Civilization: Beyond Two Worlds

413 You’re Stronger Now

“Believe it or not.”

The Phoenix King’s voice was calm and casual.

It was as if she really did not care what Kang De thought.

The unfilial son attached to Kang De’s left arm stabbed at the right time.

!!

Or rather, he had done a little work.

“Actually, ma’am.”

A huge red electronic eye lit up where Kang De’s shoulder was, making its old father look like he had gone from a Winter Soldier to a G-virus infection.

Horus said in a low voice, “If you don’t care, why explain and specially say things like ‘Believe it or not’? Moreover, you still stayed here to wait for Father to come? I don’t understand.”

“…Shut up!”

Kang De and Delilah shouted at the same time.

However, clearly, humans and elves were definitely thinking of two different things.

After saying it in unison, Kang De and the Phoenix King looked at each other and looked away at the same time.

“…In short,” Kang De said, “are you alright?”

After he said it, he realized that he had asked a stupid question. What a joke. That was the Phoenix King, one of the few experts in the world. Moreover, the battle had ended in such a short period of time. He would definitely be crushed.

As expected, Delilah snorted and said stiffly, “I’m fine.”

“Then…” Kang De looked around, “What about the intruder?”

“Of course I captured him.”

“…Where is it?”

The Phoenix King said indifferently, “Does it have anything to do with you?”

Kang De was stunned for a moment, then he pressed his palms together and lowered his head, “Kind and benevolent, the beautiful and cute Phoenix King, please reward a mere captive to me.”

His iron son on his left arm shook slightly.

—You’re really something, Father.

At the same time, there was the sound of armor rubbing. The Phoenix King even subconsciously took two steps back. Her voice was stunned and shaken, then she shouted, “Your words are frivolous! How rude! How rude!”

Then, her voice became softer, and her head in the full phoenix-winged helmet shook slightly from side to side, “My… my kindness can only be bestowed to my people!”

The red electronic eyes opened again. “As everyone knows, Father, marriage is the highest form of connection.”

“—Shut up!”

“Yes.”

The unfamiliar, awkward, and hostile feeling brought about by Kang De and Delilah’s first reunion after the battle of Red Maple City was washed away.

“In… in short!”

After a moment of silence, the Phoenix King forced her voice to become cold and hard again, “Before the peace treaty is signed, we’re still enemies! As the Emperor of the elves, I can’t provide for the enemy! However, the exchange is fine! I can’t hand over the people I captured to you for nothing!”

He understood.

Kang De understood.

Then, he raised a finger and offered a price, “Ten boxes of Sprite.”

“Alright… I don’t want this!”

“Add five boxes of Wave Taste Immortals1.”

“…Do you think such a childish suggestion can send me away?”

“Ten boxes of lard.”

“…Hey!”

“The White Rabbit Toffee that can drown you.”

“Uh…”

An imperceptible swallowing sound.

“Alright, let’s not joke anymore.”

Seeing that it was about time, Kang De stopped joking.

He had already grasped this measurement when he was in Valentine. According to the awkward relationship between the two of them, Tag… the upper limit of Delilah’s patience had to be shortened by 20%. She had given up on pretending and showing her true appearance. The mentality of the female elf was even harder to grasp and get along with, leaving behind the chaotic and unpredictable part. The current Delilah could probably endure about 60% of the teasing during Valentine’s time—speak of which, why did he calculate this?

He said seriously, “Then, Your Majesty, please state your conditions.”

When the Phoenix King heard this, she looked at him quietly. This gaze brought a lot of pressure. Most importantly, the other party’s face was hidden in the battle helmet. Not to mention his expression, she could not even see his eyes. Because she could not see his expression, she could not determine his mental activities and intentions.

After all, she was the Phoenix King now, so he could not treat her like he interacted with “Tagris”.

Just as he was thinking, he heard Delilah ask, “Have you… done that with Princess Tina?”

Kang De’s expression became strange.

What kind of question was this?

However, he still said honestly, “No.”

After all, the Phoenix Vision saw through people. It was meaningless to lie and he would be mocked.

The Phoenix King did not speak when she heard this. Because she was wearing a helmet, he could not tell her expression.

“Father, her figure has changed subtly. The reason is that her tense body has begun to relax. Moreover, with the center of her body as the axis, her body has swayed less than one degree…”

...

His left arm flipped under his iron son’s lead. The five fingers of his left hand closed, and such words appeared in his palm, flickering with a red light. They appeared one after another and disappeared one after another.

Kang De glanced at it. Before he could think of anything, he heard the Phoenix King ask, “Why not? Is she unwilling? You saved Goethe, but she doesn’t even plan to express this gratitude?”

His words were clearly filled with injustice for Kang De—but what was with that faint smile?

Before he could speak, the Phoenix King said, “Tell the truth! You’re not allowed to lie! From now on, I’ll be watching you. You have to be honest. If there’s any lie, I’ll leave immediately. Don’t even think about seeing the criminal who attacked the Maple Leaf Palace a second time in your life.”

Kang De sighed. “Alright… I don’t know Tina’s plan, but if it’s my thoughts, I don’t have such thoughts. I’m not helping Goethe for reasons like Tina’s body. My motive stems from the sacrifice of my friend and the more intense emotions and will of the brave, not simply love, pursuit, or simping mentality…”

The sacrifice of her friend, the resistance and will of the Goethe people. The Phoenix King had only heard these motives and reasons. She grasped the most important information. “You don’t love Tina?”

“If it’s the kind of love that I can sacrifice everything for her and have to spend the rest of my life with her and have many children, it has to be her in this life. I’d rather die without her. If it’s such love, there’s no such love for the time being.”

—For the time being.

The Phoenix King asked again, “Then, do you plan to marry Tina?”

In the eyes of the king or most people in this world, marriage and love were not necessarily related.

Kang De shrugged and said, “Not yet.”

...

“Why not?” Delilah said. “Even I’ll praise Princess Tina’s looks. She looks like a good woman and is grateful enough to you. You also have enough good feelings for each other. Love can be nurtured after marriage. Marrying Princess Goethe will stabilize your alliance and…”

Kang De interrupted her and sighed. “I’m not used to making my marriage utilitarian. I don’t plan to get married for the time being. There’s only one reason…”

“Why? I want to know.”

—Wow, you’re so gossipy.

In the other party’s vision, Kang De sighed. In order to let the Phoenix King see more clearly that he was not lying, he looked up into the other party’s eyes, but his eyes could not help but glance to the side and he said softly, “Because… I haven’t decided.”

Tina, Xiaoman, the gorilla, and even other women… These beautiful faces appeared in his mind one after another. He was not stupid. He knew Tina’s deep feelings and the gorilla’s attachment to him. He did not choose any of the gentle boys in the Japanese manga story. He would rather delay it because after choosing, all the old relationships would immediately deteriorate and disintegrate, leading to a chaotic future.

Escaping was shameful but useful. Therefore, the happy love comedy could continue. Let’s talk about tomorrow tomorrow. Moreover, men were all pigs. Only children made choices. Kang De thought that he was already a mature adult. There was also stupid, naive, and greedy ambition in the depths of his heart, and that was…

“—Dream on!”

The Phoenix King’s shout sounded in his mind, shattering his naive thoughts.

Kang De returned to his senses and met Delilah’s gaze. He saw only two balls of raging phoenix flames coming out of the phoenix-winged helmet’s T-shaped opening. It was the Phoenix King condemning and judging him with an unprecedented stern gaze.

This gaze evoked his shame, making him feel like a shameful dog on the Chinese Internet social media platform. He was surrounded by boxers from all directions and surrounded by them like a meteor. He trembled and his hands and feet were cold, and he broke out in cold sweat on a hot day.

He lowered his head in shame and apologized for his greed, delusions, and objectification of women. “I’m sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have such shameful and greedy thoughts and delusions about what I shouldn’t have…”

At least at this moment, Kang De’s guilt and shame were unprecedentedly sincere. His tone was sincere, and his posture was humble. This sincerity was reflected in the Phoenix King’s vision that went straight to her heart.

Then Kang De heard Delilah’s shaken voice.

“I… my tone is a little harsh. Actually… actually, it’s not impossible… No… I mean… forget it! What do you want to do with me?!”

Her tone became louder and impatient. “You can do whatever you want! It’s none of my business!”

Kang De saw that the flames in the helmet were even more dazzling. That light almost filled the entire helmet. The Phoenix King’s voice sounded again, “Then… I’ll say my conditions!”

“…Please speak.”

“There’s only one condition for taking a captive from me!” The Phoenix King announced. “That’s you, Kang De. You’re not allowed to marry Tina Tedrell!”

Huh?

Kang De revealed a confused expression. ‘Where did you come from, Zhou Zhiruo?’

He said in surprise, “Why?”

“There’s no reason!”

Delilah first said very kingly words forcefully, then she felt that she needed to explain, so she sneered, “If you don’t marry Tina, your relationship with Goethe won’t be completely consolidated and tied. Your righteousness won’t last. The alliance doesn’t have a foundation. Sooner or later, there’ll be a way to divide and disintegrate you… Hmph, hmph, hmph, hmph…”

—But the Grand Duke still had two daughters and a sister.

Of course, there was no need to say this in front of her. Kang De shook his head. Although this thought was good, it was meaningless. After all, just because he could not get married did not mean that he could not. Moreover, whether he got married or not was not necessarily related to whether he helped Goethe. This condition was not strict.

He asked, “What’s the time limit?”

Delilah said without hesitation, “Of course it’s permanent!”

“That won’t do.” Kang De looked at the Phoenix King, “I’ll be at a disadvantage if I exchange this permanent promise for a captive. This is not a fair deal.”

The flames in the Phoenix King’s helmet burned brighter. “What are you delusional about now?”

After a moment, she snorted. “Forget it. Then the time limit is that you can’t marry Tina until everything is resolved this time—is that okay?”

Kang De frowned and said, “What happened this time? Do you mean the war between Goethe and the elves?”

“Of course not… Kang De, the council started a war behind my back. Where did their courage come from? Who was the mastermind of the attack tonight? Kang De, although I’m not conclusive, I can sense malice from the unseen world. The operation I targeted last time was unintentionally defeated, those enemies won’t let the matter rest. You helped Goethe and displayed more and more influence and deterrence, and the potential threat you face became greater. You’d better distinguish who’s the enemy and who’s the friend.”

Kang De’s heart skipped a beat.

The enemy from outer space.

That was one of the main reasons why Delilah had come to Valentine. The attack on him had been unintentionally defeated by Sword Saint Snowfall. However, according to Hillmelia, that was a powerful enemy that was rare in her life. Moreover, before she accepted the battle, the other party had consumed a lot of energy and was quite injured. Otherwise, she might not have been able to survive.

He asked, “Is the attack tonight… related to them?”

“I don’t know, and I won’t interfere with your judgment. As far as I know, not only will they directly send their lackeys, but there are also hidden servants in the mortal world. However, it’s up to you to determine if the enemy who planned tonight’s change is an enemy from outer space or the mortal world.”

The Phoenix King said, “Then, do you agree?”

Kang De confirmed, “So, you mean that when we overturn those visitors from outer space…”

“How long-winded! Then it’ll be until I clear the internal troubles of the elves and end the conflict between the Goethe and Moon!” She said unhappily, “If you bargain any longer, I’ll leave!”

“Alright, alright, alright!” Kang De said. “Deal! Deal!”

The Phoenix King snorted again and waved the King’s Sword. The sword opened the void, and a figure covered in blood fell out, “I’ll attach a restriction secret technique to the Twilight royal family. You don’t have to worry about what he’ll do.”

She glanced outside. “The Goethe people who can’t become your wife, aunt, father-in-law, and sister-in-law for the time being are coming back. I don’t want to see them. Let’s go. Right, this…”

She seemed to want to take out something when she heard Kang De shout, “Wait!”

Delilah stopped.

Kang De said, “That move just now… you can hide things in some space?”

The Phoenix King said, “This is relatively troublesome to teach… No, I don’t want to teach you!”

—Who wants you to teach me? I have a portable space too. It’ll scare you to death if I take it out.

Kang De shook his head and said, “Wait.”

After breaking through the dim light and returning to the white fog world, he went straight to a certain part of the district. In less than a minute, he appeared again with large and small boxes. This was prepared long ago.

“Take it. It’s all your favorite food.”

Kang De carried the box that was twice his height and walked to Delilah. “There’s a place to put it, right? Otherwise, you can only carry it out of Red Maple City like this.”

Without a word, Delilah took the box. An opening opened in the space, and these things instantly disappeared.

Before leaving, she roughly stuffed the thing in her hand into Kang De’s pocket.

“Take it, weak guy,” she said roughly. “Return the gift. If you’re suspicious, throw it away.”

Before Kang De could take it out, the other party’s figure flashed and disappeared.

Kang De took out that thing. It was a simple ring engraved with holy patterns. The shape was not the style of the elves, and it shone with a very familiar light… Right!

Kang De immediately recalled that this power fluctuation was completely the same as the crimson scroll the Grand Duke had given him.

This was…

He looked up. The Phoenix King had already disappeared. Clearly, Delilah had the same bad habit as the gods—not giving him instructions.

“‘Father.”

His iron son spoke again.

“Yes?”

Horus’s voice was serious, impressed, and convinced, “I admit that you’re stronger now. I lost. I still have a lot to learn.”

“Hmm???”

No matter what, tonight had not been in vain.

Kang De looked at the captive who had been beaten up by the Phoenix King. The other party was lying on the ground like a dead pig.

—I spent more than a thousand yuan to buy it.

We have to get closer.