Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 91 "The Jackals" Have Arrived [3k]

With broken teeth gripping the rope, a person crouched in the shadow of the rustling tree, only their shoulders and above visible.

He was watching Nine Fingers and a few goblins gather kuang berries. The leader had said that patrols would be increased these days, so he led a few goblins to stop and observe the surrounding area, paying attention to any disturbances.

Yesterday, I encountered three more goblins fleeing from their predicament. Broken Tooth has already led them to the fortress.

Seeing the plight of those goblins, Broken Tooth was incredibly grateful to have met Green Egg. If Green Egg hadn't become the leader, he probably would have been killed or even eaten by now.

"Green Egg is a good leader." White Hair often said this, and Broken Tooth also thought she was right.

"Swish, swish," a few soft sounds reached his ears. Broken Tooth glanced over subconsciously. "It's a red squirrel."

He ignored the creatures swaying in the distant treetops and continued to look at the ground.

"I've never seen animals in this tangled forest before," Broken Tooth muttered to himself.

But immediately, he remembered what Shire had told him: "Beware of anything unusual, including animals." "Could there be animals in the woods?"

He took out his binoculars and began scanning the distant forest.

Then he frowned. There seemed to be many figures moving around at the edge of the woods. "Could they be trying to cross the rustling trees?"

Broken Tooth immediately slid down the rope, calling out to the surrounding goblins. He had some of them notify Nine Fingers and the others, while others notified the herb-gathering team. He then led the remaining people quickly toward the hidden entrance to the fortress.

At this moment, Shire was discussing the arrangements for the ancient runes with Agatha. He wanted to try making a portal himself, but he didn't know if it would work successfully.

"Leader, human." Broken Tooth ran up to Sharl and gave a brief report.

Upon hearing this, Charles remained calm, then smiled and said to Agatha, "How about this, you go and take a look at the warehouse first. This teleportation portal requires two supporting parts to function; studying just this one stone ring isn't enough."

"Hmm, what you said makes sense." Agatha thought for a moment and nodded. "Then I'll go take a look over there first, since the two portals need to correspond to each other."

After saying that, she instructed Charles to operate the controller, and then disappeared into the portal.

"Did you see that clearly?" Ciel looked at the broken tooth seriously.

"A few figures were moving around near the edge of the woods," Broken Tooth said.

Have you notified the others?

Broken Tooth nodded, and Charles hummed in agreement. "Then let's do it the way we practiced before."

Previously, Xia Er had conducted several rapid escape drills of his territory, similar to fire evacuation drills. Now, he only hoped that ordinary adventurer teams would appear.

Before long, the goblins who had gone out returned to the fortress one after another, while Sharl anxiously awaited news of Broken Tooth's next move.

A few minutes later, Broken Tooth ran into the fortress. "Chief, there are so many, it would take two hands and two feet to count them all."

"Keep watching, but be careful not to get caught," Charles immediately ordered.

Broken Tooth nodded and ran out again. The winter clothes that Ciel had given him were yellow and green, like forest camouflage. With a grass hoop on his head, Broken Tooth, with only his head showing, was hard to spot.

"Forty people, looks like they're after the fortress." Charles quickly calculated. "Should they all leave through the portal?"

"No, those beds, furniture, Red Bull, and the stored food and snacks will all be destroyed."

"Even if the goblins are gone, these traces of life remain at the scene. The other side isn't stupid; they might be guarding this place. If they teleport back, they're doomed."

"40 adventurers, the Storm Brotherhood," Charles repeated several times.

A few seconds later, he glanced at his quiet subordinates, who were all staring at him silently, awaiting their leader's decision.

"Hmph." Charles gritted his teeth, a cold smile creeping onto his lips. Then, his eyes hardened, and he slammed his fist down. "Hit!"

Whoever dares to covet my home, I will kill them all.

Then Charles quickly gave orders, instructing his men to set up the rough wooden barricades at the entrance and tie them with iron chains, while everyone stood ready for battle.

Emlyn felt very lucky; he had successfully passed the selection process and become a trainee member of the Brotherhood of Storms.

However, he found it strange that last night he suddenly notified everyone that they had to enter the forest this morning. The reason given was that the Earl's Mansion informed him that a group of evil Mind Flayers had taken over a ruin in the forest and were constantly harming the surrounding villages, so the Brotherhood needed to wipe them out immediately.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"I've never heard of Mind Flayers before," Emlyn said with a puzzled look, but he quickly shook his head. "Emlyn, you're just an ordinary adventurer, not even a Dark Iron, how could I possibly tell you such important information?"

Furthermore, Brotherhood President Martel promised everyone that outstanding performance would be considered for promotion to Black Iron Adventurer.

Emlyn couldn't help but dream of the moment he would become a Dark Iron Adventurer. If he could advance to Silver Adventurer, he could return to the Great Dome.

Before dawn, the 40 members of the Brotherhood set out in the autumn frost. Giethoorn was still quiet at this time, and apart from a few barks, the townspeople were still asleep.

Emlyn clutched the two potions of stamina in his arms, his heart pounding with excitement. "As expected of the Brotherhood of Storms, providing healing and stamina potions before the operation. That must have cost a fortune."

Heading north and entering the forest, he realized the difference between himself and his opponent. He discovered that when he and Lila and Luna were traveling together, Lila would always be in the lead while he followed behind with his bow, and Luna would provide healing spells throughout. This often resulted in several goblins escaping.

But now, before the battle even begins, the Storm Brotherhood will scatter their forces and then attack together to surround the goblins.

Emlyn heard that it was Ricardo, the beast tamer from the Brotherhood, who had scouted out the goblins ahead.

"The coordination is absolutely perfect," Emlyn exclaimed.

As the group ventured deeper into the territory, they encountered three waves of goblins. However, the Brotherhood did not choose to kill them all, but instead tried to capture them alive. Currently, ten goblins have been tied up and pushed in front of the group.

"This must be the forest shown on the map," Martel said, looking up at the tall, towering canopy of trees.

"This should be it." The mage Qige patted the tree trunk. "There must be some species living around here."

Why?

"There are no fallen fruits on the ground," Qige said. "In such a large forest, there isn't a single sign of fallen fruit. There's only one answer: they've all been collected."

"If it's collecting fruit, it's probably a goblin," Martel said.

"We can't draw conclusions so early; it's also possible that this kind of tree won't bear fruit," Qi Ge said with a smile.

"You'll find out once you go through," Martel nodded, then turned to Ricardo beside him and asked, "J..."

Any discoveries?

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"There were still some shadows in the woods ahead, but they disappeared quickly." Ricardo looked up and gazed at the president with his white eyes.

"Maybe it's invisible." Martel ran his thumb across the thin scar on his cheek. "Maybe it's not a goblin, it could be a goblin."

"That would be best, of course. Such a large clan of little fairies is enough for us to open the gates of the nobles in Golden Flower City." Qige nodded. "That way, the anti-magic barrier scroll I prepared can also come in handy."

"Get through the woods quickly," Martel ordered everyone, while also making sure the bound goblins didn't escape, as they would be their stepping stones into the ruins.

Soon, the group entered the rustling forest. During this time, several goblins tried to escape, but the Brotherhood members grabbed them by ropes and dragged them back, then gave them a good beating.

"Damn it, these goblins are really unruly." Jacques flicked his left hand and spat on the ground.

"If you knew you were about to die, and that you were going to die a painful death, you would run away too," Ricardo said casually.

"They know nothing, all they do is yell and scream. Once we get into the ruins, they'll have their turn to yell." Jacques cracked his knuckles; that goblin from earlier had been pretty tough.

"There's a problem here," Qige said, stopping the group.

"What's wrong?" Martel immediately went over.

Chigo shook the rope he was holding, then looked up at the tall tree canopy. "It seems there really are creatures harvesting the fruit from these trees."

"What kind of species could it be?" Martel asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure it's not a goblin." Chigo pulled the rope a few times and found that it had circled back and forth in the tree crown. "Goblins can't climb a tree trunk that thick and that tall."

"It needs to be a fruit or flower from the tree crown, possess a certain level of intelligence, be able to fly, and perhaps even be a little fairy," Qigo said, looking at Martel and nodding slightly.

"That makes things easier to deal with."

The Storm Brotherhood quickened their pace through the woods and continued northward. Soon, Ricardo informed them of a discovery ahead.

Before long, they arrived at several huge rocks.

These boulders are over a meter tall and were clearly placed here intentionally by someone. There is a downward passageway in the middle of the boulders with stone steps, and the walls on both sides are covered with grass and moss.

"Jacques, try pushing open the stone door," Martel said.

The burly man, Jacques, pulled out his double-handed axe from his back and threw it to the ground. Then he twisted his joints and loosened his body, but instead of acting immediately, he kicked down a bound goblin.

The goblin screamed and tumbled down the steps, crashing into the stone door, but nothing happened.

So Jacques jumped to the stone door in a few steps, braced himself with his palms, and with a few cracking sounds, he pushed the stone door open a crack about half a meter wide.

"It's very dark, there's no light." Martel walked down the steps to the stone gate.

"Let's give it a try," Jacques said, grabbing the struggling goblin beside him and throwing it forcefully into the stone chamber.

"Wah wah wah," came the goblin's cry from inside the stone chamber. Not long after, Jacques and Martel outside the door heard fierce screams and footsteps coming from inside the stone chamber.

Jacques immediately pulled the rope, only to find the other end empty. When the rope was fully pulled out, they discovered that it had already broken, with obvious signs of burning at the break.

"Not easy to deal with," Martel said, staring at the end of the rope.

"Throw in two more goblins."

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