["Th-Then... alright,"] The Scarecrow beamed and said happily, ["Since Attendant Lady is being so thoughtful, then I'll endure it a little longer! Anyway, one day she'll realize how good I am. Unlike you... scumbag!"]
"Hey! What kind of way is that to talk?", Ethan rolled his eyes at the Scarecrow and said, "When your doll really gets those Multi-Eyed Monster eyeballs, don't blame me for not helping you take them away. I'll just let all those eyes stare at you, from morning till night. We'll see if you're scared then."
["Cut it out! You're just trying to scare me. You just want to sell those Multi-Eyed Monster eyeballs for money. You think I don't know that?"]
"Oh? Getting smarter, are you?"
Ethan raised an eyebrow, 'Kid, do you think becoming a little smarter means I can't deal with you anymore?'
After saying that, Ethan immediately added, "Attendant Lady will come help you remove those eyeballs when the time comes. You'd better help her. Otherwise, if your wife does something to Attendant Lady, don't regret it later."
["Attendant Lady will come?",] The Scarecrow's eyes lit up, ["I understand. I won't let my wife... pfft! I mean I won't let the doll hurt her. Just leave it to me, you scumbag!"]
"Tch! Who's the scumbag? You know perfectly well."
The Scarecrow protested, ["I love Attendant Lady with all my heart. How am I a scumbag?"]
"I don't care whether Attendant Five is your first love or your only true love," Ethan sneered, "But aren't you married now? You're a married man who still wants another woman. If that's not being a scumbag, then what is?"
["I was forced into it!"]
"If you really didn't want it, who could force you?"
["Did any of you ever ask for my opinion?"], The Scarecrow suddenly burst into tears, ["The doll's former owner was like this, and now she's like this too. Why is my life so miserable?"]
"Alright, alright, stop crying," Ethan suddenly felt sorry for the Scarecrow. He patted its shoulder and said, "Every marriage ends in divorce someday(in Netflix shows). Stop crying."
———
Nothing happened that night.
Early the next morning, Ethan got up on time.
He went for a swim in the hot spring pool, enjoyed another massage from Attendant Five, and finished the breakfast carefully prepared by Cook Four.
Only then did he wave his hand and prepare to set out with everyone.
"We'll use the same team arrangement as yesterday. Bird One, Bird Two, Bird Three, and Daji will come with me," Ethan assigned the personnel, "Everyone else will follow yesterday's arrangements. Move out!"
"Coo!"
When the White Eagle saw that it hadn't been included, it immediately ran over to Ethan looking aggrieved and blocked his path.
Ethan looked at the White Eagle and said, "Do you think I forgot about you? Actually, I didn't. I have a very important task for you."
"Coo?"
The White Eagle's eyes brightened, and it puffed out its chest proudly.
The truth was that the underground maze wasn't suitable for the White Eagle. It was too large, and its flaming feathers were too noticeable. It wasn't suited for surprise attacks, so Ethan hadn't planned to bring it.
But now the White Eagle was blocking his way and looking upset, Ethan really had forgotten about it, but to avoid hurting its enthusiasm, he still fooled it and said, "Go take a look around the surrounding area. I want to know which territories border mine, so I can prepare defensive fortifications in advance."
"Coo! Coo!"
The White Eagle nodded repeatedly, its eyes full of a sense of mission.
"Good job, White Eagle," Ethan patted the feathers on its chest. They were a little hot to the touch, "Then I'll wait for your good news."
"Coo!"
The White Eagle was delighted. It immediately spread its wings and flew away from the territory.
Ethan also waved his hand and said, "The whole army, move out!"
"Yes, Lord!"
———
[Western side, Gray Ore Mining Area]
When Ethan entered this strange region, he still used the oldest and most traditional method of scouting. He carefully used a tree branch to probe the edge of the spatial crack little by little.
Only after confirming that the spatial gate leading into the Gray Ore Mining Area was still in its original position did he send a Sun Worm inside first.
At the same time, Ethan also looked through the spatial gate until a prompt appeared confirming it was safe.
[Gray Ore Mining Area: A production base with a large amount of ore.]
[P.S.: Because of the Polar Night, all the goblins are hiding inside the underground maze and refuse to come out. Right now is the best chance to go deep into the mining area and dig up advanced ore. However, you must always watch out for the monsters wandering in the darkness. If you don't have a treasure that can drive them away, you'd better head home early.]
"Looks like there aren't any monsters in the Gray Ore Mining Area besides the Spirit-Seizing Void."
Only after seeing the prompt did Ethan finally let out a long sigh of relief.
At that moment, the Sun Worm also flew back completely unharmed.
Only then did Ethan feel safe enough to enter with the Birdmen group and Stone Six's team.
After entering the mining area, Stone Six's group would stay behind to mine. Ethan did not intend to bring them into the underground maze.
Mainly because their combat strength wasn't particularly high. If they were fighting together against monsters, like Snow Monsters, low-level creatures they understood well, that would be fine.
But last time, through the Divine Tree's astral projection ability, Ethan had confirmed how terrifying the underground maze was, especially that Goblin King who looked like Master Yoda.
So, Ethan didn't want the level-two troops he had worked so hard to train to go there and die.
———
[Maze Entrance]
Ethan had the three Birdmen step forward and move away the stone blocking the maze entrance.
However, the instant the stone was moved aside, an arrow shot out from inside.
It flew straight toward Ethan's face.
Of course, Ethan had already expected this.
This was also why he had the three women move the huge stone.
He knew very well that if the goblin guards at the entrance launched hidden weapons instantly, the three Birdmen would definitely struggle to respond and could end up in danger.
And if Ethan had been moving the stone at that moment, he wouldn't have had a free hand to help the Birdwomen.
That would have been dangerous too.
Therefore, Ethan had the three women move the stone while he stood guard.
"Great Fireball!"
A simple level-one Great Fireball directly struck the hidden arrow and set it ablaze.
Then a Red-Cap Goblin and a Green-Cap Goblin, each holding a spear, quickly jumped up to the surface.
Waiting for them was naturally Ethan's level-two Great Fireball.
"Split Great Fireball!"
BOOM!
BOOM!
The two goblins flew back into the hole along an arc after being struck by Ethan.
The faster they had come up, the faster they fell back down.
"Daji!"
Ethan called out.
Daji, who excelled in agility, immediately understood. She flashed into the hole at lightning speed.
Before the remaining goblins could even scream or send a warning, they had all been cleanly eliminated.
Ethan stepped inside.
The cave was filled with blood. Five Green-Cap Goblins and one Red-Cap Goblin were all dead.
Aside from the red-capped and green-capped goblins that had been burned to death, the other four Green-Cap Goblins had all had their throats torn open with a single claw strike. Blood stained the ground at the cave entrance red.
Under the light of the Sun Worm, Daji leisurely licked the blood from her fingertips.
Ethan looked deeper into the cave and saw a line of notification text appear.
[One hundred meters inside this cave, several hundred Red-Cap Goblins and Yellow-Cap Goblins are gathered in the Guard Hall. They seem to be holding some kind of secret meeting.]
[Yellow-Cap Goblin: Also known as a Savage Goblin. It possesses strong defensive and charging abilities. If you encounter them head-on inside a narrow cave, it will be a major disaster!]