The raccoon cat’s eyes flashed, but it put on a charmingly naive appearance, "What benefits are you talking about? I have no idea?"
The raccoon cat’s response made Angel raise an eyebrow. Not only could it speak, but it also had a good mindset and could change its expression to adapt, which was much smarter than the Traveling Frog. The Traveling Frog’s straightforward innocence was so transparent.
"Your expressions are quite entertaining, you have a talent for being a circus performer," Angel praised, then changed the topic, "However, the correct reaction would be to question who I am and why I’m capturing you, not focus on the benefits I mentioned."
"At least you should have said something like ’I didn’t try to escape’ as a diversion," Angel said. "Your answer indirectly confirms you’ve gained a significant benefit, doesn’t it?"
Since the raccoon cat could feign weakness, it indicated it wasn’t stupid. Angel pointing this out made it realize its answer was flawed.
It couldn’t be blamed; as a Water System creature, it knew how tremendous the benefits of the residual pattern had been. From Angel’s tone, it seemed like the benefits were given by him. Not knowing how to repay, it automatically focused on the benefits and overlooked other details.
Moreover, although the raccoon cat had some small smarts, as an elemental creature never exposed to the outside world, it was inferior in cunning compared to humans by a wide margin.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," even when pointed out, the raccoon cat didn’t dare to admit it and still displayed an evasive attitude.
"Alright, let’s put this aside and talk about something else," Angel didn’t continue to provoke the raccoon cat but changed the topic, "Are you from the Malaya Ice Mountain?"
The raccoon cat didn’t speak, but Angel could tell from its eyes that it wasn’t a Water System creature from the Malaya Ice Mountain.
Angel didn’t continue to ask where the raccoon cat came from. He raised the question just to tell the raccoon cat he knew of the "Malaya Ice Mountain."
Because, in the next sentence, he dropped a bombshell.
"You are not in your original world right now."
The raccoon cat and the Traveling Frog both looked at Angel, eyes filled with disbelief and suspicion.
Angel gently patted the Traveling Frog’s head, then looked at the raccoon cat, "You should recognize this Traveling Frog, right?"
Before this, after absorbing the residual pattern, the raccoon cat had already noticed the Traveling Frog when it secretly observed Angel. After careful observation of the trademark fiery red maple sack on the Traveling Frog’s back, it could conclude that this was the same pesky guy.
What made the raccoon cat curious was that the Traveling Frog it knew was a mature one. Why was this one an Elemental Sprite? Moreover, its body seemed much smaller too.
"I recognize it," the raccoon cat said bitterly, "This guy came to my doorstep to steal gems and got caught by me, yet it still wanted to escape!"
"Ribbit ribbit——" The Traveling Frog anxiously tried to argue something, but all it could utter was ribbits.
The raccoon cat, seeing this scene, said, "I know you want to say the gems were just lying on the shore, and you picked them up. But think about it, have the gems you picked up outside ever been polished? All my gems have been ground smooth, obviously not something you find casually."
Listening to the raccoon cat scolding and the Traveling Frog ribbiting, Angel somewhat understood why these two were fighting in the valley. The Traveling Frog loved collecting gems from various places and ended up taking the gems the raccoon cat laid outside. Upon discovery, it sparked a grand confrontation.
From the Traveling Frog’s aggrieved expression, Angel could tell it was likely unintentional.
The raccoon cat could precisely guess the Traveling Frog’s mindset and probably had thought the same thing. The subsequent fierce battle, Angel guessed, might have involved other water and fire disputes intermixed.
However, these aren’t particularly significant concerning the current situation.
Angel forcefully intervened in their quarrel, "Who’s right or wrong, you can argue later. Right now, I want to tell you that, as you’ve also noticed, your bodies are different from before."
The raccoon cat and the Traveling Frog simultaneously paused, each looking at their current bodies with varying degrees of complexity.
"Why are your bodies different? I’ve already mentioned this earlier; this is another world, which you can think of as a world of dreams. In the dream world, your bodies have been reshaped."
The raccoon cat still didn’t believe in the so-called dream world but didn’t hold onto this issue. Instead, it asked about the actual situation, "If this is a dream world, what happened to my real-world body?"
Angel: "If you still have memories, you should know... what happened to your real-world body."
The raccoon cat and the Traveling Frog remained silent; they did remember a few things but didn’t want to dwell on them. Because if their memories were correct, they might have... died.
"Judging by your expressions, you should still remember," Angel said, "Your memories are real; your real-world bodies indeed suffered nearly irreversible damage—"
"Your elemental cores have cracks."
The answer had already surfaced in the raccoon cat and the Traveling Frog’s hearts, ignored because they didn’t want to recall it.
Seeing the sadness on their faces, Angel continued, "However, it’s only nearly irreversible. I used some methods to prevent your elemental cores from shattering immediately, allowing your vitality to persist for a while."
"Moreover, in the real world, I’m carrying your bodies, trying to find ways to heal them. And how to heal them, you should know."
Because Angel talked about their bodies’ conditions, the raccoon cat also started believing his words. It didn’t want to die either, so it immediately said, "I come from the Rain Forest, our..."
Before the raccoon cat could finish, Angel said, "I know Mr. Magu and Mr. Akimo, so even without going to the Rain Forest, I can heal your wounds."
The raccoon cat and the Traveling Frog had naturally heard of Magu and Akimo’s names, who were The Sages of the Region of Fire and Malaya Ice Mountain, respectively. If Angel knew these two, he would indeed be able to heal them easily.
Angel: "First of all, I need to tell you that I’m a human. In the human world, the Law of equivalent exchange is followed. Naturally, I won’t heal you for free. More so, I’ve given you two bodies in the dream."
The raccoon cat pondered, "What do you want?"
Angel curled his lips, "In the dream world you are in now, currently, only you two are elemental creatures from reality. To explore further the performance of elemental creatures here, I need to obtain your detailed data."
"Our data? What do you mean by that?" The raccoon cat did not understand.
Angel smiled and said, "You’ll soon find out; rest assured, it won’t harm you."
At the same time, Angel silently added in his heart: Even if it really goes wrong, it won’t affect your real bodies...