Chapter 36

"Reel in the anchor chains, prepare to raise the sails!"

In the harbor, surrounded by breakwaters, the giant galley warships, which resembled floating castles, raised their sails, ready for a long voyage. These warships, once part of the Royal Fleet of the Light Empire, had been sunk by desperate human sailors in the harbor before they fled, left to be slowly eroded by the relentless passage of time.

Unwilling to see the Royal Fleet of the Light Empire vanish into nothingness, the goblin military command ordered a large number of human slaves to salvage the sunken ships from the abandoned harbor and repair them for reuse. Now, the restored harbor, which is one of the few coastal areas directly under the control of the Emperor of the Light Empire, presents a bustling scene of traffic and commerce with the human imperial capital, connected by a straight road stretching for six hundred miles. The goblins, recognizing the excellent geographical location and infrastructure, have refurbished the Royal Harbor as a new naval base.

In the harbor, the newly repaired giant galley warships, flying black flags with a crescent moon, are fully equipped and ready to set sail. The once powerful fleet that guarded the human empire's maritime borders has now become a convenient tool for the goblins to hunt down exiled human nobles. History seems to enjoy using such darkly humorous metaphors to warn people.

Nothing is sacred and eternal, no matter in which world. Even the revered deities are eventually pulled into the astral plane to sleep, ultimately falling into the River of the Underworld and vanishing. How much more so for mortals with flesh and blood, who are born and die in a day? The things once cherished by humans will eventually turn to dust and mud. Perhaps this is the only eternal truth.

At this moment, holding the appointment letter issued by the military command, the bear goblin commander Zeti Bai Shan, who has achieved great success and is now on a high horse, cannot understand the sorrow and suffering of the human refugees. As a bear goblin who rose from the lower ranks through his military achievements, Zeti Bai Shan has endured countless hardships to reach his current position. Compared to Zeti Bai Shan's arduous journey, Mudo Heishui, a commander of earth goblin origin, is a fortunate and smooth-sailing successor. Given the same task of pursuing and exterminating the human exiles, the efforts and dedication Zeti Bai Shan has put in cannot be easily described in a few words.

Now, the most direct evidence that Zeti Bai Shan is more competent than Mudo Heishui would be to bring back the head of Will Nidham and report to the military command, the Senate, and the goblin emperor. The bear goblin commander is full of confidence; he does not think he will fail, and success is only a matter of time.

"Raise the sails, set sail!"

The spirited Zeti Bai Shan could not have imagined that as he commanded the fleet to set sail, the Chief and Deputy of the military command were watching from the watchtower of the fortress outside the harbor. However, the reason for their presence was not to see the fleet off, as Zeti Bai Shan did not have such an honor. They were accompanying a more prominent guest to watch the spectacle.

"Great Shaman, do you think Zeti will succeed?"

Unlike the first goblin empire, which was obsessed with technology to the point of self-destruction, the second goblin empire is a union of goblin tribes from the mountains of the main continent, which merged and united over time.

In the process of building this new goblin nation, the shared shamanistic faith of the goblin tribes, along with their common ancestry and the great ambition to restore the glory of the first empire, played a crucial role. The Great Shamans are the spiritual core of the shamanistic faith, and although they do not hold much real power, their revered status is on par with the senators of the Senate. There are only a dozen or so shamans in the entire second empire who can be called Great Shamans, and the one present today is clearly the most prominent among them.

The old goblin, with yellow eyebrows that had turned white, looked somewhat dazed and shook his head, saying softly:

"Hard to say! Hard to say!"

The Chief and Deputy of the military command exchanged glances with surprise and quickly asked:

"Why? Is the military strength not enough?"

"It's not about military strength, but fate! That human brat should have died long ago, but he is still alive today, which is beyond the predetermined path of fate. He is very dangerous."

Such a fatalistic statement from a highly respected Great Shaman, based on his authority in religious matters, even if it is baseless, cannot be ignored by the two military leaders. They then realized the implications of his words, and the Chief's face turned pale as he opened his mouth in shock:

"Are... are you talking about the prophecy?"

Upon hearing this, including the Chief who had spoken out, the goblins present changed their expressions. The Great Shaman made a gesture to silence them and said unhappily:

"Shh! Do you want to die? Do you dare to say such things in public? Don't you know the Harmony Law?"

Prophecies of the end of the world, which predict the imminent end, are not something the current regime can accept, even though everyone knows that any world will eventually decline and fall, a truth that cannot be denied. They stubbornly try to make everyone believe that they are the exception in the long history. However, the more dangerous and taboo the subject, the more it piques the curiosity of the general public. The terrifying prophecy that must not be mentioned openly still spreads and circulates in the corners of the goblin empire, showing no signs of subsiding.

To curb the spread of the ominous prophecy that the second goblin empire will be destroyed by the descendants of the Light Emperor, and to prevent the unreliable end-of-the-world theories from fermenting in society and causing new unrest, the goblin Senate and the military command, known for their foresight and never making mistakes, jointly drafted the "Harmony Law." After presenting it to the goblin emperor for review and formal approval, it was officially promulgated throughout the empire. Since then, any goblin who dares to spread disharmonious information in public will be severely punished by the law. If the rumor spreader is not a goblin, they can be executed on the spot without a trial. This harsh and decisive measure actually reveals the second empire's anxious and unstable mentality. Even high-ranking officials like the Great Shaman and the military leaders could be in serious trouble if they were inadvertently implicated.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Great Shaman, I was just..."

The Great Shaman stopped the Chief's apology and, as if lost in his own dream, murmured:

"Humans have a saying: when the moon is full, the waning days are not far off. Our success has been too great, too glorious. In the past few thousand years, countless heroes and valiant men could not achieve the dominance of the main continent, but we accomplished it in less than twenty years. This success came too quickly, too easily, and too fortuitously."

The Great Shaman's words were nothing more than a common and vulgar topic. The second goblin empire has not failed to examine the history of its rise. At this point, the Chief and Deputy of the military command were speechless. Then, the Chief humbly sought advice from the Great Shaman:

"Uh, is there something wrong with that?"

The Great Shaman's eyes, which usually looked sleepy, suddenly flashed with a sharp light, like a bolt of lightning in the dark night. A meaningful and eerie smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, and he said softly:

"The brighter the bonfire, the faster it burns out. Don't you understand this principle?"

Indeed, when the flowers are in full bloom and the fire is raging, the end is just a step away. This is a simple truth. Given the brutal conclusion of the reasoning, the two military leaders had to focus all their attention on solving this problem. They whispered to each other and then turned to the Great Shaman:

"What do you plan to do?"

"Ha ha ha ha, I am just an old fool who has no say in the Senate. Who would care about my opinion? If you think my premonition is reliable, then you should arrange for a suitable candidate to go and subdue the half-orcs."

Upon hearing this, the two powerful military leaders exchanged glances. The Deputy took the initiative to ask:

"Subdue the half-orcs with a large army? It can't be those small tribes. Are you talking about the half-orc wilderness? Even lowly humans can't survive there. What are we going to do there?"

Indeed, apart from the scattered half-orc tribes throughout the main continent, the only region predominantly inhabited by half-orcs is the half-orc wilderness in the heart of the main continent.

This land, though not the farthest from the sea, is sandwiched between two parallel mountain ranges, surrounded by undulating hills. It is far from the moisture brought by the sea, with an annual rainfall of less than 200 millimeters according to old-world standards, and the main water source is glacial meltwater. Without a water supply, the land, though not barren, can hardly grow any significant crops except for wild grass. In the remote and arid wilderness, the land is covered with severely eroded gravel and yellow soil, and the number of plants growing on a square meter of land can be counted on one hand.

In fact, most of the half-orc wilderness is only slightly better than the barren deserts and wastelands. Only the half-orc tribes, known for their ability to eat anything and even cannibalize their own kind when starving, can survive in that impoverished land. Even humans, recognized by the intelligent races of the new world for their resilience second only to cockroaches and rats, cannot live there for long, at most grazing sheep during the brief summer snowmelt. Currently, the goblin empire has already controlled the richest and most fertile lands of the main continent and has no interest in launching a costly expedition to attack that almost worthless barren wilderness.

Regarding the thorny issue of development direction, the Great Shaman did not give a direct response. He said in a mysterious manner:

"I hope it's just my old age. Sigh, being old and confused, I tend to think too much. Perhaps one day we will need that land to continue the goblin lineage."

A great prophet who correctly predicts a disaster before it happens is not praised but becomes a scapegoat for the panic of the masses when the disaster strikes. The Great Shaman's pessimistic statement almost explicitly tells the two listeners that the goblins' unfortunate fate is already determined, predicting that the second goblin empire will decline to the point where they will have to hide in a desolate land to survive.

At this moment, the two goblin officials changed their expressions and asked in unison:

"Great Shaman, are you joking?"

The old goblin's face again showed a strange smile that was hard to fathom. He said, as if seriously answering but also casually dismissing:

"Hey, I am very serious. Believe it or not is up to you. Well, I'm tired and need to rest..."

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