Three days later, Lin Lei was inspecting his army atop a barren hill ten kilometers south of Crouching Dragon Ravine.
Summer had turned to autumn, but the sunlight was still scorching, mercilessly baking the troops assembled below him.
The Goblins and humans stood apart. Aside from the few soldiers who had been to Green Goblin Town and knew they had a Goblin ally, most of the others had no idea Crouching Dragon Ravine had a subordinate force. They regarded the Goblin army with curiosity and revulsion.
The Goblins' oily green skin made humans uneasy and afraid, while their tusked mouths and enormous pupils only heightened that feeling.
Fortunately, the first lesson soldiers learned was to control their emotions and obey orders. They didn't cause a commotion over the Goblins beside them.
In fact, only the first few rows of human soldiers could see the Goblins nearby. Most of the others had their view blocked by their comrades and could only stare straight ahead at the back of the person in front of them.
The human soldiers were disciplined. By comparison, the Goblins were a complete mess. The great boars beneath the Goblin Cavalry kept snorting, wandering back and forth, and even relieving themselves on the ground.
The other Goblin Spearmen and Goblin Infantry were restless too, as if they had fleas crawling all over them and couldn't bear to stay still.
The human troops' performance pleased Lin Lei: neat, orderly infantry formations, a tall and imposing cavalry formation, and archers with longbows in hand.
But when he looked at the Goblin troops, he began to regret holding a review.
In his previous life, Lin Lei had been an ordinary person with no chance to inspect an army. Now that he finally had a proper force, he wanted to enjoy the feeling of being a big shot and having power.
The Goblins' formation made Lin Lei, a man with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, extremely uncomfortable.
Furell, the Bugbear standing beside Lin Lei, noticed his discomfort. But as a member of the Goblin race, he didn't realize their race was the reason.
The lord was in a bad mood. Furell didn't dare ask, and he didn't dare say a word.
"Allen, have the troops begin the hunt."
Lin Lei didn't berate Furell for failing to keep his men in line. He simply announced the start of the operation.
He knew there were many differences between Goblins and humans. If he truly wanted to earn the Goblins' loyalty, he had to learn to respect them and understand their customs, rather than hold them to human standards.
"Urah!"
The human and Goblin soldiers surged toward the deep forest like two torrents, one black and one green. The air filled with Common and Goblin speech as squad leaders, platoon leaders, and Centurions shouted orders, directing their forces into offensive and defensive formations.
As soon as the troops began their sweep, Lin Lei left the hill. He rode Red Hare to the front lines in his Ice Blue Armor.
Unlike his previous solo charges, he was now surrounded by guards at the insistence of his subordinates. Even with his strength, however, the guards couldn't offer him the slightest protection.
Red Fire wasn't with Lin Lei. As Lin Lei's strength continued to rise, Red Fire had gradually fallen behind. Its Silver-rank power was of less and less use against Lin Lei's Gold-rank strength.
Besides, Lin Lei was committing everything he had to this sweep. With Crouching Dragon Ravine left without any defenses, he had left Red Fire at Lord's Mansion to protect Aierlan.
Lin Lei's strength would surely continue to grow, and Red Fire would make progress too, but too slowly and by too little. Lin Lei figured that one day, he would leave Red Fire behind to keep his family company and protect them.
"Thwack!"
Riding as one with Red Hare, Lin Lei easily cut through the neck of the Thunder Flame Tiger before him. With the Green Dragon Crescent Blade's power behind it, a Silver-rank magical beast's hide was as easy for Lin Lei to slice through as tofu with a kitchen knife—smoother than Dove chocolate.
The Thunder Flame Tiger fell, unwilling to die. It was the twenty-second magical beast Lin Lei had killed, and the only one so far to have lasted ten moves against him.
Soon after Lin Lei moved on, soldiers caught up and hoisted the scattered remains of the Thunder Flame Tiger onto their shoulders, carrying them to the wagons following the army.
They were the logistics unit, made up mostly of weaker soldiers and new recruits who had only recently enlisted. Assigning them to logistics reduced unnecessary casualties and eased the burden on the other fighters.
Lin Lei's personal tally for the morning was impressive: a good thirty or forty magical beasts had fallen beneath his blade.
Of course, that was nothing compared to the army as a whole. The human soldiers had slaughtered at least eight hundred magical beasts by midday, while the Goblins had killed nearly five hundred.
Lin Lei's own kills amounted to less than one-twentieth of the army's total.
When he heard the report, Lin Lei was satisfied with the results. One person's strength was always limited. Even a powerful person would eventually find himself short of strength, unless he could turn the world upside down by himself.
That was why Lin Lei hadn't focused solely on increasing his personal strength, but had instead built up his own forces.
If Lin Lei wanted, he could keep killing, keep earning card draws, keep getting new hero cards, and keep growing stronger. But even if he reached the strength of the Burning Legion's three leaders, so what? He still wouldn't be able to deal with the countless Infernal Engines and Felguards that blanketed the land.
Lin Lei was pleased with how his territory was developing, even if it slowed the growth of his own strength.
"Phew."
Red Hare exhaled a breath of cold air, lowering the temperature around them, but it still couldn't dispel Lin Lei's discomfort from the heat.
Eight hours had passed since the sweep began that morning. The soldiers had slowed down, and even Lin Lei, with his Gold-rank strength, was feeling weak. Anyone would struggle after swinging a weapon for so long, let alone someone made of flesh and blood like him.
Lin Lei knew it was about time to call it a day and let the hard-fighting soldiers rest. If they kept going, not only would their efficiency plummet, but the next day's sweep might suffer too.
What was more, Lin Lei had seen more and more soldiers getting injured. They were losing their usual ability to react to danger.
With that in mind, Lin Lei didn't hesitate. He turned to the guards beside him.
"Have everyone stop the sweep and prepare dinner. You can use whatever's on hand and roast some magical beast meat for the troops. That's enough for today.
"Also, tell them not to let their guard down. Assign more men to watch duty tonight and strengthen our defenses. We're in a forest, and danger is everywhere."
"Yes, sir."
The guards rode off in a hurry to notify the squads. From above the forest, the two long columns that had been advancing slowly came to a halt. Before long, fires of all sizes appeared, and the air filled with the sound of meat sizzling as fat dripped into the flames.
"Not bad."
Lin Lei sat beside a campfire after washing the blood off himself in the river. He tasted the beast meat, roasted crisp on the outside and tender within, and gave his verdict.
As a noble and the army's commander-in-chief, he enjoyed certain privileges, such as the salt and chili powder his guards had brought along.
With all kinds of seasonings to enhance it, the tender, firm-fleshed Magic Rabbit meat tasted better than ever.
Although the Magic Rabbit meat was delicious, Lin Lei didn't overindulge. After eating one or two pieces, he got up and began moving among the soldiers to check on the troops.
He first visited a human squad's campfire. Most of the soldiers were injured, but they happily roasted magical beast meat. In times like these, getting hurt was nothing worth boasting about or making a fuss over. It was simply part of everyday life.
Every soldier grew excited when Lin Lei arrived. Their lord was a high-ranking noble, yet he was willing to mingle with the soldiers. That made the men, worn down by pain, feel fortunate and cared for.
Lin Lei had always believed human nature was good. If he treated his soldiers well, he couldn't believe they wouldn't remember it.
When Lin Lei reached the Goblin camp, they reacted to his arrival rather calmly. They were far more excited to see Furell beside him.
That only strengthened Lin Lei's resolve to open a school for the Goblins and teach them to think rationally.
When Lin Lei visited the elders, the Goblin mages reacted in all sorts of ways. Overall, though, they were friendlier toward him.
The Goblin mages were clever and knew how to weigh the pros and cons. They understood how important Lin Lei, a human baron, was. On top of that, merchants from Crouching Dragon Ravine had begun settling in Green Goblin Town and bartering with them. Having tasted the benefits of human society, the Goblins naturally had far fewer objections.
"Elder Vix, how are you feeling? I heard you helped a group of mages take down a den of Silver-rank Earth Demon Bears at noon. You weren't hurt, were you?"
Vix lowered her head and bowed as she thanked him.
"Thank you for your concern, my lord. Though this old woman is advanced in years, I'm still in good health. Those bear cubs couldn't do anything to me."
"That's good. How many casualties did your soldiers suffer today?"
Lin Lei changed the subject and asked.
"With the weapons and armor you provided, my people suffered far fewer casualties than before. We lost only three Goblin Spearmen today, all caught before they could dodge. The rest only suffered minor injuries, nothing serious."
"Good. In that case, I won't disturb you elders while you eat. I'll be on my way."
Lin Lei didn't stay long with the elders. He continued on, checking each Goblin squad in turn. By the time he had visited the more than one thousand soldiers, the moon had reached its zenith.
Back in the tent his guards had set up for him, Lin Lei opened his system and checked his stats. His rank experience had reached eighty-four percent. If nothing unexpected happened, he would earn a card draw after the next day's sweep.
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