New Century Warriors

Ye Lei untied the bow at her chest, and her bathrobe slipped down gently.

A body, as perfect as a sculpture, flashed by, and Lei Ye subconsciously turned his head.

"I'm doomed," he thought.

The effects of the medicine haven't worn off, probably all for this moment. If reinforcements don't arrive soon, he'll really be done for.

If Loya and her teammates come looking for us later, what if we see them afterward? If we explain that it was to delay them until they arrive... will anyone believe us?

No, more important than that is...

His precious virginity, could it really be taken away so easily by a complete stranger?!

If it doesn't work, we still have to resist.

Just as she was taking off her clothes, I should have punched her hard. But after that punch, neither fighting nor running away would be feasible. So I should have begged for mercy to buy time, and use my strong conversation skills to investigate what this thing was.

Lost in thought, Lei Ye clenched his fist and waited for a long time, but Ye Lei didn't reach out to take off his clothes.

One hand was placed on Lei Ye's forehead, and the other on the back of his head. Lei Ye was stunned for a moment, thinking that this action seemed to mean "Give me food!" But if it was meant to make him do foreplay, was this direction a bit wrong?

Something was pressing against Raino's earlobe.

Then...

"Why!!!"

What's sticking in here?

No.

"ah!!!!!"

The intense pain continued, and Lei Ye shook his head desperately. He punched the object and grabbed a sharp object from the materials on the table to stab it, but no matter how he resisted, he could not escape Ye Lei's control.

This power is beyond comprehension.

Something liquid was flowing from his ear. Lei Ye wiped it and moved it to his eyes, only to see blood.

What happened...?

No, he could probably guess what had happened, but Raino couldn't believe that something like this would happen to him.

As they separated, Ye Lei let go of his hand. Lei Ye's head was buzzing, and he could no longer hear anything in his right ear.

The intense pain filled Lei Ye's eyes with tears. He turned his head and, through his blurred vision, he saw blood—blood from his ear.

Deafness... but it's a sign of King Ti...

"So what if I'm a little late? I still won." Ye Lei's lips curled up slightly.

"What are you saying..." Raino almost roared in pain, "I don't understand, no, what do you want to do?"

"Strange, shouldn't you be the one who knows best?" Ye Lei said, moving to the other side and once again controlling Lei Ye's head. "Relax."

With no room for hesitation, this was a matter of life and death. Lei Ye took something out of his storage bag, squeezed its 'sac' and forcefully stabbed it into Ye Lei's arm.

The Sting of the Manticore

The one-time use magical item produced in the maze doesn't contain much venom, but it's still enough to incapacitate a giant monster.

This was a very precious gift from her teammate. When she handed it to Lei Ye, she repeatedly emphasized that it should only be taken out when absolutely necessary.

This is when Raino judged that it was absolutely necessary to use it.

It seems that the venom successfully entered Ye Lei's body.

Her body swayed unsteadily, and she took two steps back. Seizing the opportunity, Lei Ye leaped up and ran towards the door.

Bang!

The door slammed shut just as Raino was about to pass through, and he crashed headfirst into the solid door panel.

Even magical artifacts couldn't be this intelligent...

Lei Ye, who had fallen to the ground, felt dizzy and his vision blurred. Ye Lei was already beside him, looking down at him.

The venom crawled along her pale body like a thin snake along her veins, but the speed became slower and slower. The snake finally twisted with difficulty, but could not go any further, and then quickly disappeared within a few breaths.

The venom that can incapacitate giant beasts would be fatal to humans if used on even a single drop, but it couldn't even bring Ye Lei down.

"What exactly are you...?"

"This poison would be fatal to any human. I thought you were going to kill me, but it turns out you already knew my identity."

Ye Lei's voice was calm, "Can you tell me how you found out? Although I'm not very good at sculpting humans, this is the only body I carefully crafted, so there shouldn't be any flaws. Did I do something wrong?"

It's not just that you did something wrong; your words and actions are hypocritical everywhere you go.

Putting everything else aside, just take the violent act just now.

"Who taught you this? Who taught you to do it this way?"

Ye Lei tilted her head, looking puzzled.

"It's you."

"What...me?"

"I was so happy when I got to the middle of Volume 3, when I saw that part, the part I'd been longing for: human mating."

"What the hell?"

Raino was completely dumbfounded, but this reminder made him realize that it was indeed something he had written. The plot had reached a point where the male and female protagonists were deeply in love, which was the key moment for their relationship to take another step forward. However, Raino himself was still a virgin and didn't want his character to have sex. So he came up with a crooked idea and used the two people's extremely strong self-healing bodies to design a somewhat bizarre bondage fusion, which was considered as the two people being united.

But can that thing be taken seriously? Don't you understand the concept of a hymen? Those are just made-up concepts. Raino was so angry that his ears were bleeding.

"That's all nonsense! Human mating isn't like that at all!"

"What nonsense are you spouting! What do you know?! Don't you dare slander my crazy little teacher Lei!" Ye Lei kicked Lei Ye hard for the first time, revealing her anger.

The kick was clearly delivered with restraint, but it still made Raino vomit.

Seeing Lei Ye's pained expression, Ye Lei immediately squatted down and hugged him, gently rubbing Lei Ye's head like she was comforting a kitten.

Although the movements were gentle, Lei Ye jumped up in terror, covering his ears, as soon as Ye Lei touched his head.

He will probably never enjoy the feeling of someone patting his head again.

He probably wouldn't believe in the gentleness of beautiful girls anymore. At this moment, Ye Lei's expression changed rapidly. One second she seemed worried about whether Lei Ye was injured, the next second she showed anger at Lei Ye's resistance. Suddenly she looked puzzled, as if she had returned to the curiosity she had when she asked the question earlier. This change of expression made Lei Ye's heart tremble. The previous "pseudo-human" was just a descriptive term. Now he really felt that he might have encountered a pseudo-human from another world.

Finally, Ye Lei probably realized that she had a problem with her facial expression management, so she simply reverted to her initial cold demeanor and repeated the question.

"So can you tell me how you found out?"

"good..."

Just consider it stalling for time and tell her.

Lei Ye raised his hand and then lowered it.

Pointing to a machine tool.

"My understanding of magic is different from yours, isn't it? Indeed... I should have been more careful about that..."

"What magic? It has nothing to do with magic."

"...What is that?"

"Back then, you took off one shoe and put it on the table, right?"

"Yes, the knowledge in the book is very interesting, but there is one thing I don't understand, so I did an experiment."

"The leather boots you put here are too clean."

"What?"

The air fell silent.

Lei Ye and Ye Lei faced off, each harboring their own suspicions.

"It sounds to me like you're using my writing as a textbook to learn about all sorts of common human knowledge..."

"So what if it is? Never mind, what does 'too clean' mean?"

With a cold laugh, Lei Ye raised a finger and waved it at Ye Lei.

"In the past, I could only imagine beings like elves, kemonomimi girls, or even dragon girls through the world of anime and manga. They were flawless and spotless, always clean and tidy, even the shoes they wore were perfect. But in reality—"

"Fantasizing is one thing, but why would I fantasize about shoes? I just don't understand, Mr. Kuang Xiaolei."

"Don't interrupt!"

"sorry..."

"—But that's not actually the case! Since you're studying humans, I'll teach you something new: no matter how beautiful a young girl is, her shoes can't be absolutely clean. I even confirmed this with my female book friend, and—"

"What strange smell? What female book friend? I don't know anything about her."

"No, am I deaf? Did I tell you not to interrupt?"

"sorry..."

"—Besides, all kinds of shoes have their own smells—the smell of dust, the smell of cloth, the smell of animal hide. Your shoes are so fake!"

refute!

Ye Lei pretended to be greatly shocked, clutching her chest and taking half a step back.

"How could this happen? My plan, which I've meticulously prepared for years, has actually gone wrong in this kind of place."

"No, I've seen many alien species disguised as humans attempting to invade this city. Your preparations were absolutely the best. There were no strange horns or claws hidden in your gloves, and no signs of shaving on your skin. The only oversight was that the scent system of your feet wasn't properly processed, and you just happened to run into me, the ultimate foot fetishist. So you were just unlucky. But I'm still very curious, what exactly are you? A vampire? A succubus? You can't possibly be a sea creature, can you?"

In fact, Lei Ye had already guessed that this person was most likely a demon from the Scorched Earth, but he didn't want to say it. If he admitted this fact, it would mean that the demons of the Scorched Earth were preparing to wage war against humanity.

That would be the beginning of a massive disaster that would completely destroy his peaceful daily life, but Raino wasn't ready to have a mother yet.

As for the three types of alien species he mentioned, they are the closest to humans in appearance outside of the demon race, and they are all enemies of humanity.

Ye Lei didn't answer the question directly. She stared at Lei Ye for a while, then suddenly smiled with relief. She walked slowly to the seat Lei Ye had just been sitting in and began to change her clothes slowly. "Since you've already found out, it's okay to tell you. But you have to promise me that you'll help me finish what I want to do."

"What do you want to do?"

"Next, we're going on a date. It's evening, so we can take a walk in the sunset."

"Damn it," Lei Ye thought to himself, "sister, you're joking."

When the alien species sneaked in before, some powerful explorers would negotiate with them to avoid greater casualties. As a result, the alien species would either ask Hillius to provide ten people's worth of blood every day, or ask humans to build a palace nearby for them to live in for a long time. Over time, Lei Ye had already seen through the alien species' nature. He was ready to witness Ye Lei's bloody and evil true nature, but what did this date mean?

But Ye Lei seemed genuinely preparing for a date. In the short time Lei Ye was stunned, the floor was piled high with clothes she had discarded—a red gown meant for a ball, a rare silk cheongsam—each item looking exquisite and expensive, yet carelessly tossed on the floor. In the end, she simply changed into a loose, ordinary dress, and then began selecting shoes and other accessories…

"If I wear high heels, I walk a little slower. Would you slow down like a gentleman?"

She even had time to go back and consult Raino's opinion.

After a few seconds of silence, Lei Ye nodded in agreement.

His primary task now is to buy time. The distress signal has already been sent, and in the best-case scenario, Loya is already on her way with the Forest River and the guild's reinforcements.

Even if Loya reacts a little slower, the members of the Forest River should have assembled by now. The only thing to worry about is their combat strength. Ye Lei has already demonstrated great power and resistance, and it's clear from this that she has even more powerful trump cards up her sleeve.

However, that's not something Raino should be thinking about right now, and he's not particularly worried either. Mori no Kawa has a special employee who does even less work than him but gets the highest salary. This person has a powerful ability to predict the future to a certain extent. Thanks to her ability, Mori no Kawa has never had any staff reductions in the past five years, and this time is no exception...?

Actually, Raino had previously asked if she could help him predict the odds of winning the battle against the Demon King. If the odds were high enough, he could go into battle without worry. However, the fortune teller kept saying something like "the future you can see is not the future," and the hints she gave were always ambiguous keywords.

The last divination result for Raino was quite bad, and the key word for deciphering it was long black hair. Raino wondered if this was the one. But who is this long black hair?

There's only one girl with long, straight black hair in the Forest River, but she's not very reliable.

A finger was suddenly inserted into Lei Ye's mouth.

Before I could react, the stench of rust and fish rushed in.

In just a second, Ye Lei pulled the thumb back and put it in her mouth, while her other hand took Lei Ye's arm.

"Let's go on a date!"

"Ptooey, what the hell is that!"

"Yes, what is it?"

Although Ye Lei chuckled and didn't answer, Lei Ye sensed some changes in his body. His hearing in his right ear returned almost instantly, the pain disappeared quickly, and he felt an itching sensation as if his flesh and blood were growing, giving him the feeling of receiving an advanced healing technique.

The effects of the medicine had not yet disappeared, and the fever was still quite severe, but the hot and uncomfortable feeling quickly subsided like a receding tide.

Led by Ye Lei, who was holding his arm, Lei Ye followed her back the way they came, leaving the huge, unsettling castle behind.

"How long do you think I've known you?" Ye Lei suddenly asked.

What's the problem?

Didn't we just meet?

"You just asked me what it is, and it takes a lot of courage to answer that question, so at least let me ask you one question in return."

"...Anyway, I just met you."

"Hey—they're asking how long you think I've known you."

Lei Ye felt a slight chill run down his spine. Ye Lei's voice was strained, carrying a hint of girlish shyness.

She is undeniably cute, but considering everything she just did, Lei Ye can't bring himself to like her.

Seeing Lei Ye remain silent, Ye Lei sighed softly.

"Seriously, I was your first fan."

"I believe that. I can't even remember the jokes I wrote, and you remember them so clearly. You're definitely a die-hard fan. But you must have seen my book somewhere else. My writing has never been approved by Hillous. Besides, if I had ever met a female fan as... beautiful as you, I would definitely call her 'Mom' right away."

"Never mind, I didn't mean to blame you. It was my fault. I was just a newborn back then, and I didn't understand human things very well. Although I really wanted to talk to you, my approach was clumsy, so I just watched from afar..."

Lei Ye still didn't understand, only vaguely sensing that Ye Lei had been secretly watching him for a long time.

He wrote a lot about yanderes in his books, but in reality, Raino doesn't like yanderes, especially in this other world where a yandere could really kill you at any time.

So Lei Ye wasn't happy to hear that he was being stared at; he just felt a chill run down his spine.

"Now it's my turn to answer your question: Have you ever heard of the deep-sea anglerfish?"

I've never heard of this fish before, but Raino knows about it. In the absolute darkness of the water, this fish uses the weapon on its head to create a light source to lure prey and hunt. It's quite a unique species.

So this guy is an anglerfish?

Just then, Lei Ye noticed that Ye Lei's body was emitting a strange, dim light that flickered slightly and looked quite beautiful.

Around her tailbone, there was a long, shiny line that looked like a tail... Lei Ye subconsciously moved his gaze, trying to find the source of the line, but his head was immediately pressed into Ye Lei's arms, and he heard Ye Lei's soft whisper.

"Don't turn around, and don't look me in the eye."