Chapter 155: Successful Infiltrator (Third Watch, Nearly 10k, Requesting Monthly Votes)

【Beastification exceeds 5%, Second Bloodline Ability: Snake Eye of Desire awakens.】

【Snake Eye of Desire (Legendary): As the successor of %&#, you can see through the desires of other living beings at a glance.】

【As my successor, do whatever you wish; desire is the source of life's evolution. What reason is there to refuse such sweet evolution? — %&#, who has no intention whatsoever of hiding their identity.】

Unknowingly, Li En had still crossed that line.

Having absorbed too much knowledge about "Beasts," his own Beast (Snake) bloodline further activated, successfully awakening his second bloodline ability.

But now, with no time to check the codex, he remained unaware of these changes.

He was moving forward, swaying like a twisted puppet with a stride that recognized no kin, through the Death-phase defense of the Mind Flayer base.

Whether it was high-ranking Mind Flayers drifting past in haste or the brain-eating creatures with keen senses, they all ignored him; the soul's drive brought psionic energy, and the fluctuations of thought produced waves of spirituality, yet within this "puppet" whose brain was sealed, none of these things existed.

An empty "machine" held no value for these brain-eating monsters, so the suggestion of being ignored naturally caused them to overlook him.

Operated like a puppet by invisible long strings, he passed through one checkpoint after another with eerie steps.

Even when high-ranking slave warriors occasionally appeared, their brains paralyzed, they would subconsciously ignore him.

While his body moved forward automatically, his mind was simultaneously cross-referencing the newly acquired knowledge and recalling the cruel scenes he had witnessed in the past.

During the brutal underground death matches, that one-horned beast had viciously torn apart a small creature and swallowed it in two bites.

Then its body's strength and flesh had restored, even growing new organs and new beast heads.

The Holy Mother's great family was no different; that multi-headed monster had also been eaten piece by piece by her.

"I see. This is also the essence of the 'Deer,' the source of its evolution. I understand, I understand."

Cross-referencing past combat experience, things that were originally incomprehensible became instantly clear after acquiring the relevant knowledge and theories.

There are no supernatural abilities or combat results without cause; Li En, who previously only knew the result, now knew the "cause." This meant he could prevent all of this from happening.

Beasts are not immortal, and the Deer even less so; seemingly powerful abilities and traits actually have obvious operational logic.

When a monster can be analyzed and understood, it naturally ceases to be invincible.

"Eh."

"Eh?"

"Eh!"

When Li En suddenly opened his eyes, he almost screamed out in fright.

He had unknowingly walked too far, crossing too many floors; opening his eyes, he discovered he had arrived at the room of the Elder Brain!

It was a quite spacious hall, yet with little furnishing, save for a large saltwater pool with a huge pit dug in the middle, which was particularly eye-catching.

And even more impossible to ignore was the massive brain within it—or rather, the aggregation of countless brains.

It was a deformed and twisted mass of flesh, yet subtly piled up into the form of a giant brain.

Occupying an entire pool, this massive object had countless writhing external tentacles upon it.

Around the pool, some dark elves and orc slaves were serving it.

Li En saw clearly that they seemed to be massaging it and placing in canisters of what appeared to be brain cells and nutrients.

"Crack!" Just those tentacles were not friendly.

It casually snapped the neck of a dark elf slave who moved a bit slowly, then skillfully plucked out the brain and dumped it directly into the pool.

This was likely its method of feeding—but even stranger was that even at the very last moment, that slave still wore a smile, as if lost in the sweetest dream.

This was the Mind Flayer Elder Brain, possibly the strongest psychic monster on the Prime Material Plane.

Its strength was directly related to the number of subordinate units (Mind Flayers) it controlled, and now there were at least over a hundred Mind Flayers within range; it was likely more than ten times the standard value.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, in the middle of the hall, a spatial gate was opened by a waving tentacle.

In its own territory, the Elder Brain's powerful ability was sufficient to easily warp reality.

This scene made Li En feel a bit numb; was this truly an opponent he could deal with?

Li En had a certain understanding of psychic abilities; under normal circumstances, aside from "Enchantment," they were often proficient in everything yet master of nothing.

They could transform into the effects of other magics to cause elemental damage, but the conversion rate was pitifully low, and often lacking the specialization boost of elemental aspects, the damage effect might be only one-tenth that of a same-level elemental mage.

They also possessed healing abilities—but except for healing psychic damage, the effect mostly remained at the level of "pain relief."

Of course, the main issue was that the side effects of the healing ability were too huge (accelerating metabolism and shortening lifespan); even psychic ability users preferred to seek out healers and clerics.

The only thing worthy of praise was probably that they could also involve the domains of time and space.

Especially top-tier psychic ability users, who were among the very few strong ones capable of touching the domain of time—but such existences were far too rare and required immense talent; even the Mind Flayer Elder Brain before him could not reach that level.

"This is simply tearing through space with brute force... truly terrifying power."

Using psychic abilities to forcibly warp such a large spatial rift was truly an overuse of power to create a miracle.

And in the next moment, several high-ranking Mind Flayers walked out from within; what they were dragging was their freshly harvested spoils, and also Li En's old acquaintance he had just separated from.

The Black Dragon was completely immobilized, its entire body reeking of scorching.

Large tubes were inserted into its head, resembling straws for immediate drinking; and the unlucky eldest daughter was reduced to nothing but a head!

"Let go of me! Filthy male!" But at this moment, the head being played with by tentacles and kept alive was still cursing angrily.

Should one praise her for consistency between inner and outer self, for not forgetting her original intention? Even in this state, she was still cursing with full vigor.

But the fate of this dragon knight combination was sealed the moment they charged in here.

Even if that high-ranking Mind Flayer was eliminated, a continuous stream of Mind Flayer monks, even Mind Flayer elders and Mind Flayer transmuters, would drown them.

Character determines fate, and can also determine the Death phase.

The reason this head could still curse was probably just because someone wanted to eat fresh meat.

"Slap!" She was thrown directly into the pool.

"You brain-meat bastard, I am..."

And this meant that the vigorous angry cursing ended right there.

The Illusory realm has been shattered.

"Ah, ah, ah! Why am I like this? What exactly happened!"

She had no idea what had happened; she had just awakened from a dream. Wasn't she still in battle?

In the next moment, she discovered that everything was gone.

No body, no future, no life. The only usable eyeball looked at the tentacles reaching for her. Her face twisted; emotions of pain, helplessness, and despair burst forth all at once.

Fear made her tremble. Screams echoed throughout the entire hall, but

【Delicious seasoning, little one. You tried hard. It's delicious, truly delicious.】

For Mind Flayers and the Elder Brain, the emotional essence of creatures is also a delicious seasoning. Especially intense flavors like "despair" and "anger"; for them, these are memorable spicy notes.

The dark elf noblewoman, ambitious as the City Lord, thus became food for the monster.

And her dragon was dragged to the pool's edge. Tubes inserted into the dragon's brain dripped brain fluid continuously; it would become a delicious drink.

But the Elder Brain did not stop there; instead, it continued to speak.

【Why do you not attack? Don't you surface dwellers often say that we are most vulnerable while eating?】

The sudden words made Li En pause.

In the next moment, he realized he had become the focus.

Unknowingly, whether it was the eyeballs on the Elder Brain's tentacles or those three obviously high-ranking Mind Flayers, all were staring at him.

Could it be that he, too, had fallen victim?

No, since he had decided to reach here, he was destined to be discovered. But why was he so reckless, thinking he could definitely win?

Could his fate be the same as that dark elf's...

【Come, let me see your... brain.】

A calm yet intense psychic wave echoed throughout the entire hall. Under the overwhelming pressure of psychic powers far superior in level, any resistance was powerless.

Even if Li En was a Paladin with maximum resistance, he probably could not resist this level of psychic pressure... if it were only him!

"Hey, hey, hey, stinky brain-flower, don't just go around touching other people's toys."

A girl's voice, carrying a smile, echoed in the hall. The Elder Brain's absurdly powerful mind control instantly failed.

The reason? This was not a contest of force versus force; it was merely

"A puppet already controlled, a mind already mastered. How can your tentacles touch?"

"Li En" said, his face twisted.

At this moment, he realized that the voice of Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei he had been hearing all along was actually spoken by himself!

That's right; from the very beginning, Li En had been controlled.

"... Lend me your heart for a while..." From the moment Li En made that promise, he became the "Snake's" puppet.

Therefore, before this control was expelled, naturally, he could not be controlled a second time by an outsider.

This meant that even the Elder Brain's mind-bending abilities had become ineffective!

At this moment, Li En might be truly invincible against most psychic users!

【Sigh, I merely wished for you to die without pain.】 The psychic words were filled with compassion for all living things.

However, this absolute disparity in combat power was a reality both sides had to acknowledge.

High-ranking Mind Flayers one by one looked over. Even if mind-control abilities were ineffective, "telekinesis" and "elemental damage" could easily kill Li En.

The two sides were not even on the same scale.

They did not act immediately; perhaps they only wished for the "food" to remain intact, or perhaps they simply wanted to see what else the clown could perform.

Li En seemed to have fallen into a desperate situation.

But suddenly, he unconsciously began to cough.

"Cough, cough, cough." Violent coughing made him unable to straighten his back.

He coughed until he bent his head to the ground. Was it a respiratory spasm caused by excessive tension?

"Snap." But as he coughed, something fell to the ground!

"Hi!"

It was a pale purple, cute little snake, waving its tail proudly to greet the others.

In the next moment, "she" directly expanded: one meter, three meters... then transformed into a smiling young woman.

"Magical Girl Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei, reporting for duty!"

The cheerful girl shouted a routine slogan and struck a pose she claimed was her ancestral "two-hands-presenting" stance.

Meanwhile, outside, within the small squad, that "Puppet Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei" had already turned into a single petal.

The mystery was revealed. From the very beginning, borrowing that sweet first kiss, Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei had sent "herself" into the belly of the man she admired!

Now, if Li En could remain calm, perhaps he could claim his first kiss tasted of roses.

With her back to the dumbfounded Li En, she deliberately struck a pose and angle that she felt looked most beautiful from behind.

Now was the moment for the beauty to save the hero and massively boost affection, but before she could continue speaking her lines...

"Snake! Snake!" The giant beasts outside, seeing their natural enemy through the mental link, screamed.

【There's a snake! Take me away quickly! Quickly!!】 The Elder Brain lost its original calmness.

At this moment, whether it was the giant deer outside or the Mind Flayer Elder Brain here, all screamed like frightened little girls.

"So, this is a snake..." Li En was also completely paralyzed.

But he, holding the sword, knew what to do now.

(End of this chapter)