Chương 170: Troll Night Raid

Li Qinwu spoke at great length, outlining the true nature of the Alliance to the Elder, leaving the old dragon growing increasingly uneasy with every word. The Elder had not expected the Goblin King to be so overtly ambitious—directly inviting the Aquatic Dragons to join this "Alliance" and embroidery another star onto their flag. The proposal filled him with intense apprehension.

Although the Aquatic Dragon tribe had never developed a formal national identity, any intelligent species possessed an instinctual aversion to being ruled by another—especially when they had yet to understand the true nature and intent of this Alliance. Li Qinwu pulled out a dagger, idly scraping his sharpened fingernails against the blade.

"Elder, the Alliance possesses immense strength. We hold complete dominion over the southern bank, boasting a population of nearly 100, 000 and a professional standing army exceeding 10, 000 soldiers.

"We command vast agricultural lands, ironworks, and advanced firearms. Frankly speaking, no force in the Monster Forest can resist the Alliance's rule." He stared down at the gathered Aquatic Dragons, his eyes flashing with a sharp, piercing brilliance.

"I came, I saw, I conquered!

"This entire forest shall become my kingdom. Those who comply will join the Alliance to share in its glory; those who resist will be driven out and crushed. The Monster Forest will permit only one sovereign power—and that power is the Alliance!" The Elder turned pale as he listened. This aggressive declaration made the goblins' stance unmistakably clear: war and conquest! Though he knew nothing of the southern bank, what he had witnessed here today was more than enough.

The force of over 1, 000 goblins before him possessed enough raw martial power to wipe out his entire tribe. The Aquatic Dragon tribe did not reside exclusively deep within the marshlands; they still maintained extensive permanent structures along the riverbank. Most critical among these were their nesting grounds, which had to be constructed on the sandy soil near the shore. In the past, to escape attacks from the trolls, the Aquatic Dragons had fled the riverbanks to live deeper inside the wetlands.

To incubate their eggs within the marsh, they had dug up massive quantities of sand, packed it into woven vine baskets, and wrapped their eggs inside to carry them away. While this method had successfully hatched young Aquatic Dragons, the resulting offspring were fragile and weak—unable to compare to hatchlings buried directly in the natural sands of the riverbank. The elders believed that eggs buried in natural shore sand absorbed rich earth and water mana, allowing the hatchlings to grow strong and resilient.

Thus, the tribe could never fully abandon the shoreline. If they clashed with this Goblin King, they would be forced deeper into the wetlands once more, condemning their next generation to frailty and decay. The Elder continuously flicked his tongue to lick his eyes—a nervous habit peculiar to the Aquatic Dragons when under immense stress.

"O King," he asked carefully, "do you intend to enslave my kin?" Li Qinwu shook his head.

"No, not enslavement. The Alliance has no slaves; on Alliance territory, slavery is a severe crime. I prefer to call it an organic integration.

"If you become citizens of the Alliance, you will continue living in your wetlands, doing what you excel at—such as farming Wetland Fish. The Alliance will even send engineers and resources to help you expand production.

"Beyond that, you will gain far more: iron tools, pottery, fine liquor, and absolute security.

"If you are part of the Alliance and the trolls dare attack you, their raid will be declared an act of war against the Alliance itself—and we will deploy our armies to crush them!" The Elder felt a sudden flicker of interest. Yet decades of tribal leadership reminded him that nothing in this world came without a cost. He inquired cautiously, "O King... what must we pay in return?" Li Qinwu considered the question carefully.

"First, your tribe must raise the Alliance flag and acknowledge yourselves as citizens of the Alliance.

"Second, you must uphold and obey the laws of the Alliance.

"Finally, if called upon, you must send warriors to serve in our military!" Li Qinwu outlined a few key requirements, though in truth, he harbored few illusions about the Aquatic Dragons submitting instantly on verbal terms alone. Rulers rarely surrendered power willingly to foreign overlords. Take the Kobold tribes, for example: their integration into the Alliance had been forged through war. Only after the Alliance deployed its armies and struck down their leader, Dragon-Fang, did full integration take place.

The Aquatic Dragons had not yet experienced the crushing weight of the Alliance's war machine; expecting them to yield to mere words was unrealistic. Still, it mattered little. Stating his position clearly established an open channel of communication. Next, he would simply flex his military might near their borders. Winning hearts and minds remained the superior strategy.

There was no need to corner them into a desperate stance; if these massive lizards simply dived deep into the waters, hunting them down would prove troublesome. A gradual, calculated approach was required. The Elder fell into deep thought once more. He knew nothing of this goblin-led Alliance, yet he understood one fundamental truth: a tribe must control its own destiny, and handing its future to a foreign race was foolish.

As he pondered how to preserve his tribe's autonomy while maintaining peace with the goblins, a brilliant flare of fireworks suddenly erupted across the dark night sky, followed by a thunderous BOOM! The Elder looked up at the burst of light in utter astonishment. What was that? Why was it so blindingly bright? Li Qinwu leaped up from his stool, shouting to the surrounding encampment, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemies approaching from the north! Everyone to battle stations!!"

His voice boomed like a megaphoned command, instantly rousing the sleeping soldiers in their tents. Under orders issued before nightfall, every soldier had slept in full armor with weapons within arm's reach. Within seconds of waking, they rushed to their defensive positions. A second flare detonated in the night sky, noticeably closer to the perimeter. It was a signal from Gob-Run's mounted scouting patrols—a massive host of enemies was charging from the north. It could only be the trolls!

Li Qinwu instinctively made to head toward the northern perimeter to direct the defense. But as his gaze fell upon the bewildered Aquatic Dragons, a thought struck him: What better opportunity to demonstrate absolute power?

"You ten—follow me!" Li Qinwu led the ten old dragons toward the northern edge of the camp. The perimeter had been prepared with wooden chevaux-de-frise barriers and raised earthworks, allowing soldiers to take cover while maintaining a clear field of fire. Dragging the ten old dragons behind a earthen mound, Li Qinwu unslung a musket and aimed toward the darkness.

A 20-meter clear zone separated their defensive line from the dense forest edge—an open space cleared by his soldiers' relentless logging earlier that day. Beyond that lay thick, pitch-black canopy, severely limiting visibility. The goblins stood shoulder-to-shoulder at their posts, leveling their muskets toward the tree line. Around the flight vessel, six field cannons were trained on the silent dark. The Elder and his companions trembled in quiet panic. They had never witnessed such cold, lethal discipline.

The goblins moved in complete unison, dressed in matching armor and carrying identical weaponry—a sight for which the old dragon lacked even the vocabulary to describe. This was hardly surprising. Neither the Aquatic Dragons nor the trolls possessed the concept of a professional standing army; both relied on mobilizing raw recruits whenever war arose and disbanding them back to labor immediately after. They could not comprehend the terrifying efficiency of a trained military force. Stolen story; please report.

As tension mounted, a third flare burst in the air—this time barely 50 meters away, almost directly above the forest line. The goblins tightened their grips on their muskets. The heavy, suffocating atmosphere told the Elder the enemy was here. The towering, bloodthirsty trolls had arrived! His heart hammered against his ribs. Instinctively looking beside him at the Goblin King, he was stunned to find Li Qinwu calmly picking his nose. The old dragon was utterly flabbergasted. Is this King insane?!

Does he not understand the absolute terror of a troll horde?! The Elder opened his mouth to warn him, but in the next breath, Li Qinwu demonstrated precisely why he had the luxury of being relaxed. A massive wave of towering trolls burst from the forest line, wielding crude stone hammers and heavy stone spears. Their eyes glowed with violent red light, tusks jutting from their dark lips, and complex black tattoos snake-patterned across their dark-red flesh—appearing like demons straight out of a nightmare.

With blood-curdling roars, the troll warband charged out from the trees. Li Qinwu fired first, blowing a troll's head apart before shouting at the top of his lungs: "Fire at will! All units, fire!!" BANG! BANG! BANG! A deafening roar erupted across the perimeter as hundreds of triggers were pulled simultaneously, shattering the peace of the night and sending nocturnal birds fleeing into the sky. The Elder's eyes bulged in disbelief.

He could swear to the Lord of the Sacred River that he had not seen as many trolls killed in his entire lifetime as were falling right before his eyes! Hordes of roaring trolls rushed out of the forest, only to be cut down in agonizing heaps by the thunderous volleys. The long iron tubes held by the goblins looked unremarkable, yet with every burst of flame and smoke, troll warriors dropped screaming to the earth as if reaper spirits were snatching their souls away.

The trolls fought with savage bravery, howling as they hurled their heavy stone spears from the tree line. At a distance of barely 20 meters, their thrown spears carried terrifying force. Several goblins were struck and knocked off their feet. Yet the stone tips failed to penetrate their Horn-Crocodile leather armor. The goblins simply scrambled back up and resumed firing into the horde.

A few massive trolls relied on raw physical resilience to absorb multiple musket rounds, throwing themselves into the perimeter trench only to be halted by the sharpen-staked chevaux-de-frise. Before they could climb over the stakes to swing their weapons, goblin officers armed with heavy hand-cannons stepped forward, thrusting the wide barrels directly against the trolls' chests and pulling the triggers. The Elder watched in horror as a heavily tattooed troll warrior attempted to vault the barrier.

Before it could move, a goblin officer slammed a short iron tube straight into its chest. With a thunderous explosion, the tattooed troll's chest was shredded into a bloody crater. The massive beast collapsed into the ditch like a sack of spoiled meat, dying without even making a sound. The Elder's jaw nearly hit the ground. That tattooed troll was an elite war-marked champion—a terrifying opponent identified by its dense ritual markings and bloated stature.

Taking down a single champion of that stature would require at least ten veteran Aquatic Dragon warriors! Yet here, before it could even lay a claw on a single goblin, it was obliterated in an instant! Li Qinwu emptied his musket, his peripheral vision catching the stupefied look on the old dragon's face. He smiled faintly. Turning to the field cannon crew 10 meters away, he roared, "Fire a round!"

Gob-Explode, who had been waiting for the order, instantly thrust his fire-striker into the powder pan without hesitation. BOOM!! A massive blast echoed across the hill as a dense cloud of canister shot burst from the barrel. Over a dozen trolls charging in front of the gun were caught in the direct line of fire. The iron shot swept across the field, shredding muscle and bone into red mist. Viscera scattered across the clearing as the trolls collapsed into mangled corpses.

The Elder felt as though his heart had stopped. The thunderous roar of that massive iron tube sounded like a strike from the god of storms himself. Looking across at the targeted zone, not a single troll remained whole. Even the ancient trees in the background were battered and scarred, their leaves raining down in sheets. Li Qinwu was delighted by the shock value, but he decided to ramp up the demonstration even further.

"Prepare demolition charges!" he commanded loudly. Hearing the order, the goblin officers set aside their primary weapons and pulled heavy demolition charges from their packs. Nearly all officers in the 1st Guard Regiment were Tier 4 or Tier 5 veteran units, possessing the raw strength needed to hurl a 13-kilogram demolition cylinder across long distances. Seeing his officers ready, Li Qinwu lit the fuse of his own heavy charge.

"THROW!" With a mighty roar, he launched the cylinder into the night. Following his lead, the officers ignited their fuses and hurled the heavy charges straight into the densest concentrations of charging trolls. For a fraction of a second, time seemed to stand still. Then, the earth trembled violently. The Elder's ears rang with deafening intensity as a series of colossal detonations shattered the night. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Several frightened Aquatic Dragons screeched in horror as the Elder was knocked off his feet by the shockwave, staring in sheer terror at the rising plumes of smoke and dirt. The explosions shattered nearby trees and tore through the troll formations. Shockwaves flattened dozens of warriors, while those caught near the blast centers were blown into bloody fragments. A severed troll leg landed with a heavy thud right beside the Elder.

Staring at the massive, muscular leg lying before him, the old dragon's mind went completely blank. The entire battle lasted barely three minutes before coming to an abrupt end. The sheer, overwhelming firepower unleashed by the 1st Battalion had shattered the trolls' morale in an instant. I just finished warming up, and you bastards are already running? Li Qinwu thought. Coming and going as you please? Not on my watch!

He immediately led 300 System-generated units out of the fortifications to give chase, determined to strike enough terror into these creatures to ensure his sleep wouldn't be disturbed again. Besides, hunting massive trolls provided vast amounts of experience points for his troops—far more efficient than grinding skeleton soldiers! Li Qinwu led 310 System units deep into the forest, pursuing the fleeing trolls as musket shots echoed continuously through the dark canopy.

Every bang brought down another fleeing giant. The trolls screamed in panic, wishing their mothers had birthed them with four legs instead of two. Li Qinwu thoroughly enjoyed the hunt. Drawing a heavy bow, he shot the trolls through the legs to bring them down, letting his soldiers rush forward to finish them off with bayonets to devour the experience points. With his immense physical strength, drawing a heavy warbow was effortless.

Against unarmored targets, his archery proved devastatingly efficient—dropping troll after troll for his troops to execute. They pursued the shattered horde over three kilometers, killing more than 200 additional trolls along the way. As the remaining survivors scattered deep into the dark forest, Li Qinwu ordered a halt, unwilling to risk pushing too far into enemy territory. With the battle concluded, the System prompt flashed a victory summary.

Li Qinwu barely glanced at the loot—mostly crude animal pelts, grain, and junk stone weapons. Instead, he opened the Unit Management interface and clicked upgrade. The fierce engagement had yielded immense experience. Before the battle, he had held 180 Tier 3 units and 100 Tier 4 units in his strike force. Now, his tally sat at 8 Tier 5 units, 122 Tier 4 units, and 150 Tier 3 units. Li Qinwu grinned broadly. Trolls really were an incredible source of experience!

To achieve a similar level of progression fighting undead, he would have had to farm four or five thousand skeleton soldiers. Yet a single night raid and pursuit against trolls had accomplished it in minutes! Checking his own status, Li Qinwu noted that he had gained a level, placing his attribute point into Control while his Bow Mastery reached 25. He selected a new perk: Instructor. Instructor: When you kill an enemy with a bow, grant 5 experience points to all archers under your command.

Li Qinwu led his squad back to camp in high spirits. Seeing the old Aquatic Dragons still standing in dazed shock, he felt a sense of quiet satisfaction. He owed those trolls a debt of gratitude for providing such a perfect stage to flex his muscles! Demonstrating such terrifying combat effectiveness would surely encourage the Aquatic Dragons to be sensible and give serious thought to joining the Alliance. By dawn the following morning, the crisp forest air was still heavy with the scent of gunpowder and blood.

Gob-Dead was already hard at work, carried on his litter as his undead attendants stacked corpses, repaired flesh wounds, and reanimated fresh zombies. With the field covered in troll bodies, he had a busy day ahead. Li Qinwu guided the Aquatic Dragons on a tour around the perimeter, letting them inspect the piles of troll corpses to ensure the deterrent effect was fully realized. He handed a heavy leather bag made of Horn-Crocodile hide to the Elder.

"Gentlemen, time is short, and I have land to clear. I won't keep you any longer. Take your time to carefully consider how our two factions should coexist.

"Thank you for the gifts you brought earlier. Consider this my gift in return." With those words, Li Qinwu gestured for them to take their leave and turned back to direct the camp's expansion. Shaken to their core by the night's events, the Aquatic Dragons were eager to return to their settlement and report everything to their chief. They bade a hasty farewell and set off toward the riverbanks at a rapid pace, terrified of lingering in the trolls' hunting grounds.

Though advanced in age, the old dragons moved remarkably fast, clearing the dangerous zone within half an hour. In a world this harsh, those too frail to run did not survive for long. Once clear of the troll territory, the group paused to catch their breath. Curious about the contents of the heavy leather bag, the Elder opened it as the other old dragons crowded around.

Inside was an assortment of items: iron knives, spearheads, sickle heads, axe heads, along with ceramic bowls, ceramic cups, a somewhat cloudy glass cup, a bag of salt, and a bag of barley malt candy. The Aquatic Dragons handled the iron tools with awe and wonder.

"Is this iron?!" one old dragon gasped in amazement.

"It's so sturdy! Only elite war-marked trolls possess iron tools, yet every single goblin carried them! Incredible!" Another old dragon opened a small cloth bag, noticing fine white crystals inside. Unsure of what it was, he pinched a few grains and placed them on his tongue. His eyes instantly lit up.

"Salt! This is salt! Such pure, white salt!!" He danced with excitement, urging the others to try it. The old dragons took turns tasting the salt, cheering with delight. Though the salt produced in Goblin Fortress was relatively coarse and unrefined, the Aquatic Dragons' usual methods for acquiring salt involved eating raw meat or licking salt rocks. Their threshold for luxury was extremely low; tasting such pure, concentrated salt sent their senses soaring.

Another dragon opened the remaining cloth bag to find dark-yellow blocks marked with small air bubbles. He picked up a piece of barley malt candy, licked it cautiously, and let out a loud roar of pure joy.

"Sweet! It's so sweet!" The group eagerly shared the candy, shivering with pleasure as if they had suddenly grown ten years younger. Finally, the Elder reached into the bottom of the bag and pulled out the last item—a tightly wrapped cloth bundle. The other dragons stared intently, filled with anticipation. What could it be? The Elder slowly unwrapped the fabric. The others leaned in close as the cloth unfolded completely, revealing a circular star flag resting inside.