Goblin Dependency

On one hand, adventurers’ beastly appearances serve as the most natural form of disguise in some ways.

Though they may seem out of place due to the souls of intelligent beings, their allegiance cannot be determined just by their appearance.

To put it bluntly, even if Algae Scale Dodd stood directly in front of Xia Nan now, he would refrain from attacking until confirming the identity to avoid friendly fire.

The adventurer who has disguised himself as a goblin is effectively signaling his identity to any passing adventurers who spot the mark.

Encountering an enemy of good background... with the strength of his Green-skinned Goblins, he might struggle to resist.

Speaking of which, the opponent evidently hasn’t realized the Secret Realm’s mechanism, unaware that adventurers can evolve their life levels through killing.

Otherwise, considering the seasoned level of adventurers entering this realm, it’s unlikely they’d take such dangerous actions.

Looking at the team emblem pinned to the tree trunk before him, Xia Nan contemplated with his wolf paw pressing the ground, eyes showing a hint of hesitation.

Despite having developed some peculiar habits after transmigration due to various reasons, he wasn’t like those rabid dogs, addicts, driven by desire over reason.

Xia Nan longed for slaughter, knowing well that killing adventurers could yield precious Battle Skill levels.

But if the goblin before him was possessed by a member of the Furious Tide Battle Gang who previously expressed goodwill towards him; knowing the opponent’s identity, he would refrain from attacking.

"Perhaps I can negotiate and exchange information about the Secret Realm with the opponent?"

With this thought, Xia Nan proceeded toward the area with the densest goblin aura.

Soon, a hidden goblin nest nestled in the bushes appeared before his eyes.

The entrance was relatively small, with no traps set in the surrounding woods, clearly lacking elite individuals like Bear Goblins or Earth Goblins.

As for the exact scale...

Xia Nan observed the blurred paths on the grasslands nearby, trodden repeatedly.

"Approximately eight to twelve."

If they were ordinary goblins, any conflict with them would be well within his capacity to handle.

While contemplating how best to reveal his identity to them.

Xia Nan’s expression suddenly froze, his damp black wolf nose slightly twitched.

Amidst the air flowing out of the dimly-lit cave, he caught a faint scent of blood.

"Hmm!?"

His alertness surged instantaneously.

Before he could react, his sharp wolf ears suddenly perked up.

A slow and heavy footstep echoed from deep within the cave.

His thoughts raced.

With silent pads softly landing, Xia Nan climbed swiftly with an unusual agility not belonging to ordinary wolves, reaching the tree canopy of a nearby thick oak.

Startling a small sparrow resting there by chance.

Using his black fur, he hid in the shadow cast by the tree crown, peering through the gaps in the branches at the goblin nest below.

Xia Nan’s response was remarkably quick.

In only three minutes after he climbed the tree, accompanied by heavy breathing and the soft sound of rocks and some object rubbing on the ground,

a sturdy figure slowly emerged from the cave entrance.

A Mongoose with an exceptionally large build.

Its shoulder height nearly at the waist level of an adult, the distinctive silvery-gray fur stretched from the top of its head to the end of its spine, hinting at its muscles outlined by movement beneath the thick fur and fat.

Appearing as if it had just gone through a fierce battle, it was covered in dust and wounds, with blood soaking from the shoulder area’s torn flesh, bloodstains marking its mouth and claws.

At this moment, the Mongoose held the corpse of a goblin in its mouth.

Its powerful jaws clenched onto the goblin’s completely snapped neck, dragging its twig-like frail limbs lifelessly.

A glowing blue light only visible to ceremony participants continuously flowed from the goblin’s corpse, merging into the Mongoose.

"Another adventurer?"

Slightly surprised within, Xia Nan’s attention instinctively returned to his real body.

Sure enough, among the two confronting adventurists on the coast in his view, another adventurer, a mature middle-aged man from the Furious Tide Battle Gang, briefly detached from the solidified floating state, as the blue light faded on him and paleness appeared on his face, he landed slowly.

Evidently, the large Mongoose, that attacked the goblin nest earlier, was also an adventurer transformed into a wild beast.

Feeling subtly awkward within.

Especially just having been overwhelmed by the danger of the goblin adventurer leaving the team emblem signal.

Not long thereafter, he witnessed the adventurer’s corpse.

It’s truly an awe at the variability of destiny.

Meanwhile, the goblin’s demise and the appearance of the Mongoose disrupted Xia Nan’s plans.

Originally intending to negotiate with the adventurer from the Furious Tide Battle Gang, seeking cooperation in the research of the Secret Realm.

Now, any further communication opportunity is lost.

If the Mongoose attacked after recognizing the goblin adventurer’s identity when discovering the latter’s signal.

From the perspective of Xia Nan, as a temporary member of the Sword of Vengeance, even without clear hostile relations, certainly not sharing the same faction.

Under such circumstances, revealing himself recklessly might provoke an attack from the opponent.

Conversely, if not belonging to the same faction... Xia Nan naturally wouldn’t hesitate to retaliate.

Directly converting it into Battle Skill levels seems plausible.

It also appears to be the first time experiencing evolution on the field, dragging the goblin corpse out from the burrow, with the robust body of the Mongoose halted on-site, showing a trace of human-like amazement in its eyes.

Accompanied by the infiltration of blue glowing dots into its body, visibly its physique seems to exhibit a faint swelling trend.

Realizing that, if action is necessary, now is the golden opportunity.

While pondering, seemingly captured a strange presence.

The golden yellow wolf eyes slightly rotated, fixing gaze on the posterior neck of the Mongoose.

Earlier due to angle factors unnoticed.

Now with the Mongoose’s body stiffly expanding, a bizarre and bloated contour quietly emerged behind its wide head.

A... toad?

A strange toad of morbid deep purple hue could be seen, appearing as though lounging atop its exclusive throne, perched on the back of the Mongoose’s neck.

Its back, like rotting skin, covered densely with spasmodic lumps of varying sizes; under the sunlight, dark violet pus fills and inflates them visibly.

Among the largest lumps, the facade is stretched almost transparent, trembling with the faint throat movements of the toad, seemingly as though the thin membrane would rupture in the next moment, splattering the repulsive viscous pus contained within.

Xia Nan had never encountered such a type of toad.

However, he felt an intense sense of looming danger, surpassing even the Mongoose undergoing evolution through the blue light, at the sight of the toad although its size was barely larger than the wolf’s head.

It seems a temporary retreat is advisable?

Cautiously within.

Yet perhaps in response to Xia Nan’s inner burst of caution, the previously quietly perched toad on the Mongoose’s neck suddenly raised its ugly, moist rounded head.

Those turbid yet human-tinged horizontal pupils seemed to have discerned the presence of the black wolf on the tree crown.

A cold, spine-chilling gaze directed toward Xia Nan’s position.

"Croak..."

In the tranquil forest, suddenly echoed a drum-like frog cry.

A blister on its back, swollen with venom, abruptly contracted and flattened.

Replaced by a compressed thread of venom shooting from the toad’s sinister dark purple maw.

Sizzle!

Branches and leaves pierced instantly, the highly corrosive venom made fibers near perforations rapidly wither and char, forming thick droplets of black smoke seeping down gradually.

Originally crouching atop the tree canopy, the black wolf lightly descended to the ground.

With golden yellow eyes, fixed on the Mongoose and the toad before him.