Now the opponent is playing unpredictably, which makes him feel something is wrong.

"Why hasn't the nearby Goblin Tribe launched a retaliatory attack?"

In this kind of situation, it's best to directly consult the Guide Module.

Sure enough, almost as soon as he raised the question, a golden prompt displayed the answer.

(The King of Goblins has discovered your territory, as a king among the tribe with exceptional wisdom, it prevented the Goblin Shaman and Goblin Hero from launching a counterattack. The Defense Arrow Tower Matrix distributed around the territory made it feel tricky.

Because of this, the King of Goblins didn't include this place on the hunt list. The strength displayed by the territory led it to choose to give up.)

After reading each word of the golden prompt, Zong Shen's face immediately fell.

"Well, it actually gave up on the counterattack..."

The goblin collective generally has low intelligence, acting crazy and hysterical.

This is their nature, and it's an indisputable fact.

But the King of Goblins is very special; it is the strongest in a tribe, also a freak with great wisdom. Had it not witnessed Zong Shen's territory firsthand, it might have allowed its subordinates to initiate retaliation. Unfortunately, this guy evidently saw it firsthand.

Thus, it decisively chose to give up, and thoroughly abandoned attacks on Zong Shen's territory.

This kind of situation completely exceeded his expectations and made Zong Shen realize that things in the world are ever-changing; one mustn't take things for granted in a self-pleasing manner.

He also, accordingly, changed his mindset; actually, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The Frosty Winter Period is inherently unsuitable for large-scale battles.

Since the opponent abandoned this place, it indicates that the defense during Frosty Winter is enough to make the King of Goblins wary.

With its wisdom, it would certainly consider leading goblin warriors to attack here.

If it leads it to make such a decision, then it means that it can't conquer Zong Shen's territory, or would incur unbearable casualties.

Sufficient wisdom represents its ability to suppress its nature, embrace rationality, and make the most ceremonious judgment.

As long as the opponent is cautious enough, it actually means that the initiative has instead fallen into Zong Shen's hands.

If the goblins don't initiate a retaliatory counterattack, then he, Zong himself, leading a team to strike their doorstep is equally valid.

Considering the opponent's numerical advantage, a frontal confrontation is inadvisable, but a small-scale raid is absolutely feasible. That goblin tribe also needs to do daily hunting, it's impossible for all the goblin warriors to stay in the tribe. Zong Shen leading an elite team, combined with Goblin Bombs and large-scale group attack spells, could definitely catch them off guard.

Zong Shen understood the key point, and his initially tense mood relaxed again.

When thinking, he likes to stop whatever he's doing to focus solely on thinking.

After considering the matters of the Griffin and goblins, he had already been in the snow for over ten minutes.

Even the cockpit of the Burden-Bearer Mecha had accumulated a thin layer of snowflakes.

He gently shook his head and then controlled the Burden-Bearer Mecha to leave.

Soon he returned to the Lord's Small Tower.

Luna, Wenresa, and Marie were sitting at the long table chatting.

They were discussing some issues regarding territory resources and armaments.

Madeleine and Mapple, the sisters, were not heroes, so they interjected little.

They were sitting at the long table, leaning their Two-Handed arms on the table and snoozing.

When Zong Shen returned, the ladies quickly stood up to greet him.

Zong Shen merely gestured with his hand, not intending to partake in their conversation.

He now just wanted a nap, having exerted himself greatly this morning to improve the efficiency of killing Frosty Snow Beasts.

Used several times of Status Enhancement Skills, saving quite a bit of kill time.

Unfortunately, these Frosty Snow Beasts are distributed very scatteredly.

Zong Shen observed the changes in the Golden Circle Mark's position and found that not only do they not converge, but they actively distance from one another. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

This resulted in the closest two snow beasts being two to three kilometers apart.

The travel time far exceeded the kill time.

Actually, with Zong Shen and the team's strength, hunting two simultaneously wouldn't be a problem.

This kind of situation severely impacted the efficiency of killing.

Zong Shen had no good solution for this, as these Frosty Snow Beasts are not native creatures of the Continent.

They are challenge monsters designed by the Lord System using the Bigfoot Snow Ape as a template.

Like those Burrow Heroes, they are special creations and replications.

This kind of mass-produced monster occurrence isn't the first time, Zong Shen doesn't find it strange.

Just that monsters like these aren't real.

Here, real means they don't possess autonomous intelligence nor the likes and dislikes of normal creatures.

They only steadfastly fulfill certain missions, rigidly like machines.

So, in the morning battle, Zong Shen also expended quite a bit of Physical Strength.

He briefly greeted the ladies and headed straight upstairs.

Entered the bedroom on the second floor and quickly removed his armor and Equipment.

Leaving him only in thin underwear, he flipped onto the bed.

Due to the drop in temperature, the interior of the second floor had become somewhat cold.

Zong Shen fetched a Magic Energy Thermal Ball, throwing it beside the bed.

He himself drilled into the fluffy Sheepskin Quilt.

The crafting process of these Sheepskin Quilts is much more meticulous than the Sheepskin Coats.

Each piece of sheepskin undergoes processes of air-drying, soaking, roasting, and kneading.

Removing thoroughly the gamey odor from the sheepskin.

Equally, it makes the sheepskin tough yet soft; the wool doesn't rub against the skin.

Each Sheepskin Quilt is made by sewing twelve sheepskin wools on both sides.

It is internally stuffed with a layer of processed duck feather.

The overall warmth is several times stronger than that of Sheepskin Coats.

Within minutes of crawling into the quilt, heat was retained.

This feeling made him very comfortable.

This is one of the reasons why Zong Shen priced the Sheepskin Quilts so expensively.

Smelling the faint fragrance by the edge of the quilt, Zong Shen soon drifted into dreamland.

...

Meanwhile, just north of the territory.

After entering the mountainous area not far, there is a settlement of considerable size lying horizontally from east to west on the hillside.

This is the Goblin Tribe that Zong Shen has been preoccupied with for a long time.

In the tribe, there are round houses built from branches and vines.

Covered with thick leaves used as the roof.

Outside the tribe is surrounded by a fence about a meter high.

Some towering trees grow within the tribe, with treehouses serving as Sentry Towers built among the treetops.

Using vine-woven ladders as connections up and down.

On the platform at the top of the Sentry Tower, a few Goblin Archers and Spear Throwers are dozing.

From the treetop, the view is exceptionally good, looking far south can even see the vast southern grasslands.

These towering trees stand tall among the crowd, serving as natural high points.

Similar treehouse Sentry Towers are scattered throughout the tribe.

Outside those dome cottages, there are drying racks resembling human clothes dryers.

Regrettably, these racks aren't for drying clothes.

On them hang strips of jerky at fixed intervals.

These strips of jerky are dark red throughout, reaching a semi-dehydrated state.

The oils from the skins and meats drip onto the ground below, making the land beneath the racks notably dark.

These strips of meat are cut into arm-thick pieces, ranging in length from twenty to thirty centimeters.

If not for occasionally spotting a shriveled arm, leg, or barely recognizable human head among these meat strips, they would look no different from regular dried jerky.

In the center of the tribe is an even taller makeshift house.

In this house, some simple wooden tables and chairs are set.

A goblin with a physique indistinguishable from humans stands beside the wooden table.

It wears a knight's face helmet of brass color on its face.

The movable face armor has been lifted by it, revealing a composed green face.