The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

"Yes, Teacher, I’ll go capture those goblins right away," the Mage said respectfully.

"No," Cunningham tapped the wooden limbs of the goblin on the lab bench before him, observing its muscular reactions. "Don’t act immediately. You need to observe more. I want to know the detailed behavior of the goblin in the lead."

"Understood." The Mage nodded heavily. "I will continue to observe until I have a complete grasp of his behavior, and only then will I make a move."

’An interesting soul,’ Cunningham didn’t look back at the Mage behind him, still examining the goblin in his experiment with great interest. ’I’ve been unable to find a stronger soul in a living being. The research and modification of the physical body have stalled. He, on the other hand, would make an excellent test subject for soul experiments.’

*PFFT!* Cunningham plunged a small silver knife into the goblin’s shoulder. Then, completely ignoring the goblin’s wails, he sliced open the connection between the wood and the torso with a single stroke. ’Those Magic Puppets made by the Arcane Mages can’t replace a real body at all. This path is a dead end.’

"Go on, and remember not to disappoint me." He waved his hand, shooing his disciple away like a fly.

Hearing this, the Mage felt as if he had been granted amnesty. *POOF!* A puff of blue smoke rose, and he transformed into a red ladybug, silently flying out of the basement.

"The Magic Federation..." Cunningham chuckled twice. He then waved his hand, and the struggling goblin on the lab bench arched its body, trembled a few times, and then went limp, obviously dead. "Once I’ve solved the Demon Plague, we’ll see if you still dare to put a bounty on me. When that time comes, I’ll have all of you bow down before me."

A sinister laugh echoed endlessly in the basement. In the cages in the corner, the mutated goblins all huddled together, trembling and not daring to move.

......

"There’s a mark here too." Cyan Hide walked to a tree with a small shovel and scraped off a simple carving on the trunk.

’I have to keep looking,’ he thought, glancing at the surrounding trees before preparing to continue his search.

The marks had all been carved by Scarface, meant to make it easier for him to find his way back next time. Cyan Hide didn’t want the Evil Throat Army to track them here. He had stayed with this goblin clan for a few days and had been completely won over by the food and warm clothes. He had even performed the ankle-touching ceremony. Now, he just had to get rid of these marks quickly.

He had come alone this time, not with anyone else. The chief had assigned him the job of helping the Centaurs build their homes. Although the two Races couldn’t communicate through language, it didn’t stop Cyan Hide from helping to level the ground and process the timber. He had even gotten to eat dried venison twice.

It was almost funny. Back at the Evil Throat Army’s camp, he had been incredibly envious watching Scarface show off that piece of venison in front of all the other goblins. But now, after eating it a few times, he felt it was just so-so, not as tasty as the smoked fish and fruit cakes they had for lunch.

But the Centaurs would still toss him a few pieces of dried venison, allowing Cyan Hide to chew on something while helping to clear the huge open space. ’The Centaurs aren’t like the Earth Goblins say, killing every goblin on sight.’

So, the experiences of the past few days had once again changed his perspective and given him some new ideas. During his breaks, he would walk into the nearby woods and scrape off the markings, all so the Evil Throat Army couldn’t find this area.

’This way, I can live peacefully in the clan. The chief said he’d give me a set of clothes and a bed in a few days.’

Just as he was cheerfully scraping away at a mark, he completely failed to notice a short figure stand up in the grass behind him. *WHACK!* The figure forcefully brought down a wooden club, knocking Cyan Hide out cold.

"This bastard dares to remove the marks I made," Scarface kicked the goblin on the ground several times, then quickly looked around. Seeing no movement, he immediately pulled out some leftover rope from the grass and tied up Cyan Hide.

Then, he cautiously dragged Cyan Hide deep into the forest.

After a while, Cyan Hide shook his head and slowly woke up. He then discovered that his upper body was tied tightly with a rope, while Scarface sat nearby, chewing on half a small bird.

"You’re awake?" Scarface mumbled, bits of flesh and blood mixed with bird feathers falling from his mouth to the ground. "Looks like you joined that goblin’s clan."

Cyan Hide was silent. He didn’t speak, instead covertly sizing up his surroundings while his hands behind his back constantly tugged back and forth, trying to struggle free of his bonds.

*CRACK!* Seeing Cyan Hide’s silence, Scarface grabbed the wooden club from the ground and struck him across the face. "Bastard, speak."

The intense pain made Cyan Hide’s cheek twitch. He sucked in a breath, trying to alleviate the effects of the blow. After a moment, he stared at Scarface and suddenly blurted out, "The venison isn’t all that."

"Huh?" Scarface froze for a second, not understanding what he meant. He stopped tearing at the half-eaten bird in his hand and looked suspiciously at Cyan Hide. "What did you say?"

"I said the venison is just so-so, not as good as the other food in the clan." Cyan Hide stared fixedly at Scarface. Saying that had pulled at the bruise on his face, making him wince in pain.

Scarface’s expression darkened. He looked at the half-eaten bird in his hand, then back at the goblin opposite him. He raised the wooden club, intending to teach Cyan Hide a good lesson. "Have you ever even eaten venison, you idiot?"

"I have. The Centaurs gave it to me." Cyan Hide watched his opponent’s movements, calculating his next move. In the dictionary of the goblin Race, a situation like this had only two options: 1. Ram the opponent with all his might, then find a way to bite him to death; 2. Ram the opponent with all his might, then turn and run.

Unfortunately, his feet were also tied with a rope now. Taking a large stride was impossible, as it would cause him to fall flat on his face. Therefore, he could only choose the first option: bite Scarface to death.

"The Centaurs are raising a lot of Big-horned Deer, aren’t they." Scarface held the club up but didn’t bring it down. His eyes were filled with greed. "Do those goblins have other things to eat?"

Then, he lowered the club and took out the dagger he had dropped earlier. It was because he had turned back to retrieve that tattered dagger that he had discovered the Centaurs’ tracks in the first place.

’Looks like there’s a lot of food stored here. As long as I report back to the General, I can secure the position of Commander-in-Chief.’ He held the dagger, glanced at the mangled bird corpse in his hand, and recalled the venison offered by the Centaurs he had tasted before. He fiercely slammed the bird’s corpse onto the ground.

But soon after, he picked up the half-eaten bird again, completely ignoring the dirt and shredded leaves clinging to it, and stuffed it back into his mouth.

"Get up. I’m not going to kill you." Chewing on the shredded meat, he approached Cyan Hide but kept a safe distance. "Come back with me. If you don’t move, I’ll poke you with a branch and see how long you can take it."

In the end, Cyan Hide frowned, took a few steps, and glanced back at the southern woods. Then he was struck on the back with the wooden club by Scarface and driven into the northern forest.

......

"You’re saying a goblin is missing?" Shire frowned the moment he heard Nine-finger’s report. "Cyan Hide, one of the five goblins, is gone?"

Seeing his subordinate’s affirmative nod, he immediately thought that he had probably been captured. ’He wouldn’t have run away on his own. During our previous interactions, his attitude was very positive. He wouldn’t choose to defect.’

Besides, given a goblin’s intelligence, it was unlikely he possessed the acting skills to deceive him.

"It was that ’Brother-in-law’ who escaped. He actually came back." As Shire listened to Nine-finger say that Cyan Hide would go into the northern woods during his breaks and come out a while later to continue working, he concluded that Cyan Hide must have been doing something in the forest and was captured.

"Send someone to get Broken Tooth and Evita for me immediately," Shire ordered his subordinate solemnly. "And those Skeleton Warriors too."

He needed to immediately formulate a strategy against the Evil Throat Army. It was foreseeable that once those two goblins returned to the Evil Throat Army, their entire force would mobilize to attack him.

’We can’t fight a defensive battle this time; we’ll have to face them in the open field.’ Watching Nine-finger run off into the distance, Shire immediately began to analyze the situation. ’The entire Fortress is still under construction, so we don’t have many defensive measures. And those goblins will become even more frenzied after drinking the Holy Water. The lethality of the Stinky Balls and Hand Grenade Fruits is limited. We’ll have to rely on a pitched battle.’

’During this time, Broken Tooth needs to increase patrols to the north, and expand the range. The combat coordination between the goblins and Centaurs needs to be further strengthened. I’ll have to have Evita stop building the village for now.’

He rubbed his temples. ’Five hundred frenzied goblins... that’s certainly a tough problem. But the Evil Throat Army probably won’t throw all their goblins into battle at once. They’ll definitely commit them in waves to force my clan to either flee or surrender.’

’The Centaurs made a fool of those Earth Goblins before, so they definitely won’t hold back this time.’ Shire narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists a few times. He desperately wanted to capture the enemy’s 500 goblins. As long as he could absorb them into his clan, he would be able to activate the next alien character—Forest Whisper.

But this would be very difficult. The Evil Throat Army was not that easy to deal with, especially under their reckless, fearless, and frenzied attacks. Both his own clan and the Centaurs would have to fight under immense psychological pressure.

"What’s wrong? Did you call me for something?" Evita came over with a CLIP-CLOP, CLIP-CLOP. She was carrying some tubers on her equine back, though it was unclear if she was going to plant them or feed them to the Shape-shifting Monster.

"There’s something I need to tell you," Shire said calmly, looking at the Centaur maiden. "The Evil Throat Army is coming."