Chapter 330: Slimy In Trouble

"Garu! Gah! Gah!"

A Goblin Warrior guarding the entrance was pointing impatiently behind Slimy while letting out a string of incomprehensible cries. Apparently, it was questioning why Slimy had returned alone.

Slimy raised its head.

Blink.

Blink.

Then...

"Bo..."

However, just as the sound escaped its mouth, it suddenly remembered its master’s earlier instructions!

Smack!

Both little hands immediately clamped over its mouth!

"Gah?"

The goblin guard frowned, seemingly finding this fellow member of its race rather strange.

However, before it could continue questioning Slimy, the little goblin suddenly extended one hand and pointed toward the roasted meat hanging above the nearby bonfire. Then, it vigorously patted its own stomach.

Pat! Pat!

Its appearance was almost identical to that of a starving goblin.

The guard froze for a moment. Immediately afterward, an obvious look of disgust appeared on its face.

It waved its short spear, signaling for Slimy to hurry up and get lost instead of standing there causing trouble. Then, it turned around and resumed fighting with several other goblins over a freshly roasted piece of magical beast meat.

Just like that, Slimy had actually managed to sneak inside!

It glanced back at the goblins fighting over food before reluctantly looking at the roasted meat above the bonfire one last time.

In the end, it tightened its grip on the wooden stick and continued along the path between the stone houses. After all, its master’s mission hadn’t been completed yet.

As it ventured deeper into the settlement, more and more goblins appeared around it. Some were transporting lumber, while others sat around bonfires fighting over food. There were also groups of Goblin Warriors wearing worn leather armor, patrolling the pathways between the stone houses.

However, because Slimy’s current appearance was almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary goblin, and because it kept its head lowered while walking, it didn’t attract much attention.

Before long, a stone building that was clearly sturdier than the surrounding houses appeared before it. Several Goblin Warriors holding long spears stood guard at the entrance.

The two heavy stone doors were currently wide open, and goblins carrying animal skin sacks or metal chests frequently entered and exited. Through the open doors, one could even see enormous quantities of supplies piled inside.

Bundles of spears!

Wooden crates filled with metal equipment!

And rows upon rows of mana potions in different colors arranged on wooden shelves!

"..." Slimy stopped walking.

Although it didn’t understand how much those things were worth, through its soul connection with Zich, it could vaguely sense that this seemed to be precisely the kind of place its master wanted to find.

However, just as it stood there observing the building, one of the goblins guarding the warehouse suddenly turned its head and directed an unfriendly gaze toward it.

"Gah!"

Slimy’s body stiffened.

The next moment, it pretended that nothing had happened. It turned its head, gripped its wooden stick, and casually continued forward for several steps.

Then, after circling around some miscellaneous objects piled near the entrance, it quietly slipped into another passage. Once it was completely out of the guards’ sight, it quickened its steps and began running back the way it had come.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Zich was leaning against the stone wall with his eyes closed, sensing Slimy’s soul state.

Because of the soul contract between them, he could roughly determine that Slimy hadn’t encountered any danger. However, directly observing everything around Slimy through its eyes wasn’t quite so easy.

Therefore, he could only wait patiently.

Fortunately, not much time passed.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

A series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from deep within the branching passage.

Zich opened his eyes.

The next moment, a small goblin wearing an animal skin cloak rushed around the corner. It ran straight toward him before extending both little hands and desperately tugging at the hem of his clothes.

"You’re back?"

Slimy nodded vigorously. Then, it pointed one hand toward the passage behind it before spreading both arms and making exaggerated gestures in the air, seemingly trying its best to describe what it had just seen.

Zich watched its movements and thought for a moment.

"There are lots of goblins inside?"

Slimy nodded frantically!

"And lots of valuable things?"

This time, Slimy nodded even faster!

Seeing this, Zich and Nadia couldn’t help exchanging glances. A trace of interest appeared in both their eyes.

"Looks like you really did find something."

Nadia spoke softly.

"Let’s go and take a look."

Zich didn’t hesitate.

Under Slimy’s guidance, the two followed the branching passage all the way forward. Only when they were about to reach the entrance to the underground cavern did they turn into a damaged stone corridor beside the main path.

This corridor was positioned slightly higher than the surrounding ground. Although most of its stone railings had already collapsed, the remaining broken walls and ruins provided enough cover to conceal their figures.

Zich crouched down and peered through a gap in the damaged stone railing, and his eyes widened slightly.

The enormous underground cavern before him was densely populated with goblins!

Along both banks of the underground river!

Between the low stone houses!

Even around the animal pens holding magical beasts!

Busy green figures could be seen everywhere!

With just a casual glance, Zich had already spotted no fewer than a hundred goblins. And that was only counting the areas directly visible from his position.

As for how many more goblins were hidden inside the stone houses and the deeper sections of the settlement, there was simply no way to know.

More importantly, there were clearly quite a few powerful individuals among these goblins. Several Goblin Shamans holding bone staffs stood in different areas, directing the activities of the other goblins.

Meanwhile, in the deepest part of the settlement, an enormous stone temple with an unmistakably ancient architectural style stood silently in the center of the cavern.

Several flagpoles constructed from enormous beast bones stood on either side of the temple’s entrance. Tattered animal skin banners hung from them.

The goblins patrolling back and forth in front of the entrance were all wearing complete sets of metal armor, and the weapons in their hands were far superior to those carried by ordinary goblins.

"There are this many?"

Upon seeing the scene before her, Nadia’s expression gradually became serious.

She had originally thought this place would be nothing more than a relatively small goblin lair. However, now that she was seeing it for herself, she realized that the scale of this underground settlement far exceeded her expectations.

"If we start fighting here directly, we’ll probably attract every goblin in the surrounding area before long."

"Indeed."

Zich nodded.

However, there wasn’t much worry on his face.

That was because, while Nadia was observing the goblin guards, his gaze had already settled on a stone warehouse located along the side of the settlement.

It was precisely the place where Slimy had discovered the large quantities of supplies earlier.

At that moment, the little fellow was crouching beside Zich’s feet, excitedly waving the wooden stick in its hand and repeatedly pointing in that direction. Clearly, it still remembered everything it had seen.

However, just then!

Buzz!

A faint green glow suddenly appeared across Slimy’s body.

Immediately afterward, its body, which had previously been almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary goblin, began shrinking rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Within a few breaths, the little goblin wearing an animal skin cloak completely disappeared. In its place was once again a mass of blue translucent slime.

Splat!

The animal skin cloak, having lost its support, slid directly to the ground.

"Bo!"

Slimy raised its head and let out its familiar cry.

"Time’s up?"

Zich lowered his head and glanced at it.

Through their soul contract, he could clearly sense that the special adaptive energy maintaining Slimy’s goblin form had now been completely exhausted.

It seemed that although Devouring Adaptation allowed Slimy to temporarily acquire the physical forms of other creatures, the duration of such transformations was ultimately limited.

However, that was already more than enough.

After all, Slimy had not only successfully infiltrated the goblin tribe this time, but had also conveniently helped him discover a rather promising target.

"Good job."

Zich reached down, scooped Slimy up, and placed it back on his shoulder.

"Bo!"

The little fellow immediately wobbled happily.

Meanwhile, Zich raised his head once more. His gaze swept past several Goblin Shamans holding bone staffs in the distance before slowly settling on the stone warehouse filled with supplies.

The corners of Zich’s mouth slowly curved upward.

It seemed that the harvest from this ancient tomb exploration would probably be far richer than he had originally imagined!