Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Are you feeling any better now?" Orek turned to look at the surrounding battlefield, then drew an arrow from his quiver and asked with a smile, remaining vigilant.

"Hmm," Evita knew what he was asking. Although she had just taken her revenge, her arm holding the lance was still trembling slightly. This trembling was not due to fear, but simply a reaction of her inner emotions.

There were still some scattered battles in the distance, with the towering ogres still roaring and swinging their massive hammers. However, Evita knew that victory was already theirs. "If it weren't for that arrow just now, I might not be able to see this scene now."

"Now that you've calmed down, you need to grow up quickly, after all, the burden of the entire tribe rests on your shoulders." Orek came to the centaur girl's side. "My child is about to be born, and our tribe needs to continue in the future. The weight of the chieftain's golden necklace is very heavy."

"I will, Brother Orec."

"However, you don't need to be too demanding of yourself. Just take it slow," Orek laughed heartily. "Your father once hinted to me that he wanted me to inherit the position of chieftain, but I refused outright. I know that I am only suited to help the tribe fight. I can't do the 'deed' of rushing into the forest alone to find unicorns."

"Hmm," Evita said shyly, lowering her head slightly. "I've never heard you say these things before."

"You're not the leader of the Shard yet," Orek said, gripping his bow and slowly walking toward the distant battlefield. "He said you're currently grieving and need to relearn how to be a chieftain, something you've never done before. Don't put too much pressure on you right now. You're a proud centaur. You were appointed the next chieftain by your father under those circumstances, so you'll definitely try your best."

As he walked further and further away, his voice was drowned out by the other sounds on the battlefield, but Evita stood still, staring intently into the distance. Across the entire battlefield, on that wooden frame as tall as a person, there seemed to be a short, green-skinned goblin standing on it.

"A qualified clan leader?" she muttered to herself.

Then, Evita turned and walked toward the red cloak that Evilthroat had dropped.

She didn't open it to check what was inside. Her intuition told her that there must be something wrong with what was inside, and it was best not to look at it. She could just hand it over to the leader after the battle.

Then, Evita gripped her lance tightly, suddenly reared up on her hind legs, and with a "whoosh," a cloud of dust rose as she charged once more toward the distant enemy.

…………

"That should work." Charles put away his binoculars.

From the moment the order to charge was given, he didn't follow, but simply watched quietly as his men and centaurs besieged the Evil Throat Army.

Now that the slave soldiers who have drunk the "holy water" are no longer participating in the battle, the threat from the enemy has been greatly reduced. They are just some goblins and ogres, and our side's fighting strength is still enough to deal with them.

"These scattered goblins are a bit of a problem." He frowned. He couldn't catch them right now and would have to wait until he dealt with the Evilthroat Army.

"Fortunately, this whole area is my territory now. No matter how far these goblins run, they won't get very far. After the battle, I'll have Red Eyes and the others ride the worker ants to patrol the area and bring them all back." Charles rubbed his temples. "I wonder when we'll be able to catch all these guys."

"The next step, Whispers of the Forest, will probably take a while to activate," he sighed softly. "But it's alright, it'll be over in a few days. Anyway, the meat's still in the pot."

"Next, we need to consider taking over the territory that originally belonged to the Evilthroat Army. Moreover, there is an even more powerful Feathered Serpent Goblin Kingdom to the north," Charles said, stroking his chin. "After we recruit all those goblins into our ranks, we need to ask them about the true strength of that goblin kingdom. Why do the goblins have these crazy slave soldiers but dare not attack that goblin kingdom?"

"Could that evil god be incredibly powerful? If so, why has it allowed the earth spirits to exist for so long?"

In the distance, the last ogre collapsed to the ground with a thud. Charles stood on tiptoe, surveyed the entire battlefield, and seeing that there was no more fighting, he grabbed the handrail and jumped off the platform.

After a long pause, he frowned at the dozens of goblins kneeling before him. "Is this all you caught?"

"The rest of them ran away!" Red Eyes shouted. Those hundreds of goblins had already run away while they were fighting with the Evil Throat Army. These were the goblins who were so scared that they knelt on the battlefield and begged not to be killed.

"Alright, you guys go ride the worker ants right now, and start searching for them in the woods in groups of a few." Charles waved his hand, ordering his men to capture them immediately. "Remember to capture them alive, don't kill them. Also, if there are any injured ones, just throw them into the worker ants' cargo compartments."

He grabbed Red Eyes and began giving detailed instructions, then beckoned to Bucktooth, "Take a few men and immediately tally the battle results, especially our own losses, and find the wounded as soon as possible to treat them."

Bucktooth nodded and immediately went to call a few goblins to help him deal with the aftermath. There were many corpses lying on the battlefield, and there were bound to be some goblins who hadn't died. His side had goblins and unicorns who could carry them to the Treant Realm, so there were plenty of ways to treat them.

"I need to find Sansio and the others right away." Charles glanced at the kneeling goblins. There was no need for them to perform the ankle-touching ceremony now. Even if they did, it wouldn't be enough to activate the Forest Whispers. It would be better to wait until Red Eyes and the others caught some of the escaped goblins first. "There's no rush."

Then he turned around and prepared to rush back to the fortress to see the little fairies. Before the battle, he had deliberately not let Shan Xiao and the others leave the fortress, for fear that the crazed slave soldiers would harm the little fairies. After all, those little fairies were the tribe's important "production tools" at present. However, he stopped in place after taking only two steps.

Ciel stared in astonishment at the neatly arranged centaurs before him, and then Evita stepped forward from the crowd.

"Chief Shire," she proclaimed, "on behalf of the entire Goldenmane Clan, I hereby swear that you shall be our chief."

Upon hearing this, Charles frowned. His previous relationship with the centaur tribe was merely one of cooperation, but now Evita's words seemed to indicate that she wanted to pledge allegiance to him.

"You..." Before he could finish speaking, he saw the more than one hundred centaurs opposite him put their arms around their shoulders, then simultaneously raised their front hooves and stomped heavily on the ground, before lowering their upper bodies slightly.

In my mind, the strange letter on the black obelisk, representing the whispers of the forest, lit up.