"Interesting?"
A flicker of confusion crossed Su Wan's ice-blue eyes.
She scrutinized Lin Qingyue as if analyzing a program with a critical error.
"A foreign kingdom with a flimsy pretext, mysterious motives, and on the brink of large-scale war at any moment—you call that 'interesting'?"
"It's because it's flimsy and mysterious that it's interesting," Lin Qingyue retorted, spreading her hands matter-of-factly. She looked at Su Wan as if she were a rare specimen.
"Our goal is the Dungeon Core, not to babysit this human kingdom."
"The Dungeon is called 'Shattered Alliance.' The Core must be tied to this plot about the humans and elves breaking their treaty."
Lin Xiyue nodded vigorously beside her, wholeheartedly agreeing. "Sis is right!"
Xia Lian glanced between them, then muttered under her breath, "But... what they were saying earlier was just too..."
Her cheeks began to heat up again, clearly still flustered by the scandalous talk of "devouring both men and women."
"Let's go," Lin Qingyue said decisively, standing up and clapping her hands.
"The only way to know the truth is to see it for ourselves. Tavern boasts are just hot air."
The four of them left the noisy tavern and, following the townsfolk's directions, set out on the main road to Stormwind.
This road was noticeably flatter and wider. Gradually, other travelers appeared—mostly hurried merchants with packs on their backs or farmers pushing wheelbarrows.
After about an hour, they encountered a slow-moving merchant caravan.
The leader was a portly merchant with a greasy, beaming face. Seeing Lin Qingyue's group was well-equipped, he immediately sidled up to them enthusiastically, inviting them to travel together for mutual protection.
During their idle chat, Su Wan subtly steered the conversation toward the impending war.
"Hah, don't even get me started!" The portly merchant slapped his thick thigh, his face a mask of anguish. "Why fight a war when there's good business to be done? Do you know who's to blame for this whole mess? Our very own Prince Alex!"
"Oh?" Lin Qingyue raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"How else? A femme fatale, of course!" The merchant lowered his voice, his expression turning conspiratorial as he winked.
"My cousin, who runs the Elven Forest trade route, told me that Elven Queen Ilanier has lived for thousands of years. Her standards are terrifyingly high—no one has ever caught her eye."
"But then, at the last All-Races Festival, she fell head over heels for our young and handsome Prince Alex!"
"She sent an envoy to propose marriage right after, but His Majesty the King flatly refused. And just like that, love turned to hate! She marched her army to our borders, determined to snatch the prince and make him her... ahem... her Prince Consort!"
Lin Xiyue and Xia Lian listened, utterly dumbfounded.
A several-thousand-year-old Elven Queen falling for a teenage human prince?
The age gap was so vast she could be his ancestor's ancestor.
Lin Qingyue pressed a hand to her forehead.
Good grief, Version A has appeared. The classic 'domineering queen falls for me, turns to forceful abduction when rejected.' This plot is so over-the-top you can smell it from a mile away.
They bid farewell to the merchant, who remained convinced of his "tragic love story" theory, and continued on their way.
Before long, they encountered a group of villagers fleeing from the border region.
The villagers were gaunt and sallow, their eyes filled with undisguised terror.
Xia Lian, kind-hearted as ever, took out some clean water and dried meat to share with them.
An old village chief was so grateful he nearly fell to his knees. In a trembling voice, he revealed the "truth" he had heard.
"It's a sin!" the old chief cried, pounding his chest and stamping his foot as tears streamed down his wrinkled face. "Those Elves... they're not human! They... they want to feed our prince and princess to their Divine Tree!"
"Feed them to a tree?" Lin Xiyue was stunned. "What kind of twisted logic is that?"
"It's true!" the old chief insisted with absolute certainty. "They say the Elven Race's Divine Tree, Irminsul, is withering. It needs the blood of the noblest human royalty as fertilizer to revive it! How could His Majesty ever agree to such a monstrous demand? That's why the war started!"
Xia Lian's face instantly turned deathly pale. This version was far more horrifying than the last.
Su Wan's brow furrowed deeply. She tried to find even a shred of logic in this claim but eventually gave up.
Lin Qingyue silently gazed at the sky.
[Version B: The Evil God Sacrifice Trope. Okay, this is very Cthulhu-esque. It's just that this fertilizer is a bit picky—it has to be the royal-exclusive blend.]
The closer they got to Stormwind, the more crowded the roads became. Among the travelers were many adventurers like them, drawn by the news and hoping to make a quick fortune.
The four of them had just sat down in a makeshift tavern when they overheard a group of mercenaries at the next table boasting loudly.
"What's there to be afraid of? They're just Elves! Longer ears, that's all!" a burly, bearded man roared. "One swing of my blade, and their heads will split open just the same!"
"Exactly!" his companion snickered, his expression lewd. "Besides, I heard the real reason for this war is much simpler!"
He leaned in conspiratorially. "My brother works in the royal palace. He secretly told me that His Royal Highness Prince Alex got... sticky-fingered during his visit to the Elven Forest."
"He stole something? What kind of treasure?"
"Treasure?" The mercenary's grin grew even more vulgar. "His Highness swiped the Elven Race's sacred relic—the Light of the Moon God!"
A wave of gasps rippled through the surrounding crowd.
"The Light of the Moon God? What's that?"
"Legend has it that it's a treasure formed when moonlight crystallizes upon the Sacred Spring while the Elves are bathing. It's shaped like a ring and glows all over..."
Lin Qingyue nearly spat out the water she had just sipped.
[Version C: The Case of the Mischievous Brat Stealing Something, Leading to a Bloodbath. Wait a minute... used during bathing... a glowing ring... Isn't this just a fucking glow-in-the-dark toilet seat?!]
She felt a throbbing pulse in her temples.
Finally, at dusk, the silhouette of Stormwind appeared on the horizon.
It was a city far grander than the small town they had left behind. High stone walls rose into the sky, adorned with Blue-backed Golden Lion flags fluttering in the wind.
The city gates teemed with people, and squads of soldiers were nervously setting up defenses.
A massive recruitment notice was posted by the gate, drawing a large crowd.
An elderly gentleman in a scholar's robe, looking quite knowledgeable, was holding forth to the onlookers.
"You all know only one side of the story, but not the other!" the old scholar declared, shaking his head with the air of a man who alone was sober while the world was drunk.
"The true essence of war is the continuation of a race! Why do you think the Elven Race specifically demanded our Prince and Princess?"
The crowd leaned in, ears pricked.
"I have studied the ancient Elven texts," the scholar began. "Their birth rate has plummeted, and their bloodline is weakening daily. To avert this crisis of racial extinction, they launched a grand plan called the 'Superior Gene Introduction and Enhancement' project!"
The old scholar cleared his throat, his voice rising an octave.
"As the most potent and vibrant race on the continent, humans were naturally their prime target for 'enhancement'! And the royal bloodline? That's the cream of the crop!
"So, their demand for our Prince and Princess isn't about taking hostages at all! It's to use them as the first 'seeds' to enhance their entire race's gene pool!"
A dead silence fell over the crowd.
Then, an uproar erupted, far more intense than any before.
This explanation sounded... surprisingly more "scientific" than all the previous versions, and far more terrifying!
Xia Lian was completely petrified.
Lin Xiyue's mouth hung open, unable to close.
Su Wan's perpetually icy face was frozen in a near-stupor, as if her entire worldview was being repeatedly crushed and rebuilt.
Finally, Lin Qingyue couldn't hold it in any longer.
She spun around, leaning her back against a large tree. Her shoulders shook violently, and a choked, suppressed laughter escaped her throat, like air hissing from a leaky bellows.
"Heh... heheh... Haha... HAHAHAHAHAHA..."
"Sis?" Lin Xiyue looked at her worriedly.
"Sister Qingyue, are you okay?" Xia Lian also drew closer, her small face filled with concern.
Lin Qingyue waved her hand, laughing for a long while before finally catching her breath.
She looked up, tears of laughter even welling in the corners of her eyes.
"I'm fine... I just think..."
She let out a long sigh, her voice a mixture of boundless admiration and utter absurdity as she delivered a heartfelt exclamation from the depths of her soul:
"This isn't just a script with major issues—this is something the screenwriter must have typed out with their toes while hooked up to life support in the ICU!"
The moment she finished speaking, a crisp notification sound, audible only to her, exploded in her mind.
[Ding! The Host's mental threshold has significantly increased due to the profound joy and exhilaration derived from the absurdity of the worldview and the subversion of the plot!]
[Elation Value +999!]
Lin Qingyue narrowed her eyes.
As expected, she thought. Watching this dumpster fire is the world's greatest motivator!