Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 398 The "Temptation" of the Evil Book?

"Will it work?" Charles looked at the books open on the table, on which a line of text slowly appeared: "If it's about dealing with a strange plague, perhaps I can give it a try."

The text appeared more slowly than before, indicating that he was struggling a bit: "Little Book, are you alright now? The mushroom-man hasn't been fully modified yet, how can you analyze the plague?"

"It is a bit difficult." Words appeared on the page of the evil book, "However, My Lord God, I can still do it."

"Really?" Charles frowned, the last few words of which were clearly slanted. It seemed that the evil book didn't have a way to "swallow" the next "analyte".

"The analysis and disassembly of the mushroom-man is almost complete." The words in the evil book paused for a moment. "Of course, if another strong soul could appear, it would accelerate my analysis of those life forms."

"Another soul?" Sharmo stroked his chin. "But where am I supposed to find you a soul fragment right now?"

It was by chance that he obtained a fragment of the Cardinal's soul, which saved Sophia and also fed the evil book.

But where can we get the soul fragments now? We can't just have Sophia find some archbishop and let him invade the depths of Sophia's soul.

The druid is now an apprentice bishop, and Sophia even revealed that she seems to be regarded as a replacement for the cardinal, beginning to exercise the emperor's power, which is why Shar was able to obtain the life-stabilizing potion.

But that doesn't mean they can sacrifice the soul of an archbishop. Charles shook his head; that path wouldn't work.

"That's troublesome," Charles thought for a moment, "Will an ordinary soul do? Does it have to be a resilient soul?"

"Ordinary—" The words in the evil book hesitated, but a few seconds later, it continued, "That's fine too, True God."

"You look like you're struggling." Charles smiled. It seems that the strength of a soul varies from person to person. Considering the identity of the cardinal, Charles felt that a strong soul looks different from that of an ordinary person. It must be the soul of a powerful figure, at least at the level of a cardinal.

Ordinary adventurers or the souls of bandits are not yet capable of shouldering this "burden".

"This is a bit tricky," Charles said, his fingers tapping slowly on the table. "Where can we find a strong soul?"

He glanced to the side, where there was a jar containing "Shuiyu Mo".

However, Charles did not intend to use it at this time. On the one hand, he didn't have much Water Ink left, and he wanted to save as much as possible. On the other hand, Charles could predict what kind of answer Water Ink would give, probably something like, "Right now, gather all your men, go out through the portal, arrive at Torch City, then launch a surprise attack on the Holy Oak Cathedral, kill Bishop Luther with all your might, and at the moment of his death, collect his soul in some way, and then return to the forest."

Shui Yumo wouldn't care about the current fighting strength of Xia Er's men, nor about the guarding forces of Torch City and the Cathedral, and wouldn't even care about how to "get away unscathed" from the security team and the city defense army after completing the objective.

No wonder the Naga people consider Water Talk Ink a "curse".

Charles pursed his lips and asked again, "If we wait until the analysis of the mushroom man is finished and the results are in before analyzing the ratman plague, will you suffer less damage?"

"That way, fewer pages will be lost," the evil book's writing appeared a little faster, showing that it was happy that "True God" cared about it. "However, I will still do my best to finish it for you."

"Oh, it's nothing." Charles waved his hand. "Then let's wait a bit longer. Anyway, the ratmen aren't in a rush."

It seems we can only wait until the mushroom analysis is complete before "feeding" the ratman's limbs to the evil book, allowing it to analyze and develop a new potion formula.

To be honest, his opinion of this evil book was beginning to change. Although it was still a book of flattery, it had indeed been quite helpful. Now that the tribe had grown, they needed to buy more food from Goat Horn or other places and then transport it to the forest by Captain Darren.

If the evil book could provide improved mushroom strains, it would be fantastic news for the goblin race.

The giant mushrooms that can grow up to ten meters tall can provide a lot of food. Although they can only grow in a dark environment, this is not a problem for Charles at all. He has even thought about where to plant the giant mushrooms: the huge underground cave where the Feathered Serpent God originally lived, where the height and space are more than enough.

"My Lord God, have you experienced the strength of your own soul?" Seeing that Charles was no longer fixated on the ratman plague, the Evil Book began to inquire about the previous events.

"Soul strength?" Charles was taken aback; he hadn't considered this question. "Is it my soul?"

"Yes, I can feel it. Your soul has become stronger, and even the divinity that was dormant deep within your soul has begun to sprout." The words in the evil book gradually enlarged, like a person becoming more and more excited as they spoke, until finally the pages began to shake, as if the person was dancing with joy.

Divinity awakening? Charles silently recalled the old man's words, "I am reviving." To this day, he still doesn't know what "thing" his soul is connected to, or what slumbers deep within his soul.

The old man in the ring?

Or perhaps, the creator god?

"I," he thought for a moment, then tentatively said, "did hear some whispers earlier."

"Really?" The pages of the evil book trembled again. "The ancient gods who have been sleeping are about to be revived. What have I done to deserve such a miracle?"

"Ancient gods?" Charles frowned.

"Yes, I can feel the still lake deep within your soul" beginning to ripple. The words in the evil book are appearing faster and faster. "This feeling is not wrong. It is completely different from other people's souls, even from those church bishops. Your divinity is far more powerful than theirs."

"A bishop of the Church?" Charles thought for a moment and quickly realized that the evil book was referring to Bishop Luther of the Church of Life, since it was "brought out" from Bishop Luther by John and Vivian's "junior brother".

"Are they also chosen by God deep within their souls?"

"Yes, but very few," the evil book explained its perception. "These bishops have sworn oaths and have worshipped the four great gods for a long time. Their souls have been tainted to some extent by the chosen ones, but not much, not nearly as much as yours."

"Me?" Charles smiled. He wanted to say that he was a goblin. Although he was a believer in the Church of Fate, he was only a half-hearted believer and was no match for his father, Baron Merlo. Moreover, his father was not a devout person. In his memory, his father had said many times, "I believe in the God of Fate because I hope to have good luck often."

But now, the soul of a goblin is far stronger than that of a bishop of the church. If this were to be told, no one would believe it.

"Deep within your soul is an ancient god, even more powerful than the Four Gods. That god is merely asleep, but should have begun to awaken by now. However, I don't know why the ancient god's awakening is so slow; it doesn't seem like an awakening from slumber at all," the evil book paused, and just as Charles was about to ask a question, words reappeared on the paper, "If the ancient god fully awakens and reclaims His divine position, you too will become a new god, a true god."

"Hmm?" The words that followed made Ciel's pupils shrink, and his whole body tensed up. "I can do that too—"

"Yes, My Lord, I can sense all of this." The words of the evil book appeared, but the speed gradually slowed down. "I only ask that you do not despise me, My Lord, and I wish to stay by your side forever."

"Oh." Charles pursed his lips. He couldn't completely disbelieve what this guy said, but he couldn't completely believe it either. Now it seemed that he was probably still trying to mislead him, just in a different way.

Thinking back to the various stories Sophia had told about the evil book, and the experiences of Little John and his friends after they obtained it, this thing just seems to have a tendency to stir up trouble.

It will constantly tempt you to act according to its advice, eventually leading you to a state of utter depravity.

"If that day ever comes, I will definitely thank you." Ciel smiled somewhat perfunctorily. What a joke, a goblin becoming a god no less than the Four Gods, or even some kind of true god.

Can you break the transformation curse on yourself first before talking about these things?

"You should go over there and analyze it properly." With that, Charles reached out and slammed the evil book shut. Then, looking around, he said, "Put it back at the bottom of the box again?"

The evil book was originally hidden at the very bottom of the box, but it still has some use now.

"Never mind, just put it to the side." With that, Charles got up and placed the evil book under a group of books in the corner.

Are you trying to seduce me?

I, Charles Mello, am smarter than a monkey.

"Smoked fish rice bowl?"

-

At the Ear Cleaner's Tavern, Little John put down the menu, and the waitress gave him a friendly look, after all, the few silver coins on the table made her service very attentive.

"No, let's order something else." Little John thought for a moment, and it seemed that the adventurers had ordered other dishes before, such as steak, chicken set meals, or cream soup.

However, after thinking it over, he nodded and said, "Let's have a smoked fish rice bowl."

"Hmm?" The waitress paused, then nodded silently. "Just a moment."

After the waiter had gone, John sighed. Although the boss paid him a generous salary and Mary and he were living well, they still had to make a living, and he was now an adventurer who was starting to encounter more dangerous things.

He is currently just an adventurer with more than six months of experience, and he is incomparable to those "veteran ear cleaners".

But when he thought about what he had experienced—the mind flayers in the ruins, the evil gods in the forest, the powerful bishops of the church—some adventurers might never experience in their entire lives.

"If that's the case, then the Deinonychus is no match for it at all." Little John laughed, picked up his light beer from the table, and shook his head.

He recalled that autumn morning, the eye contact he made when he woke up slowly, and it was at that moment that he embarked on the path of "madness".

With a "bang," a glass of light beer was placed in front of him. The pub owner's tall figure blocked Little John's view, completely preventing him from watching the commotion.

However, the Earl Cleaner's Tavern is not very lively now, because Earl Valentine is going to charge a high fee for recruiting soldiers, and many adventurers are dejected.

Many of them weren't unable to afford the fee, but if they handed over the money and didn't earn anything more, or even lost their lives unexpectedly in the forest, it would be a losing proposition.

There was an interesting quote from Boss Xia before: "What is the most painful thing in life? It is that when you die, your money is still there."

At that moment, John wanted to say, "Boss, you've become a goblin now. Isn't that a different kind of 'the person is gone, but the money is still here'?"

However, John Jr. didn't say anything at the time, since Charles soon proved his ability to make money again.

But not everyone is so lucky. The people sitting in the tavern are all listless. The security team that came to investigate has just left, and no one is in the mood to eat or drink.

The dwarves and elves, who used to bicker and call each other "hermaphrodites" and "earth jars," were now sitting at a table, silently eating their food, showing no inclination to fight whatsoever.

Without the "dinner-watching video," Little John didn't mind. His main purpose was to gather information from the adventurers and see how they planned to explore the forest.

"Boss, what's up?" Little John glanced at the tavern owner, who had pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. The guy seemed to have something to say.

"Pale beer," the bar owner said, pushing the glass of beer towards him.

"Uh, I have some here." Little John raised his glass, indicating that he had already ordered a large glass.

"It's on you," the boss said unusually, which made Little John frown. Everyone in the tavern knew that this two-meter-tall strong man was not a generous person, and he was also very skilled. Little John had personally witnessed the boss throw a drunk adventurer out with his bare hands.

An adventurer, carrying a pack on his back, wearing armor and weapons, even in poor quality, was still quite heavy.

"Is something the matter?" John asked tentatively.

"Hmm—" The boss thought for a moment, glanced at the group of repressed ear cleaners, and then said softly, "I would like to ask you to help me collect some fruits from the forest, mainly red berries, to make red fruit wine."

"Oh, no problem." Little John nodded, then asked, puzzled, "Can't other people complete this task?"

"It's different," the boss waved his hand. "They'll be going into the forest this time to collect more supplies, and those berries will be crushed, so they won't be able to make wine. But you're different."

He pointed to Little John, "You and your goblin friend should be able to complete this task easily."

"Hmm?" John frowned. "I think you've got the wrong person."

"No, kid," the boss shook his head, "Do you think I know nothing? You underestimate the Brotherhood of Phantom Troupe."

""