Bonebreaker's eyes bulged wide as he instinctively stepped back.

The goblin warriors behind him also let out suppressed screams, their hands trembling slightly as they gripped their weapons.

This fortress hadn't existed before the Winter Year.

How could it have suddenly... appeared?

Hammerbone's suspicions had actually been correct.

"Is this the undead lord's... lair?"

Venomfang Shaman's voice carried undisguised fear, his bone staff trembling slightly.

The scene before them exceeded their imagination.

After the brief shock, Bonebreaker forcibly suppressed the storm raging in his heart.

Their reconnaissance mission wasn't complete yet—they couldn't just return like this.

Gritting his teeth, he made a hand signal.

He sent goblins to cautiously investigate the surroundings. They moved like rats along the wall's shadows, carefully avoiding the buzzing poison wasps in the air, meticulously searching every brick seam and corner.

However, this dark behemoth seemed like a single integrated entity, and they ultimately failed to find any way to enter the fortress.

So they decided to try force.

A goblin miner carrying a heavy pickaxe immediately stepped forward. He selected a spot at the base of the city wall that looked relatively weak, took a deep breath, and swung the pickaxe down hard.

"Clang—!!!"

A sharp metallic clang rang out, sparks flying everywhere.

The miner felt intense pain in his palms, the recoil from the pickaxe nearly making him lose his grip.

Looking down, he saw only a shallow white mark on the mud brick of the city wall, while the tip of his steel pickaxe... had actually chipped off a large piece.

Bonebreaker's expression instantly turned grim.

This wall's hardness far exceeded expectations—this wasn't ordinary brick and stone. Just then—

"Buzz..."

The poison-stinger wasps on the city wall watchtower were awakened by that clear sound and swarmed out, creating a huge commotion.

"Alert!"

Bonebreaker shrieked sharply, instantly raising a hard wooden round shield he carried to protect himself.

The goblin warriors also raised their hand crossbows or small round shields.

Dozens of fist-sized, pitch-black creatures dove down like arrows released from their strings.

"Poison wasps! Beware their stingers!"

Venomfang Shaman, experienced and skilled, immediately judged.

He waved his bone staff, chanting under his breath as a sickly green poison mist rapidly spread around him and Bonebreaker, attempting to disperse and poison these wasps.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Dense sounds of piercing air rang out.

The poison-stinger wasps' first wave of attack was their signature concentrated stinger volley.

Most stingers were deflected by the goblin warriors' shields and agile dodges, embedding into shields with "thud" sounds.

Only one or two unlucky ones were hit in non-lethal areas, groaning as they fell, their wounds quickly turning black and swelling.

"Retreat."

Bonebreaker looked at the few still-quivering stingers embedded in his shield and breathed a slight sigh of relief. If it was just some poison-stinger wasps, they couldn't do much to them.

Just as this thought formed.

The seemingly ordinary stingers on his shield suddenly turned crimson red, as if violent energy inside had been instantly ignited.

Boom boom boom—!!!

Explosions occurred without warning.

Flames instantly engulfed Bonebreaker and several goblin warriors around him.

"Argh—!"

Bonebreaker's hard wooden round shield was blown to pieces like paper, his entire body sent flying violently.

Exploding stingers?!

No, these aren't poison-stinger wasps!

What the hell are these things!

Bonebreaker lay on the ground, his gaze horrified.

Meanwhile, the poison mist released by Venomfang Shaman also took effect.

Several poison-stinger wasps that entered the poison mist range suddenly stiffened, their flight trajectories becoming erratic, the buzzing of their wings turning chaotic, looking like they were about to lose control and crash.

"It works! My poison mist has—"

Venomfang Shaman's face had just shown a hint of joy.

The next moment, those poisoned, teetering poison-stinger wasps suddenly erupted with even more dazzling crimson light from within their bodies.

Boom boom boom boom!!!

Even more violent explosions than before erupted in succession.

Crimson flames formed a destructive storm.

"No—! Grolush protect..."

Venomfang Shaman's scream was drowned in the deafening explosions.

The sickly green shield he raised lasted less than a second under the violent explosive impact before shattering completely, his entire body torn apart by the violent shockwave.

Bonebreaker struggled to get up and escape, but everywhere he looked was filled with blinding explosive flashes and his companions' shattered limbs.

Boom—!!!

A violent explosion completely swallowed him and the last few struggling goblins around him.

In his final moment of consciousness, Bonebreaker's blurry vision seemed to see a sickly green figure standing on the city wall, watching them with ruthless, indifferent eyes.

Gr... green... demon.

Is it the lord of this place...

...

Chen Yu stood on the northwest corner of the city wall, looking at the muddy ground outside where scattered blackened craters smoked with faint blue smoke, along with some unrecognizable metal fragments and something emitting a burnt smell... well, probably goblin fragments.

He shook his gelatinous body with satisfaction.

Not in vain were these days of eating giant mosquitoes until stuffed, extracting Lv.3 "Mana Explosion" to the Queen Wasp.

This explosive power was truly impressive.

"This... what is this?"

Yano stared in shock at the devastated ground.

"Goblins, quite well-equipped too, and there was a shaman. Hmph, just not very bright, daring to hit my wall with a pickaxe."

"Uh..."

What Yano actually wanted to ask was about these exploding poison wasps, but seeing his boss's calm demeanor, he swallowed his words.

Just then, an exasperated, sharp voice mixed with "cawing" sounds resounded across the city wall:

"Barbaric! Utterly barbaric behavior without warning!"

Count Bran flapped his wings, flying over from the treehouse direction looking disheveled.

"Damn it, damn explosions, that most plump, perfectly roasted Moss Monster meat of mine was just about to sizzle with oil, then this sudden loud noise scared me so much I almost dropped the meat into the fire pit. These green-skinned shorties, couldn't even die at a good time."

Count Bran grew angrier the more he thought about it, spitting fiercely at the corpses on the ground.

Yano landed and followed the remaining goblin footprints, eventually stopping before a thick poison mist.

"Boss, these goblins seem to have come from deep within the swamp."

"Deep within the swamp?"

Chen Yu's round body turned toward the poison mist-filled direction.

What could be there besides muck, poison gas, and abandoned villages?

Could there really be a nest of goblins hiding there?

No good, can't have trouble in our own backyard—need to check it out.

What if these green-skinned shorties dig tunnels under our grill next time?

Driven by curiosity and the desire to defend his territory, Chen Yu prepared to ride the poison-resistant Little Ka to explore deep into the swamp.

Although Little Ka still remembered that almost-roasted Moss Monster meat in the treehouse, his throat made longing "gurgling" sounds, compared to delicious food, protecting his King was more important to him.

He shook his tail, trying hard to focus on the muddy path.

Thus, a slime riding a "protecting the King is most important but roasted meat smells so good" crocodile guard—this peculiar pair set off once again.

Soon they returned to that abandoned village, finally discovering a deep hole leading underground in the corner of a collapsed house.

Approaching it, they could feel faint air currents emanating from the newly appeared cave entrance, and smell a familiar scent of sulfur and rock.

"This passage leads to the dungeon?"

Chen Yu suddenly understood.

Well now, so this is where the backdoor was opened.

No wonder these green-skinned shorties could sneak in.

Can't just leave this passage alone—the Goblin Army definitely still has their eyes on this "juicy target" of his.

Best to explore to the end of the passage and establish an outpost in the dungeon, so he won't have to worry while enjoying barbecue in the future.

Might as well move those round slimes from the slime nest to live near the passage too.

That dungeon place is so dangerous.

Of course it's better to be closer to his territory.

Thinking this, Chen Yu returned to the fortress to fetch a glowing Gray Gravel Crystal, then rode Little Ka into the passage to explore.

This passage wasn't as special as he imagined—the exit location was in the dungeon's passage area, with several waiting goblins stationed nearby.

After eliminating them with a few stone swords, Chen Yu and Little Ka wandered around for a bit before figuring out the passage's exact location.

This place was closer to the Mist Zone and not far from the slime nest, making it perfectly suitable for building an outpost here.