Chapter 319 Pretending
[Meer Calendar, March 10, 1 Year of Demon War]
Moku gazed at the orcs and goblins pretending to work diligently before him. In truth, they were asuras and hobgoblins he had transformed using Pandava. With Pandava fully under his control and able to manifest in the real world, Moku could even change the appearance of asuras into orcs without being detected by a mage's spell.
After attacking one of the supply caravans last night, the orcs and goblins were now busy collecting scattered items. Strangely, the supply caravan was guarded by only one mage, and he was only a Level 1 Constellation Mage with minimal power.
Yet, it was this peculiarity that led Moku to decide on this particular supply caravan, as there were other reasons the monsters were after besides the supplies it carried.
"Ku?" greeted a goblin, lowering her head.
"Has everything been collected?" Moku looked at the goblin in front of him, trying to suppress a smile.
"Report! Collected 80 sets of armor, 200 swords, 50 greatswords, 300 arrows, 50 bows, 60 shields, 300 spears, 100 leather armors, 30 iron axes, and other equipment such as clothes, pants, shoes, and human accessories," the goblin replied.
In reality, Wilwatikta Kingdom no longer needed iron or ordinary human-made weapons. Their strength lay in Mana Weapons crafted from the mana organs of mutated animals.
Thus, collecting these ordinary human weapons and armor was merely a waste of time and would be used only for training young monsters at The One's Church. If they had found Mana Weapons meant for mages, Moku might have been interested. Unfortunately, there were no Mana Weapons among the caravan's supplies.
"We only need iron; throw away anything that isn't iron. Remove the wood from the spears and take the spearheads," Moku ordered. They didn't have time to carry so many weapons; taking the metal parts of the weapons would suffice to maintain their disguise. "How about food?" he asked.
"The food carriage that caught fire was rescued. There is still more than 200 kg of food," the goblin reported.
Moku nodded, pretending to be pleased with the amount of food they acquired. In truth, 200 kg of food wouldn't be enough to sustain even one Orc Burrow, let alone the entire Wilwatikta Kingdom. Currently, the amount of food they needed daily had left Glittering Meadow looking barren.
Though the massacre last night was brutal, it seemed their stalker was still not interested in meeting them. Thus, Moku decided to set another bait, confident that their stalker was currently eavesdropping on their conversation, evident from the movements of the mana around them. "What about the meat?" he asked.
"There's only about 50 kg of meat in the food cart," the goblin replied in a trembling voice.
She seemed genuinely afraid that the orcs might choose to eat them all due to the limited amount of meat. Once again, Moku praised the goblin's acting skills in his mind. He had never known his wife possessed such excellent acting abilities. Perhaps on their next night together, Moku could try roleplaying with her.
"Tam... I told you, orcs and goblins actually share the same bloodline. If you've seen a hobgoblin, then you'd definitely believe me."
Indeed, the goblin before him was Nedira, his wife. In truth, Nedira didn't need to change her name, as humans wouldn't understand the nuances of monster language and culture. However, she insisted on keeping her old name while being a goblin. It was because she wanted to honor the word "Ne" in her name and felt that a goblin didn't deserve to have "Ne" in their name.
"Yes... My Ku!" Tam was still nervous, but the shaking had subsided.
'My Ku' looked at Tam, who had stopped shaking. He sighed inwardly. The goblins actually had cute figures, that was if they weren't covered in dirt and mud.
However, Moku still preferred Nedira over Tam. After all, when it came to choosing a wife, goblin women had one significant drawback. They were flat.
The two rounded mountains on a woman's chest were the most potent hold to maintain a happy married life. The larger the mountains, the stronger a man's loyalty and dedication to his partner.
Moku couldn't openly share this with the monsters, fearing his words might be misconstrued. As a result, whenever they wanted to capture female prisoners, they would seek those with a larger bosom first before considering the ones with a smaller one.
The potential damage caused by his words was beyond imagination. Especially when he saw Goku's family doing just fine despite his flat-chested wife, showing that not all orcs were the same. Like any other man, they had preferences that shouldn't be restricted by Moku's words.
Ah.. he had been staring at Tam's flat chest for too long, and the goblin was starting to raise an eyebrow. Moku needed to find a way to make his wife less suspicious, or he'd lose his night of roleplay.
"Oh.. Sorry, Tam. I was just reminiscing about the archery skills of the goblins. You guys were a big help, Tam. Otherwise, Goku and his team might have had a hard time holding back the guards," Moku tried to steer the conversation.
"Thank you, we're happy to help!" Tam answered with joy.
"You guys have been very helpful, Tam. We're short on meat, and there's no time to hunt anymore. So, can you help us separate the flesh of these humans from their bones?" Moku gave the order again in a firm voice.
Their initial plan was to make the stalkers angry and lure them into attacking. After "killing" a few orcs, the others would escape and run to their hideout. The remaining vengeful stalkers would then pursue them angrily, eventually attacking the monsters' "base."
That was the plan they had in mind. However, it seemed that the leader of the stalkers was extremely cautious. Despite the massacre from the previous night, they had yet to make a move and were merely observing from a distance. However, the distance between them and the stalkers wasn't significant enough to be out of the range of the inner eye's vision.
"Yes, Sir!" Tam understood what Moku wanted and gave a firm salute.
"Boku, help Tam put the iron tools into the wagon. We should be moving out of here before the sun goes down!" Moku gave orders to the orc standing beside him.
"Yes, Sir!" Boku answered.
Even after skinning and chopping up the human corpses right in front of them, the stalkers still hadn't emerged from their hiding place. The monsters, prepared for a "battle," were now uncertain of what to do next.
Moku praised the stalker leader in his mind for their caution.
"Moku, what should we do?" Boku whispered through the inner eye.
"Let's proceed with plan B," answered Moku.
"Will it work? They are incredibly patient. Even after baiting them this far, they still haven't come out. What if they decide to retreat and call for reinforcements?" Boku expressed a bit of concern.
"Stay calm. I can see their weakness clearly. Proceed with plan B!" Moku commanded through the inner eye to all the monsters.
They all gave a silent nod and began to move, pushing the carts filled with meat and metal slowly. They had to appear like ordinary monsters without the powers of asura and hobgoblins. Hence, this act was quite challenging.
Leading the way, Moku connected his consciousness to Pandava. Seeking the right connection, Moku whispered, "Nevare, I need your hair."
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They arrived in front of a cave that seemed untouched. Although it was a cave built by the goblins, their expertise in digging tunnels allowed them to make it resemble a natural cave.
This cave was connected to the demon camp discovered by Gobuka and Boguka. However, with their current speed, it would take them several days to reach the end of the cave. Fortunately, Moku had a solution in mind.
Based on the information obtained from Lordo and the captive elves, Moku learned that there were transportation devices similar to trains in this world. They called it the Mana Train. Although Moku didn't know how to create a Mana Train, he at least understood the concept of a regular train.
Using mana organs and the construction skills of the goblins, Moku managed to create a cheap imitation of the Mana Train. Though it could only vibrate and couldn't run like an actual train, it served its purpose.
What he needed was to make the mana movement detectable by the stalkers. As for transporting them to the end of the cave, the monsters were faster by running.
Pushing the shoddily-made Mana Train that barely trembled, Moku and the other monsters reached the end of the cave. Pushing their carts out of the cave, they were faced with a demon camp ahead.
Moku sensed that the stalkers were still following them through his inner eye. He smiled, realizing the cautiousness of the stalker leader worked in his favor. If they had inspected the cave earlier, they would have discovered the ruse.
However, their fear of traps led them to avoid the cave and chase the monsters on the surface. In doing so, they fell into the real trap, unaware of the deception that lay ahead.