Gauss was seeing a goblin tribe of such scale for the first time.
Of course, he needed to observe a bit longer and collect enough information before proceeding with the next step of formulating a plan.
He climbed a large tree and, using the trunk as thick as a wall for cover, cautiously peeked out to observe the goblin village below in the distance.
After increasing his Perception to 7 points, it was as if all his "hardware-level" sensory organs had been upgraded.
Under normal circumstances, seeing targets dozens or even hundreds of meters away was no longer difficult.
He gazed into the distance.
The appearance of the goblin village finally presented itself before him.
Although when observing the low walls earlier from below, he could roughly guess that this group of goblins had formed a rudimentary societal structure.
But upon truly seeing the internal structure, he was still somewhat surprised.
Before him was what looked like an early primitive human village, where goblins lived in an orderly manner.
In the center of the village’s open space was a large bonfire, with a row of racks beside it, hanging dissected pieces of animals like small birds, wild chickens, and even what appeared to be a few human thighs.
Nearby on a smaller bonfire, a large pot was brewing a deep green "special thick soup" suspected to be lunch.
A large group of goblins, varying in size, held extremely rudimentary wooden bowls, waiting for food distribution.
On a smooth stone sat a goblin of similar size to its kin, eating roasted meat in large gulps. Notably, it wore a reddish-brown cap on its head, as if stained with fresh blood.
This was the "leader" of the goblin village; even the formation of such a large tribe by the usually lazy and disorderly goblins might owe to its presence.
For goblins, who don’t have high Intelligence, it’s difficult to spontaneously form a long-term stable social relationship, often requiring a strong leader. This leader must possess much greater strength than its short-sighted kin to exert deterrence and punishment.
This Red Hat Goblin was such an entity.
During the two days of rest in town, Gauss hadn’t completely emptied his mind or left without preparation.
In fact, through inquiring in the Adventurer’s Guild hall, he learned a lot of information about the Red Hat Goblin.
Red Hat Goblins are a distinctive group within goblins.
Their size isn’t particularly larger than their kin, nor do they possess magical powers like a Shaman, but they have an extremely strong attack impulse and bloodthirsty nature. Moreover, beneath their unassuming appearance lies a compact muscular strength.
Additionally, they could rely on commanding group power or setting traps to hunt other prey or humans, using the prey’s blood to dye their hats.
Also, because blood naturally dries, their hats often fade over time, forcing them to regularly hunt more prey to maintain the vivid color of their hats.
These traits make the "courageous and cunning" Red Hat Goblins among the most dangerous non-elite goblins.
Gauss observed the Red Hat Goblin from afar.
Aside from the hat on its head, it wore mottled armor, though it was unclear if it was Leather Armor or Cloth Armor. A short blade hung from its waist, and next to it lay a longbow and quiver.
So it can fight close quarters and at range?
Gauss thought to himself.
As the saying goes, when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses all its strength.
The first strike of the Profession was to slay goblins; facing many old foes, Gauss did not want to make a mistake.
Although the task description did not state that this Red Hat Goblin had advanced to an elite monster, Gauss did not underestimate it.
In his several months of adventuring, besides the Mantis People, the distant Red Hat Goblin was likely the strongest individual he had encountered.
The ghoul didn’t count, as there hadn’t been a real fight.
In addition to the Red Hat Goblin, the other ordinary goblins were also not to be underestimated.
Four other goblins sat on stones enjoying "delicacies" beside the Red Hat Goblin. They were quite "brawny," reaching up to 1.6 meters in height.
For ordinary goblins, this was an oversized giant.
It seemed the Red Hat Goblin made use of its tribe’s numerical superiority to often hunt large prey, concentrating resources to nurture a few formidable "Subordinate Generals."
Thinking this, Gauss had a deeper understanding of the Red Hat Goblin’s influence on the tribe.
First, its strength was much greater than other goblins; otherwise, it couldn’t suppress more than fifty adult goblins and four big guys. Secondly, its Intelligence wouldn’t be low as well, managing distribution, directing other goblins to hunt, and handling food distribution wasn’t a job for the low-intelligence ordinary goblins.
This meant if he started a direct invasion of the village, this Red Hat could use ample hunting experience to deal with him.
By that time, he would face the siege of dozens of goblins before killing the Red Hat.
Although he could recklessly slaughter them and not necessarily lose, Gauss decided to play it safe.
His eyes carefully observed the village again.
Apart from the central "open square," the goblin village surrounded by low walls possibly smeared with feces could be roughly divided into residential areas, the leader’s tent, storage areas, and other facilities.
The storage area contained a natural pool, seemingly the only water source in the village.
At least during this period of his observation, a goblin, full from a meal, wobbled over to drink from the pool.
Obtaining this critical clue, Gauss felt even more confident.
Before coming, he had already devised some preliminary tactics in his mind, like fire attacks, feigned attacks to lure some goblins away, decapitation operations, poisoning...
After screening, he decided that to annihilate the goblin tribe, the best method was still poison.
Other methods were either too difficult to implement or could cause the goblins to collapse prematurely, scattering like birds and beasts, leaving him at a loss.
Poisoning might not sound very honorable, but as an adventurer, he naturally doesn’t fuss over such trivialities and focuses on whatever works best.
Thinking of this, he flipped over and climbed down along the trunk.
"Clap, clap!"
He clapped his hands and returned to the place where his package was stored.
Opening the backpack, it was filled with a dazzling array of various tools and small weapons.
The poison he purchased was a specially-made poison sack. When placed in the water source, along with the odor concealer, the goblins’ dull sense of taste would hardly notice the change. After drinking it, it would take about 1 to 3 hours before symptoms of diarrhea and dehydration appeared.
Considering that goblins might have stronger resistance to toxins, Gauss specially prepared several times the dosage.
As for why he didn’t buy more potent poison, like those that could kill off creatures within seconds with a severe neurotoxin, there were reasons. On one hand, such potent toxins couldn’t be found in small towns like Gray Rock Town, or perhaps he hadn’t found them. On the other hand, overly potent toxins aren’t necessarily a good thing.
If goblins died by the water’s edge shortly after drinking, after a few occurrences, even Red Hats with presumably higher intelligence than ordinary goblins, let alone average goblins, would detect something amiss.
Therefore, a longer-lasting laxative was a better choice; he merely needed the goblins to lose most of their combat effectiveness.
The low-intelligence goblins might not necessarily be aware of the crisis lurking behind their diarrhea.
Once affected, even if goblins scatter and flee, their speed would be slower than under normal circumstances.
Gauss carefully placed the poison sack into his bag and patiently waited for the goblins to finish their meal.
He knew that in such hot weather, the goblins couldn’t stay out in the open indefinitely.
Sure enough, after having lunch, the goblins returned to their living area and squeezed into the crude little shelters made of branches and leaves.
Not long after, they began their afternoon rest.
However, at the short wall, the Red Hat summoned and commanded several goblins, directing them to guard near the short wall, likely to prevent a sudden invasion by outside enemies.
After arranging the tasks, the Red Hat returned to his leader’s tent.
Shortly after its departure, the movements of the previously lively sentinel goblins became swayed and uninterested, leaning against the wall, heads drooping, occasionally glancing into the village.
Noticing this scene, Gauss breathed a sigh of relief.
Despite planning to poison, if several pairs of eyes were constantly monitoring the internal movements of the village, it would indeed be inconvenient to proceed with the action.
Fortunately, the goblins’ sense of diligence exists, albeit limited.
He applied odor eliminator on himself, crouched, and walked, lowering his steps, slowly approaching the goblin village.
The clearing from the forest to the goblin village was the most easily detected area.
Fortunately, due to choosing the right timing, he didn’t alert any sentinel goblins throughout and quietly reached the short wall.
Approaching it, sniffing the unusual smell emanating from the stone short wall under the sun’s baking, Gauss’s expression changed slightly.
The surface was indeed smeared with feces, some even very fresh, showing traces of not being entirely dried.
Enhanced by the 7-point Perception, the stench of feces and urine seemed amplified, eagerly flooding his nostrils.
What a stench!
I endure!
Gauss steadied his mind.
He understood the feeling after the Wandering Apprentice Medvedeva activated her skill.
After a brief pause, he began crawling forward using the cover of the stone short wall.
He needed to reach the closest point to the pool.
After advancing to Magic Envoy, the Trick Mage’s Hand he mastered has slight improvements in strength and speed, but the moving distance extended from the original 10 meters to 20 meters.
Yet, even so, the current distance was still inadequate.
Carefully bearing the stench of feces, he finally reached the closest wall edge to the pool.
Glancing around, he noticed the nearby sentinel goblin was about to doze off, its head nodding like a pecking chicken.
Upon seeing this, Gauss quietly activated Mage’s Hand.
An invisible arm gradually formed in the air before him.
He placed the poison sack into the Mage’s Hand’s palm.
He began controlling Mage’s Hand to start moving.
Although Mage’s Hand is invisible, the poison sack it grasps can still be seen.
Hence, Gauss opted to have Mage’s Hand travel close to the ground.
While the Mage’s Hand moved across a few meters,
suddenly, the sleepy goblin twitched its nose, seemingly sensing something, opened its drowsy eyes, and glanced around.
After scanning for a few seconds, a perplexed expression appeared on its face.
After affirming no changes, it finally couldn’t resist its drowsiness and closed its eyes again.
"Fortunately, I was cautious enough."
At the moment the goblin sensed something, Gauss had Mage’s Hand cease its movement, with the poison sack on the ground simply being an inconspicuous little item, indeed failing to attract the goblin’s attention.
It appears, do not underestimate any creature capable of surviving in this primitive jungle. Even if they are merely small green-skinned goblins, sometimes they might possess some keen instincts.