Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Late at night, Xia Er stepped out of the stone ring of the teleportation portal and surveyed his surroundings.

This was his first time venturing into this area. The other goblins around him were busy working in an orderly manner, while Broken Tooth pulled on his leather coat and walked over to his side.

"How far is it from here to the Feathered Serpent Kingdom?" Charles asked.

After thinking for a moment, Duan Ya answered confidently, "Very close."

This is Broken Tooth's style; for now, he'll only use terms like "near" and "how much" to describe things. However, Ciel has mostly gotten used to his subordinates' descriptions. Broken Tooth's "very near" should mean he's on the edge of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom.

"Did those goblins arrive this afternoon?" Sharl gazed into the distance. The surrounding dense forest looked even darker under the moonlight. If it weren't for the many torches around, no one would have noticed that a group of goblins had appeared here.

Broken Tooth nodded, indicating that he had seen the group of ragged goblins emerge from the forest and enter the stone complex in the afternoon. However, when he thought of their pitiful appearance, he gave a disdainful look.

"After that, did nothing happen in the entire kingdom?" Charles looked at his subordinate, quietly waiting for his answer. This answer would determine tonight's actions. If the entire kingdom was in chaos at that time, it meant that Quetzalcoatl must have known the outcome. If the Goblin Kingdom was unusually calm, it would prove that Quetzalcoatl knew nothing at all.

This is based on Shire's deduction of goblin habits: if the leader of the tribe is unaware of what has happened, the goblins below will most likely choose to "sing and dance as usual, pretending they know nothing."

If the disappearance of 2000 goblins from the kingdom at once hasn't angered the feathered serpent god, there's only one answer—the feathered serpent has gone into hibernation.

"No." Broken Tooth answered without hesitation this time. The goblins disappeared without a trace, and the entire area remained quiet, as if the thousands of goblins had never existed.

"Interesting." Charles's eyes lit up, and he gestured with his chin. "Tell everyone to speed things up. We need to get into the Feathered Serpent Kingdom as soon as possible under the cover of night."

He deliberately chose the early morning hours, as it is said that the night sky is darkest before dawn. He planned to seize this time to launch a surprise attack, intending to contain all the goblins in their burrows when they were sound asleep, thus minimizing chaos on the battlefield.

Once everything was under control, he prepared to focus on dealing with Quetzalcoatl.

Previously, Elephant had clearly stated that he would not participate in the battle against Quetzalcoatl, but Ciel felt that the other party seemed to be somewhat swayed. This was mainly because he had built a warm room for the elephants, which made them very comfortable. Moreover, he had promised Elephant that he would build another pool for the elephants to maintain a sufficient water temperature so that the elephants would not feel cold and icy.

But there was no room left in the underground fortress, so the only option was the City of All Races.

Elephants are creatures that are highly dependent on water. This dependence manifests in two ways: firstly, in their diet, as an adult elephant needs to drink hundreds of liters of water every day. In the hot summer, the demand for drinking water can double, and in winter, cold water can irritate the elephants' trunks; secondly, elephants enjoy soaking in water, as the buoyancy of the water helps to alleviate their massive weight, and playing in the water is also an important form of entertainment in their memories.

If everything goes smoothly with this plan, Charles wants to try one more time to persuade Zunesha to deal with Quetzalcoatl alone. With Zunesha's powerful [superhuman life and superhuman mental strength], he should be able to easily defeat the Quetzalcoatl evil god who is in hibernation.

"The next move is crucial." Charles looked at the portal, where goblins were constantly being teleported in groups of five. They were all dressed in warm clothes, which would ensure that their combat effectiveness would not be affected in the winter night.

However, there weren't many of these clothes available, and they weren't enough to equip all the goblins in the tribe, so only about 500 goblins could participate in the battle this time.

But compared to Ciel's men, the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom were still wearing only thin cloth garments, and many even had leaves covering them. At this time, they should have been huddled in their burrows, curled up together for warmth and sleeping soundly. If Ciel's men rushed into the burrows, the goblins could only turn over and continue to huddle together for warmth. No goblin would be foolish enough to rush out alone; the winter temperatures would teach them what "self-preservation" truly meant.

"White Hair," Xia Er saw several figures emerge from the teleportation stone ring and immediately beckoned them over. "Once we go in, you immediately take your men, pots, and ingredients and follow us in. Don't worry about anything else, just start making soup."

This operation, which Shire named "Operation Forest Soup," was crucial. The most important part of the entire operation was the female goblins led by the white-haired goblin. They needed to finish brewing the forest soup as soon as possible. Once all the prisoners had a bowl of hot, spicy, and sweat-inducing "Forest Hot and Sour Soup," they would immediately extinguish any thoughts of resistance. No goblin would refuse the temptation of a bowl of forest soup on a winter morning.

Knowing that in his previous life, our army's "steamed bun" offensive often had unexpected results, even more powerful than guns and cannons, he planned to replicate it this time and use it directly against the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom.

"I know," the white-haired goblin said, undeterred by the cold night wind, standing even straighter than Charles. Behind her, mother goblins carried various materials, loading them into the worker ant cargo box beside her. "Anything else you need?"

Charles looked at the white-haired man with burning eyes and turned away. "No, nothing. Be careful. If things go wrong, take your men and run. Don't worry about the materials and pots; they're not worth much."

"Oh, I know." The white-haired man was still staring intently at Ciel, but Ciel found a way to start a conversation and left.

…………

After a while, when preparations were complete, Charles looked around and saw that everyone was ready. He waved his hand and said, "Let's go." His men began to line up and file into the dense forest.

As soon as he stepped into the territory of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, Charles noticed the changes in his surroundings. Although the ground was still covered with weeds, shrubs and tangled tree roots, he could clearly feel the sensation of stepping on the ground.

It felt like a layer of loose soil on a hard surface, suggesting there was an ancient, paved road underneath that was now buried.

Surrounded by countless ruins, many earthen walls were "pushed down" by the rampant growth of trees. Only a few two-story stone buildings can be seen standing beside the trees, becoming the "survivors" who managed to escape.

The "street" was quiet, without even the chirping of birds. The only sounds were the footsteps and panting of the goblins around. It was easy to understand that the birds in the area had probably been eaten by the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom long ago.

"You can still tell what the city used to look like." Charles looked around, then approached the skeleton warrior Elton. "Mr. Elton, I think this is the 'City of All Races' you mentioned before."

Green "ghost fire" flickered in the skeleton warrior's eye sockets. His jaw slowly opened and closed a few times, and then a sigh entered Charles's mind, "Thousands of years have passed, and I never thought it would turn out like this."

"It's alright, we can rebuild this place," Charles said confidently. "Even though it's in such a state of disrepair, it's still here, and we're still here. We can rebuild it and restore it to its former glory."

"You're right," Elton chuckled a few times, "I'm clearly an old skeleton who's lived for thousands of years, yet I'm showing sadness in front of you."

Hearing the other's self-deprecating laughter, Charles chuckled as well, "You've only lived for a few thousand years, you can't be considered old."

"But things have changed a lot here. I don't know if the map of the 'City of Ten Thousand Races' that you provided before is still useful." As he spoke, he took out a folded piece of animal hide from his leather bag at his back. It was covered with a simple map of a city, with many markings.

"This can only be used as a reference. Things have changed too much here," Mr. Elton said, his eyes darting left and right. "We entered the city from the south. In my memory, that used to be a kobold settlement. These guys like to dig holes, so their houses are basically built underground. Other races describe them as 'a board on the ground, a museum underground.'"

"Kobolds?" Charles glanced back at the dense forest behind him. "This area has probably completely collapsed. If they didn't have the habit of building houses on the ground, it's hard to imagine that the original buildings have been preserved."

"Yes," Elton nodded, but then, as if remembering something, his jaw opened and closed a few times, letting out a "hehe" laugh.

"What are you thinking about?" Charles asked as they walked.

"Some interesting things about those kobolds," Elton said, shaking his head. "You probably don't want to hear them; they're a bit pungent."

"Is it a bit big?"

"Yes, those kobolds like to eat hard things and like to grind their teeth with bones when they have nothing to do. But they are also devotees of dragons, so every family likes to put a dragon bone on display for worship. And on every important kobold festival, the whole family will line up to lick the dragon bone."

"Oh, is that so?" Charles raised an eyebrow; he hadn't heard of such a rumor.

"What's even more interesting is that those lizardmen like to sell bones to the kobolds and then collect their excrement." Elton stretched out his skeletal finger and pointed east, indicating the direction where the lizardmen lived. "The excrement contains undigested bone fragments, but after being coated with the kobolds' intestinal fluid, it has a strange smell. They clean these fragments and then sell them to hunters and fishermen to make bait."

"Uh," Charles was taken aback by Elton's comment and paused for a few seconds, "Indeed, the smell is quite strong."

"However, we can't see any kobolds or lizardmen here anymore." Mr. Elton sighed, then said, "Let's continue. We'll go and guard the tower entrance for you. That feathered serpent god shouldn't be able to do much to our Seventh Field Regiment."

"It's up to you." Charles nodded heavily. Compared to ordinary goblins, these skeleton warriors only had their souls fixed to their skeletons with powerful magic. Unless their skeletons were smashed into powder, it would be difficult to stop them from moving. Moreover, even if they were smashed into powder, their souls would only return to the Nether Sea and would not be truly destroyed.

Only high-ranking priests or necromancers can truly kill skeleton warriors. They can imprison or even obliterate the souls of skeletons. However, Sharl believes that Quetzalcoatl should not be able to do so, otherwise he would have encountered not the "Goblin Slipper Army" but the "Goblin Undead Army".

To prevent Quetzalcoatl from accidentally waking up and causing too many casualties to his people, Charles thought of having the skeleton warriors restrict Quetzalcoatl's movements. He persuaded the skeletons of the "Seventh Field Army" with a reason and a promise.

"I will take back the City of All Races from the hands of the evil god, and I promise to restore its former glory."

Upon hearing this, all the skeleton warriors stood ramrod straight, drew their weapons from their waists, and raised them diagonally towards the sky. Everyone stared silently at Charles.

Now, after Elton finished speaking, with a "clang," he drew his longsword from his waist, and then with his other hand, he snatched the flagpole that the goblin was carrying. On the flagpole, the Black Dragon Battle Flag of the 7th Field Army, fluttering in the wind, was fully unfurled. On the red background of the flag, a black dragon soared, its open maw displaying surging battle intent.

"Long live the Holy Kingdom!" Elton shouted, raising his longsword.

The other dozen or so skeleton warriors also raised their weapons, shouted in unison, and then followed the banner, rushing into the night.

As the black dragon banner receded into the distance until it disappeared from sight, Charles clenched his fists. His blood boiled, and he longed to join these "warriors" from thousands of years ago in facing the Feathered Serpent God. However, reason brought him back to his senses; there were still many things to do.

"According to the original plan," Charles looked at the red-eyed man in front of him, who was eager to try. The actions of the skeleton warriors had clearly provoked this "reckless man." "Five people per team, maintain good formation, and search each cave one by one."

He had previously focused on training his men in formations in the forest, and had even used formations to defeat the Fallen Druid's "Zombie Goblins." Now, to deal with those ragged goblins, a formation of five men per group would come in handy.

"Yes." Red-eyed nodded heavily, then waved his hand, "All of you, come with me."

He led the large group and began to quickly search the area according to the markings made by the broken tooth.

As Charles watched his men depart, he took the wooden-framed glasses off his shoulder and then removed the animal hide covering them.

He gathered his emotions, then cleared his throat and said to himself in the mirror.

"Great Forest God, I have arrived at the Goblin Kingdom. It is indeed powerful here. I can feel a strong aura surrounding this place. I wonder what I will find here. Perhaps what you asked me to find is buried here."

After he finished speaking, he waited quietly for two minutes. The only sounds around him were the footsteps of goblins and the shouts of the ants-tamer.

Suddenly, something flashed across the map of his consciousness. Xia Er looked at the mirror, but there was only his own reflection on it, without any change.

"What a show-off, you old sly fox," Charles thought to himself.

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