Age of Adepts

Billis hid at the edge of the town, continuously adjusting the scanning modes of his compound eyes, making a careful and comprehensive analysis of the things that stood out.

An earthen wall three meters tall surrounded the town, and small watchtowers were constructed in the corners of these walls. Several goblin warriors stood in these towers, holding strange cylinders in their hands as they looked out for any movement around the town.

Quite a few peculiar races could be seen entering and exiting the town. Most of these races were much taller than the goblin guards. However, they all shared a common trait. That was the metal collars on their necks that were forged from a unique material.

If they were disobedient or started conflicts with the goblin guards, the guards only needed to press a single button in their hands. These large individuals would immediately collapse in a shroud of electricity before being subjected to plenty of whippings and beatings.

Billis was shocked.

Were these still the weak goblins from his previous impression? Since when were green goblins so cruel and savage? Were the electric-shock collars the reason they dominated the other races? Then what was it that they used to defeat their enemies and put the collar on them?

Countless questions emerged in Billis’ mind. However, another scene he witnessed quickly answered these questions.

Loud rumbling and ear-piercing noise came from a different direction in the woods while Billis was secretly spying on the town. The ground slightly tremored as this happened.

It was almost as if some giant creature was moving around in that place.

Billis hesitated for a moment before leading his bug army and carefully approaching that place.

It was a small camp that had been excavated in the forest.

Thick logs that had just been cut down were scattered across the camp. Each of them was thick enough that it would take two people to embrace them completely.

Five human-shaped logging machines that were three meters tall and seven hundred kilograms heavy were working hard at the edge of the camp. The ones sitting at the controls of the logging robots and controlling them to cut down the trees were tiny goblins.

Alchemical golems or magic-powered combat golems?

They had humanoid shells made of pure metal, large chains, gears, axles, exaggerated metal saws, and hot steam that blasted out from the backs of the robots.

The loud rumbling Billis had heard earlier was the sound from these massive giants advancing through the forest. That ear-piercing sound, on the other hand, was the terrifying noise of rapidly-revolving chainsaws cutting down trees.

One by one, the massive trees that rose up over twenty meters collapsed with a thundering thud and the ear-piercing noise of chainsaws. The goblins then manipulated the logging robots and cleared away the obstructing branches in a matter of moments. They used the massive robotic hands to carry the lumber back to camp.

The five logging robots working in the forest had different roles as well. Two were in charge of logging, one was in charge of cutting down the branches, while the other two were responsible for carrying the logs around. The robots had an explicit assignment of duties and worked in an orderly fashion under the control of the goblins, putting on display an unusual yet immense kind of power.

The hulking slaves that Billis had seen in town could be seen here as well. They lifted the lumber onto the cutting machines inside the large buildings under the supervision of the goblin guards. The logs would then be reduced to several smaller pieces of a more appropriate size before being hauled onto carts and taken away.

After seeing the entire process, Billis finally understood that this place was no more than a small lumber mill under the rule of the green goblins. The rumbling constructs weren’t the combat machines of the goblins either. They were only auxiliary tools being used to log.

The dark clouds over Billis’ heart thickened when he saw this.

In all honesty, the goblins before him were probably only the lowest of cannon fodder in the Goblin Empire. If even these cannon fodder were equipped with these terrifying ’strongmen,’ then the fundamental strength of the Goblin Empire could be easily deduced.

It might be a small plane, and the ones that ruled the plane might only be a group of ’weak’ and ’foolish’ goblins. However, a bad omen suddenly rose in Billis’ heart.

This plane didn’t seem to be as easy to deal with as he had previously predicted!

However, as a bug adept from the World of Adepts, Billis couldn’t possibly have been frightened into submission by this tiny difficulty. He made up his mind and hid in the depths of the forest. He started sending out bug scouts that he had specially cultivated to sneak into this goblin lumber mill secretly.

............

The damp forest.

Green, tall trees and annoying bushes were everywhere. Resilient vines and brambles filled the rest of the space between the trees.

The humidity in the camp was extremely high. When paired with the noise, it was almost impossible to get a good night’s sleep in this environment. That was why Uldum remained sleepless even after sticking cotton buds in his ears. The trembling from falling trees and the loud sounds of the chainsaws were too much.

Uldum softly cursed as he rolled out of bed. He slid into his heavy metal boots before walking out of his tent.

"Oh, commander, you’re finally awake. That Old Pa Tok has already come by twice. It seems he has something especially important to report to you." The guard stationed by the entrance to the camp shouted into his ears with an almost comical tone.

Uldum was the commander of this camp. The five goblin shredders were all under his command. Consequently, his status was even higher than the green guy that was the mayor of Beta Town.

Uldum shook his head several times before finally recalling that he was the one who sent Old Pa Tok out to investigate that strange occurrence in the distance. That unique quake that shook the earth had been felt even from dozens of kilometers away.

For some reason, Uldum had felt short of breath. Guided by some unknown train of thought, he had immediately sent his best goblin helicopter pilot to investigate. Now that they had come back with a report, there had to be some extraordinary discovery.

With that in mind, Uldum immediately strode to a wooden hall in the middle of the camp. As expected, Old Pa Tok was anxiously circling the wooden table. Goblin Apprentice Mosaldin was sitting by his side with a face full of confusion. It seemed he hadn’t fully understood the situation.

"Speak, Old Pa Tok!" Commander Uldum entered the wooden hall and sat down in front of the table. He looked at the old goblin with a solemn expression, "What news do you bring back for me this time?"

"O’ respected lord commander, the news I bring to you might not be good!" Old Tok took off his goggles and gripped the leather cap in his hands. An expression of hesitation appeared on his face.

"Go on; I am listening." Uldum’s heart sank.

"I believe... I suspect that some interdimensional monster has intruded upon our world!" Old Pa Tok’s grip tightened as he finally voiced his thoughts.

The commander abruptly stood up. Anxiety appeared on his green face filled with yellow freckles. He quickly asked, "What kind of creature? How powerful are they? Are their numbers many?"

Old Tok stuttered awkwardly, "We didn’t see anything when we went there. Only a forest destroyed by uncontrolled spatial forces."

"You saw nothing? Then the monster you mentioned?"

"Even though we saw nothing, my years of experience led me to sense a trace of evil that didn’t belong to our world!"

Commander Uldum once again sat down. An expression of uncertainty appeared on his face as well.

As a veteran warrior that had followed him for a long time, Old Tok possessed a wealth of experience unmatched by most goblins. That was why Uldum had no reason not to take Tok’s report seriously. Still, how was he supposed to report this to this superiors without any evidence!

The shouts of slaves came from the camp outside as he was mired in doubt.

"What has happened?" Uldum roared in an unamused fashion.

A soldier that had been guarding the entrance came in and reported, "Re...re...reporting. A monster has appeared in the camp and has already bitten two slaves to death."

Uldum’s heart trembled when he heard the word ’monster.’ He instantly drew the short goblin pistol at his waist and marched outwards. Old Pa Tok and Mosaldin surged out of the wooden hall behind him.

The southwest corner of the camp was in chaos right now.

Two or three dozen trolls were frantically running around as a single strange scorpion the size of a mastiff pursued them. The corpses of three troll slaves lay on the ground even further towards the edge of the camp. Their throats had been gnashed into a bloody mess, and it was clear that they were dead.

The sounds of guns were exploding out through the camp by the time Uldum and the goblins made it out of their tent. Seven or eight goblin guards stationed at various spots in the campground had already raised their guns and started firing at the strange insect.

Uldum could very clearly see the metal bullets shoot and hit the body of the strange bug under the propulsion of an explosion. However, something happened that almost made him scream out loud. With no exception, all the metal bullets deflected when they hit the black shell of the strange insect.

Deep craters or marks might have remained in the spots where the scorpion had been hit, but not one of them had managed to pierce through its shell.

The deflected bullets had even hit two troll slaves that were escaping frantically.

A layer of yellow dust appeared around the increasingly enraged scorpion. Its body swiftly vanished in the cloud of smoke. By the time it reappeared, it was already at the side of a goblin guard twenty meters away.

Kacha!

A sickening crunch rang out. The frightening scorpion had used its front jaws to snap the goblin guard’s right leg in half. Even the thick metal armor on the goblin guard couldn’t defend against this sort of terrifying biting ability. The scorpion forcefully swallowed the armor piece after chewing it several times.

Dammit! Goblin guns didn’t work on it!

"Quick, recall all the shredders."

Commander Uldum’s angry yell rang out in the camp immediately.