The opportunity had come

Fendona turned around, startled by his voice.

When she saw it was Lin Mo, she forced a smile.

"Nothing."

Her voice was a little hoarse, and her bright emerald eyes had lost their luster.

Lin Mo climbed the Arrow Tower in a few quick steps and stopped beside her, following her gaze.

Outside the Tree Wall, traces of the battle remained. The ground was pitted and scarred, with bloodstains scattered across it.

The bodies must have been disposed of. Leaving them there would have risked an outbreak of disease.

A faint layer of black mist shrouded the distant horizon, a lingering trace of the Demon Clan's army.

"Worried about the battles ahead?" Lin Mo asked softly.

Fendona fell silent.

After a long while, she finally spoke in a low voice.

"Lin Mo, your world has wars too, doesn't it?"

Lin Mo shrugged.

"Of course. Wherever there are people, there's scheming and fighting over resources."

Fendona looked at Lin Mo and asked earnestly,

"If your people were in our position, what would you do?"

Lin Mo paused. He really hadn't thought about that.

He considered it for a moment, gathering his thoughts based on what he had learned from history books and the news.

"Against an invading enemy, especially with the odds stacked so heavily against us, I think... we'd unite every force we could and face the enemy together."

"From what I've seen, you and the other three major races seem to be fighting separately."

Fendona nodded.

"Yes. No one is willing to abandon their territory and gather in one place. Of course, we're also afraid that would let the enemy concentrate their forces and wipe us all out at once."

As she spoke, she looked toward the city, sorrow filling her eyes.

"We lost nearly thirty percent of our warriors in the last battle. The city is running low on weapons, equipment, and Enchanted Arrows, too. We need to make more."

"The Demon Clan's attacks grow fiercer each time. They're like an endless swarm of locusts."

"The Queen and the Elders discuss it every day, but no one can come up with a solution."

"We held them off this time, but what about next time? And the time after that?"

"Two more... two more attacks at most, and this city will fall."

"My parents are dead, and we've already lost so many of our comrades..."

By the end, her voice had dissolved into stifled sobs.

Seeing such a lovely, beautiful young woman crying made Lin Mo's heart clench.

He saw more than a girl's vulnerability. He saw an entire people struggling in despair on the brink of destruction.

Wasn't this just like Blue Star?

Only Blue Star's enemy was natural disaster, while theirs was the living, breathing Demon Clan.

He thought of Blue Star's current plight and how the future of an entire civilization rested on his shoulders.

Wasn't he facing all of this too?

Suddenly, he remembered Zhao Gang's words: try to establish a formal, trustworthy partnership with the Elves.

An opportunity.

Hadn't one just presented itself?

"Fendona," Lin Mo said.

"Perhaps my people can offer some help."

Fendona's sobbing stopped abruptly. She looked up in astonishment, tears still clinging to her long lashes like dewdrops.

"What?"

She wondered if she had misheard him.

"Your people?"

"Aren't your people in another world?"

Lin Mo looked at her stunned expression without explaining.

Keeping her in suspense, he said,

"I still need to go back and discuss the details with my people."

His words brought a faint glimmer back to Fendona's dim eyes.

She stared at Lin Mo in a daze.

Even the tears on her lashes seemed to forget to fall.

Realizing she was staring at him, Fendona abruptly came to her senses. A blush spread across her fair cheeks, and she awkwardly wiped away her tears.

"Sorry, I... I lost my composure." She lowered her eyes and wiped her tears, then looked up with a smile.

"Come to think of it, you've come such a long way, and I haven't properly welcomed you yet. Would you have time to join me for lunch later?"

Naturally, Lin Mo had no reason to refuse and readily agreed.

"Of course. It would be my pleasure."

Fendona led Lin Mo down from the Arrow Tower and through the Elves' city.

Lin Mo discreetly surveyed their surroundings while the miniature camera on his chest faithfully recorded everything.

Lunch was served on the terrace of an enormous tree.

The tables and chairs were formed from living branches that intertwined in natural curves. They felt pleasantly warm and smooth beneath his hands.

Elf servers silently brought out the food.

There was none of the high heat and sizzling oil familiar from Great Xia's cuisine. Everything consisted of plants and fruit in their natural forms.

Some of the fruit was translucent all over, giving off an irresistible sweet fragrance.

Some tubers had been simply roasted, their skins golden brown. Torn open, they revealed interiors with a fluffy, breadlike texture.

There was also a drink served in a cup fashioned from a rolled broad leaf. The water was crystal clear, with tiny glimmers of light slowly swirling across its surface.

"Please, help yourself. We Elves eat only plants. I hope you won't mind," Fendona said with a smile.

"Not at all. It looks delicious."

Lin Mo's mouth was already watering.

He picked up a fruit the size of an apple, surrounded by a pale blue glow, and took a bite.

Juice exploded in his mouth!

An indescribably fresh sweetness slid down his throat into his stomach, then turned into a warm current that surged through his entire body.

That felt amazing!

He felt as though every cell worn down by late nights at work had risen to applaud. The fatigue of the past several days was wiped clean in an instant.

"Incredible. I love it!" Lin Mo exclaimed sincerely.

If he could bring this back to Blue Star, wouldn't it put every other fruit to shame?

What nutritional benefits could compare with such an immediate effect?

Seeing his satisfied expression, Fendona felt much of the gloom of the past several days lift.

"I'm glad you like it."

The atmosphere over lunch instantly shifted from postwar sorrow to a lighthearted chat over refreshments.

The curiosity Fendona had been suppressing for so long finally broke free, and she leaned forward like an eager child.

"Lin Mo, your world... what is it like?"

Lin Mo swallowed his food.

His mind began to work.

He considered how best to explain.

He certainly couldn't tell her the truth about their exact situation.

Given that this world had lie-detection magic, he would stick to things he could disclose-and give himself just a few billion extra bargaining chips for future negotiations.

"Our world..." He paused.

"We don't have a World Tree, but we have towering buildings that pierce the clouds."

Fendona's emerald eyes widened noticeably, and her lips parted slightly.

"We don't know magic, but our 'high-speed rail' can cross ten thousand miles in a single day. Our 'planes' can carry hundreds of people through the sky at an altitude of ten thousand meters."

"High-speed rail? Planes?" The two unfamiliar terms left Fendona a little bewildered.

"Mm-hmm." Lin Mo raised the stakes again, picking up a leaf beside him and using it to demonstrate the shape of a phone.

"We don't have Communication Crystals, either."

"But we have something called a 'mobile phone.' It's only the size of your palm, yet it lets us speak instantly with someone in any corner of the world. We can even see their face and the surroundings around them."