Chapter 208: A Confession Without Words

"Just let me die already."

Before his eyes was chaos—too many visitors at once had turned the small parlor into a mess.

Li En's little house was simply too small; when a dozen knights rushed in, even a larger courtyard wouldn't suffice.

"Uh, we're here to confirm the news about the second princess. The little princess's news."

The lord of the city came because of the message Li En sent yesterday.

In a sense, he was also one of the parties involved in that incident years ago, and he had great interest in more related intelligence.

"Master Li En, your evaluation is complete—rave reviews all around; several Grand Masters are willing to take you on as an apprentice."

This was the news Li En had long awaited, but now he could not rejoice.

"Uh, I'm here representing my family to discuss trade—the second shipment and the opening of that underground passage." Larry still wore a stunned expression, utterly unable to understand his senior's strange quirks.

Does he like hard things? Then, if I turned into a crystal spider, would he like that?

After Li En made his bizarre public declaration, too many curious or astonished eyes turned toward him.

I've seen people who like others, who like horses, who like beasts—but never anyone who likes iron.

Li En was numb; due to the sudden incident, the snake had said it would spare him.

This was not the peak of the snake's many pranks, but it was enough to become his lifetime's black mark.

Each sudden visitor had a plausible reason, but Li En always felt he had been manipulated.

At this moment, their gazes at the "woman" beside Li En were all strangely nuanced.

"Link. Please link."

Ophelia was still saying things easily misunderstood, even drawing closer on her own.

Her crystal-formed pupils actually showed an expression of longing.

Li En noticed—was she even more "dull" than before?

". Oh, I understand! Soul Loss Syndrome! Master Li En intends to cure her of Soul Loss Syndrome."

Victoria, who had been silently thinking, suddenly uttered an unfamiliar term.

Her gaze toward Li En grew even more complex. After a moment's deliberation, she spoke out anyway.

"Master Li En, this cost is exceedingly high."

"What's going on!"

At this moment, Shaliman stepped forward—her demeanor now utterly unlike her usual timid self.

Her eyes blazed like lightning, her eyebrows arched sharply, even her snake tail stiffened in anger; her aura and speech grew far more dominant.

"I—" Li En wanted to say something, to find at least some excuse.

"Shut up. Victoria, tell me—what is Soul Loss Syndrome?" At this moment, Shaliman acted like the mistress of the house—well, she was indeed the original owner.

She looked at Victoria; unlike the others, she did not believe Li En had suddenly taken a fancy to Ophelia—they had barely exchanged words, and Li En's eyes had never once drifted toward Ophelia.

If she lost to the Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei, Shaliman could understand—but to lose to a pile of rusty iron?

She was furious—her eyes flickered gold and red.

Magic and spiritual energy began to subtly runaway; pale spiritual lightning flickered constantly in her hair, and her feet even hovered slightly off the ground.

Another Shaliman? After seeing Li En declare his affection for someone else, she had fainted!

This "Shaliman" had no time to care for the useless version of herself—she sensed something was wrong with her current state.

She had long confirmed Li En was a normal man—but what made her angrier was that this "certainty of normal inclination" came from her auntie!!

Unlike the other dazed Shaliman, she had seen everything clearly! That other Shaliman was stupid enough to be delighted that the Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei and Li En got along so well—her last remaining relative and her boyfriend getting close?!

Sometimes, this "Shaliman" truly wanted to grab the other Shaliman by the neck and ask: Are you a total idiot? Or do you have some weird fetish?!

"Uh, Ophelia's condition is dire—the Creator race and Machine race are always paired one-to-one."

After Kuku left, Victoria had been Ophelia's caretaker and researcher.

Aside from that snake, she was the one who understood Ophelia's current state best—but Ophelia's declining condition was nearly incurable.

The Creator race is powerful—they can create an entire intelligent race from nothing—but they are still not creators, and even gods cannot achieve "soul creation ex nihilo."

Where do souls originate? Where do they go? Are the souls they manufacture truly complete?

The answer is subtle—the Creator race is far too distant from true creators; the Machine race's souls are never complete—they are artificial souls, akin to town spirits or puppets.

Under normal circumstances, they are indistinguishable from ordinary sentient beings, merely with thinner emotions—but if they act independently for long periods, they gradually become mechanical, numb—as if some invisible thing is steadily leaking away. This is what is called "Soul Loss Syndrome."

To counter this, they usually have a "soul linker"—a master or companion—who regularly provides them with emotion, even soul energy.

The nourished artificial soul gradually grows, gradually acquiring various emotions and self-awareness, eventually becoming no different from ordinary life.

This bond is almost always lifelong, and it causes significant loss to the Creator race.

After all, soul and spiritual energy continuously drain—damage to these directly affects a transcendentalist's foundation.

But the Creator race never prides itself on combat strength; as researchers and alchemists, they don't care much.

Of course, this also relates to the strength of the newborn soul—raising a newborn soul from infancy causes little drain.

Though the cost is high, it essentially means raising a "lifelong partner"; for the inherently non-combative Creator race, this is not a bad trade overall.

But Ophelia's entire accumulation and records were nearly destroyed; starting from zero again, she can be seen as a new life.

Yet her artificial soul's strength is exceptionally high—perhaps a single link could drain an ordinary mage dry.

". Actually, I originally planned to wait a while, confirm Ophelia's condition was hopeless, then reveal it—but Master Li En has already noticed, and is prepared to sacrifice himself…" With these words, most of the previously scornful or astonished glances shifted to understanding and admiration.

In truth, those who found it too sudden and suspicious were the majority who knew Li En.

But Li En's words were so shocking, they were all a bit dazed.

Now, it seemed everything could be explained.

In the "truth" they had just received, Li En had noticed Ophelia's condition, and was willing to sacrifice part of his soul to save her—but to spare Ophelia from heavy moral burden and let her accept this kindness smoothly, he devised this nearly binding "confession."

Since this "energy supply" might be lifelong, sacrificing a bit of his reputation could make the contract more acceptable, letting Ophelia follow him naturally and without question.

"Uh, no, really not." Li En shook his head repeatedly; this was clearly a snake's prank, how did it turn out like this?

"Shut up!" Shaliman, the hostess with the presence, actually floated up.

Spiritual lightning flickered in the room; this aura, resembling that of a Great Archmage, made many people have to reassess her strength.

Many people learned for the first time that this seemingly low-key "Princess's confidant" was actually so powerful.

She subconsciously touched her chest, took a deep breath, and asked.

"Did you know beforehand about Ophelia's soul-loss condition? Did you consider, to save her, being willing to lose your own honor, even bearing the possibility of our engagement breaking?!"

"I—" Li En just opened his mouth, but saw the other person reveal an expression of realization.

Uh, is my expression that easy to interpret? Li En was a bit stunned.

Li En naturally knew the snake had said clearly that if Ophelia's state continued, she would soon become a real doll, but he was not so noble as to sacrifice himself.

"Do you intend to privately recharge her without the permission of your fiancée, me?" At this moment, "Shaliman" stopped acting; she directly declared her sovereignty.

"Uh, although I intended to recharge her, I didn't intend to sacrifice myself; I should be able to bear this cost."

The remaining supplementary words were meaningless, but Li En really was not so noble as to self-sacrifice.

What causes the greatest damage to the soul is death; the Thousand-Faced Dragon, capable of infinite reincarnation, has an indestructible soul!

The snake specifically mentioned this matter and even told Li En, "Recharge freely, recharge a whole squad, recharge an entire empire, it's fine."

Yet, before Li En could utter half a sentence, everyone else in the living room felt they already understood everything.

The way they looked at Li En grew increasingly respectful; perhaps this was what a true Classical Knight was like.

He did good deeds, expecting no return and seeking no fame.

He was even willing to sacrifice his own honor and endure much criticism so that others would accept his kindness.

"You, you, are you normal? Do you like women? Do you have feelings for me..." Shaliman's question went a bit too far, but within her domineering tone, there seemed to be some sobbing.

Li En wanted to cry but had no tears; he sighed. Was there a second answer? He still needed to save face.

He didn't want a bunch of demons, ghosts, and male compatriots knocking on the door in the middle of the night...

"I am normal; I only like cute girls." Li En covered his face; he didn't even know how he could say such shameful words.

"Hah." Shaliman sighed in relief; at this moment, she laughed lightly, her smile blooming like a flower.

She, even had overflowing joy, a bit of excessive happiness? Her pupils were glowing? Had she read something else?

And looking at such a Shaliman, Li En's mood was also complex; could he really ignore this emotion? But he already had the Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei.

Should he accept this feeling and be a scumbag beast, or something worse than a beast?

"I knew Senior Brother Li En was normal!" And at this moment, the one who supported Li En the most was actually Larry.

"That's right, truly worthy of a Classical Knight; we knew long ago he was normal." Others also spoke up one after another to express support, as if the people who had been watching a pervert and making a scene a moment ago were not them.

Facing the situation changing again, Li En was a bit stunned; his reputation seemed to have risen instead of fallen.

Is this the safe card in the snake's mouth? It really could be the only safe card. Originally, he thought if the mushroom girl confessed, it would result in "Soul Community Assimilation"; for a carbon-based lifeform, that was nearly death, yet it could seemingly be called immortality.

"Snake?" He just noticed that the snake's snickering was gone from his ear; would he miss this spectacle?

Looking left and right, he didn't see him; he didn't come to watch the spectacle?!

He, it seemed, had already left.

"Great, finally gone!!" And for the first time, facing the departure of the Heroic Soul, Li En felt not reluctance or regret, but full of joy!

That's right, the snake, he should have left; he was the type who hated farewells and saying goodbye the most; when he left, he would do so silently...

"Who left?" But the snake suddenly appeared again, full of pride.

"Uh..."

"I left; who will help you complete the recharge ritual? Who will help you twist Ophelia's 'Contract Weapon' into the Sun Weapon you need?"

"Sorry, sorry." Li En hurriedly apologized; he couldn't offend the snake now.

The snake, however, suddenly disappeared.

Then, he reappeared, flickering on and off, like a television with a bad signal.

"Come on, hurry up and continue the ritual; my time is running short." Looking at the snake who suddenly disappeared and reappeared, Li En vaguely sensed something was wrong.

"... Your time has actually run out, hasn't it?"

"Knowing that, why aren't you faster! Don't waste time." The snake said impatiently.

The next moment, he turned his head and spoke to Shaliman, who should not have been visible.

"Apprentice Number Three, come help; the ritual needs your power."

Number Three? At this moment, Li En was completely numb.

(End of Chapter)