Lord: Starting with Summoning the Regular Army of Earth

Chapter 67 Pioneering and Exploration (3K)

"Be on guard! There's something in the water!" Yang Guang and several soldiers reacted quickly, immediately forming a simple defensive formation, protecting Matthew and Will in the center. All weapons were aimed at the lake surface, their eyes sharp as eagles, without the slightest panic, only focused vigilance.

When all their military units received the mission to go to the other world, their top priority was to protect Comrade Matthew's life, and to be prepared to sacrifice themselves if necessary.

Moreover, they won't actually die here.

Conrad drew his knight's sword almost instantly and stepped forward to block Matthew's side.

Matthew was also startled. He watched the movement in the lake warily, and had a feeling that there was definitely a monster down there.

The dark figure lingered on the lake for about half a minute, seemingly observing these uninvited guests.

Ultimately, it seemed to lose interest or have some reservations, and its massive form slowly sank into the deep water. The ripples gradually subsided, and the lake returned to its lifeless state.

Only the heavy breathing of the group and the sound of dripping water remained in the cave.

"We shouldn't stay here any longer," Matthew said decisively in a deep voice.

Unknown underwater creatures, mysterious skeletons, and relics of completely unfamiliar civilizations.

The secrets hidden here are far beyond our current capabilities.

"Everyone, gather all items quickly, we need to evacuate immediately!"

"yes!"

Under the protection of the soldiers, Yang Guang and the others quickly and orderly packed up all the items they had found.

Matthew took one last look at the deep lake and the distant, mysterious cave entrance.

It seems we'll have to form a special adventure team to explore this area.

Matthew had a plan in mind.

After all, the unknown means danger, but it also means opportunity.

Soon, the group, laden with their spoils, retreated swiftly and cautiously along the original route, temporarily sealing the entrance to the crack with stones and leaving clear warning markers.

However, shortly after Matthew and the others left, the black cat emerged from the shadows, glanced in the direction of the passage, and muttered to himself, "He actually recognized that these corpses were elves? This guy's background is truly extraordinary."

On the way back to Emberstone Ridge, Matthew was in a very good mood. This time, he not only completely wiped out the goblin tribe, but also gained a lot.

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According to the military team's statistics, they found a total of 32 silver coins and 233 coins in the two goblin lairs.

The copper coins were probably all stolen by them.

But the most valuable items are the two magic crystals, one large and one small, found in the Deep Green Axe Tooth tribe. Judging from their appearance, they are very natural, uncut and unpolished, and even mixed with other rock components, so they must have been dug out from somewhere.

This means that magic crystals really do exist in the Misty Mountains.

This further solidified Matthew's idea of ​​forming an adventure team and beginning a deeper exploration of the resources of the Misty Mountains.

Of course, the biggest gain this time was the equipment on the corpse. Not to mention the enchanted longsword and armor, the chainmail alone, according to Conrad's analysis, could probably sell for at least five hundred gold coins.

In addition, there is the unknown Rubik's Cube. Even if we don't know its purpose, it is not hard to tell from its materials and workmanship that it is definitely a treasure.

However, Matthew has no intention of selling the equipment.

Such precious armor and weapons are often extremely rare, and once sold, they are not so easy to buy back.

It would be better to keep them for myself. My height and build are not much different from that corpse, so the armor and chainmail can serve as good self-defense equipment, and might even save my life in a critical moment.

That sword could be given to Conrad.

Most importantly, he didn't know the person's identity or the origin of the armor. Selling it casually might cause unnecessary trouble.

After all, Jinshiling now has a certain source of income, so there is no need to undermine it again.

Matthew returned to his territory first. Upon learning that the military group had wiped out all the goblins, the people of Emberstone Ridge cheered excitedly and shouted, "Long live the Lord!"

Now, the goblin tribe that had threatened Emberstone Ridge for years has finally been wiped out, and their deep-seated hatred has finally been avenged.

Perhaps from today onwards, the people of Jinshiling will have to say goodbye to the past completely.

Much later, the bodies of the two goblin tribes were all transported back by the military team, and then, under the guidance of the agricultural team, they were buried and composted at the edge of the mountain.

At noon, Matthew convened a post-battle debriefing and future development meeting for Operation Thunder Strike in the council chamber.

Attendees included Sun Zhengwu, Wu Ronghui, and other heads of the military group, as well as the main leaders of the logistics, geology, agriculture, and science and technology groups.

The meeting began with a comprehensive and detailed review of the operation by team leaders Sun Zhengwu and Wu Ronghui, who identified and addressed any overlooked details, and also served as a summary and synchronization of information.

Overall, the operation was almost perfect. The only problem might be that the preparations were too thorough, resulting in a waste of some manpower and resources.

Next, the military team will optimize tactics based on the experience gained from this operation and produce an "Operation Manual" for subsequent training and operational guidance.

In fact, Matthew did not convene this meeting primarily to review the events, but rather to use it as a pretext to discuss the gains of the operation, including the two magic crystals and the discovery of the mysterious corpse.

"So, these things also remind me that our focus should shift from survival and defense to exploration and development. We need to fully explore and utilize the surrounding resources to achieve leapfrog growth in our territory." Matthew began the real theme of the meeting.

"I have two ideas for this, which I would like to share with you all, but many of the detailed plans will need to be completed by the group leaders and experts present here."

"First, I plan to send an adventurer party deeper into the Misty Mountains to hunt down goblins and other threatening creatures, eliminating all threats before they reach my territory. Hunting goblins will also help me obtain more energy to summon the Great Goblin and unlock more powerful summoned units."

"At the same time, the team also needs to systematically explore the mineral resources in the mountains, especially this kind of magic crystal." Matthew placed a piece of magic crystal ore on the conference table. "In addition to this ore, there should be many medicinal plants, magical materials, etc. in the Misty Mountains, which will be the team's main exploration targets in the future."

"No problem," Sun Zhengwu said in a loud voice. "The previous reconnaissance team can handle this task. I will make detailed plans later."

"Okay, my second idea is to establish a pioneer team with the goal of protecting and assisting geological exploration experts to go to the wind-eroded highlands in the southwest corner. They will search for mineral resources such as coal, iron, and clay, ascertain the reserves and mining conditions, assess environmental risks, and especially find out the movements of the barbarian tribes there, and establish forward observation points."

"That's my general idea and goals. Also, my mana replenishment speed has increased, so theoretically I can support summoning two hundred people to carry out missions for extended periods."

Since discovering that he could actively increase the mana regeneration of his magic pendant, he was no longer as worried about "insufficient firepower" as before.

Based on his judgment and estimation, with his own active replenishment, the supply of magic power was definitely enough to keep two hundred people "online" at the same time.

What's more, there are magic crystals that can be replenished quickly at any time.

If we can really solve the problem of mineral resources, or even magic crystal resources, then everything will be even less of a problem.

"Two hundred people, that makes our work much easier to arrange."

"Yes, the number of people has doubled all at once, so we can increase our manpower." The team leaders discussed with smiles on their faces.

"By the way, it might take a long time, and the comrades will need to stay here continuously. Ensuring their physical well-being at the base is of paramount importance," Matthew added.

"Comrade Matthew, you can rest assured about that. The life support technology at the base is very advanced now."

"Yes, when we are active here, our bodies are in an optimal state of deep hibernation and repair, with systematic guarantees for nutrient supply and muscle and nerve maintenance. According to current data, staying here for one to two weeks continuously is completely safe, and it even has a positive effect on the recovery of some comrades' original chronic diseases."

"Haha, indeed, many of my minor health problems have gotten better recently."

Upon hearing this, Matthew nodded in satisfaction, not expecting such an "unexpected surprise."

"That's good! I'm confident that the experts will be able to develop a more comprehensive and professional implementation plan than I anticipated. The future of Jinshiling is in your hands!"

After Matthew left, the discussion in the council chamber became even more heated, with the heads of each group beginning to conduct in-depth and detailed discussions on the ideas proposed by Matthew.

"Let's select the adventurer team members from the previous reconnaissance squad. We need the best of the best, a full complement of 20 people, and it would be best to have two big goblins with us. Oh, and Professor Li, send two people from your geology team to accompany us."

"When I get back, I'll draft a roster and training outline, focusing on light equipment, rapid response, long-range reconnaissance, and sniping capabilities."

"Old Wu, you'll lead the Pioneer team. We need stronger security and engineering capabilities; a strength of 30 people. Professor Li, how many geology experts do you need?"

"Three people initially, and we will also prepare some replacements."

"Okay, the Trail Blazers' team composition is biased towards defense and engineering support, ensuring the specialist's absolute safety."

"Professor Li, exploration of the highlands is of paramount importance. Make a list immediately of any special equipment you require, and I will coordinate with the technical team to find a solution."

"We need an improved Luoyang shovel, rock sampling kits, and rapid soil pH testing reagents—most importantly, we need a few goblin laborers to help carry the equipment and do the initial leveling of the camp."

"We hunted down so many goblins this time, Comrade Matthew should be able to summon a few more large goblin units, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Logistical support is crucial for this mission; we need to establish a robust supply line."

"That's right. We can establish hidden and secure supply depots on the edge of the Misty Mountains and along the way to the Wind-Eroded Highlands. These depots can be replenished regularly by patrol teams, extending the exploration team's operational radius and duration."

"I'd like to add that we can establish a simple but reliable field communication system in advance, primarily using whistles, signal flags, and pre-designated markers. The exploration team needs to return to the pre-designated contact point regularly to report on the situation."

Everyone chimed in, quickly breaking down the grand goal into concrete, actionable tasks. No one questioned the difficulty of the tasks; the focus was solely on solving the immediate problems efficiently.