"Roughly how many of them?"
Li De had originally assumed there would be maybe one or two thousand at most, but Andabella's response left him speechless.
"Around ten thousand."
Damn, over ten thousand people had managed to sneak out of the city over these days??
What were the beastmen even doing? That such a large number escaped and no one noticed?
Perhaps sensing Li De's confusion, Andabella took the initiative to explain.
"Risel City has a deeply hidden underground river, excavated thousands of years ago. It leads directly to the Dwarven Hills and can transport about two to three thousand people per day."
An underground river inside the city? That could transport two to three thousand people a day?
Li De’s expression was brilliant, how large did such a river need to be?
No wonder, this city was a relic from the previous empire. Even Green City might not have such foundations.
After a moment of thought, Li De’s expression turned serious.
"Miss Andabella, do you need my help?"
Feeling the warmth behind her and inhaling the uniquely masculine scent at the tip of her nose, Andabella’s face inexplicably flushed a little.
"But the centaurs are too powerful."
Li De shook his head firmly. This sweet piece of cake, if he didn’t take a bite, it would be a waste of all his effort.
"Then that means you do need it.
Andabella, we’re friends, aren’t we?"
"Of course, Lord Ezreal. You will always be my friend, forever." The girl's tone carried an unwavering resolve, as if she were swearing before a deity. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵
Li De gave a faint smile, his tone domineering and leaving no room for doubt. "Then there’s no problem.
I think we can set off now."
With that, he coldly ordered the Castro beneath him,
"Castro, head for the Dwarven Hills immediately."
No one is allowed to snatch food from my mouth.
Be it beastmen or centaurs.
Andabella looked at the decisive Li De, and her emotions once again grew complicated.
From the moment of his appearance until now, the only word she could use to describe him was perfect.
When she had fallen into despair, surrounded by darkness, Li De had appeared just like the hero from a knight's tale, at the moment she needed it most, gracefully holding her in his arms like a princess.
No one can hurt you. That resolute sentence still echoed in her mind.
In the Dwarven Valley, after the goblins were sent out of the city, Stanley received the news immediately.
Over a hundred vampires riding Whispering Bats took off from the valley, flying through the night toward Risel City.
Due to the fall of Risel City, the once-strong defensive lines had long since collapsed. The beastmen had swarmed into the city, ravaging what they saw as their spoils of war.
A few sun-hours later, before dawn, Stanley, riding atop a Whispering Bat, spotted the Lionmane Tribe’s convoy from the air.
Without hiding himself, Stanley directly guided the Whispering Bat to descend.
In fact, because of the mithril vein, the beastmen who had joined the Lionmane Tribe already knew that their tribe was cooperating with the legendary vampires.
But these beastmen didn’t have much of a reaction to it.
Vampires, while dark creatures, weren’t hated by beastmen. After all, vampires rarely hunted beastmen, and vampires had no interest in the filthy, stinking bodies of beastmen either.
Between vampires and beastmen, the attitude was neutral, unlike humans, who treated vampires as eternal enemies on sight.
More importantly, the vampires were regularly transporting large quantities of logistical supplies to the Dwarven Valley.
Food, drink, clothing, one could say that the valley now entirely depended on the vampires for support.
This made the beastmen view the vampires even more favorably.
Craig, when introducing the vampires to the Lionmane Tribe, did so with great solemnity, clearly declaring that the vampires were their allies and forbidding anyone from initiating conflict with them.
To the beastmen, being able to fill their stomachs was the greatest happiness. They didn’t care whether they were trading with vampires or demons.
Only humans with full bellies would bother worrying about such meaningless problems.
A wolfman warrior stepped forward and saluted Stanley. This powerful Level 15 vampire was currently the second-in-command of the Lionmane Tribe. When Craig was absent, Stanley held command over the entire tribe.
Clever and skilled, Stanley’s methods were sharp and strong. He knew exactly how to deal with these simple-minded beastmen, especially after he personally fought the strongest warriors of the Lionmane Tribe a few times. He had quickly earned the tribe’s respect.
Worship of the strong was part of the beastmen’s nature, and Level 15 Stanley was more than worthy of it.
"Aiden, where are the goblins?" Stanley’s eyes were like torches as he scanned the convoy and asked the wolfman with a frown.
"Lord Stanley, the goblins are all hiding inside the wagons."
"Have them gather. I will transfer them to a secure location. You all are to continue transporting these spoils back to the Dwarven Valley."
The beastmen escorting the goblins were all loyal warriors who had signed Soul Contracts with Craig. Their families, their loved ones, and their friends all lived in the Dwarven Valley, their fates had long since been bound to the Lionmane Tribe. Stanley had no concerns about problems arising.
Moreover, after these beastmen who knew the goblins' whereabouts returned, he would not allow them to leave the Dwarven Valley for the foreseeable future.
Multiple layers of preparation had sealed off any chance of information leaking.
After receiving Stanley’s command, the beastmen immediately began clearing out the wagons.
The goblins, who had been waiting anxiously, emerged one by one from their hiding spots within the wagons, their hearts full of urgency.
Under the moonlight, a large crowd of short green figures appeared across the low plains, creating a somewhat bizarre scene.
The goblin Patriarch, Mohr Graymount, an old goblin with a face full of scars, leaning on a green staff, looked solemnly at Stanley, who stood tall and imposing with a fierce scar slashing across his own face.
"Esteemed vampire lord, I am Mohr Graymount, Patriarch of the Graymount Tribe."
Stanley's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he was impressed.
His Majesty would always be His Majesty, he had actually managed to retrieve the goblins, the most prized target of the beastmen, right from the heart of an army of hundreds of thousands.
That kind of maneuvering, truly peerless.
When Li De sent him the message, he had outlined the general plan.
Though using the Lionmane Tribe to transport the goblins seemed simple on the surface, to remain clear-headed and resolute enough to execute such a plan under the hopeless circumstances of being surrounded by hundreds of thousands of enemies, that kind of decisiveness was far beyond what most people possessed.
And the result was certainly more than satisfactory.
Stanley was once again amazed at the endless stream of brilliant tactics his lord came up with. He never considered himself lacking in intelligence, but next to Li De’s finesse, even he felt his own strategic vision was a bit lacking.