Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 412 Destroy it!

It's estimated that every boy dreams of piloting a mecha when they're young, especially after watching various cartoons.

Imagine yourself hiding in the cockpit, controlling the joystick and pedals, ignoring the machine guns and shells fired by the enemy, and wiping out the enemy's tank force with a few "biubiu" shots from your giant laser cannon.

Then, the energy thrusters on the back of the mech spewed out flames, and the entire mech flew into the air. Amid cheers from the ground troops, the mech left a bright white trail in the sunlight.

Ciel had similar daydreams when he was a child. He even changed the illustrations of famous people in his textbooks to those of mecha pilots when the teacher wasn't looking.

Now, hearing Spencer say that the Tin Soldier was the Colossus Pilot of the Machine Factory City, he was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth.

"That thing is just a toy." Charles gestured with his hand, trying to show the lizardman lich just how small the object on the table in his stone hut was. "You're not mistaken, are you?"

"No mistake." Spencer grinned. "I've been to the Machine Factory before and seen those colossi. They help transport all sorts of large components and also help operate large machines."

"I still remember when I was with the caravan, transporting stones to the loading and unloading yard, those colossi could easily lift the huge stones that would normally require several people to move."

"So how do you know about the Tin Soldier?" Charles rubbed his cheek. "Let's call it the Tin Soldier for now. How do you know who its pilot is?"

"Of course I've seen them come out of the colossus." Spencer looked down at the goblins and winked, clearly aware that Charles had just asked a silly question.

It seems that the little tin soldier really can manipulate the colossi, especially since they can also keep the machine city running. More importantly, the little tin soldier said that his number is Furnace 1-112, which means that there are a large number of "colossi" in the machine city.

Charles was not considering the possibility of these colossi becoming advanced weapons for the time being; he was more concerned about the operation of the Machine Factory City. If these mechanical colossi were still able to move, it would mean that the Machine Factory City was not a dead city.

He feared that once he pushed open the gates of the Machine Factory City, he would be met with collapsed buildings everywhere. The once towering steel furnaces were all lying on the ground, just like the City of Ten Thousand Races in the forest, with ruins everywhere and hardly a single intact building.

If that's the case, then it's better that Xia Erning didn't find the ancient city of this holy kingdom.

Because it would require a lot of manpower and resources to repair it, and what's more troublesome is that he has no idea how these ancient people built this city, or what the layout of the various mechanical parts and large components is like.

This is an impossible task for goblins.

However, if this machine-working city could still function, even if only part of it could, it would be nothing short of a technological leap for goblins living in an era where "all materials are made by hand".

"It's like," Charles laughed and shook his head, "like a villager sharing nuclear fusion with you in the barbaric era."

"So you have a Colossus pilot there?" Spencer stared at Charles, looking quite interested. "When did it arrive? I didn't see any Colossus appear."

"Well, I mean, it actually came a long time ago," Charles said, clenching his fist a little sheepishly, "but I just didn't pay attention to it before."

"Very early, how early? A few days ago?"

"No." Charles held up four fingers and remained silent.

"Four days?" Spencer stared with his large, vertical pupils. "That's not exactly early. I was dealing with that high-ranking archmage from the cursed faction during that time, so I really didn't have much time."

"No, not four days, more than four months," Charles sighed, somewhat embarrassed.

"More than four months?" Spencer was taken aback, then looked around. Outside the cave, the goblins were probably working hard, striving to build their tribe's first city in the forest. They had even encountered attacks from the Crusaders and harassment from high-ranking archmages, but they persevered. Almost every goblin dreamed of this city, which could protect them, rising from the ground in the forest.

"You could have moved directly to the Machine Factory City with the driver four months ago." Spencer frowned, glanced at Charles, and shook his head with a wry smile.

"I know." Charles shrugged. He also regretted not studying the little tin soldier more carefully back then. Perhaps he could have discovered the clues then and led his men to the Machine Factory City, thus avoiding this series of events.

But if that were the case, he would not be able to see the unicorn, nor would he be able to bring the centaurs under his control, nor would he be able to incorporate the goblin slaves of the earth goblins and the goblin "reserve food" of the feathered serpent god.

As the old saying goes, fortune may be a harbinger of misfortune, and misfortune may be a harbinger of fortune.

"So what are you thinking now?" Spencer smiled and asked directly.

"Since you say I am the heir of the Holy Kingdom, and the Machine Factory City is the property of the Holy Kingdom, I may not let this city fall into ruin." Sharl nodded vigorously. "But the Forest City has already begun construction, and it cannot be abandoned. It is not only the first city of the goblins, but also the link connecting the centaurs, naga, minotaurs, frogmen, and kobolds."

"Just like you said," he said, a confident smile playing on his lips, "to restore the glory of the ancient city of ten thousand races, so the project here cannot stop."

Spencer looked at the goblin and nodded in satisfaction. "This is what a successor to the Holy Kingdom should look like."

"But I won't give up on the Machine Factory City either," Charles clenched his fist tightly. "I need to go and see the situation there first before I can formulate the next strategy. If the Machine Factory City can operate, it will greatly accelerate the construction speed of the Forest City."

"So when do you plan to set off for the Machine Factory City?" Spencer asked with great interest.

"We need to settle things here." Charles turned to look at the cave exit and the construction site outside. He still needed to make arrangements, since he didn't know how long it would take to get to the machine shop city or what unexpected situations might arise. He wouldn't act rashly without being fully prepared.

"By the way," he turned his gaze from the entrance, glancing at the goblin bones scattered on the ground, "do you know what the little tin soldier's motivation is?"

"This—" Spencer shook his head, "I don't know, could it be magic?"

"No." Charles waved his hand.

“I really don’t know,” Spencer sighed. “I only saw them crawling out of the colossi from a distance, but I never saw them pull out their power source.”

"It's a beast core," Charles said calmly.

"Beast cores?" Spencer repeated, clearly surprised. "You mean these pilots are all powered by beast cores?"

"Yes." Charles nodded and began to gesture, telling Spencer about his previous encounter with the little tin soldier and why it took so long for the little tin soldier to recover.

"Hahaha," Spencer laughed out loud after hearing Charles's account. "You're lucky to have this. If you didn't have a subordinate who loves carving, you might have missed out on the Machine Factory City altogether."

"Fortunately, the Tin Soldier was eventually restarted." Charles nodded.

"I never imagined they were powered by beast cores," Spencer stopped laughing, then looked up and examined the city model of bone fragments floating in the air with great interest. "I originally thought that the Machine Factory City was already impressive because it operated with evil energy, but I never imagined that these colossi were also powered by evil energy."

"Nightmare power?"

“Yes, those beast cores are actually crystals of concentrated evil energy,” Spencer nodded. “As you said, after putting in the low-level beast cores, the little tin soldier can start moving.”

"Uh," Sharl frowned after hearing the lizardman lich's words, "Actually, I have another crystal."

He briefly described the dark crystal taken from the little tin soldier's body. Unlike the red beast core, the crystal was completely dull, like a remnant shell that had lost all its power.

"You mean—" Spencer didn't immediately understand what Charles was trying to say.

"I mean, could this thing be some kind of energy-generating device?" Charles quickly explained. He felt that this thing was a bit like a "battery," which could be charged and then released to become the power source for the Colossus.

Does that also mean that these beast cores, if a way to recharge them can be found, can also become "batteries" for the little tin soldiers?

Charles still had some beast cores in his own wooden box. He couldn't guarantee that the little tin soldiers and colossi in the machine city were all intact. If they had lost power and were paralyzed on the ground, then a lot of beast cores would be needed to restore their mobility.

Before that, he had given some beast cores to Uncle Musa to facilitate political connections between the Kingdom of Fran and the City of Golden Flower.

If the Machine Factory City needs them in the future, these beast cores will have to be retrieved and used on the colossi.

"If," Spencer raised his hand and rubbed his temples, his tone becoming somewhat serious, "you'd better be fully prepared."

"Prepare?" Charles was taken aback. He had indeed prepared to have Uncle Musa retrieve the beast core, but why did the lizardman lich seem to be talking about something more important?

"What I mean is, if that's the case, then you must preserve all the beast cores you have now, as well as any beast cores you acquire in the future, because you don't know how many beast cores the Machine Factory City will need." Spencer raised a finger and pointed to the city model floating in the air. "But if this happens, you will inevitably attract the attention of those humans."

"Humans? You mean, those nobles?" Charles blinked. He wanted to say that it didn't matter, because Plantagenet City was about to fall into chaos, and the two princes were about to launch a "pacification campaign".

These nobles will likely be drawn into the battlefield to some extent, and they won't notice the sudden decrease in the availability of beast cores on the market.

“It’s not all aristocracy,” Spencer wagged his finger, “like I said before, there are also those annoying old guys.”

"You mean the archmages of the Sorcerer's Guild?" Charles immediately understood what the lizardman lich meant. But speaking of which, Spencer, you're older than those archmages, aren't you? You, the lich, should be considered an old guy.

Those great masters would probably have to call themselves grandchildren in your presence.

"Those guys don't want anyone to take all the forest's produce for themselves. Even if you release a small amount of the hides and bones, the beast cores are a more crucial benchmark," Spencer said calmly, though he looked somewhat serious. "If beast cores don't appear for a while, those old guys will definitely notice something."

"Didn't you already take down an archmage?" Charles chuckled, Cunningham's Soul Orb still sitting on his desk.

"I can only handle two or three archmages at a time. If they all attack at once, I can't do anything about it." Spencer shrugged, indicating that he was not omnipotent.

After hearing the lizardman lich's words, Sharl fell silent again. He really didn't want the beast cores to leak out of the forest anymore. Originally, these things could only be used to exchange for various valuable items, but now they had a more important use, which was indeed a bit of a headache.

"I think we should wait and see." For the moment, Charles couldn't think of any other solutions.

However, there are two things that will conflict with the Spell Union: one is the magic academy that needs to be built in the future, and the other is the key fragment of the Tower of Babel.

Having overheard Spencer and Cunningham's conversation, Sharl learned that the Sorcerer's Guild also possessed a fragment of the key, though he didn't know what it was like. Sharl already had two fragments, and he desperately wanted the Guild's fragment, but Spencer had failed to "steal" the key back then, and as a goblin, he figured it would be very difficult for him to obtain it.

However, it must be said that they will inevitably clash with the Spells Union sooner or later.

"And moreover," Charles thought for a moment and told Spencer about the current situation, "to get to the Machine Factory, we must head east, but my men told me that there is a gnoll settlement to our east."

"Gnolls?" Spencer paused, then chuckled. "These races that always whimper aren't much of an obstacle."

"Gnolls, maybe they're nothing special, but they've been bewitched by an evil god," Charles said, shrugging as he recounted his previous encounter with the feathered serpent god.

"You mean, that feathered serpent god is hiding in the gnoll territory?" Spencer tilted his head slightly.

"Yes." Charles nodded.

"An evil god, huh?" Spencer said nonchalantly. "Easy to deal with."

"Just destroy it."