Chapter Fifty: Eve Cannot Give a Negative Answer

The Boundless Sea technique consumed an enormous amount of energy, so Lin Lei simply found a nearby oak tree, climbed up, and fell asleep. Eve, however, dared not let her guard down. Too much had happened that day, and a sense of unease gnawed at her. Carefully, she scattered some colorless powder around the forest—a sensing powder that would alert her the moment a night elf approached.

By the time she finished, half an hour had passed. Returning to the base of the oak, she looked up at Lin Lei sleeping high in its branches. He slept so soundly, utterly carefree, sometimes even rolling over and nearly tumbling down, only to be picked up by the leopard, who would gently place him back on the trunk.

“That leopard really looks after him...”

Eve felt a twinge of envy at their untroubled existence. She took a green token from her pocket, her gaze growing complicated.

“This token is for you.” Before falling asleep, Lin Lei had tossed her the token and said, “From now on, you’re my deputy commander. If anyone dares to bully you, just tell them my name.”

He spoke so casually, yet the weight of it pressed upon her.

She knew this token had been handed to Lin Lei by Lady White herself in Snow City, a symbol of the highest command in the Dark Forest. Eve had never imagined he would entrust it to her.

“Deputy commander...” she sighed. It seemed there would be no sleep for her tonight.

She set the token on the ground and performed a spell. A blurry image shimmered above it.

“Greetings, this is the Supreme Command of the Dark Forest. We have already received Lady White’s orders.” Gradually, the image resolved into a handsome young man. “Your Highness, we’ve been waiting for your contact for a long time. May I ask, where are you now?”

Lady White had not concealed the identity of her newly appointed deputy—at fourteen, Eve’s position would have meant nothing to the Dark Forest’s officers if not for the prince’s title.

Of course, by Winnie’s agreement, Lin Lei’s true identity could not be revealed. Apart from the senior officers, the rest of the soldiers only knew their supreme commander had changed, but no details were provided.

“Major General, this is Eve,” she began, recognizing the young man before her. “The prince has appointed me deputy commander.”

“Eve?” The young man’s eyes widened in surprise, then he smiled. “You’re deputy commander now? That was quick, but honestly, with you here, we’ll all rest easier. We were worried the prince would do something foolish at his age.”

He already has, Eve thought to herself. “Major General, we’re in the Night Elf Kingdom now.”

“What! What happened?”

The young man was visibly shocked. Eve recounted everything that had transpired, and by the end his eyes were as round as gongs.

“You really are... unlucky.”

He felt deep sympathy for Eve, but even more, he was stunned—was the little prince really that powerful? And such a source of trouble!

“Eve, we’ve received some information,” the young man said. “There’s been an incident in Glen City, the night elves’ stronghold.”

“An incident?”

“We’re still verifying the details.” He had nothing more specific to share for now and promised to update her in the morning. He advised that she and Lin Lei return as soon as possible.

Eve shook her head. She would have liked to return quickly, but the initiative lay with the little tyrant. If he refused to use the Shifting Universe spell to go back, no one could force him.

“He won’t listen to me. I’ll keep trying to persuade him, but right now, I need information.” She looked at the young man. “Lady White has kept some intelligence from me. I don’t know much—tell me everything. Only knowledge will change the prince’s mind.”

Just a single day’s acquaintance had taught Eve how Lin Lei operated.

He hated being ordered around and his ideas were wildly imaginative, but he was anything but stupid. She couldn’t stop him, so the best she could do was gather all the intelligence and let him decide for himself. Whatever he chose, it would be better than the unpredictability they now faced.

That night, Eve and the young man spoke for hours.

As their communication was drawing to a close, the young man received two explosive pieces of news.

“Eve, Glen City has fallen...” Disbelief colored his face. “Are you sure the monster the prince dug up was the lord’s father?”

Eve had seen the gravestone. “It was him.”

“...That monster has taken over Glen City. Any night elf bitten by it has turned into a half-dead creature. Many night elves there have been bitten—the rest fled the city, and it won’t be possible to deal with this in the short term.”

Eve was stunned. “How could that monster be so powerful?”

“It’s not so much its power, but that it can’t die...”

The young man explained: The monster’s strength wasn’t overwhelming—arrows could pierce its body—but the night elves couldn’t destroy it. Arrows, spells, even burning it to ashes—its body would regenerate. And as it bit more and more victims, its power only grew.

“If handled correctly, the monster could have been contained. Unfortunately...” The young man sighed. Eve frowned slightly. “What did the lord do?”

“He spent a great deal of time trying to restore the monster’s sanity, but failed every time.”

“A soulless monster—how could it ever regain its mind?”

Eve snorted softly. With just a glance at that creature, she knew it was the night elves’ obsession with immortality made manifest.

The longing for lost immortality was shared by every branch of the original elves. Even the forest elves had once experimented, but all gave up in the end—the price was too terrible, and any success could hardly be called life.

Forest elves wanted no part of such twisted immortality. The night elves, cursed by the Twin Moons, were different—their obsession drove them to endless experimentation.

That monster was clearly a failed result. The night elves, in their naivety, simply locked her away. But no monster can be contained forever. Even if Lin Lei hadn’t dug her up yesterday, one day she would have freed herself, and perhaps caused even greater harm then.

“I’ll report this to the prince,” Eve said, then asked, “Does the chaos in Glen City give us an opportunity?”

“Absolutely!” The young man’s eyes flashed coldly. “Glen City is the main route for the night elves to the front lines. Now that it’s in chaos, we can strike at once. However, we don’t yet know what harm that monster might do to us forest elves—we’ll have to investigate that.”

Eve nodded in agreement. “And the other news?”

“...The night elves’ grand magus was killed in an explosion last night. They say there were strong winds at the time—I take it that wasn’t the prince’s doing?”

“...”

Eve could not give a definitive answer.