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While Riku was lounging on Zhuyue's back, things were heating up at the goblin headquarters.
The goblins' technology was crazy advanced—massive airships floated overhead, giving the whole place a futuristic Earth vibe.
Below, nestled in the mountains, was a steel city surrounded by metal walls, its borders protected and hidden by a special energy field.
At that moment, inside one of the goblins' airships, a goblin officer in uniform was entertaining an orc elder.
Originally, Riku had sent the orcs to spy on the goblins. But with Riku leveling up at rocket speed, that plan got scrapped. Now the orcs were actively trying to bring him allies.
That idea had come from the orc chief himself, and Riku hadn't cared either way—he just casually gave it the go-ahead.
"Edgar, when is Mr. Riku expected to arrive?"The goblin in a sharp military uniform looked calmly at the orc elder seated across from him.
At first, they'd looked down on the orc delegation. They'd even considered capturing them to extract intel.
But after hearing what Elder Edgar had to say about Riku, they held back.
Because everything Edgar described matched up exactly with recent events. Their high-tech scanners had confirmed it. The orcs knowing this kind of intel was seriously suspicious.
If what Edgar said was true, then not only did Riku have the power to find them easily, he also had the strength to beat a Dragonkin.
So, they had no choice but to play nice with the orcs.
Otherwise, it was only a matter of time before they were wiped out.
"Heh, don't worry, Commander. Lord Riku should be arriving very soon," Edgar said with a wide grin.
"Hmm."Commander Dervitt, the goblin leader, nodded thoughtfully. He couldn't wrap his head around how such a monster of a human had appeared in such a short time.
"Commander! We've detected a powerful spirit signal 100,000 meters to the east—90% match for Dragonkin!"One of the goblin soldiers rushed in, panicked.
"It's flying straight toward us!"Another soldier confirmed.
"What?! A Dragonkin?!"Dervitt's face went pale, his expression instantly darkening.
"Damn it—scramble our forces! Delay it and start evacuation!"He barked the order.
"Understood!"Everyone scrambled into action. Over a dozen airships started charging up massive amounts of energy, their cannons glowing bright.
"W-Wait! HOLD ON!"
Elder Edgar finally realized what was happening and shot to his feet, panicked.
Riku hadn't said anything about it, but the orcs had guessed that the Dragonkin might be part of his alliance too. Edgar was really regretting not mentioning it earlier. He'd wanted Riku to announce the alliance himself since he was the true leader, but now…
It might be too late.
But no matter how much he thought about it, it was already too late. The goblin race had fully gone into battle mode—and they'd even finished charging their energy.
"Lord Riku, these goblins sure are enthusiastic," Zhu Yue said from a distance, quickly approaching. She looked at the metal lumps in the sky, each one crackling with intense energy, clearly annoyed.
"Hm? Probably just scared of you. After all, a sudden appearance from a dragonkin would be enough to startle most lower races. Only the mecha-kin could keep calm," Riku replied casually, completely unbothered.
"Still, getting suddenly locked onto like that… really ticks me off," Zhu Yue said coldly. "Lord Riku, allow me to give them a little lesson."
"No need for that. We don't want to accidentally kill their leader," Riku rejected her request outright, standing atop the dragon's head with an easy calm. "If anyone's handing out lessons, I'll handle it."
"Well, since you say so, Lord Riku… I'll let it slide for now," Zhu Yue said with a reluctant nod.
BOOM—!
Just then, over a dozen aerial warships suddenly fired off violent laser blasts, tearing through space as they shot directly at Zhu Yue. She scoffed coldly and used her dragonkin spell speech to block the attacks with ease.
"It didn't work? Keep firing! Keep going until we break through!" the goblin commander ordered, his face tense.
"Wait, Dervitt! That's Lady Zhu Yue, Lord Riku's companion! Lord Riku is here!" roared the orc elder, activating his "Blood Howl" in frustration.
The shockwave from his shout rippled through the air, making everything tremble. The goblins all clutched their ears in pain.
Even though they were hurting, none of them dared complain. They just stood there in a daze.
"Edgar, what… what did you just say?" Even the goblin commander lost his composure, his lips trembling as he stared blankly at the orc elder.
"I said, Lord Riku is here! And that dragonkin is his companion, Lady Zhu Yue!" the orc elder shouted again.
Are you kidding me?! If they pissed off Lord Riku and he wiped this place off the map in a rage, he'd get caught in it too!
"Cease fire—STOP RIGHT NOW!" the goblin commander's expression changed dramatically as he roared the order.
In an instant, his bellow echoed across all the aerial warships and down into the steel city below, leaving every goblin stunned speechless.
Now the goblin commander looked like he was about to cry. Oh god… This was someone who could slay divine beings—and would probably end up leading them in the future. And how did they greet him? With a faceful of laser fire… They were really trying to die, huh?
"Lord Riku, looks like they're still planning to attack," Zhu Yue said coldly, filled with killing intent as she watched them try to aim another volley.
So… were they just completely ignoring Lord Riku and her?
"Hm? Didn't they just stop?" Riku raised an eyebrow, then looked up at the warships as their energy signatures faded. He spoke nonchalantly.
"Lord Riku, welcome! Our earlier actions were out of fear—we panicked. It was entirely our fault. We sincerely apologize and are willing to offer compensation. Please, forgive us just this once," the goblin commander's voice came through a special comm device, his tone absolutely groveling.
He was terrified—his voice even trembled. Pissing off Riku? Hell no.
Sure, the goblins had secret weapons that could even threaten minor divine beings. But if they actually used them, they'd go down with the target—and chances were, Riku would be fine. According to intel, the guy even had spatial abilities…
So using their trump card would just be suicide. Besides, they were interested in joining the alliance.
"....."