Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"The military camp is undoubtedly the place where the army is stationed, but many people often overlook the temporary camps set up during the march, which often leads to the enemy launching surprise attacks at night during the war."

Charles looked at the books on the table, then glanced at the map hanging on the wall. "That makes sense. Goblins are masters of night raids. I've chosen to conduct my previous raids at night."

This is a book on military command that Uncle Musa chose for Charles. It is called "The Art of War Command" and was written by Alexander I, who was also the first king of the Kingdom of Sword and Rose.

He is said to be an excellent commander who once led a cavalry force of three thousand men to directly "break through" the territories of two enemies.

Moreover, there weren't many mages in his team at the time, let alone any white dragons or phoenixes.

It all depended on individual command and judgment of the enemy's advance.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they came and went like the wind.

Therefore, Charles had long admired the military arts of this legendary monarch. Previously, he had only helped his father govern the territory in terms of people's livelihood and had not been involved in military affairs much. Now he could concentrate on learning.

With the help of Elephant Lord, the southern part of "Forest City" has been almost leveled. This area, which will serve as a training ground and activity area, does not need to have many houses built. In the future, it can be used directly after the area is demarcated and fences are erected.

"This is a good opportunity to try it out, following what Alexander I wrote." Charles continued to scan the words in the book, while also considering how to conduct systematic training.

Training troops is never child's play. His previous idea of ​​"first standing at attention, then marching in formation, then running laps, doing cross-country runs every now and then, and finally jungle survival drills" is now completely unfeasible upon closer inspection.

The first target is a group of goblins who have just finished eating. They are not very disciplined and they can't read. If you tell a goblin to turn left, it will most likely run away because you are shouting too loudly.

Based on his experience training the first dozen or so goblins to catch wild boars, Sharl felt he needed to think of another way.

A dozen or so goblins could cause chaos, but now there are thousands of goblins. It's like Shire standing at the foot of the mountain, banging on an iron pot a few times, and then a whole flock of chickens flies down from the mountain.

"To train these unruly goblins properly, I'll have to be driven crazy, resurrected, and driven crazy again several times." Thinking of this, Charles shook his head and sighed.

Along with the books delivered by Uncle Musa came an intelligence letter, which detailed his observations at the "Dragon's Horn" Magic Item Merchant Guild, including the "zero-dollar purchase" incident involving adventurers outside the guild.

This gave Xia Er a bad feeling. The intelligence letter also said that after spring, these "ear cleaners" who did not earn much money in winter would most likely return to Nightmare Forest. They would probably be eager to make money with their eyes red.

Herbs, animal pelts, goblin ears, rare and exotic races, and magical beasts—these are all their targets.

However, the herbs are now being gathered by Sharl's men, and his hunting party also goes out to hunt wild animals. As for goblin ears, adventurers can probably only find a few lone goblins on the edge of the forest.

The exotic races are even more inviolable; the goblins and centaurs are now the tribe's treasures. As for magical beasts, they were wiped out by the Shar's tribes and the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom throughout the winter, making them impossible to hunt.

Unfortunately, the adventurers didn't care about that; they just shouted "Silver coins, money!" and "Kill him! Kill him!" and charged at them with their weapons raised.

"I have a bit of a headache." Charles rubbed his temples. These guys are easy to deal with. Now, if a few adventurer teams appear in front of his tribe, they will be easily dealt with.

However, there were too many adventurers. After killing dozens of them, someone would inevitably realize that something was wrong, which might directly attract the attention and raids of the human army.

What the tribe lacks most right now is time—time to develop to the point where it can contend with human armies and mages.

"No, the forest development plan needs to be changed." Charles put down his book and looked intently at the wooden map again. "The watchtower we've been wanting to build must be started immediately."

Throughout the area, plan several watchtowers. There's no need to build any special structures; just find some large, towering trees, hollow out their centers, build underground tunnels, and lay down the runeword gates.

After arranging the personnel, they would always reach the cave through a portal, climb up the hollow tree trunk to the top of the tree, hide in the dense foliage, and use binoculars to check the surrounding situation. This was practically a natural camouflage for the green-skinned goblins.

Furthermore, Shire planned to reinstate the animal head markers around the watchtower.

After he took control of the entire southern district, he did not touch those signs. Although no goblins were active in the marked "hunting grounds," adventurers would still wander around the various "hunting grounds."

Now, Sharl has decided to manually modify the "Hunting Grounds." "Your Adventurers' Guild's map is outdated. Now you need to look at Sharl's published goblin map."

Concentrating the "hunting grounds" around the watchtowers allows the goblins in the treetops to more easily observe the adventurers' movements and also prevents the adventurers from "running around" for the time being.

"When the time comes, we need to have Little John distribute this new map full of circles as soon as possible." Charles stroked his chin and planned, "When these adventurers return from Torch City, they will definitely need to find a new map, so we can make them take a longer detour and stay away from my 'gathering grounds' and 'hunting grounds'."

"We could also schedule our activities at night," he thought, considering the possibility of such an action. "Goblins have night vision and can move freely at night, while humans are unwilling to enter the forest at night. This means that by gathering herbs at night, we can effectively avoid encountering adventurers."

"Some herbs are just troublesome," Charles thought, a smirk playing on his lips. He recalled his early days collecting bluethorn, his hands and body scratched by tiny thorns, all to earn silver coins from the "Undying" alchemy workshop. "That workshop belonged to Agatha Christie back then."

"It would be best if there were lights, so it would be easier to work." Charles sighed softly; things were too troublesome.

"Is there any way to transfer these adventurers to other areas, like the undead sailors on the beach outside Torch City before?" But such an idea is difficult to realize, as he himself is currently unable to leave Nightmare Forest.

"The best course of action now is to develop our strength as quickly as possible." Charles clenched his fist. In the forest, there were still two places where he couldn't be disturbed by adventurers.

The first is the fortress, where the surface is now a village of centaurs, the underground is the dwelling place of the goblin tribe, and it is also the plantation of Red Bull and the residence of goblins.

Many goblins have now moved to live in the burrows near the city, which are now being developed into a Red Bull breeding base. Even the goblins plan to move to the Forest City in the future; they have always hidden underground, yet they are the race that yearns most for sunlight and forests.

The slimes, mimics, and brain-eating monsters in the fortress will all be transported to the west of Forest City for breeding.

Next, Xia Er plans to develop the western area of ​​the city. Fortunately, these creatures all live underground, so once the area is planned, a large breeding area can be dug out underground.

The underground area can be planned as a residential area for frogmen. The west side of the city is adjacent to the Dalun River and is also very close to Dalun Lake, which is very suitable for the frogmen's living habits.

Another place is the "Runeword Material Warehouse" where Agatha currently resides. It is filled with many pure white "White Sacred Stones," as well as many of Agatha's personal belongings, such as experimental tools and books. "We must find a place for Agatha in the Forest City as soon as possible."

Adventurers will not stop attacking Agatha just because she shouts "I am a good person." They will only yell "You evil hag, die!" and their swords will not hesitate for a moment.

"That's why this map, which can make a fool of adventurers, is even more important." Charles tapped his fingers heavily on the table a few times. "It can buy us some time."

"Sigh, in the end, it's still because the tribe's strength is too weak." He let out another sigh, his gaze focusing on the book on the table. The words "The Art of War Command" caught his eye. "If only Alexander I were by my side, the tribe's fighting power would surely double."

Unfortunately, this is just a fantasy.

Thinking of this, Charles had to pull himself together and read on, word by word, again: "The enemy often does things that are hard to fathom. Sometimes it's due to the personal motives of the generals, sometimes it's due to strange orders from higher up, but this is our opportunity. Remember, the chance for victory is fleeting, you need to..."

"Chief!" Several urgent shouts rang out outside the stone house, directly interrupting Xia Er's interest in studying.

"What's wrong? Are there enemies?" He put down his book and jumped off the chair.

"That guy's here again," a goblin said breathlessly. "That guy with four, four swords, is here again."

"That so-called President?" Charles frowned. Wasn't it agreed that he would return directly with the Crusaders? And everyone had sworn a blood oath. He even had Mary pay for their lodgings. Why were they back? "How many people came with her?"

"One, one," the subordinate said haltingly.

"One?" Charles narrowed his eyes. This person shouldn't be here for revenge, otherwise they wouldn't have come alone. Could they be here to return a debt? Considering their personality, returning a debt is a very good reason. "Where is she now?"

"Lie down, lie down in the square."

"Lie down?" Charles was taken aback; this didn't seem to be the style of the Holy Army's commander-in-chief.

"There are four swords floating around her, and here, there's one stuck in the ground." The subordinate pointed to his chest, his face looking rather grim.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Charles kicked his subordinate aside and rushed out of the stone house, while a little fairy wobbled towards him.

"Hey bro, wanna go fishing together?" Shanxi Ao shouted.

"No time, I have to go rescue someone." Without turning back, Charles took a step before remembering that the fairy race could use the healing spell "Resurrection Wind." "Where's your sister?"

"Over there on the mushroom trellis, is someone being rescued? I'm an expert at rescuing people." Shanxi Ao immediately perked up.

"Go and call Yunxi, the other party is a seriously injured human female." Xia Er pointed to his chest, and his action stunned Yunxi. "Damn, my sister is still better in this situation."

After saying that, he flapped his wings vigorously and flew quickly backward.

"Why does it feel like Shanxi's flight speed is much faster than before?" Xia Er pursed his lips. "Isn't [Tree Man's Favor] only supposed to increase the speed of learning nature magic?"

However, now was not the time to study this, so he had to put his thoughts aside for the time being and quickly ran towards the portal.

"Please don't die, my army commander." Of course, it was uncertain whether the other party would agree, but Charles had some ideas as to why he had been stabbed in such a vital spot as the chest.

"For such a skilled swordsman to be stabbed squarely in the chest must have been a sneak attack. But who did it?" he wondered as he ran. "Could it be that the Church of War has sent someone, a powerful bishop who is very unhappy with the paladins' plight?"

"Please don't let it be like this. If it is, we'll have to fight again. Are they not giving me any time to develop?"

He now realizes how difficult it is for a power to rise. Countless eyes will be watching you, trying to find any benefits you can offer, then pounce on you, tear you apart, snatch those benefits, and even rip off a piece of your flesh, euphemistically calling it "compensation for military expenses," as if they weren't the ones who attacked you first.

Near the portal, Xia Er encountered two people flying over: Yunxia and Shanxiao.

"How did things go?" Yunxia asked.

"I don't know, let's go check it out now." Charles shook his head. He didn't know the specifics. In the distance behind him, his subordinate was limping along.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the center of the square in the Forest City.

There, a group of goblins were forming a circle, and in the center of the circle lay the girl with the high ponytail, but now her ponytail was disheveled and there was a pool of blood beneath her.

Beside him, Akame was holding a longsword with a look of disgust on his face; it was the [Shamrakh Black Sword] that he had previously owned.

"How is the situation?" Charles asked Red Eyes directly, while Yunxia flew to Diana's side.

"Her, she was ambushed by her own people," Red Eyes pointed at Diana on the ground, "She's still alive, and the healing spell is effective."

"Healing spell?" Charles glanced at the Crusader commander on the ground, then looked at Red Eyes. "What's with that expression?"

"Damn, it's too noisy." Red Eyes stuck the black sword in his hand directly into the ground next to him and walked away a few steps in disgust.

Meanwhile, Yunxia, ​​who was on the ground, flew to Xia'er's side. "The situation is not good. The sword has pierced through her chest, and her physical condition is deteriorating. Fortunately, she has not lost a lot of blood. She must have unconsciously cast a healing spell on herself before, but it was not enough to resist the injury. To heal her, the sword must be pulled out first, but this may cause a lot of blood loss."

"Let's transport it to the mother tree. I think the mother tree should be able to handle it." Shanxi Ao suggested directly from the side. He had been seriously injured before, and it was the mother tree that healed him.

"Alright, let's move out immediately." Charles turned around and immediately ordered his men to start moving, while Yunxia cast "Revival Wind" several times on Diana on the ground to stabilize her vital signs.

With a tap of my finger, I was instantly transported to Chapter 355, "Please Don't Die, My Army Commander's Wonderful World."