Chapter 207: Playing Tricks on Others

“Wow, this kid is still panting? Amazing! Hehe, just as you wished—let you have your fun!” Standing outside the cave, Rod’s voice could be faintly heard from inside. Melon’s face was covered in smiles, but it looked sinister no matter how you looked at it, clearly indicating nothing good was about to happen.

At that moment, Melon was bare-chested, wearing loose coarse linen pants and broken slippers, his muscular build fully on display—a sight that was somewhat embarrassing. He sat at the entrance of the cave, leaning against the wall, enjoying the cool breeze coming from inside. To his side, outside the cave, fifty or sixty magical beasts were tied to large trees with thick ropes around their necks, as if they were kept in captivity. Of course, these were meant as combat opponents for Rod; he had put in quite a bit of effort over the past few days.

The ropes and trees naturally couldn’t hold back such powerful creatures, but under Melon’s pressure, they dared not resist. In Melon’s words, “If you resist now, you’ll die without even a proper burial. But if you behave, you might have a chance to survive after fighting those brats inside.”

Under Melon’s dominance, the magical beasts could only lie pitifully on the ground, staring into the distance with mournful eyes, not daring to make a sound. A few of them had ignored Melon’s orders and suffered a terrible fate—turned into piles of flesh with no chance of survival, a truly pitiful end.

As a result, these beasts trembled and feared Melon from the bottom of their hearts. He was nothing human, even crueler than their own hearts.

Getting up, he checked the time and walked over to the nearest beasts. “Hehe, it’s time for you to gain your freedom. Fight well—the dawn of freedom is ahead of you. Go!” With a seemingly kind expression, Melon spoke to the beasts, but they rolled their eyes at him. None of them believed his lies. Freedom? They had already sent forty or fifty of their companions in, and not a single one had returned alive—only screams could be heard. They had heard such lies dozens of times and were tired of them.

“Snap out of it! If you don’t want to die now, go in and fight properly!” Frustrated by the beasts’ listless and pitiful appearance, Melon frowned and snapped at them.

Frightened, these magical beasts trembled all over; a few even defecated and urinated, driving Melon to the brink of madness. Since when had magical beasts become so weak? It was utterly shameful! Yet he forgot his own status—how could these beasts even stand a chance against him? That would truly be monstrous.

“Hmm, today I’ll give you a chance—you, you, and you, and you!” He released four magical beasts at once. “I’m giving you a bit more time today. Go in together. That kid in there is only at the early divine level. Now that he’s sealed by me, his strength is probably at the late sacred level. With the influence of the environment, reaching the mid-sacred level would be quite good. Even if he’s improved over time, his strength would still be comparable to the late sacred level, with bursts allowing him to reach the early quasi-divine level. With two at the mid-quasi-divine level, one at the late quasi-divine level, and one at the early quasi-divine level, if you can’t even teach that kid a lesson, then you deserve to die!” Melon analyzed precisely, rolling his eyes.

Yet he had no idea that Rod’s progress had far exceeded his expectations.

“Remember, if you win, come out. Don’t kill him—or else I’ll stew you for wine!” Worried that Rod might get hurt, Melon added a reminder.

The combination of these four magical beasts was incredibly powerful. Even a warrior at the early divine level would struggle to deal with them, so he had to warn them out of concern for Rod.

These words once again caused the four beasts to scream in agony. Heaven and earth, what kind of world was this? Were magical beasts not human? Could they be bullied at will? Damn you, aren’t you also a beast?!

With disdainful looks at Melon, the beasts groaned inwardly and screamed in pain.

“Alright, go in. Stop wasting my time, or I’ll stew you for wine!” Melon snapped, delivering a direct warning.

As soon as he spoke, the four beasts fell silent, not daring to make a sound. They rushed inside at top speed, looking terrifyingly fierce. Their howls created a dramatic atmosphere.

“Hmm, good. This should work.” He pondered for a moment, as if struck by an idea. Then he raised his head again, revealing a smile that terrified the remaining beasts.

Seeing this smile, the dozens of other magical beasts began to tremble. Could this guy really be craving food? Was he going to choose one of them to stew as an accompaniment to drink? Perhaps frightened by recent threats, these magical beasts instinctively retreated backward, afraid of being chosen.

It was probably unprecedented in history for a group of magical beasts to be brought to such a state.

“Hmm, forget it. Come out here!” After some thought, Melon finally focused his gaze on a small magical beast that resembled a fox and said.

“Please… don’t stew me as an accompaniment to drink, my lord. Please, I’ll go fight right now. Give me a chance! I beg you!” The chosen beast immediately became anxious. At this point, speaking was no longer an issue—it was filled with pleading cries, pitiful and heart-wrenching.

The other magical beasts all let out a sigh in unison, immediately showing gloating expressions as if it had nothing to do with them, showing no sense of solidarity or shared concern!

Unity simply didn’t apply among these magical beasts, which was why they were in such a dire straits. They knew nothing about unity, only how to gloate and watch others suffer. Didn’t they realize that after this guy was dealt with, it would be one of them next? Short-sighted creatures—if only they could unite, if the world of magical beasts could unite, who in the world could stand against them?

With a vast land and a million-strong army, why worry about not being able to defeat an enemy? Yet they didn’t understand this truth.

“Come out here! Did you hear me?” Melon pouted and snapped in a mocking tone.

“My lord, I beg you. I don’t want to be stewed as an accompaniment to drink. Please, I… I…” Tears were almost on the verge of falling. This beast, nearly a meter long, 50 centimeters tall, and weighing about 100 pounds, was on the verge of collapsing, unable to control itself.

The more pitiful it acted, the happier the surrounding magical beasts became, as if they were enjoying a great show, forgetting that they faced the same situation themselves.

“Who said I’d stew you as an accompaniment to drink? Come out here, or I really will stew you!” Melon rolled his eyes and said with a bitter smile. Damn it, wasn’t it just that he had, on a whim, stewed an unruly magical beast in front of these guys yesterday? Was it really necessary to scare them so much? Melon really couldn’t understand.

What he didn’t know was that sometimes, killing one to scare others is the most effective tactic against these paper tigers.

Looking back every few steps, the poor creature shakily approached Melon. “M-Master, do you have any orders?”
“Hmm, you go in too. I’ll give you a chance at freedom. You should be at the intermediate stage of the quasi-divine level. Not bad. With five magical beasts, you have a great chance against that kid. Hurry up and don’t miss this opportunity!” Melon said with a kind smile, crouching down to pat the creature’s head.
That look and manner made the magical beast retreat several steps in fear, terrified—it seemed like Melon was looking at food, almost drooling.
“Thank you, master! I’ll go right away!” it replied hastily, afraid that Melon might suddenly decide to cook it for dinner. The magical beast dashed into the cave.
“Am I that scary?” Melon pouted, stood up, and looked at the other magical beasts, wearing an innocent smile as he asked.
“No… not at all…” though they said that, they kept retreating, clearly not believing him. His smile seemed forced, and his muscular build was enough to intimidate them.
“What do you know?” Melon rolled his eyes, returned to the cave entrance, and sat cross-legged, enjoying the leisure. He was delighted, imagining what was happening inside.
Sure enough, soon after, screams and roars came from inside.
“You old bastard, remember this! I’m not done with you! You want to kill me, huh? Remember this grudge!” Rod’s roar was heard next, along with the roars of the magical beasts. The battle seemed fierce.
“Hehe, kid, didn’t you want it to be more intense? Here it is—just as you asked. Not enough? How about I send in two more?” With a sneer, Melon’s rare expression would surely shock those who knew him well.
“If you don’t want to kill me, then stop sending them! Bastard! There’s one more! Headless! You’re really ruthless!” Rod’s screams could be heard faintly. Melon’s face was filled with laughter, terrifying the other magical beasts—truly a ruthless man. At the same time, they envied the headless magical beast that had gone in; perhaps someone would actually be lucky enough to survive this time. If only they had volunteered to fight instead.

“Hehe, kid, how long will it take this time? Let’s see if you still dare to be arrogant. I’m just messing with you—what can you do?” With a smirk, he simply closed his eyes to rest and meditate, while Melon chuckled to himself.