“Roar—!”
With a resounding roar, the Red Dragon flapped his wings and soared over Boulder Fortress.
The Ogres guarding on the ground immediately waved their wooden clubs in cheers, while the Wyverns guarding both sides of the gate stretched their necks, raised their heads, and let out long cries, welcoming the arrival of the master of this nest.
When Ke Xiu Si returned to Giant Mouth Cave, even the Chimera respectfully came forward to greet him, not daring to show the slightest neglect.
“Langpu, how have things been in the past few days I’ve been out?”
The Ogre Mage in front of him was surprisingly wearing a pair of delicate silver-rimmed glasses, which he must have snatched from somewhere. The small glasses precariously perched on his huge head, looking comically absurd.
Langpu deliberately pushed up his glasses, unrolled the scroll in his hand, and while carefully perusing it, said, “Ember Nest currently has thirty-eight Ogres, four hundred thirty-five Goblins, twenty-six Worgs, twenty-seven Goblins, one hundred twenty-one Kobolds, and fifteen Wyverns.”
He paused significantly before speaking again: “Three days ago, Lord Dolo, the Earth Goblin leader, dispatched twenty-seven Worg riders to the Lost Mine. They suffered heavy losses, with only six riders returning alive, three of whom were injured. The remaining twenty-one Worg riders are all missing.”
“Where is Dolo?”
“He’s still at the Goblin camp. The Goblin camp and the Kobold’s nest overlap, so he’s leading people to tear down those doggy dens,” the Ogre Mage chuckled, a cunning glint flashing in his eyes.
“I understand. You continue your spell research.” The Red Dragon’s tone betrayed no emotion.
“Lord Dolo, you can’t tear this down. Our little ones need to hatch eggs here,” the Kobold leader, with a golden tooth embedded in his mouth, said with a fawning smile, looking up at the tall Earth Goblin.
“Get lost, you stinking doggy brats, don’t get in our way,” Dolo waved his hand, looking impatient.
Jin Ya hesitated for a moment, then still blocked the Earth Goblin’s path and said, “Lord, we specifically reported this to Steward Langpu, and he already approved it. To change it now, don’t you think it’s a bit unreasonable?”
In the eyes of the war- and strength-worshipping Earth Goblins, these weak Kobolds were worthless, not even qualified to be cannon fodder. Moreover, their intelligence had indirectly caused him to lose dozens of Worg knights, earning him several sarcastic remarks from Langpu.
Thinking of this, the Earth Goblin leader became even more enraged. His already reddish-brown face flushed even deeper. He kicked the Kobold away and spat fiercely at him.
“Langpu, Langpu, always Langpu! What’s an Ogre worth?!”
“If you hadn’t shown your face and been noted by the master, sooner or later I’d have—”
Just as he was about to follow up with another kick, he suddenly found his shadow enveloped by a massive dark figure. The Kobolds on the ground also showed expressions of having found a savior.
“Sooner or later, what?” The Red Dragon’s tone was cold.
Dolo’s face immediately did a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, instantly filled with a ingratiating smile. He turned his head and said apologetically, “Master, you’re back! It was my oversight just now, not greeting you at the entrance. Instead, I wasted time here.”
Jin Ya, however, knelt on the ground, snot and tears streaming down his face, wailing, “Master, you must uphold justice for us Kobolds! Although Lord Dolo means well, what will we Kobolds do without a nest?”
Dolo shot him a fierce glare, then turned back with a fawning smile: “You misunderstand. I was supervising the construction progress of the Goblin camp. When I saw this group of Kobolds causing trouble, I—”
Ke Xiu Si couldn't stand the farce any longer and interrupted directly: “Enough, Dolo. Leave space for the Kobolds. Don’t cause any more trouble.”
Jin Ya was utterly satisfied, his mouth spouting endless flattery, his lips moving so fast they almost created afterimages.
“Great Master, your benevolence and justice are unrivaled, your might…”
“Continue building your nest.”
The Red Dragon didn't pay much attention to Jin Ya, merely saying casually to the Earth Goblin, “Bring those Worg riders here. I want to see what kind of thing could cause them such heavy losses.”
The Earth Goblin felt somewhat uneasy upon hearing the Red Dragon mention the Worg riders, but seeing that the Red Dragon was not angry, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued to carry out the order.
With a series of wolf howls, several Worgs carrying Goblins rushed out of the barracks and knelt before the Red Dragon.
The six Goblins before him looked panicked, most of them injured. One was even carried out by a Worg, covered in charred wounds and wrapped in medicinal herbs, looking as if he wouldn't live much longer.
Dolo wielded a leather whip and sternly commanded, “Tell the great Master your experiences.”
“Th-that was a terrifying monster,” one of the Goblins said.
“It ate everyone,” another Goblin added.
“It, he was a shadow.”
It was the same story as the Kobold earlier: a monster that could devour everything, whose form couldn't be clearly seen in the gloomy mine, only a vague black shadow, from which its enormous size could be inferred.
“Is there no useful information at all?” the Red Dragon demanded.
Seeing the Red Dragon seemingly a bit displeased, Dolo immediately cracked his leather whip and roared, “Your cowardly escape has already shamed the Master enough! Now that you have a chance to redeem yourselves, can’t you be of any use?”
Although the Goblins feared the whipping, being ignorant was being ignorant. Their simple minds couldn't even concoct a decent lie.
Dolo looked up at the Red Dragon, his face instantly changing: “Master, please trust me again. I will make these useless creatures productive. Next time, next time for sure—”
Just as Ke Xiu Si was becoming somewhat disappointed by this.
The Goblin lying on the Worg’s back barely opened his eyes, painfully parted his lips, and stammered, “I, I saw it. Lightning. It, he can use lightning, blue.”
This Goblin’s consciousness was already somewhat muddled.
But clearly, the lightning had left a deep impression on him.
Lightning?
And blue?
Could it be a Blue Dragon?
But then Ke Xiu Si shook his head. Blue Dragons prefer to live in deserts, not in dark, deep mines. Their arrogant nature would not allow them to hide in the darkness.
Moreover, Blue Dragons are famously territorial. It would be impossible for him to allow Kobolds and human smugglers into his territory.
“I still need to go there myself and investigate,” the Red Dragon thought.
Given the current situation, sending more subordinates would simply be a pure drain on his own forces. From the Worg riders’ descriptions, even sending Wyverns would likely just result in them being served up as food.
And Ke Xiu Si would absolutely not let the gold mine, delivered right to his mouth, escape him.
Heaven-defying censorship, over two hundred characters deleted. Do Goblins fit the system's XP?