Lizard-man

Allen held the subway map, repeatedly comparing it with the Lizard-man's movements, and had no choice but to accept the fact that the Lizard-man he was looking for might be a subway train!

If my guess is right, I only need to wait here to find the Lizard-man, Allen thought.

For the next while, Allen sat on a bench in the waiting area, seemingly resting with his eyes closed but actually tracking the icon representing the Lizard-man on the map. Subway trains came and went, while the flowing crowds hurried up and down.

"It's here." Allen's eyes flew open, and he strode forward with an air of certainty. "Let me see what's really going on."

Allen boarded the subway with the crowd. The alarm bell rang, and the doors slowly closed. At that moment, everything before Allen's eyes changed. The change horrified him!

Everyone seemed frozen in time and space: the raised hand of a middle-aged man chatting animatedly had yet to fall; the curve of a beautiful girl's laughing lips did not change in the slightest; a young man wearing headphones had an indifferent expression, yet his body did not move at all...

Even the handrails and seats had changed. The handrails at the top of the subway had been replaced by strands of cyan, fibrous material. The seats were even stranger. Their backs were dark green, shaped like enormous fish scales. A small green person who looked remarkably like an Avatar sat on every scale-shaped seat, except their lower bodies had turned into the seat cushions. The little green people's arms stretched straight out, becoming the armrests. Most terrifying of all, a needle-like straw extended from the back of each little green person's head and connected to the giant scale on its back. The passengers with seats sat atop these little green people. Gases of various colors emerged from the tops of the passengers' heads, were sucked into the little green people's mouths, then passed through the needles behind their heads and into the scales.

"System, System, what is going on? Why am I seeing such a horrifying scene?" Terrified, Allen desperately called for the system in his mind. Heaven knew that across both his lives, he had never seen anything so bizarre.

"Host, please do not panic. The Fools magic orb you carry can remove all negative conditions, including confusion." The familiar voice of the system successfully calmed Allen down.

A crisp clap shattered the silence in the subway. In an instant, all the little green people snapped open their eyes. Their glowing yellow pupils stared at Allen in unison, making his scalp tingle and the hairs on his back stand on end.

Steadying himself, Allen asked, "Hello, can you understand what I'm saying?"

The little green people continued staring at him in unison.

"Could it be that they don't understand English?" Allen suddenly remembered the Fools magic orb he had earned with great difficulty. He hurriedly summoned it from the system's storage space. He did not know whether it was an illusion, but Allen felt that the brightness in the eyes of the little green people watching him had become somewhat scorching.

"Greetings, esteemed magician. We do not get tired from not blinking, so please forgive our earlier rudeness!" An elderly voice rang out from the carriage behind Allen.

Allen quickly turned around. A white-bearded little green person wearing a golden crown set with red gemstones appeared in the carriage behind him, holding the hand of an even smaller little green person. Unlike the little green people on the seats, long needles extended from their backs and connected to the carriage, though they were long enough to let them dart about freely and hide themselves.

"Hello, my name is Allen. May I ask who you are?" Allen hurriedly bowed and introduced himself.

"Greetings. We are the Lucky Elves of Goddess of Luck Fols. My name is Fornis, and this is my grandson and heir, Fortel." Fornis pointed to the little green person beside him.

"Mr. Fornis, as the king of the Lucky Elves, may I ask whether you know anything about the Lizard-man?" Allen inquired.

"Lizard-man? Is that what the outside world calls us now? Who still remembers the help the Lucky Elves brought people, the joy we gave them?" Fornis's voice was heavy with grief and indignation.

"So the Lucky Elves are the Lizard-men?" Allen's suspicions were confirmed.

"Yes, the Lucky Elves are the Lizard-men you speak of. Back then, Goddess of Luck Fols and Goddess of Misfortune Eris made a wager. Goddess of Luck Fols believed human nature was inherently good, while Goddess of Misfortune Eris believed it was inherently evil. They chose a kind family favored by Goddess of Luck Fols as the subject of their wager. In the end, Goddess of Misfortune Eris won. Thus, as the elves of Goddess of Luck Fols, we were cursed for all eternity, while the evil pets of Goddess of Misfortune Eris could swagger through the human world. However, the Goddess of Luck left behind an oracle in the Book of Tu: when someone appeared bearing her magic orb, it would be the day our people were liberated." At this point, Fornis grew excited. "We have waited so many years. At last, you have come." With that, Fornis looked eagerly at the magic orb in Allen's hand.

"May I ask what I should do?" Allen also wished to help these victims of the wager.

"As long as you sincerely wish to save us, recite this Incantation and activate the magic orb." Fornis instantly slid before Allen and handed him a roll of parchment.

Allen accepted the parchment and looked it over. As he asked the system in his mind to identify it, he said, "Mr. Fornis, please forgive my presumptuous question, but why are you called Lucky Elves?"

"It is nothing, magician. Besides being the elves of Goddess of Luck, we feed on the seven emotions and six desires emitted by humans, while returning happiness and joy to them." Fornis spoke proudly. "But now, all the happiness and joy we create are sucked away through these straws."

"All right, I'm ready." With the system's approval, Allen said this.