Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Why didn't they go to the abyss on their own back then?" Charles asked curiously.

"The Lizardmen race," Spencer said, raising his head slightly as if recalling his past experiences, "deeply admires the strong, and will stop at nothing to survive."

"Before the 'Day of Annihilation' arrived, some of them had already discovered this interlayer," he glanced at the two floating bone fragments, "but they didn't choose to explore it. After all, compared to the material plane, it didn't seem suitable for habitation, but..."

Spencer paused for two seconds before slowly saying, "When the apocalypse came, they moved their entire race to the abyss, and it seemed like they had been planning this for a long time."

"Only the lizardmen escaped into the abyss back then?" Charles's gaze turned cold. If Spencer's statement was true, and the arrival of the Day of Annihilation directly caused a catastrophe for the entire world, then whoever could escape into that interlayer would indeed be safe. But if only one race escaped, then something was amiss.

"Yes, don't you find the situation very strange?" Spencer grinned. "I only figured out this connection after I came to the material plane. According to the records on the clay tablets, the Day of Annihilation came very suddenly, and the world underwent a dramatic change. However, the lizardmen were able to migrate as a whole, carrying food, large lizards and mushroom seeds that they would raise in the future, and even managed to obtain some young Behemoths."

"I don't believe they were unaware of these methods beforehand."

"Now that you mention it..." Charles stroked his chin, also finding the situation rather strange.

"But that's how it is. Only the lizardmen were saved," Spencer shrugged, somewhat helplessly, "which also means that there will never be any more lizardmen in the material world."

"Then why would they want to return to the material plane?" Charles asked after thinking for a moment.

"They," Spencer shook his head slightly, his tone disdainful, "are very greedy, and they often say that the lizardmen are the descendants who survived from ancient times. If they could return to the material plane, they would be the rightful heirs of the ancient holy kingdom, and this plane must belong to them."

"But back then, they ran away on their own initiative." Charles clenched his fist slightly. No wonder Mr. Elton sounded somewhat disdainful when he talked about how the lizardmen used kobolds to hunt bait. It seems that thousands of years ago, this group of people was an "arrogant" race.

"Yes, but that's still what they think." Spencer rubbed his temples. "Everything should be theirs, and if it isn't, they'll do everything they can to get it, even resorting to deception or concealment. And once they've gotten what they want, they'll turn around and laugh at you for being fooled."

"It was only after I went to the Holy Kingdom and came into contact with the lizard people there that I realized they had a problem."

"Originally..." He paused for a few seconds, then sighed, "When I was living in the Abyss, I didn't think much of it, but when I was being chased by the other lizardmen, I started to have doubts. It wasn't until I accidentally traveled through time to the Holy Kingdom and came into contact with the residents and some government officials there that I realized the problems of the lizardman kingdom."

"I can imagine," Charles nodded, having witnessed a similar experience in his previous life. "So, it was the Holy Kingdom that healed you?"

"I suppose so," Spencer said with an elegant slight bow, clearly proud of his experience living in the Holy Kingdom. "Now you know why I want to find traces of Avalon or the Holy Kingdom."

"Yes, I understand." Charles waved his hand. "Fortunately, the Lizardman Kingdom hasn't found the ability to break through dimensions yet, right?"

"You could say that when I was on my way out, I still didn't have much of a clue," Spencer grinned. "But since it's been a while, I can't guarantee what will happen next."

"But one thing is certain: given their bloodthirsty and brutal nature, if they came to the material plane, they would definitely cause a bloodbath."

"Like you said," Charles's smile faded, his expression turning serious, "their battles don't require logistical support or prisoners."

Spencer nodded emphatically. "So, goblins, this world is not safe."

"I know," Charles shrugged, somewhat helplessly, "that's why I need the help of the Lord and the elephants, and I hope you can agree to my proposal."

"I have no objection to your proposal in principle," Spencer said, turning to grab the two bone fragments floating in the air. "But do you really have the ability to explore the entire Nightmare Forest?"

Upon hearing the question, Charles confidently raised his head. "I'm sure I have it."

"The Emperor of the Holy Kingdom was right when he said, 'Seeing is believing, hearing is deceiving.'" Spencer said, looking the goblin in front of him up. "I've finally woken up, so I can go with you to your tribe and give you another chance to experience the material world."

"You want to go to my tribe? It's still under construction, there aren't any actual buildings there yet." Sharl was a little embarrassed. Although the other party looked like a "charlatan" and didn't seem to be a very powerful magician, he had been to the Holy Kingdom and personally ascended the floating city of Avalon. If he really didn't like him, he might not have agreed to the proposal about the elephant lord.

"It's alright, I know what goblins are like." Spencer glanced at the goblin group standing together in the distance, a smirk playing on his lips. "You guys are alright."

"Well enough?"

"Yes, a little better than those goblins who only know how to dig burrows, hunt, ambush, and then run away." As he spoke, the lizardman lich held up two fingers. Sharl knew he was saying that they were a little better, but still only slightly better.

"Alright, let's go take a look." Charles nodded. His tribe wasn't just about goblins; there were other races as well. Hopefully, these would change Spencer's mind.

After agreeing on their plans, the group rested briefly before leaving the Elephant Tomb together.

As soon as they arrived at the cave entrance, Diana greeted them, "How did things go?"

"Ah, not bad," Charles nodded with a smile, "It's progressing smoothly."

"You didn't fail and deliberately hide it, did you?" Diana looked at Charles suspiciously; his smile seemed somewhat forced.

"No, things are alright. Come here," Charles said, beckoning to the former president of the Holy Order, "I'd like to introduce you to a new friend, his name is..."

"A lich?" Diana narrowed her eyes as she looked at Spencer, who was emerging from the cave behind her, and took two steps back warily. "How did he get out, and..."

The other party's large, green, vertical pupils and the bony, knuckle-covered tail swaying behind him made Diana even more wary; this guy didn't look like a good person at all.

"Oh, beautiful lady, nice to meet you." Spencer stepped forward, placing his hand on his chest with a gentlemanly air, and bowed slightly. However, his current attire only covered the few bone plates that covered his crotch.

"My name is Spencer..." Before she could finish speaking, Diana abruptly drew her longsword. "Lich, what magic did you use to bewitch them?"

"Magic?" The lizardman lich blinked. "No, I just performed a divination for him."

"Hmph." Diana snorted coldly, then raised her longsword, ready to attack.

In an instant, a black rift suddenly appeared beside Spencer with a "whoosh," and a huge bone claw shot out, slamming into the ground with a "bang." The loud noise made the giant ants nestled on the ground stand up. If the goblins hadn't tried their best to calm them down, they probably would have run far away by now.

"He really didn't do anything to us." Charles stared wide-eyed at the huge bone claw, and now that he was up close, the somewhat grayish-white bone claw looked even more robust.

"Yes." Spencer nodded slightly, then tapped the bone claw's bones with two fingers. "Zack, it's alright, you can go back now."

"Crackling," a sound of bones grinding rang out, and the giant claw slowly retreated into the crack, after which the crack disappeared.

"Oh, is that your mode of transportation?" Spencer noticed the giant ants standing up and walked over curiously. Charles also walked over to Diana, spread his hands, and said, "Really, it's nothing. He's just an ordinary lich, at most a lizardman."

"A normal lich?" Diana frowned, turning to look at the lich who was fiddling with the giant ant leg segment.

"Yes, the only thing that's somewhat threatening is probably that giant crawling claw from earlier." Charles shrugged, indicating that it wasn't a big deal.

"A crawling claw?" Diana pursed her lips. "Are you really sure that's a crawling claw?"

"Otherwise what?"

"That thing is the forepaw of a bone dragon," Diana said irritably as she sheathed her longsword. "And judging by its size, it's a fully grown bone dragon."

After saying that, she gripped the hilt of her sword and muttered, "Fourth Uncle, don't make a fuss. I'm not scared, it's just that we don't have to fight yet. If you don't shut up, I'll put you in the water."

"A bone dragon?" Charles raised an eyebrow and immediately ran to Spencer's side. "You mean Little Zack, is he a dragon?"

“Yeah,” Spencer glanced back at the goblin, then continued patting the worker ant’s abdomen. “Didn’t I tell you? Little Zack was a dead dragon who became my bone dragon. I asked him to help look after my coffin.”

"please?"

"Yes, you have to pay a price to get it to do things." After saying that, Spencer looked up and thought for a few seconds, then shook his head, not knowing whether he couldn't think of a specific price or was somewhat dissatisfied with the price of "hiring" Zuckerberg.

"Bone Dragon..." Charles didn't pay attention to Spencer's actions. He suddenly remembered what he had heard about the kobolds. This race had a strange, almost magical sense of smell. They would not only search for underground magic crystals, but also for the scent of dragons. The kobolds lived in underground mines and must have sensed the scent of bone dragons, since the mines weren't far from here.

"Are these ants your riding vehicles?" Spencer asked Charles with great interest.

While Xia Er was still immersed in the shock of the bone dragon, this was his first time coming into close contact with a dragon-like creature. Of course, a dead dragon is still a dragon, and the bone dragon was not much weaker than a living dragon.

"Ah, yes, yes." Charles nodded somewhat perfunctorily. He really wanted to ask Spencer if he could summon Little Zack so he could see the full appearance of the Bone Dragon. He had liked Bone Dragons in his previous life and would try to obtain such a mount in the game.

"Can I ride it? I've never ridden one of these creatures before," Spencer said expectantly.

"Uh, sure." Charles nodded. He wanted to say that they could take turns, with him riding the ant and him riding the bone dragon, but he didn't say it in the end. After all, now that he knew the other party was actually a high-level lich who could ride a bone dragon, he didn't know what to say. "Um, you can also try riding the soldier ants. Those things are more comfortable to ride."

"Soldier ants?" Spencer stared with his two large, vertical pupils and began to scan his surroundings, quickly locking onto the soldier ants standing not far away.

He quickly ran over, then looked at Diana standing beside the soldier ants, bowed slightly, and said, "Beautiful lady, may I have the honor of riding your mount? Please rest assured, I am just trying it out and will not do anything out of line."

Diana looked the polite lizardman lich up and down, then suddenly reached out and gripped the hilt of a longsword tightly.

"I'm sorry," she said firmly, as if she were exerting all her strength, "no."

After saying that, he pulled the reins, stepped on the leg joints of the soldier ants, and in two steps mounted the saddle.

After sitting down, he glanced at Spencer on the ground, who was clearly a little discouraged by the rejection.

"Alright," the lizardman lich sighed softly, then looked up at Diana's somewhat worn robes. He still recognized the pattern on them, "Crusader..."

After saying that, he shook his head and walked towards Elephant, "There's no other way, I can only rely on you."

"Moo—" The elephant raised its trunk and made a high-pitched nasal sound. Then its trunk drooped down and wrapped directly around Spencer's leg. With a forceful upward thrust, the lizard man successfully sat on the elephant's neck.

"What is this?" He turned his head, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the long white finger bone tied to the back of the elephant.

This finger bone is similar to the giant claw of the bone dragon, and judging from its location, it is even longer than the toenail on the giant claw.

"How can there be such a ferocious aura up here?" Spencer blinked, then turned to look at Charles, who was crawling into the worker ant compartment not far away.

"It seems you might bring me quite a few surprises," he grinned, "the heir to the Holy Kingdom."

"Let's go!" Charles shouted, and the group slowly emerged from the dense forest, with Zunesha still leading the way.

In the forest, a flock of birds flapped their wings and took flight. Charles looked up at the surrounding trees and saw that many branches already had tender green buds.

"Spring has come," he said softly.