Chapter 409 - 327: You Are Favored by the Gods (Part 2)
Chapter 409: Chapter 327: You Are Favored by the Gods (Part 2)
"And what else can we do?" The High Priest gave a bitter laugh. "Rely on our skinny arms and legs, and the wooden clubs in our hands?"
"Young goblin, I don’t know how you learned Common Speech, but you must understand that for goblins to survive, showing weakness is the only way."
"Show weakness? By being slaughtered like chickens by Adventurers, having our ears cut off, or even being captured alive and handed over to some unknown human? Or by cowering in our holes, begging a tyrannical Evil God for protection?"
"At least the Feathered Serpent God protected these goblins," the High Priest said, forcefully striking his Bone Staff on the ground. "At least those powerful human Warriors or Mages won’t form parties to come and wipe us all out."
Shire frowned and fell silent. To be honest, he was human—at least his soul was—so he could somewhat understand the experiences the High Priest described.
He understood the principle of ’an innocent man gets into trouble for the treasure he carries.’ If every goblin here were decked out in gold and silver, a human Knight Order would surely come to "farm" them repeatedly, just like in the games from his past life.
"I..." Shire hesitated. He wanted to say that he wouldn’t let the goblins go down that path, but the thought of his own human identity made him feel strange. In a way, he was indeed using these goblins to carry out his revenge.
"Thankfully, the Gods have not abandoned us," the High Priest sighed, his eyes fixed on Shire. "After all these years, a goblin has finally appeared who can lead us forward."
"Hm?" Shire was taken aback for a moment. Then he saw the High Priest trembling, about to kneel.
"Don’t." He immediately stepped forward and reached out to support the High Priest. It wasn’t any profound thought, just a lingering habit from his past life; he couldn’t accept someone so old kneeling before him.
"No," the High Priest said, holding Shire back. "You must be blessed by the Gods, enlightened by them. It’s impossible for a goblin to learn such things on their own. We have finally been favored by the Gods."
With that, the High Priest dropped to his knees and declared loudly, "I am willing to lead these goblins in pledging allegiance to you. Please, lead us to survival."
Shire frowned, looking at the aged High Priest. This was probably the first time he had ever seen a goblin so old. In the Nightmare Forest, it was rare for a goblin to live to such an age.
’Should I tell him I’m actually human?’
Shire was conflicted. From the High Priest’s perspective, he must seem like an ordinary goblin who was raised by humans and learned many things. Now this old goblin was revering him, and it sounded like he even wanted to help him become the King of the goblins.
’A human becoming the King of goblins.’ Shire couldn’t help but give a bitter smile. But when he thought about what he had to do, he knew he had to keep playing this "role."
"Get up. I accept your pledge." After a few seconds of thought, he made up his mind. He still didn’t know when his curse might be lifted—from what Agatha and Sofia had said, it might be for life. But revenge still had to be taken. At the very least, he had to turn the masterminds behind it all into goblins too, so they could get a taste of it.
If he ever did manage to turn back into a human, he would just have to train a worthy goblin successor.
Or perhaps, one day he could build a Kingdom where humans, goblins, Centaurs, Dwarves, and other races lived together. Then, whether he was human or goblin wouldn’t matter so much.
Hearing Shire’s words, the High Priest joyfully rose to his feet. "Chief, the Feathered Serpent God has gone into hibernation. What is your next move?"
"You switched over pretty quickly," Shire noted with a slight frown.
"At least you don’t require sacrifices," the High Priest said, his voice a little hoarse. "And I imagine you won’t drive away members of the tribe."
"Er, in principle, I wouldn’t do that," Shire said with a firm nod. "As long as they are loyal enough, I will find a way to provide for them and ensure they can survive in this forest."
The High Priest didn’t reply, but simply smiled at Shire. It made Shire a bit uncomfortable; it was the first time he had ever seen an expression resembling "kindness" on a goblin’s face.
"Right, I need to know, does this Feathered Serpent Evil God have any weaknesses?" Shire didn’t get lost in the moment; he remembered what the greatest crisis at hand was.
"Weaknesses?" The High Priest thought for a few seconds before shaking his head. "None that I know of."
"None?"
"For a goblin, it has no weaknesses. The Feathered Serpent God can fly, it can swim underwater, and it can spit lightning," the High Priest said slowly as he recalled the events. "There were a few times before when the Feathered Serpent God killed some powerful Magical Beasts. It displayed immense power then. In its presence, those High Level Magical Beasts were quickly ensnared by lightning. The battles were over in an instant."
"It’s that powerful?" Shire rubbed his chin. ’Looks like I underestimated this Evil God’s strength. Fortunately, we have the Elephant Lord. I believe the Feathered Serpent’s lightning will have limited effect on the Elephant Lord.’
With this in mind, he asked again, "Since it’s hibernating now, is there any chance it might wake up suddenly?"
"It shouldn’t." The High Priest thought for a moment. "That’s never really happened before. After the Feathered Serpent God goes into hibernation, it doesn’t wake up until after spring."
"That’s for the best," Shire said with a smile. That would make things much easier.
In the distance, under the "persuasion" of Red Eyes’s club, the goblins had obediently formed a long line, waiting to receive the first Forest Soup of their goblin lives from Bai Mao.
A few goblins were already squatting to the side with bowls full of soup, noisily slurping it down. SLURP, SLURP. They didn’t use spoons, simply holding the bowls and lapping at the soup. Even when the heat made them grimace and switch hands, they didn’t slow their pace.
The goblins farther back in the line noticed them. An enticing aroma wafted through the air, and every goblin was drooling, staring eagerly at the front of the line. If not for Red Eyes patrolling back and forth with a glare, the goblins would have certainly descended into chaos and overturned the pot.
"Aren’t you going to have some?" Shire asked, looking at the High Priest beside him. The old goblin hadn’t joined the line; he just stood there, leaning on his Bone Staff and watching the long queue with a gratified expression.
"There’s no need. The smell in the air is enough to fill my stomach," the High Priest said with a smile.
"Living on air?" Shire shook his head with a smile, then waved, preparing to have a subordinate bring two bowls of Forest Soup for him and the High Priest.
The line moved in an orderly fashion. Every goblin eagerly watched the large ladle in Bai Mao’s hands. The sound of slurping rose and fell, and no one spoke a word, only the GULP of saliva being swallowed could be heard.
Just as Shire reached out to take a bowl of Forest Soup, the ground suddenly began to tremble. It was followed by a colossal roar: "DAMNED INSECTS, HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME!"
BOOM! A massive noise erupted in the distance. A brilliant bolt of lightning suddenly shot into the sky from out of the Darkness, illuminating the night.
’It’s over. The Evil God is awake.’ Shire’s outstretched hand froze, and the bowl of Forest Soup tumbled to the ground.
"Impossible. The Feathered Serpent God rarely does this," the High Priest murmured, looking up at the sky. "How could it wake up? How..."
"There’s no point in talking about it now." Shire immediately started shouting orders to his subordinates. They couldn’t hand out soup anymore; they had to evacuate immediately. At the same time, he looked into the distance. Amidst the continuous flashes of lightning, the towering silhouette of a pitch-black tower was revealed in the night.
And on top of that tower, a red Black Dragon Banner was flapping violently in the wind.
’Mr. Elton and the others have made their move. I hope they can buy us enough time.’ Shire turned and ran toward the central "plaza" of the Goblin Kingdom. Pazani should have already set up the Array there.
BOOM! With a tremendous explosion, the tower was blasted to pieces amidst the lightning, and a giant, winged serpent shot into the sky.