"No... regardless of how he looks now, Li Ke shouldn't be considered weak, pitiful, and helpless... though, I suppose at this exact moment, he definitely is."
Elsa had intended to defend Li Ke's dignity, but as she looked down at the man collapsed in her lap, she trailed off. She took in his current state, hesitated for a heartbeat, and then gave Toph a slow, reluctant nod.
There was no helping it; Li Ke looked absolutely withered.
"You brat..."
Staring at Toph's guilty expression, Li Ke didn't even have the energy to snap back. He couldn't deny reality: he truly was a weak, pitiful, and helpless mess right now.
But the real kicker was that Alexstrasza seemed to have been recognized by the world's laws—likely because she had helped collect World Power fragments by incinerating those monsters. This meant she would be back, and she would be fast. His "break time" was going to be painfully short.
"Forget it. Talking to you is useless anyway."
Li Ke sighed as he looked at Toph. Expecting her to take his side was unrealistic. Alexstrasza had given her a glimpse of light for the first time in her life; naturally, she was overflowing with gratitude toward the Dragon Queen. He couldn't really blame her for being a "traitor."
"It really is a helpless situation... Fine, we'll try to talk her into slowing down a bit later. You look far too miserable like this."
Toph crossed her arms, watching Li Ke. Through her blurry new vision, she could see him completely limp against Elsa, radiating an aura of total spiritual exhaustion.
"No, there's no need," Li Ke sighed. "Getting you both home as quickly as possible is for the best. Since Her Majesty is in such a rush, it's only right to use that momentum to send you back too."
Li Ke's resignation came from the fact that Alexstrasza's reasons were just too "noble." Combined with the unique rules of the Minecraft world, he realized he could actually grind out all the required energy in a single day.
The food here literally followed "game logic"—it repaired his body instantly upon consumption. If it weren't for the fact that everything was tasteless, everything was made of blocks, and there was no one else around, it might have actually been a decent setup.
The Dragon Queen's cause was so just and her logic so airtight that he couldn't find a single excuse to refuse.
And so, he made up his mind to go through with it.
He'd been milked dry to the point that "lust" felt like a distant, meaningless concept, but he had to admit: a woman like Alexstrasza—possessing tens of thousands of years of experience yet remaining as tight as a virgin—was staggeringly pleasurable.
Her unique "draconic" internal structure was the kind of thing a man could lose himself in forever. The only problem was that it was too good; their "levels" were so mismatched that he couldn't even last long enough to savor the details.
"I see..." Elsa murmured, seeing the determined (if exhausted) look return to his eyes.
Elsa reflexively covered her chest, a flicker of insecurity crossing her face. Compared to the Dragon Queen, she felt rather plain—both in stature and in presence. It was a disheartening realization.
"Don't worry, Elsa. I'll come and find you," Li Ke said, giving her a reassuring wink. He wasn't sure exactly how much World Power it would take to track her timeline once she returned, but as long as a method existed, he'd make it happen.
"Mm... okay. You better come," Elsa replied shyly. She genuinely enjoyed being with Li Ke, but the pressing need to return home made their time together bittersweet.
Part of her wished she could stay in this world with him—after all, their "interactions" provided plenty of food, and she felt the barriers between herself and this reality dissolving through her connection with him. Leaving Arendelle to Anna wasn't an unthinkable sacrifice, but she couldn't bear to let her sister worry. Besides, the political situation back home was too volatile for Anna to handle alone, especially with all the foreign dignitaries currently in the kingdom.
"I promise, I will."
Li Ke nodded firmly. He wasn't planning on heading to Elsa's world immediately, but a visit was inevitable. He was curious to see if that world held treasures like a Magic Lamp—even if he couldn't take such items with him, the convenience they could provide was too great to ignore. He really wanted to get his hands on the treasures and "delicacies" of a fairy-tale world.
Just as Elsa was looking at Li Ke with a tender smile, Alexstrasza returned. She opened her arms, and a shower of pixelated raw meat cascaded from her person, which Li Ke promptly absorbed into his inventory.
"It seems you three are getting along quite well," Alexstrasza noted. "And Li Ke, you were right—the rules of this world are fascinating. By slaying those monsters, I've gained the authority to interact with this reality directly."
To her, this world felt like a training ground designed to teach a newborn Titan how to edit and manage a universe. If Li Ke were more powerful, she might have actually mistaken him for a Titan; unfortunately, even the weakest Titan could never be as frail as he was.
"Glad to hear it. My theory was correct, then."
Li Ke glanced at the hundreds of raw steaks in his Minecraft inventory. He had just shoved them into the furnace to cook when Alexstrasza scooped him up again.
"Good. While those are roasting, let's continue."
She looked at him with a smile. She was truly, desperately in a hurry to get back.
Li Ke: "..."
And so, Li Ke was milked dry once again. He managed a few "halftime breaks" where he gorged on Minecraft food to magically repair his tissues and replenish his fluids, but the cycle was relentless.
However, one realization drove Li Ke to the brink of despair.
Alexstrasza was clearly feeling the pleasure... but from start to finish...
She never once reached a climax.
No matter how many times Li Ke "fired," no matter how long he managed to endure, and no matter how many seconds it took him to recover afterward—for a full twenty-four hours, Alexstrasza remained as composed as a seasoned General, effortlessly handling everything he threw at her.
He felt like a low-level player dealing only 1 HP of damage per hit against a Boss with 10,000 HP and a 1,000 HP-per-second regeneration rate. It was pure despair; victory felt fundamentally impossible.
Finally, at the cost of Li Ke being completely "burned out," the energy points were topped off by midnight.
But Li Ke had been utterly defeated in the process.
"Is it finally enough?"
Alexstrasza looked at Li Ke, who was exhausted from the intense ritual. She could feel his fatigue, but the goal had been achieved. Given their limited time, efficiency had been the priority, and the energy required for their next step was finally gathered.
She gently observed him, noting that while his mortal stamina had been pushed to its absolute limit, the "System" mechanics and her own draconic influence had allowed him to persevere through the twenty-four-hour ordeal. As the Life-Binder, she felt a sense of appreciation for his persistence, even if the gap between a Dragon Aspect and a mortal was vast.
Li Ke nodded weakly, signaling that the process was complete. It had been a grueling achievement, sustained only by unique recovery abilities, but it had served its purpose.
"Then you should prepare to send the others back first," Alexstrasza said, her voice regaining its authoritative yet calm tone. She reached out, and fragments of shimmering light began to coalesce in her palm—the World Power Fragments. She handed them to Li Ke.
"Keep these. I can sense an immense, ancient power within them that I cannot tap into. However, my intuition tells me that you are the one who can truly unlock their potential."
Li Ke took the World Power Fragment from Alexstrasza's hand. The moment it touched his skin, it melted directly into his body. Just as she had predicted, a strange, primordial force surged through his veins.
Vaguely, he felt as if something ancient had anchored itself within him, granting him a sensation he couldn't quite put into words.
Sensing a fundamental change, Li Ke instinctively opened his System interface. Sure enough, the answer was waiting in his skill tree. His [Firekeeper] skill had leveled up, and its description had evolved into something entirely new.
While the core of the skill remained, the first paragraph now contained a striking new addition:
[Firekeeper LV2]: One who saves worlds from destruction. You can now utilize World Fragments to restore a devastated realm.
Dimensional Travel: You can now use the power of World Fragments to find other fragments in the other worlds and travel to them.
Note: Your mission is to save worlds; therefore, you cannot travel to a specific world unless you can sense its corresponding Fragment.
Currently Recorded Worlds: 7 Days to Die (World Power required for direct restoration: 9,999 Septillion points.)