Chapter 18: Black Rock Fish and Benben
[Devour Skill Activated Successfully, Obtained Skill: "Flesh Regeneration"]
The system prompt suddenly appeared, dispelling Li Meng's doubts.
It seemed that acquiring a skill was unrelated to the heart.
Li Meng stopped devouring the Ogre.
"Alright, stop eating now!"
The leader's command made the Goblins reluctantly end their feast.
Though not yet full, the blood-covered Goblins looked completely satisfied.
"Since you refuse to become my subordinate, you can be the delicacy of the tribe."
The giant in front of him was a level 70 creature.
Eating its flesh would enable the Goblins to evolve quickly.
With the "Flesh Regeneration" skill, they could control the amount of flesh consumed without endangering its life.
Thus, Li Meng cruelly declared the Ogre's future fate.
"Gobuge, feed it some fruits, but not too much—just enough to keep it alive."
At this moment, Li Meng had lost interest in the Ogre.
He glanced indifferently into its eyes before turning to walk into the forest.
After being delayed for so many days, he needed to make up for lost time.
The Ogre seemed to understand its fate.
The malice in its eyes vanished completely.
It let out weak, pleading noises as it looked at Li Meng.
The sound made Li Meng pause mid-step.
He turned back to look at the Ogre and grinned.
"Good, now you're scared!"
Seeing the Ogre's pleading expression, Li Meng knew he had succeeded.
He approached the Ogre, picked up a fruit from the ground, and offered it again.
This time, the Ogre opened its mouth.
Li Meng tossed the purple fruit into the Ogre's mouth.
Having gone days without food, the Ogre chewed eagerly.
Li Meng then fed it a few more fermented fruits.
The fact that the Ogre displayed fear indicated it was an intelligent being with rich emotions.
This would have been different for Goblins, who would either flee or fight to the death without a third option.
"Bring all the fruits over!"
The Goblin underlings hurried toward the fruit tree.
For the next while, Li Meng used fruits to soothe the Ogre.
Starving for five days, the Ogre ate ravenously.
Watching the Ogre devour the fruits, Li Meng smiled.
Then, he did something astonishing.
He climbed onto the Ogre's body to untie the bark ropes binding its hands.
This sight filled the Goblin underlings with terror.
They instinctively stepped back.
When the last bark rope was undone, the Ogre's hands were free.
Just as the Goblins prepared to flee, they noticed that the Ogre did not attack their leader.
The freed Ogre sat up and continued picking up fruits from the ground to eat.
Li Meng then moved to untie the bark ropes around the Ogre's legs.
In no time, the Ogre's leg bindings were also removed.
Freed after five days of restraint, the Ogre regained its freedom.
Thus, Li Meng gained an Ogre subordinate.
Half an hour later, Li Meng followed his new subordinate into its home.
The cave was silent and pitch black.
Li Meng felt a cool breeze brush past his ear.
This meant the cave had another exit.
The cave was even larger than Li Meng had imagined.
After walking less than thirty meters, the space became extremely spacious.
"Is this... moisture?"
The air was very damp, and Li Meng vaguely heard the sound of flowing water.
Li Meng continued deeper into the rocky cavern.
The Goblin underlings and the large Ogre followed behind him.
The Goblins were filled with fear toward the huge Ogre.
They kept their distance, afraid of being grabbed and eaten.
In contrast to the Goblins' fear, Li Meng appeared very calm.
The Ogre was simple-minded and incapable of hiding its emotions.
Since it hadn't attacked after regaining freedom, it would never attack him in the future.
"From now on, I'll call you Benben. Benben, did you live here before?"
This was not an ideal place.
The wind blowing into the cave would lower the temperature.
More importantly, there seemed to be an underground river deep inside the cave.
Upon entering the cave, Li Meng felt a chill.
Benben looked at its leader in confusion, not understanding what he was saying.
It raised its sturdy right hand and pointed to the cliff wall.
Li Meng looked up and immediately understood.
It turned out Benben's nest was in a cave on the cliff wall.
The cliff wasn't vertical but rather terraced.
While climbing might be difficult for the Goblins, it was easy for Benben.
"Let's go, let's check ahead!"
Leading his subordinates, Li Meng continued forward.
Before long, after walking a few hundred meters, an underground river appeared before them.
The source of the water was a spring on the right side.
The water flowed turbulently, carving out a crystal-clear stream in the cave over the years.
Benben strode forward and crouched by the water, staring intently at the surface.
Li Meng wondered what Benben was doing.
Suddenly, Benben plunged its hand into the water, seemingly trying to catch something.
When it withdrew its hand, it held a large cartilaginous fish.
It resembled an electric eel, with a black body.
Benben bit down on the Black Rock Fish, tearing it into two.
Seeing this, Li Meng smiled.
Benben was not a herbivore but an omnivore.
Benben offered half of the fish to Li Meng.
Li Meng took the half-meter-long fish with both hands and tore off a large chunk of its flesh.
It was slimy but tasted surprisingly good.
After eating a few bites, Li Meng tossed the remaining fish to the Goblin underlings.
The Goblins scrambled to grab the fish meat.
Li Meng approached the water to wash his hands.
As he crouched down, a giant figure suddenly burst out of the water.
A 1.5-meter-long Black Rock Fish opened its sharp jaws and lunged at Li Meng.
Seeing the Black Rock Fish attack, Li Meng rolled his eyes.
With one punch, he struck its head and jaw.
The force sent the fish flying, where it hit Benben.
Benben instinctively caught the fish.
It looked at its leader, then at the fish in its hands, confused but started eating.
How had this fish ended up in its hands?
Li Meng picked up a stone from the riverbank and stood up.