Chapter 7: Cleaning Up the Battlefield
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Having thoroughly wiped out the group of goblins, Gu Su finally felt half the weight lift from his chest.
He paced over to the sewer entrance, his gaze sweeping across the entire goblin nest.
Bare dirt ground, a crude wicker fence, a fire pit of dying embers—there wasn’t a single valuable thing in sight.
Finally, he muttered at the chaotic mess on the ground, "Paupers!"
It was no exaggeration; these goblins were completely destitute.
Besides the corpses that could be converted into Skeletons, the only thing that could even remotely be called a weapon was the long red banner the Goblin Shaman had been clutching before its death.
Gu Su bent down and picked up the banner. At first, he was somewhat hopeful—even a Low Tier White Quality piece of equipment would be better than nothing.
But the moment his fingertips touched the banner, the hopeful look on his face collapsed, replaced by sheer speechlessness, which eventually soured into utter exasperation.
This wasn’t equipment at all; it was clearly just a prop cobbled together from two random materials.
It was probably just for the Goblin Shaman to put on a show and look the part.
Gu Su dismantled the banner in a few quick motions, tossing aside some useless bones, rope, and decorations.
In the end, all he got were two White Quality materials.
[Gloomy Branches (White): A branch that has mutated from long-term exposure to Yin Qi and Death Qi. It can be used to craft staff-type weapons.]
[Broken Red Balloon Skin (White): The remains of a strange, popped balloon. Although it has lost its original function, leaving only a somewhat elastic piece of rubber, its strange aura still lingers.]
Just these two bits of material, not even a finished product. In the end, he would have to craft something himself.
Gu Su rolled his eyes, his annoyance palpable. It was a classic case of the bigger the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
He suppressed the urge to complain, grabbed the piece of [Broken Red Balloon Skin] that looked like red cloth, and casually wrapped up the [Gloomy Branches] with it.
Then, he turned to the Skeletons lined up and waiting for orders and issued a new command.
"You few, go dismantle that wicker fence over there. Collect all the materials."
Gu Su pointed to the fence near the sewer, then looked at one of the Skeletons. "You, go to the fire pit. Carefully collect the embers and don’t let them go out."
Finally, he glanced at the remaining Skeletons and added, "The rest of you, spread out and search the entire area. See if there’s anything else worth taking. Don’t leave even a single broken stone behind!"
The Skeletons immediately moved to obey. Some swung their weapons to dismantle the fence, while others carefully used their Bone Claws to gather the embers from the fire pit.
The rest fanned out, meticulously searching the corners of the ruins and the edge of the sewer entrance. The entire nest was instantly filled with the busy sound of CREAKING and SCRAPING.
Unfortunately, the most they found was a large pile of bones stacked behind a tree and a few semi-dried Beast Skins—likely just leftovers from the goblins’ meals.
They found nothing else.
However, the uncovered sewer did pique Gu Su’s interest.
Peeking down, he could still see some traces left from digging and fighting.
But now was not the time to investigate that.
There was a pile of repair work waiting for him back at the graveyard.
So Gu Su commanded loudly, "Alright, stop searching. Pack everything up and follow me back to the graveyard."
The Skeletons immediately stopped what they were doing. Dragging the dismantled wicker vines, the collected embers, and the pile of bones and Beast Skins, they formed a line behind Gu Su, following the path they came on back into the mist and gradually disappearing into the depths of the ruins.
No one could have expected that not long after Gu Su and his party left...
...a red balloon, about the size of a human head, slowly rose from the depths of the pitch-black sewer.
The balloon’s surface had a strange sheen, and its aura was faintly connected to the [Broken Red Balloon Skin] Gu Su had obtained earlier. Hanging beneath the balloon was a Kobold with a clown face painted on.
Its head was painted with garish colors, its mouth stretched into an exaggerated grin, but its eyes were completely numb.
This bizarre Kobold carried a long, thin Wooden Spear. It used the balloon’s buoyancy to hover at the sewer entrance, its small eyes warily scanning the surroundings as it peeked around cautiously for a long moment.
After confirming there was no danger and no movement in the vicinity, the red balloon slowly descended, carrying the Kobold back into the darkness of the sewer.
It left behind only a faint, almost imperceptible, strange aura that dissipated into the empty nest.
Gu Su led his Skeleton Squad through the mist, returning to the abandoned stretch of road where they had found the derelict vehicles.
He raised a hand to halt the squad, his eyes sweeping over the cluster of wrecked cars as an idea flashed through his mind.
"Everyone, put down what you’re carrying for now."
Gu Su pointed at all the vehicles and ordered a few Skeletons, "You lot, go over there and strip all the weeds and vines off those cars. Don’t leave a single bit."
Then he pointed to another group of Skeletons. "After the weeds and vines are cleared, you few go and give them a push. See if any of these cars can still move."
Finally, he instructed the remaining Skeletons, "You, search those vehicles. Car doors, hoods, exhaust pipes—if it isn’t completely rusted through and can be removed, I want you to take it all off."
As Gu Su’s commands were given, the Skeletons immediately put down their things and split up to get to work.
The CLACKING of rubbing Bone Joints and the harsh screech of twisting Metal intertwined, shattering the silence of the ruins.
Several Skeletons surrounded a car thick with vines, their Bone Claws forcefully tearing at the tangled roots and yanking off handfuls of rotten weeds to reveal the rust-spotted chassis underneath.
Afterward, another Skeleton would come over and try to see if the car could be pushed.
If not, the last group of Skeletons would step forward. They used Wolf-toothed Sticks to pry open doors, slammed their bony shoulders against hoods, and tore off any salvageable metal components piece by piece, piling them to the side.
Although they didn’t know Gu Su’s specific plan, they followed his orders with absolute obedience, meticulously carrying out every command despite their stiff movements.
After a long while of this commotion, a Skeleton finally found something. It ran up to Gu Su, pointed a Bone Claw at a crooked pickup truck, and made a CLACKING sound.
Following the direction the Skeleton pointed, a look of satisfaction flashed in Gu Su’s eyes.
It was a dilapidated pickup truck. The hood was long gone, and the engine bay was stuffed with rotten leaves and dirt.
The seats inside the cab were gone entirely. The vines that had been clinging to the windows had also been cleared away, revealing the empty interior.
The tailgate was mostly missing and had a huge hole in it. A slender little tree grew out of the hole, its roots having long since dug into the truck bed, warping the frame even more.
But its four wheels were still relatively intact. The hubcaps were heavily rusted and the wheels turned with some difficulty, but it could still be pushed—far better than the other wrecks whose wheels had melted and stuck to the ground.
Gu Su went over and gave it a push himself, a flicker of excitement in his eyes.
"This is the one!"
Gu Su ordered the Skeletons, "Bring all the collected materials over. Stuff the small things in the cab, put the large ones in the truck bed, and anything even bigger can go on the roof."
At Gu Su’s command, the Skeletons immediately sprang into action.
They began loading the truck with the dismantled wicker fence, the semi-dried Beast Skins, the pile of bones, and the salvaged parts like car doors, exhaust pipes, and metal tubing.
The broken-down pickup was stuffed completely full.