I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 368: Goblin's Adaptability

"Complete the final inspection work!"In front of the long line of carts, Steward Ivan was loudly instructing his subordinates.

Beside him, a young apprentice was holding a booklet, checking the listed supplies one by one.

Actually, this wasn't his first time checking.

However, this was after all the first large-scale extermination operation since the Red Dragon Guild's establishment, so no amount of detailed pre-departure checks was excessive.

Once out in the wilderness, supplies that seemed easily obtainable in the city, if lacking, would become hundreds of times harder to acquire.

"Why did you decide to bring so many people out this time?"

Aria asked.

"After all, it's a large nest of nearly two thousand Goblins. If we still relied on Eck to carry things like last time, it would take forever. Besides, the distance to this location isn't as close as the last one."

"It's better to organize a cart convoy to follow us; it'll serve as training for them too."

Gauss said, looking at the convoy.

After hearing this, the others didn't say much more.

However, this field team about to follow Gauss and the others outside was clearly not as calm as they were.

Debbie looked at her old teammate Donovan trembling slightly beside her and reached out to pat his shoulder.

"Hey Donovan, you're not scared, are you?"

"N-nonsense!" Donovan took a deep breath and rubbed his cheeks.

Then he looked around and, seeing no one was watching him, lowered his voice to ask her,

"Was it that obvious?"

"Haha, relax," Debbie chuckled softly.

"How can I not be nervous? This is two thousand Goblins," Donovan muttered under his breath.

Although he had over ten years of adventurer experience, he had never encountered enemies on this scale before.

The most he'd faced was about thirty Goblins, and that was when cooperating with another team.

Moreover, that experience wasn't exactly smooth, making him more cautious when accepting commissions afterwards.

And this time, two thousand is a full sixty times that.

As everyone knows, regardless of the type of monster nest, as the monster numbers increase, the threat they pose grows explosively.

1-2 Goblins could be killed by his own strength alone, but if facing 4-5 simultaneously, he'd be the one getting killed.

20 or more Goblins are enough to wipe out most low-tier adventurer teams.

100 or more Goblins can threaten a village.

These 2000 Goblins are already a scale beyond his comprehension. In his view, some poorly defended towns might inadvertently be overrun by them.

He turned to look at his companions.

The convoy of several dozen people consisted mostly of support personnel.

He and the other riders clearly wouldn't participate in combat at this level either.

In other words, when the time comes, it would rely solely on the strength of the Guild Leader and a few others?

Thinking this, he couldn't help but shake his head.

He certainly knew the Guild Leader's strength was formidable; after all, those who establish adventuring guilds aren't ordinary people. But relying on just their small number to clear out a large-scale Goblin nest... wasn't that being overly confident?

Especially since, when accepting the commission yesterday, he was fortunate enough to tag along and listen in.

He vaguely heard that the Guild Leader also seemed to be accepting a nest extermination commission of this scale for the first time.

"What's there to fear? If the sky falls, won't the Guild Leader sir be holding it up?"

Compared to the deeply worried Donovan, Debbie appeared very carefree.

"I hope so," Donovan swallowed.

It wasn't that he questioned the Guild Leader's decision in his heart; it was just that the enemy this time seemed far too powerful in his eyes. With the slightest misstep, they might end up as bleached bones with no one to collect them.

His gaze secretly drifted towards the Guild Leader and the others laughing and chatting in the distance, praying silently in his heart.

"Guild Leader sir, you must bring us back safely."

He didn't want to die.

...

"Clomp, clomp—"

The thick hooves of the pack animals trod on the earth.

The convoy had already left Falim, heading towards the commission's target direction.

"Lord Gauss, try it on quickly!"

Albenia eagerly handed the Mithril light armor in her hands to Gauss.

She had been crafting this set of equipment for a while. The reason it was finished so late was because she later commissioned an alchemist in the city to inscribe several magical effects into it. Just before departure, she finally completed this armor set.

Gauss sat in the luxurious carriage compartment, taking the equipment from her hands.

As expected of special equipment incorporating Mithril.

Holding it, he felt it was much lighter than normal armor, but its protective capability was improved by who knows how much.

In terms of appearance, this light armor was also flawless.

The midday sunlight from outside the carriage window spilled onto the Mithril light armor, making its surface flow with a sacred-like luster.

It felt cool to the touch, but not icy.

The armor plates were thin yet tough, connected at the joints by flexible enchanted leather. Moving it around with his hands, it barely made any metal scraping noises.

The helmet also seemed specially crafted for Gauss, its shape resembling a dragon's head, with the forehead area slightly raised to form a pair of small, rugged horns.

Overall, it was very beautiful.

"You worked hard, Albenia."

"I really like it."

Gauss used Outfit-changing Magic to envelop this Mithril light armor, completing the binding shortly after.

With a thought, the armor appeared on his body.

He moved his limbs around, not feeling any sense of restriction.

His strength and explosive power seemed to have received a certain boost.

Moreover, due to the incorporation of a not insignificant amount of Mithril, this armor also possessed considerable magical defense characteristics and excellent mana conductivity.

As he channeled his mana into it, faint purple vein-like halos began to flow on the dragon-scale-like vambrace on his right arm. The entire armor set seemed to come alive, emitting soft sounds.

After a brief test, he withdrew his mana.

Without a doubt, this was also a purple-quality piece of equipment.

Compared to the Moonlight Robe, which was also purple-quality, this Mithril light armor had stronger defensive capabilities and was more conducive to melee combat for him.

He could flexibly switch between them during combat using Outfit-changing Magic based on specific needs.

"Shadow, I'll forge a set for you with the remaining Mithril when I have time."

"Alright."

Aside from Gauss, Shadow indeed needed a set of light armor.

Facing Albenia's suggestion, she didn't refuse excessively.

Three days of travel passed in the blink of an eye.

Along the way, Gauss and the others encountered quite a few other convoys.

However, as they traveled further into remote areas, the probability of meeting others rapidly decreased.

This time's destination was located northeast of Falim, in an ancient forest area called the Hundred Mists Woodland. Legend said this forest belonged to a small elven clan's territory long ago.

The woods grew many towering, massive ancient trees.

The convoy stopped at the edge of the woodland.

"Finally here."

Members got off the carts, surveying the desolate surroundings.

Although several days had passed since departure, many of them still hadn't fully adapted to the wilderness.

Fortunately, seeing Gauss and the others at the head of the team, they felt reassured.

Gauss looked at the map in his hand.

According to intelligence, that nest of over 2000 Goblins was located inside this White Mists Woodland.

They occupied a ruined site, establishing a demonic den nestled among giant trees.

"Serlandul, Albenia, please direct the others to find a suitable place to set up camp."

"Shadow, you come with me to scout for information."

"Aria, have Eck scatter the crow flock to observe if there are any dangerous beasts outside the woodland that might threaten the other members."

Gauss quickly assigned tasks, and everyone dispersed.

Then he and Shadow entered the woods.

Upon entering the woodland, a faint layer of white mist hung in the air.

"Ooh! Ooh!"

Strange cries could faintly be heard.

He twitched his nostrils; a faint, familiar stench floated in the air.

It was the smell of Goblin feces.

Gauss had no intention of using Locate Creature, to prevent any spellcasters that might exist in their nest from sensing the mana fluctuations belonging to the location spell.

He and Shadow flew through the air, moving swiftly and silently through the woods.

After a while.

The abnormal sounds around them became more frequent.

He looked down; below, a Goblin squad was lifting a dead Stag onto a Flat Cart.

Compared to Goblins from smaller nests, these Goblins appeared more robust, even somewhat "well-trained."

"Ma! Ma!"

The leading Goblin Squad Captain screeched a few times, and the surrounding Goblins pushed the cart, starting to move deeper into the woodland.

Gauss didn't attack.

Instead, he continued flying deeper.

After another while.

Among many giant ancient trees, he saw that Goblin nest.

Calling it a nest was more like calling it a tree-city.

The central withered ancient tree was incredibly massive, hollowed out inside, with many staggered platforms extending outward. Natural tree-bridges and ropeways connected the dead giant ancient tree with the surrounding giant trees.

Vertically, hanging baskets and cages linked the ground and tree platforms via rope-net platforms, rope ladders, layered aerial obstacle nets, and some wooden staircases built around the trees.

The members of this Goblin nest lived among these giant trees like monkeys.

Below the tree-city, a garbage dump had formed, littered with excrement, trash, and bone fragments.

Gauss silently observed this structure, completely different from any Goblin nest he had encountered before.

He gained a new understanding of Goblins' "adaptability."

Goblins' habitats are far too diverse.

Natural caves, mine shafts, ruins, woodland plains, mountains, islands, and now living among giant trees.

They seemed capable of living in any environment, developing different skills and social structures based on their surroundings.

Cave-dwelling Goblins were generally shorter; island-terrain Goblins grew webbed membranes between their fingers, similar to Water Ghosts.

Like the Goblins before him now, their arm muscles were more developed, likely to enhance their climbing ability, and their body structure was closer to an "ape" morphology.

"Cave-dwarf variety Goblin," "Marine Water Ghost-type Goblin," "Tree-dwelling ape-specialized Goblin."

From a population survival perspective, this adaptive talent was clearly extremely remarkable, granting them more possibilities.

Unfortunately, Goblins were hostile creatures.

The better they developed, the more dangerous they became for human settlements.

Like this time, it was because this Goblin nest sent out teams to attack a village over ten kilometers away. Fortunately, a passing adventurer team was resting in the village at the time, helping the villagers repel the raiding party, and subsequently evacuated the villagers promptly.

However, the livestock, tools, and crops they couldn't completely take in time ended up benefiting this Goblin nest.

Goblins were not creatures that knew how to be content and law-abiding.

When they developed to a certain scale, they would naturally choose to expand outward, especially fond of attacking established human villages, towns, and other settlements.

Violence, plunder, reproduction—it was as if these were programs etched into their blood, urging them to wage war against other races.

"The intelligence isn't wrong."

"There should indeed be nearly two thousand Goblins."

Gauss's gaze lingered on the various platforms, quickly arriving at a rough estimate.

This was also the largest monster habitat nest he had encountered so far.

Two thousand didn't sound like much, but seeing it in person was more massive than imagined.

Looking around, those green-skinned figures were almost everywhere.

They slid along ropeways, or hopped about on the layered obstacle nets. Inside and outside the trees, in the air and on the ground, they were practically everywhere.

"Let's head back first."

After observing from a distance for a while, Gauss and Shadow chose to withdraw for now.

Back outside the woodland, the Red Dragon Guild had already set up camp.

Evening approached, and campfires were lit.

He shared the observed intelligence with his other three teammates.

"Rest tonight, we'll begin the formal operation tomorrow."

...

The next day.

The Gauss team, prepared for battle, made their final assembly outside the woodland.

"Guild Leader, don't you need us to mobilize?"

"No need. You just need to maintain vigilance here at the camp."

Gauss shook his head.

He naturally didn't need these support personnel to follow them into the depths of the woodland.

The current Red Dragon Guild hadn't formally recruited more combat personnel to form second or third teams yet. Aside from the Gauss team, the rest were auxiliary personnel.

They only needed to provide transport and looting support during combat.

Two thousand Goblins were many, but they clearly couldn't threaten him, the natural enemy of Goblins.

The only thing he needed to pay attention to was minimizing the possibility of Goblins escaping.

The numbers were too high; even he might not be able to completely eliminate them all.

"Move out!"

After the Gauss team assembled, they entered the woodland.

The other members watched their backs disappear into the vast, eerie woods, sighing in relief yet unable to suppress some nervousness, as their main pillar of support had left.

They could only turn their gazes towards the huge silver wolf left behind by Gauss, seeking solace from it.

The silver wolf glanced at the crowd quietly approaching it, lay down on the spot, and sighed humanely.

Why was it always left behind? Clearly, it also wanted to follow and join the slaughter.

Inside the woodland.

After some travel, Gauss, familiar with the route, led his teammates to the outskirts of the Goblin tree-city nest discovered yesterday afternoon.

"Aria, Serlandul, Albenia, you three form one team, launch the attack from the outside."

"Shadow and I will descend from above the nest, launching a lightning strike against that Goblin Chieftain."

"I'll first use about three Fireball spells to destroy these terrain points; be careful to avoid potential damage."

"Afterwards, I'll use Ice Storm to alter the terrain, freezing the swampy ground below."

Gauss reiterated his plan once more to prevent friendly fire.

"Understood."

The plan wasn't complicated; Aria and the others expressed their understanding.

Then their figures scattered, hiding within the woods.

Central tree-city, a tall Goblin walked from inside the hollowed giant tree onto a platform.

Its height approached three meters. Unlike common Goblin forms, its build was more like a giant ape, with dense green fur growing on its back.

Its two arms were extremely muscular, like two large hammers. Huge, sharp black claws reflected light under the sun.

For some reason, after waking up this morning, it felt unusually irritable.

Watching its tribesmen still hopping about on the protective nets, it lifted its slender "ape arm," grabbed one down, and slammed it onto the ground.

Soon, a puddle of green, indistinct flesh and blood appeared on the platform.

"ROAR!"

With its roar, the surrounding Goblins fell silent.

The Goblin Chieftain slightly raised its head, its pair of broad ears intently listening, trying to catch any unusual sounds in the air.

Its instinct for sensing danger told it that something about this familiar woodland seemed different.

It looked down at its thick, mane-covered arm, only to see its hairs had begun to stand on end one by one.

It hadn't felt this ominous sensation in a long time.

It was as if some natural enemy had already set foot in its territory.