Free Web NovelChapter 5: Chapter 5: The Enemies are Bear Goblins
Goblins are a very interesting species.
They don’t eat the heads of their prey. Instead, they impale them on wooden stakes and place them in the forest to mark their Hunting Grounds. Each tribe demarcates a section of the forest as its Hunting Ground, and the borders are ultimately decided through conflict between the tribes.
This cycle repeats itself. As the goblin tribes continually expand, the Nightmare Forest has been carved up into numerous Hunting Grounds of varying sizes.
Goblins are greedy. Even with the head-marked borders, they will still sneak across them. If they aren’t attacked, they will occupy their neighbors’ territory.
Goblins are also foolish. Adventurers don’t pull out these head markers; instead, they map out the various territories, making it easier to "harvest ears."
It’s common for a tribe of seven or eight goblins to be wiped out by Adventurers in a single day, only for a few more goblins to occupy the same area three days later.
When Shire became leader, the first thing he did was pull out all the head markers in his Hunting Ground and secretly plant them in the territory of a neighboring goblin nest.
At the same time, he had his subordinates climb into the treetops to stand guard. Through these tactics and the camouflage of their green skin, they successfully evaded the Adventurers’ searches.
However, the intelligence Little John revealed before he left—that Adventurers would be forming larger parties to enter the forest—was very important.
While waiting for the "potatoes" to finish roasting, he picked up a stick and casually drew a simple map on the ground.
"This is the forest. On its edge is Yangjiao Town, which is under Count Valentine’s rule. The Darren River flows through the town."
"More manpower means a wider and more thorough search." He drew a line along the edge of the forest. "Therefore, this entire peripheral area of the forest will become more dangerous."
’Strange, why would they expand their parties?’
’Did something dangerous happen? What danger could there be on the forest’s edge? It’s just goblins everywhere.’
Unable to figure it out, Shire tapped the stick against his palm like a teacher’s pointer. ’Whatever. No matter what, we have to increase our strength to protect ourselves.’
’To protect ourselves...’ He sized up his three subordinates, who were currently fighting over food.
"Bastard, that’s mine!" A 1.5-meter-tall goblin snatched half a rat back from his companion.
His name was Red Eyes. He was the number two in the tribe. Compared to the green pupils common among goblins, he had a pair of red eyes.
[Name: Red Eyes]
[Race: goblin]
[Danger Level: 0.8, a capable piece of trash]
[personality: Reckless]
Although Red Eyes was a bit stupid, he was the tribe’s current muscle. He was also the one who had competed with Shire for the leader position. Now, during hunts, Red Eyes was the one who mainly confronted enemies head-on.
The goblin whose rat had been stolen by Red Eyes didn’t dare to fight back. Instead, he scooped an insect out of the pot.
His name was Broken Tooth. He was 1.4 meters tall, and one of his left teeth was broken in half, though by whom was unknown.
[Name: Broken Tooth]
[Race: goblin]
[Danger Level: 0.7, a somewhat useful piece of trash]
[personality: Cowardly]
Broken Tooth was extremely timid. When the Fearsome Claw Bear swatted the previous leader to death, he had run even faster than Shire.
However, he had excellent eyesight. Shire had him climb trees to act as a lookout. If he spotted anything unusual, he would make a "COO COO" bird call. He was also responsible for snatching bird eggs.
Just now, when Little John was here, he had been hiding behind the leaves.
The white-haired goblin cooking at the front, Bai Mao, fished two frog legs out of the pot and began gnawing on them with gusto.
Her name was Bai Mao. She was 1.3 meters tall and the only female goblin in the tribe.
[Name: Bai Mao]
[Race: goblin]
[Danger Level: 0.5, a piece of trash]
[personality: Cowardly]
Female and male goblins looked mostly the same, but females were smaller, with softer features and fewer wrinkles on their faces.
Another major rule of the Goblin Race is that the leader possesses all the female goblins. This is one of the reasons why insubordination is so common in this Race.
However, Shire had no interest in female goblins. He still preferred blond, fair-skinned, long-legged Elf girls.
Besides, since he joined this tribe, Bai Mao had already become a "widow" three times. Shire felt it was more appropriate to call her "Sister-in-law."
Her daily tasks were to gather wild fruits and Mushrooms, as well as cook the food.
Shire didn’t trust the intelligence of goblins, so he always had Bai Mao show him the Mushrooms she gathered. He would then test and identify them, picking out the edible ones.
For example, those that were entirely yellow with red and blue spots on their caps looked problematic at a glance.
Shire rubbed his chin and mused. ’A brute, a coward, and a sister-in-law... These are my subordinates.’ They seemed unreliable, but their saving grace was that they were obedient. When he had trained them to hunt wild boars before, their coordination had been excellent.
First, Broken Tooth, hiding in the trees, would signal the appearance of prey with a bird call. Then, once the prey triggered the mechanism, a dummy goblin made by Bai Mao from vines and grass would pop up. After the enraged boar charged the dummy and fell into a pit filled with Long Spears, he and Red Eyes would jump out from their hiding spot to attack the remaining piglets.
The plan was seamless and thorough, and his subordinates had rehearsed it quite convincingly.
He hadn’t expected to reap such a great reward the first time they put it into practice today.
"But relying on just the three of them is courting death." Shire took the stick he’d been using as a back-scratcher from behind his back.
"The fastest way is to absorb another tribe." He pointed the stick to the north. "’When the enemy advances, I retreat.’"
"Red Eyes, come here." He summoned his subordinate to his side. "Do you know the situation with the nearest goblin tribe to the north?"
"I know. They’re very, very cunning," Red Eyes said nonchalantly, a piece of fruit peel stuck to his teeth.
"How many goblins do they have?"
"Leader, they have 16."
Shire nodded. That was a decent number; any more would be troublesome.
The leader of a goblin tribe will expel subordinates they don’t trust, and they will also absorb outsider goblins into their tribe.
’If I use the excuse of wanting to join them to lull them into a false sense of security, then carry out a decapitation strike, given the cowardly nature of goblins, there’s a high chance they’ll surrender en masse.’
’Right now, my tribe is a gang at best. If I can absorb all of them, then we could at least be considered a proper forest community.’
Shire asked confidently, "Have you seen their leader?"
"I have. It’s a Bear Goblin, about this tall."
After saying that, Red Eyes picked up a long branch and stood on his tiptoes to show Shire the height.
"That... must be two meters tall." Shire was dumbfounded. He knew that the Goblin Race was not blessed by the Gods, so they had to worship Evil Gods. The power of the Evil Gods caused goblins to mutate, giving birth to "variants" like Bear Goblins. Moreover, this mutation occurred randomly during childbirth.
Shire had never seen a real Bear Goblin; his knowledge came from natural history books he had read. The books said that Bear Goblins were born for battle and chaos, and that they grew much faster than ordinary goblins within a tribe.
He hadn’t expected the opposing leader to be a Bear Goblin.
"Alright, go on and eat." Shooing Red Eyes away, Shire continued to ponder his strategy.
’There’s no way to win this fight. I’d go in, and I’d be instantly killed. It’d be like an adult swatting a child.’
’Should I find a time to go around them and avoid contact? Impossible. I still have to meet Little John. I have to take down this group of goblins.’
"Bear Goblins are powerful, huh," Shire muttered to himself as he poked at the "potatoes" in the ashes.
He speared a charred one and peeled off the skin. "But it’s still just a mutated goblin."
"I’ll go scout them out this afternoon."
He took a bite of the tuber and his mouth trembled from the heat. "Damn it, I’m so sick of eating this crap."
...
Scarface huddled into a ball, looking at the three goblins in front of him with some terror.
The Bear Goblin leader had eaten the lion’s share of lunch today. He hadn’t managed to get many scraps, so he had come out to find something to eat out of hunger.
He knew it was dangerous to go out alone, but he couldn’t help it; he was just too hungry.
In the end, he found no food and was instead captured by three wild goblins.
’You guys have no honor, ambushing me on our territory.’
’If the leader were here, he’d definitely take you out one by one with his club.’
"Don’t be afraid, I have something to ask you." Shire asked with a toothy grin, "What are you doing here all by yourself?"
"I... The leader sent me to scout," Scarface said, his eyes darting around. "He’s right behind me with his men."
"You’d better let me go. When my leader gets here, killing you will be like squishing white grubs. SQUISH, SQUISH, one hit each."
Shire said, "That’s great. I was actually coming to ask if we could join you."
"Join?" Hearing this, Scarface stood up straight. "You can join, but you have to get through me first. The leader doesn’t just accept anyone."
As he spoke, he looked down at Shire arrogantly and pointed to his mouth.
Shire smiled and handed over a few wild fruits, asking, "So, can we see the leader now?"
"See the leader?" Scarface snatched the wild fruits and stuffed them into his mouth. "No, the leader is seriously injured. He’s not seeing any goblins right now."
"If I don’t agree, the leader will never see you." After saying that, he held out his hand and beckoned with his fingers, asking for more food.
Shire continued to smile and said, "Red Eyes, beat him."
After a few mournful howls, Scarface was curled up in a ball again.
’He was furious. How dare these outsider goblins bully him like this.’
’Aren’t they afraid he’ll tell the Bear Goblin leader and have them all beaten to death?’
’They should look at who they’re dealing with. The scar on his forehead was given to him by the Bear Goblin leader himself, back when he was fighting for food.’
’Besides, these three goblins don’t even smell like goblins. What kind of savages are they?’
"You know, I really do want to join. I just don’t know when your leader will arrive."
Shire squatted down and helped wipe the blood from Scarface’s face.
"I’m telling the truth," Scarface said, his mouth twitching as Shire touched his wounds. "Our leader was bitten by a Fearsome Claw Bear. He’s recovering in the cave."
Hearing this, Shire took out two wild fruits from behind his back and said, "Really?"
"Really." Scarface’s eyes showed his greed as he saw the wild fruits. "But you still need my approval."
Shire looked at the goblin who was bluffing while relying on his leader’s might, and smiled. "In that case, we’ll come tomorrow."
With that, he pulled Scarface to his feet.
As Shire moved, Scarface winced in pain, but he still quickly snatched the wild fruits and stuffed them into his mouth to chew, ignoring the pain in his face.
"Alright, aren’t you going to get lost?" A satisfied smile appeared on Shire’s face as he took the club from Red Eyes’ hand and feigned a swing.
Terrified, Scarface turned and ran. After a few steps, seeing that they weren’t chasing him, he stopped and looked back.
’Why did those goblins give me fruit? Are they afraid of me?’
Seeing them raise the club again in the distance, he turned and ran towards the cave.
’Those three goblins are afraid of me. They don’t dare to chase me.’ He was sure of it. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
’These wild fruits are so sour. Why do I feel even hungrier now?’
