CHAPTER 374: 260 GET ON THE BUS FIRST, THEN BUY THE TICKET (6K)

In the darkness of the Prison of Darkness, the mysterious treehouse in the center of the Fluorescent Forest seemed enveloped by an invisible barrier.

The atmosphere inside was completely sealed, and the outside world couldn’t detect a single sound from within.

This was originally Herbert’s method of preventing Eliza from discovering his whereabouts, but at this moment, it also blocked others from exploring this place.

No one could know what was happening inside this affair.

Life or death, the outside world knew nothing.

Fortunately, within the secret space, the situation hadn’t turned dire, and there was even something quite suggestive.

Humans and dark elves intertwined in an ambiguous posture.

Herbert leaned back slightly, looking up smilingly at the Dark Elf straddling him.

While Svanni leaned slightly forward, almost lying on him.

Although Svanni’s right wrist was held by Herbert, from their posture, it seemed like Herbert was subdued by Svanni.

"..."

Svanni raised an eyebrow at Herbert’s blunt words, not moving her body but staring at Herbert’s eyes, and after a while, she slowly spoke, "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing special, just to drop those insincere probes and directly express what’s in our hearts."

Herbert chuckled, relaxed:

"Svanni, you’re a smart person, and so am I. We shouldn’t waste time probing each other anymore."

"You can’t fool me, and I can hardly fool you. Probing back and forth just seems a bit boring."

In their previous various conversations, although they seemed polite, they were actually secretly probing each other, finding each other’s limits, and thinking about how to maximize their own interests.

This is understandable, there’s nothing much to say about it.

After all, people’s hearts are hard to read, no one can guarantee one hundred percent that the other person is the one they are familiar with, you must communicate deeply to reach a conclusion.

The process of becoming friends is about understanding each other, probing each other, and finally finding a position that suits both parties, eventually writing down each other’s positions.

If they’re compatible enough, they can become friends.

If they’re not, they will return to being strangers.

If the two are exceptionally matched in all aspects, they might become close friends.

This process usually takes some time.

"Rather than spending time on these boring things, I’d rather chat with you more, hear about your past experiences, and understand your heart more deeply... Oh, don’t worry, it’s not to target you with these."

"It’s just that, I think we could become a bit more intimate, I mean spiritually."

Indeed, Herbert now felt the pace with Svanni was... too slow.

Especially when he realized that the Dark Elf’s sense of time was vastly different from his own, he was even more unwilling to waste too much time on this.

For an ordinary human, it might take three months, half a year, a year, or even two or three years to fully accept someone.

But as a long-lived race, elves have a vastly different perspective on time compared to humans.

They are too slow to warm up.

The time spent interacting could be multiplied by ten, or even fifty times!

Herbert couldn’t spend 150 years building a good relationship with Svanni.

Not to mention, among the entire Elf Race, Dark Elves are the most cautious existence.

As a ruthless race constantly on guard against betrayal from their own kin, they are better at scheming and betrayal among themselves, and rarely, very rarely, do they form friendships with others.

Since the conventional approach wasn’t suitable, a different method was needed.

"In my opinion, we might as well skip the ’getting to know each other’ step."

Herbert’s smile was bright and kind as he said, "We can become mutually trusting close friends directly."

This approach is called—first marriage, then love!

Ah, no.

Board the car first and buy the ticket later?

Hmm, that doesn’t seem quite right either.

First wealth leads... ahem, that’s even more wrong.

Forget it, anyway, it’s not about ’cooking the rice before it’s ready’, that pace is just jumping too far.

Although Svanni imagined Herbert might have some requests or intriguing ideas, she didn’t expect the pace to jump so far.

It’s important to know that before, while they were still probing each other, Herbert had given her a little intimidation, thoroughly shaking her up.

But now, with Herbert clearly in the advantageous position, he suddenly changed his mind and said to her, "Come! Let’s be close friends!"

Are you... okay?

This change was too big and too bizarre, leaving her somewhat at a loss.

"Are you saying... close friends?"

Svanni chewed on the word, her expression somewhat out of character, finding it somewhat absurd inside.

Truth be told, Svanni had never had a friend she could confide in all her life, and now suddenly, a close friend popped up.

Moreover, the relationship was declared unilaterally by this "close friend".

What exactly...

She continued to lower herself, completely pressing down on Herbert, placing another hand on his chest.

Svanni lowered her head, furrowed her brows, and stared intensely at Herbert, unsure of what he was truly thinking.

What conspiracy was there?

"What do you mean?"

But seeing her like this, Herbert instead smiled even more joyously, even lifting his head slightly.