The dragon just wants to stay at home, but the players are frantically upgrading their technology.

Seeing the warrior gazing into the distance with his hands behind his back, the two of them consciously shut their mouths, guessing that this was a special method of the Black Scale Clan.

Standing to the side, Justice and Nera followed the War Master's gaze.

The lush green forests are like a sea, and the mountains are like waves; when the wind blows, ripples spread across them.

The forest itself, like the sea, is a place where turbulent undercurrents converge and rage.

The goblin scouts spread out like a net, forming small teams of three, occupying high ground and advancing step by step.

Several goblin squads, forming a faint cone shape, advanced through the forest, eliminating potential threats to the rear army and supply lines.

From the front, Cangyu Baicao Garden watched in the distance as the goblin scouts moved into their high point.

Their reconnaissance squad consisted of 12 full members, mostly early-stage hunting team players, with a few being retired soldiers from virtual warfare.

During this time, they underwent special training from Cang, and their military skills were many times higher than those of the goblin scouts, so they would not be discovered.

Upon receiving the commander's order, Baicaoyuan and Cang quickly led the lurking reconnaissance squad of players to retreat.

With the reconnaissance team withdrawing, the goblin scouts easily occupied the high ground and gathered intelligence.

But they were completely unaware that half an hour earlier, someone had been standing here, observing their main force.

After the scouts finished their advance, a hundred-strong goblin army followed from afar, advancing along the not-so-wide abandoned trade route.

The abandoned trade route is the best road in the Blackrock Mountains and the best choice for marching.

Due to the limited number of personnel, the scout team of this hundred-man goblin army consisted of only about ten people, which was insufficient to cover all the high points.

Three or five miles away, on a small hill, Zhan Shuai and his men watched calmly.

It was vaguely visible that the leader was a group of twenty goblins.

Armed with leather-covered wooden shields and hardwood iron spears, they maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far, three in a row, ready to form a battle formation at any time to deal with an ambush.

Following closely behind were the goblin general and his personal guard, as well as wheelbarrows loaded with supplies and ordinary goblins in charge of logistics.

At the very back were about a dozen elite goblin soldiers covering the rear.

"High point 1 has been captured, high point 2 has been captured..."

The liaison player reported.

"A peculiar method."

Mog and Finley, the gnoll chieftain, listened with a gleam in their eyes and couldn't help but whisper their admiration.

They had been standing there the whole time, and had never seen the Blackscale Clan use a single messenger.

Yet, strangely, information kept coming out of the kobold's mouth, and it was mostly accurate.

"According to Sergeant Cang's assessment, there are skirmishers advancing in parallel through the forest on both flanks of the goblins, ready to provide support from the front and rear at any time."

Soon, the liaison player finished reporting, and his eyes lost focus again.

"This is the mighty goblin army! It's not just about superior equipment, but also military prowess, with scouts advancing, alternating cover, and flanking support."

Finley, the gnoll chieftain, couldn't help but sigh.

"You can learn a lot from this way of marching, just by watching it from a distance."

Listen, Mog's aged hand unconsciously tightened its grip on the bone staff.

Immediately, Mog turned to look at the war commander who had been gazing at the goblin army, his tone filled with worry.

"Mr. Zhan Shuai, are you really confident you can defeat them?"

As a priest, he was not knowledgeable about military affairs, but he was well aware of the strength of an elite army.

"Is it very professional? I think it's full of flaws!"

Standing next to Zhan Shuai, the one who spoke up was the first to turn around, his eyes showing curiosity, and he expressed his opinion.

"There are too few people, the high points are not cleared, and the formation is too dense, making them perfect targets."

"Ms. Caliber is Justice, you've never been to war, have you?"

Finley, the gnoll chieftain, crossed his arms and spoke with an air of certainty and utter disdain.

"If you haven't fought in a war, don't rush to express your opinions, lest..."

Finley stopped talking, not finishing his sentence.

He thought he had given some face to the idea that "caliber is justice".

"Hehe, I actually think the saying 'the caliber is justice' is correct."

Withdrawing his gaze, Zhan Shuai turned back to look at Finley, the gnoll chieftain, smiled, and then spoke.

"They may be very professional in cold weapon warfare, but what we are fighting has never been cold weapon warfare."

Finley didn't say anything more, but just kept a sour face.

He could barely understand the meaning of cold weapon warfare, but he didn't understand what kind of war could be fought if not cold weapon warfare.

However, he firmly believed one thing.

In any war, information is of utmost importance.

Giving up a high vantage point means giving up information.

This is a major taboo.

Even if the Warmaster's move was an ambush, Finley was not optimistic.

The goblin army's scouts are unparalleled in the Blackrock Mountains, and the goblin general Shattered Bones is no fool either.

"Then let them see our way of fighting."

"Justice is everything" shrugged indifferently and turned to look in the direction of the goblin army.

It's just the noise of ignorant NPCs.

"Row."

The warlord turned around, nodded, and looked at the goblin army heading towards a narrow mountain path, a smile playing on his lips.

"Let's see if all they know is how to march."

Chapter 39 My mission is complete!

Black Rock Mountains, abandoned trade route.

The not-so-large goblin army marched by, kicking up dust.

In the middle of the army, a tattered battle flag fluttered in the wind, painted with a blood-red, broken skull.

Beneath the military flag, a magnificent, three-meter-long, greyish-brown dire wolf slowly walked forward.

A goblin giant nearly two meters tall sat on it.

His face was covered in blood-red patterns, and his physique was robust, with his bulging muscles filling his dark full-body armor.

A tall, gleaming saber hung on the back of the dire wolf.

Following closely behind were five equally imposing goblins, dressed in inferior full armor and riding dire wolves.

It's clear at a glance.

This is the infamous goblin general Shatterbond and his personal guard in the Blackrock Mountains.

The shattered body undulated with the dire wolf's gait, its expression ferocious, its eyes fixed ahead with slight narrowing.

There has been no news from my brother for half a month, and the goblin squad we sent there has also disappeared.

The repulsive old dog-headed man remained vague and evasive, claiming ignorance when questioned.

Those damn lowly kobolds can come to their territory and nothing happens? Who would believe that!

He had a premonition that the goblin lair had been taken over by those inferior kobolds with black scales.

As the army advanced, the abandoned trade route ahead gradually narrowed due to the terrain.

Sui Gu withdrew his gaze and looked down at the map carved on the wooden board in his hand.

As far as he knew, the mountain path ahead was mostly made up of steep earthen walls, and at its narrowest point, it could only accommodate three to five people standing side by side.

If he were the enemy, he would surely lay an ambush ahead, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out.

The goblin scouts, who could roam freely in the Blackrock Mountains, did not report any anomalies.

Shattered Bones narrowed his eyes, clenched one fist, and raised it above his head.

"stop!"

Soon, the order was relayed, and the goblin army of nearly two hundred soldiers and logistics personnel slowly came to a halt.

"Regroup, advance the skirmishers on both flanks, clear the flanks, and send out two five-man goblin squads to scout ahead."

"If there's nothing else, proceed quickly."

The order was given by Shattered Bones and passed down.

The troops regrouped and compressed, with two squads of shield-spearmen sent out at the front, while the goblin stragglers in the forest on both sides also assisted the shield-spearmen in pressing into the mountain path.

The goblin troop had barely moved forward when three panicked kobolds ran out from the woods at the narrow mountain pass.