Chapter Thirty-Nine: First Contact

The two goblins were brave, but their opponents outnumbered them. As the saying goes, two fists cannot defeat four hands; after holding out for a while, they were hacked down amid screams. This delay gave the fallen goblin time to rise. He was fierce, swinging his heavy club with a whistling sound, and for a moment, five or six enemies could not get close.

Sun Licheng was witnessing goblin combat for the first time, and found it less intense than he had imagined—the weapons were crude, and their skills were mediocre.

“Truly, they don’t even reach a combat power of five. Utter trash,” Sun Licheng lamented, forgetting entirely that he himself was a goblin.

Suddenly, an infuriating scene unfolded. Three pursuers did not join the attack, but instead rushed to hack at the heads of the two corpses on the ground. Decapitating enemies was nothing new; since ancient times, severed heads had always been the most important proof of victory. But Sun Licheng hadn’t expected these three goblins to quarrel, brandishing their weapons and fighting with desperate ferocity.

Such savage and brutal goblins were not ones Sun Licheng wished to associate with. He decided to help the goblin being surrounded.

A tremendous roar rang out, and the goblins in combat paused. A towering metallic creature and a goblin charged down the nearby slope; the goblin’s machete flashed in the sunlight, dazzling and fierce.

“Aaaah…” A goblin fell backward with a scream, a spear embedded in his chest.

With his attack successful, Sun Licheng rushed in even faster. While the goblins were momentarily stunned, Dogmeat had already plunged into the enemy ranks.

Dogmeat, the mechanical puppet of the Goblin Empire, though not as large as a battle puppet, possessed formidable strength. Before the goblin struck by the spear could hit the ground, Dogmeat’s sharp teeth had already torn another goblin’s throat.

The enemy recovered quickly. A tall goblin shouted something in a language Sun Licheng didn’t understand, and the group split into three: two continued to besiege their original target, five surrounded Dogmeat, and the rest turned on Sun Licheng.

Against magical beasts, Sun Licheng might have felt fear, but faced with goblins clad in furs wielding stone and bone weapons, he felt no pressure at all. He now wore the Goblin Empire’s battle attire, helmet, and wielded their long sword—well, half of it. The luxury of his equipment outclassed theirs by miles. If he couldn’t win under such overwhelming advantage, he might as well bash his own head against a block of tofu.

“Aaaah…”

With a scream, Sun Licheng swung his sword horizontally, and a goblin’s head soared into the sky. The battle was joined!

Sun Licheng had underestimated these goblins; once the melee began, he took a hit from an axe and a club, proving their fighting ability was not negligible. But they faced Sun Licheng, an indestructible monstrosity clad in battle gear, so the damage was nearly zero.

The enemies’ expressions shifted from anger to shock, then to terror. After Sun Licheng slew two more, their morale collapsed.

Sun Licheng was slaughtering with enthusiasm, while Dogmeat’s combat was even more devastating—like autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves. With super speed, sharp teeth, and steel blades on its claws, Dogmeat was a true killing machine against these unarmored infantry. By the time Sun Licheng had broken the enemy, all five goblins facing Dogmeat lay silent on the ground.

The leader, still unwilling to give up, charged at Sun Licheng with a heavy club. But before he could swing, Sun Licheng’s sword cleaved down from his shoulder, splitting him in two.

Now, the remaining enemies were utterly terrified, fleeing frantically into the woods.

The besieged goblin’s pressure eased. He swung his massive bone club hard, smashing it onto an enemy’s skull, caving in part of the head—a fatal blow.

Such is the cruelty of war. In just moments, over a dozen pursuers lay dead, with only three escaping into the forest.

To truly annihilate the enemy, Sun Licheng gave a whistle. Dogmeat barked and chased after them.

Seeing Dogmeat vanish into the forest, Sun Licheng walked over to the survivor.

Having spent several months in this world, Sun Licheng had grown used to fighting and the sight of blood; after a battle, his aura grew ever more intense. The surviving goblin looked terrified, gripping his weapon tightly as he stammered out a string of words.

Sun Licheng couldn’t fully understand. That was the limitation of heroic power—it allowed him to grasp the general meaning but did not resolve the language barrier.

He grumbled inwardly, “Brother, can’t we just speak common language?”

From what Sun Licheng gathered, the goblin’s name was Voll, a warrior of the Silvermoon tribe. The pursuers were evil goblins. Normally, a defensive line separated goblins from the goblin tribe, guarded by another tribe. For some unknown reason, these goblins had crossed the line and ambushed them during their hunt. Outnumbered and surprised, only three members of the Silvermoon tribe’s hunting party survived.

The three drew the enemy away from their tribe, leading them in the opposite direction for two moon cycles. Had it not been for Sun Licheng’s intervention, they would have been killed by these goblins.

“Are goblins and goblins not the same species?” Sun Licheng wondered.

He examined the corpses and found subtle differences: goblins had darker skin and sharper teeth than goblins, though otherwise there was little difference.

Due to the limitations of his heroic power, even after conversing with Voll for a long time, Sun Licheng hadn’t learned much more.

As they gestured and spoke, Dogmeat returned, looking relaxed—those three goblins had surely been killed.

As a tribal warrior, with such an important event as a goblin ambush to report, Voll wanted to return to his tribe as soon as possible. He invited Sun Licheng to visit the Silvermoon tribe as a guest.

Sun Licheng considered and declined. He wasn’t yet ready to contact the goblin tribes. The battle had happened too hastily; he needed to reflect on it.

Voll was a little disappointed, but happy to go home. After bidding Sun Licheng farewell, he approached his two companions, stood silently for a long while, and finally shed tears.

Seeing that Voll was not as brutal as the goblins, Sun Licheng felt somewhat relieved. He noticed blood still flowing from Voll’s arm, so he went over and took out his homemade salve, applying it to the wound. Under Voll’s astonished gaze, the bleeding stopped quickly.

Voll excitedly waved his arm, finding the wound hadn’t reopened, and was deeply grateful. To show his gratitude, he took a small golden crystal from his neck and offered it to Sun Licheng.

Seeing the reluctance in Voll’s eyes, Sun Licheng realized it was his treasure, and smiled, shaking his head to refuse. He urged him to hurry home before nightfall, as venturing alone into the forest at night was unwise.

Voll was even more grateful. He spoke at length, saying things Sun Licheng barely understood, then glanced at his companions’ corpses and turned into the woods.

In primitive society, intelligent creatures had harsh living conditions; death was commonplace, and few lingered in mourning. Thus, Voll did not bury his companions. Sun Licheng found this normal—these corpses would soon become food for wild beasts, eventually turning to bones, completing nature’s cycle.

Watching Voll disappear into the woods, Sun Licheng sent Dogmeat to stand guard, then went to examine the bodies.

“This world seems quite complex, not as simple as those online novels. I wonder what I’ll discover…”

As he searched the corpses, he muttered to himself.

By then, the sun was already slanting westward, casting a red veil over the land and lending everything an air of mystery.