Life Fruit

"Ahem." Lin Mo cleared his throat, forcibly suppressed his wild delight, and said with an air of nonchalance:

"Oh, Princess, you're far too kind. It was nothing, hardly worth mentioning."

"I've always regarded money as dirt and divine treasures as passing clouds..."

As he spoke, he took the Life Fruit out of the box and held it in his hand.

"...Still, since this is a token of your goodwill, it represents the unbreakable friendship between our two races!"

"Then I would be... rude to refuse. Thank you for Her Majesty the Queen's reward! Praise the Queen!"

Fendona: "..."

Seeing Lin Mo refuse with his mouth while his body was so honest, Fendona didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He... really is an interesting man.

Lin Mo gripped the Life Fruit tightly. It felt warm and smooth, as though he were holding a living heart.

He looked at the fist-sized fruit in his hand, then instinctively opened his mouth and used his hand to gauge the fit.

The size is a bit of a challenge, but it's not impossible...

All I have to do is hold it in my mouth without swallowing, then spit it out once I'm back on Blue Star!

Perfect!

I'm such a fucking good guy. Even with this in my hands, I'm still thinking of my country instead of keeping it all for myself.

He couldn't help it. He had earned this through the country's planning and advice. His conscience wouldn't let him hog it all.

"Sir Lin Mo?" Watching him alternate between examining the fruit and opening his mouth wide while measuring it against his face, Fendona couldn't help asking about his strange behavior.

"What... are you doing? You can just eat it!"

"Huh? Right, I'll eat it later." Lin Mo put on a show of yawning.

"Well, I'm a little sleepy. Let's talk tomorrow. I'll head back and catch up on some sleep."

Clutching the fruit, he turned to slip away.

"Please wait, Sir Lin Mo."

Fendona stepped forward and blocked his path.

Lin Mo's heart sank.

Oh no. Why does that "please wait" sound so much like "I have a condition"?

He turned stiffly, a fake smile plastered on his face.

"Is there anything else you require, Princess?"

"Please consume this Life Fruit now." Fendona's emerald eyes were utterly earnest. She wasn't joking in the slightest.

Lin Mo: ???

"For something this precious, shouldn't I choose an auspicious day, bathe and change, then burn incense and pray before eating it?"

"It's a tradition back home, to show respect for divine treasures!"

He began spouting nonsense, hoping to bluff his way through.

But Fendona shook her head, her expression turning serious.

"Sir, once a Life Fruit leaves the World Tree, the life essence within it begins to slowly dissipate."

"With every moment you wait, its potency diminishes."

"Now is the best possible time."

Lin Mo's mind raced.

Dissipate? Is that actually true?

That's not scientific... Oh, right. None of this is scientific. It's just very magical.

His smuggling plan had died before it even got off the ground.

"Well... our traditions really are important!" Lin Mo still wanted to put up a fight.

"We have to pay our respects to heaven, then to earth, and then thank CCT... ahem, thank our great motherland and its people!"

"The whole process takes at least a full day and night!"

A day and night should be enough for those old guys to study it, right?

Fendona looked at him with a trace of bewilderment in her eyes.

"But, sir, this is a gift from the World Tree, a blessing upon life itself. Why would it require such a cumbersome ritual?"

"Wouldn't experiencing its gift directly be the greatest show of respect?"

The surrounding elves gathered around as well, watching their hero and the Princess curiously.

"That's right, revered Saint. Hurry and eat it!"

"A treasure like this hardly ever comes along. You have to eat it right away!"

It's over. They've put me on the spot.

Looking at Fendona's expression, which brooked no argument, he knew he was going to have to eat the fruit today.

Will they accuse me of embezzling state property when I get back?

Academician Qian! Academician Liu! Big Brother Zhao!

I've let you down!

I'm about to swallow our country's two-hundred-year average life expectancy in one gulp!

He gritted his teeth and reluctantly said:

"All right! Since you insist, Princess, I won't make a fuss! When in Rome, right?"

He lifted the Life Fruit, ready to take a viciously large bite out of it like an apple.

I could still bite off a piece, hide it between my teeth, and bring it back!

"Please stop!" Fendona cried out again, grabbing his hand.

Lin Mo nearly threw the fruit away.

"What is it now, for heaven's sake?!"

Fendona looked at him as though he were a barbarian about to mix a bottle of '82 Lafite with Sprite, her face filled with anguish.

"Sir! You cannot... eat it so crudely!"

"That would insult the life essence!"

Lin Mo was utterly baffled.

"I can't bite it? Then how am I supposed to eat it? Surely you don't expect me to put it on an altar?"

"You need only hold it in your mouth," Fendona explained patiently, elegantly demonstrating the shape his mouth should make.

"Envelop it, so that not a trace of life essence can escape."

Lin Mo: ???

"What kind of filthy talk is that?!"

"Are you sure you're not making a dirty joke?"

Fendona: ???

"What's a dirty joke?" she asked, looking utterly innocent.

Lin Mo said, "Oh, never mind, then. Go on."

Fendona said:

"Once it is in your mouth, the magic power it contains will dissolve naturally and merge with your body."

Lin Mo frowned and looked down.

Hold it in my mouth?

Isn't that exactly what I was planning to do?

And now you're telling me that's the proper way to use it?

He felt as though the Terra Continent's gravity had pinned his intelligence to the ground and was grinding it into the dirt over and over.

Under the gaze of dozens of clear, curious eyes, Lin Mo felt his face burning.

He took a deep breath. Forget it. Let it all burn. Just get it over with.

Helplessly, he slowly placed the warm, smooth Life Fruit into his mouth.

The instant the fruit entered his mouth, it turned into a supremely pure, warm liquid that enveloped the tip of his tongue, then surged through every limb and bone like a flood bursting through a dam!

"Holy fuck!"

Lin Mo's eyes flew wide, and his whole body jolted.

This feeling...

It was like downing an entire bottle of ice-cold Coke on a sweltering summer day, or jumping into an ice hole after spending three days and nights in a sauna!

Every pore screamed. Every cell reveled!

The bones throughout his body crackled, and every inch of muscle evolved and restructured!

Beneath his skin, countless green snakes of light seemed to writhe. Searing streams of energy coursed through every limb and bone, making him feel as though his entire body would burst!

An unprecedented sense of relief and pleasure nearly made him moan on the spot.

This feels incredible!

Better than any happy-ending massage!

He felt the energy washing through his consciousness. His body was completely beyond his control.

He could clearly "see" the impurities accumulated in his body from years of staying up late and eating additive-laden food being ruthlessly purified and expelled by that green energy.

His somewhat frail bones were repeatedly reinforced by an emerald film of light, becoming tougher than steel.

His scrawny muscle fibers swelled wildly like sponges soaking up water, filling with explosive strength!