A Deal

"Sir, please forgive my caution, but have you really decided to go through with this?"

"Of course, Old Niu. We've already come this far. Do you think we still have a chance to back out? Or do you think I simply want to keep a little Mind Flayer as a pet?"

"Of course not, it's just..."

"There's no 'just,' Old Niu. Go on. All you have to do is knock on the door. I'm not asking you to fight your way in. Don't be such a coward!"

"Yes... yes, sir."

A Mind Flayer's home was naturally no ordinary house. In reality, it was a bunker built into a cave. Of course, compared to those low-intelligence creatures, a Mind Flayer's lair was far more luxurious. Taking advantage of the terrain, they had built a massive wall out of sturdy stone, making the entire lair look like a military fortress.

The Minotaur Butler hesitated for a long while before finally walking up to the gate in the enormous wall. Raising his voice, he called, "Excuse me, are the two Mind Flayer gentlemen... no, ladies... uh, at home?"

Sometimes, being raised with too much etiquette was a bad thing. The poor Minotaur Butler had only managed half a polite greeting before getting stuck—when he tried to address them, he suddenly remembered that Mind Flayers were a peculiar species of hermaphroditic creatures. Apparently, there was no correct way to address them.

Of course, these were minor issues. His deep, booming voice carried inside, and before long, a voice came down from atop the wall. "What do you want?"

The voice was sharp and grating, and seemed to possess a power capable of piercing the soul.

While the Minotaur Butler was still struggling with how to address them, Landen's voice rang out. "I'm here to see your master, not you. You'd better go and report this immediately."

"State your purpose first." The voice above remained eerie and shrill, without a trace of emotion, as though it belonged not to a person but to a puppet.

That was exactly what it was—a puppet. Mind Flayers were skilled in Mind Control. Aside from consuming their brains, they used Mind Control on other creatures for another purpose: controlling them and turning them into Flesh Puppets to serve the Mind Flayers. This family of Mind Flayers had only a few members, but they had nearly ... Flesh Puppets under their command, including high-ranking races such as Dark Elves and Dark Humans.

Flesh Puppets controlled by Mind Flayers did not truly become something like golems or flesh-and-blood puppets. Instead, after using Mind Control on these creatures, the Mind Flayers planted a type of mental seed deep within their minds, then released the control and allowed them to regain their senses.

Creatures implanted with these mental seeds would obey the Mind Flayers for the rest of their lives and become their slaves. At the same time, because they retained their intelligence, they were far more useful than genuine puppets. However, this method still had side effects. Since they had been implanted with mental seeds of absolute obedience, they had effectively lost their sense of self, along with all other emotions. As a result, they became like the one atop the wall, speaking without the slightest emotion, as if they were puppets. That was why they were called Flesh Puppets.

"Looks like there's nothing more to say." Landen shrugged with a smile and turned to leave. As he passed the Dark Elf subordinate behind him, he gave him a subtle signal. The Dark Elf Mikhail immediately understood and turned around with Landen. At the instant he did so, he deliberately let the cloth bag on his back slip open slightly, revealing the little Mind Flayer inside.

A series of stumbling noises immediately reached Landen's ears from atop the wall. Landen smiled faintly, did not stop, and simply continued walking.

Within ... seconds, the sound of a door opening came from behind them. Then an eerie voice rang out. "I advise you to stop right there!"

"I came here in good faith, but you refused to see me. What, have you changed your mind?" Landen turned around with a smile and looked at the group that had suddenly appeared behind him. Every one of them wore the same hooded robes, concealing their entire bodies, but certain details still revealed that there were at least ... different races among them.

Landen's gaze fell on the two figures of equal height in the middle. Smiling, he said, "I wonder which of you is Mosen, and which is Moa?"

His question still received no answer. The one on the left asked coldly, "You kidnapped my child?"

"Heh, so you must be Moa." Landen smiled, then his expression darkened as he said coldly, "To be honest, that question of yours is an insult to me. However, since you're so worried about your child, I won't hold it against you. Still, I ask that you show a little more respect—whether because I'm the lord of this region, or because of this."

As he spoke, Landen raised his hand and lightly patted the cloth bag on Mikhail's back.

This was not actually Landen's first dealings with this family of Mind Flayers. The previous encounter had taken place when the former Landen had been filled with ambition and wanted to subjugate every creature in his territory. Unfortunately, this family of Mind Flayers had completely ignored him. Even when the two sides met, it had been just as it was now, with one side outside the wall and the other atop it.

Thinking about that encounter still made the current Landen feel a little afraid. He did not know whether this family of Mind Flayers was truly different from ordinary Mind Flayers and lacked such intense evil desires, or whether they had also been wary of Matriarch Isis behind Landen. Either way, they had actually let Landen leave. If they had been ordinary Mind Flayers, Landen and several of his subordinates would probably have become Flesh Puppets by then.

Mind Flayers belonged to the absolute evil alignment, after all.

"Lord? Hah." The disdain in Moa's voice was unmistakable. "Tell me, what exactly are you trying to accomplish?"

Landen waved his hand, signaling Mikhail to open the cloth bag and release the little Mind Flayer inside. Then Landen spread his hands and said, "First, I need to correct one thing. I didn't kidnap it. On the contrary, I rescued it. This poor little fellow must have gone out hunting and then collapsed after eating something it shouldn't have. I happened to pass by, so I rescued it and brought it straight here."

"Then should I thank you, Lord?" Clearly, those words were not enough to convince the other party easily, but Landen did not mind. All he wanted was an opportunity to have this conversation.

"No need for thanks. I'm a practical man. I prefer something more tangible." Landen smiled.

"Something tangible? Hmph. Just say what you want." Moa's voice was cold.

"I like people who get straight to the point." A smile appeared on Landen's face once again. "Actually, my purpose is very simple. I want to make a small deal with the two of you."