Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 397 The Main God's Choice Was Correct

"Your Majesty, why would you ask about the ratmen?" Morrison looked at Sophia in surprise, but she just stared at him silently, leaving him speechless for a moment.

A few seconds later, Archbishop Morrison nodded slightly. "Yes, I did deal with the ratmen problem. At that time, I wasn't an archbishop yet, but just a regional bishop, but—"

As he spoke, he frowned, his expression becoming unusually grave. "However, that time was truly humiliating; I was completely unable to handle the plague effects of these ratmen."

"Tell me about it." Sophia sat upright in her chair, looking calmly at the other person, but there were bloodshot eyes, as if she hadn't had a good rest.

“That was decades ago,” Morrison stroked his long beard, recalling long-forgotten memories, while Sophia pointed to the chair beside her, “Sit down and talk.”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Morrison bowed slightly, then quietly walked to the chair and sat down cautiously.

"Although I was the regional bishop at the time, I had heard all sorts of rumors about the ratmen, especially the plagues they could inflict on adventurers. These plagues were contagious, but adventurers generally didn't come to the Church of Life, and they would also take care of their companions who were injured by the ratmen, so—"

"Handled it?" Sophia interrupted, "How did the adventurers handle it?"

"That's it—" Morrison shut his mouth, then reached out and slashed downwards, a gesture that made Sophia look knowing.

"I heard that when adventurers are about to leave the western forest, they check each other's bodies, including limbs and torso. If they find any wounds, they will immediately stay away from each other. Some even attack their own companions when they are injured, and then try to sneak into the villages and towns."

S=

"These guys would do that?" Sophia frowned. She had dealt with adventurers before and knew that there were some "harvesters" among them, but from what Morrison said, it seemed that it was common for adventurers in Savoy to attack each other.

"Yes, at first the Kingdom of Savoy offered huge bounties. Adventurers could exchange ratmen's ears for rewards as long as they killed them. However, the powerful plague made them realize that ratmen were many times more dangerous than goblins."

"So," Morrison sighed, "these adventurers stopped accepting commissions from the ratmen, and they even became wary of each other, fearing that their companions might be infected with the plague and harm them."

"Later on, goblins became fewer and fewer, and the underground burrows of the ratmen became more numerous and larger. In addition, there were always security guards and noble guards patrolling around the forest. Once they saw an adventurer, they would be immediately questioned. Those guys had nowhere to hide and had no way to conceal their injuries."

"So they gradually moved away from the edge of the forest?" Sophia asked.

“Yes,” Morrison nodded. “After that, we frequently received requests from the security forces and guards to treat those injured by the ratmen. Unfortunately, no healing spell could dispel the plague’s effects. Even if the wounds healed and showed no visible signs, they would still mutate after a few days and become—”

"To become like a ghoul?" Sophia narrowed her eyes, recalling the scene that Charles and Little John had described before.

"That's right, Your Majesty," Morrison looked up at the other man, then continued, "I was involved in the treatment."

He shook his head with a wry smile. "If that can be considered treatment, we cast healing spells on the wounded. You know, the healing spells of our Church of Life are quite effective, but even if I personally intervened, I couldn't stop the plague from happening."

"This plague," Sophia thought for two seconds before speaking, "is there really no way to cure it? After all, the church has spells to cure diseases."

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Morrison sighed, "we've tried healing spells, but they've had absolutely no effect on the ratmen's plague. I even think it's not a plague at all, but a man-made, contagious toxin."

"toxin?"

“Yes, I’ve consulted ancient texts and searched through records spanning thousands of years, but strangely, these ratmen seem to have appeared out of thin air.” Morrison looked at Sophia with a serious expression. Sophia frowned upon hearing his words. “Unlike the primitive forest races, such as goblins, for which there are records spanning thousands of years, the ratmen seem to have suddenly emerged from the ground and appeared before humans all at once.”

"That does sound a bit strange." Sophia nodded slightly. According to common sense, the various tribes in the forest are fixed and would not suddenly appear.

"So I have an idea that the ratmen may not have arisen naturally; perhaps they are man-made." Archbishop Morrison carefully chose his words before stating his deduction.

"Wait a minute," Sofia waved her hand, "You mean, the ratmen were created by humans?"

“Yes,” Morrison nodded. “Your Majesty, as you know, some magicians secretly conduct life experiments to achieve their unspeakable secrets. For example, the Chimera is a product of their life experiments, and the Ratmen may have been created in the same way.”

“But that’s a bit too crazy,” Sophia said, glancing at Morrison, who was sitting respectfully beside her. “Those magicians can only deal with creatures like chimeras at most. The ratmen are a huge race. They’ve even dug tunnels that have formed an underground kingdom.”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I know my ideas are somewhat insane," Morrison did not refute, but humbly accepted Sophia's statement, "It is indeed biased to determine the emergence of a race by inference."

"It's nothing," Sofia waved her hand slightly, "You've already done very well."

"By the way, Your Majesty," Morrison said calmly, "why did you ask about the ratmen?"

"It's nothing," Sophia turned around, looking out the window, "The ratmen are going to be wiped out."

"What?" Morrison jumped to his feet, a movement far beyond his years, almost knocking over the chair behind him. "Who wants to exterminate the ratmen? Savoy's army? That would be an unprecedented catastrophe."

Sophia glanced at the shocked Archbishop Morrison. She made no other move, simply looking at him calmly for a few seconds before slowly saying, "It is the will of God, the will of the Supreme God."

"The Supreme God?" Morrison slightly opened his arms and took a step back. "Does the Supreme God really intend to intervene and punish this evil creature?"

"Yes." Sophia nodded calmly.

"That's wonderful," Morrison clenched his fist, a hint of surprise in his voice. "If we can really solve the ratman threat, the people of Savoy will know everything the God has done for them, and the God's fame will be spread far and wide, and we will have more believers."

As he spoke, his eyes began to shine with fervor. "If we have more believers, if the people of the Kingdom of Savoy all worship the God of Earth and Life, then we can gain an advantage in this war of gods that no one else can match."

"Yes." Sophia didn't say anything. To be honest, when Charles came to her before and talked about the ratmen, she felt that the Chosen One might have received some kind of revelation.

"Hahaha," Morrison laughed loudly, looking extremely relaxed. "It seems those three churches have no chance of catching up with us unless they also cause such a big incident. But if they want to surpass us, the only achievement they can accomplish is to close the gates of demons and prevent the demon army from running rampant. Only such a feat can be passed down through the ages."

"Don't get carried away." Sophia noticed that the archbishop was getting a little cocky and had to remind him. When she returned from the forest, Charles had also instructed her that there was no suitable way to deal with the ratmen, and he was currently gathering information.

But if the ratman threat is really dealt with, the people of Savoy will definitely celebrate, since no one wants to have such a "neighbor" living next door.

"Yes, you're right." Morrison nodded quickly, suppressing his smile. "I was too excited. We can't announce this yet. We can only tell others when things are almost finished. We can't be like the Church of Destiny."

The Church of Destiny? Sophia glanced at Archbishop Morrison. These guys must have done something to the Church of Destiny, probably related to the God War, but her current identity was "Cardinal Willid," so it was best not to ask.

Perhaps we will find out in the future what exactly happened to the chosen ones of the Church of Destiny.

"You can continue your investigation here and see where a good location would be. I'll be staying in the Nightmare Forest for the next few days." With that, Sophia stood up and casually smoothed the gold-embroidered sash hanging from her shoulders.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Morrison did not press further on why a cathedral should be built in a small place like Gieshorn; perhaps it was also the will of God.

If he could really get rid of the ratmen threat and win the war of the gods, he wouldn't mind where he built the church. Even if he moved the Cathedral of Life in the Crystal Forest to the south of Nightmare Forest and made those goblins the monks of the church, he wouldn't care.

As long as we win the battle of the gods.

"That's how it is, sir." Sophia sat across the table and yawned.

"Did the Archbishop really say that? The ratmen were created?" Charles tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table. He had asked the skeleton warrior, Mr. Elton, before, and the man had clearly stated that there were no ratmen thousands of years ago.

Hearing the same thing from the Archbishop of the Church of Life, he couldn't help but feel confused.

-

But that's alright, after all, goblins didn't exist thousands of years ago. Perhaps ratmen are creatures that appeared only in the last few thousand years, just like goblins.

But if the ratmen were a species created by a mad great wizard, then wouldn't the goblins be the same?

Xia Er dared not draw a conclusion. This world was too crazy. There were many magical beasts that magicians had transformed using magic circles in the forest, as well as huge creatures like giant bees and giant spiders. It was not impossible for a few strange races to occasionally appear.

"Oh, right, here's the life-stabilizing potion you need, sir." With that, Sophia took out several bottles of the potion from her small bag and carefully placed them on the table.

"This stuff must be very valuable," Charles asked, looking at the bottles of green potions that shimmered with emerald starlight.

"Yes, it is indeed quite valuable," Sophia nodded, "but if you need it, I will certainly get it for you."

"These medicines have a limited shelf life and cannot be stored for long. What do you need them for?" she said, raising her hand to cover her mouth as she yawned.

She hadn't slept enough, but was woken up by the little fairy who said that Charles needed to see her. Sophia immediately went to see the "Chosen One".

"It's nothing serious," Charles waved his hand with a smile. He knew that this life-stabilizing potion was unique to the Church of Life. Its purpose was like a stimulant, stabilizing the vital signs of a living being to a greater extent, with effects comparable to powerful healing spells.

The Church of Life has kept the formula for this medicine strictly secret and has not revealed it to outsiders to this day.

On the market, a bottle of potion the size of a finger can be exchanged for a top-grade magic crystal, a price comparable to a life-saving medicine.

"I only use it to ensure the phoenix hatches safely." Charles smiled, reached for a bottle of potion, and examined it carefully.

"A phoenix? A phoenix?" Sophia's hand stopped in front of her mouth; she had forgotten to yawn. She stared wide-eyed at the goblin opposite her. "You mean, there's a phoenix here?"

"Ah, right." Charles was focused on the potion, completely oblivious to the girl's astonished expression. "It's about to hatch; the shaking has increased these past two days."

He didn't mention that he spends some time each day personally "incubating the eggs," which would have sounded rather embarrassing.

"It's a phoenix egg that's about to hatch?" Sophia slowly lowered her hand, biting her lip slightly. She was shocked that the goblin opposite her would have a phoenix egg.

Although he was God's chosen one, his body was still that of a goblin, not much different from the other goblins in the forest.

But to casually say that the phoenix egg is about to hatch is as if it were a matter of course. You should know that outside the forest, a phoenix egg that is about to hatch can cause a war.

When a baby phoenix hatches and opens its eyes, it will regard the person in front of it as its parent, and when it grows up, it will be able to obey commands and protect the safety of the person in front of it.

Sophia had even heard rumors that in history, some people would specifically seek out various powerful creatures to feed the phoenix, and the more powerful the creature, the more it would stimulate the phoenix's growth.

These creatures in flames eat all kinds of animals, including magical beasts; their flames can even burn away evil forces.

"Truly a chosen one of God," Sophia lowered her hand and sat up straight. She could now understand Morrison's feelings at that time.

As expected, the Supreme God's choice was correct.