Chapter 21 – The Second Main Troop Type

The Goblin Shaman died in an undignified manner, so much so that Mu Yuan didn’t even have time to check what rank this rare-tier shaman actually was.

But it couldn’t have been too high.

The highest level among the surrounding Great Goblins was only Rank 6, so he’d just treat the Goblin Shaman as Rank 7.

“Rank 7… That’s actually quite high already. It’s reached the ‘Late Stage Apprentice’ Realm, and the shaman is a powerful unit of rare one-star quality. Truly terrifying.”

But it didn’t seem all that terrifying?

Under the bombardment of Deadbone’s Bone Spears, which were like cannonballs, not to mention a Rank 7 shaman, even a Professional Tier shaman might not survive a direct hit.

After all, shamans are fragile.

The Great Goblins, on the other hand, were quite tanky. The Skeleton Soldiers’ sabers couldn’t cut too deep into them before getting stuck in their incredibly dense muscles.

So, the other Skeleton Soldiers also rushed in to land their own strikes.

Under the flurry of blades, the last two Great Goblins with bloodshot eyes also fell, dying just as undignified as their shaman.

……

As the dominant force within a two- to three-kilometer radius, even if the battle had been quite noisy, few monsters dared to come and investigate.

Their fear of the goblin overlords was etched into their very bones.

Even if some reckless beasts did catch the scent of blood and approach, they would merely become casualties under the sabers of Deadbone and the other skeletons.

Mu Yuan began tallying the battle rewards.

Aside from the unexpected appearance of the Goblin Shaman, the number of other goblins was roughly as he had estimated—dozens of them.

Killing dozens of monsters in one go naturally yielded him extremely abundant rewards.

Deadbone, along with the slightly awakened Bone Two and Bone Three, transformed into busy bees, continuously gathering scattered Soul Sand and delivering it to him.

Moreover, since this battle involved killing quite a few Advanced units—five Great Goblins and one Goblin Shaman—a considerable number of Remnant Souls were dropped.

This was a glorious victory.

Fine, sand-like grains of Soul Sand piled up before him, slowly coalescing into a beautiful, fragmented gem.

「Soul Sand: 101.5g」

As for the Remnant Souls…

“Three Random Remnant Souls, and two Goblin Soul Fragments… How unlucky. But surprisingly, a three-star Remnant Soul dropped.”

「Remnant Soul (Large Slime)」

「Description: Using this Remnant Soul guarantees a 100% chance to recruit a normal three-star unit, the Large Slime.」

“The evolved form of the Slime, the Large Slime.”

“Similar to the Skeleton line, ordinary Slimes are synonymous with weakness and incompetence, but the Large Slime is quite formidable. It’s a standout among three-star units, boasting a massive size and tonnage, capable of both tanking and crowd control—meaning it uses its sheer weight to suppress and heavily control enemies.”

“Moreover, Slimes are, roughly speaking, noble elemental beings.”

Mu Yuan had considered the matter of future main force unit selections a long time ago—meaning one or two days prior.

Since he possessed a slight evolutionary ability, he needed to follow a unit specialization path and couldn’t just recruit a Skeleton Soldier here and a rifleman there.

But focusing solely on the Skeleton line of units wasn’t feasible either. A single unit type had too many limitations and obvious weaknesses, making it easy to counter.”Ranged units like archers are highly practical and offer significant advantages in defensive battles. Unfortunately, archers are two-star units, and their ranged nature drives up the price of their Remnant Souls, making them almost as expensive as Three-Star Remnant Souls.”

“To maximize my evolution ability, I need to focus on quantity, because the Evolution Points yielded by Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Soldiers still aren’t much more than those from Little Skeletons… Based on my research these past few days, the rule of the evolution ability is clear—it uses quantity to create quality.”

It’s as if the entire race pools its strength to produce one or two Emperors.

Under these circumstances, Mu Yuan needs cost-effective units, and Little Skeletons are one such option.

“Not only that, I also have to consider the daily maintenance of the units.”

Most units are flesh and blood. Human Race units like archers and female musketeers are no different from real humans in appearance and internal composition, aside from lacking intelligence.

They require daily food intake and necessary rest. If these needs aren’t met, the units will become imbalanced, leading to decreased combat effectiveness, and in severe cases, they may even wither and die.

In a sense, units are delicate goods. Players not only need to command them in battle but also provide careful maintenance and daily care.

Thus, even whales dare not purchase Remnant Souls without limits—they can afford to buy them but not maintain them, and even if they can maintain them, they can’t manage them all.

The more someone whales, the more they crave units with Awakened self-awareness, as these can handle many tasks for them. However, while whales might be able to buy rarer Unit Shards, they can never purchase units with self-awareness.

That depends entirely on luck.

Or perhaps on hacks?

According to the data, Slimes seem to survive on just leaves for nutrition, making them quite easy to raise and meeting Mu Yuan’s requirements.

The only downside is that Slimes lack ranged attack capabilities and can’t fly.

However, Large Slimes are massive in size—perhaps they could serve as mounts? Or mattresses?

As for the last of the legendary three duds, Goblins… Mu Yuan shook his head. No Goblins—they’re ugly, rejected.

…

After storing the Remnant Souls and Soul Sand, Mu Yuan didn’t leave.

This was a Goblin Camp, and aside from these ‘monster drops,’ there were many other valuable resources, such as the Wooden Spears of the Goblin Spear Throwers.

While collecting Soul Sand, Deadbone had already gathered these Wooden Spears—they were an important reserve of strategic weapons.

It realized that compared to close combat, ranged attacks were safer and more reliable.

If it could eliminate enemies from ten thousand meters away, wouldn’t that be extremely safe?

But how to detect and eliminate enemies from ten thousand meters away—that was the question.

Deadbone fell into deep thought.

…

Guarded by Bone Two and Bone Three, Mu Yuan cautiously moved forward.

He also directed Bone Six to scout further ahead, checking for traps or any Goblins that weren’t completely dead.

He wasn’t afraid of dying—he was just being cautious.

“Great Goblins rely purely on their fists for combat. Aside from a ragged loincloth, they have no equipment. This unit type just doesn’t cut it.”

“But this Goblin Shaman…”

The Goblin Shaman’s body was no longer intact, but fortunately, Deadbone had targeted the Shaman’s torso with its throw. The crooked skull staff the Shaman had been holding was undamaged and lay discarded nearby.The staff’s main body resembled a withered, decaying branch, with several fist-sized skulls hanging from it, looking like bloody trophies the goblins had stripped from somewhere.

Was this really a treasure?

But when Mu Yuan picked it up, his eyes lit up. Shaman, oh shaman, I misjudged you—you’re a good monster.

「Shaman Staff (Rare)」

「Description: A crudely made, ugly-looking staff with a lingering foul odor, yet quite practical. It slightly enhances the holder’s Mental Energy and mental recovery speed, and comes with the ‘Fireball’ skill.」

This wasn’t standard equipment but a treasure with special abilities.

But… wasn’t Fireball a skill shamans naturally possessed?

Mu Yuan switched to the Taixuan Forum to check and found that goblin shamans might have skills like ‘Bloodlust,’ ‘Wolf Summoning,’ or ‘Witchcraft.’ Which skill a shaman actually possessed varied by individual—some rare ones might even awaken skills beyond these three, or have no skills at all, just a blank slate.

“The Shaman Staff smells foul, is a bit dirty, and is an attack-type item. It’s unlikely I’ll manifest it in the Real World for use. Selling it now isn’t ideal either… I wonder if Deadbone and the others can use it? Undead also have Mental Energy, so in theory, there should be no issue. Skeletons aren’t bothered by stench, so at first glance, it seems quite suitable.”

Mulling it over, Mu Yuan entered the Goblin Camp.

The environment inside was even worse and more disgusting than outside, like a massive slaughterhouse. Various dried bones and dismembered corpses were scattered everywhere. If he were physically there, Mu Yuan estimated he’d vomit up yesterday’s dinner. Even now, sitting in front of his computer, separated by a world, he still felt nauseated.

These goblins were disgusting.

But it was the goblins that were repulsive; the treasures they looted were innocent. For the sake of world peace, Mu Yuan had to pack up these innocent treasures and rescue them from their dire plight.

「Prompt: Obtained 33.6g of Soul Sand.」

「Prompt: Obtained several ordinary Materials.」

「Prompt: Obtained equipment ‘Amulet (Common).’」

「Prompt: Obtained special item · Inheritance Stone (Rare).」

By the time Mu Yuan returned to his territory, the sky over Baijiang City had completely darkened.

After a quick tally, he found he’d acquired over 200g of Soul Sand today and more than ten Remnant Souls—truly a windfall.

“All my hard work today wasn’t in vain.”

Mu Yuan grabbed the last handful of sunflower seeds, chugged some iced Sprite, and called it a day.

1/3. Three updates today—the remaining two will be posted in the morning and afternoon. Please bookmark and follow! If you could spare some monthly or recommendation votes, that’d be even better. A new week has begun, and this little struggling author would love to climb the new book rankings too_(:з」∠)_

(End of chapter)