Free Web NovelChapter 65: Chapter 64: To Fend for Oneself
’Intelligence?’
Li Ziyu’s interest was piqued. He raised a hand, motioning for the High Level Skeleton Warrior to halt. "Speak. What intelligence do you have?"
"If I tell you, you have to spare my life," Yu Gangbo said hurriedly, seeing Li Ziyu’s stance soften.
Li Ziyu scoffed, looking at him with a sneer. "You haven’t said a thing. How am I supposed to know if your intelligence is any good? If you want to live, you’d better give me something of value, don’t you think?"
’If this guy can actually tell me something useful, I might as well not kill him,’ Li Ziyu thought. ’It doesn’t matter if my Undead do the job or not. He’s a dead man walking either way. Without a Mobile Fortress, he won’t last long out here.’
Yu Gangbo glanced left and right at the terrifying Undead surrounding him. He knew this was his only chance to survive. All he could do was gamble on Li Ziyu letting him go. He gritted his teeth and said, "I wasn’t trying to attack you! I was being hunted! I fled here to escape!"
Those words made Li Ziyu’s eyes widen as he stared at Yu Gangbo in astonishment. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
’Well now, that’s an excuse I hadn’t thought of.’
"Then tell me everything," Li Ziyu said, turning to sit back down on his White Bone Throne, his expression grave.
"I was ambushed by goblins..."
Yu Gangbo had barely gotten the words out before Li Ziyu cut him off. "If you’re going to spin a tale, at least make it believable. You’re a Goblin City Lord who was ambushed by goblins? Could you *be* any lazier with your story? What’s the deal, is it that hard to pick a different Race? It would’ve been more convincing if you’d said you were being hunted by Lizardmen or even Wild Beasts."
"I’m telling the fucking truth! I want to live! I really, really want to live! I’m not lying to you!" Yu Gangbo roared, his face contorted in a bitter, desperate grimace.
’He doesn’t look like he’s faking it,’ Li Ziyu mused. ’But a Goblin City Lord getting ambushed by his own kind? No matter how you slice it, that just doesn’t sound right.’
Li Ziyu stroked his chin, his brow furrowed. He stared at Yu Gangbo for a few seconds, then gave a slight nod, signaling for him to continue.
"I don’t know where those goblins came from. They came in massive hordes, far too many for my own goblins to hold back."
"So you ran?"
"That’s right! If I hadn’t run, I’d be dead already."
Yu Gangbo gritted his teeth. His severed leg was still bleeding freely, and the blood loss was making him dizzy. His lips had gone pale, but his desperate will to live kept him from passing out.
Li Ziyu recalled the Goblin Cavalry he’d seen earlier. He leaned forward. "Those goblins riding dogs... they weren’t your subordinates?"
"No. What cavalry?" Yu Gangbo said with a bitter smile. If he’d had any Cavalry, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable state.
"Tell me about them. How many of those goblins are there? What kinds of troops do they have? Tell me everything you know, honestly, and I’ll spare your life." Li Ziyu now believed Yu Gangbo, and a knot of tension formed in his gut.
’I thought this guy, Yu Gangbo, was just an idiot making a desperate counterattack, trying to take a chunk out of me. But if he was being hunted, that changes everything. The Cavalry was still on his tail... but would a wild goblin tribe send *only* Cavalry?’
’No way!’
’Their main army must have fallen behind due to their lower Speed. It won’t be long before the wild goblins who ambushed Yu Gangbo track him here. After all, he wasn’t exactly subtle on his way over; he made a huge commotion.’
"Okay, okay, I’ll talk," Yu Gangbo agreed, nodding hastily now that he saw a chance to live.
"I don’t know the exact number, but I’d estimate there are over a thousand of them. Most are just ordinary goblins, but there are some large ones that are very strong, and of course, the Cavalry. I didn’t see any other types of troops," Yu Gangbo answered honestly, pursing his dry lips.
’The Skeleton Undead already surrounded and wiped out that group of Cavalry. I don’t know if the enemy has more, but even if they do, there probably aren’t many. They’re not an immediate concern.’
’But what about those "large goblins"?’
Images from the anime and games Li Ziyu had seen in his past life flashed through his mind, and a particular figure began to take shape.
’Could they be Bear Goblins?!’
Bear Goblins, sometimes called traveling goblins, are a type of goblin anomaly, almost like a bloodline mutation. These creatures are much taller than normal goblins, capable of reaching two meters in height. They are broad and burly, with exceptional combat strength.
In all sorts of anime, Bear Goblins are almost always the strongest Warriors in the goblin ranks.
Having figured this out, Li Ziyu glanced at the expectant Yu Gangbo and waved a dismissive hand. "Don’t kill him. Just throw him out."
"Wait, hold on! Aren’t you going to treat my leg?" Yu Gangbo shouted in a panic as an Undead moved forward to drag him away.
"Tsk, you’re really pushing your luck. I said I’d spare your life, not that I’d heal your leg. Do I look like a doctor to you?" Li Ziyu glared and waved his hand again, his patience wearing thin.
"No, you can’t do this! I’ll bleed to death!"
"Help me! Please! I already told you everything! You can’t treat me like this..."
Amid his shouts, the impassive Undead dragged Yu Gangbo out of the Castle Main Tower.
Liu Xingxing, who had been hiding in a corner, hesitated for a long moment before shuffling over to Li Ziyu’s side.
"B-Boss... are you really just going to throw him out and leave him like that?"
"Hm? Of course. I said I’d spare his life. It wouldn’t be right to kill him right here, would it?"
"No, I mean... his leg’s been cut off. He won’t survive if you just throw him outside, will he? He’s going to die out there. Aren’t you... going to do something?"
"Hmm... You have a point."
Li Ziyu paused, seemingly reminded of something. He beckoned an Undead over and commanded, "Keep an eye on him. When he dies, bring the corpse back." He sighed. "Sustaining a fortress is hard work. We can’t afford to be wasteful. Even a mosquito leg is still meat, as they say. Frugality is a virtue."
The corner of Liu Xingxing’s mouth twitched.
’That’s not what I meant, Boss! I meant, could you please save him?!’
But gazing at Li Ziyu’s eyes—bloodshot from being woken from his sleep—and his cold, indifferent expression, he didn’t dare voice his thoughts.
’*Sobs*... The boss is so scary when he’s angry...’
Li Ziyu stood and patted Liu Xingxing on the shoulder, making him flinch so hard he almost jumped. Then, he heard a surprisingly gentle voice. "Xingxing, this isn’t our old world. We’re Transmigrators."
"You don’t actually believe that being a Transmigrator automatically grants you a protagonist’s Aura, do you? We aren’t main characters here. We’re just outsiders. Didn’t I tell you the news yesterday? In a situation like this, it’s no exaggeration to say the entire world is our enemy."
"Just a few days ago, this guy was trying to hunt you down. Have you forgotten that?"
"Kindness is a good thing, but too much kindness is just foolishness. I don’t want to die, so he has to. If he lives, it’s only a matter of time before something like this happens again."
"Today, he’s the one in trouble, and I let him go. In the future, if I’m the one in trouble, will he spare me? Think about it. This world has no room for people who are too kind, and it’s full of stories like the Farmer and the Viper."
His words were spoken with grave sincerity, and Liu Xingxing fell into deep thought. Seeing this, Li Ziyu turned and began issuing orders to the Undead. The battle wasn’t over. In fact, it was just beginning. They were about to face a horde of even more vicious wild goblins, and they needed to use the time they had to prepare!
