Gnawrock Tribe

"What is that?"

Garos stepped closer and took a careful look.

It was a square-shaped stone with simple runes carved into its center. It was not reflecting light; rather, the runes in the middle were emitting a faint glow.

This was a Communication Stone.

Garos recognized it.

—It was one of the most common and widely used alchemical items on Bernardo Planet. As its name implied, it could transmit messages.

The runes on the Communication Stone's surface were glowing, gradually dimming and going out.

Clearly, it had just been used.

"This Goblin used a Communication Stone before it died. It must have sent some kind of message to the tribe behind it."

"It definitely has something to do with me, with Iron Fir Territory."

Garos's draconic brows furrowed slightly.

Goblins were highly vengeful. According to Samantha's description, this Goblin tribe possessed quite a few alchemical items. However, aside from those items, their individual Life Levels were not high, and their overall scale was neither particularly large nor small.

"Once the Goblin tribe receives the message, they definitely won't let this go."

"They dared to hunt Samantha down, which means they aren't afraid of Hatchling Dragons. They may even see them as prey."

Garos paced in place, deep in thought.

Do I have to abandon Iron Fir Hills? The resources here may be average, but they are barely enough for me to live and nest here for now. The Wilderness is dangerous, and it won't be easy to find another suitable territory. A wandering life isn't good for my growth either.

But if he did not abandon the territory—

Being ambushed and surrounded by a prepared Goblin tribe might be very dangerous.

"I don't want to give up this territory, and I don't want to die in an ambush or encirclement."

"I'll investigate first and determine the situation of this Goblin tribe."

"If they're very weak, I can simply ignore them. If they're too strong, I can only abandon Iron Fir Hills."

"If they're somewhere in between—too weak to pose much of a threat head-on, but capable of endangering me through covert attacks—then, to be safe, I'll eliminate them all before they can act!"

Under the sun, the Red Iron Dragonet narrowed its eyes slightly, a trace of savagery flashing within them.

Whenever his own life was involved and he sensed danger, Garos became exceptionally Vigilant, guarded, cautious, and filled with killing intent.

When facing a possible threat—

Garos's style was to snuff it out while it was still in its infancy whenever possible.

Just like when he had attacked the Goblin Wolf Cavalry earlier.

The moment he decided to act, Garos had already prepared himself to let none of the Goblins escape, lest word get out. Unfortunately, information had still been transmitted through the Communication Stone, perhaps bringing danger upon himself.

Turning toward Samantha—

Garos asked, "What is the overall strength of the Goblin tribe that hunted you? Tell me everything you know in as much detail as possible. Don't leave anything out."

Samantha was somewhat stunned, not knowing what Garos intended to do.

After thinking back, she told Garos everything she knew, detail by detail.

After listening to Samantha's account, Garos slowly fell into thought.

"In terms of Life Level, their strongest Goblin is only level six."

"However, their tribe has quite a few alchemical items, as well as an Alchemy Golem that made Samantha feel greatly threatened."

Alchemy Golems were a rather successful product born from the development of alchemical items.

They were recorded in the Dragon Inheritance, which paid them particular attention.

For example—

Holy Flame Arbiter Ignis.

It was one of the Human Empire [Holden]'s top-tier Golems, created through the cooperation of countless Alchemists and the Church of Dawn. It had been forged from the skeleton of an Ancient Red Dragon along with many rare and expensive metals, covered inside and out with the holy runes of the Church of Dawn, and possessed numerous attributes.

Because Holy Flame Arbiter Ignis had used the remains of an Ancient Red Dragon as material—

The dragonkind regarded it as an outrageous sacrilege.

Even Metal Dragons, who were hostile toward Evil Dragons, could not tolerate it.

Once, a group of Legendary Realm Metal Dragons came knocking, demanding that Holy Flame Arbiter Ignis be destroyed, but the Holden Empire and the Church of Dawn jointly refused.

Metal Dragons were orderly creatures, after all. They had their concerns and were unwilling to start a war over the remains of an Evil Dragon.

Moreover, the Holden Empire wisely offered many alchemical items to quell the Metal Dragons' anger. After lengthy negotiations, the matter was eventually dropped.

As for Evil Dragons, solitary and independent as they were, even Ancient Dragons could not contend with an Empire alone.

Holy Flame Arbiter Ignis was now used to guard an Abyssal Rift within the Holden Empire. It had slain countless Demons and possessed an illustrious reputation on Bernardo Planet. It was extraordinarily powerful.

And there was more than one top-tier Alchemy Golem like Holy Flame Arbiter Ignis, capable of slaying Ancient Dragons.

Back to the matter at hand.

The Alchemy Golem within the Goblin tribe could not possibly be of a high grade. It was most likely a mass-produced model, perhaps even an Alchemy Golem used for mining or transport rather than combat. Such Alchemy Golems could be directly purchased through many channels.

"I don't need to be too nervous."

"Come to think of it, if this Goblin tribe were truly formidable, Samantha wouldn't have been able to escape their capture in the first place."

Garos relaxed considerably, and the savagery in his eyes gradually faded.

"I want to eat so badly. I haven't had meat in a long time."

Samantha was staring fixedly at the Wild Bull, her eyes unblinking as she found it impossible to look away.

If her awe of Garos had not already reached its peak, she would have pounced on it without hesitation.

Grrrummble!

Her stomach suddenly rumbled like distant thunder, drawing Garos's sidelong glance.

Samantha immediately became terribly embarrassed, her dragon face burning as her tail swished from side to side. Yet she truly could not endure the torment of hunger any longer, so she pleaded to Garos, "My dear brother, can I have some beef? Just a little, just a little bit."

Wouldn't it have been better to say so earlier?

Garos tore off an entire bull hind leg with his claws and tossed it to Samantha.

Samantha caught the hind leg and devoured it ravenously. She even crushed and ate every bone, wasting nothing.

"Mobel, drive these gray wolves into the hills. Keep them penned as reserve food."

Garos began eating as well while giving the order.

"Got it!"

The Earth Violent Bear nodded heavily, taking broad strides as it drove away the surviving gray wolves.

Time passed slowly.

The sun slanted westward and vanished, while night descended soundlessly.

The Gnawrock Tribe—the Goblin tribe that had hunted Samantha.

Its encampment lay at the foot of a low reddish-brown mountain severely eroded by wind. The mountain's surface was covered in honeycomb-like natural caves, resembling rotten wood hollowed out by insects.

The Goblins nailed wooden boards, beast bones, and broken clay jars over the cave entrances with rusted iron nails, piecing together crooked walls.

Rather than defensive fortifications, they looked more like warning signs made from piled-up trash.

Around the outside stood a fence woven from inverted flint spikes and man-eating vines.

Dried lizard skulls hung from the vines. In Goblin culture, they believed that hanging up the skulls of prey could bring good fortune to the tribe.

Though small in scale, the tribe had everything it needed.

In the iron pits, Goblins used sulfur-blackened claws to sort iron ore before sending it to the smelting Workshop, where it was forged into barbed arrowheads, blades, swords, and other weapons and equipment. The tribe's Alchemists then further enhanced and reinforced them.

The Ser Wilderness was rich in all kinds of ore.

Ordinary iron ore could be found almost everywhere. Even the smallest tribes did not lack it. As for magical precious metal ores, those were beyond their reach.