Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"My lord, this is a high-grade beast core." The clerk immediately rushed over to flatter him when he saw what Earl Valentine was holding.

"Yes, the Spider Queen has been killed. Immediately arrange for people to transport the giant spider's corpse to various parts of the territory. After the Queen Bee is killed, transport these two corpses to Plantagenet City." Valentine glanced at the entrance to the passage next to him; there was still no definite news from there.

"Yes, Your Excellency, I will arrange it immediately." The clerk immediately went to instruct the soldiers to do as instructed.

"Give one beast core to the Third Prince, and keep the other one." Valentine frowned as he looked at the crystal in his hand. He was recalling the events of the past few days. A great deal of manpower and resources had been spent on these two beast cores, and many soldiers and knights had died. Even his heir had been lost. Now, when he thought of Philip's death, he still felt an intense hatred for the Storm Brotherhood and that evil sorcerer. At the same time, he deeply regretted not stopping Philip from going to the ruins.

However, he has finally made contact with the Third Prince. If the Kingdom of Fran suddenly falls into chaos, he can directly send troops to attack the neighboring territory of Kayud in the name of His Highness the Prince, and then head straight for Torch City. "Old bastard, you still dare to write a letter to mock me. I'll strike first."

Such actions would not be bound by the laws of the kingdom's nobility, and there was even hope of being promoted to duke or even elector.

"The price was too high, but everything comes at a price," Valentine said, rubbing his temples. "It's good this way; it solves all the problems in the forest at once. If we go to war next year, at least our rear will be secure."

He had previously feared that if military action were launched, all sorts of trouble would erupt in the Nightmare Forest, such as monster attacks, goblin harassment, or even monster rampage. This was also the reason he had been supporting the Storm Brotherhood. Now that he had successfully eliminated the goblins and cleared out the giant monsters, "It's all good now. I estimate that there won't be any troublesome things in the forest for the next year, and I can focus on dealing with the kingdom."

Valentine, clutching the beast core, turned and walked out of the stone chamber. Outside, on the grass, lay the corpses of many soldiers, all killed by those giant beasts, and a few by evil sorcerers.

Looking at the corpses covered with white sheets, he felt a pang of heartache. The compensation was another huge expense. If many people had died after the victory in the battle against Kayud's territory, he could have allocated land to replace the compensation. But now there was no extra land to replace it, so he could only painfully take out a large sum of money.

"These sacrifices are all worthwhile," Valentine murmured to himself. In the distance, soldiers were already loading the monster corpses onto trucks, preparing to transport them out of the forest. Valentine could imagine the astonished looks on the civilians' faces when they saw such large monster carcasses. "The territory will be a little safer now."

"Your Excellency, the orders have been given." The clerk approached the Earl, bowing and scraping as he spoke.

"Go to Golden Flower City in a while and ask around for me," Valentine said calmly, looking at the corpse on the ground as he slowly searched for Philip. "What materials are needed for the anti-aging elixir? Spend some money to make some elixir from that high-grade beast core and bring it back."

The clerk looked around, nodded, and whispered, "Yes, Your Excellency, I will certainly take care of it for you."

The Kingdom of Fran strictly investigates the smuggling of beast cores, but it is less strict about the production of secret medicines. This is because one reason is to prevent the lower classes from obtaining high-level materials and thus increasing their abilities too quickly, and the other is that the nobles themselves have a need for them.

"After this war is over, get the compensation figures calculated and send them to me as soon as possible," Valentine said, lifting a white cloth in front of him to make sure it wasn't Philip's face before covering it up again. "I think we might need to increase taxes on the Chamber of Commerce."

"Yes, Your Excellency." The clerk bowed.

"Philip." Valentine lifted another white sheet and saw the corpse in front of him. He covered his lips and his body trembled. The clerk immediately stepped forward to support the Earl.

"Quickly, you guys come here," he whispered, and several soldiers immediately ran over and helped Valentine up.

"I'm going to kill them, kill them!" Valentine growled. "Those bastards from the Storm Brotherhood, they stole my children's armor and weapons."

He looked at the clerk with a sinister gaze. "Pass on my orders: immediately search the entire territory for any equipment bearing the Black Lion insignia or related to the Earl's mansion. If found, interrogate them immediately."

"Yes, Your Excellency."

…………

"You can live in peace now," Charles said with a smile, stroking the queen ant's antennae.

"Really, goblin?" The queen ant's voice revealed a hint of disbelief, but even more so, weakness.

"The spider queen and the bee queen will both die in the next couple of days. I'll bring people to clean up this area again in a few days and kill any giant spiders and burrowing bees that escaped." Charles took out a small piece of honey from his pocket, preparing to hand it to the ant queen.

"No, I don't need this anymore." The queen ant refused the honey. She looked at the goblin in front of her, her tentacles touching its forehead. "How did you do that? You must have paid a great price."

"Uh, it's alright." Charles scratched his cheek with his finger, engrossed in reading Chapter 129, "What's the Price?" (Click here). He couldn't very well say it was just a few grenade fruits, a few pieces of fiery glue, and five stinky eggs.

"Thank you for everything you've done for the ant colony. We've been fighting them for so long, I don't know which generation of queen ants we've been, but we still can't live in peace. In fact, the greed of those two races is growing bigger and bigger. But now you've solved the problem for us," the queen ant smiled and continued, "I don't know what price you paid, but it certainly wasn't small. Our ant colony will always obey your commands."

"No, I'm just fulfilling my promise. Besides, helping you is helping me." Charles waved his hand gently.

As they spoke, several worker ants carried a white larva to Xia Er. The larva seemed to have just been born and was still a little weak. It struggled for a long time, its legs digging into the ground, before finally falling back to the ground with a "plop." Its big, dark eyes looked at the queen ant and then at Xia Er, full of curiosity.

Charles looked at the tiny ant that emitted a faint glow like white jade, and couldn't help but love it.

The queen ant gazed at the goblin stroking the young ant, her antennae constantly touching the ant. "This is our future queen ant. My life is about to end, and she will take my place as the leader of the colony."

"You..." Charles immediately looked up at the Queen Ant, somewhat shocked by her "last words".

"I've been able to hold on until now thanks to the honey you brought. It has indeed restored a lot of my strength, but life always comes to an end," the queen ant said slowly, but without much sadness. "My body will become food for these worker ants and the new queen ant. She will grow faster and contribute to the ant colony. This is the destiny of our colony."

"It's all for survival." Charles stared at the old ant queen in front of him, her tentacles swaying slightly. She seemed to have almost no strength left to even sway her tentacles.

"Thank you, goblin." The queen ant made one last effort to extend her antennae and press them against Sharl's forehead. "The ant colony will forever remember your help."

After speaking, the queen ant's antennae drooped down and gradually stopped moving, and her huge, writhing abdomen also quieted down.

Charles gazed at the lifeless giant creature before him, sighed, then placed a hand on his chest and bowed deeply. "Homage to you, a great mother."

However, as he bent down, he felt something touching the top of his head. When he looked up, he saw the white jade-like young queen ant.

"Hero." Charles heard her voice, smiled, and understood the old queen ant's meaning. "Is this some kind of entrustment?"

He stroked the larva, wondering when she would start laying eggs, but at least she could grow up safely.

"With the giant spiders and bees dealt with, and that old man Valentine's strength also depleted, I should be able to get through this winter peacefully." Charles teased the little ant queen. "When Valentine focuses all his efforts on dealing with the Fran Kingdom next year, this will be a great opportunity for the goblin race to develop."

"You need to grow up quickly, I still need your strength." Charles took out the piece of honey and handed it to the little ant queen.

Then he put down the jade-like larvae and turned to look at the worker ants busy around the huge corpse. The massive limbs, as big as small mountains, were being dissected in an orderly manner and transported to the burrows by the mandibles of the worker ants. The whole process was precise and efficient. This underground kingdom was as usual, with only the rustling sound of the ants moving around.

"The continuation of life is both cold and magnificent."

Then, a thought struck him, and he noticed a slight change in his interface.

[Monument Material: Charles Mello]

Race: Goblin (Human)

[Hazard Level: 0.5, Waste]

[Subordinates: 145/159]

【personality:???】

[My Status: Advanced Shapeshifting Curse (Negative), Heart of a Hero (Positive, Recovering), Blessing of the Mother Tree (Positive), Blessing of the God of Earth and Life (Positive), Newborn Queen Ant (Positive, Growing)]

[Title: Leader of a Vibrant Forest Group]

"Huh?" Charles stared at the newly appeared state, somewhat stunned.

[The newly formed queen ant: You have witnessed the rise and fall of a colony. They regard you as a hero and benefactor, but their new leader is growing. You need to wait patiently for the queen ant to mature, and then you will receive her gratitude.]

"It hasn't taken effect yet?" Charles frowned. "What kind of effect will it have? Will it be the same as the Mother Tree's Blessing or the Heart of the Hero?"

He took another piece of honey from his pocket and gave it to the little ant queen in front of him.

"Grow up quickly."

…………

"Master, please let me explain." Ghost Scarface knelt on the ground, trembling all over.

Alma, standing before him, raised her left hand with a cold smile, and the mole on her hand shone brightly once more.

"Do you know what the cost of doing this is?"