"I've been asleep for... 300 years?!!"

Mike's eyes widened and revealed a face of utter shock.

'What on earth happened? How have I been asleep for 300 years?

'Who is this elf child in front of me? Could it be that I've been caught?'

Countless questions emerged from Mike's heart, this made his forehead involuntarily excrete out a layer of fine sweat.

However, the tense atmosphere was interrupted by a burst of laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

Mike followed the laughter and turned his head. What he saw was Timus, as he held on to his stomach and laughed crazily.

"This child is playing with you. No, to be precise, I'm playing with you. Hahahaha!"

Mike was stunned. He looked at Timus, who laughed so hard that his tears came out. He then turned his head to look at the elf child.

In an instant, the elf child had their mouth covered and laughed softly. Suddenly, Mike finally understood. He had been fooled. These two kids worked together to deceive him!

Mike smiled helplessly and slowly sat up.

Although he had no issues moving now, his strength was still very weak. From observing Mike's actions, Timus stopped smiling and frowned slightly.

"Teacher, your body..."

Timus had not finished his sentence, but Mike understood. He nodded slightly, pulled up the corner of his shirt, and lifted it under his neck.

The tender bud on his chest was immediately exposed in front of Timus and the elf child. It could be seen that this tender bud had grown a little bigger.

Beforehand, in the Great Plaza, this tender bud could only be as long as a fingernail, and it was very small.

However, now, it has grown to another thirty percent or so. Timus' expression immediately became serious. Although he did not know what this thing was, he had to resolve it as soon as possible.

The elf child blinked, his eyes were big, and looked curiously at the bud. "What is this?"

"Sir, why is your body sprouting?"

When he heard this, Mike did not know how to answer. He could not tell him that he had been planted with this seed by the Elf Queen and was extremely weak, right?

After all, this child was also an elf, so he would definitely hide it from him.

Mike could only gently stroke the child's head and say with a smile, "This is an ornament."

The child looked curiously at the tender bud and nodded, not suspecting anything. Taking this opportunity, Mike took some time to look at the small house. The facilities in the room were very simple. There was only basic daily furniture. Overall, it could be said that it was a relatively poor household.

He looked at the child and asked, "Child, what is your name? Where is your family?"

The child smiled and said, "My name is Beta. This is my home. My family has gone out to work."

"Work?" Timus also asked curiously, "Do you mean fishing? I saw that there are many fishing nets in your village."

However, the child shook his head, "It used to be fishing, but not anymore."

"What did they do now?"

"I don't know either. Last night, a group of soldiers took all the villagers away. Mom and Dad said that they would be back soon, but they haven't come back yet."

Mike and Timus looked at each other and saw a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

The soldiers took his parents away?

What happened?

Mike continued speaking, "What about the other people in the village?"

"They were all taken away," Beta looked at Mike while he explained. "Except for me, all the adults in the village were taken away, and so were the big brothers and sisters.

"Even Shuk was taken away."

Mike thought for a moment and had a guess in his heart. To confirm his hypothesis, Mike asked one last question, "How old are you this year? How old is Shuk?"

"I'm 9 years old this year, Shuk is 16 years old."

Mike nodded this time, his questions were already answered. On the other hand, Timus still had a puzzled look on his face, obviously, he did not understand what went on.

Therefore, Mike gave Timus a look and then said to Beta, "I want to go out for a walk" He also gestured for Timus to follow along.

Beta nodded slightly and said with a smile, "Okay, I'll wait for you at home."

…

At the beach, the waves gently dampened the sand at the show, and then slowly flowed back, making a crashing sound.

Even the air seemed to have a slightly salty smell.

"Teacher, do you see anything?"

Timus could not help but ask. Although he did not understand what had happened, he was not that stupid. He knew that Mike had something to say to him.

As Mike walked, he turned back to look. After he made sure that Beta did not follow him, he nodded and said, "If I'm not wrong, the people in this village could have been forcibly recruited."

"Forcibly recruited?" Timus was slightly taken aback.

Mike nodded again, "That's right.

"As everyone knows, the growth rate of the elves when they are young is about the same as that of us humans. However, when they are young, their growth rate slows down, so that their bodies can maintain their peak condition for a long time.

"It's possible that Beta was the only one in this village that has yet to reach the age of 16. Perhaps this threshold can be lower.

"In short, other than being forcibly enlisted, I can't think of any other possibilities."

After hearing Mike's words, Timus also nodded slightly. Then, he threw out another question, "But, why did the elves suddenly force upon enlistment? What's the reason for their eagerness to expand their military force?"

Mike's expression suddenly turned ugly.

He stayed silent for a while and said, "It's probably because of me, right?"

"Because of you?"

Timus was slightly stunned and could not comprehend.

Mike sighed and said, "In the eyes of the elves, I'm the murderer who killed Princess Veronica.

"Moreover, after I killed the grand princess, I even wanted to attack Princess Ulysses.

"Judging from this situation, do you think the elven queen will think that this is my personal behavior?"

Timus opened his mouth and understood, "They will think... that you were sent by humans to assassinate the two princesses?!"

"It's very possible," Mike nodded. "If that's the case, it's not strange that they suddenly want to strengthen their forces."

Mike looked up at the distant sky and sighed, "Because of me, I've enabled something…

"This continent is going to start a large-scale war!"