Goblin-kind was a race of shut-ins, and at the same time, a race of lazybones. The truth that shut-ins equaled lazybones was perfectly reflected in this race.
Although their combat ability was average and their growth was poor, they actually possessed rather outstanding abilities in other areas, such as excavation. Many lords with mines in their territories, as well as some major mine owners, loved using goblins as miners. As long as there was a sound supervision process to keep the creatures from slacking off, their performance would be excellent.
However, whenever no one supervised them, they became extremely lazy. Even when it came to their homes, they preferred finding naturally formed caves, pits, and the like rather than digging one themselves.
If they really could not find a suitable nest and had no choice but to dig, they would still make do. As long as the nest they dug had the functions they needed, that was enough. They would never dig even a little extra to beautify it or make those functions more complete.
And these problems became especially obvious when they faced this sort of crisis.
This mountain—or rather, this Great Goblin nest—originally had multiple entrances and exits. However, at Landen's instruction, the Minotaur Butler had sealed off most of them, leaving only two. One was the opening Ayla used to drive smoke inside, while the other was the one where the Minotaur Butler was currently sitting.
Moreover, Landen had specifically instructed the Minotaur Butler to seal those entrances as tightly as possible. Not only could no air leak out, but they were also extremely thick. Even though Great Goblins were expert tunnel diggers, it would take them quite some time to dig through them—especially since they were so... lazy.
They were not actually so lazy that they failed to dig at all. Instead, after digging a few times and discovering that they had not broken through, they quickly lost patience and changed targets. After repeating this process, the only target they ultimately chose was the Minotaur Butler's... butt.
It was not that his butt was easier to dig through than the rocks. It was simply soft, after all, and compared to those hard things, it gave them the illusion that it would be easier to dig through.
Thus, before long, all the Great Goblins had gathered there. They began attacking the Minotaur Butler's butt with all kinds of weapons in their hands.
The Minotaur Butler's words naturally contained some exaggeration. The terrain inside the mountain consisted of a series of passageways. Even the widest passage could hold fewer than ten Great Goblins standing shoulder to shoulder. Even if they stacked themselves up, it was impossible for dozens of Great Goblins to attack him at the same time.
Landen naturally knew this as well. When he had kept telling the Minotaur Butler to wait, he had actually been waiting for the three Great Goblins with Black Iron strength who led the race to appear. Their appearance here basically meant that almost all the Great Goblins had gathered in this place.
So when the Minotaur Butler sensed an extremely powerful attack, Landen immediately issued the true attack order.
Mind Storm had a maximum casting distance of meters, while its area of effect had a diameter of meters. All enemies within this range would suffer extremely violent mental assault damage.
As soon as Landen's command left his mouth, the two Mind Flayers faithfully followed it. Two Mind Storms were thrown into the cave.
The unfortunate Minotaur Butler, however, froze for a moment because of Landen's "..." command. That moment nearly cost him his life. When he heard the strange, almost roaring sound coming from the mouths of the two Mind Flayers, his face turned green. He no longer cared about etiquette or bearing and exerted all his strength, displaying High-tier Black Iron strength as he hurled himself forward.
The two Mind Storms flew into the cave, grazing the Minotaur Butler's heavily battered butt.
In an instant, countless screams rang out from inside the cave. The two Mind Flayers, however, seemed completely unaware of them. They lowered their heads and walked into the cave one after another. The moment they entered, they threw out another two Mind Storms.
The two Mind Flayers were already at the peak of High-tier Black Iron, far stronger than the two Great Goblins with Black Iron strength. On top of that, creatures as unintelligent as Great Goblins were naturally weak against mental attacks. Thus, under the first two Mind Storms the Mind Flayers threw into the cave, the two strongest Great Goblins had already fainted. The only ones left uncovered were some minor stragglers.
Those minor stragglers either fainted under the two subsequent Mind Storms or were so terrified that they did not even dare to flee. They all curled up where they were, trembling violently.
"All right, come in." Moa dispersed the third Mind Storm, which was nearly ready, and called out toward the cave entrance.
Landen entered first, followed by the Minotaur Butler and the two Dark Elves. Looking at the Great Goblins lying all over the ground, none of them dead but merely unconscious, Landen nodded in satisfaction and said to Ibaka, "Go call Mikhail and the others over."
Ibaka acknowledged the order and left. The Minotaur Butler, meanwhile, was heartbroken over his Great Yak leather armor, which had been punctured in several places, and stared at the scene inside the cave in utter amazement.
The cave was indeed filled with smoke, but the smoke was even thinner than that produced by simply burning firewood. Standing in it, he could hardly feel any discomfort at all. Yet this very smoke had nearly driven the group of Great Goblins insane, making them abandon the nest they had lived in for so long and swarm desperately toward the exit.
Landen glanced at the Minotaur Butler and saw his surprise, but had no intention of explaining. As the greatest lord, did he really need to explain to one of his subordinates that this smoke contained Alchemical Potion specifically designed to deal with goblins, making their bodies feel extremely weak and uncomfortable?
Before long, several Dark Elves brought Ayla back like a prisoner. Landen waved his hand grandly and said, "Bind them all!"
No matter how one looked at it, Great Goblins naturally could not compare with Mind Flayers—especially not a group of Great Goblins who had already become prisoners.
Landen could not even be bothered to waste words on them. He simply threw out, "Surrender or die," then casually took a dagger and pressed it against the neck of the Great Goblin with Mid-tier Black Iron strength. In an instant, every Great Goblin dropped to its knees and began kowtowing nonstop. Their reverent appearance was even more devout than that of the most loyal believers...
After dealing with the Great Goblins, Landen heard the familiar system notification beside his ear: "Quest (First Batch of Permanent Residents) completed. Green Talent from the territory will arrive within hours." He was so exhilarated that he felt he could soar into the heavens.
However...
Hours and minutes later...
"Why haven't they appeared yet? What the hell is going on? Did this system stand me up?" Landen stood at the entrance of the fortress, almost turning into a stone statue waiting for her husband, yet he still saw no Green Talent...
Just then, a low roar rang out. "My lord, be careful!" The Minotaur Butler, who had been standing there waiting like an idiot alongside Landen, suddenly charged forward, shielded Landen behind him, and assumed a battle stance.
Almost at the same time, another voice rang out nearby.
"Riverclaw Lord, reporting for duty!"
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