Chapter 203 - 175: They Have Seen You
"Chief, these are the ones we just caught." Red Eyes jumped down from a Worker Ant and hurried over to Shire.
"Mm," Shire nodded. He watched as his subordinates kicked the goblins off the backs of several Worker Ants. These were the Evil Throat Army Slave Soldiers who had scattered and fled before. Now, their hands and feet were bound with rope, and they were tossed into a cart.
Soon, their ropes were untied, and they were herded before Shire.
"I am your new chief." Shire said, his hands behind his back and his head held high.
"Green Egg is the chief!" Red Eyes led the chant, and the other subordinates immediately joined in.
"You idiot! It’s Handsome Guy! Handsome Guy!" Shire turned and kicked Red Eyes, but it was no use. His other subordinates were still howling excitedly.
Then, amidst the shouts of "Green Egg! Green Egg!", the captured goblins glanced at each other. Without any hesitation, they walked right up and began the ankle-touching ritual.
They had all witnessed the battle a few days ago, so this was just a formality. In the goblin mindset, since the Earth Goblins had been defeated, they would naturally follow the victor’s lead. Their only hope was that this new chief wouldn’t kill a few goblins for sport whenever he felt like it, and would act like a decent person.
Shire waited for the ankle-touching ceremony to end, then waved a hand behind him, summoning Buck Teeth, Nine-finger, and One-Eyed. He began assigning some of the new goblins to them. In the future, these goblins would be responsible for taking care of the Tree-men, gathering medicinal herbs, and handling excavation and construction.
Meanwhile, Shire had pulled many of the original goblins out of their duties to begin combat training and hunting with Red Eyes, preparing them for the various crises that could arise in the forest.
[Subordinates: 498/554]
’This is my current number of subordinates.’ Shire ignored his men as they led the newly joined goblins away to their tasks. He opened his panel again to check. ’As I thought, these new additions aren’t fully loyal yet. I’ll have to wait a while. Things will change once they’ve settled in.’
After the Centaurs swore allegiance, the Forest Whisper Ability had been activated. But for days, Shire had been waiting to hear that whisper. Unfortunately, nothing had happened so far, which left him wondering: had the forest said nothing at all, or had it spoken, but just too quietly?
He had even gone to the Mother Tree specifically to ask what Forest Whisper was like. The Mother Tree’s answer was that it was like an ethereal voice carried on the wind.
Shire couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. ’Could it be that after I flattened this patch of forest to create a large, level clearing, the wind is now too strong and blew the voice away?’
"Forget it. Who knows when this whisper will finally decide to yap," he muttered, kicking at a blade of grass. "I should focus on activating the next runic letter as soon as possible."
The next letter had already appeared, and the Ability it contained was one Shire was greatly looking forward to:
[Mist Gaze: You can select an adjacent, unknown area. Once the mist is dispelled, it will be revealed on your Domain map. This Ability can be used once per month. Advancement Condition: Possess 600 subordinates.]
’I can scout the map in the mist ahead of time.’ Shire stroked his chin. ’Paired with Forest Whisper and Broken Tooth’s observation skills, I can easily gather information on the enemy.’
’If I’d had this Ability before, I could have used the Centaur Village to launch a forest encirclement and annihilation campaign against the Evil Throat Army.’
’A pity I’m only getting it now.’ He glanced at the subordinates who had just left. ’If Cyan Hide was right that the Evil Throat Army had 500 goblins, then after this battle, about 400 of them should be able to join my tribe. Add that to the Centaurs who swore allegiance earlier, and I should reach the 600-subordinate goal very soon.’
’Once it’s activated, I can finally get a look at the Goblin Kingdom’s situation on the map.’
’A massive Goblin Kingdom... what kind of place would they live in? A city in the forest, or a vast network of burrows?’ A smile touched the corners of Shire’s lips. ’I wonder how much territory they control. But based on the current situation, if I can absorb that Kingdom, they’ll become a considerable force.’
With that, Shire put his hands behind his back and turned toward the Fortress. He needed to make work arrangements based on his current personnel and also plan for the future development of his combat units.
’As a rule, I’ll choose the veterans first. They’ve been through many battles and won’t just drop their weapons and run at the sight of an enemy.’ He mulled this over as he walked into the Fortress, paying no mind to the Centaurs building houses near the entrance. ’The new goblins should stick to manual labor for now; they aren’t ready for combat yet.’
’But they still need proper combat training. In the future, I’ll have to arrange combat training for everyone.’
For goblins in the forest, almost every day was a struggle for survival. It was just that Shire had already cleared out the major threats in his territory. The remaining Forest Grey Wolves and wild boars still posed a minor threat.
However, if they were to face the Goblin Kingdom to the north, its sheer numbers might force him to conscript every last one of his people. For that reason, even the former Evil Throat Army goblins could not be exempt from training.
"Mandatory military service for all," Shire chuckled. "Why do I feel like this place is turning into South Korea?"
’Still, I can take some men to the Evil Throat Army’s former encampment and that newly unlocked Domain tomorrow.’ Shire arrived at his stone room, took out a notebook, and began to write down his plans.
’That entire area is revealed now. And we didn’t finish moving all the white stones from around the Rune Speech repository; there are still quite a few left. I can have One-Eyed take some men to bring them back.’ Shire tapped his desk with a charcoal pencil, his gaze sweeping over the Demon Lord’s long horn placed in the corner of the stone room. ’Then again, maybe we don’t need to bring them back. After all, this place is getting crowded, and those stones take up space.’
’I’ll just move the Rune Speech materials from here over to the repository and have Agatha take a look around there.’
He had promised to take Agatha to the Rune Language Material Library to see the reliefs, but the arrival of the Evil Throat Army had forced him to put that plan on hold.
Shire tapped the desk, his gaze sweeping over the Little Tin Soldier placed nearby. ’The tuber plantation that the Centaurs cleared can be used again. I just don’t know if they’re still willing to go back and work it.’
Just as he was pondering what to do with that area, a faint breeze seemed to stir in the stone room. A strand of an ancient whisper echoed in Shire’s ear, the voice faint and elusive, like a caress of the wind.
"They see you."
Shire’s eyes flew wide open. He jumped from his chair and scanned the stone room frantically.
But he didn’t notice the eyes of the Little Tin Soldier flash for an instant.