Lord: Starting with Summoning the Regular Army of Earth

Chapter 77 How Terrifying Goblins

The ten truckloads of supplies were quickly unloaded, and Renault prepared to lead his team away.

Matthew and Conrad personally escorted Renault to the edge of the territory.

As Renault led his soldiers and drove away with the empty car, Matthew's smile gradually faded, turning into a cold expression.

"Renault did a good job acting," Will said, walking up to him with suppressed anger in his voice. "He didn't mention the bandit gang at all, just as you guessed."

"Are the gifts he sent real?" Matthew asked, genuinely worried that Renault was a fool who was trying to scam them, wanting to fish but unwilling to use the bait.

"It couldn't be more real. The grain is all new grain, enough to feed us for several months. The weapons and equipment are also very good. The five hundred gold coins are genuine, and there are also a lot of gold and silver valuables. The jewelry and silverware are also quite valuable. It seems that he really went all out to lure out the bandit group."

"Because he's convinced these things are only temporary, and in his eyes we probably won't live more than three days." Matthew's voice turned low. This is reality; without power, you can't even live a peaceful "life."

Just then, Sun Zhengwu arrived with his men: "Commander, should we continue to monitor those guys' movements?"

"Yes, not only do we need to keep a close eye on them, but we also need to blind the eyes of the people they send. We absolutely cannot let them know any of our movements here." He absolutely cannot let a guy who wants to kill him know his trump card.

He has already begun to think about how to get rid of this villain without anyone noticing.

"Understood, mission accomplished!" Sun Zhengwu saluted.

After leaving Emberstone Ridge for some distance, Renault led a small cavalry squad and rode back to their encampment at full speed, his face full of a sinister smile of confidence.

"The bait has been laid, we're just waiting for the hungry wolves to take the bait. Harold, prepare to move out." As soon as he entered the tent, Renault said impatiently to Harold.

"Sir, it seems the plan is going smoothly?" Harold said with a broad smile.

"Yes, they didn't suspect anything at all and actually accepted the money we brought. It seems they really know nothing about the bandit gang." Renault had a smug smile on his face. He had been worried that they might have some suspicions.

Clearly, they had overestimated Jinshi Ridge. They were currently busy surviving and had no time to pay attention to what was happening outside.

Now that they've accepted the valuables, it'll be too late even if they get the news later; the bandit gang will definitely not let go of such a big piece of meat.

"Harold, immediately issue the order for the main force to secretly move to their designated positions and lie in ambush! Send two scouts to keep a close watch on any activity at Emberstone Ridge. Report back immediately if the bandit group is spotted!"

"Yes!" Harold replied.

Soon, the two scouts left the military camp and, under the cover of night, made their way towards Jinshi Ridge.

The two scouts Harold sent out were veterans of the city's defense forces; one was called Scarface, and the other Skinny Monkey.

They are agile, experienced, and especially skilled at nighttime stealth reconnaissance.

When they accepted the mission, both of them were somewhat nonchalant and felt no pressure. After all, they were not keeping an eye on a group of vicious bandits, nor were they an experienced order of knights.

Instead, it was a dilapidated "village" without even an army, so there was no concern about alerting the enemy.

Of course, their main task was not to keep watch on Emberstone Ridge, but to act as Lord Renault's eyes and ears, so as to detect in time whether the bandit group was attacking Emberstone Ridge.

Under the cover of dusk, the two made their way familiarly toward Jinshi Ridge.

They were confident that with their skills, they would never be discovered in this rural area.

However, they were completely unaware that from the moment they stepped out of the military camp, several pairs of eyes, gleaming with an eerie green light in the darkness, had already locked onto them.

The owner of these eyes, as if blending into the shadows themselves, silently followed and monitored their every move.

When the two approached within about a mile of the outer edge of Jinshi Ridge, it was already completely dark. Scarface suddenly grabbed Skinny Monkey and made a shushing gesture.

"Something's not right—" Scarface lowered his voice and looked toward Emberstone Ridge with suspicion.

In the distance, where the territory should have been silent, there were now faint flickering lights, and even the sounds of clanging and deep shouts could be heard.

"It's so late, and those peasants are still working?" Skinny Monkey was also puzzled. "The noise... there seem to be quite a few people?"

Driven by curiosity, the two cautiously used the terrain for cover and continued to sneak forward, intending to find out what was going on.

When they climbed up a small hill overlooking the interior of Emberstone Ridge and, by the light of the scattered torches, could see the scene below, the two froze instantly, their pupils contracting sharply.

What they had imagined as a desolate and barren land was now a scene of bustling construction activity.

What truly chilled them to the bone was that, illuminated by the firelight, the figures busily working—the vast majority of whom were green-skinned...

A short, menacing goblin.

The number was far greater than they had imagined.

At a glance, there are at least a hundred of them.

Some were moving stones, some were mixing mortar, and many more were methodically building the city wall.

They even spotted several large goblins.

Most incredibly, they seemed to see a sense of order and efficient cooperation in those goblins.

The city wall, which was only in its initial stages during the day, is being raised and reinforced at a visible speed!

"Gulp—" Skinny Monkey swallowed hard, his voice trembling, "Scar—Brother Scar—am I—am I seeing things?"

Those...those are...goblins? How...how come there are so many?

Scarface felt a chill run from his feet to his head, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead: "What the hell! How can there be so many goblins in Emberstone Ridge? Are they—are they working for that Matthew? How is this possible?"

Goblins, these lowly monsters, shouldn't they only know how to rob, destroy, and kill?

How could they be so obedient, like slaves, carrying out such a complex civil engineering project here?

This completely overturned their understanding!

A tremendous shock and fear gripped the two of them.

They realized that Emberstone Ridge held a tremendous secret.

The value of this intelligence far exceeds that of monitoring the bandit gang.

"Quick! Skinny Monkey, I'll keep an eye on things here. You go back and report to the lord immediately! The situation here is too strange!" Scarface made a decisive decision, his voice filled with barely suppressed panic.

"Yes! Yes! We must report to the magistrate!" Skinny Monkey nodded repeatedly.

As he spoke, the skinny monkey hurriedly turned around and sneaked back along the way he had come.

However, he had only run a short distance when a very faint yet extremely sharp whooshing sound suddenly rang out.

"Ugh!" the skinny monkey let out a short, muffled groan.

A stray arrow pierced his back, and in pain, he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

However, he reacted quickly, immediately drawing the broken sword from his waist and becoming alarmed and wary of his surroundings.

As a result, two short but exceptionally agile green figures emerged silently from the shadows on both sides, like ghosts.

They move with lightning speed and, like well-trained killers, work together to strike at vital points.

"Goblins!" Skinny Monkey was shocked, but he had no time to think. One of the goblins grabbed his right hand holding the sword, while the other slit his throat with a dagger, rendering him unable to make a sound.

He stared in shock and despair at the two goblins before him, who seemed to have undergone "military-style" training, worked in perfect harmony, and were incredibly ruthless. His last thought was one of utter absurdity and terror: "How terrifying goblins are—"

A halo of light flew out from the skinny monkey's body and entered one of the goblins' bodies. The goblin was not surprised. It simply exchanged a glance with its companion, then dragged the skinny monkey's corpse into a pre-dug pit deep in the dense forest, carefully buried it, and cleaned up all traces.

The whole process was clean and efficient, taking no more than three minutes.

The dark jungle returned to its deathly silence, as if nothing had ever happened.

Meanwhile, Scarface, who was still staring at Emberstone Ridge, was increasingly shocked. He simply couldn't understand how Emberstone Ridge had managed to get a group of goblins to work for them.

However, just as he was focusing his attention on the Ashstone Ridge, several arrows shot from behind and instantly pierced his body.

Scarface's expression changed drastically, and he turned his head in horror, only to see several goblins emerge from the dense forest, holding strange crossbow bolts he had never seen before.

Upon seeing this, Scarface's eyes widened even further, his shock and fear reaching their peak, as if he had seen a ghost.

Because he saw in the other person's expression a composure and calmness that was not something a goblin should have.

Thinking back to the goblins in Emberstone Ridge, he felt his understanding crumble. He simply couldn't understand why these goblins were so terrifying and so intelligent.

He was unwilling to die here and wanted to fight to the death, but his body had begun to go numb. Obviously, the arrows were poisoned. He struggled to support himself and wanted to fight desperately, but a goblin suddenly appeared behind him and pierced his abdomen with a sword.

He groaned, opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing before dying completely.