Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

After settling the old man in, Charles and John left the small warehouse immediately. The surrounding factory buildings were almost finished, and Mary was already planning to recruit people. She believed that the garment workshop would be open soon, and then the old man's daily meals would be easily taken care of.

Furthermore, the workshop was frequented by ordinary village women, so no one would notice that a highly skilled magical craftsman was hiding there.

When Charles left, he shared some of his ideas with the old man. He needed some items that could enable ordinary people to interact with magical fields, mainly for the lame man and a few others. The old man replied that it was possible, but materials were needed, especially magic crystals.

Magic crystal mines are very rare on the continent. As far as Xia Er knows, there are only two mines in the entire Kingdom of Fran. It is said that magic crystal mines are formed when a magical force field affects natural crystals and they undergo a long transformation process.

These items also vary in quality. High-quality magic crystals are generally in the hands of nobles and royalty, who use them to exchange with high-ranking archmages for magical assistance. Medium-quality magic crystals appear in major magic trading houses, and the Adventurers' Guild also provides some to adventurers of silver rank and above as compensation. Low-quality magic crystals are the standard widely used by ordinary adventurers and mage apprentices. These magic crystals are not only small in size and contain many impurities, but their effect on assisting magic is also limited. However, overall, they are better than nothing.

Charles doesn't have enough magic crystals right now. He only has a few at most, which he took from the "relics" of a magic-type adventurer. If the old man tells him that making those magic bone staffs requires a lot of magic crystals, he can only go to Uncle Musa to see if he can buy them from Torch City.

However, he believed it was necessary and worthwhile. A mage with a matching staff could increase his combat ability by at least a third. This was what Agatha told him. Agatha also showed Charles her staff, but it was now broken in two, with the magic crystal shattered and damaged.

"There's nothing you can do; anything can happen on the run," Agatha said with a shrug.

John has returned to Torch City. He plans to immediately hire the starving children to help him empty old man Martial's basement. Once all the odds and ends are transported to the small warehouse on the outskirts of Goat's Horn, the magic tool workshop can officially begin operations.

"I wonder what changes will occur after Nine Fingers and the others get the bone staff," Charles said, standing to the side and watching his subordinates conduct combat training. "Will the three firebirds become four, or the one fire boar become two?"

The tribe has completed the assimilation of the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom. Now, many of them are following Cyclops to level the land in the forest. Leveling the land means that after Shire selects an area, Cyclops leads the group to choose the tallest tree in the area and build a platform on it. At the same time, they clear away the surrounding weeds and bushes and begin to demarcate the area in preparation for digging a hole.

Once the preparations are complete, they will find a way to hollow out the center of the tree to create a vertical passage leading directly to the burrow. This way, if they see anything from the canopy lookout, they can immediately crawl into the tree hole, go straight to the burrow, and then use the portal to send the message to the fortress.

This setup was inspired by the southern defense map he had seen before. However, judging from the underground stone brick structures, those watchtowers should all be made of stone. After thousands of years, only the underground parts remained. Xia Er did not choose to build stone watchtowers. Firstly, it would be too time-consuming. It would take at least a year to build a stone watchtower. The transportation of various materials and the organization of manpower would be a huge project. It would be better to use the existing resources in the forest and directly use tall trees that several people could not encircle to build watchtowers. Secondly, it would be safer to do so. The original purpose of building watchtowers was to defend against human adventurers or other mutated magical beasts that suddenly appeared. If a large-scale project were carried out in the forest, it would inevitably attract those guys.

"We'll also need to build a few watchtowers along the Darren River," Sharl thought of this when he was planning on the map. He had heard that when humans went to the Goblin Kingdom to buy leaves, they would travel by boat up the Darren River and then switch to horses on land at Lake Darren. "This shows that some humans are already choosing water transportation to venture deep into the Nightmare Forest. Compared to traversing the dense forest, traveling by boat is indeed more convenient."

Fortunately, very few people do this, but if you want to bring the Feathered Serpent Kingdom under your control, you need to be careful of this human merchant guild. If you don't handle it properly, it may attract more adventurers or knightly orders.

"Therefore, the surveillance of the Dallen River is beyond doubt."

"Chief, Broken Tooth is back." Nine Fingers' voice rang out from behind. Charles immediately ended his inspection of his men's combat training and strode back into the fortress.

…………

Unlike the last time they returned, these broken teeth showed no signs of battle, indicating they hadn't approached the Feathered Serpent God's cave.

"Those cavemen who were released haven't returned to the Goblin Kingdom yet, have they?" Sharl pushed the tea in front of his subordinate, indicating that the man should catch his breath.

Duan Ya shook his head, gripped the teacup with both hands, and felt a warm sensation instantly spread from his hands throughout his arms.

"They don't have a map, so they're probably still finding their way in the forest by following specific locations and markings they made before. It's normal that they won't be back so quickly." Charles looked up at the wooden map on the opposite wall. He knew that Broken Tooth was going to the Goblin Kingdom for the second time and was clearly more familiar with it. "How many goblins are left there?"

"A lot," Broken Tooth thought for a few seconds, then lowered his head and started counting on his fingers. After he finished counting on both hands, he said seriously, "A lot."

"How does it compare to the goblins we captured this time?" Charles tried to ask.

"This time?" Broken Tooth frowned, thought carefully for a long time, and looked at Ciel with certainty, "A lot."

"Alright, I understand." Charles let out a sigh of relief. He had already decided that once the objective of this battle was achieved, he would definitely teach Broken Tooth to use the common language and count.

"Take a rest. Tomorrow I'll have them go with you to the Feathered Serpent Kingdom." He poured himself a cup of tea and took a sip to ward off the winter chill.

This time, Charles doesn't plan to lead the team himself. He's afraid that if he gets close to the Goblin Kingdom, the Feathered Serpent God might sense something and attack him, which would be a huge loss.

Anyway, it's just a matter of sending someone over to set up a portal so that we can launch a direct attack on them next time.

Those goblins are not much of a threat to the Sharl; the real concern is the Feathered Serpent God. However, in a while, it should be the coldest time of the year.

Winter has lasted for almost two months now, and once the coldest days arrive, the Feathered Serpent will definitely be greatly affected. Many snakes hibernate in winter, and while Shire cannot guarantee that the Feathered Serpent will also hibernate, these mutated creatures have basically retained their original animal habits.

Thinking of the saying he had heard before, "Snakes eat mice for half the year, and mice eat snakes for half the year," and knowing that some snakes hibernate in winter and become food for mice, Xia Er felt even more confident.

"Once it's fast asleep, we'll strike while it's still weak and kill it," Charles said confidently, slamming his fist into his hand.

Moreover, even if this battle fails, he will find a way to retreat immediately. Once the Feathered Serpent God is disturbed from hibernation, it will definitely fall into a state of low energy when it tries to fall asleep again, at which point it will be in an even more dangerous situation.

"So this time we can at least severely damage the Feathered Serpent God." Charles smiled confidently, his gaze falling on a corner of the table where a nearly half-meter-long wooden-framed mirror was placed. This was Charles's secret weapon for this "Slaying the Serpent Operation".

He slowly walked to the mirror, lowered his head to gather his emotions, and then practiced his expression in front of the mirror. Finally, after everything was ready, he spoke to the full-length dressing mirror in the stone house with great emotion: "Great Forest God, in a few days I will lead people deep into that mysterious goblin kingdom. Many goblins live there. I don't know how many years they have been living, but to have survived in the Nightmare Forest until now, they must have some unknown methods."

At this point, Charles paused, staring silently into the mirror as if waiting for something. Unfortunately, a minute passed, and the map in his mind's domain showed no reaction. He had to add more fuel to the fire. "I will search for that sacred eye for the Forest God, but I have heard that a powerful feathered serpent dwells there. I do not know if I can defeat it. I beg the great Forest God to help me and save my people."

After saying that, he continued to wait quietly, but several more minutes passed, and there was still no reaction on the domain map. Charles looked at his reflection in the mirror, then turned away and silently cursed, "Lazybones, or what?" I think it should be renamed Laziness.

His performance failed to attract the demon lord. This annoyed him a bit, but there was still time. In the next few days, he planned to come several times a day, so he wasn't worried about not showing up.

The Demon Lord is the last resort that Ciel has prepared. If the Feathered Serpent God has not really fallen into hibernation, then he can only say some nice things and let him take the lead.

Thinking of this, Charles stretched with his back to the mirror, "Never mind, I'll go check on Agatha's preparations."

After saying that, he turned and walked out of the stone house.

Nearly ten minutes later, a figure appeared in the mirror inside the stone house. Perhaps because there was no one in front of the mirror, the figure looked as if it were made of black mist, and its appearance was completely indistinguishable.

"Strange, it felt like someone was calling me just now?" the black mist in the mirror murmured. "Who could it be?"

It surveyed the furnishings of the stone house, then scratched its head. "Where did this come from? There are too many humans who have signed in; I can't remember some of them."

"Never mind, no one's in front of the mirror, it shouldn't be a big deal. I'll go find someone else." With that, the dark figure flashed and disappeared from the mirror.

Just minutes after the shadowy figure disappeared, Charles ran breathlessly into the stone house. "Hey, no, Forest God, don't go, I'm back."

As soon as he arrived at Agatha's location, the marker he sensed appeared on the domain map, forcing him to run back again, fearing that he would leave immediately if he couldn't find her. Unfortunately, despite his haste, he still couldn't find the clone.

"Damn it, how can a demon lord like you be the same kind of person as Pazzani? Are you too busy clocking in and out at work?" Charles grumbled irritably. "Summoning a demon lord is indeed troublesome. I'll have to try again later."

As long as we manage to meet once in the next few days He further reinforced his earlier plan to explore the Goblin Kingdom, believing that the other party would keep it in mind. As long as they participated, the operation would be 90% successful.

…………

In a rather unique two-story building in Golden Flower City, Alma sat at her desk in the bedroom, examining something in her hands.

It was a blue sphere, about the size of a human eyeball, or rather, it was an eyeball.

The eyeball was completely crystalline, its surface displaying a brilliant sky blue color, which was even more dazzling under the candlelight.

"I've only been a magic consultant for a short time, and you're already giving me houses and jewelry," Alma sighed, placing the "gem" in her hand into a small gold-plated box on the table. "As expected of the prince of the Kingdom of Fran, he just gives away such a precious 'Eye of the Sky' without a second thought."

The "Eye of the Sky" is actually made from the eye of a cave goblin, but because of its dazzling beauty, cave goblins can no longer be found on the continent, which has only made the price of the "Eye of the Sky" even higher.

"Miss 'White Shell' and I were each given one," Alma said, holding a small gold-inlaid box in her hand, her fingers unconsciously tracing the surface of the box. "That guy seemed very mysterious, saying he was a disciple of the Archmage, but I've never heard of him before."

"Didn't hear anything?" A leisurely voice came from the mirror next to her. Alma's eyes widened immediately, and with a "whoosh," she got up and went to the mirror.

"Alma, how's my request coming along?" (From the mirror) She conjured up the appearance of Alma, or rather, the appearance of her sister Agatha, and said, "I'd love to hear about your work."

"Master, I have approached the Second Prince as you instructed, but," Alma hesitated for a moment, then said, "I haven't found anyone suspicious. Could it be that Pride is really with the Second Prince?"

"Are you questioning me?" The "Agatha" in the mirror smiled charmingly.

"No, no," Alma immediately changed her mind, then, as if remembering something, she added, "However, I did meet a mysterious magician; I wonder if she might be the person you're looking for."

"Now that we've made a discovery, let's keep going. Don't be lazy like a goblin." She shook her head seductively and said softly.

"Yes, Master." Alma quickly lowered her head.

When she looked up again, the image in the mirror was no longer moving on its own.

"Master?" she tried to ask, but there was no response in the mirror. "Did he leave?"

Alma collapsed like a deflated balloon. Thinking of Agatha Christie's alluring smile, a look of resentment appeared on her face. She then raised her hand, ready to throw the small gold-plated box she was holding.

Thinking of the valuable "Eye of the Sky" inside, she slowly lowered her hand and gave up.

"Alright, let's start with you, Miss 'White Shell'."