Fish can even spit out water arrows now. He doesn't find it strange that the giant black toad would use water cannonry against him.
Moreover, the oversized and chubby body of the black toad, compared to his group of goblin skeletons with an average height of only eighty centimeters, is evidently too strained for direct confrontation. Decisively, Night Three More led his subordinates straight towards the nearest Thunder City.
Fortunately, this time, the group of flying fish didn't continue to follow them blindly, but rather, in a panic, they fled in another direction, drawing away the group of black toads with them.
There wasn't any scenario where a toad, annoyed by their presence, decided to leave the group and chase them, resulting in a life-threatening counterattack.
In this manner, he, along with Old Gu and the goblin skeletons, smoothly escaped to the outskirts of Thunder City without any losses.
Watching the distant black toads leaping away, Night Three More turned his back and looked towards the city gate.
Now was the twilight hour, with the setting sun piercing through the airborne water vapor, casting a rosy hue on the mottled city walls. Black-green moss covered the entire wall, and the hollow city gate revealed only a segment of rusted railing, with the sturdy wooden door long gone.
Carefully stepping through the gate, a view of towering stone structures unfolded before him. From the intricate style of the portico, he could vaguely envision the past glory of this city.
Night Three More examined it closely and found that these structures had been vacant for quite some years. However, what caught his curiosity was the grey-white dust on the brick walls.
"The outside air is so humid, yet this dust seems quite dry. And there's no moss either?"
Standing up and looking around, he noticed that both the moss and water vapor seemed to be blocked from entering the city, as if an invisible shield protected it.
Moreover...
"This street is surprisingly clean, showing signs of regular activity... What kind of people!"
Night Three More's ears twitched, suddenly drawing his sword towards a direction, but aside from the silent buildings, he found nothing.
"Something's not right!"
Shaking his head, he signaled all the skeleton goblin warriors to disperse and search the city streets.
Or rather, it was more appropriate to call it a headhunting mission.
The clue left by the "deceased" skeleton earlier made him realize that his subordinates could serve as alarm systems: if he received information about a skeleton goblin warrior's death, there was danger in the city.
If multiple skeleton warriors died within a short period, it indicated significant danger, influencing his decision on whether to retreat and how quickly.
However, after waiting for two to three hours with Old Gu and the others at the city gate, even as the sky darkened, Night Three More received no information about any deceased skeleton warriors.
"Could it be that the other side is too timid?"
Night Three More frowned, glancing at the tranquil city.
From the height of the city wall, Thunder City was considered a medium-sized city. Although not as large as Lorand City, three hours should have been sufficient for those 59 skeleton warriors to patrol almost half the city.
And he had ordered them to attack upon detecting enemies. However, after so long, there was still no sign of movement, indicating that the possibility of danger was low.
"But that feeling..."
Shaking his head, he instructed the patrolling skeleton warriors to return along the same route. Night Three More, with his undead servants, walked towards the city center.
His goal was the city lord's mansion.
Generally, the lord's mansion should contain a layout map of the city, and what he sought was the graveyard of Thunder City.
Bede mentioned that there was a rotten human arm hanging from the goblin's buttocks.
His immediate attention focused on two key words: rotten and human.
This meant either the goblins were going grave robbing or encountering a group of zombies. If it were zombies, the undead aura would have drawn the attention of the Holy Silver Church, resulting in this place being razed to the ground. It couldn't be the situation Bede described.
So, the goblins must be digging up graves!
A group sent out by Bede for hunting goblins had no reason to go grave robbing!
Thinking of this, Night Three More's heart thumped like a black toad. However, he still retained his rationality. First, he needed to find out where the graveyard was.
Carefully and cautiously, Night Three More, along with his entourage, arrived at the city center. Sure enough, they found a significantly larger and more luxurious building.
The professional Night Three More only needed to take a single turn to find what he was looking for: a map of Thunder City.
Found on a wall in a room that seemed to be the lord's office, Night Three More was fortunate that this symbolic representation of territory was quite intact and hadn't been taken away by the departing residents. Presumably, they considered it useless now.
"Just cheap for me. Let me see..."
Holding the Thunder City map made from some unknown animal skin, Night Three More checked his target.
"There it is! Huh, why is the graveyard arranged here in the city?."
Night Three More scratched his head. Generally, a city's graveyard would be situated on the outskirts. However, Thunder City's graveyard entrance was unexpectedly in the backyard of the city lord's mansion.
Or, to be more precise, it was near the small park close to the city lord's mansion.
What kind of operation was this?
A burial or a tree burial?
However, upon reaching the small park, Night Three More realized he had failed to comprehend the map.
Under a seven-meter-high stone tablet, a church with mosaicked glass windows was situated nearby. The graveyard, on the other hand, was located in the basement of this church.
"A one-stop service?"
Night Three More scratched his head. He dispatched two skeletons to explore the basement before joining them with his sword unsheathed.
After passing through a nearly four-story staircase, Night Three More felt a drop in temperature, and a seemingly endless domed corridor appeared before him.
Observing the densely packed burial niches on both sides, filled with coffins of various materials, Night Three More frowned.
"An underground burial chamber?"
If it was an underground burial chamber, the goblins would likely have difficulty finding it. Moreover, examining the nearby burial niches, he found no signs of damage. This indicated that the severed arm might not have been discovered here.
"And why go through the trouble of digging such a long tomb passage within the city?"
Night Three More looked at the materials of most coffins around him. Most were made of stone, with a few constructed from white wooden boards. The patterns were simple, suggesting they contained the remains of commoners. Thus, the chances of finding treasures were minimal.
"It seems I was just wishful thinking."
With a bitter smile, he turned to leave. However, he suddenly heard a muffled cough from the end of the corridor, as if someone was trying hard to suppress it.
"Somebody!"
His heart skipped a beat, and then Night Three More noticed several coffins nearby violently shaking...