Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton - Chapter 1150

Chapter 1150: Chapter 714 I Advise You to Release Me Quietly Chapter 1150: Chapter 714 I Advise You to Release Me Quietly Anrus hesitated as she walked over, frowning at the repulsive Corpse Witch Great Fairy.

The Necromancer struggled fiercely, roaring, “Lucy, you’ve been blinded by their Illusion Technique. Kill them, kill them to break the illusion!”

Anrus hesitated as she looked toward Anthony.

Anthony spread his hands and said, “Do you think this is an illusion? Our Great Elf was blown to bits by one punch from our lord.”

Anrus was startled, and immediately stopped hesitating. If it were an illusion, Great Elf, why don’t you fight back? If Ange could punch the Great Elf to smithereens, naturally he could do the same to her. The Great Elf couldn’t withstand it, were they supposed to go and get themselves killed?

Thinking this, Anrus looked at Ange with fear and trepidation, realizing she might have brought back a terrifying creature.

Indeed, it was quite frightening. Anthony could relate to this feeling; it was akin to witnessing the Gods of Light being blown to bits before their followers.

This Necromancer, using some unknown method to disguise itself as a Great Elf, had deceived these Void Elves into worshipping it as a deity. Then, this “deity” was punched back to its true form by Ange, leaving the impact on the elves to one’s imagination.

To avoid scaring them further, Anthony quickly said, “Come, come, let’s have something to eat and talk. Lord, could we perhaps offer them some Fruit of Life?”

Ange nodded and took out more than a dozen Fruits of Life. As he prepared to take out more, Anthony stopped him, “That’s enough, that’s enough! Surely you were not going to give one to each person? Ten is enough to share.”

Ange tilted his head, puzzled. Were they not supposed to get one each? Could ten shared amongst them be filling?

Anthony said awkwardly, “Fruit of Life, eh? Just share them, that’s enough. You still want to be full? I…”

For the first time, Anthony had the same thought as Negriss–wastefulness.

Each Fruit of Life was as big as a washbasin, brimming with Life Force. Elves who consumed it regularly had their lifespan increased from a brief 200 years to more than a thousand, transforming them from a short-lived race to a long-lived one. This was a divine item that promised longevity, something money couldn’t buy, yet they wanted to feed them until they were full?

“Oh.” Ange put the excess back, leaving only ten.

From the moment the Fruits of Life appeared, Anrus’s attention was locked onto them. Although she had never seen them before, the feeling etched into her blood let her instantly recognize what they were.

For other species, the Fruits of Life were merely longevity enhancements, adding extra years, but for elves, especially for Void Elves with lifespans up to three thousand years, the Fruits of Life were their very existence. Without these fruits, their lifespans would drastically decrease.

Ange had initially pulled out more than a dozen and now put some back; to Anrus, it wasn’t just the fruits that were being put away, but her life itself, prompting an instinctive cry of alarm.

Everyone looked over, confused, and Anrus realized the fruits weren’t hers to claim but were prepared as an offering by someone else, immediately causing her embarrassment.

They still blush? These elves are truly innocent, Anthony thought to himself, and then started to invite everyone, “Come, come, eat some. Fruit of Life, I hear they extend an elf’s lifespan. You must live very long if you eat these regularly?”

Anrus had been enthusiastically cutting the fruit, aiming to choose a large piece, but Anthony’s words felt like a stab to her lung–the Fruit of Life suddenly lost its appeal.

Are the lifespans of Void Elves long? Legend has it they could live three thousand years, but now they hardly make it past sixty. Is that considered long?

“Pff– Sixty years? That… how old are you this year?” Negriss couldn’t help but ask.

“Eighteen,” Anrus replied.

“…Then you do look quite aged. Elf Queen Galadriel, who tasked us, is over two hundred years old and doesn’t look as old as you,” Negriss remarked.

“Over two hundred years old? How long can Plane Elves live?” Anrus asked curiously.

“More than a thousand years,” Negriss replied.

Anrus immediately felt a sense of pride, “We Void Elves live for more than three thousand years.”

Negriss waved his hand dismissively, “That’s the legacy of your ancestors. A good elf doesn’t boast about ancestral bravery. Your current lifespan isn’t even longer than a human’s.”

This struck a nerve with Anrus, and she bit fiercely into the Fruit of Life she was holding. After chewing and swallowing a few times, Anrus was stunned.

This was the first time in her life she had tasted the Fruit of Life. Although she had heard all the legends, actually consuming it was another experience entirely.

How to describe it? It was like a rush of Life Force sliding down her throat into her stomach, where she could feel every fold of her stomach expand and cheer. This Life Force was absorbed by the stomach, turning into a warm current flowing towards her limbs, skin, and nails.

When the warmth reached her nails, she instinctively glanced at her fingertips and saw the hangnails at the junction of nail and skin visibly smooth out and press flat.

Those who never had hangnails might not understand how annoying they are; scraping them by accident was excruciating, and trying to tear them off could lead to peeling off a large piece of skin, causing agonizing pain.

The elders had said this was due to a lack of plant nutrients, advising her to nibble on leaves. But now, these annoying hangnails had just vanished?

Not just the hangnails, but her skin also became smoother, and her scalp tingled as if hair was about to grow. However, all of this suddenly halted–the warming flow vanished.

No one would doubt that this wasn’t the Fruit of Life anymore. Personal experience was the most convincing argument. Anrus chomped down the entire Fruit of Life, eagerly licking the juice off her hands, and looked forward to Anthony with anticipation.

How could someone like Anthony, who was adept at controlling the situation, satisfy her so easily? At moments when she still longed for more but remained unsatiated, she was the most likely to compromise.

Unfortunately, he had been a bit too forceful just now, striking a nerve with the Necromancer and causing it to turn hostile. But who could have guessed it was a Necromancer? Its beautiful and majestic appearance was all an Illusion Technique. Wait, that’s not right. Could it be that my lord saw through its illusion? I’ll have to review and reflect on this experience once I return.

“Did you like it? Every harvest season, the Tree of Life is laden with fruits. The elves themselves can’t pick them all, and a lot of birds and beasts crowd around, pecking through the skin and sucking the sweet juice inside. The fruit flesh is only left to feed horses, which is such a waste,” Anthony explained.

Anrus couldn’t help but swallow, even though there was nothing in her mouth.

Witnessing this scene, even Lightning thought Anthony was being too cruel. Talking about these things in front of an elf who only had a tiny piece was equivalent to saying to Ange, “There are many abandoned fields out there, but you can’t go out,” wasn’t it?

That’s too cruel, please intensify, and besides, you are the horse, your whole family are horses!! Lightning inwardly raged while watching the drama unfold.

Unfortunately, Anthony didn’t intensify his approach. He feared overstimulating her, so he changed the topic and asked, “How many of the Void Elves are there still?”

“Around five hundred thousand. We haven’t conducted a census for a long time. The last one was four hundred years ago, and there were just over five hundred thousand of my people then,” Anrus replied.

“Five hundred thousand?” Anthony and Negriss were shocked. Looking around the environment, it didn’t seem like it could hide five hundred thousand Void Elves.

“This is a forbidden area, so there are fewer people. The other elves live scattered in other places.”

“I see, what is the living situation of the elves in other places? What do they eat? Where do they live? What do they use?”

After a series of questions, Anthony discovered that Anrus almost knew nothing, “We have not been in contact with the elves in other places for a long time, I don’t know how they are faring.”

Four hundred years with no population count, no contact for a long time, doesn’t she, the Elf Queen, manage her people?

Anthony whispered, “I think I know the reason–it’s because of poverty. Management requires costs. They hold the name of the forbidden land, but they’re poor as ghosts and simply can’t manage the people outside. If you manage, and your people can’t eat, would you provide relief? If they’re hungry, who would listen to you?”

“Many human villages were one family a few hundred years ago, but after they separated, they gradually lost contact, each living their own lives. The main reason is often this.”

Everyone had a sudden realization, “It seems these Void Elves live even more miserably than we imagined.”

After the conversation, everyone finally understood how miserable these elves were living. As everyone could see, their clothes would hardly cover their bodies, and they were barely satiated by their food, which consisted mainly of moss and tree leaves.

The ‘Giant Rock’ where they lived was slightly smaller than the one Trent resided on. It was also a mixture of the remnants of the Tree of Ten Thousand Realms branches with rock soil. The remnants were covered with moss, and in places where there was soil, a few scattered low-growing trees were present.

Their staple food was moss. They didn’t dare to eat tree leaves often because they had to save them to make clothes. As for weapons, they were as rudimentary as could be.

This led to the situation where the oldest living elves now barely lived past sixty years.

After understanding their circumstances, Anthony asked, “So why did you think Tree Herders were Rotting Tree Monsters?”

“According to legend, that’s what they are,” Anrus stated matter-of-factly.

“And who ‘told’ you this legend?” Anthony emphasized the word ‘told.’
Anrus was stunned for quite a while, then suddenly pointed at the Necromancer, “It was the Great Elf.”

“So, you mean to say that all your history, customs, and knowledge were passed down by it?” Anthony continued to inquire.

Anrus nodded.

“Oh–” Everyone suddenly understood. No wonder their knowledge was skewed; the informer had been skewed from the start.

Now it was the Necromancer’s turn, and no one was polite towards it anymore. Anthony then turned to Anrus and said, “We’re going to interrogate it. Do you want to watch?”

Anrus started to hesitate, “But, I, the Great Elf, this…”

“Even if it’s your Great Elf, can you defeat our lord? You know we have come to rescue the Divine Tree Elves. If you attack us, you might lose the chance to be rescued, and you could be killed by us. Do you want to act or watch together?”

Anthony’s words were piercing, causing everyone to cringe. Putting oneself in the shoes of an eighteen-year-old Void Elf, it was an incredibly tough choice.

No, it was more like: In front of my home, there are two paths–one leads to doom, and the other does too.

If it were an ordinary person, they would choose to escape and pick neither path. But Anrus gritted her teeth, turned, and waved at the other elves, “Everyone back off!”

The elves looked puzzled but efficiently retreated to a distance, while Anrus approached, “I’ll watch.”

Anrus’s decision proved to be the last straw that broke the Necromancer. It no longer disguised its emotions and angrily said, “I advise you to let me go wisely. You don’t know what being you’re provoking. Ever heard of the Undead Ruler? He’s my ‘Lord.’ If you harm me, the Undead Ruler will surely cast your souls into the Soul Prison.”