Chapter 112: The Elves of Proxima II

“Are those… elves?”

George stared, completely dumbfounded.

Truth be told, there was a secret he’d never shared with anyone—

He’d always been obsessed with elves since childhood, often dreaming about what it would be like if elves were real.

And right now…

What was he even seeing?

This was real life, not some fantasy. Elves—

Did they actually exist?

Beside him, Lin Yu and Lu Bo looked just as stunned.

After all, who on Earth didn’t recognize the classic features of elves?

“Dr. Lu, what’s your take on this?”

“What can I even say? The universe really never runs out of surprises…”

Just 4.22 light-years from Earth, here was an advanced intelligent species straight out of human imagination, matching it down to every detail.

The odds of that happening…

Honestly, it was so unlikely it bordered on impossible.

Yet somehow, it had happened anyway.

“Any idea how advanced their technology is?”

“Take a look at this and you’ll see!”

Instead of answering, Lu Bo pulled up a live feed from another surveillance drone stationed in the habitable zone.

Onscreen was a creature every human would recognize.

A dragon. To be precise, a Western black dragon.

Its scales were an inky black, its body about 60 meters long not counting the tail. In front of it stood over a dozen elf girls, each armed with a bow.

Compared to the black dragon, they looked tiny.

But their quick footwork and flawless teamwork almost completely made up for their massive disadvantage.

Arrows flew one after another, sinking deep into the dragon’s hide.

The dragon roared in pain, then finally had to take flight and flee.

“Their weapons are stuck in the cold weapons era—way behind us. But physically… they’re almost as strong as an adult male Klein, and they’re a lot faster and more agile.”

“If we fought them using only swords and bows, we’d be slaughtered. No contest.”

“But with modern weaponry, it’d be the opposite. We’d wipe them out completely. That’s pretty much how things stand.”

Hearing this, Lin Yu visibly relaxed.

Because—

According to Lu Bo, with humanity’s current technology, taking them out would be easy.

That was definitely reassuring.

Of course, Lin Yu wasn’t about to give the order to launch an orbital strike and wipe out the elves just yet.

Instead, something else had sparked his curiosity.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any male elves so far. Could it be…”

“You’re right. We still don’t know how they reproduce, but as far as we can tell, their entire species is female.”

“So… is it possible for humans and elves to have hybrid offspring?”

Lu Bo gave Lin Yu a deep, searching look.

It was like he was silently saying, ‘You’ve already got the most beautiful woman in all humanity as your wife and you’re still eyeing the elf girls?’

Of course, if Lin Yu knew what Lu Bo was thinking right now, he’d definitely cry injustice.

Because—

He was just wondering if elves could help humanity fix the population imbalance. After all, the latest Federation data showed males now made up 55.4% of the population…

So, if elves and humans could have kids together—

Wouldn’t that help solve the problem?

He honestly had never considered what Lu Bo was imagining.

“Until we’ve studied the elves’ biology, I can’t give you an answer!”

“Then should we capture one?”

“Whoa, aren’t you a bit too eager?”

“Can’t help it. This could affect the Federation’s grand strategy!”

Lu Bo was floored.

He’d thought Lin Yu wanted to mess around with the elf girls while he was off on another planet.

When did this become a matter of national strategy?

“Wait, you mean… you weren’t just thinking about those elf girls?”

“Of course not! You’re way off. I’m just considering whether letting humans and elves interbreed could be a viable way to fix the gender imbalance…”

“Alright, that’s on me. Go ahead and bring one back, I’ll take a closer look!”

“No problem, I’ll arrange it.”

Lin Yu nodded.

Elf girls might pack a punch in a fight, but against a mech, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

Capturing one wouldn’t be hard at all.

Of course, Lin Yu didn’t plan to let the elves know about humanity just yet. So even though it wasn’t difficult, it still had to be done quietly.

——

The next day.

Lu Bo and the team kept watching through satellites in orbit and high-altitude drones inside the atmosphere.

They kept gathering data, learning about the planet’s creatures and how they interacted.

That’s when Lu Bo made an interesting discovery—

The black dragons didn’t actually live in the habitable zone. Their territory was on the dark, starless side of Proxima II.

A place permanently shrouded in darkness and bitter cold.

Temperatures there stayed around minus 80 degrees Celsius. Survival was brutally tough.

Aside from the black dragons, no other creatures lived there. You could barely even find any plants.

To survive, the black dragons had to hunt in the twilight band between night and day.

But within the habitable zone, the elves were clearly the dominant force, defending the region from dragon incursions.

Other creatures sometimes fought alongside the elves, serving as mounts in battle.

Still, the habitable zone circled the whole planet and was massive. There were times the elves simply couldn’t respond fast enough, so black dragon raids succeeded about half the time.

Enough to keep their species alive, but not enough to let their numbers grow much.

So, the planet ended up maintaining this strange, delicate balance.

What the elves didn’t know was—

The black dragons had been preparing for centuries.

They endured hunger and cold, with elderly dragons even sacrificing themselves as food for the young.

Over time, living in those harsh conditions, the black dragons adapted the ability to hibernate.

Now, they spent most of their lives asleep.

And so—

The dragon population had multiplied several times over in the last hundred years.

But the dragons were clever, never letting the elves suspect they’d grown so powerful.

Instead, they kept quiet, waiting for the perfect moment to defeat the elves in one decisive strike.

Their plan was to conquer the entire habitable zone, turning every living thing there into nourishment for their kind.

Honestly, that century-long scheme would have succeeded without a hitch.

But none of them expected that just as victory was within reach, humanity would appear.

And with overwhelming technology, humans—

Effortlessly uncovered the dragons’ ultimate secret, which they’d kept hidden for centuries.