Chapter 405 - 325: Operation Forest Soup 2

"I know," Bai Mao said, not shrinking from the cold night wind in the slightest. In fact, she stood even straighter than Shire. Behind her, a stream of female goblins carried various materials, loading them into the nearby Worker Ant cargo containers. "Are there any other orders?"

Shire looked at Bai Mao's blazing eyes and couldn't help but turn his head away. "N-no, that's all. Be careful. If things go wrong, take your people and run immediately. Don't worry about the materials and pots; they aren't worth much."

"Oh, I know." Bai Mao continued to stare intently at Shire, but he found an excuse and quickly left.

A short while later, preparations were complete. Shire glanced around; everyone was ready. With a wave of his hand, he commanded, "Move out!" His subordinates formed a line and filed into the dense forest.

The moment he stepped into the territory of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, Shire noticed a change in his surroundings. Though the ground was still covered in weeds, shrubs, and a tangled web of tree roots, he could clearly feel something different with each step.

It felt like a layer of loose soil covering a hard road. There must be an ancient, paved road underneath, now buried by time.

Countless crumbling walls and dilapidated ramparts littered the area. With the rampant growth of the forest, many earthen walls had been "pushed" over by large trees. Only a few two-story stone buildings still stood beside the trees, fortunate "survivors" of the decay.

The "streets" were eerily silent, devoid of even birdsong. All that could be heard were the footsteps and panting of the surrounding goblins. It made sense; the birds in this area had likely all been eaten by the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom long ago.

'You can still make out the city's former appearance.' Shire thought as he surveyed the area. He then approached the Skeleton Warrior Elton. "Mr. Elton, I believe this is the 'City of Ten Thousand Races' you spoke of."

Green Ghost Fire drifted within the Skeleton Warrior's eye sockets. His jawbone slowly opened and closed a few times before a sigh echoed in Shire's mind. "Thousands of years have passed. I never thought it would end up like this."

"It's alright. We can rebuild it," Shire said, full of confidence. "Even in this state of ruin, it's still here. And we're still here. We just need to build it back up. Rebuild it and restore it to its former glory."

"You're right," Elton chuckled. "To think that I, an old skeleton who has lived for thousands of years, would show such sorrow in front of you."

Hearing his self-deprecating laugh, Shire laughed as well. "You've only lived for a few thousand years. That doesn't count as old."

"It's just... this place has changed so much. I don't know if the map of the City of Ten Thousand Races you provided will still be of any use." As he spoke, he took a folded piece of animal hide from a leather pouch at his waist. Densely drawn on it was a simple map of a city, covered in numerous markings.

"It can only be used as a reference. The changes here are too drastic," Mr. Elton said, his Ghost Fire eyes scanning from side to side. "We entered the city from the south. In my memory, that was the Kobolds' residential area. Those fellows love to dig, so their homes are almost all built underground. The other Races used to describe them as 'a board on the ground, a museum underground'."

"Kobolds?" Shire glanced back at the dense forest behind them. "This area has probably been completely lost. If they didn't have a habit of building houses above ground, it's unlikely any of their original structures survived."

"Correct," Elton agreed with a nod. But then, as if recalling something, his jawbone clacked a few times, and he let out a "heh heh" sound.

"What are you thinking about?" Shire asked as they walked.

"Something amusing about those Kobolds." Elton shook his skull as he spoke. "You probably don't want to hear it. It's a bit... pungent."

"Pungent?"

"Yes. Those Kobolds like to eat hard things and enjoy gnawing on bones to sharpen their teeth. But they're also devotees of the Dragon Race, so every family likes to display a piece of Dragon Bone for worship. And on every major Kobold holiday, the whole family would line up to go lick the Dragon Bone."

"Ah, is that right?" Shire raised an eyebrow. He'd never heard that rumor before.

"What's even more amusing is that the Lizardmen liked to sell bones to the Kobolds, then collect the Kobolds' droppings." Elton extended a skeletal finger, pointing east to indicate where the Lizardmen lived. "The droppings contained undigested bone fragments. After being coated in the Kobolds' intestinal fluids, they developed a strange smell. The Lizardmen would wash these fragments clean and sell them to Hunters and Fishermen to use as bait."

"Er..." Shire was stunned for a few seconds, not having expected Elton to talk about this. "Right. That is... pungent."

"But you won't see any Kobolds or Lizardmen here now." Mr. Elton sighed, then said, "Let's keep going. We'll go help you guard the entrance to the high tower. That Feathered Serpent Evil God shouldn't be able to do much against our Seventh Field Army."

"I'm counting on you." Shire nodded gravely. Compared to ordinary goblins, these Skeleton Warriors were souls bound to skeletons by powerful Magic. Unless their bones were ground to dust, it was nearly impossible to stop them. And even if they were turned to dust, their souls would simply return to the Nether Sea, not be truly destroyed.

The only ones who could truly kill Skeleton Warriors were High Tier Priests or Necromancers, who could imprison a skeleton's soul, or even destroy it completely. But Shire believed the Feathered Serpent God was incapable of this. Otherwise, he would have encountered a "Goblin Undead Army," not a "Goblin Slipper Army."

To prevent the Feathered Serpent God from waking unexpectedly and causing excessive casualties to his people, Shire had devised a plan to have the Skeleton Warriors restrain it. He had persuaded the skeletons of the "Seventh Field Army" with a single reason and a single promise.

"I will reclaim the City of Ten Thousand Races from the hands of the Evil God, and I promise to restore it to its former glory."

Hearing these words, all the Skeleton Warriors stood ramrod straight. They drew the weapons at their waists, raised them diagonally toward the sky, and silently fixed their gazes on Shire.

Now, after Elton had spoken, with a SHING, he drew the Longsword from his waist. With his other hand, he snatched the flagpole from a goblin's shoulder. Atop the pole, the Seventh Field Army's Black Dragon Battle Banner unfurled completely, snapping in the wind. Against its red background, a Black Dragon soared, its gaping maw a display of ferocious battle lust.

"Long live the Holy Country!" Elton shouted, raising his Longsword.

The dozen or so other Skeleton Warriors also raised their weapons, roaring in unison with him. Then, following the banner, they charged into the night.

As he watched the Black Dragon Battle Banner recede into the distance until it vanished from sight, Shire couldn't help but clench his fists. A rush of adrenaline made him want to charge right alongside those "warriors" from millennia ago and face the Feathered Serpent Evil God. But his rational mind calmed him down. There was still much to be done.

"Stick to the plan," Shire said, looking at the eager Red Eyes. The Skeleton Warriors' charge had clearly fired up this hothead. "Squads of five. Maintain formation and search the burrows one by one."

He had previously trained his subordinates in forest formations, which had been key to defeating the Fallen Druid's "Zombie Goblins." Now, against these ragged goblins, the five-man squad formation would be perfect.

"Hmph." Red Eyes nodded heavily, then waved a hand. "Alright, everyone! Follow me!"

He led the main force and began to quickly sweep the area, following the markers Broken Tooth had left earlier.

As his subordinates moved off into the distance, Shire took the wooden-framed mirror he carried on his back and removed the animal hide covering it.

He took a moment to compose himself, cleared his throat, and spoke to the mirror.

"Great Forest God, I have reached the Goblin Kingdom. This place is truly formidable. I can feel a powerful aura blanketing the area. I don't know what discoveries await me here... perhaps the object you tasked me with finding is buried somewhere in this place."

After speaking, he waited quietly for two minutes. All around him were the footsteps of goblins and the calls of the Ant Farmers directing the Worker Ants.

Suddenly, something flashed on the Domain map in his consciousness. Shire looked at the mirror's surface, but it only showed his own reflection, completely unchanged.

'This old schemer is really good at playing dumb.' Shire grumbled internally.