Goblin Dependency

As the map boundaries gradually shrank, the adventurers scattered all over also began to gather toward the center of the Secret Realm.

The dazzling, luminous blue orb slowly descending from high above was witnessed by a dozen adventurers in its forested region alone.

Among these adventurers, only a few like Xia Nan had combat experience, absorbed life energy from other participants, and completed an evolution, at most only two or three.

The vast majority of them were merely in the stage of just adapting to the Secret Realm environment and were in the stage of exploring outward.

Therefore, these adventurers could not connect the current blue light ball with life evolution.

The luminous blue orb itself did not have much attraction for them.

However, on the other hand, most of the adventurers who were drawn into the Secret Realm had witnessed the massive beam of light shooting up from the center of Stod Island before being swept into the ritual.

Both exhibited the same luminous blue color, and given the current situation, it was hard not to draw connections.

So there’s a high probability they wouldn’t remain indifferent but instead approach the landing point of the light orb with caution and vigilance.

And Flynn intended to take advantage of this opportunity.

The ritual, originally planned for the day of the Moon Tide Banquet, was brought forward due to the Sha Hua Fishmen’s movements, even catching him, one of the main planners of the ritual, off guard.

Fortunately, regardless of the situation, he was still one of those in the know.

Although he didn’t have as many conveniences as "Algae Scale" Dodd, compared with other adventurers drawn into the Secret Realm, he had an absolute informational advantage, knowing the general mechanics of the ritual.

In this situation, even though the animal he inhabited upon arrival was just a gigantic beetle, he used his flying advantage and a bit of luck to find an adventurer on a jungle python.

Flynn used his informational advantage, first leveraging his identity as an adventurer sharing the same fate of being drawn into the Secret Realm, coupled with the conversational skills honed over the years—through writing, of course—to quickly gain the other party’s trust.

Then, in a dangerous plan he deliberately devised, he betrayed the other and sent the python adventurer into the claws of a Bear.

After the demon had its fill and left, he returned to the scene, absorbed the life energy above the adventurer’s corpse, and completed an evolution.

It’s a pity that even though his evolution speed was in the first echelon among the adventurers in the whole Secret Realm, and his evolutionary direction wasn’t bad.

But he still couldn’t sense the positions of other adventurers.

This caused Flynn to encounter no adventurers for a long time after completing an evolution, falling into a complete stagnation.

Of course, he knew that the Ritual Secret Realm itself was created for "Algae Scale" Dodd, and having followed him all these years, he had never harbored thoughts of defiance or betrayal.

In fact, Flynn’s aggressive and somewhat urgent strategy was precisely ordered by Dodd.

To some extent, it was an insurance for the smooth progression of the ritual.

Even in the worst-case scenario, if several preparations of Algae Scale failed to work and things didn’t go well.

Ultimately, he could achieve a turnaround by devouring Flynn’s life energy accumulated from multiple evolutions.

Currently, the life energy falling from high above gave Flynn, who was troubled by the lack of other adventurers, a chance.

On one hand, as a part of the Ritual Secret Realm’s acceleration mechanism, if this life energy could be fully absorbed, it might directly elevate him one or two evolutionary tiers, compensating for the lag during this blank period;

On the other hand, the orb itself also acted like a lure, drawing adventurers from nearby areas to converge here like moths to a flame.

By staying nearby and waiting for the orb to land, he could hunt the adventurers attracted to the spot like a waiting predator, gaining a massive amount of life energy at once.

"Thinking about it, Mr. Dodd’s progress should be much faster than mine. Considering the time, maybe he’s even completed the Third Evolution?"

Flynn concealed his body as much as possible within the depths of the canopy, his mind stirring with thoughts.

To be honest, under normal conditions, if the beast he inhabited upon arrival had a low life level, even after completing an evolution, it might not match the combat power of other, luckier adventurers.

When Flynn first arrived in the Secret Realm and ended up on a giant beetle, luck was not on his side.

But fortunately, during his first evolution, he seemed to have randomly landed in an ideal direction.

And this was precisely why he had enough confidence to camp under the slowly descending light orb, hunting other adventurers.

"Buzz..."

The sunlight streaming through the leaves cast a hazy silhouette of a gigantic creature.

This was a giant beetle whose size rivaled the wild beasts of the forest.

Its elytra closed on its back, and the creature’s nearly two-meter-long body was covered with a heavy carapace that faintly shone with a metallic hue; its oval compound eyes provided it with nearly 360 degrees of panoramic vision, and its six thick, spike-covered legs allowed it to cling steadily to the tree trunk at an almost ninety-degree angle.

But its most striking feature was the sharp sword-like antenna that sprouted from its head, even longer than its body.

Overall, it exhibited the same metallic black as its carapace, with sharp edges on both sides, making it suitable for ramming and piercing, as well as diagonal cutting, like a knight’s longsword.