The Vanishing Fireflies

Gebu stood atop the boulder, his small frame radiant in the firelight.

Beneath the boulder, nine pairs of goblin eyes were fixed on him.

The goblin wizard took a deep breath.

He had just woken up from meditation. In that space, for the past few hours, apart from replenishing his spell slots, he had done nothing but go over the possibilities of tonight's decisive battle in his mind.

Based on the information available and the personalities of Boss Xiong and the old shaman, Gebu devised a plan.

This plan is not perfect, but no plan is perfect—unexpected things always happen, and the more complex the plan, the more likely it is to run into problems.

Especially when the plan is carried out by a group of goblins...

Looking at the little green creatures at his feet, Gebu thought that before a decisive battle, a general would always give a speech to his men to boost morale—but what could he possibly say to them?

No matter how eloquently they speak, when faced with a life-or-death situation, a goblin is still a goblin; if things don't look good, they'll turn tail and run. That's their nature.

Geb held his breath, closed his eyes, and thought for a moment before slowly exhaling—he used a secondary phantom to amplify his voice, deliberately lowering it as he spoke:

"Goblins, I am Magnus...cough...cough!"

Gebu choked on his own saliva because he was speaking too softly, coughing twice, and the atmosphere became a little awkward for a moment.

The sound of crickets—

Hey, at this point, why pretend with a bunch of goblins? Let's just speak plainly!

"Goblins, I know you're anxious, cowardly, and afraid of death—because I was once the same."

"Isn't being alive good? Yes, it is! Only when you're alive can you eat and sleep. But think about it carefully, can you really survive without fighting?"

The goblins looked up at Geb, holding their breath and not making a sound.

Geb paused for a moment, knowing he had captured the goblins' attention.

"You've done well since leaving the camp—you've obeyed Magnubiye's will and are His faithful servants. But the old shaman won't forgive you for that; on the contrary, he'll turn you all into firewood—am I wrong?"

The little goblin who had been rescued from the dog's jaws shouted from the crowd, "There's absolutely no mistake! The old shaman is going to burn us all to a crisp!"

"We did nothing wrong. It was the old shaman who twisted the will of the gods—it's time for his old bones to retire! I am Magnubiye's new chosen one, and you have seen my power!"

Geb's voice, amplified by the secondary phantom, was so powerful that it echoed through the forest.

Gob's eyes trembled slightly. They stared at the two charred wolf heads beside Gob and the flames burning in his hands, not daring to utter a sound.

Geb saw fear in their eyes—almost there.

"Goblins who oppose me will only meet their demise!"

As Gebu finished speaking, a dark shadow suddenly flew through the trees—a red-eyed goblin carrying a bag of things landed next to Gebu.

He bowed to the goblin wizard, and Geb nodded to him.

He poked the pocket open and tossed it down—plop!

A pile of bloody goblin chunks of flesh rolled out of the bag! The little goblins were terrified and dared not approach the bag.

"These guys are the old shaman's spies. They thought they could ambush us at night—but the old shaman has been abandoned by the gods, and even his men can't escape Magnubi's eyes!"

It should be said that nothing escaped Tongtong's eyes... Gebu ordered him to keep watch at night and drive away the scouts released by the old shaman, but this guy caught them all in one night and chopped them all up... This guy's efficiency is truly terrifying.

Seeing that he had scared the boys enough, and that the stick had been used up, it was time to use the carrots.

"But do not be afraid! Follow my goblins and you will become the forest of the new order! Status, money, equipment, food! Magnubier is a generous god, have I ever wronged you? Follow the goblins and you'll live a life of luxury, riches and honors—follow the old shaman? You'll become chunks of meat to feed the wild dogs!"

Geb pulled out his dimensional bag from his pocket, took out a handful of glittering gold coins, and waved them in front of the goblin. He casually tossed them aside, and with a clatter, the gold coins landed on the chunks of flesh, stained with dark red blood, spreading across the ground.

The goblins' eyes were fixed on the blood-stained gold. No one dared to take it, but no one left either; they just stood there, stunned.

"Whether you want gold or you want to die, the decision is yours."

silence.

silence.

A goblin walked up, looked left and right, and then looked up timidly at Geb.

Geb nodded to him.

This multiple-choice question is too easy; even if you poke at it, you won't choose the wrong answer.

The goblin bent down, picked up a gold coin, wiped the blood off his clothes, and put it in his crotch.

He picked up another gold coin.

I picked up another one.

The other goblins couldn't resist any longer and stepped forward one after another, picking up the gold from the ground.

Within seconds, the nine goblins were scrambling for it.

Geb chuckled and allowed the guys to make a ruckus for a while. Then he gave Tongtong a look, and Tongtong jumped down and dispersed the crowd, restoring order.

"Looks like you guys aren't stupid," Geb said. "Next, we'll discuss the specific battle plan."

"You, you, you, you, you four, you're the most agile on your feet, you're the scouts." Gebu pointed out the four boys and continued, "Your task is simple: each of you take a rag I've peed on and obey my commands!"

After saying that, Gebu told Tongtong to hand the things to them.

The four little goblins wrapped the tattered, grumpy cloth around their waists without any sign of disgust—they dared not.

"Your mission boils down to one word: run! You're no good at fighting, but you can at least run away, right?" Gebu said. "Lane around the forest as many times as possible, the longer the better—the first one back will be beheaded, the last one back will get 20 gold coins!"

The four little goblins looked at each other and nodded.

"The other five, follow me. The two of you will walk in front, carrying the dog's head, and the three of you will follow behind. We're heading back to camp!"

The remaining five goblins' legs went weak when they heard they had to return to the camp, and they looked distressed.

Geb had anticipated their reaction. He pulled out the Grumpy Armor from his dimensional bag and told Pompom to distribute it among the five guys: you take a pair of knee pads, I'll take a pair of gloves...

Then, Poopo stuffed two glass bottles into the hands of each goblin—the bottle openings were plugged with rags and emitted a pungent smell of alcohol.

Thanks to alchemy—Gebu's self-developed formula:

【Gubtoff Cocktail】

Two silver dollars for a bottle; suitable for murder and arson, young and old alike.

"Don't worry, I won't send you to fight the entire camp. Once inside, listen to my signal. If a fight breaks out, you'll only have one task—to cause chaos! Create disorder! The alcohol I gave you isn't for drinking—light it, aim at anything that can burn, wood, tents… burn it all to ashes!"

"I don't expect you to kill many enemies. I'm just looking at one thing—after the battle is over, the goblins still standing in that camp will each get 20 gold coins!"

Upon hearing about the large sum of money, the goblins, clad in their loosely packed studded leather armor, seemed to regain their strength.

Hey, sure enough, money is the best spring... Getting approved is the most important thing, getting approved is the most important thing.

Gebu swallowed back the retort he was about to make.

-----------------

After arranging the goblins, Geb climbed down from the large rock and made his final preparations for the battle.

Geb placed the bone dagger next to his ankle: Little one, check.

The Book of Sand is put back into the dimensional bag: My darling, check.

Geb weighed the two magic scrolls in his hand.

It has been verified:

[Slingshot Technique] and [Element Absorption]

[Slingshot Technique]

The projectile launches an object weighing less than five kilograms straight out like a cannonball, striking a target and causing damage—with a range of 30 meters.

[Absorbed Elements]

The caster can absorb elemental damage (fire, ice, etc.) from spells and then incorporate it into their next spell attack.

Geb had no idea how to use the two scrolls... They were both first-circle spells, and at first glance, they didn't seem very useful.

However, Gebu initially thought the Cloud Mist spell was useless, but it ultimately saved his life.

There are no bad spells, just the right situation... something is better than nothing!

As Gebu was packing his things, he suddenly felt a shadowy figure moving in the corner of his eye—who?!

He turned his head: a pair of red eyes stared at him from 10 centimeters away from his face.

"Fuck Nubby!" Geb nearly dropped his dimensional bag in fright. "Poke! I swear... I should have put a bell on you! Walking without making a sound is terrifying!"

Tongtong didn't say anything, he just looked at Gebu.

Gebu stared intently at Tongtong and said to him, "...You've come at the perfect time, I need you to do this..."

Gebu said a couple of things, then realized the other person wasn't paying any attention—poking him seemed a bit strange.

"Hey... are you alright?"

Tong Tong scratched his head, stammering for a long time as if his computer had frozen, before finally saying, "...Tonight, are we going to poke the old shaman?"

"Hey, you're not scared, are you... Don't let me down at this crucial moment!" Gebu thought.

"Uh...yes, Magnubi said, old shaman, you can stab him—you must stab him, stab him a few more times, let all the gas out of his belly."

When Tongtong heard Gebu say this, he lowered his head and remained silent, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

"Hey. Poke, poke... Hey!" Gebu slapped the red-eyed goblin's face. "Focus, this is the final battle, understand?... No hesitation, hesitation means certain death! And if you die, you'll lose everything! Roasted bamboo rat, capybara soup, roast suckling pig... everything will be gone!"

Upon hearing this, Tongtong raised his head.

"But I can't kill so many goblins at once... I can't protect you anymore, Geb. Will you die?"

Gebu was stunned for a moment, then laughed in exasperation. This solid-headed guy... really thought he, a mere forest, could fight against more than a hundred goblins?

Even if he were willing to go, Geb wouldn't devise such a foolish plan.

"It's alright, just do what I told you to do—everything will go smoothly. I won't die, and neither will you. Only the old shaman will die."

"Do you still have that magic potion?" Poo Poo asked.

Gebu opened his dimensional bag, took out the remaining two bottles of healing potion, handed one to Tongtong, and kept the other for himself.

After receiving the medicine, Tongtong seemed a little relieved, and a simple, honest smile appeared on his face.

"If you get stabbed, I'll force-feed you."

"...First, make sure you don't get stabbed. Remember, you have to do this..."

As Geb explained his plan to Tongtong, seeing his half-understanding and clueless expression, Geb suddenly felt a tightness in his chest... An emotion he had never experienced before choked the goblin wizard.

I don’t know when it started, but Gebu has gotten into the habit of carrying Tongtong with him.

This guy... he's a bit slow, but he's quite useful... he's extremely proactive.

But one day, when I leave this forest to pursue higher magical power—will I still be able to take him with me?

A goblin already faces numerous difficulties hiding in the human world, let alone having a mentally challenged killer as a burden?

There will come a day when I have to say goodbye to Tongtong.

Just as Geb was lost in thought, a firefly flew over from somewhere, and the little goblin's gaze was drawn to the insect's light.

The firefly circled in the air and, by sheer coincidence, landed right on Pompom's round nose.

"Hmm?" He poked the cross-eyed man and looked at the firefly.

The goblin wizard suppressed a laugh—the red-eyed goblin looked rather comical.

"Hey!" Tongtong reached out and grabbed a firefly, then stuffed it into his mouth.

Warm light shone through the goblin's cheeks. It poked and swallowed hard, the glow illuminating its esophagus, and the worm went down with a gurgling sound.

Two seconds later, Tongtong's expression changed.

"Yue!"

The wet fireflies escaped, circled aimlessly twice, and flew towards the sky.

Gebu chuckled—this idiot!

He poked and grinned, licking his lips—he looked up and saw Gebu laughing so hard he was doubled over. He scratched his head and laughed along with him.

The laughter of the two goblins echoed through the forest.

The firefly soared into the night sky, merging with countless other fireflies to form a river of light that rose towards the heavens…

Laugh, goblin.

You don't know yet:

The sparks that ignite on this fateful night will eventually turn into a raging wildfire, turning the entire continent into chaos...