Starting with the defeated female knight

Tap tap tap, tap tap tap.

With the waving of the pointer and the swaying of the tentacles, the second thing that terrified these children began.

As for why it's the second fear?

That's of course...

Okay, that's all.

The tentacle pushed up its glasses.

Take out the paper and pens I asked you to prepare before.

[Math Quiz Next Lesson]

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P.S.: Although it's already at 13,000 words, I feel it's going well. I'll see if I can push it to another chapter.

Volume 1: Chapter 100: The Determination to Protect Others

Although Elise's previous account of the disappearance of noble children in the capital was quite eerie.

Moreover, judging from some of its behaviors, it's not just a little strange, but rather exceptionally evil.

But in reality, Green was doing something very serious.

In short, it involves dragging people into a tentacle lair and then altering their common sense and physical body.

In a more complex sense, it involves reshaping their values, which have been distorted by bloodline and aristocratic education, through normal teaching methods.

And for those who are incomplete or defective, as well as those born with deformities, surgery can be used to cure and adjust their condition.

Moreover, although the recruitment methods used on Kona seemed a bit brutal, her recruitment was actually quite unexpected.

As for the reason, it's not that Jessie had any personal grudges against her, but rather that she was a 'normal nobleman'. Compared to other defective individuals, she was not only more capable in combat but also more difficult to educate. Moreover, if not handled properly, she could easily attract the attention of the nobles.

So, just to be on the safe side, Jessie took a few extra precautions to ensure that her sister wouldn't cause any accidents before she became a well-behaved child.

As for the other children, they are basically introduced through the process of 'contact - gain trust - bring people over - use the group to reshape their cognition'.

Needless to say, the scrap metal is generally quite formidable in combat, but it is usually in a terrible state, suffering from extreme material and spiritual deprivation.

With a little coaxing and care, you can basically win them over. Spend a little more time with them and cultivate a sense of community, and they won't resist no matter how you manipulate them.

While it's a bit more difficult to find children with birth defects, the inherent physical disability means that Green will also investigate the situation when selecting candidates.

So even though they were influenced by the imperial bloodline culture, as long as they could find someone to gain their trust and trick them into undergoing drastic body modifications, and as long as they could see results in a short period of time, they could basically do whatever they wanted.

In addition, the selection of targets in advance is also very important.

Those who are young, less affected, have physical disabilities, or are weak-willed are given the highest priority. Next are those who have acquaintances on their side, as they can gain trust more quickly, and those who can act as friends or sisters to help persuade the victim after they fall into the trap, rapidly breaking down their will and defenses...

Well, Green knows that sounds a bit strange.

The problem is that this is the gentlest and most efficient way he can recruit and transform people that he can find.

Moreover, although the recruitment of these people was rather abrupt, Green never mistreated the children afterwards.

Over the course of several months, Green not only expanded his hideout, creating this new small tentacle cave underground, but also constructed several small underground tentacle transportation networks beneath the capital city through the connections of several branch base tentacles.

With those transportation networks in place, Green no longer needed to stealthily transport things to his hideout; instead, he could openly transport them directly from underground to his tentacle warehouse.

Based on this, Green had Elise specifically reserve a carriage for a caravan that was sent to Dawn City on one of their trips.

By paying her, she was specially commissioned to transport an entire cartload of special trinkets from Dawn City for the children.

Pretty little dresses, exquisite jewelry, all sorts of novel toys, and even candy specially transported by a sorcerer using freezing magic...

This is not just junk; it comes from Dawn City and is an upgraded and specially made item. Even Kona has only ever seen it on the Valencia family.

It's hard not to get excited about this.

Then, they were tricked into the classroom by Green using these things.

After pressing him into the chair, he began the inhumane lecture.

Of course, Green wasn't teaching these children out of pure kindness.

Although he admitted that he taught these children partly because he couldn't stand them.

But most importantly, he planned to use this method to build a connection with them, until they grew up to have a place in the family.

Through this connection, they can be persuaded to relinquish some of their family interests, ultimately transforming the educational costs he currently incurs into several times, or even dozens of times, their actual income.

However, he also encountered some minor problems in this regard.

For example, they seem to have no idea what it means to 'give up part of the family's interests'.

"Why don't we just do as you say?"

"Why only a portion? Why not just give you the whole thing?"

"Us? Aren't we yours to begin with? Are you going to abandon us?"

Sometimes, Green simply couldn't understand the thought processes of people in this world.

Even if he didn't teach them these things, he only briefly mentioned them, and in the end, it took him a long time to explain that he didn't mean to abandon them and to coax them for quite some time before he could barely get them back to normal.

However, educating the little ones has not been very smooth, especially in understanding their way of thinking.

But to Green's relief, on the other side, far away from the capital, was another location.

The education of Wendetta, the mother who 'sacrificed' her daughter, was relatively much more comfortable.

Are you literate? Can you do arithmetic? Do you also have some handicraft skills?

Green was shocked when he first learned this information.

What kind of extravagant war is this?!

Upon further testing, Green was surprised to discover that although the woman seemed rather dull in the factory, that was because she had no room to maneuver.

In fact, her memory, comprehension, logical thinking, and even her patience for learning are all outstanding.

Aside from having a lower knowledge base due to a lack of basic education, it has almost no drawbacks.

It may sound unbelievable, but upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that she truly deserves this ability.

Otherwise, how could she, with the lowest bloodline, live a life that was actually better than most people with middle and high bloodlines in a town that was considered high-end even within the empire, before the factory started operating? She even managed to raise a daughter and educate her daughter quite well.

As for how Green got this top-tier card?

A lucky tentacle + a blood-red child curled up in her arms + the power of the daisy protector + Wendeta's daughter = ?

With this level of support, it would be strange not to draw a top-tier card.

But in any case, the Wendeta card has fallen into his clutches.

After the factory massacre, under Green's guidance, Wendeta, along with other workers, staged the scene and detonated the magic core.

They used a large fire to disguise everything as an industrial accident.

Although it was a large factory, the nobles were too preoccupied with their own problems to manage it properly.

Especially with the rise of those mentally unstable nobles, there are more and more illegal factories recently, the accident rate is getting higher and higher, and similar incidents are gradually becoming more frequent.

As a result, Wendeta and her group managed to get away with it.

Even though they managed to get through it, the situation didn't actually improve much.

After all, even though the factory was destroyed, there are other factories still existing, and given the impact of the factory, even if it were all destroyed immediately, it would still remain for a long time.

In fact, it wasn't just that there were no benefits; after the factory explosion, although resource prices didn't rise or fall at all, the number of unemployed workers immediately increased.

Even so, Green didn't panic at all.

Just wait.

Oh, by the way, when you talk to anyone else, you can mention that child freely, but don't mention me, or anything related to tentacles.

Especially the beings you're about to face.

For certain reasons, it's not convenient for me to let Him know I exist.

Wendy nodded.

After spending this time together, she figured it out.

Although on the surface it is the child holding that tentacle, in reality, that tentacle is the one that truly dominates and gives orders.

She didn't know who the other person was, nor what their purpose was.

But she knew that her daughter had been spared the agonizing fate of being burned to death only with the help of the other party.

Similarly, it was thanks to the other party's help that she was able to complete her revenge and escape that place alive.

She had already lost everything after her daughter's death.

Not to mention that the other party also helped her take revenge and saved her life.

The rest is quite simple.

"My life, my soul, my loyalty, my faith, and everything."

"From now on, it all belongs to you."

Therefore, she was not entirely clear about the specific meaning of Green's orders.

But that's okay, she just did it.

But to be honest, although she spoke very nicely and agreed very firmly, actually doing what she promised was far more difficult than imagined.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's loose-lipped or that she regrets her previous vows.

It's something much simpler.

That is 'waiting'.

Or to put it more directly.

She wanted to die.

The feeling of losing my daughter is far more agonizing than I imagined.

Although she acted normally both during and after the killing.

But in reality, what hurts the most after losing a loved one is never the moment of loss, nor the short-term shock.

Although it was very sad at those times, my brain was still a little slow to process it, or even hadn't accepted their departure.

And only after everything calmed down, after the revenge was over.

Returning to the dilapidated house where they once lived, they looked at the little things left behind from their time living together.

The real torment, enough to break even the most resolute mind, has only just begun.

She couldn't quite remember what exactly happened during that time.

All she remembered was that during her most difficult time, that red figure was always by her side.

First he relied on her, then he embraced her, and finally even his soul was tightly bound to her, making it hard for her to breathe.

And in this process, both body and mind gradually became immersed in that bright red curl.

Like a drowning person grasping at a straw, they don't want to let go for even a moment.

Finally, after everything was over, she was able to calm down a little and maintain a somewhat normal state for a longer period of time.

She discovered that through this period of torment, she had formed a closer connection with that 'miracle of blood,' or rather, the 'miracle of suffering.'

At the same time, it got even closer to those bright red tentacles.

"Is this... what you mean by 'waiting'?"

Yes and no