Chapter 132: Mutual Benefit and Cooperation

"I don’t want something like the Savage God appearing in Goblin Forest. Since your goal is to stop the Savage God’s descent, why not cooperate?"

Cooperate?

Selof’s expression turned strange.

The Goblin’s words nearly made him laugh.

What qualifications did mere Goblins have to meddle in the matter of the Savage God?

But thinking of that Goblin warrior’s extraordinary strength and intelligence, Selof suppressed his discomfort.

Selof raised his head, looking toward the Goblin in the distance.

"How do you propose we cooperate?"

Li Meng grinned, carrying a large iron club on his shoulder.

"Those in black robes are currently in the Black Mountain Tribe!"

Hearing this, Selof’s face changed dramatically.

"How do you know that?" Selof questioned.

Li Meng pointed to his eyes.

"I saw it with my own eyes. This thing was given to me by the black-robed ones."

Looking down at the sacrificial plate in his hands, Selof’s expression shifted repeatedly.

After a long while, he raised his head to look at the Goblin in the distance.

"Fine, we’ll deal with the black-robed ones, and you’ll provide us with intelligence about them!"

Although he knew the Goblin was using him, Selof felt this was mutually beneficial.

The Goblins knew Goblin Forest better than anyone else.

If Goblins served as informants, the Holy See could always track the movements of the black-robed ones in Goblin Forest.

Seeing Selof agree, Li Meng grinned.

"Good, let’s exchange intelligence every 365 sunsets, right here."

"Agreed, it’s a deal!"

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A free enforcer? Why not?

Li Meng was quite pleased with striking a deal with the Holy See.

Although future conflicts with humans were inevitable, that was a matter for the future.

"Then, farewell!"

Li Meng turned and ran northeast.

Wherever he passed, the water surface was left with a long-lasting icy trail.

Watching the green-skinned figure disappearing into the distance, Selof’s heart sank.

A Goblin this extraordinary had emerged in Goblin Forest.

Its immense strength and terrifying intelligence were unsettling.

Ordinary Goblins, even if capable of mental communication, couldn’t converse like this.

For Goblins, life revolved around eating and reproducing, with no interest in anything else.

But this one was different.

Every action it took carried a strong sense of purpose.

"Countries near Goblin Forest are bound to face trouble in the future!"

Such a future was easy to imagine.

Such a future was certain to come.

Turning away, a flash of killing intent flickered in Selof’s eyes.

If he could, Selof wanted to eliminate that Goblin right now.

To rid humanity of a future threat.

But priorities mattered. Compared to that Goblin, the Shadow Council was the Holy See’s top target.

No matter how strong or clever that Goblin was, its threat to humanity was limited.

The Shadow Council, however, was entirely different.

Its goal was human extinction, turning human territories into wastelands.

Human fleets couldn’t match Li Meng’s speed.

Two hours later, Li Meng returned to the river.

"Yue E! Yue E!"

Standing on the river, Li Meng called for Yue E.

He lay on the ice, submerging his head into the water to look around.

"Boss, I’m here!"

Before long, the enormous figure of a Swamp Crocodile King emerged from the water.

Yue E swam toward Li Meng.

Once reunited, the Swamp Crocodile King and the Goblin began their journey back.

"Boss, I need a good sleep when we get back!"

Gliding upstream, Yue E stayed close to the water surface.

Riding on Yue E’s back, Li Meng curiously patted its spine.

"Yue E, what’s wrong?"

Yue E’s mention of sleep wasn’t just about rest.

"Boss, I’ve got indigestion. I need to hibernate for a while to digest the magic crystal."

Yue E’s reply made Li Meng grin.

He thought something bad had happened to Yue E while he was away, but it turned out to be simple indigestion.

"Yue E, when you wake up, you should be able to master more magic, right?"

For magical beasts, hibernation was significant.

It usually only occurred when breaking through a bottleneck.

Could Yue E be advancing to the "King Tier"?

Li Meng looked down at Yue E’s massive head in the water.

[Swamp Crocodile King (Elite)]

[Level: 57]

[Strength: 921]

[Defense: 987]

[Agility: 734]

[Magic: 679]

[Water Bullet: LV8]

"This isn’t a bottleneck..."

Yue E’s stats made Li Meng wonder.

A bottleneck only occurred at Level 100.

At Level 57, Yue E was far from that.

It seemed Yue E had just overeaten magic crystals, leading to indigestion.

"If only there were slimes to eat. I became a genius after eating one back then."

Slimes?

Li Meng remembered something.

He recalled a lake full of slimes.

"Yue E, was it a water slime?"

"Yes! Back then, I was bullied by my kind and fled to the river to hunt. While drifting, a silly slime popped into my mouth. I didn’t even taste it before swallowing it. After that, I became a genius and ate all the bullies when I returned!"

Riding on Yue E’s back, Li Meng grinned.

Confirming it was a water slime was enough.

Hopefully, that lake could benefit Yue E.

"Yue E, let’s go. Boss will take you somewhere nice!"

"Boss, where are we going?"

"Just keep heading upstream. You’ll see!"

In the river, Yue E quickened its pace.

It was curious where the boss would take it.

Over the next few days, Li Meng and Yue E hurried upstream.

They only stopped when encountering magical beasts.

Seven days later, in the morning.

The sun shone brightly over the northern marshlands’ river surface.

On the western side of the Goblin River, a green-skinned figure rode a massive crocodile upstream.

Its speed left a long-lasting wake on the water surface.

"Boss, we’re at the Northern Marshlands!"

The feeling of returning home made Yue E excited.

Its stomach was uncomfortable, and it could finally get some proper rest.

Riding on Yue E’s back, Li Meng patted its spine.

"Keep going east. Hang in there; we’re almost there."

At Yue E’s speed, they could reach the slime-filled lake in a few hours.

Yue E continued east along the river.

Before long, they disappeared into the eastern river.

Five hours later, in the northern forest near Goblin River.

In the dim forest, a "rumbling" sound echoed.

Looking deeper into the woods, a massive figure was moving its body.

The figure belonged to Yue E.

Although agile in water, Yue E was clumsy on land.

"We’re here! Yue E, quiet down!"

Leading the way, Li Meng suddenly cautioned Yue E.

A Goblin and a crocodile moved stealthily through the forest.