Chapter 39 Close Contact
“Ah, a-achoo!”
Lonis, who had collapsed on the ground, suddenly yawned.
This was because the temperature inside the ship was extremely low.
It was only a little over 5 degrees Celsius, and even warm places did not exceed 10 degrees. It was like the refrigeration room of a refrigerator!
So, it wasn’t just the little fox, but even the girls were a little chilled and flustered.
“Everyone okay? If you feel very cold, you can turn on the heater.”
“I-It’s fine! Let’s save some energy.”
…
The current cold was not due to the ice mosquitoes… The ship had long since shaken off those monstrous creatures and was officially sailing above the Sea of Ice Lava.
As the Eight-tailed Fox had said, while there was boiling lava everywhere, it did not radiate heat but absorbed it. Thus, much of the heat in the vicinity was absorbed by the Sea of Ice Lava.
Although the Time Shuttle was equipped with a heater, it was too large. Coupled with the energy lost from the previous encounter with the ice mosquitoes, for the sake of safety, the ship’s air conditioning system was only maintained at the lowest setting.
That is, around 5-10 degrees Celsius.
At this temperature, most of the stored food would not spoil, and water would not freeze. Although the girls felt a bit cold, it wasn’t enough to freeze them.
But for the little fox…
It was completely different!
Although she had also put on thick clothes, no matter how many clothes she wore, her tail couldn’t be covered, right?
So, the method Lonis chose to keep warm was…
“Honestly, you little idiot, why are you so clingy?”
“Mew, woof!”
“Hmph, if you were still this clingy when you regained your consciousness, I would eventually stew you into fox soup and roasted fox.”
…
Elus looked at Lonis, who was curled up beside her, with a sense of helplessness.
This idiot seemed to be treating herself as a heater, snuggling up tightly.
Whether she was piloting the ship, eating, or even going to the toilet, she wanted to snuggle up!
It was simply too clingy.
But if she were to refuse, Elus couldn’t bear to do it, as Lonis was a bit pitiful… Her big eyes were watery, making her look incredibly cute and dazed.
So, despite her helplessness, Elus could only let this silver-haired girl snuggle close to her. And objectively speaking, holding a fluffy fox tail would also feel much more comfortable, wouldn’t it?
(However… I also need to find a way to restore Lonis’s consciousness. The training is almost done. And next, we will be approaching the City of Ruins.)
Thinking this, Elus stood up.
Lonis, who was lying on her side, raised her head, seemingly wanting to follow.
But the black-hearted girl merely feigned anger and said:
“I’m going to do important business, don’t follow me, understand?”
“Moo…”
“Stay put and don’t wander around.”
After saying that, Elus covered the little fox with a blanket, got up, and left.
…
…
In the living room, Princess Cécile was earnestly analyzing the data.
This included not only the Castor notes retrieved from the Underground Ruins but also the materials provided by the Eight-tailed Fox.
Although a brief and concise analysis had already been conducted, Cécile was diligently reviewing it, for fear of missing anything.
“Hmm… what can be confirmed is that the City of Ruins was built from the garbage of humans in the previous epoch. Therefore, there are a large number of ancient ruins there.”
Cécile blinked, but immediately, a confused expression appeared on her face.
Because…
Beside Princess Cécile, a little loli with red hair was also crawling.
“Sister Cécile, isn’t Candelle very powerful!”
Although Candelle had all her limbs intact and was not hypnotized, she imitated Lonis’s behavior and snuggled tightly against Princess Cécile.
Since she couldn’t wag her tail, she substituted it by wagging her forelock.
Thus, Cécile could only say helplessly:
“Candelle, thank you, but I’m not cold?”
“Eh, Sister isn’t cold? But you’re not wearing much, are you?”
“Mm, this is our Kolotia family’s princess combat suit, which can maintain body temperature in environments tens of degrees below zero.”
“So amazing!”
“And even if I don’t wear it, I’m already a half-demon, so I won’t feel uncomfortable in this kind of temperature.”
“Then let me give Sister a shoulder massage?”
“Eh?”
“Candelle likes Sister the most, Candelle wants to be Sister’s little wild cat~~~”
However, just as Candelle was trying to snuggle into Cécile’s embrace…
Elus, walked out.
“Candelle?”
“Ugh!”
Like a mouse seeing a cat, Candelle’s body instantly froze.
And Cécile, as if seeing a savior, let out a long sigh of relief and greeted, “Ancestor Elus, good evening.”
“Good evening, Cécile. How is the data analysis going?”
“Ancestor, preliminary conclusions have been reached. It can be confirmed that the great general stationed in the City of Ruins is a Demon King named Hoffa. His strength is around Rank 8, comparable to my sister Candelle. However, he has been stealing the power of Han Yuan and possesses the ability to attach the Ice of the Apocalypse to any object.”
“Mm, I know this guy. He must have been the one who attached the fire ice to the green-haired girl’s vines back then.”
Elus nodded. In fact, if Hoffa hadn’t been present back then, she would have exerted all her strength to try and capture that green-haired girl.
However, since the opponent was a Demon King, she had to keep some trump cards and not reveal everything.
Because Hoffa was not the final target; General Castor was the real opponent to be wary of.
“What about the others? What about that green-haired girl?”
“Mm, that green-haired girl seems to be called Silent Leaf. Her identity is unknown, and it seems she only joined Hoffa’s command in the last few hundred years.”
“Recently?”
“Mm, her records are not found in the earliest historical records of the Independent Kingdom. Besides that, Hoffa also has a Minotaur Warrior named Minotaur. According to the data, he is incredibly strong and is a terrifying existence that has lived for nearly a thousand years.”
“A monster nurtured by the Apocalypse Independent Kingdom, huh? Hmph, Lonis, that girl has finally collected some useful information?”
“The last one is the mysterious man who was recently dispatched from Castor, whose identity is also very mysterious, Mortak.”
“Mortak?”
“Yes, the data also does not indicate his abilities. However, based on my analysis, he might be the brain controlling the insect swarm. Because Castor also has similar experimental research items on insect gigantification.”
If the villains heard Cécile’s analysis, they would surely be stunned into silence.
Because they had only clashed with Elus once, and had not revealed too much information… However, this silver-haired princess had already analyzed most of it.
As for the rest…
“Based on my estimation, the above three individuals, each likely possesses the strength of a Rank 7 upper-tier to peak Yixiu Lord. However, Castor is currently replicating the power of the Rainbow Abyss, so their strength may also increase.”
“Mm, I know, but if they have preparations, we also have our trump cards, don’t we?”
“Ancestor Elus, is there anything you need me to do?”
“Cécile, there’s nothing special. Take this opportunity to get some good rest.”
Elus stretched lazily and said with great confidence.
