Chapter 155: The Successful Infiltrator (Third Chapter—Nearly Ten Thousand Words, Please Vote for Monthly Tickets)

【Animalization exceeds 5%. Second bloodline ability: Desire Serpent Eye awakened.】

【Desire Serpent Eye (Legendary): As a descendant of %&#, you can see through the desires of any living being with a single glance.】

【As my successor, do as you wish—desire is the origin of life's evolution. What reason is there to reject sweet evolution? %&, who has no intention of concealing their identity.】

Unconsciously, Li En had crossed that line.

Having absorbed too much knowledge about "beasts," his own beast (serpent) bloodline further activated, successfully awakening his second bloodline ability.

But now, with no time to check his inventory, he remained unaware of these changes.

He lurched forward like a twisted puppet, stepping with utter disregard for kin or kinship through the hellish defenses of the Mind Flayer base.

Whether it was a high-ranking Mind Flayer gliding past in haste or a Brain Gnasher with acute senses, all ignored him. The drive of the soul generated psychic energy; fluctuations of thought produced waves of spirituality—but within this sealed "puppet," none of it existed.

An empty "machine" held no value to these brain-eating monsters, and the natural suggestion of insignificance caused them to overlook him entirely.

Like a puppet manipulated by invisible threads, he passed through one checkpoint after another with eerie steps.

Even when occasional high-ranking slave warriors passed by, their paralyzed brains instinctively ignored him.

While his body moved automatically forward, his mind simultaneously cross-referenced newly acquired knowledge, recalling the cruel scenes he had witnessed before.

During the brutal underground death matches, that horned brute had viciously torn into a small beast, swallowing it whole in two bites.

Then its strength and flesh regenerated, even sprouting new organs and additional beast heads.

The Holy Mother Family was no different—those multi-headed monsters were also devoured one by one by her.

"So this is the true nature of the 'Deer'—its source of evolution. I understand. I understand."

Comparing past combat experience, things once incomprehensible suddenly became clear after acquiring the relevant knowledge and theory.

No extraordinary ability or battle outcome arises without cause. Li En, who once knew only the effect, now understood the cause—this meant he could prevent it all from happening.

Beasts are not immortal; deer are not either. What appears as formidable power and traits actually follows clear operational logic.

When a monster can be analyzed and understood, it is no longer invincible.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Huh!"

When Li En suddenly opened his eyes, he nearly screamed in shock.

He had walked too far without realizing it—he had ascended too many floors. Opening his eyes, he found himself inside the Main Brain's chamber!

It was a spacious hall with little furniture, save for a massive saltwater pool dug into the center, strikingly conspicuous.

Even more impossible to ignore was the colossal brain—or rather, the clustered mass of countless brains—within it.

A deformed, twisted mass of flesh, yet artfully arranged into the shape of a giant brain.

The colossal entity filled the entire pool, its surface writhing with countless external tentacles.

Around the pool, several dark elves and beastkin slaves served it.

Li En saw clearly—they were massaging it, inserting jars of what appeared to be brain cells and nutrients.

"Crack!" But those tentacles were not friendly.

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

This was likely its feeding method. But stranger still—even at the final moment, the slave still wore a smile, as if lost in the sweetest dream.

This was the Mind Flayer Main Brain—the most powerful psychic entity on the Prime Material Plane.

Its strength directly correlated with the number of subordinate units (Mind Flayers) under its control; currently, over a hundred Mind Flayers were within range. Its power likely exceeded the standard by more than tenfold.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, in the center of the hall, a spatial gate was torn open by flailing tentacles.

In its own domain, the Main Brain's immense psychic power could easily warp reality.

This sight left Li En numb—could he really fight this opponent?

Li En had some understanding of psychic abilities: under normal circumstances, aside from "mind control," they were jack-of-all-trades, master of none.

They could mimic other spells to inflict elemental damage, but the conversion rate was pitifully low, and without elemental specialization, their damage output might be only one-tenth that of an equal-level elemental mage.

They also possessed healing abilities—but beyond healing psychic wounds, their effects mostly amounted to mere pain relief.

Of course, the main reason was the severe side effect: accelerated metabolism and shortened lifespan. Even psychic users preferred to seek healers and clerics.

The only noteworthy trait was their ability to touch upon time and space.

Especially top-tier psychic users were among the rare few capable of reaching the domain of time—but such beings were exceedingly rare and required immense innate talent; even the current Mind Flayer Main Brain could not achieve it.

"This is pure brute force tearing through space. A terrifying power."

Using psychic ability to forcibly warp such a massive spatial rift was sheer overkill.

The next moment, several high-ranking Mind Flayers emerged from the portal, dragging behind them their latest trophies—also Li En's recently separated acquaintance.

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

Large tubes were inserted into its skull, like disposable straws; the unfortunate eldest daughter was reduced to nothing but a head!

"Let me go! Filthy male!" Yet even now, as her head was toyed with and kept alive by tentacles, she still screamed curses.

Should one praise her for consistency, for staying true to herself? Even like this, her voice still roared with vigor.

But the Dragon Knight pair's fate was sealed the moment they stormed in.

Even if they eliminated that high-ranking Mind Flayer, endless waves of Mind Flayer monks, elders, and modifiers would drown them.

Character determines fate—and also the hour of death.

This head could still curse, perhaps only because someone wanted fresh meat.

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

"You filthy brain-slime, I'm—"

And with that, her vigorous curses came to an end.

The illusion shattered.

". aaah! How did I end up like this? What happened?!"

She had no idea what had occurred—she had just woken from a dream. Hadn't she still been fighting?

The next moment, she realized everything was gone.

No body. No future. No life. Her single remaining eyeball stared at the tentacle reaching for her—her face twisted, flooding with pain, helplessness, and despair.

Fear made her tremble; her screams echoed through the hall, yet—

【Delicious seasoning, little one. You struggled so hard. So tasty. So delicious.】

For Mind Flayers and the Main Brain, biological emotional essences were delicious seasonings—especially intense flavors like "despair" and "rage," which left unforgettable spicy memories.

The dark elf noblewoman, ambitious to become city lord, became food for the monster.

Her dragon was dragged to the pool's edge—the tubes piercing its brain dripped brain matter; it would become a savory drink.

But the Main Brain did not stop there—it spoke again.

【Why do you not attack? You surface dwellers often say that we are most vulnerable while feasting.】

The sudden words stunned Li En.

Only then did he realize—he had become the center of attention.

Unconsciously, every eye on the Main Brain's tentacles, and all three clearly high-ranking Mind Flayers, were fixed on him.

Had he, too, been affected?

No—he had planned to reach this place, so discovery was inevitable. But why had he been so reckless, believing he could win?

Would his fate be the same as this dark elf's?

【Come. Let me see your brain.】

A calm yet powerful psychic wave echoed throughout the hall; under the overwhelming psychic pressure, any resistance was futile.

Even if Li En were a Holy Knight with maximum resistance, he likely could not withstand such psychic pressure—were he alone!

"Hey hey hey, stinky brain, don't mess with someone else's toy."

A girl's voice, laced with amusement, echoed through the hall—the Main Brain's absurdly powerful psychic control instantly failed.

Why? This was not a battle of strength against strength—it was merely—

【A puppet already controlled. A mind already dominated. How could your tentacles touch it?】

"Li En" spoke, his face twisted.

At that moment, he realized—the voice he had been hearing as Violet Rose was his own voice speaking!

Yes, from the very beginning, Li En had been manipulated.

". end me your mind for a while." The moment he made that promise, he became the "Serpent's" puppet.

Therefore, before this control was expelled, no outsider could manipulate him again.

This meant even the Main Brain's psychic domination was now useless!

At this moment, Li En was, for most psychic users, truly invincible!

【Ah, I merely wished to grant you a painless death.】 The psychic voice overflowed with pitying emotion.

But this absolute disparity in power was a reality both sides had to acknowledge.

The high-ranking Mind Flayers turned their gaze toward him. Even if psychic control was useless, "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 hoped to preserve the "food" intact, or perhaps they simply wished to see what else the clown could perform.

Li En seemed trapped in utter despair.

But suddenly, he coughed involuntarily.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!" The violent coughing left him unable to straighten up.

He coughed so violently he bent forward, pressing his head to the ground—was this a respiratory spasm caused by extreme tension?

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

"Hi!"

It was a tiny, adorable pale purple snake, proudly flicking its tail to greet the others.

The next moment, "she" swelled instantly—one meter, then three—before transforming into a smiling young woman.

"Magical Girl Violet Rose, at your service!"

The cheerful girl shouted a customary catchphrase and struck a pose, supposedly passed down through generations, with both hands raised.

Meanwhile, outside, the "doll Violet Rose" had already dissolved into a single petal.

The mystery was solved: from the very beginning, through that sweet first kiss, Violet Rose had sent "herself" into the man she desired's belly!

Now, if Li En could remain calm, he might even claim his first kiss had been the taste of rose.

With her back to Li En, who stood stunned, she deliberately struck a pose she thought looked most beautiful from behind.

This was the moment for a beautiful maiden to rescue the hero and rack up affection points—but before she could continue reciting her line,

"Snake! Snake!" The giant beast outside, through the mental link, had seen its mortal enemy.

【There's a snake! Take me away! Quick!!】 The main brain lost its usual composure.

At that moment, both the giant stag outside and the mind flayer's main brain screamed like frightened little girls.

"So… this is a snake?" Li En was utterly frozen.

But holding his sword, he knew exactly what to do now.

(End of Chapter)