’Could some other goblins have already traded with them?’
Shire’s mind raced. He recalled the white, dough-like objects the Worker Ants had been carrying earlier. That must be what the Ant Queen called the "white softies." ’That should be a type of fungus.’
He remembered seeing in some nature videos that certain ants would collect leaves to cultivate edible fungi. Just a moment ago, while running around and exploring the burrow, Shire had seen a massive fungus cultivation chamber. It was filled with piles of leaves, and a constant stream of Worker Ants carried more leaves inside to hand off to others. The piled leaves were covered in a dense layer of fine white filaments. On some of these filaments, growths had swelled up to look just like soft dough. The Worker Ants would bite off these "dough balls" and pass them to other companions to be transported away.
’I wonder what the previous goblins traded these fungi for.’ Shire thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth. "I’m sorry, but I’m not the goblin who traded with you before."
He paused for a moment, then asked, "Can you tell me where those goblins live?"
Shire wanted to find those goblins and, no matter what, bring them under his command.
First, the fact that these goblins had already engaged in primitive bartering meant they were smart—or at least some of them were.
Currently, his race only had about two goblins ’with brains.’ One was Shire. The other was Buck Teeth and Lame Leg, who together counted as one.
If he could incorporate these smart goblins into his own race, future work would become much more efficient.
Second, their ability to trade with the Ant Race suggested this goblin Race wasn’t small. Shire’s next Obelisk letter required him to have 300 subordinates. Absorbing these goblins would definitely shorten the time needed to reach that goal.
’Forest Whisper... It sounded unreliable, but I guess it still counts as a prophecy,’ Shire thought.
Therefore, he was extremely eager to find out where those goblins were.
"You’re not from that race?" The Ant Queen’s tone held a hint of surprise. Then, she sighed audibly. "His dwelling is very easy to find. Once you leave the burrow, just keep heading straight forward, and you’ll reach it."
"Just straight forward?" Shire rubbed his chin and nodded. "Alright, thank you."
He decided to meet the other goblins first. Then he could use them as intermediaries to communicate with the Ant Queen and try to hire some ants for work. After all, it’s always easier to deal with acquaintances.
After bidding farewell to the Ant Queen, Shire led his subordinates out of the Ant Kingdom and headed straight south.
’How should I convince them?’ he wondered as he walked. ’Persuasion? Or conquest by force?’
Either path was viable. When it came to verbal sparring, he was confident he wouldn’t lose to any goblin. After all, back when he was giving product presentations to clients, these goblins were still catching frogs and digging out mouse holes. As for conquest by force, he was even less afraid. He had Caocao with him. No goblin could stand against a Giant bearing the Blessing of the Evil God. Even if they all ganged up on him, it would be a complete joke.
’It’s in the bag.’ The more Shire thought about it, the more certain he was of victory. ’This is a major step forward for the race.’
The group of goblins hurried south, full of excitement. Before long, Shire saw a small, raised mound of earth ahead. ’That can’t be the entrance to their burrow, can it?’
He turned to Fulu and asked, "Any Telepathy?"
"None." Fulu shook its eyestalks.
"None?" Shire frowned. He thought for a moment and said, "Then we must need to go further south."
He led his subordinates to the small mound and found a downward-sloping passage. ’Could this be an underground stone chamber?’
Shire then led his men into the stone chamber, and they began to search the area with torches.
Soon, the goblins made a discovery. Lame Leg shouted, "There’s something here!"
Shire immediately ran over. He saw a yellowish-white, oval-shaped object before him, like a cocoon.
The cocoon was surrounded by white threads that looked like spider silk.
"Cut it open," Shire ordered Red Eyes, his face grim. He was thinking of something terrible.
SWISH! Red Eyes sliced the cocoon open with a single strike. As the silky outer layer fell away to the sides, a grayish skeleton tumbled out.
"Judging by the proportions, it’s a goblin," Shire said, his eyes narrowed. Then, his subordinates started reporting discoveries in other places.
Shire looked around and saw numerous wooden bowls on the dusty floor, as well as a few large pots toppled over at the base of the wall. Everything looked old, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time.
"Chief, there’s something else here!" a goblin shouted.
It was a thin, translucent brown fragment. Shire recognized it at once as the wing of a Burrow Bee, like the ones he had encountered before.
"It seems they’re all dead." Shire looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh.
At the same time, he felt a change in his Domain map.
He submerged his consciousness and summoned his Domain. As the ink-like markings spread out like Water Flow, the entire area was revealed.
’This is my current location. It must be where the Goblin Race was completely wiped out,’ Shire thought, studying the whole area. ’The question mark to the north should be the Ant Race’s burrow, and these two crossed-sword icons on either side...’
He glanced at the two icons, which were some distance from the stone chamber. ’Those should be the entrances to the lairs of those spiders and Burrow Bees.’
’These monsters are truly vicious. The spiders are ferocious, the Giant Bees are cunning, and right now they’re both feeding on the ants. If they eat all the ants, they’ll probably start expanding into the surrounding areas next.’
Shire turned to look at the goblin skeleton wrapped in spider silk. ’Their hunting grounds are already close to reaching the Fortress’s territory. The spiders are slower, but the Burrow Bees have a much larger search range. If they discover my race, they’ll definitely attack, especially since they’ve already had a taste of goblin.’
’We’re going back. First, I’ll ask the Ant Queen and gather intelligence.’ He clenched his fist and ordered his subordinates to head back the way they came.
The group moved like the wind, their arrival filled with anticipation, their departure fraught with anxiety.
Before long, Shire and his subordinates were back at the entrance to the Ant Nest. He stood by the entrance, waiting for the Ant Queen to send a Worker Ant to guide them.
Suddenly, he noticed Lame Leg beside him, staring wide-eyed at the distant sky. Shire turned to look and saw a "black cloud" drifting toward them.
’That can’t be... Burrow Bees, can it?’ Shire’s brow tightened. He immediately shouted, "Everyone, into the burrow!"
They couldn’t wait for a Worker Ant escort any longer. After all, goblins were on the menu for those things too.
His subordinates quickly followed his orders, entering the burrow and pressing themselves against the walls to avoid being knocked over and trampled by the rushing ants.
Shire stayed close to the entrance, his eyes fixed on the sky above. The Burrow Bees were already overhead, their buzzing filling the air.
The ants had also spotted the uninvited guests and began scurrying into the burrow at a faster pace. But just then, the Burrow Bees dove down and launched their attack.
Shire watched the predators. They swooped down, plunged the stingers on their abdomens into the Worker Ants’ bodies, and injected their venom. A moment later, the stung Worker Ant would start to sway, then collapse to the ground, twitching and curling up. Then, these Burrow Bees would grab the curled-up corpses and fly off toward their nest.
’Death comes quickly. If Caocao were stung a few times, he’d probably die too.’ Shire watched the slaughter outside with a grim expression. There weren’t many living Worker Ants left on the ground.
Moreover, the Burrow Bees began to land, seemingly intending to charge into the burrow.
"Everyone, throw Blazing Fire Glue at the entrance!" Having determined their intent, Shire immediately ran deeper into the burrow while shouting the order.
BOOM! A dozen gobs of Blazing Fire Glue were thrown, creating a wall of fire at the burrow’s entrance.
’I hope this stops them.’ Shire leaned against the burrow wall, waiting quietly.
Unfortunately, he had underestimated the creatures’ greed. Two Burrow Bees folded their wings and squeezed in through the top of the entrance. Shire had no choice but to order his men to throw more Blazing Fire Glue.
This time, the raging flames ignited the two Burrow Bees. They panicked and tried to crawl back out, but the burrow was too narrow. After bumping into each other several times, they finally died at the entrance under Shire’s gaze. Their burning corpses successfully blocked the other Burrow Bees that wanted to enter.
Before long, Shire saw through his telescope that the cunning predators had finally all flown away.
"It’s over." Shire let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the burrow wall.
"Chief, what do we do now?" Red Eyes came closer and asked. His eyes, however, weren’t on Shire, but were staring at something to the side.
"Let’s wait a little longer," Shire said. He was prepared to take his men directly down to find the Ant Queen if the Ant Race was in too much chaos. Then, he noticed Red Eyes’ gaze, and he turned to look as well. He saw Lame Leg sitting on the ground, holding a blue, basketball-sized object.
"What is that?" Shire waited for a Worker Ant to pass before walking over to Lame Leg.
"I don’t know, Chief." Lame Leg immediately put down the blue sphere and stood up.
"How did it appear?" Shire asked.
"I was just watching all those ants rushing into the burrow," Lame Leg said after a moment’s thought. "I was just thinking it would be nice if something could carry me and run."
As he said this, he glanced at Caocao, as if referencing the time the Giant had carried him.
’This must be his Secret Servant.’ Shire crouched down to examine the blue sphere. "What does it do?"
"It can change," Lame Leg said. Then, he did something, and the Secret Servant unfolded, gradually transforming into a disk half a meter in diameter.
"Interesting. What else can it do?" Shire asked.
"It..." Lame Leg thought about what had just happened. "It seems like it can let me see other places. I just had it fly deeper into the burrow to take a look."
"Shared vision?" Shire nodded. This Secret Servant was pretty fun. He was about to ask more, but a Worker Ant approached the goblins.
The Worker Ant touched Shire a few times, then gestured for them to follow it.
"The Ant Queen is summoning us," Shire said with a smile.
Then, the group of goblins once again headed into the depths of the burrow.