Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

The passageway was about 5 meters deep, and Charles led his men down with torches.

At the end of the path, a stone door covered with moss, vines, and tree roots came into view.

Xia Er touched, knocked, and pushed around, but found that the stone door did not budge.

"Red Eyes, come and give him a push," Charles ordered his subordinate, while bestowing the gift of the evil god upon him.

Red-eyed man stepped forward, gritted his teeth, and growled with all his might, finally causing the stone door to creak and groan.

Several goblins stepped forward and together pushed open the stone door.

Charles looked at the stone door in front of him. It was a central door with the hinge in the middle, and the door could only be pushed open about 30 centimeters wide.

He peeked out, but it was pitch black behind the door, and he couldn't see anything.

Although goblins have night vision, they do not have dark vision. If there is no light at all, goblins cannot see their surroundings.

Charles thought for a moment, then had his men push the door open a little wider, and then had them make a few torches.

He stood at the door and forcefully threw the torch inside. By the light of the torch, he could see some reflections around him.

"Is it made of metal?" Charles peered inside. "Judging from the condition of the stone gate, any metal objects should be rusted."

"Red Eyes, come here," he was about to call Red Eyes over, but then he remembered how he had almost blown up his whole group in the banging forest yesterday, "Never mind, you'd better not come."

Charles lit a torch and peered into the stone chamber, only to find nothing around him except for the moss-covered walls.

"Chief, let me go in and take a look," Nine Fingers said, stepping forward.

After throwing in another torch, Charles handed it to Nine Fingers: "Be careful, don't go too deep."

Nine Fingers nodded, took the torch, and stepped inside.

As he entered the stone chamber, Charles could see his surroundings by the moving light. It was an empty stone chamber with four pillars in the middle and scattered stones on the ground, suggesting that the opposite side had collapsed.

Then, Charles noticed that the reflective objects seemed to be moving. "Nine Fingers, move a little closer."

Nine fingers moved a few steps toward the wall to the side, and Charles finally saw what it was.

The walls and ceiling were covered with wriggling, transparent objects.

This transparent object is like jelly, with a semi-transparent core inside and a tough, transparent outer membrane on its surface. Inside, it is filled with highly corrosive acid.

Their name is Slime.

At this moment, the approach of the nine fingers had already alarmed a large number of slimes, who began to swarm towards the nine fingers, some even about to fall from the ceiling.

"Get out quickly! It's full of strong acid inside; you'll die if you touch it!" Charles shouted.

Upon hearing this, Nine Fingers immediately left his spot, turned around, and ran towards the door, the torchlight flickering as he ran.

Ciel's gaze was drawn to the reflection of an object at the far end of the stone chamber. It wasn't the reflection of a slime, but he couldn't identify what it was, and it was too far away to access the control panel.

With a "thud," a slime fell from the ceiling to the ground and exploded, splashing acid everywhere. Smoke rose from the surrounding stone floor, accompanied by a hissing sound of corrosion.

Nine Fingers quickly ran out of the stone chamber. Xia Er took two Clang Fruits from his bag and threw them directly into the stone chamber. After two loud "bang" sounds, a corrosive sound echoed in the stone chamber.

"Close the door," he ordered.

Red Eye and several goblins worked together to close the stone door.

"We can't go in yet." Charles took the torch from Nine Fingers. "We need at least a lot of Bang Bang Fruits to blast them to pieces."

Ciel's intuition told him that the reflective object must be something good, as it remained intact in the strong acid environment of slime, making it worth coming back for.

"Chief, shall we continue picking fruit?" Nine Fingers asked.

"No need now, let's go back first. I need to make something, that will make things easier." Charles already has a method for gathering the guāngguāng fruits. "You can lead people to gather them later, as many as you can."

He's growing increasingly fond of Nine Fingers, his subordinate. He's loyal and willing to take on responsibilities. Of his current goblins, only Bucktooth can get things done, Broken Tooth's timid nature only makes him suitable for sentry duty, and Red Eyes is too reckless. He's good at fighting, but not at anything else.

Xia Er decided to train Nine Fingers so that he could lead a group of people to collect the Kuang Kuang Fruit as much as possible before winter arrived.

Thus, his men were divided into four groups: Bucktooth led a few people to take care of Red Bull, White Hair led the female goblins to make jerky and cook, Nine Fingers led people to collect kuang kuang fruit, and he himself led the remaining goblins to hunt, explore and gather.

With just over two weeks until winter, as long as all four aspects progress in tandem, Charles is confident it can withstand the challenges of winter.

"Finally, we have a decent team," Charles thought to himself.

"Go up first," he instructed his subordinates.

A group of goblins emerged from the passageway. Nine Fingers strode ahead, and seeing no one around, he turned around to look at the goblins still at the entrance of the stone chamber.

He laughed heartily, feeling finally useful when he heard the leader tell him to do something.

A leader who can ensure his subordinates have two full meals a day is an excellent leader.

"Everyone, wait a moment..." Ciel prepared to arrange what everyone needed to do next.

"Coo coo coo coo coo..." A bird's chirping came from the treetop.

"Everyone, get up in the trees immediately!" he shouted as soon as he heard the warning.

But it was too late. A rustling sound came from the bushes, and a huge creature rushed out, biting Nine Fingers' arm. Then, it shook its head and sent him flying.

"A Deinonychus." Charles's eyes widened, but he immediately remembered the other's abilities and turned around.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh." A groan rang out, and Charles glanced at the red-eyed man beside him, only to find that his eyes were unfocused, clearly indicating that he had been affected by the Bewitching Eye.

Charles snatched the bundle from the red-eyed man's back and grabbed a clattering fruit.

The Deinonychus noticed that some goblins hadn't been affected, and growled as it slowly approached.

This was the first time that Xia Er had faced a magical beast at such close range; he could even see the congealed scabs on its thick, sharp claws.

This cunning fellow hid in the bushes behind the tree, trying his best to conceal himself, intending to ambush me.

Feeling his palms sweating, Charles forced himself to calm down. He raised the gushing fruit in his hand and stared intently at the enormous object in front of him. The surrounding air seemed to freeze, making it suffocating.

Seeing that the little guy showed no fear, the Deinonychus became even more enraged and charged directly at Shire.

Its enormous body was like a tank, and its foul stench was overwhelming.

Charles instinctively threw the clattering fruit in his hand.

With a "bang," the force of the explosion at close range forced him to take a few steps back, which also stopped the Deinonychus's charge.

The Deinonychus stood upright, roaring and howling. Its body, over two meters tall, blotted out the sky, and a sense of oppression suddenly descended.

"Getting angry out of embarrassment?" Charles clenched the clattering fruit in his hand, while something pierced the eyes of the Devilclaw Bear from behind.

A broken green arm.

Charles scanned the area rapidly and found Nine Fingers lying motionless in a pool of blood.

"You fucking came here specifically to kill me, following my scent, didn't you?" Charles said through gritted teeth.

"Roar!" the Deinonychus roared loudly, as if to assert its status as the overlord of the forest.

"Bang!" The fruit exploded in front of the Deinonychus, and he lay back down on the ground, taking a few steps back.

The sudden explosion startled it. Although the damage was limited, the wild animal's instinct to fear loud noises still made it hesitant and fearful.

"You dared to kill my men."

Another bang, "Boom!"

The Deinonychus roared and turned to run away.

"Stop right there!" Charles grabbed the package and gave chase.

"So you're called Deinonychus?"

"Boom."

"You're the one with the Eye of Confusion."

"Boom."

"You're the boss of the wilderness."

"Boom."

The continuous explosions terrified the Deinonychus even more, and it howled and sped up its escape.

Charles sprinted wildly, throwing bouncy fruits at his opponent repeatedly. Although he could no longer hit the opponent, he just wanted to throw them and vent his frustration.

After a chase, the Deinonychus had already disappeared.

Charles was panting heavily, holding the last jar of fruit in his hand. He knew that this time he had only scared the other party away and had not caused much actual damage.

He spat angrily and roared towards the forest:

I'll kill you sooner or later.