“Thank you on their behalf. Did you hear that, children? If you want to leave, go now—quickly.”

  Leah, overjoyed, urged them on.

  Cassana looked momentarily bewildered.

  “Mother? Why… why are you staying? Let’s leave together! We can still rebuild our home!”

  “Cassana, my child… I think Tian is a good person, so…”

  Leah spoke softly, her face full of apology.

  Moved by her mother's resolve, Cassana burst into tears and hugged her tightly.

  “If Mother won’t leave, then I won’t either!”

  “We’ll stay too! We only wish to follow Mother!”

  “That’s right—the Forest of Myriad Forms is gone. Our home no longer exists!”

  The remaining elves all chose to stay—though a few still decided to leave, quickly vanishing into the forest.

  Leah never expected so many would choose to remain.

  “Very well, children. From now on, you will follow Tian, the goblin leader—instead of me.”

  The group of elves hesitated for a moment, then knelt before Tian.

  “Don’t worry. Since you’re no longer captives but my subordinates, I’ll guarantee your safety. Anyone who dares touch you without permission—tell me, and I’ll make them die!”

  Tian deliberately raised his voice loud enough for all the other goblins to hear.

  Only then did the elves finally relax.

  He instructed Moon to help them select a spot to build simple huts—they couldn't remain in cages forever.

  Rodel gaped at the scene in disbelief.

  “Elves? Elves joining a goblin tribe?! Hahaha! Hahaha! This can’t be real!”

  Cassana got along surprisingly well with Moon, and they soon developed a harmonious rapport.

  They quickly chose a living area. As expected, the elves preferred the trees, constructing simple wooden houses among the branches.

  Tian said to Leah,

  “If you need anything, just let Moon know. She’ll arrange for the goblins to gather materials.”

  “I understand, Boss. Thank you. Whatever happened in the past... it’s behind us now.”

  Leah looked at him with gentle, affectionate eyes.

  Over the days, she had been gradually drawn in—not just by Tian’s personality, but even more by his overwhelming breeding prowess.

  She still couldn’t understand how a mere goblin could have such charisma.

  Staying to slowly learn more about him... didn’t seem like a bad idea.

  With the elves settled, Tian turned his attention to the newly captured humans.

  They were far less valuable than the elves.

  They were treated as nothing more than breeding machines.

  “Gob Kuang, Gob Tian—time to work hard. Breed all these humans now.”

  Tian issued the order.

  With the Sword Saint temporarily out of commission, this was a golden opportunity for rapid growth.

  They needed to produce as many Hero-tier and third-generation goblins as possible!

  Otherwise, if reinforcements arrived, things would get complicated.

  Gob Kuang reached in and pulled out a human.

  “Boss… these humans are way too small for me now.”

  “Hmm… you’re right. Then we’ll have to go artificial. Still, it’ll be tough on you.”

  Tian just shrugged.

  Fortunately, artificial breeding was much simpler this time—the elves had experience and could help.

  “No—no! Get this disgusting thing away from me!”

  “Elf sister, please—let me go! I don’t want to bear a goblin child!”

  “Wuwuwu… Mommy, why is this goblin on top of me?!”

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  After a chorus of short, miserable screams, Tian went searching for that troublesome Gob Bene.

  He’d invested so many resources, so many experience packs—and the guy didn’t even evolve?

  If he didn’t kill him and feed him to someone else, he’d feel bad.

  As he searched, he found Gob Bene huddled in a corner, frantically scratching himself.

  Large patches of skin were being torn off—quite gruesome.

  Tian asked sternly,

  “Gob Bene, what the hell are you doing?”

  “Boss? I… my body itches so much… like something’s trying to come out!”

  As he spoke, Gob Bene scratched even faster.

  Faster and faster—

  Until he was rolling on the ground in agony!

  Blood and flesh blurred together—the scene spiraled out of control.

  Tian rushed over and pinned him down hard.

  “Stop it! If you keep scratching, you'll tear yourself apart!”

  “Boss… let go… it hurts so much!”

  Gob Bene struggled desperately, but his strength was no match for Tian’s.

  Seeing this, Tian stopped holding him back.

  If he died, he died. Maybe there was still a chance...

  The sound of nails scraping flesh grew louder and louder.

  Thick, nauseating blood flowed everywhere.

  Finally—Gob Bene scratched himself to death.

  He convulsed a few times on the ground, then went still.

  “Evolution failed? Such bad luck… the tiniest chance, and it happens to me.”

  Tian let out a sigh.

  Normally, as long as a goblin’s aptitude was sufficient, evolving to Hero-tier was almost guaranteed.

  Like Gob Tian’s smooth, direct evolution.

  Just as Tian prepared to drag the corpse away to feed to a higher-level goblin—

  The body suddenly twitched!

  “Crack… crack…”

  The sound of bones growing echoed through the air.

  Gob Bene’s small frame began to expand!

  He grew to about 1.6–1.7 meters—similar to a Greater goblin.

  What shocked Tian most—

  Sharp bone spikes protruded from his back in rows.

  His shoulders and elbows had them too.

  His thighs and chest were lined with horizontal bone ridges—like ribs growing on the outside of his skin.

  A long, segmented bone tail sprouted from his lower back—at least three meters long!

  It looked like natural armor—intimidating, even striking.

  Next, the mangled, bloody flesh began to regenerate.

  The transformation completed.

  He wasn’t particularly bulky—rather, he was lean and elongated.

  His arms and legs were noticeably longer.

  His skin remained the classic goblin green hue.

  Tian quickly checked his status.

  【Gob Bene: Lv50

  Race: Mutated Goblin

  Class: Berserker

  Titles: Death and Rebirth, Mutated Body, Twisted Pervert, Blessed by the Gods…

  HP: 1200

  Strength: 350

  Defense: 400

  Skills: Bone Spikes, Bone Sword, Bone Growth, Berserker Heart, Battle Will…

  Equipment: War Bones

  Overall: 1500】

  “Damn... his overall power is this high?! If I hadn’t gotten those extra attributes from the Amethyst Dragon Mother, I might not even be able to beat him!”

  Tian was genuinely surprised.

  Gob Bene stood there, admiring his new form with curiosity.

  He didn’t speak, but the aura of a powerhouse radiated from him.

  It was as if the words “I can fight” were written all over his face.

  Tian roughly understood what had happened.

  He hadn’t evolved into a Hero-tier.

  He had mutated into a Variant!

  A Berserker Goblin!

  “Boss! I… I didn’t die! And I got so much stronger! Hahaha!”

  Gob Bene danced with joy, waving his arms and kicking his legs like always when excited.

  Tian nodded, satisfied.

  “Not bad. Your strength is now second only to mine. With your increased intelligence, you’ll be even more helpful with breeding—from now on, hands-on.”

  Who needs a Hero-tier when you accidentally get a Variant?

  Still, he guessed the survival rate for Variant offspring was much lower than for Hero-tier.

  Probably less than 2% success.

  For now, mass-producing third-generation goblins remained the priority.

  Over the next month, Tian focused mainly on monitoring Bright Town.

  The rest he left to the captured humans.

  The more they produced, the stronger the tribe would become.

  Tian activated full “life simulation” mode.

  If he could fast-forward time, all the better.

  【Life Simulation System initializing. Current scenario: Cultivating Third-Generation Goblins

  The Bright Town incident has concluded. You now have a golden window for expansion. The Sword Saint remains in a prolonged state of mental stupor—no immediate threat.

  Still, you check on Bright Town daily, wary of any changes.

  Day after day passes. The townsfolk gradually resume normal life. Nothing unusual occurs.

  A full month goes by in the blink of an eye.

  You eagerly return to the tribe to inspect the third-generation goblin production.】

  “End simulation. Extract progress.”

  Tian commanded.

  This batch of third-generation goblins needed his personal inspection—and a new breeding plan.

  【Summary: A month passes quickly. Cherish your time.

  Rating: 10/100

  Reward: Life Points x10

  Simulation complete. Time advanced: 1 month.】

  Not long after Tian returned, the second batch of third-generation goblins began to be born.

  The previous batch had only produced two survivors.

  This was the second wave.

  With a hundred breeding tools—and considering multiples—around 300 third-generation goblins were born in total.

  Only 40 survived—and all of them had exceptional talent.

  From the moment they were born, their attributes were several times higher than ordinary goblin offspring.

  The efficiency was... acceptable.

  For the third batch, Tian planned to assign all fifty females to Gob Bene alone.

  He wanted to test the survival rate of Variant-bred offspring.

  Unlike the elves, these humans were pure breeding tools.

  They rested only a few hours after giving birth before being put back to work.

  As long as they didn’t die, that was enough.

  Another month passed.

  The third batch was born.

  “Damn it… gamblers always lose. Not a single survivor from Variant breeding?”

  Tian regretted it deeply.

  The rest produced over twenty survivors.

  Now he understood just how low the Variant survival rate was—probably less than 2%.

  Mass-producing ordinary third-generation goblins was still the top priority.

  By the end of the third month—

  70 more survived!

  In total—150 third-generation goblins over three months.

  All capable of easily evolving into Hero-tier, with attributes far surpassing wild-evolved ones.

  Life had become almost too peaceful.

  Tian even began to wonder: had the Lionheart Empire given up on Bright Town?

  After all, it was a major town with potential to become a city.

  Finally, a few days later, Tian spotted a group of people entering Bright Town.