The First Battle of Expansion, Part One

On May 17, 9720 of the Radiant Calendar, after receiving the sixty carts of grain and batch of farm tools Alick had provided, Velin led his people away and officially began his journey of expansion.

After shamelessly staying here for half a month, even he felt embarrassed. Eager to bid farewell to his cousin, he led his people away from Ridge Territory and headed for the Toxsic Region.

Standing atop the Castle tower, Brian watched the departing group and let out a sigh.

"Master, while the servants were cleaning Lord Velin's room, they found three hundred Gold Coins." The Castle Butler came before Brian, lowered his head, and reported.

Brian was stunned for a moment before giving a bitter smile. "He must have feared that I would refuse if he gave them to me in person, so he resorted to this."

"Master, what should we do?"

"Accept them." Brian gazed into the distance, his eyes profound. "When we trade next time, remind me not to let my brother suffer a loss."

"Yes, Master."

Afterward, the Butler withdrew, while Brian remained alone on the tower, watching Velin depart.

After five days, they arrived at the edge of Toxsic. Velin had his men set up camp while ordering Belder to arrange scouts to investigate the surrounding Situation.

Their arrival also caught the attention of a relatively powerful nearby goblin tribe.

Two days later, inside a tent, Velin gathered all twelve knights under his command for a simple military meeting.

Due to the crude facilities, everyone sat cross-legged on the ground.

"Gentlemen, after two days of scouting, the general Situation in the surrounding area is shown here. Tell me your thoughts."

Before them stood a temporary wooden table made from several crates, upon which lay a simple map covering the basic Situation of more than a hundred square kilometers around them.

The map marked goblin tribes of all sizes. A rough count showed no fewer than twenty.

The largest had more than three hundred goblins, while even the smallest had dozens. Altogether, there were over two thousand goblins.

"My lord, I believe we should concentrate our forces and eliminate the strongest tribe. That way, even if the remaining goblins sense the danger and unite, they will pose no threat to us. They may even fall into internal conflict." Captain of the Knight Guard Belder pointed at the largest tribe on the map and offered his opinion.

"Mm, that makes sense. Goblins are greedy and vile, especially when it comes to bullying the weak and fearing the strong. If we eliminate the strongest among them, then even if the other tribes unite, they will descend into infighting without a powerful leader and be defeated by us one by one."

Velin nodded at this, then looked toward the Others, hoping to hear more differing opinions.

However, he had still overestimated this group's intelligence. The other eleven looked left and right before turning in unison to look at Velin, their clear eyes revealing nothing but stupidity.

Sure enough, among these twelve, only Belder is suited to serve as a commander. The Others are, at best, fit to be generals.

Still, he was satisfied.

After all, armies were easy to find, but a good general was hard to come by. A commander was even rarer.

This principle applied equally in the Different World, where strength reigned supreme.

Of course, sufficiently overwhelming strength could shatter every scheme and conspiracy.

If Velin had a thousand Bronze Knights, he would simply crush his way through, slaughter every goblin on this land, and occupy the place with ease. Why would he be here discussing tactics?

After waiting several minutes without anyone speaking, Velin looked around in disappointment and said, "This time, we will adopt Belder's proposal. Go make preparations. We begin tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord."

Everyone answered loudly, then left the tent and returned to their own camps to prepare.

Orlando and Hebrew, who were serving as guards outside the tent, saw everyone leave. They lifted the tent flap and entered.

"My lord, do you have some worry?" Orlando stepped forward when he saw Velin's dejected expression.

"It's nothing. I'm just a little frustrated. Why are there so few clever people among my subordinates?"

Seeing this, Hebrew asked curiously, "My lord, are those knight lords all very foolish?"

"Shut up, Hebrew." Orlando rebuked him softly, then turned to Velin and apologized. "My lord, my younger brother speaks without thinking. Please forgive him."

"It's fine. You can say such things in front of me, but never say them in public."

"Yes, my lord." Hebrew realized the problem and hurriedly replied.

"Enough. You two should go prepare as well. You'll be joining this campaign against the goblin tribes too. Training without actual combat will not benefit your growth."

"Yes, my lord."

Orlando and Hebrew took their leave of Velin, then departed the tent.

As soon as they returned to their own tent, Orlando pulled his younger brother into a corner and sternly scolded him. "Hebrew, what were the six words I told you?"

Seeing his brother's expression, Hebrew averted his gaze and stammered, "Talk less, do more."

"Then what did you do today?"

"Elder Brother, I..." Hebrew lowered his head.

"Sigh..." Orlando looked at his younger brother helplessly. "There absolutely cannot be a next time. Our lord treats us like family, but Others may not. You must remember those six words."

"Mm."

Hebrew nodded heavily and began preparing for tomorrow's battle alongside his Elder Brother.

Since awakening their Battle Qi, the two had trained for less than a month and a half, yet they were already Mid-Bronze Tier Knights. Their rate of progress left Velin far behind. By his estimation, within a year at most, his two underage Guardian Knights would become Silver Knights.

However, with the Guardian Knight oath and the Goddess of Life as witness, he was not worried that the two Guardian Knights would betray him.

Besides, Orlando and Hebrew had no reason to betray him.

Inside a luxurious cave in the Boulder Tribe, a goblin leader holding a Staff listened to the report from a goblin scout, panic appearing on his face.

"Did you see clearly? There are several hundred of them?"

"Elder, that group of humans truly numbers several hundred. Every one of them has a weapon. I am willing to guarantee it with my life."

"What should we do?"

The goblin leader paced back and forth, considering countermeasures. Could they only flee again?

More than thirty years ago, the tribe he belonged to had encountered human pioneers and migrated for the first time.

More than ten years ago, they had encountered human pioneers again and migrated once more.

Now, even after fleeing all the way here, they had still encountered human pioneers.

"Great Goblin God, please guide your humble follower."

The goblin leader knelt beneath the statue and prayed.

But the ugly statue gave no response. Left with no choice, the Boulder Tribe's goblin leader rose to his feet with a ruthless expression. He prepared to save himself—not only for his people, but also for the Salt Mine they had discovered with such difficulty. He immediately shouted, "Go invite the leaders of the nearby tribes. I wish to discuss an important matter with them and defend our territory."

"Yes, Chief."

Several Goblin Warriors around the cave answered and then left.