activa-t Chapter 62 Strange Things
Chapter 62 Strange Things
Sometimes, House wondered why he always encountered unexpected events whenever he went on adventures.
At this moment, the team members stared at the empty goblin nest in front of them, all with puzzled expressions.
Just now, Luna and Harpy were tasked with gathering the latest intelligence, only to discover that the goblin's lair was completely deserted.
There were no sentries to sound the alarm, nor any goblin archers hiding in the treetops to keep watch.
Even when Luna used her stealth advantage to sneak into the goblin's lair to investigate, she was surprised to find that there wasn't a single goblin cub inside.
Logically speaking, the commissions given by the guild are based on real-time updated intelligence, with no 24-hour interval between the end of the investigation and the issuance of the mission.
House and the others received the latest cleaning commission.
The mission clearly stated that there were at least twenty goblins active in this nest, so how could it become so empty in just two nights?
"Did someone get here before us?"
Luther sheathed his longsword at his waist and asked with curiosity in his voice.
"No," Zem shook his head, his tone firm, "there are no signs of a fight."
His gaze slowly swept across the ground at the entrance of the nest, and then over the surrounding vegetation. Every part of it was intact, without the slightest trace of struggle or collision.
Furthermore, in adventure missions, clearing out goblin lairs requires not only killing all the goblins inside, but also completely destroying the lairs to prevent other goblins or monsters from taking the opportunity to occupy them and return.
Furthermore, considering the special nature of guild commissions, non-quest-related monsters can only be recycled at a maximum price of half.
Generally, no adventurer would go to the trouble of doing something so laborious and unrewarding.
"If they weren't adventurers, would goblins move away too?"
Sylvia asked curiously.
After the friendly exchanges between the team around the campfire last night, and House's efforts throughout the night, she has gradually let go of her inhibitions.
Looking at the empty goblin nest, Sylvia subconsciously thought of herself.
Her mother had also taken her with her when she was young, leaving the forest and eventually settling in the town of Wind Chime.
However, Luna immediately rejected Sylvia's guess.
"It's not like we're moving."
Luna shook her head.
When she entered the nest to explore earlier, she noticed that it was fully equipped with all kinds of living utensils. Pottery jars and wooden bowls were neatly arranged, and half-eaten wild fruits and animal meat were scattered in the corner.
Rather than a planned move, she was more inclined to believe that the goblins had encountered some kind of emergency and left in a hurry, without even having time to pack their belongings.
"Captain, what do you think?"
Luther looked at House, who had been silently observing his surroundings.
When asked by his teammates, House slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over everyone, and calmly uttered a single word:
"wait."
Wait for Harpy to bring back news.
House had already found traces of the goblins' departure after discovering the mission target had disappeared, and sent Harpy to investigate.
As a member of the monsters, Harpy occupies the top of the food chain on the outskirts of this forest.
Ordinary small animals wouldn't dare to mess with it.
Monsters don't attack each other randomly, and besides, as a bird-like monster like the Wind Falcon, Harpy not only has the ability to fly but also has extremely high mobility.
As long as Harpy carefully avoids other adventurers, he is almost absolutely safe on the outskirts of this forest.
......
After a while.
Habi turned back.
"ha--"
Upon hearing the message from Harpy, House's eyes narrowed, and he immediately signaled for everyone to retreat.
"They're back!"
I heard that a group of goblins is heading this way from not far away, and their size and number are highly similar to the missing mission target.
Without hesitation, the team members immediately obeyed House's orders, quickly retreating while preparing for battle.
A few more moments passed.
A goblin warrior was the first to emerge from the bushes.
Following them were goblin shield bearers, then goblin archers, sentries, goblin imps with spears and knives, and a goblin cook with a sheep.
And finally, the ordinary goblin imp carrying a whole bunch of cubs.
Seeing this goblin squad of only twenty-odd members, it was surprising that they had an unusually complete range of troop types.
The unit is fully equipped with shield bearers, archers, spear throwers, and support personnel.
House immediately realized something was wrong.
According to the Adventurer's Guide, such a well-organized troop configuration is typically found in large goblin tribes of at least fifty members.
The five-person team hid in a dense, almost impenetrable thicket of bushes a hundred meters away.
The waist-high shrubs are lush and leafy, with layers of golden leaves and intertwined branches forming a dense, impenetrable net.
The five of them lay prone on the soft, decaying leaves, their bodies pressed tightly against the ground, their bodies low and their breathing soft, almost blending into their surroundings.
Dense foliage surrounded them from above and around, completely enveloping them, leaving only a few tiny gaps for them to quietly observe the goblin squad that had suddenly returned a hundred meters away.
Perhaps the five of them were so well hidden that even the wild birds in the forest did not notice anything amiss. They fluttered their wings and landed lightly on the branches above Zem's head.
......
"Gah, gah gah—"
In front of the lair, the leading goblin warrior stopped in front of the campfire, turned around and shouted at the goblins.
Immediately afterwards, three goblin imps stepped out of the group and brought out a large pot from their lair, placing it over the makeshift fire.
Immediately, the goblin cook in the group stepped forward and began to slaughter and process the captured sheep.
The campfire roared, and the soup in the pot gradually boiled, making a bubbling sound.
A strong, pungent smell of mutton wafted on the forest breeze to the noses of House and his group in the distance.
As lowly monsters, goblins, even if they try their best to imitate human lifestyles, cannot learn systematically and lack logical thinking. In the end, they can only imitate in a distorted, crude and barbaric way.
The sheep in the soup pot, apart from having its inedible fur removed, underwent no further processing.
The blood wasn't drained, the internal organs weren't cleaned, and naturally, all the filth remained inside the flesh.
In other words, the goblins are cooking shit.
House found it disgusting.
But since the goblins hadn't entered the lair yet, this wasn't the best time to launch a sneak attack. He could only suppress his discomfort, patiently wait for the right opportunity to strike.
A moment later, the goblins seemed to have cooked a pot of "broth".
At this moment, the leading goblin warrior made a move.
It reached into its crotch and pulled out a palm-sized object, the nature of which it didn't know.
House couldn't see clearly because of the distance.
All he saw was the goblin warrior throwing something into the pot.
The next moment, the soup pot, which had been emitting only a faint white smoke, suddenly exploded into a thick cloud of green smoke, as if it had triggered some kind of strange chemical reaction.
House and the others became increasingly puzzled.
Even Zem, who had gone through dozens of adventures, had never seen such a scene.
No one knows what these goblins are up to.
Fortunately, they understood in no time.
After the goblin warrior finished preparing a pot of broth by throwing in the mysterious item, he shouted a few more times.
At the end of the line, a few goblin imps carrying a large bunch of cubs stepped forward.
The goblin chef picked up a soup ladle and fed each of the cubs a mouthful of broth.
The next moment, the goblin cubs, having drunk the mysterious broth, suddenly swelled up.
Then, under the astonished gazes of House and the others, these nearly thirty palm-sized cubs grew rapidly into goblin imps ranging from sixty centimeters to one meter in just over a minute.