Goblin Heavy Dependence

Chapter 305 Enjoyment and Delicious Taste

The core area of ​​the misty forest.

With his dark eyes fixed on the deep cave in front of him that faintly emitted a foul odor, Xia Nan remained calm, his face showing no emotion.

Bon Voyage.

Compared to when he first left River Valley Town, he hasn't changed much now that he's arrived at the mission location.

Only the surface of his upper body plate chainmail armor had some bloodstains remaining, and his trousers and leather boots had some grass clippings and mud spots, hinting at what he had encountered along the way.

He was in his prime.

Of course, it's impossible to say that they didn't encounter a single battle.

After all, he didn't have any special abilities like stealth or concealing his aura. He started from River Valley Town, crossed the entire outer edge of the forest, and arrived at the core area where this place was located.

You'll encounter quite a few low-level monsters or wild beasts, such as goblins, wolf packs, and giant badgers.

However, they generally posed little threat to him.

For Xia Nan, who possesses an elite template and whose challenge level is even higher than his class level, acting alone and having strong individual strength, he can easily kill them with just his physical attributes and at most with a single move, [Whirlwind Slash].

Groups of enemies fared even worse under the impact of the [Fang Hunt] attack, which inflicts fear; often, the battle was already on its countdown the moment the wolf howled.

In addition, Xia Nan's keen senses allowed him to discover and avoid dangerous terrain and the territory of powerful monsters in advance, making his journey very smooth and he encountered virtually no trouble.

I only occasionally and unintentionally passed by a few goblin lairs and couldn't resist going down to explore. It took me a little time, but it didn't cause any major problems.

Earlier than expected, Xia Nan arrived at the destination marked by the mission marker.

Although they were all goblin lairs, the location of the quest in front of him was clearly easier to recognize than those he had encountered on the way before.

From the perspective of the current entry point alone.

Even among the lower-level adventurers who have been fighting goblins for years, he has extensive experience in goblin extermination.

Nests dug and built autonomously by ordinary small goblin communities often take advantage of natural terrain, and may be a hidden cave, a depression covered by bushes, or an abandoned beast's den.

Often, they have a knack for concealment, deliberately placing withered branches and fallen leaves at the entrance, or pushing the huge fallen tree trunks closer.

It was incredibly rudimentary, but surprisingly effective when placed in the dense forest, capable of confusing many low-intelligence and dangerous wild beasts.

But the entrance to this cave is arranged in a way that could even be described as "arrogant".

It was a huge stone cavern, rising from the ground and made of rocks and clay.

There is absolutely no refinement to speak of; it is simply a crude method of forcibly gluing together stones of different sizes and shapes with clay.

At the same time, the blood-stained leather armor, torn banners, and crude totems made of branches and bones from the dead adventurers, hanging like trophies above the entrance, added a touch of wild and desolate beauty to the whole.

There was no attempt to conceal it; even the surrounding oak trees were cut down and their roots dug out.

This created a large clearing around the cave that stood out starkly against the dense forest.

The cave entrance, resembling a throne built of stones and spoils, sits in the center of this open space.

This undisguised and arrogant attitude, unafraid of being discovered by other creatures in the forest, is enough to prove the powerful influence of this goblin lair, or rather, the goblin community that once dug and built this lair.

"So this is the so-called 'super-giant goblin colony' that requires a high-level adventurer team to clear out..."

Xia Nan muttered to himself, carefully examining the cave entrance ahead.

In fact, before he went on the mission, he had entrusted information and asked Jasmine for details about the mission.

It is said that the original owner of the cave, the large goblin horde, was destroyed during the hunting day on which he was promoted to a professional.

Rumors suggest that even high-level teams of that caliber suffered losses when faced with the goblin siege, and only managed to wipe them out with great difficulty in the end.

It's hard to imagine how many goblins with their thin arms and legs would be needed to pose a real threat to advanced professionals.

Or are there goblin mutants that are even more advanced than monsters like bear goblins?

Shaking his head, Xia Nan stopped thinking about it.

Since everything has already been completely destroyed, it has nothing to do with him.

All he had to face was a group of ordinary goblin tribes who had temporarily occupied the cave.

If you're a little careful and vigilant, there shouldn't be any danger.

Finally, they checked the surroundings one last time to make sure there were no other ambushes or hidden exits.

After gesturing around the dimensions of the cave passageway, I confirmed that there was enough space to work with.

Only then did he draw his two-handed swords, conceal his aura, and move towards the cave entrance.

……

This goblin lair, located in the heart of the Misty Forest, has an extremely long and exceptionally wide passageway behind its entrance, capable of accommodating a large number of goblins at the same time.

This was something Xia Nan had never encountered before.

Furthermore, some rudimentary defensive traps were set up on the ground and on both sides of the walls, and goblins were even stationed to scout and guard key passes.

This is quite common; it's normal for intelligent monsters like goblins to do this. He's seen it quite often over the past year.

They are easy to handle.

It won't make any extra noise. Just cut the rope at the mechanism before the trap is activated, and cut off the goblin's head before it opens its mouth to scream. Simple and efficient.

In fact, cases like the one we see now, where newly emerged goblins occupy caves left behind by goblins, are not uncommon; in fact, they are quite common.

Xia Nan had also had doubts when she first discovered this situation.

Why does the association never encourage or issue missions that require adventurers to completely destroy the goblin lairs they have cleared out to prevent future trouble?

Even just collapsing the entrance would significantly reduce the chances of other goblins discovering the empty nest.

At first, he thought the association was deliberately ignoring this in order to reduce the cost of mission rewards.

Later, as Xia Nan delved deeper into this field and interacted more with the adventurers in the tavern, he gradually came to understand the underlying principles.

The Adventurers' Guild did not ignore these goblin lairs after they were cleared out; on the contrary, they deliberately preserved them.

The reason is also very simple.

To use the terminology from Xia Nan's previous life in the game, these nests were like "monster spawners" that regularly respawned goblins for the guild and adventurers.

After all, this creature's unique reproductive method, seemingly growing out of the soil, makes it more troublesome than insects like cockroaches. You can't get rid of one batch only to have another one.

In this case, if all the goblin nests that have been cleared are destroyed.

The goblins that newly emerge in the vicinity will then form small, scattered groups that fight independently.

This causes large goblin colonies that would normally gather around a nest to split into dozens of smaller, scattered groups. As a result, goblins may become more common in the forest, but there will only be a maximum of three to five at a time.

This will greatly reduce the efficiency of adventurers in making money, which is not a good thing for the association either. In fact, because of their roaming locations and overly scattered distribution, they can't even issue clearing missions.

But if the goblin lair is preserved, the situation is completely different.

These "natural" sanctuaries left behind by the previous generation are very attractive to goblins who possess a certain level of thinking ability.

Like moths to a flame, an empty goblin nest will naturally attract goblin groups from within a radius of several kilometers.

Once the locations of these nests are memorized, the Adventurers' Guild can simply send out regular missions to wipe them out. This would not only nip the goblin colonies in the bud before they become too troublesome, but also greatly alleviate the pressure from the goblins in the Misty Forest.

It's equally convenient for adventurers. As long as they follow the location provided by the association to find the goblin's lair, they can earn dozens of gold coins at once, which is much more efficient than killing three or five goblins at a time.

Of course, there are also specific considerations such as "the approximate time of goblin nest reset", "the linear relationship of the increase in numbers", and "the nest selection of elite individuals".

However, this is not something Xia Nan needs to consider.

All he needs to do is kill.

The passageway was long and winding, and the need to deal with traps and guard goblins along the way delayed us a bit.

This caused Xia Nan to wander through those intricate underground passages for over an hour before finally reaching the core of the lair.

"Hiss!"

Excited shrieks rose and fell like waves, echoing between the stone walls.

The campfire crackled and popped, its orange flames mingling with the fluorescent glow emanating from the colony, illuminating the goblin's wounded, pus-green skin.

Thick saliva dripped onto the filthy ground covered with corpses and excrement, and they cheered and jumped for joy, just like those ignorant primitive people in ancient times, dancing around the campfire.

Above the flames, a huge, skinned wild boar was being roasted.

The nauseating, burnt stench emanating from the filth deep within the intestines mingled with the meaty aroma of fat bursting forth under the flames, creating an indescribable, primal flavor.

Xia Nan concealed himself in the shadows near the entrance, his dark eyes quickly scanning the scene to determine the number of enemies and the targets that needed to be eliminated first.

Ok……

The number of goblins I can see in the cave now is between fifty and sixty-five.

Leading the pack was a large goblin, located deep within the lair, seated high on a stone throne amidst a throng of people. He was twice the size of an ordinary human.

From a distance, Xia Nan could not determine the opponent's detailed strength information.

However, based solely on the aura naturally emanating from his body, it can be roughly determined that his combat strength is not at the level of an ordinary professional.

Although it was wearing a complete set of armor that looked quite respectable, the rust and scratches on its surface, as well as the ill-fitting parts, showed that it had been taken from the bodies of adventurers who had died at its hands.

It's worth noting that several green-skinned goblins, whose status was clearly a level above the other goblins, were sitting next to the goblin.

They were no longer covered in smelly rags, but instead wore several tattered leather armors, and their weapons had changed from ordinary goblin clubs to slightly better daggers and short swords.

There were also two crossbows with arrows nocked.

That makes it very simple.

The aura that had been concealed deep within the shadows was suddenly released in an instant.

A wolf howl suddenly rang out from the lair that echoed with the goblin shrieks.

hold head high--

The earth goblin, who had been sitting comfortably on the stone seat, was startled by the wolf howl and froze.

Just as it reacted, its calf muscles bulged, and its knees bent to support its body as it tried to stand up, the large mouth with its fangs bared opened, and a wary roar reached only to its throat.

The light was distorted.

A giant, jet-black wolf with a swaying mane stepped out from the depths of the shadows.

With a single, nimble lunge, the distance between them was instantly bridged.

when?
As it pondered, the earth spirit's brain, whose intelligence reached that of an ordinary intelligent being, began to work rapidly.

Where are the goblins I placed outside? Why didn't any of the traps be triggered when such a monster broke into the lair?
It did not get an answer.

Because in the next second, the black wolf had already leaped over its body.

The excruciating pain was fleeting, and the viewpoint spun and flew upwards.

The goblin saw his own severed neck, gushing blood, and the goblin elites beside him, now broken and scattered, their organs and limbs flying everywhere in the fierce wind.

They saw the long, gleaming sword blade and the cold, cruel human figure beneath the black wolf's phantom.

"Clap."

Along with the severed limbs of the armored goblins beside it, the goblin's head rolled slowly down from the air.

The excited shrieks echoing through the goblins' lair fell silent for a moment.

Dead silence.

A pair of murky, narrow eyes all looked toward the deepest part of the cave, toward the sharp figure holding a long sword.

I looked at the giant, dark wolf with its mane swaying, fierce and cold.

hum-

【Night Mother's Gaze】Effects silently.

There are a total of sixty-two goblins.

At that moment, seventeen brave creatures raised their wooden clubs and charged towards the enemy with shrieks.

The remaining forty-five were gripped by endless fear, like cockroaches caught in a light, frantically scurrying about in all directions.

The corners of his mouth turned up.

His dark eyes, which had been calm before, were now filled with a strange excitement and enjoyment.

The sword spun eerily in the air, its sharp blade reflecting a cold light in the flames.

He savored the warm sensation of the goblin's internal organs and severed limbs that rushed past him and clung to his skin during the impact of the [Fang Hunt] a moment earlier.

Experiencing the wonderful feeling of those despicable beasts being torn apart like toys.

Slowly lift your right foot and then lower it.

A high-pitched, long howl of wolves resounded once again in the nest, which was filled with mournful cries and wails.

(End of this chapter)