Count Bran had recently noticed something strange.
His Majesty seemed to have become obsessed with observing the Poison-stinger Wasps, spending all his free time visiting the watchtower wasp nest.
He was even muttering strange phrases like "treasures, treasures..." in his mind.
This made the crow curious about the treasures inside that wasp nest.
One day, he finally couldn't restrain himself anymore. Swallowing his pride, he approached Chen Yu, cleared his throat, and tried to appear both reserved and curious.
"Your Majesty, could this humble count also take a look... ahem, I mean, pay respects to your treasures?"
"What treasures?" Chen Yu looked completely baffled.
"Of course, the treasures in the wasp nest." Count Bran reacted dramatically, convinced that the more His Majesty tried to hide them, the more precious these treasures must be.
"If you want to see them too, wait until they come down."
This sense of mysterious profundity made him feel like a little claw was scratching at his heart.
Soon, ten Poison-stinger Wasps with shiny new carapaces flew down from the nest. Like soldiers awaiting inspection, they stood tall and proud, neatly lining up before Chen Yu.
"The treasures, where are the treasures?"
"The treasures are right in front of you."
"These Poison-stinger Wasps are treasures?"
Count Bran widened his eyes, circling around the wasps and examining them repeatedly, as if trying to find something different about them.
But there was nothing.
The massive disappointment instantly made him lose all interest.
"Ahem... Your Majesty must be joking. What hasn't this count seen before, let alone a few measly Poison-stinger Wasps."
"But they're actually quite impressive."
Count Bran spread his wings and raised his head arrogantly.
"It's not that this count is boasting, but even if I gave them one of my feathers, they still couldn't cause me the slightest harm."
"But since Your Majesty says so, why not let this count test the level of the kingdom's army? Come at me, then."
"Alright."
At Chen Yu's signal, one wasp soldier raised its tail, aiming its sharp poison stinger directly at Count Bran.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
"Caw caw caw, crow spreads wings!"
Count Bran flapped his wings, twisting and turning through the air, elegantly dodging the attacks while cawing with laughter.
"Your Majesty, with all due respect, your army still needs more training. Even if they all came at me together, this count would still..."
Before he could finish his sentence, three deafening explosions suddenly erupted right beside his ears!
Dirt and stone fragments flew everywhere!
"Caw——!!!"
Count Bran was scared out of his wits, letting out a shrill cry as he transformed into a black streak of light, "whooshing" behind Chen Yu. The entire crow pressed tightly against the Slime's cool gel, trembling uncontrollably, his voice completely distorted.
"Who, who dares to ambush the noble Count Bran! Such audacity!"
"Don't you know our great and wise Slime Majesty is right here!"
Count Bran cautiously peeked his head out toward the direction of the explosions, only seeing three black craters but no sign of any assassins.
"St... strange... where are they?"
Count Bran muttered, still shaken. Suddenly, as if realizing something, all his feathers stood on end. He whipped his head around to look at the row of Poison-stinger Wasps still standing tall and proud, his beady eyes widening into perfect circles.
Could it be...
That the stingers these things shoot actually explode?!
Count Bran immediately broke out in a cold sweat, cautiously asking Chen Yu.
"So that's why I said they're treasures. Poison-stinger Wasps that explode—aren't they amazing?"
Count Bran suddenly felt his mouth go dry, forcing a dry laugh. "Yo... Your Majesty is indeed wise."
Exploding Poison-stinger Wasps?
Had the world gone mad, or had Count Bran gone mad?
Thank goodness he had dodged earlier, otherwise... yikes, just thinking about it made his crow feathers stand on end.
Chen Yu didn't notice his expression, instead speaking enthusiastically as if sharing a new toy.
"Just imagine the sky filled densely with these self-destructing wasp soldiers. Even Goblins would have to run away, right?"
Never mind ordinary Goblins—even Bugbears would flee if they saw this, Count Bran muttered to himself, then laughed loudly to cover his embarrassment.
"Caw hahaha! Your Majesty is absolutely right."
"Fortunately, the summer Magical Tides are coming soon. With these self-destructing wasp soldiers guarding the fortress, this count can feel much more at ease."
"Summer Magical Tides?"
"So Your Majesty didn't know about them?"
Count Bran stepped out from behind, flapping his wings to land on a rock.
"Ahem... well then, Your Majesty has asked the right bird. This count is immensely knowledgeable, understanding both celestial phenomena and earthly matters, and happens to have some research on these mere Magical Tides."
"Mana, Your Majesty knows about it, right? That grayish stuff. When summer gets unbearably hot, it surges north from the Southern Islands like mad dogs, accompanied by earth-shaking storms and gales."
"Once this flood of magical energy rushes through, all the Magical Creatures lurking in the mountains go completely insane, desperately trying to squeeze into the Kingdom occupying the plains. Apparently, without mountain ranges blocking it, the mana flowing across the plains is much more abundant than in the mountains."
"When the Magical Tides arrive, the sky will be darkened by frenzied flying Magical Creatures, and the earth will groan under countless creatures' feet—Cave Spiders, Rotten Walking Corpses, Three-headed Lizards... like a black tide of death. Wherever they pass, fortresses turn to rubble, more terrifying than ten thousand Goblin chieftains farting simultaneously."
"This count experienced several Magical Tides back in the Shadow Mountains. That sight was truly... tsk tsk tsk."
Countless Magical Creatures?
That sounded pretty exciting.
Didn't that equal countless, self-delivering... food?
Compared to this, the small number of Magical Creatures in spring were like mere appetizers scratching an itch.
But to earn the right to enjoy this lavish feast, he first needed to figure out how to deal with this troublesome Magical Tide.
His little broken territory didn't even have completed walls yet—it definitely couldn't withstand being trampled by the Magical Tide army.
If he didn't want to be stomped into Slime jam, he needed to quickly fortify his base and cultivate more capable minions to stand guard.
Fortunately, the Lv.2 "Magic Stripping" ability could strip Lv.2 talents. Chen Yu climbed the watchtower and successfully fed the Queen Wasp's "Mana Explosion" up to Lv.2.
He had originally planned to recall the Civil Engineering Slime from the western outpost to rush completion of the final wall, but some strange commotion seemed to be happening over there.
...
Western Outpost.
The fortress and flower garden bathed in the lazy afternoon sunlight, peaceful and serene.
Even the Slime on the wall had spread out into a small patch of soft gel, as if taking a nap.
However, this tranquility didn't last long.
A line of short, hunched green figures silently emerged from the dense shadows at the forest's edge.
Three Goblin scouts.
The leader had skin like moldy leather, rough bone ornaments hanging from its pointed ears, and a pair of murky yellow eyes that darted around shiftily.
Behind it followed two even skinnier Goblins—one with an unusually large nose, the other missing half an ear—both appearing sleazy and nervous.
They tiptoed, sneaking furtively toward the outpost, their slender claws tightly gripping crude bone daggers.
When they saw the sunlit clearing before them, confusion appeared in their murky eyes.
Flowers?
The big-nosed Goblin twitched its nose as a strangely irritating sweet scent drifted in.
Disgusting flowers!
It hated this smell!
Even more than rotting fish guts!
This vibrant, colorful spectacle before its eyes was utterly repulsive.
"Gah! Stinky! Stinky things!"
The big-nosed Goblin shrieked in sharp Goblin language.
Its filthy foot claws unhesitatingly stepped into the flower garden, stomping down hard on a cluster of golden daisies.
The delicate petals and slender stems were instantly crushed into the soft soil, becoming a small puddle of green juice and shattered gold.
"Gah gah gah!"
The big-nosed Goblin let out piercing laughter, as if it had accomplished something remarkable.
Feeling unsatisfied, it jumped around, specifically targeting the most brightly colored flowers to stomp on.
It wanted to completely destroy this cleanliness that made it uncomfortable!
Just as it was getting carried away with its smug satisfaction, it suddenly sensed something wrong.
Its two companions, who had been giggling foolishly and nervously watching beside it moments ago, now stood frozen like statues, trembling uncontrollably.
The big-nosed Goblin's triumphant smile froze on its ugly face.
An icy chill shot up its spine as it stiffly turned its head.
Right behind it stood a tall, silent shadow.