But suddenly, two white spots appeared in the deep of the pool and gradually floated up.

The mirror-like water in the pond finally began to ripple.

“Crash~”

Water splashed up, and Carl, wearing power armor, climbed out from the bottom of the water.

Having lost his buoyancy, the weight of the power armor made Carl feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.

Carl quickly scanned the surroundings with his psychic power and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't find any life reactions.

"Very good, we are safely ashore."

After shaking off the water stains on his body, Carl roughly identified the direction, then used his psychic power to dive into the vegetation nearby.

'It seems that the brain-eating monsters that were chasing me have left. I wonder if they will continue to patrol nearby.'

Carefully emitting his spiritual energy, Carl moved forward while checking the surrounding situation.

However, the woods were much safer than Carl had imagined. After walking for most of the day, Carl didn't see a single living creature.

It was not until they were almost near the giant mushroom where the cabin was that Carl saw several goblins stationed near the road they had opened.

These guys seemed to be building a watchtower, but the shoddy workmanship made Carl, a machinist, shake his head.

Compared to the mind flayer with his ancestral base, these goblins are like guys from the tribal era.

"It is said that the goblin Dhakaan Empire once occupied most of Khorvaire and could even compete head-on with the elves. How could their descendants have fallen to this point?"

Carl felt quite emotional when he saw the goblins trying to build a watchtower with wooden mushrooms but not knowing where to start.

"But since goblins are a race that is naturally close to a caste system, it is understandable that they have developed into what they are now."

"Tsk, now that I think about it, goblins and my third brother are becoming more and more alike. Fortunately, goblins in this world are reproductively isolated from most creatures, otherwise it would be really terrible."

After teasing the goblins in his heart, Carl bypassed the goblins who were figuring out how to build a watchtower and continued moving towards the wooden house.

When he reached the bottom of the mushroom, Carl found the climbing rope he had hidden beforehand, and then returned to the top of the mushroom.

There wasn't much to take away, just toiletries, food and a barrel.

After packing the marinated steaks and the wooden barrel together, Carl looked around and suddenly felt a little reluctant.

After all, it was a camp that the two of them had built with great effort, but now they had to be temporarily abandoned because of the battle between the goblins and the mind flayers.

"I will definitely come back!"

Carl put the bone china and rune plate into the dimensional bag, looked in the direction of the Mind Flayer base, and swore softly.

But Carl regretted it after he said it. It was a bit unlucky to say Wolf's classic lines in this situation.

With three "puff" sounds, Carl resolutely released the mechanism of the climbing rope, and then slid down along the stem of the giant mushroom.

Continuing to bypass the goblins, Carl successfully returned to the pool along the previous route and returned to the cave.

…

"I'm back!"

Back inside the giant mine cart, Carl loudly announced his return to Hope.

Hope in the cockpit came running over upon hearing the noise, her skin wet with sweat. It seemed that she had been exercising before Carl came back.

Taking out the pickled meat and pottery basin from the dimensional bag, Carl cut some off and prepared to make some broth to replenish his strength.

Of course, some mushrooms need to be put in it. Although the fluorescent mushrooms don’t taste good, this is the only way for the two to get vitamins at present.

It is possible to eat raw meat, but the two of them had already pickled all the meat they hunted.

If you want to eat fresh, 0.5-season steak, you have to go hunting again.

The goblins have already begun building fortifications, which clearly shows that they are ready for a long-term battle with the mind flayers.

Neither the goblins nor the mind flayers are people that Carl and Hope can afford to offend right now.

The safest way is for the two of them to stay in the giant mine cart until the winner is decided and then go out.

"I'll check the interior of this giant mine cart later. I feel like the space inside shouldn't be this small."

After the broth was boiling, Carl looked at Hope and saw that he seemed to want to continue exercising, so he immediately planned to slip away.

"No! You must continue training with me today! Do you still want to be a part-time fighter?"

Reaching out and grabbing Carl, Hope's eyes were shining and he looked full of energy.

Carl is not a man without perseverance, as can be seen from the fact that he trains fighting skills in the dream world every night.

The reason why he is unwilling to exercise is not only because the muscle soreness after excessive exercise makes him feel insecure, but also because of Hope himself.

As the two spend more and more time together, the restlessness of youth is gradually heating up.

"Okay, okay, I will exercise with you. I will exercise with you after dinner!"

Carl comforted Hope with a somewhat forced smile, then turned and ran away.

Looking at Carl's departing back, Hope gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly, "coward."

"Huh~, why do I always feel that Hope has been a little too proactive recently? If he continues like this..."

Suddenly taking a step forward to the left, Carl adjusted his posture, but still felt uncomfortable.

Looking up at the metal wall next to him, Carl thought to himself while checking it with his psychic power:

"Forget it, let it be."

…

In the days after Carl and Hope hid in the giant mine cart, the goblins began to build various defensive facilities inside the forest.

The brain-eating monsters sent by the Mind Flayer were eliminated by them with extremely high efficiency, but they were unable to break through the Mind Flayer base, and the situation was once in a stalemate.

While this tug-of-war continued, inside the Mind Flayer base, special Brain Eaters that were a size larger than ordinary Brain Eaters were busy in the core room of the base.

This place is located directly below the psychic amplifier, and three quarters of the entire room is occupied by a container containing an orange-yellow solution.

And in the center of these orange-yellow solutions, a giant brain that is at least two meters long, wide and high is floating quietly.

The large brain-eating monster fiddled with the operating tables around the container with deft claws, constantly adjusting it, but the brain inside the solution did not give the response he expected.

On the operating table, the cavity secreting sticky liquid was wriggling slightly, as if expecting something to fill it.

Seeing this, the large brain-eating monster turned around and walked out of the room, then brought back an ordinary-sized brain and put it into the cavity.

"Guji~"

A soft squeezing sound was heard, and the brain was squeezed into a paste-like substance by the cavity, and then injected into the solution where the giant brain was.

Suddenly, the giant brain trembled slightly.

Immediately afterwards, the entire Mind Flayer base suddenly and slowly floated off the ground.

From the base of the four tentacles extending from below the hemispherical shell, mucus began to be secreted.

The mucus gradually deforms as the tentacles wriggle and hardens in the air.

Slowly, the entire Mind Flayer base gradually turned into a shape similar to a water drop.

(End of this chapter)