A moment later.

The Goblin Shaman and several goblins were beaten black and blue, tied to the oak tree.

“Ha! Let you be arrogant, let you be arrogant, dare you still show off in front of me?”

Count Bran stood proudly over the shaman, wings on his hips, plucking the crooked feather ornament from his head and pecking at that green skull with a series of sharp “tap tap tap” strikes.

“Ah ah ah!! Count, have mercy, I won’t do it again.”

“Not daring? Still not daring, peck you! Peck you to death.”

Chen Yu tallied the losses among the Wasp Soldiers, then rode Little Ka over to the oak tree.

Count Bran hurriedly flew down and landed on Little Ka’s head, but then realized he might be blocking His Majesty, so he shifted his claws and hopped to the back.

“Your Majesty, I have it all figured out.”

“These guys were sent by the Goblin Army, they said they’re subordinates of a certain Bugbear called Hammerbone.”

“You didn’t ask them why they keep coming here?”

At that, Count Bran flew back to the Goblin Shaman’s head and pecked his skull.

“Speak up, His Majesty is asking you!”

“Ah ah ah!! Count, have mercy!”

“How dare you try to drive a wedge between me and His Majesty, you must beg His Majesty for mercy in front of him!”

“Your Majesty, have mercy—!”

“Then why aren’t you answering His Majesty back? Disrespectful, peck you, peck you to death!”

The Goblin Shaman shouted in grievance, “Count, I can’t even understand what His Majesty is saying.”

Count Bran paused, tilting his little head. He suddenly remembered that only by touching His Majesty could one hear his voice.

“Uh… maybe you’re right. No, how dare you talk back, peck you!”

“Hurry up, His Majesty is asking you, why do you goblins have nothing better to do, why do you keep coming here?”

“Lord Hammerbone told us to come, so we came.” The shaman said miserably.

“You come when ordered, but why won’t you eat the feces you were given? Hurry, tell us the purpose of your army, or don’t blame me for being rude.”

“I’ll speak, I’ll speak, I’ll say everything.”

The Goblin Shaman, head swollen with bruises, hurriedly shouted, “The… the army forbids any force from approaching the Dungeon!”

“The Gray Mist Lake Dungeon is far larger than the Kingdom thinks, this place is not the only entrance, the dungeon’s passages branch everywhere, even extending into the Dark Realm.”

“The army currently occupies the dungeon’s mining area, not only you, but even those damn Skeletons and Treants, we have to drive them out.”

“Mining area?”

Chen Yu seemed to recall Yano mentioning that the Goblin Army sometimes captured groups of slaves to mine.

He hadn’t expected the mining area to be inside the Dungeon.

That gave him a sudden idea.

Chen Yu separated a small Slime and leaped onto the Goblin Shaman’s head, his voice transmitted directly into the shaman’s mind.

“What are you digging there?”

The Goblin Shaman gave a start, realizing it was the Slime speaking, and hurriedly said, “Copper ore, gems, and some accompanying Gray Gravel Crystal veins, used to trade with humans and with the lords of the Dark Realm, in exchange for female slaves.”

“Humans? Gray Gravel Crystal?”

“Yes, yes, it’s the Adventurers at the Outpost Ruins, and some grave-robbing thieves from the Shadow Mountains, they like doing this kind of thing.”

Count Bran listened disdainfully and said, “You green-skinned short gourds dress like people, with such fine equipment, if you’re not trading with humans, did you pick it up off the ground?”

The Goblin Shaman forced a laugh, his face full of sycophancy.

“Yes, yes, Count, and Your Majesty, please can you let me go, I swear I’ll go back and sing your praises in front of Lord Hammerbone.”

“Pah, don’t you know goblins have no credibility, cunning and base creatures, not honest, peck you!”

“Ah ah ah! Your Majesty, have mercy!”

“Your Majesty, don’t trust their lies, they might sell us out the moment they turn around.”

Chen Yu gave his gel a little shake.

“We’re about to clear the Forest Paths toward the ruin village anyway. Keep them as tree-cutting slaves.”

“His Majesty is wise.”

Count Bran pecked some more, then finally lost interest in the swollen-headed Goblin Shaman, flew back onto Little Ka, and sneaked a glance at the Wild Boar King not far off, rooting and eating at tree roots.

“Your Majesty, what about that big fellow… cough cough, it’s not that I’m afraid of it, just not safe to leave it in the territory.”

Chen Yu didn’t answer immediately. He steered Little Ka to the Wild Boar King. Under the enormous shadow, Little Ka looked uneasy, emitting a low “kak kak” in its throat.

The boar sniffed, snorted, and lowered its head, strangely docile.

“Don’t worry, it actually isn’t fully grown yet.”

“Not grown?!”

Count Bran’s eyes nearly bulged out.

That hulking mass isn’t grown?

What did this boar eat to get that big?

Ridiculous.

“What’s your name?”

Chen Yu reached out with a small gel hand and patted the Wild Boar King’s head.

“…Peachy…?”

“Still a little girl.”

“Then why did you attack us?”

Peachy made a wronged gurgling in her throat, then lowered her massive body and rested her chin on her forehooves.

“Hungry, green things hit me.”

“Peachy angry, more hungry.”

Still a glutton.

Chen Yu quietly asked Count Bran.

“Do you think our food reserves are enough for her?”

“Uh…” Count Bran scratched his head with a feather.

His Majesty already had a big appetite.

If they took in another big eater, the whole Kingdom might be eaten into bankruptcy, plunging them into a vicious cycle of deficits.

However, this pig’s appetite seemed decent;

she even chewed on trees.

“Your Majesty, why not let her help cut trees too? The forest’s full of trees, let her eat as she likes.”

“Trees? She eats that?”

Chen Yu asked Peachy, and the reply was:

“If hungry, eat, belly uncomfortable.”

Probably indigestion, a sour gut.

But Chen Yu had a solution.

“I grant you the ability to digest trees, stay with me from now on.”

Chen Yu separated a chunk of the “Acid Secretion” Lv.4 talent and handed it to her.

Peachy sniffed the sweet aroma, her small eyes immediately lighting up. Her huge nostrils twitched violently, and a bead of clear drool plopped onto the dirt.

She didn’t even think—it took her massive tongue, scooped up the pale green orb whole, and swallowed it with a satisfied gurgle.

“Good, tasty!”

After eating, she seemed unchanged physically, but she stared at Chen Yu with sparkling eyes, clearly wanting to eat more of those delicious orbs.

“There aren’t any more, but you can try trees.”

Peachy obediently turned her head;

her massive tusks flicked, and a small oak toppled at the sound.

She lowered her head, probed the snapped trunk with her snout, then opened her mouth and carefully bit off a large chunk of wood.

This time, her chewing no longer sounded dry and laborious, but rather with a quickening “sizzle” as if the wood were being rapidly softened and broken down.

She chewed slowly and swallowed, making happy snuffling noises.

“Tasty! Belly not uncomfortable.”

“Stick with the King!”

Chen Yu shook his gel with satisfaction.

“Good. From now on you’re my Number Two Guard.”

“This is your big brother, Little Ka.” Chen Yu patted the small crocodile beneath him.

Little Ka trembled at that, tail curling up in fright.

He—big brother?