Chapter 194: Bamboo Rafts and Bamboo Forests
"There's a mission!"
Hearing this, Gobu Da's eyes lit up.
He nodded vigorously, his face filled with flattery.
"From today onward, you need to assign some people to make large bamboo rafts!"
"Great King, how many bamboo rafts should we make?"
Making bamboo rafts wasn't difficult; it was very simple.
Li Meng did some calculations in his head.
This time, it was an offensive rather than a defensive operation.
The main force of the war was the demons, not the goblins.
Thus, there was no need to send everyone.
Dispatching fifty thousand troops would be sufficient.
For fifty thousand troops, approximately 700 bamboo rafts would be needed.
"We need 1,000 bamboo rafts. The task must be completed within two months!"
Hearing this, Gobu Da felt a jolt in his heart.
He began counting on his fingers.
Ten ones make ten, ten tens make a hundred, ten hundreds make a thousand.
Gobu Da's body trembled, and he gave an awkward smile.
"Great King, that's too many. I'm afraid I can't finish it."
"What do you mean you can't finish? Making bamboo rafts isn't difficult."
Bamboo rafts were arguably the simplest type of vessel.
As long as there was enough bamboo, however many were needed could be made.
Facing the Great King's gaze, Gobu Da shrank his neck.
Hesitantly, he nodded.
"Alright... alright, I'll make sure to complete the task."
In the days that followed, Li Meng didn't return to the Throne Tribe.
Instead, he went to inspect a few bamboo forests.
There were large patches of bamboo forests on both sides of the Goblin River.
The bamboo forests varied in size.
Since the shafts for crossbow bolts were made from bamboo, and many daily necessities were also made from bamboo, the tribe consumed a great deal of it.
In just a few short years, much of the bamboo forest had been depleted.
Fortunately, bamboo grew very quickly.
Several large patches of bamboo forest were still thriving.
By afternoon, Li Meng had arrived at a particular bamboo forest on the southern bank of the Goblin River.
"Hmm, the scent of bamboo is truly pleasant!"
Walking amidst the bamboo forest, Li Meng took a deep breath.
Everything in this world was enormous.
Even bamboo was more than ten times larger than on Earth.
Some bamboo was so thick that a single person couldn't wrap their arms around it.
As he walked through the bamboo forest, Li Meng was filled with amazement.
If not for the smell of feces and urine, the natural environment would be truly mesmerizing.
Being surrounded by it brought a sense of joy and relaxation.
"Great King, I want to go back!"
Trailing behind Li Meng, Gobu Da looked around the dim surroundings with a wary expression.
The bamboo forest was extremely dense.
The thick branches and leaves blocked out sunlight.
Gobu Da didn't like this environment because there was a type of venomous insect in the bamboo forest.
These insects fed on bamboo worms.
If one wasn't careful, they'd get bitten.
Though not fatal, the bites caused unbearable itching.
The bamboo forest was not quiet.
Not far away, there was a logging site.
A large number of goblins were cutting down bamboo.
Some of the bamboo was processed further and transported away by carts.
Other bamboo was bundled together in full lengths and dragged off by wild boars.
Li Meng, walking ahead, turned to look at Gobu Da.
"Gobu Da, there's a bug on your instep."
Hearing this, Gobu Da froze, his face stiffening.
Terrified, he looked down at his foot.
What he saw made his pupils contract.
On the back of his foot was a large bug resembling a centipede.
"Great King, save me! I don't want to itch!"
Gobu Da panicked, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
"Gobu Da, is the itching bug really that scary?"
Goblins naturally had strong immunity.
No matter how venomous something was, it couldn't kill a goblin.
At most, it would cause discomfort for a few days.
Gobu Da nodded vigorously.
Li Meng grinned and flicked his fingers.
A small ice arrow shot through the air.
The ice arrow struck the bug on Gobu Da's foot, sending it flying.
The bug was pinned to the ground by the ice arrow.
It struggled for a while before finally going still.
"Ahhh!"
Gobu Da let out a strange cry.
He shivered and quickly ran away.
Only after retreating more than ten meters did he look back at the bug on the ground with lingering fear.
Li Meng stepped forward a few steps and crouched beside the bug curiously.
It wasn't an animal but a type of magical creature.
A high-level yet extremely weak entity.
[Red Centipede Dragon (Elite)]
[Level: 57]
[Strength: 3]
[Defense: 2]
[Agility: 4]
[Magic Power: 0]
[Maggot Dragon's Curse: LV1]
"What is this thing?"
It had skills, but its magic power was zero.
And it was even classified as an elite magical beast.
"The weakest elite magical beast?"
Li Meng bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the Red Centipede Dragon.
The wounds on the Red Centipede Dragon healed at a visible speed.
Li Meng picked it up from the ground and held it in his hand.
"Hey, little one, wake up!"
Li Meng shook the Red Centipede Dragon vigorously.
"Stop... stop shaking me!"
After a while, the Red Centipede Dragon finally woke up.
It opened its blood-red eyes.
Li Meng stopped shaking it.
"Little one, why are you so weak?"
Li Meng stared curiously at the Red Centipede Dragon in his hand.
"Why can I hear your voice in my head?"
"Nonsense! Can't you see I'm talking to you?"
Li Meng shook the Red Centipede Dragon again.
"You... you're just a goblin."
"So what if I'm a goblin? I didn't ask your mom to give birth to little goblins for me."
"What's a mom?"
"It's your mother!"
"I don't have a mother!"
"Were you born from a crack in a stone?"
Li Meng rolled his eyes.
Even a little bug dared to lie.
"I'm not lying."
"I don't believe you!"
"It's true. We can only split ourselves; we can't reproduce offspring."
"Split? You're just a bug."
Li Meng held the Red Centipede Dragon up high and examined it closely.
It looked like a centipede, nothing more.
No matter how he looked, it didn't seem like an animal capable of splitting.
"The Red Centipede Dragon is merely our host. Our true identity is the Maggot Dragon!"
"What's a Maggot Dragon?"
Li Meng thought of the skill "Maggot Dragon's Curse" on the Red Centipede Dragon.
"The Maggot Dragon is also called the Ancestor Dragon. 'Maggot Dragon' is a slur given to us by the Dragon God. We were originally the ancestors of the dragon race, evolved over tens of millions of years by parasitizing powerful magical beasts to create the dragon lineage."
The Red Centipede Dragon's explanation left Li Meng stunned.
When had his luck become so good?
He had merely visited a bamboo forest on a whim and encountered an ancient magical beast?
If the Maggot Dragon truly was the ancestor of the dragon race, its identity was extraordinary.
"You're not fooling me, are you?"
"I have no reason to lie to you."
"If you're so powerful, why are you parasitizing such a weak bug?"
"This is the Dragon God's curse. It rendered us extremely weak, requiring us to parasitize living creatures to absorb magic and life force to survive. The curse also took away our ability to speak."
"Well, you're pretty useless!"
Even though the Maggot Dragon's origin was impressive, it had truly turned into a maggot now.
Li Meng raised his hand, ready to throw the Red Centipede Dragon away.