”

“A joke?” The male voice laughed coldly. “For the entire Winged Tribe, the Dragon Clan was the strongest combat power. Having abandoned the Winged Tribe’s strongest right hand, you still delude yourself that you alone can resist the Beast Tribe’s offensive?”

“You’re wrong.”

Su Li could already see the two conversing.

Thanks to Castor, the elemental visualization glasses’ functions, besides allowing him to see elements without having any, and even being usable as explosive weapons, could also let the youth see conversation scenes hundreds of meters away by simply adjusting the side wheel of the single-sided lens.

In the scene, Matilda’s voice continued: “The dragon’s existence was what prevented the Winged Tribe from uniting to meet battle.”

“I wouldn’t bet on the possibility of Elvi Bessemer suddenly committing suicide on the battlefield during combat; nor would I want to bet on whether the dragon, already at the edge of madness after 200 years of war, could still rationally undertake all subsequent battles.”

“The Dragon Clan belongs to Elvi Bessemer, not to the Winged Tribe. If the dragon’s weapons were aimed at the Winged Tribe, then all dragons would become the disaster the Winged Tribe was most unwilling to accept.”

“They’re like tools, without self-awareness, only acting under Elvi’s control. And if one day, Elvi no longer listened to me, the queen…”

Matilda’s expression became firm. “At least in my view, suppressing rebellion in advance, even using this to unite with the Water Tribe, is the possibility I could think of that would bring the greatest vitality to the Winged Tribe.”

Even when they had united with the mermaid to send troops to Dragon Clan territory, only some Winged Tribe soldiers and the severely wounded Adison had actually died.

This cost was nearly nothing.

Yet it had facilitated the alliance between the Water Tribe and Winged Tribe.

“Hahahaha.” Clemens, the man standing at the very front of the Beast Tribe’s formation, suddenly burst into wild laughter.

“Facing meritorious subjects, what you gave wasn’t reward. Instead, you feared the illness the meritorious subject had contracted because of war, afraid that the dragon who had once served as the Winged Tribe’s blade might suddenly turn her weapon on yourself, so you abandoned the entire Dragon Clan—where do you get the face to act as if you’re doing this for the entire Winged Tribe?”

“Ask those poor little birds.” Clemens’ expression became almost sacred. “Are they really willing to lose the dragon who could shield them from wind and rain?”

“Speaking of doing this for the Winged Tribe, you’re just afraid, afraid that even if Elvi were a madwoman, as long as she chose to overthrow you and sit in your current position, all the Winged Tribe, though they might hesitate, would ultimately side with her because of the dragon’s strength.”

Clemens restrained his laughter, appearing refined and noble, even able to wear a deliberately crafted compassionate smile as he said in a sighing tone. “You’re so pitiful.”

“Matilda, you’re so pitiful—”

Like the divine statue cast to over ten meters high in the Church of Light, the originally cold, emotionless jade face had suddenly gained a smile.

The feeling it gave wasn’t charity and peace, but fear that spread bit by bit.

Of course, this perception only came from Matilda’s constant trembling and even attempts to retreat.

This queen, no matter how much she said her choice to expel the dragon was correct, didn’t believe so in her heart’s depths.

Facing the Beast Tribe, no matter how powerful the enemy, Matilda could be certain her subordinates would protect her with all their might. Everyone would die, except her.

But facing the dragon…

Elvi had, without her knowledge, exchanged Leia—who could have been traded for enormous benefits—for the mermaid’s leg bone.

This had become one of the invisible helps for the natural monster beast raven to survive its death tribulation.

If the dragon had solved her own weakness, would she really still be content to just be a Dragon Clan ruler?

Elvi could exchange Leia without her knowledge, so Elvi could also kill her without her knowledge…

Power, status, and threats to life—these panics arising from insufficient strength hadn’t become motivation for Matilda to improve, but seemed to become the source of her ideas for eliminating dissidents.

Moreover, as she had said…

Elvi’s illness had never been alleviated, had it?

Someone who might go mad at any time, who might attack her own people at any time…

Even if her act of expelling her seemed extremely heartless and cruel, even brainless, there would still be Winged Tribe monster beasts who would spontaneously defend her.

What if Elvi really went mad on the battlefield and turned her weapons on her own people?

What if she had thoughts of seizing the queen’s position and attacked numerous ministers?

How many would die then? How long would it take for the Winged Tribe to not have to be cautious in front of the other two tribes?

The act of driving away the dragon, no matter how brainless, couldn’t deny that Matilda indeed possessed the ruthlessness of a ruler.

Things that couldn’t create value had to accept the reason for being abandoned.

Though cold, those who still had value would never think they would be abandoned.

Without empathy, and with the Winged Tribe Queen occupying the legitimate position, what could Elvi amount to?

Exploring human hearts—perhaps these monster beasts couldn’t understand it. But weighing pros and cons, analyzing power differences—they could penetrate these easily.

No matter what people thought privately, ultimately, no Winged Tribe monster beast chose to interrupt or question Matilda’s actions.