Lin Tian continued walking forward.
Soon, he arrived at the Troy Empire's shop.
Everyone quickly adjusted their expressions, forcing smiles. "Your Majesty is truly capable, resolving the entanglement so swiftly!"
"Hmph, business seems to be good for you. Where's Miss Sara?" Lin Tian suddenly asked, casually picking up a desert fruit and eating it.
No one dared to say anything about him not paying.
At that moment, Sara was hiding inside, but having been called out, she had no choice but to come out and meet him.
Seeing how charming and graceful she was, Lin Tian couldn't help but tease, "So, how about it? Can you fulfill your promise today?"
"S-Sorry, Your Majesty, not yet," Sara replied in a timid, soft voice, keeping her head down.
Hearing this, Lin Tian impatiently reminded her, "Well, make sure to let me know the moment you can."
"I will. Is there anything else Your Majesty needs here?"
"Anything else?" Lin Tian began to ponder.
Sara was quite powerful and exceptionally beautiful, and most importantly, she possessed the Hero's Power, which could contend with the Divine Domain of a demigod.
He needed to find a way to conquer her and use her as a pawn against Joan of Arc.
The heroes of Troy highly valued their honor, so making her lose face to the point where she couldn't return to her empire was the key.
Naturally, she would stay here.
However, this wasn't a foolproof plan.
The best approach would be to devour her and obtain the "Hero's Power" skill.
The goblin's Gene Devour ability could only acquire innate skills, and luckily, the Hero's Power was an innate skill.
But fighting her would be troublesome.
The best way was to utterly humiliate Sara, making her unable to return home, despised by her people, and willingly become his subordinate.
He needed to think carefully about how to do it.
As for the Giant Elephant Empire, it held no value.
Eliminating them as soon as possible would be best.
Regarding the Holy Tree Empire, although the tree spirit was unbeatable, it wasn't very intelligent and would be easy to deal with.
The Holy Tree Warriors weren't worth much either.
Devouring them to gain experience points would be ideal.
Lin Tian then gently held Sara's hand and stroked it for a while. "Alright, I'll go look around elsewhere for now. Let me know when you're ready. If it still doesn't work after three days, don't blame me."
At that moment, Lin Tian thought of a plan!
An absolutely feasible one.
One that would definitely keep Sara here!
He soon arrived outside the shop belonging to the Giant Elephant Empire.
Looking at the magical puppet dolls, Lin Tian was still somewhat wary.
He came over specifically to eliminate these potential threats.
"Where are the people? Does no one watch the store when you're selling things? Are you really members of the Merchant Guild?" Lin Tian stood outside the shop, questioning them.
Soon, a group of people came out from inside.
Zolt forcibly suppressed his anger, "Apologies, Your Majesty, what would you like?"
"Where's Persephia? I miss her. Bring her to the palace to play."
Lin Tian's lips curled into a cold smile.
Behind him, Gobu Kuang and the others exchanged mischievous glances, snickering, "Heh, Boss sure knows how to have fun!"
Zolt's mouth twitched hard. "Your Majesty, isn't that going a bit too far?"
"Men, seize this store! Confiscate all the goods and expel them from the Goblin Empire!"
Lin Tian's expression changed, turning icy as he spoke.
This was exactly what he wanted.
Now there was a reason to confiscate all the magical puppets.
Otherwise, if they started fighting, the large number of puppets would be difficult to deal with, and the buildings would be heavily damaged.
Hearing this, the people from the Giant Elephant Empire looked as if they had swallowed something vile. "Wait, Your Majesty, Persephia has been in a low mood since yesterday. Could you wait until she recovers?"
"What do you think?"
However, Lin Tian gave them no chance.
He had no morals, so he wasn't afraid of moral constraints.
These people were here to kill him.
So what if she was in a bad mood?
Was he supposed to wait until she felt better to come and kill him?
Hearing this, Zolt realized there was no room for negotiation with the goblin.
He could only go to the back room, "Persephia, my child, for the sake of the empire, you'll have to endure it once more."
"No, Master, I don't want to! Please, I can't even get out of bed!" Persephia begged in tears.
But Zolt sighed, "Child, there is no room for negotiation with that damned goblin. If we fail now, we'll lose everything."
It was equivalent to being taken advantage of for nothing and losing goods worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins.
They were different from the other empires.
The other empires dealt with basic goods worth two or three thousand gold coins.
But each magical puppet cost over ten thousand.
Helplessly…
Persephia could only say, "Then… let him come in, teacher."
Immediately, Zolt rushed out. "Your Majesty, since she's having difficulty moving, why don't you go in?"
"Sure."
Lin Tian sneered coldly, eager to see the despair on their faces later!
Did they really think this would protect their magical puppets?
As Lin Tian entered the room, the sound of Persephia's painful cries could be heard from inside!
The people of the Giant Elephant Empire were filled with rage, their faces twisted with hatred, grinding their teeth!
Zolt nearly spat out blood.
He had thought this task would be simple and easy to complete!
Now, they had suffered a huge sacrifice and endured great humiliation!
"Hey! What's with those expressions? Are you unhappy with our boss?"
Gobu Kuang noticed something was off and questioned them.
Zolt quickly forced a smile. "No, no, long live His Majesty. We wouldn't dare be dissatisfied."
A long while later.
Lin Tian finally emerged. "Alright, there might be a small issue inside, you'd better go check."
Upon hearing this, the group rushed inside, only to find Persephia unconscious, her body covered in bruises!
"You!!"
Immediately, Zolt was overwhelmed with rage, turning to glare at Lin Tian.
"Oh?"
Lin Tian merely narrowed his eyes slightly at him.
Zolt's hands trembled, "Haha… Your Majesty, I didn't mean anything by it, nothing at all…"
Anger and frustration filled the hearts of everyone from the Giant Elephant Empire!
They knew that this talented puppeteer wasn't just powerful but was also considered a goddess in the eyes of many!
Now, in the hands of the goblins, she had been treated without any pity!
Seeing their expressions, as if they had swallowed something disgusting, Lin Tian just wanted to laugh.
He wondered what these guys would do next.
As he passed the entrance, he picked up a magical puppet doll. "What a pretty thing."
Seeing this, the group momentarily forgot about Persephia.
They rushed out in a panic!
Zolt struggled to contain his anxiety, his voice trembling. "Your Majesty, th-this is just a specialty of ours, a handmade carved doll. If you like it, we'll give you one as a gift."
These were their main combat strength.
Without them, they wouldn't even have a chance to get involved in the upcoming fight!
Lin Tian raised an eyebrow. "So generous? But we insist on not taking a penny from the people. Gobu Shan, pay for them. Buy them all as compensation for Miss Persephia—I was a bit too rough earlier. Hehehe."
"What!!"
The group looked as if their souls were about to be scared out of them.
Some even stumbled, barely able to stand.
Zolt's old face grew tense. "Your Majesty, these dolls aren't of much use to you. Besides, since they're handmade, they're extremely expensive, costing thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins each! We just display them to see if anyone is interested in such things. Over there, we have many other Giant Elephant Empire specialties, like ivory products, bone crafts, and so on! They're much more beautiful and valuable than these!"
But Lin Tian insisted, "No problem, I'm particularly interested in these. I counted about twenty, right? Here's thirty thousand gold coins!"
"Got it, Boss!"
Gobu Shan pulled out a large sack of gold coins.
He had brought them specifically to buy all the magical puppet dolls.
"Your Majesty!!!"
Zolt was almost ready to kneel in desperation.
At this point, he didn't know what to do; everything was happening so suddenly!
Fight?
Activate all the puppets with magic?
But the other two empires hadn't received any signals yet, and doing so would only expose them, leaving them with nothing.
Not to mention the large number of soldiers in the city.
Once they alerted the enemy, there would be no chance left.
Zolt could only kneel before Lin Tian, "Your Majesty, please don't buy them all! Many of them hold sentimental value for us; they're commemorative pieces. I really don't want to sell them! Your Majesty, could you understand? We can send Persephia to the palace, and you can do whatever you like with her!"
But Lin Tian gave a signal.
Gobu Kuang and the others immediately pushed them aside.
They began packing up all the dolls.
Lin Tian took the opportunity to activate his space ring and threw everything inside, eliminating all future threats!
Zolt and the others were completely dumbfounded.
All their puppets were gone!
What was there left to play with?
What task could they possibly carry out now?
Persephia was half-dead, and they had no means to resist!
Like zombies, they knelt on the ground, eyes wide open.
They watched as Lin Tian swaggered away.
"Ahhh! Damn goblins! Why? Why did it turn out like this?"
Zolt roared in fury.
"Urgh!"
Suddenly, blood surged, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood onto the ground.
Trembling, he continued, "We haven't even started fighting, yet we're already utterly defeated. We, the proud master puppeteers, are left in such a sorry state!"
Their hearts were filled with despair!
They had never imagined they would be so humiliated in the Goblin Empire.
They had thought they could win easily.
It wasn't just losing a little to gain much; they had lost everything, both the woman and their resources.
The blow was so devastating that they couldn't accept it at all.
"Why! Why did he target our magical puppet dolls? This was a royal secret—there's no way it could have leaked, especially not to the Goblin Empire, which is thousands of miles away!"
Zolt pondered, growing more and more confused the longer he thought about it.
It felt as though everything had been planned, not just a coincidence!
Now that the magical puppets were gone, Persephia could still manipulate the terrain to form puppets, but she had been specifically "taken care of" by the goblins.
This had rendered her unable to fight.
The more they thought about it, the more suspicious it all seemed.
At this moment, a group of demi-humans walked by.
They glanced over at them occasionally, whispering to themselves, "What's up with these people? Kneeling on the ground? Humans are so strange."
"Earlier, the people from the Holy Tree Empire told His Majesty that their dolls were very valuable. It seems His Majesty bought them all at once, and now they're so happy they're kneeling."
"Is that so? I'm so jealous. I noticed their dolls were really expensive before. They made a huge profit."
"Only His Majesty could afford to buy them all. It must be nice to be so rich."
Hearing this, Zolt's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints!
It was as if he had finally understood something.
"The Holy Tree Empire… you despicable wretches! Send someone back immediately to inform the king! The Holy Tree Empire has set us up—declare war! We must annihilate them!"