Chapter 46: The Trolls' Trap

  A cool breeze blew in from the depths of the dense forest.

  It lightly brushed across their faces, causing a slight shiver of goosebumps.

  A faint st of decay wafted up from the thick piles of fallen leaves. The ret days of tinuous rain had caused the forest floor to undergo some straransformations.

  Tender sprouts, nourished by the earth, timidly poked their heads out, swayily in the breeze.

  Old Vilge Chief Field, full of joy, poi a patch of lush greenery in the bushes and said expetly:

  "In a month, we'll be able to harvest at least three Moonlight Flowers here."

  Matthew looked over, and the detailed data dispy firmed that Old Vilge Chief Field wasn’t exaggerating. Matthew muttered softly:

  "It's a pity we don't have a druid in our vilge..."

  As they moved along, Leon instinctively blinked, p for a moment, but in the end, he said nothing.

  More of the soldiers were curiously watg the kobolds rushing ahead with a cacophony of yelps.

  They used their incredible energy to drive all the creatures ahead of them away and occasionally used their o capture a deer oat.

  What was most iing was that the kobolds didhe prey themselves but instead prese to Yaya.

  With their respectful gestures and as, all the soldiers were amazed. Their gaze toward Yaya began to ge.

  The gluttonous Yaya didn’t reject the raw food either, using her sharp teeth and powerful bite to devour the prey in two or three bites—like biting into a crisp apple.

  Matthew could sense Yaya’s hunger and quietly waited for her evolution opportunity. Until then, he would o stockpile more experience points and Fate s.

  After about 10 minutes, Matthew reached the camp at the mouth of the valley.

  To his surprise, the camp’s inal location was now engulfed in raging fmes.

  Thick bck smoke billowed into the sky, and faint, agonized screams could be heard in the distance.

  With her keen eyes, Yaya was the first to report the situation.

  "Papa, there are more than ten ugly trolls up ahead setting fires. They've killed everyone in the camp and taken a few prisoners."

  Matthew instinctively raised his eyebrows and looked closely, seeing that the temporary camp, surrounded by wooden fences, had been pletely ed by fmes.

  Broken and bloody corpses littered the ground—among them were members of the sver group and many humans dressed in coarse linen.

  It was a bloody massacre!

  What was even more infuriating was that just in front of the burning camp, several trolls were feasting on a naked human.

  Matthew saw Crk’s terrified and twisted face as he was being devoured alive by the trolls. Strangely calm, Matthew gestured fe to stop.

  "Halt. Prepare for battle."

  The crisp and spread through the ranks, and the soldiers quickly formed up, having also seeuation ahead.

  The trolls noticed the arrival of the human soldiers. One of them, standing at the front, grabbed Crk's lifeless head and raised it high, r furiously at them.

  The sight of such brutality stirred a deep anger within the soldiers!

  They wideheir eyes, their breathing heavy, just waiting for the lord’s order to charge forward and sughter these vile beasts.

  Gripping his staff, Matthew g his now reset Luck Value but held back the order to attack.

  He wasn’t afraid of the trolls—after all, he had enough experience points to refresh his mana and level up.

  A suffit number of Melf's Acid Arrows would still be enough to take down the dozen or so trolls ahead.

  However, these ten trolls might not be the only ones around.

  Mattheell aware that this vast Dark Forest housed millions of trolls, and he was ed about stirring up a hor’s .

  Moreover, while the soldiers had show potential, they were still far from being able to challerolls with an average level of 7 her.

  "Too dangerous, and there’s no real gaihis is a bad deal, and we don’t do bad deals!"

  Matthew leaned in close to Ange's ear and whispered a few words before decisively a retreat.

  Ange wasn’t surprised. In her eyes, her lord never did anything unnecessary, so she calmly issued the orders:

  "Field, lead a team to scout the rear. Signal if you spot any enemies."

  "Rear guard bees the front guard, march forward in step."

  The soldiers came a quickly.

  As they retreated, the t trolls illuminated by the firelight slowly turned around.

  Their eyes were bloodshot, filled with an indescribable bloodlust.

  From the surrounding forest, another dozen or so trolls emerged, exging gnces but choosing not to pursue.

  The soldiers, unaware that they had narrowly escaped disaster, carried a growing sense end anger in their hearts.

  The coess they’d felt after successive victories was now slowly being repced with a sense of calm.

  They were relieved by the lord's retreat order, knowing they weren't ready to face such powerful trolls.

  At the same time, they felt ashamed of the thought.

  If they were strong enough, they wouldn’t have to stand by and watch the trolls strut about before them.

  Old John, at the rear, was already thinking about how to inspire these soldiers to develop a desire to grow stronger.

  As the kobolds led the way again, Matthew watched the nimble little creatures, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.

  How could he make the best use of them?

  With mixed feelings, the soldiers left the Dark Forest auro the sunlight.

  Everyone's faces were heavy and disgruntled. Matthew noticed this ued be and chose not to dampen their spirits. Instead, he kept a stern expression as he and Yaya climbed into the carriage.

  Outwardly, Mattheeared to be upset and ed about the i, but in truth, he assing down "the real wisdom" to Yaya.

  "Relying on kobolds to improve themselves is unrealistic; otherwise, after all these years, they wouldn’t still be like this."

  "The most effective way is to pick a few of the smarter, more obedient kobolds, grant them power and authority, ahem mahe others."

  "Moreover, with a species like kobolds, who ck much autonomy, you have to use strict methods to reshape their thinking and behavior. Turn them into proper tools..."

  Yaya houghtfully, her eyes whirling as she absorbed what could be called slightly "evil" wisdom.

  Outside, the kobolds were still charging ahead in a chaotic swarm.

  They babbled nonstop, embodying their mischievous and iature.

  Half an hour ter.

  The vilge patrol spotted the mass of kobolds approag.

  Fortunately, Old Vilge Chief Field quickly stepped in, expining that the kobolds were now the lord’s servants.

  The vilgers, once surprised, now curiously examihe kobolds, who were c from the sunlight and huddling in ditches.

  The lord could trol kobolds?

  For urpose?