"From now on, we work together. You can easily earn what little you have." She looked Fro up and down. He was a young elf with a lean face, somewhat feminine-looking, handsome in his own way. He wore a red robe over chainmail. The robe had been washed countless times; its pattern was blurred, barely revealing a poorly drawn bee. "First, we introduce ourselves. Truthfully. Take it or leave it."

Aelina raised the Molecular Reconstructor and fired it at the ground. The soil decomposed, and soon, two stone chairs appeared. She sat down, gathering her skirt. Realizing she was still not wearing any underwear, she felt a flush of embarrassment.

Fro didn't sit immediately. He pressed on the stone chair to confirm it wasn't an illusion before taking a seat.

"Truly amazing," he exclaimed.

What an ignorant Golden Ape.

"I'll introduce myself first," Aelina raised her hand. "I come from human society—a terrible place with no freedom. My spaceship crashed during a police chase. That 'coffin' you saw is the escape pod. Fortunately, this world isn't recorded in human archives. I'm happy to have escaped human society." To be precise, sexually happy. She smiled inwardly. This Golden Ape could be useful. I'll use him to infiltrate elven society. Elves are said to be very beautiful—the best choice for maids.

"Wait," he said, looking utterly confused. "You're human?"

"Hmm?"

He pointed at Aelina's "cat ears." "What are these ears?"

Aelina's "cat ears" twitched. "Oh, it's just a cat-ear communicator. My real ears are here." She gently swept aside her silver hair, revealing her delicate ears.

"That's a strange name for a magic hair accessory," he said. "What's a spaceship? And what are police?"

"A spaceship is a vehicle that carries your body to sail among the stars. Police are dogs of tyranny. They restrict citizens' freedom for evil laws."

Fro grew more confused. Finally, he inferred based on his knowledge that Aelina must be the daughter of a human Archmage, spoiled since childhood, who loved reading fantasy novels. His sister had bought one called "From Home to the Moon." He'd read it—it was far-fetched. The people in it actually built a rocket to send humans to the moon.

Thinking this way, in Fro's mind, Aelina became a spoiled girl with her head full of fantasy books. In her rebellious phase, she angrily piloted her family's magical vehicle and crashed into a strange plane. Whether such a magical family existed, he didn't know. Anyway, anything wondrous was just magic.

"So, can your Molecular... Reconstructor thingy, this magic wand, decompose a person?"

"If it could, you wouldn't need to swing your sword," she said. "The Molecular Reconstructor can't decompose living beings. Nor can it decompose the clothing or armor of any sentient being."

"I know that," the elf said happily, glad to finally understand something. "Xina told me. These are called sentient items. For a mage to alter them, they must contend with the owner's will."

"This isn't magic. It's technology... never mind, you wouldn't know anyway. Your turn, elf."

"I am Fro, twenty-four years old," he said. "I come from a remote town in the Freya Empire, ruled by the great Queen. My father was a servant to a noble, with the privilege to fight alongside him. Under his guidance, my swordsmanship is decent. My childhood friend is a mage; she taught me some simple Elemental Spells. Her Majesty the Queen needs her subjects. I answered her call to war and am heading to the front lines to report. I hope to buy the necessary battlefield equipment before my reporting day."

"How many days left?"

"Two months. I must arrive before winter. We reorganize and train during winter, then launch an offensive against the god-worshippers in spring."

War? She loved war. War meant a need for efficient killing technology. It meant ineffective traditions would be discarded. It meant she would seize power.

"Two months? Too long. By then, you could bring a herd of horses to report," Aelina said.

"Are you sure? It takes twenty days just to travel from home to the front lines to report. I've already traveled for ten days."

"Earn while you travel," she said. "But on one condition: you must listen to me."

Fro frowned, then sighed. "What choice do I have?"

"Shh." Aelina suddenly placed her index finger on her lips. "Quiet. It seems someone has caught up to us. I hear dogs barking."

"Dogs? Damn hounds can smell our trail. But how could they be so fast?"

A cold wind blew under her empty skirt. Aelina blushed. It must be the scent from that underwear.

"Let's run away quickly, Aelina? What are you doing?"

Aelina was taking off her backpack, dumping the leather and cloth inside onto the ground. In front of Fro, she sat on the stone chair, removed her long boots, and lifted her slender, pale legs. Seeing her snow-white feet, Fro felt a surge of impulse and turned away embarrassedly. Aelina, holding the Molecular Reconstructor in one hand, decomposed the cloth and leather on the ground into snow-white boot shafts on her long legs.

Fro couldn't help but turn back. He'd never seen or heard of such boots. They looked like a combination of leather stockings and boots. Thick, the stockings extended to the alluring tops of her thighs, ending with a ring of snow-white cloth flowers. On one side, copper buttons tightly wrapped them around Aelina's long legs, outlining their alluring curves. Wearing them, Aelina looked agile and capable.

She decomposed the snow-white hem of her skirt, forming a pair of snow-white panties. She was about to put them on in front of him. Wait!

Fro suddenly realized something. Had she been not wearing any underwear the whole way? He blushed so hotly he quickly turned away, looking elsewhere. But his mind couldn't help but wander. She had been bare all along, grabbing his hand as they ran out of the slave camp. The wind blew through the forest, under her skirt, and brushed past his cheek...

"Done. Huh? Fro, what are you spacing out about?"

"Nothing, nothing."

"Follow me," she said, scanning the ground. The stone chairs vanished, and everything returned to normal. "I have a way to shake them off."

"Huh? What?" He finally reacted as Aelina pulled him to run. Under the moonlight, they ran through the forest, jumped over bushes, circled around hills. The barking of vicious dogs followed incessantly. Fro occasionally looked back, seeing a few torches shining in the distant forest. In the torchlight, he saw the fierce face of Harelip Durant. Sensing his gaze, Durant roared angrily, the bright red scar on his lips writhing.

He suddenly noticed the Silverhaired Maiden running while emitting blue light from the "Molecular Reconstructor" backward.

"Aelina!" he shouted. "Your magic wand—it's glowing and exposing us!"

"I know." She turned off the Molecular Reconstructor and stopped behind a small hill.

"What's wrong? We haven't shaken them off yet."

"Shh." She gestured for Fro to be quiet and pointed to a small steep slope. In the uneven forest, such slopes were everywhere. "I'm going to build a shelter soon."

"A shelter?" he asked in disbelief, widening his eyes. He didn't see anything resembling a cave.

Aelina stepped forward and poked the steep slope with her finger; the soil was soft. She raised the Molecular Reconstructor. Only then did he notice it was now wrapped in a thin silver metal shell to block the light. Pressed against the slope, it emitted blue light. The soft soil melted like snow, revealing tree roots. The soil turned into a wisp of smoke. As she "dug the hole," she turned around and placed the soil under the fallen leaves.

Soon, she walked into the cave, passing through the tree roots. Fro followed. Though he'd seen Aelina's power several times, he still couldn't help feeling amazed. The damp, cold tree roots were clean and dry, not a speck of dirt. Worried the cave might collapse, he touched the cave wall and found it was hard stone.

As if reading his mind, Aelina said, "I scanned the rock structure earlier. I turned some soil into stone. Move aside, I need to throw the soil out."

He quickly turned around, leaning against the stone wall. Aelina turned and went out, carefully shielding the blue light, sweeping the grayish-yellow dust out.

"Wait."

The barking of dogs outside grew closer.

"Hmm?" Aelina glanced at him but didn't stop. "They won't find us that quickly. I just used the Molecular Reconstructor to cover our tracks and scent."

"No," he said, reaching out to carefully flick a small insect off Aelina's ear. "A bug landed on your cat ear."

"That's a cat-ear communicator..."

When the passage was six meters long, Aelina turned to seal the entrance. At the doorway, a pile of soil turned into smoke. Layers of soil appeared from the entrance, wrapping around the tree roots. The last bit of moonlight vanished. The cave was pitch dark. He could only see Aelina's slightly glowing golden eyes.

The cave was six meters long, two meters wide, and two and a half meters high. Being inside felt inexplicably oppressive. Outside, faint chaotic footsteps and shouts could be heard. Aelina felt a bit nervous, though reason told her everything was as planned; they would never discover this shelter. In the darkness, they could hear each other's breathing: one even and calm, the other frantic and heavy.

At that moment, unsettling sounds of searching came from the cave "entrance." It seemed someone suspected something, prodding with weapons.

"Ae... Aelina." Fro's voice echoed in the cave. "I feel like I can't catch my breath."

"There's enough oxygen. You're panicking," Aelina said. The Molecular Reconstructor in her hand emitted a reassuring pale blue light for the elf. She decomposed the soil behind and filled the entrance, allowing her to keep moving forward.

"Great. Even if they know about the shelter, they couldn't dig through."

"Hmm? I thought you were suffering from oxygen deprivation," Aelina said calmly. She turned to see the elf's face flushed with shame. Good. The first step of the taming plan—establishing authority—was a great success. In reality, Aelina was also a bit worried. After all, she didn't know much about the monkeys on this primitive planet.

"Another 2.63 meters forward, we'll be under a dead tree stump. We can open a ventilation hole there."

"How do you know that?"

Aelina realized it was very easy to amaze the Golden Ape.

"I have it all memorized."

"It can't be that accurate," he shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"Oh?" She stopped, turned around, and used the Molecular Reconstructor to draw a line on the ground. "Let's make a bet. I draw a line here. I walk to the center point of the dead tree and draw another line. The distance between them will be exactly 2.63 meters. I'll create a ruler and use the Molecular Reconstructor to emit light and measure it for you. Want to bet?"

"What's the wager?"

"Anything. This is too easy. No challenge. Bet whatever you want."

"I want a kiss from you," he said. "If I lose, I'll give you a kiss—Ow! Why did you hit my forehead?"

"Greedy."