"You were waiting for me?" Shire clenched his fists.

"Of course. Why else would you have been able to arrive here safely?" The Heart Stealer paced elegantly, completely ignoring the crowd of goblins before him.

The goblins muttered amongst themselves, eager for a fight. Red Eyes was even preparing to Charge forward.

"Noisy." The Heart Stealer raised a long, slender, purple finger that resembled a thin bamboo stalk and said in a dull voice, "Mind Shock."

BOOM! A visible ripple of air blasted outward at high speed. All the goblins were thrown backward, falling unconscious to the ground.

Shire felt a searing heat from his finger. The Heart Stealer’s Magic Effect was far stronger than that of the Smoke-faced Mage he’d encountered when killing the Fearsome Claw Bear. He had knocked out all the goblins in a single blow.

"Oh? Interesting. A Magic Trinket." The Heart Stealer was slightly surprised, but his tone seemed to hold a hint of delight.

"What do you want?" Seeing how powerful his opponent was, Shire actually relaxed.

"I want to make you a Chosen One." The Heart Stealer chuckled. He raised a finger, and a tadpole flew out of the pool made of flesh and blood, landing before Shire’s feet.

"You want to turn me into one of those Goblin Transmuters?" Shire looked down, watching the tadpole wriggle its body and approach his feet.

"No, not a tool like them. I can make as many of those tools as I want. I am inviting you to become one of us," the Heart Stealer said.

"One of you? You want to turn me into a Heart Stealer?" Shire said with a frown. The tadpole had already crawled onto the top of his foot.

"I noticed you from the moment you entered my Underground Kingdom." The Heart Stealer flicked his wrist, and a scene appeared before him, playing out like a small screen.

Shire watched the scene: he was directing his subordinates to test the Brain-Eating Monsters, then sending Red Eyes away, and finally leading his men into the next room.

The image was from a low-angle perspective, which made Shire realize something was wrong. But he quickly figured it out. "You’ve been monitoring me with those rats from the very beginning."

"Correct," the Heart Stealer said, pointing at Shire. "I originally thought you were just a slightly smarter goblin, one who could attract the attention of the Brain-Eating Monsters. But it was when you killed the Heart-devouring Giant Worm that I became truly interested in you."

He clasped one hand behind his back and strolled about leisurely. "Quick analysis, control over the details, decisive judgment... you’ve given me quite a surprise."

"The Heart-devouring Giant Worm?" Shire watched the image, which showed him leading his subordinates in a frantic escape as the Heart-devouring Giant Worm smashed against the stone walls, chasing them menacingly. Meanwhile, the tadpole had used its slime to crawl up to his calf.

"That was my mistake. There are too few targets with high Intelligence in the forest, so I couldn’t incubate them quickly, which ultimately led to the Heart-devouring Giant Worm’s creation." The Heart Stealer sighed. "Later, I used those Fulu as bait to lock it in the stone chamber. I never expected your intelligence would be enough to attract the Heart-devouring Giant Worm."

"In the end, you truly didn’t disappoint me. You even managed to use the Fulu to kill the Brain Golem and the Skull Rat Swarm. Your wisdom even far surpasses that of human Adventurers." The Heart Stealer retracted the image and turned to look at Shire.

"So you just stood by and watched the Brain Golem and the Skull Rats fight to the death?" Shire asked. He could feel the tadpole had crawled past his knee.

"It was nothing. If they die, they die. I can always convert more." The Heart Stealer slowly extended his bamboo-like hands, a hint of temptation in his voice. "And you... you will cast aside your weak identity and obtain powerful abilities."

"Let the tadpole enter your brain through your eye. When you awaken, you will become a Heart Stealer. The goblins you brought with you will become your loyal subordinates, an extension of your will. They will execute your thoughts flawlessly, and your will shall become the sole law of the Kingdom."

Shire stared intently at the creature, the tadpole now having reached his waist. "And what about you?"

"Me?" The Heart Stealer let out a few dull laughs. "I have grown very weak. Hiding in this forest has drained countless amounts of my energy. There aren’t enough highly intelligent targets here. I can only reluctantly maintain the current ecosystem, using Skull Rats to lure in goblins, then using the transmuted goblins to feed the Brain-Eating Monsters."

He said self-mockingly, "Perhaps I will die soon. When that happens, I will upload my consciousness to the main brain and achieve eternal life."

"That kind of eternal life?" Shire asked, pointing to the giant, red-glowing brain tissue.

"Yes," the Heart Stealer said. "When that time comes, you will take over this entire Kingdom. Your subordinates will become tools for your expansion. You are smarter than I am; you will surely do better than me."

"So, what do you say, goblin? Are you ready?"

Shire exhaled, then reached out and grabbed the tadpole as it crawled onto his shoulder. The tadpole writhed and struggled in his hand, its mouth full of sharp teeth letting out a "GAK GAK" sound.

SPLAT! Shire slammed the tadpole onto the ground and crushed it under his foot.

"Sorry, that was just too disgusting," he said sincerely.

"You... you dare refuse this gift." The Heart Stealer’s tone was menacing. He hadn’t expected to be rejected. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"A gift? To become like you and lead those ugly Transmuters?" Shire said with a laugh.

"It is evolution. A perfect evolution. They will be forever loyal."

"No, that’s not loyalty. That’s just puppetry," Shire said, shrugging. "Compared to you, I may be weak—weaker even than my own subordinates. But they are more loyal to me."

"Maybe in your eyes, they’re just stupid, greedy goblins. But they know who it is that lets them eat two full meals a day, who it is that keeps them from freezing in the winter. They can even argue about whether a bed should be 1.8 meters long or 3 meters long."

"And you are just a pathetic rat, cowering and trembling in your underground Fortress," Shire said, pointing at the Heart Stealer.

"What a ridiculous notion. Lower lifeforms are inherently chaotic, disorderly, and worthless," the Heart Stealer said mockingly. "I was once a human, too, oppressed by this world just the same. But now..."

"It’s the same now. You never fought back either," Shire interrupted. "You’re just lying to yourself. The weak only swing their swords at those weaker than themselves. The strong challenge those who are stronger."

"A laughable struggle." The Heart Stealer was so angered by Shire’s retort that he laughed, his voice laced with shame and fury. "If that’s how it is, then you can just be a slightly smarter Transmuter."

Seeing the creature raise its finger again, Shire quickly pulled a Hand Grenade Fruit from behind his back.

’I can’t let him use Mind Shock again. If my subordinates are hit by that blast one more time, there’s no telling how many goblins will die outright.’

He threw the Hand Grenade Fruit without hesitation. BANG! An explosion rang out.

The red light flickered rapidly. The giant brain tissue was damaged, and a large amount of white fluid flowed into the slime-filled pool.

A high-pitched ringing screamed in the Heart Stealer’s mind. He clutched his octopus-like head and said in agony:

"You dare to bomb the main brain?! You damned insect!"