Chapter 335: The One in Charge

Looking at the ore Nadia expression gradually became serious.

"Just as I thought."

"What is it?"

Zich raised his head and looked toward her.

"Spatial attribute materials."

Nadia raised the ore before her eyes, carefully examining the flowing patterns inside.

"And their quality is quite good. If we took these outside, I’m afraid the value of these few pieces alone would exceed that of all the mana potions you just collected combined."

"Oh?"

Zich’s eyes lit up slightly.

Spatial attribute materials?

Those certainly weren’t ordinary ores that could be found just anywhere.

However, since Nadia could recognize them, she clearly knew far more about this type of material than he did.

With that thought, Zich did not ask any further questions.

Instead, he simply said, "Then you can keep those ores for now. I’ll hold on to the other supplies, and once we get out of here, we’ll divide everything according to our agreement."

"Fine."

Nadia nodded without hesitation.

After all, the two had already agreed on how their spoils would be divided.

Now, they were merely taking possession of the items they needed in advance, so there was no reason to waste time discussing the matter in a place like this.

She returned the ores to her storage ring before raising her head and looking toward the passage outside the recess.

"However, I’m afraid things won’t be so easy from now on."

"What do you mean?"

"We caused quite a commotion just now. Those goblins definitely know that outsiders have infiltrated their settlement. Whether it’s their patrols or their guards, security will probably be much tighter than before."

Hearing this, Zich nodded slightly.

Naturally, he had already considered that possibility.

The goblin shield squad that had arrived as reinforcements was clearly much more troublesome than the ordinary hunting parties they had encountered earlier.

This was especially true with goblin shamans providing magical support from behind.

If they were surrounded in one of the narrow streets, even if they could forcibly fight their way out, they would inevitably waste a considerable amount of time and mana.

However...

That didn’t mean he was prepared to give up.

With that thought, Zich slowly closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the graveyard.

Black rain continued falling from the sky above the graveyard.

Rows of tombstones stood silently beneath the rain.

Among the newly appeared tombstones, two belonging to a Goblin Shaman and a Goblin Overseer were particularly conspicuous.

Zich’s consciousness lingered on these two tombstones for a moment. He marked them as Protected Tombstones, ensuring they could not be selected or consumed for a Spirit Bomb unless he removed the protection himself.

After all, these were two Elite tombstones.

Although they might not be particularly useful at the moment, keeping them around certainly wouldn’t hurt.

After finishing this, he finally opened his eyes again.

"It’s fine." Zich smiled. "Let’s see how they plan to respond first."

However, just as he finished speaking!

"Roar..."

The Nether Eye White Tiger, which had been quietly lying beside Nadia, suddenly raised its head.

At the same time, the third eye in the center of its forehead lit up with a cold, ghostly glow!

"Hmm?"

Nadia’s expression changed slightly.

Without hesitation, she immediately stood up and approached the stone wall, peering outside through a narrow crack.

The next moment, her gaze sharpened.

"Zich, come take a look."

Hearing this, Zich quickly stood up and walked over to her side.

Looking through the crack, he saw that the goblin settlement, which had previously descended into chaos, was gradually regaining order.

And in front of the enormous ancient stone temple at the center of the settlement, a squad noticeably different from the ordinary goblins was slowly emerging from the building.

Every one of these goblins wore a complete suit of metal armor and carried finely crafted spears and battle blades.

Their formations remained orderly as they marched, clearly indicating that they had undergone some degree of military training.

More importantly, unlike the ordinary goblins they had encountered earlier, these soldiers did not immediately rush toward the warehouse in a disorderly mob upon hearing the commotion.

Instead, under the command of a goblin shaman wielding a bone staff, the squad quickly spread out and blocked several major roads leading toward the outskirts of the settlement.

As they carried out their orders, the ordinary goblins that had previously been running around chaotically also began gathering at designated positions.

"Looks like there really are some goblins here who know how to command troops."

A trace of interest flashed through Zich’s eyes.

However, things were clearly not over yet.

A short while later, several relatively large goblins suddenly emerged from the direction of the central stone temple, working together to carry an enormous war drum made from animal hide.

The drum stood more than two meters tall.

Its frame was supported by thick beast bones, while its surface was covered with a heavy layer of dark brown animal hide, giving it an extremely ancient appearance.

After placing the war drum in the middle of the street, one of the goblins raised an enormous bone mallet and struck it with tremendous force!

Dong!

A deep, heavy drumbeat instantly echoed throughout the entire underground space!

The sound seemed to possess some kind of extraordinary penetrating power, spreading outward along the numerous underground passages.

Even near the stone wall where Zich and Nadia were hiding, they could clearly feel the dull vibrations.

As the drumbeat rang out, more and more goblins began emerging from the stone houses and the depths of the surrounding caves, rapidly gathering toward the central area.

In just a short while, the green figures that had previously been scattered throughout the settlement had already converged into a densely packed crowd.

Seeing this, Nadia’s expression gradually became solemn.

Zich, however, merely continued observing quietly.

Eventually, his gaze settled upon the goblin shaman standing at the front of the formation, continuously issuing commands with the bone staff in its hand.

A moment later, the corners of his mouth slowly curved upward.

"Looks like..We’ve found the one in charge."