NOVEL NEXT Chapter 282 Goblin Military Camp
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〖Prison Star Calendar〗
〖Year 187, July 22〗
〖11:35 AM〗
〖Countdown to Confession Death: 16 days〗
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Amidst the forest, Viviana stifled her breath as much as possible while traversing the rugged terrain.
The labyrinth's core, marked by a red beam in the sky, seemed close, yet the treacherous landscape magnified the distance, forcing even a formidable individual like Viviana to spend time on the journey.
Not long ago, Viviana spotted three plumes of black smoke in the distance, as if a fire had erupted within the woods.
Considering their location within the maze, she surmised that the blaze was likely the result of a skirmish.
—(How are my teammates doing?)
— (Those who had entered the labyrinth with me, none had returned to regroup…)
The abnormal increase in the strength of the demons and her solitary predicament left Viviana uneasy. This "Labyrinth: Aqua Nest" grew increasingly enigmatic.
She even began to worry if her fellow members had all perished.
—(Can I really successfully reach the labyrinth's core?)
Doubtful thoughts quietly amplified within Viviana's heart, and the core issue stemmed from the theft of the "Pigeon Blood Ruby - Phylia," which had provided her with near-limitless magical power.
Without it, Viviana's combat style became constrained, and in the labyrinth's unique environment, which demanded consideration for prolonged and repeated battles, she found herself further restricted.
As she followed the Cardinal and Obsidian Elders back into the fray, Viviana, attempting to adapt to her new combat style, faced criticism.
Once accustomed to a life of "abundance", it was difficult to return to a life of "scarcity", especially for someone like Viviana, who had never experienced hardship.
Amid her uneasy thoughts, Viviana walked on, gradually sensing that something was amiss in the atmosphere.
The sounds of wildlife had all but vanished, even the chirping of birds was absent, rendering the area eerily quiet.
However, by the time Viviana noticed this, it was too late.
A slender, dark green figure had stealthily approached under the cover of the trees. As she heard the hissing sounds, the twelve-meter-long two-headed stone python had already encircled her.
·
Outside the entrance to the "Labyrinth: Aqua Nest" in Dristown, Ice Polarstar Sheryl and Branch Chief Pamela had been waiting for over an hour.
The gray entrance indicated that Felix's survival time within the labyrinth had far exceeded that of the two groups of death row inmates, providing some relief to Sheryl and Pamela.
Given that both had pressing matters to attend to in Delis Town and lunchtime was approaching, Sheryl left a letter for Felix at the exit before temporarily returning to town with Pamela.
Sheryl felt somewhat guilty about her actions, as Felix was risking his life for her, but she couldn't wait at the entrance for him.
Unbeknownst to her, this "guilty act" saved both her and Pamela's lives.
.
Meanwhile, within the labyrinth, Tyler and Moto-chan were already having lunch.
Tyler understood the importance of balancing work and leisure. Also, deep down, he harbored a notion that the Scarlet Family's scheme could remain enigmatic, and at worst, he would owe a favor to Sheryl. However, if he were to lose his life, that would be a truly unfavorable outcome.
After satiating their hunger, Tyler even had Moto-chan stand guard while he leaned against a tree and took a brief nap to replenish the magic energy he had expended.
Throughout their journey in the labyrinth, Tyler had noticed that Moto-chan possessed an exceptional perceptiveness. Its untamed intuition often allowed it to detect the presence of enemies even before Tyler could.
Once they had rested, Tyler and Moto-chan resumed their journey. After traversing some distance, they discovered a terraced field at the border of two mountains, where a group of female goblins were tilling the soil.
(In this Aqua Nest, the goblin population has its own ecosystem.)
Were it not for the constant threat to their lives, Tyler would have been quite interested in observing how these goblins lived.
As Tyler was considering circumventing the goblin settlement to continue onward, he suddenly noticed a small squad of goblins preparing to transport a cart of food away.
The destination of the food would either be a granary or an important facility. After pondering for a few seconds, Tyler decided to stealthily follow them.
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The transport team consisted of eight second-tier sword-and-shield goblin soldiers, with an average level of around 45.
In addition, there was a third-tier goblin elite squad leader, with a level as high as 80, wielding a wolf-toothed ring blade in each hand, appearing quite experienced.
Tyler had initially thought that transporting food within goblin territory would be unproblematic, but reality proved otherwise.
The goblins encountered two demon attacks along the way, both from third-tier demons: the "Steel Thorn Rock Bear" and the "Double-Tailed Venomous Civet."
Under the fierce battle and command of the elite squad leader, the goblins managed to achieve a hard-fought victory, but at the cost of two soldiers' lives.
This demonstrated that life within this Aqua Nest was not entirely comfortable for the goblins, which explained their development of such an excellent military system.
In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed, and Tyler followed the food transport team to a relatively flat valley. Here, wooden walls stood erect, enclosing a goblin military camp.
On the parade ground within the camp, a large number of goblin soldiers were drilling. Tyler observed and estimated through the binocle that there were approximately four to five hundred individuals.
Even disregarding their quality, the sheer number of goblins could exhaust Tyler to death in a head-on battle, not to mention that all these soldiers were second-tier goblin sword-and-shield soldiers.
In addition to the soldiers, there were also forty to fifty third-tier goblin squad leaders present, each diligently and loyally overseeing their respective soldiers.
Upon witnessing this scene, Tyler's heart sank. Such a labyrinth was not something that could be conquered by dispatching four or five second-tier professionals, let alone three teams.
(The last time I saw Viviana, she was already at the third tier...)
(The Sibyl I saw earlier was also at the third tier...)
(Could it be that the Scarlet Family sent such a strong team this time that the labyrinth's difficulty has become so outrageous?)
However, after much thought, Tyler still felt that something was amiss. Even if the Scarlet Family's team consisted entirely of third-tier members, or even some fourth-tier members, and had a team size of ten to twenty people, it would still be impossible to capture this Aqua Nest.
That was because Tyler had clearly seen a stone-carved chair placed on the platform in the parade ground, indicating that there must be a fourth-tier existence above the third-tier goblin squad leaders within this camp. Moreover, this was merely a military camp and not the core location of the labyrinth.
Furthermore, the banners erected within the camp bore numbers. The camp Tyler observed was the third camp, implying that there were at least two other camps of similar scale.
However, just as Tyler was marveling at the goblins, something even more astonishing occurred.
In the mere blink of an eye, he incredulously discovered that the levels of all the goblins within the camp had risen by one tier!