Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

With a "crash," several boulders were overturned by the goblins working together, revealing an underground passage wide enough for three people to pass through.

"Chief, the passage has opened!" Red Eyes reported loudly.

"Yes, I see it." Charles kicked his subordinate aside and stood at the entrance of the tunnel, looking down.

The entire passageway was covered with moss and weeds, and the stone walls were dark and covered with dust.

After meeting with John, Charles and his men finished all the business and focused on exploring the fortress, but he felt like he had forgotten something.

He couldn't remember after thinking for a long time, so he gave up; it probably wasn't anything important.

"Let's go down and take a look." Charles had everyone light torches and line up at the end of the passageway.

"Leader, Stone Gate," Red Eyes said.

"Try pushing it," Charles instructed him.

With all his might, Chi Mu finally managed to push the stone door open a crack, and a wisp of stale air drifted out.

"It looks like this hasn't been opened in a long time." Charles peered inside.

The stone gate was quiet, and nothing remarkable appeared. Xia Er grabbed the torch from Chi Mu's hand and threw it inside.

As soon as the torch was thrown in, its light illuminated the surrounding area. Xia Er scanned the area and found that the stone floor was covered in dust, indicating that it was obviously very old.

"Broken Tooth, go in and take a look," Charles instructed, turning back to him. "Remember, don't leave your shadow unnecessarily."

Broken Tooth stepped forward and leaped into the shadows with a whoosh.

After waiting for a few minutes, just when Charles thought something might have happened to his men, a green head emerged from the shadows in front of him.

"Safe," Broken Tooth said briefly.

"Alright, Akame, take two people in and take a look," Charles cautiously instructed.

Red Eyes nodded and led the two goblins inside. These two goblins were the same ones who had been with him earlier, holding spears to defend against the Devil Claw Bear.

Red Eyes took even less time than Broken Tooth, and soon he returned to Charles, saying casually, "It's safe and sound inside."

"Alright, everyone, go in." Charles reassured everyone and ordered them to enter. However, he also instructed the white-haired man to lead a few female goblins to guard the entrance, and then walked into the fortress under the other party's slightly resentful gaze.

Upon entering, Charles deduced the condition of the stone chamber.

The entire stone chamber was built about five meters underground. The walls of the chamber were covered with moss and lichen, and the dust on the ground was about an inch thick, indicating that no humanoid creatures had lived there for a long time.

More than 70 goblins crowded at the entrance, forcing Sharl to disperse them.

Amidst the flickering light and shadow, an object the size of a human head rolled quickly past the goblin, alerting him.

"Everyone, stand against the wall immediately and do not rush in." Then he saw several more "heads" roll past him.

"What was that just now?" Charles asked his men, but they looked at each other blankly, and no one answered.

Just as he was about to send men to investigate, a sphere slid past them, and Charles finally saw its true form.

This creature is entirely red, with claws resembling those of a wild beast, and its body is like a brain encased in a hard shell.

"This is a brain-eating monster." Charles was stunned. He had just seen this thing in the natural history book that Agatha had lent him a few days ago.

This creature feeds on the brains of highly intelligent beings. Now, as it passes by the goblin, it shows no signs of aggression. In fact, the red-eyed creature even bends down and picks up a brain-eating monster, just like it's holding a fat cat.

"Boss, they're safe." He carried the Mind Eater to Sharl.

As a result, Ciel saw the "brain" lying in his subordinate's arms suddenly stand up, and then extend a needle-like mouthpart from under its body, reaching towards him.

"Take it away, take it away quickly!" Charles immediately ordered Red Eyes.

This thing thinks goblins aren't highly intelligent creatures and have no desire to attack, but it reacts differently to itself.

After kicking away the Red-Eyed, Sharl ordered his men to scatter and fill the entire stone chamber, leaving only a few goblins around him to help him drive away the passing brain-eating monsters.

This time he finally saw the entire stone chamber clearly.

The space here is very large, about 500 square meters. Gray-black stone bricks are spread throughout the stone chamber. In the middle of the room are several huge stone pillars covered with moss, while on both sides of the stone chamber, some places have collapsed, exposing soil and tree roots.

Dozens of brain-eating monsters ran around on the floor, walls, and ceiling of the stone chamber, plowing tracks into the dust on the ground.

"Luckily, they don't have an appetite for goblins." Sharl was still shaken. If it had been a group of human adventurers who came in, these mind-eating monsters would have happily enjoyed their "takeout."

"This feels more like a defensive measure," he thought, holding up his torch, while instructing his men to drive the animals away more quickly.

As he looked around, Charles spotted a stone door 3 meters wide in the left corner, and he led his men toward it.

A few minutes later, the goblins gathered at the doorway, surrounding Shire and protecting him from the mind-eating monster.

Above the stone door was a heavy wooden door. Charles stroked the grain of the wood, wondering how such an old place could have a wooden door. "Shouldn't this stuff have rotted into dust by now?"

He pushed open the wooden door with force. With a creak, a beam of dim blue light shone on the goblins as the door opened. In front of them was another stone chamber, and the walls were covered with clusters of mushrooms emitting a blue glow, as if someone lived there.

Goblins filed in, ready to confront danger at any moment.

This stone chamber is slightly smaller than the Brain Eater's room. It is rectangular, runs north-south, and has six pairs of thick stone pillars arranged in a row.

"The space is quite large." Charles smiled as he looked around the stone chamber. Thanks to the blue glowing mushrooms, the visibility here was decent.

"Red Eyes, take your men and look around," he instructed his subordinates.

Red Eyes obeyed and prepared to leave with his men, carrying the Brain Eater. The Brain Eater in his arms was swaying back and forth, somewhat restless.

"Squeak, squeak," a black rat scurried past from the corner, and Charles couldn't help but raise an eyebrow; such animals were everywhere.

But then, a gurgling sound came from the end of the stone chamber. He immediately called out to Red Eyes and ordered everyone to be on alert, wondering what kind of "surprise" would appear next.

In less than ten seconds, he could see objects in the distance by the glow of the mushrooms.

This is a green-skinned creature about 1.5 meters tall, covered with layers of wrinkles. Its two forelimbs are significantly longer than its hind limbs, which causes it to be hunched over and walk on all fours. As it moves, the three tentacles about the length of its arms at its mouth twitch back and forth.

"What is this thing?" Charles asked, puzzled as he watched the strange creature approaching.

But he immediately frowned, because he saw that without exception, all of these green-skinned monsters had long, pointed ears.

"It's a goblin, it's been modified." Ciel was somewhat shocked.

At the same time, he ordered that all personnel be on high alert and that they be ready to retaliate at any time if the other side showed any intention to attack.

Meanwhile, more and more monsters appeared on the other side, slowly approaching. However, Sharl noticed that these mutated goblins seemed to be trembling, stopping after taking a few steps and refusing to get any closer.

"Something is driving them."