Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

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"Two thin pieces?" Charles sat cross-legged on the grass, taking two metal pieces from the small golden box. "Are there patterns on them?"

He couldn't tell what material the two metal pieces were made of, but he could understand the patterns. One pattern looked like four ancient runes. He had seen only one of the runes on the portal, while the other three were new.

Another metal plate had many words engraved on it.

"Runeword: Mind?" Sharl read aloud, looking at the inscription. "Can it be engraved on dragon skin to communicate with animals?"

"Interesting." He flipped the metal plate over and found that there were words on only one side.

"It really is a bit like what Agatha Christie said, about using permutations and combinations to create strange effects. I just wonder how many runewords there are." Charles pondered the two metal plates. "What would it be like if there were thousands or even tens of thousands of combinations?"

He was silent for a few seconds, then looked up at the sky. "This thing seems to have the potential to drastically change the world."

"I think I've opened a door," Charles muttered to himself. "I just don't know what's inside. If it's Pandora's box, then I'm in trouble."

He put the metal piece back into the box, and as he was about to close the lid, he saw a sentence engraved inside the lid.

"We shut the gods out," Charles recited the sentence.

"The style is similar to the notes on the Tower of Babel key, so it must be an item left behind by an ancient race." He carefully examined the golden box and found that it only had this one sentence engraved on it.

"Take this back to Agatha and show it to her. She'll be very happy." Charles closed the box and placed it solemnly in front of him. "I wonder how many more runewords like this there are in Nightmare Forest, and how powerful they are. But just this one thing that allows you to communicate with animals is quite interesting."

He knew that the druids of the Church of the Earth and Life had the ability to communicate with animals, but that was a form of mental magic. However, if an ordinary goblin could communicate with animals using runewords, it would be extremely convenient.

"But that's impossible, goblins don't have dragon skin." Charles chuckled self-deprecatingly; dragon skin was a rare commodity even among nobles.

He turned and looked around. "Agatha said last time that no ancient runes have been found in other parts of the continent, which means they are all buried in the Nightmare Forest. It seems that there is another reason to explore the forest."

But immediately, Sharl looked down at the golden box. "This ancient race had become so powerful that it had vanished. If I were to restore the ancient runes, wouldn't that arouse the covetousness and fear of the gods?"

"Hehehe," he chuckled a few times, "So what if you're afraid? I'm a goblin, what's there to be afraid of? What could be worse than becoming a goblin?"

He jumped up, patted his pants, and said, "Go back to the fortress, then go check out the east side. First, bring all the areas marked on the southern defense map into my territory."

Then, Sharl tucked the golden box under his arm and ordered his men to set off back to the Tree People's territory.

…………

"Is this a new way to combine runes?" Agatha stared at the metal piece in her hand, her eyes wider than her open mouth.

"Yes, I got it this time." Charles sat down in a chair and took a sip of herbal tea.

After the matter was settled, he bid farewell to the mother tree and promised to send people over soon to take care of the tree people. He also said he would select a group of people to clean up the underground stone chambers there.

In the few days he was away, new things were delivered through the portal every day, and the table and chairs in front of him were new furniture.

However, due to the addition of many new members, he had to place new orders with Mary.

"Just as you guessed, there are probably many ancient runes buried in the forest, which have various powerful effects." Xia Er blew on his tea and took a small sip.

"With dragon skin?" Agatha ignored Charles sitting beside her, completely absorbed in her own world.

"I see, it's the material." She immediately stood up and walked back and forth with the metal sheet in her hand.

"What material?" Charles rolled his eyes, watching Agatha pacing back and forth in front of him.

"I used wood before, but I didn't expect that as soon as I activated the portal, the wood would explode into dust. Later, I switched to bricks, but they also shattered." Agatha waved her arms, her emotions running high. "It's the strength of the materials. I don't know what kind of energy the ancient runes use to operate, but ordinary materials can't withstand this kind of power, or rather, they have limited energy tolerance."

"Didn't you use those white stones?" Charles asked curiously.

"Of course not. There are only so many materials, so of course we should save where we can and avoid using them if we don't have to." Agatha looked at him, not understanding why he would ask such a silly question.

"You can give it a try first; maybe you can find it in other historical sites later."

"Ah, there is a little danger, but not much," Charles tried to laugh it off.

"I sensed that Lupus was injured. Although it recovered quickly, for it to be able to injure a Celestial Beast, its strength must be considerable."

"Hmm, he's quite impressive." Charles decided not to hide anything from her. He picked up the Alchemy Notebook from the side and placed it in front of Agatha. "He took down a rogue druid from the Church of Earth and Life. He's quite powerful. This is the result of his alchemy research."

"Druid?" Agatha picked up the notebook and flipped through it casually.

"Yes, it was quite difficult to deal with at first." Charles briefly described his encounter with the druid, omitting the part about his own abilities, only saying that Lupus held the druid back, and was eventually killed by his subordinates in a sneak attack.

"You're right, this druid is indeed quite capable. If it were me, I would try to stay away from him as much as possible." The more Agatha looked at the notes, the more serious her expression became. "This person is very knowledgeable about alchemy, and even has one or two alchemical potion recipes that he invented himself. I'm going to test them out."

"A new formula?" Charles immediately became interested. "What kind of formula?"

"A deodorant, that temporarily blocks your sense of smell and taste after drinking it, making you unaffected by foul odors." Agatha stared at *The Alchemist's Notebook*, frowning. "Why is he researching this?"

"Uh, this is still quite necessary," Charles chuckled, thinking to himself, "Druid, you're just forced into this situation."

"There's another formula. Drinking it will temporarily enhance your strength, agility, and stamina, and it will also slightly increase your size." Agatha didn't even look up, continuing to look behind her.

"This formula is good, just what I need." Charles craned his neck to look at the notebook. He guessed that this was prepared by the druid for his goblin subordinates, but he would no longer need this potion once his zombie mushroom research was successful.

"I also have some insights into old potions." Agatha closed her notebook, nodded, and said, "I'll experiment with a few bottles according to the formula tomorrow. The raw materials are common, but I need to add some high-proof alcohol to activate the potency."

"No problem, I'll take care of the materials," Charles said immediately. Before these battles, he and his men would drink several bottles of potions to boost their strength, agility, and stamina. If they could get the materials in one bottle, they could carry even more potions.

"I noticed that Lupus got along really well with you this time out; it seems to like you more." Agatha put down "The Alchemist's Notebook" and looked at the astral hound lying beside her.

"That's right, I've been very good to it." Charles jumped off the chair, walked towards Lupus, and after taking two steps, he suddenly remembered something, so he immediately changed the subject and said, "Let's continue to study the portal runes. The sooner we get them, the sooner we can establish contact with the Treant race."

"Okay," Agatha said, watching Shire scratching Lupus's chin. The goblin and the astral hound were having a great time.

"What are you going to do next?" she asked.

"Let's rest for a bit, stock up on supplies, and assign tasks to the new members," Charles said, shaking Lupus's front paws up and down as if playing a handshake game. "Once all that's done, we'll set off eastward to explore."

…………

In a small tavern in Torch City, Little John put down his silver coins and got up to leave.

He has been here for many days, and after extensive searching, he has confirmed that his boss is very likely the traitor Charles Mello, who is wanted for 30 gold coins.

It's easy to guess. The two people the boss is looking for are the head of the guards of the Merlo family, an old knight, and his personal bodyguard. Plus, he says his name is Charles, so you can draw a conclusion right away.

Little John simply didn't understand how his boss had turned into a goblin.

When he first started as an adventurer, he had fantasized about catching a wanted criminal traitor one day, so he would never have to worry about food and clothing for the rest of his life. But when Little John actually deduced that the boss was that person, he became incredibly clear-headed.

These days of conversations with the other party, coupled with the praise the Torch City commoners gave to the Melo family, made John the Younger doubt the veracity of the treason charge.

Moreover, he felt it was a conspiracy; even if anyone kidnapped the boss to collect the reward, they would be secretly killed, and then the nobles would collect the reward.

"What's that saying? Politics and interests are the games of the nobles," he said in a low voice. He had heard this from some of the elders in Torch City.

With a creak, the tavern door closed. Little John quickly and discreetly glanced at the street, straightened his clothes, and slid his hand down from his chest to make sure the necklace and papers the owner had given him were still safely hidden on his body.

Then he put his hands in his pockets and casually walked to the end of the street.

Across from the tavern was the house of one of the people on the paper, Obodo. Little John had been staking out the place for several days but had not seen the man appear, nor had anyone suspicious come into contact with his family.

The other person, Musa, was even more remarkable. He simply vanished into thin air. The small building where he lived had already been sold to a merchant from the City of Golden Flower. No one in the entire Torch City could be found. Only when you ask the local residents would you hear them mention "that bronze-skinned, stern-faced captain of the guards."

The other person, Musa, was even more remarkable. He simply vanished into thin air. The small building where he lived had already been sold to a merchant from the City of Golden Flower. No one in the entire Torch City could be found. Only when you ask the local residents would you hear them mention "that bronze-skinned, stern-faced captain of the guards."

Today, John plans to go around to the back of the Albedo store and try to climb over the wall under the cover of night to see if he can find any clues.

He arrived at the entrance of a small alley, quickly glanced around, then clutched his stomach, jumped up and down a couple of times, pretending to have to pee, and ran into the alley.

"This is it." Little John looked up at the wall next to him; the height was no problem for him.

But soon, he sensed something was wrong and turned to look at the alley entrance.

"Who are you?" Four people dressed in various colors walked into the alley. "Why are you spying on other people's homes?"

John thought for a moment and immediately said, "I'm a bounty hunter, just trying to find out about Charles Mello."

He raised his hands slightly to indicate that he had no other intentions. Because of the astronomical bounty of 30, Torch City had attracted a large number of bounty hunters and adventurers, some of whom cooperated with the Sheriff's Office and acted as informants.

"I've seen him a few times at that tavern up ahead; he must be a bounty hunter," one of them said.

The leader of the four men sized up Little John and said, "Let's go. Just a reminder not to cause trouble in Torch City."

John didn't say anything, just nodded, and prepared to leave.

Just as the two passed each other, he suddenly drew his greatsword and blocked the opponent's scimitar with a clang.

"Didn't you tell me to leave?" Little John asked through gritted teeth.

"You can leave, but leave behind anything valuable," the leader said with a sneer. "Spending all your time in taverns, looks like you're doing a pretty good job as a bounty hunter."

"Aren't you afraid of alerting the police?"

"We're from the police department," the leader shouted. "Surround him, kill him, and send him to the police department as a pirate."

After a series of clanging sounds, John was forced into the alley.

"The four guys over there aren't as skilled as me, but they're very coordinated." Little John stared intently at them, determined not to let them catch him, or his boss's secret would be exposed.

"Kill one of them with all your might, then run away immediately." He pondered his options, but several plans seemed risky.

"This kid's got a death wish, so be careful," said the leader of the group.

John was getting anxious. "What should I do? The boss said that the necklace absolutely cannot have any problems."

In his nervousness, he didn't notice that his eyes were turning red. Then, with a thought, the four people in front of him suddenly became unfocused, and one of them even put down his weapon.

"A good opportunity." Little John charged forward with his sword and ended the fight in a few moves.

"What just happened?" He looked at the longsword in his hand. At that moment, a thought flashed through his mind: if only the other side couldn't move. He didn't expect them to actually stop moving.

"I... I seem to have grasped some kind of ability?" Little John murmured.

"Go back and brag about it to the boss."

At that moment, Charles was holding a bottle of bubbling green potion, looking at Agatha with a smug expression.

"Is this stuff really drinkable?"