Chapter 496: An Ending That Cannot Be Chosen (8,200 words)

The green train shuttled through the clouds at a very fast speed.

Feng Qi sat by the window, looking down at the land of the Central District that occasionally flashed through the gaps in the clouds.

He was not surprised that the vine track was built above the clouds. After all, the world had changed, and there were many domain creatures in the outside world.

If the track was built on the ground, it would be easy to be damaged in various ways.

He even felt that it was not safe above the clouds. After all, there were so many domain creatures that could fly that it would be easy to destroy the green plant track.

Feng Qi was very curious about how the people in the Central District dealt with this problem.

His doubts soon had an answer. He

only heard a sharp cry coming from above his head, and Feng Qi immediately looked up. Through the gaps between the branches and leaves, he saw a strange bird with brown feathers all over its body. Its wingspan was five meters long, and a pair of sharp claws flashed sharp light in the sun, grabbing the green train at a very fast speed.

Seeing this scene, Feng Qi's eyes turned cold.

The magic knife floating beside him was held in his hand.

But just as he was about to take action, he saw the green train suddenly begin to disintegrate.

Except for the platform under their feet, the overall frame of the green train was pulled out, and the branches were twisted together like ropes, turning into several vines that instantly entangled the strange bird.

The strange bird bound by the vines began to struggle violently and made a shrill cry.

But the struggle was completely useless. The vines tightened very quickly, and the sharp head pierced into the body of the strange bird, extracting blood.

Just like a straw, it extracted all the blood in the body of the strange bird.

In the end, the strange bird, whose blood was drained out of its body, was thrown down from the clouds by the vines. The shaking vines soon decomposed and twisted to weave into the train frame again.

It was just that there was a touch of red flowing in the branches and leaves that made up the train.

As the green train sped away, the red was absorbed and dissipated, and white flowers bloomed in the carriage, exuding a fresh fragrance.

After the episode, Feng Qi finally understood why this green track on the cloud could exist safely.

He suspected that not only this green train, but also the entire green track had the ability to fight back.

There is no need for manual duty and vigilance. The entire transportation system is full of weapons and is not afraid of harassment from domain creatures.

This makes Feng Qi curious about the development of civilization in the central area.

What kind of new civilization can be born from the combination of plant capabilities and human wisdom.

The green train continued to run, and the strong wind poured into the carriage along the gaps in the car body, as if flying freely among the clouds.

During this period, Feng Qi told Xiao You and others to stay close to him and not to stay away without authorization.

One thing that can be made clear is that the elves, who have already integrated with human civilization, have evolved the ability to identify humans.

Xiao You and others can be protected from the attacks of elves in the area covered by their own breath, but once they leave a distance of ten meters, they will inevitably be strangled by the elves like the strange bird that suddenly attacked.

They are now in the sky.

It will be very troublesome to fight here. More importantly, they may have to fight not only the green train, but the power of the entire track.

This journey took most of the day.

When the sun disappeared and the bright starry sky emerged, the green train began to dive down.

A strong sense of weightlessness came, as if falling from the clouds.

But this level of pressure is insignificant to Feng Qi, and even his expression did not change.

The train passed through the thick clouds, and the scene presented in sight was like a fairyland.

Looking down at the earth, at the end of the sight is a majestic city covered with green plants.

The city exudes a hazy green light in the night, and a layer of cloud-like gas is diffused in the sky. The closer you get to the city, the more spiritual energy content in the air begins to increase significantly.

The train passed over the city gate and continued to dive in the direction of the platform.

Sitting by the window, Feng Qi's eyes swept across the scene in the city.

The streets of this city are neat, and the street lights along the way are made of a kind of peculiarly shaped trees. They grow every eight meters, and the fruits hanging from the top emit a soft and hazy light in the night, illuminating the streets.

The ground of the street is covered with various mosses.

These mosses seem to have the function of absorbing spiritual energy, constantly extracting the free spiritual energy between heaven and earth, so that the quality and content of the spiritual energy of the entire city have been improved.

There are also criss-crossing green plant tracks above the city.

There are no modern vehicles, only rail cars woven with green plants.

Five hundred years after the disaster, it seems that the metal texture that technology should have has been lost, but it has gained another form of vigorous vitality.

To be more precise, the people in the central area have mastered a new plant technology.

Every corner of the city can see the changes that this new technology has brought to the human civilization in the central area.

The green plant city under perception seems to have a soul-capturing formation covering the entire city.

This is not a domain field world, but the aura content and quality here are not worse than some domain field worlds.

If he hadn't heard the old man talk about the potential hidden dangers of the elves, he would have thought that the people in the central area had mastered a new system power that was more powerful than the cultivation system.

But after knowing the answer, he understood that the prosperity in front of him was like a mirage, and it did not belong to humans in essence.

All of this belongs to the Elf King.

When the Elf King chooses to abandon humans, the civilization built by the people in the central area with the power of the elves will collapse, and humans will not have any chance to resist.

This symbiotic model is separated from the basis of cooperation and is more like a kind of dependence.

While admiring the prosperity of the green city, Feng Qi also saw the root of evil buried deep under civilization.

The green train passed through the city and arrived at the central area of ​​the southern part of the city, stopping at a quiet and deserted platform.

After getting off the train, the platform was softly lit, and there were many tribute slogans on the surrounding walls.

Looking up to the left side of the platform, there were stairs leading down from the platform.

Above the stairs hung a signboard with a faint green light, on which was printed a line of words:

South District Front: Forward Station - Subsequent Station.

It can be seen that this is the terminal station exclusively for veterans.

Coming here proves that life is about to reach the end of being assimilated by the elves.

Once you step on the front line, you will never return.

The end of life is not to return to the roots, but to dedicate to the front line and become part of the wall barrier to resist invasion.

Without thinking much about this problem, he led Xiaoyou and others to the stairs down from the platform.

The stairs were made of green plants.

The moment he stepped on them, the stairs seemed to come alive and began to crawl downwards. He didn't need to walk at all, and stepped on the steps under his feet to reach the next level.

Following the sign, they walked out of the platform area.

The scene in front of them seemed like a magical world.

Flowers bloomed along the way, and the lantern fruits hanging from the trees caused Xiaoyou to exclaim. If it weren't for Po Jia grabbing Xiaoyou's feet to prevent her from being impulsive, Xiaoyou might have pounced on it and taken a big bite.

Continue walking along the road for a distance.

There are many green carriages parked in front.

The bottom of these carriages is connected to the track woven with vines, and it is the main means of transportation in this city.

But before he got on the train and let the carriage take them to the crowded area in the city, the fruit hanging above his head changed color.

I saw a huge fruit cracked and turned into a trumpet shape, spreading into the sky and making a harsh sound.

This scene puzzled Feng Qi.

But he soon understood what happened.

I saw a team wearing green vine armor approaching them quickly with floating plants shaped like clouds under their feet.

When they came not far from Feng Qi, they jumped off the floating plants one after another. When they

looked at each other, there was a hint of doubt in the eyes of these soldiers guarding the city, and the leading man took two steps forward and asked in a stern voice:

"Are you being held hostage by the domain creatures?"

Hearing this, Feng Qi subconsciously glanced at Hanpi You, who looked silly, then looked at Lei Ting who was scratching his crotch, and finally turned his eyes to Taihang at his feet.

Feng Qi: ...

Finally, he looked back at the leading law enforcement man and shook his head and said,

"Don't get me wrong, they are my partners. I am an expedition warrior from the Eastern District: Feng Qi!"

"Eastern District?"

Feng Qi's answer was obviously beyond the expectations of these law enforcement warriors. After a brief look of surprise, he waved his hand and said,

"Don't resist, go back with us first."

"Okay!"

Feng Qi nodded decisively.

Then the law enforcement man stepped forward and put green rings on their wrists and ankles.

Even Taihang was no exception.

With the green rings on his body, Feng Qi could clearly feel that his perception of spiritual energy was weakening. The green rings continuously released some mysterious radiation, trying to isolate him from spiritual energy.

"Give me the weapon!"

After finishing the work, the leading law enforcement man looked at the magic knife in Feng Qi's hand and said.

"It's better not to take this, you can't hold it." Feng Qi explained sincerely.

"Give it to me!" The man did not question and reached out to hold the handle of the knife.

Seeing this, Feng Qi smiled, then let go of his hand, and then grabbed the magic knife before it fell to the ground.

The weight of the magic knife pulled the leading law enforcement man forward, and an expression of disbelief emerged on his face.

If Feng Qi hadn't grasped the magic knife again, the law enforcement man would have fallen to the ground with the magic knife.

If he was hit by the magic knife, it would be difficult to survive.

"This... this knife is so heavy."

"I said, you can't lift it, believe me, I will cooperate!"

Feng Qi understood that these law enforcement soldiers' vigilance against themselves was their responsibility for the safety of the city.

Just like if a human from the central district suddenly stepped into Star City with a domain creature, the law enforcement soldiers of Star City would make the same choice, instead of giving him all kinds of preferential treatment just because he was a human.

The law enforcement man's expression changed.

There are regulations in the city that require the confiscation of weapons carried by detainees.

But after experiencing the weight of the magic knife just now, he knew that he couldn't lift the weapon at all.

After a brief hesitation, he nodded and said:

"Come with us. "

Next, Feng Qi brought Xiao You and others to the floating plant.

Xiao You and others flew up first, but when it was Feng Qi's turn to step on it, the leading man immediately shouted:

"Wait a minute, Yun Mian can't bear your weight."

"Don't worry, nothing will happen. "As he spoke, Feng Qi performed the body control technique and stepped onto the cloud cotton with the magic knife on his shoulder.

In the state of the body control technique, the weight of the magic knife was completely borne on his body, and his body was in a semi-suspended state, so the scene of crushing the cloud cotton as imagined by the law enforcement man did not appear.

The law enforcement man who saw this scene did not seem to understand why, but did not ask much. He only saw a green tentacle growing out of his left foot and connected to the cloud cotton under his feet. Suddenly, the cloud cotton floated into the air and carried them into the sky.

After a long time, Feng Qi came to a hall covered with green plants.

Many figures could be seen shuttling back and forth in the hall, including some who also wore green rings and had gloomy expressions.

This was obviously one of the areas where the law enforcement departments in the city were located.

Following the law enforcement man into a spacious room at the back of the hall, Feng Qi and others were arranged to sit down, and then the law enforcement man said:

"I will report your situation to your superiors. You stay here and wait. I will arrange for someone to prepare food for you. "

"Thank you." Feng Qi nodded politely.

"Thank you. "Xiao You imitated Feng Qi and nodded politely with a serious expression.

After the law enforcement man left, Feng Qi began to think about what would happen next.

It is inevitable to investigate his identity and background, and then ask about the current situation in the Eastern District.

This will inevitably involve a topic.

Why are you here?

How to answer this question requires careful consideration.

While waiting, a tall and delicate woman came with a food box.

Feng Qi could see that she was very curious about the origins of him and others, but he didn't ask anything. He put down the food box, couldn't help but rub the cute Xiaoyou's head, and hurried away.

"Eh, it's so disgusting."

Xiaoyou suddenly interrupted Feng Qi's thinking. Turning his head, he found that Xiaoyou was gnawing on the outer packaging of the food box, a layer of green hard shell.

"This can't be eaten, open the box and eat inside."

Seeing Xiaoyou's disgusted expression, Feng Qi laughed in his heart.

Xiaoyou has always been in contact with various foods that can be eaten directly, and has no concept of packaging boxes in human civilization. Hearing the woman who just came say that this is food, he instinctively thought that he could eat it by biting it.

After hearing his words, Xiaoyou looked puzzled, and then tried to open the box.

Feng Qi also opened the box at this time.

There are three kinds of food in the box. On the left is a finger-sized red fruit, in the middle is a pile of thin slices of meat, and on the far right is what seems to be a purple drink in a translucent green film.

Reach out and pick up a fruit and put it in your mouth. After chewing, the rich fragrance bursts in your mouth.

The spiritual energy content of this fruit is not high, but the taste is excellent.

Seeing that Fengqi and Xiaoyou have already started eating, Pojia, Lei Ting, and Taihang also opened the lid and started eating.

Soon the food was eaten up.

Although not full, this meal was very satisfying.

Especially Xiaoyou, who shouted for another serving.

After waiting for a long time, the door was pushed open, and a middle-aged man with a beard walked into the room.

He was wearing a white shirt, with a green spiritual pattern on his forehead, and a strong spiritual fluctuation emanated from his body.

The middle-aged man came to the other side of the table, then leaned forward and extended his right hand towards Feng Qi, and said with a smile :

"Hello, my name is Xie Yuanli, and I am the first person in charge of the law enforcement department in the southern district of Elf City."

Feng Qi stood up at this time, shook hands with Xie Yuanli, and nodded:

"My name is Feng Qi, from Star City in the eastern district, and I am an expeditionary soldier."

After they sat down, Xie Yuanli had a puzzled expression on his face:

"Excuse me, which city in the eastern district was Star City renamed from? I have read some history before the disaster and have a certain understanding of the eastern district, so I have never heard of Star City."

Faced with the inquiry, Feng Qi shook his head and said:

"Star City is a city that appeared after the disaster. It is a large city composed of multiple small cities. There is no city in the entire eastern district that uses the ancient city name, just like the Elf City you mentioned, it was obviously not called this before."

"I understand. What I'm curious about is why you, as a human from the eastern district, came here, and what does the expedition you mentioned mean?"

"We in the Eastern District have always been curious about what the outside world has become, and whether there is still human civilization. Therefore, the expedition plan was born, and I am one of the warriors exploring the outside world. This time I came to the Elf City to understand the current situation of humans here."

How to answer this question, Feng Qi already has the answer in his mind.

In any case, he cannot show the idea of ​​wanting to change the current situation here.

This behavior is undoubtedly a provocation to the Elf King. Before understanding the social structure of the humans in the Central District, he thinks it is better not to act rashly.

Otherwise, there is a high probability that he will become the public enemy of the humans in the Central District.

And the strength of the Elf King should be stronger than he is now, judging from the development of humans in the Central District.

As for the idea of ​​establishing a space teleportation array between the Eastern District and the Central District, he thinks it is not the right time.

Before understanding the details, everything should be done in a safe way.

In the questioning and answering, Xie Yuanli gradually understood the situation in the Eastern District. When he learned that the Eastern District had developed a cultivation method growth system, he was obviously very curious about it. After

asking in detail, when he learned that the cultivation method was not perfect, there were also a series of hidden dangers.

For example, imperfect cultivation techniques can reduce a person's life span and even cause the decline of body organs, which he regrets very much.

In fact, these problems are not problems in Feng Qi's eyes.

After all, there are already many perfect techniques in the Eastern Region.

But it is obviously not the right time to say these things now. When the Elf King knows that humans can have better choices, in order to stabilize the human civilization under its control, unstable factors must be eliminated.

Speaking out the shortcomings can better integrate oneself into the current civilization of the Central Region.

As time passed, Xiao You was already dozing off, and Feng Qi and Xie Yuanli's communication continued.

When Xie Yuanli talked about the bitterness encountered in the development of civilization, Feng Qi felt touched.

Although the situation in the Eastern Region was not as desperate as the beginning of the Central Region, a large number of soldiers died every moment before the five major cities were established in the early stage of the disaster.

These historical imprints have not faded even after hundreds of years. Be prepared for danger in

times of peace, no matter which region, is the direction that modern humans in a stable society will think about.

After chatting for a long time, Xie Yuanli looked at Xiaoyou who was already asleep on the table, and then his eyes swept over Lei Ting, Po Jia, and Taihang, and asked curiously:

"Are they the partners you found during your exploration of the domain field?"

"Yes, they have been with me for decades. Without them, I might have died on the road."

Hearing this, Xie Yuanli nodded naturally to show his understanding.

From this perspective, the humans in the Central District are not surprised or angry about cooperating with domain creatures.

After all, the culture of the humans in the Central District after the disaster was born after cooperating with the domain plant "elves".

So compared with the humans in the Eastern District, the humans here are obviously more accepting of cooperating with domain creatures.

Different cultures and customs will also lead to different ways of thinking about problems.

This is not only reflected between humans and domain forces, but also between humans in different regions.

Feng Qi can now understand why Lao Mi said that time will allow the same ethnic forces in two different regions to give birth to completely different cultures and civilizations, which will eventually lead to two completely different racial forces.

Fortunately, only 500 years have passed, and the humans in the central region still have a strong sense of belonging to the human race and have not been completely assimilated by the elves.

Although the development path of civilization has gone in different directions, the sense of racial identity is completely consistent.

During the chat, Xie Yuanli's eyes swept to the magic knife hovering beside Feng Qi.

"What is this weapon?"

"The magic knife, my weapon, it was once a life, and it turned itself into a weapon by casting flesh and blood..."

After listening to Feng Qi's explanation of the magic knife, Xie Yuanli seemed very shocked.

Obviously, the matter of casting a knife with flesh and blood exceeded his common sense.

After talking about the magic knife, Xie Yuanli continued to ask:

"You can survive in an area with dense domains for decades and pass through safely. You must be very strong. I want to know where your strength ranks in the Eastern Region?"

"Not counting the domain power, judging from the human perspective, I belong to the strongest level."

After hearing Feng Qi's answer, Xie Yuanli showed an expression of "as expected".

Next, Feng Qi gradually turned the topic to the Elf King.

In response to his inquiry, Xie Yuanli began to tell the details of the Elf King.

According to Xie Yuanli's description, the Elf King is one of the very few intelligent lives of the Elf Clan and the only controller of the Elf Clan since its birth.

The Elf King is different from the leader of human civilization. It will die due to the limitation of lifespan and needs to be replaced continuously with the progress of history.

The Elf King is originally a special spiritual plant. It has been an independent existence since the birth of consciousness and has no tribesmen.

The emergence of the Elf Clan was created by the Elf King himself during his growth.

As for the lifespan of the Elf King, even the Elf King himself does not know where the limit is.

Judging from the human standard of measuring time, the Elf King said that he has lived for at least 3,000 years.

When in the domain world, the early development of the elves was full of difficulties and never improved.

It was not until they came to the human world and formed an alliance with humans that the development of the elves ushered in a real moment of rise.

Now the Elf City under their feet has many components from the Elf King standing in the center of the city.

Feng Qi also asked about the strength of the Elf King.

This topic may be a bit sensitive, but Xie Yuanli gave an answer after a brief thought.

According to his description, the growth rate of the Elf King after coming to the human world is far from comparable to that in the domain world.

When in the domain world, the Elf King only dared to grow in his own small world and did not dare to extend his tentacles outside, because he knew that he was very weak and greed would bring him destruction.

But after coming to the human world, the Elf King who lost the domain field changed his mind.

In the years of cooperation with humans, the roots of the Elf King spread along with the expansion of human territory, and the body with branches and leaves could absorb more spiritual energy.

In addition, there is a green furnace in the body of the Elf King.

The rune crystals obtained by humans from killing domain creatures will be thrown into the furnace in the Elf King's body, burning and transforming into part of the Elf King's power.

Xie Yuanli said that he could not give an accurate answer to how strong the Elf King, who is supported by all mankind, is.

The Elf King has made several moves during the years of the alliance with humans.

But these moves were generally in the early days of the alliance between humans and elves.

At that time, humans were in the exploratory stage of developing the power of the elves, and their overall strength was weak. The Elf King was not strong, but it was the strongest combat power of the two races after all.

In the face of war, the Elf King had to stand up and was seriously injured.

As humans gradually developed many uses for the elves, the combat power soared, and the Elf King made fewer and fewer moves.

The last time he made a move was more than a hundred years ago. At

that time, humans encountered an unprecedented foreign invasion crisis. The Elf King's move made humans see a combat power that was completely different from that recorded in history.

The whole city trembled with the Elf King's move, and countless branches spread across the sky, forming an indestructible defensive barrier.

Humans escaped the bombing of foreign magic under the protection of the barrier.

When the world in front of humans regained clarity, the war was over.

Outside, there were corpses of foreigners pierced by branches and drained of blood everywhere.

This battle made humans realize that the strength of the Elf King had already reached an unimaginable level.

As for how strong the Elf King is now, Xie Yuanli said he had never known.

But one thing is certain, the Elf King is still growing.

This guess is not out of thin air. The most intuitive manifestation is that the content of air aura in the city is increasing over time, and the elves given to humans by the Elf King are becoming more and more powerful.

The Elf Seed is the power seed of the Elf King, or its child.

The stronger the growth potential of the born Elf Seed, the stronger the strength of the main Elf King is.

Hearing this, Feng Qi felt a little more worried.

Judging from Xie Yuanli's description alone, the Elf King is stronger than he imagined.

I thought his arrival might be a dimensionality reduction attack, but I didn't expect the Elf King to be so terrible, and even had a record of repelling a clan alone.

As the top combat power, the Elf King is like an umbrella, standing between this world.

After so many years of development, he guessed that the Elf King's combat power might be stronger than Jian Ji's.

The Elf King's development model is very similar to that of the Sword Clan.

Both are resource-exclusive models.

But the Elf King's talent is incomparable to Jian Ji.

The seed of the Elf King's birth is a source of power. While he is strong, he can also lead the human race of the "alliance" forces to gain the same growth potential.

What's more terrifying is that as the Elf King expands its territory, the range of spiritual energy extraction will also increase accordingly.

If the Elf King really intends to protect humans forever, it is equivalent to humans forever obtaining a super strong person with infinite growth potential and an unknown lifespan.

But Xie Yuanli's next words shattered Feng Qi's speculation. Xie

Yuanli said with a sad face;

"In fact, I have always been worried about one question, whether the Elf King will abandon humans one day in the future."

Hearing this, Feng Qi suddenly realized that his worries at the time were unnecessary.

Obviously, many people in the Central District have realized this problem, and they are not completely controlled by the Elf King or brainwashed as he imagined.

"You mean the Elf King might abandon humans?"

Facing his question, Xie Yuanli nodded with a worried look on his face:

"The Elf King is becoming stronger and stronger, and the elves he gave birth to are also becoming stronger and stronger, but the physical fitness of humans has not been improved much, which has also led to a continuous decline in the lifespan of humans after combining with the elves."

"After the ancestors of the early alliance combined with the elves, their lifespans were generally able to reach over a hundred years. In the new era, we breathe abundant spiritual energy every day, and our physical fitness is more than twice as strong as it was then due to the nourishment of spiritual energy, but our average lifespan has been reduced to about 70 years. If the Elf King continues to grow, the lifespan of humans parasitized by the elves will be further shortened, and one day our bodies will not be able to carry the elves."

At this point, Xie Yuanli couldn't help but sigh:

"Do you know what this means?"

Feng Qi thought for a moment and said:

"There are two possibilities. The Elf King, thinking of the years of growing and struggling together, chooses to protect humans forever to reproduce. Even if humans can no longer carry the elves, they can survive as its protected people."

"Or being abandoned, driven away, or even killed, but no matter which possibility is in the second option, it means the extinction of mankind. Humans without elves cannot survive outside."

Xie Yuanli nodded:

"Our future is no longer in our hands. The choice of the Elf King will lead us humans to two different paths."

"Have you ever communicated with the Elf King about this issue?"

"Yes, the Elf King said that it will always protect the continued development of human civilization. This is its promise to those warriors who once fought together."

"Do you believe it?" Feng Qi continued to ask.

"Besides believing, do we have any other choice?"

In Xie Yuanli's eyes, Feng Qi saw helplessness. He could understand the pain of leaving one's fate in the hands of others and not being able to make one's own choice.

Whether the Elf King finally did this, he could not find the answer.

Every time he went to the future dream line, he appeared in the Star City area, which was an unknown distance away from the Central District where the Elf King was.

It is impossible for the Star City database to record the relevant information of the cities in the Central District.

He wanted to find the answer in the future.

But Uncle Hei is not a decoration. It is impossible to give him decades to travel through mountains and rivers in the future dream to find the answer.

After thinking about it, his eyes suddenly turned to Xiaoyou who was dozing off.

An inspiration emerged in his mind.

Can this task be given to Xiaoyou, so that she can bring the answer to another him in 1500 years.

As if noticing his gaze, Xiaoyou opened her eyes blankly:

"Boss, OK."

"Go on to sleep."

"Oh." Xiaoyou closed her eyes again obediently.

Feng Qi did not make a decision in his heart whether to let Xiaoyou take on this task.

After all, Xiaoyou is really unreliable.

If you play badly, you will really play badly.

He decided to try to contact the Elf King next. At the same time, he can stay here during this period to learn more about the development of human civilization in the central area, and even the distribution structure of ethnic forces in this area.

This information is very important to him.

Regardless of whether the Elf King lied to humans or not, the unity of humans in the central area and humans in the eastern area is the inevitable direction in his eyes.

No one can stop this.

Whoever blocks it, he will kill him!

Continue tomorrow.

Recommend a book by a friend, title: "The End of the Gentleman"

Synopsis: A sick book, growing and spreading in the most inconspicuous corner of the library, waiting for someone to flip through its swollen cover and touch its squirming words...