Harvest

Matthew didn't know this, but in the ancient land of the Shadow Forest, mana was everywhere, though it was not evenly distributed.

It gathered and settled in certain areas, forming mana fields of varying strength.

The location of this goblin nest was one such weak mana field. The long-term influence of this low-concentration mana environment was subtle and multi-faceted.

The glowing moss clumps on the cave walls were one of the products of this environmental change.

In areas where mana was extremely dense, even a stone subjected to its influence over a long period could give birth to a powerful creature.

Meanwhile...

Matthew groped his way forward, stepping unevenly onto the sticky, slippery ground.

The stench in the air—a mixture of sulfur, rotting meat, and musk—grew stronger, almost solidifying into a physical force that stung his nose and tightened his throat.

From time to time, a soft crackling sound came from beneath his feet, the sound of stepping on small, unidentified bones.

Enduring the discomfort, he finally arrived at a relatively spacious area.

And here, the fluorescence was also at its thickest.

This open underground space was larger than he had expected, resembling a crudely hollowed-out subterranean hall with many pits and holes scattered throughout.

However, the sight inside this "hall" was enough to shock any ordinary person.

What met his eyes was a mountain-like pile of goblin corpses.

At a glance, there were probably forty or fifty of them.

Matthew's gaze swept calmly over the piled goblin corpses. The twisted, dark green limbs, pools of coagulated blood, and pungent stench of decay failed to stir much emotion in his heart.

After experiencing the bloody battle with the kobolds outside the cave and the deaths of Rayson and the others, these long-dead corpses of another race were nothing more than background decoration.

What he cared about more was the purpose of this trip—loot!

First, he walked toward the nearest small cave. The entrance was narrow, barely allowing a person to enter while bending over.

The space inside was small. Aided by the thick glowing moss on the walls, he could clearly see the interior: there was only a scattered pile of white bones, some human-shaped and some from small wild beasts. Other than that, there was nothing.

“What's going on?”

Matthew frowned, even feeling a sudden urge to whip the goblin corpses.

After backing out, he looked around, and his gaze quickly locked onto the largest cave on the rock wall at the deepest part of the hall.

This entrance was noticeably neater, with even some crude polishing marks visible along the edges. A few dyed feathers were stuck crookedly on both sides of the entrance, serving as a primitive decoration or marker.

“That should be where the leader lives.”

Matthew gripped his sword tightly and walked cautiously toward the largest cave, a hint of anticipation rising in his heart.

He bent over and slipped through the entrance. The interior of the cave was drier than the outer hall, but the smell of urine was even stronger!

Using the thick fluorescence filtering in from the entrance and radiating from the cave walls themselves, Matthew quickly scanned the interior.

This cave was much more spacious than the previous small one, with some relatively clean straw and animal hides laid out on the ground.

The most eye-catching thing was a corner of the cave, where a pile of miscellaneous items was placed.

However, Matthew's eyes lit up at the sight!

Because beneath that pile of clutter, there was actually a heap of copper coins!

Matthew immediately went over and began rummaging through it.

At the very top were some rusted weapons—swords, blades, axes, and spears—but most were in tatters, their edges curled or full of chips. They were clearly trash plundered from defeated foes, crudely used by the goblins, and then discarded.

Matthew used the tip of his sword to carefully push aside these scraps of iron, his movements cautious. As he flipped them over, system prompts kept popping up before his eyes:

【Extremely low-quality equipment detected: 【Battered One-Handed Sword】. Equip?】

【Extremely low-quality equipment detected: 【Rusted Short Spear】. Equip?】

【Extremely low-quality equipment detected...】

【...】

Pushing aside the rusted weapons on the upper layer revealed more cluttered items underneath: some dull-colored ore fragments of indistinguishable types, as well as a few clean animal hides.

Matthew stored all the ore fragments into his backpack, picked up the animal hides to inspect their quality, and said, “What a waste. These hides... those damn goblins treated them so crudely.”

The original texture of these hides was actually quite good, feeling thick and tough to the touch. They were clearly taken from the pelts of some robust wild beasts in the Shadow Forest.

If tanned and processed by a skilled craftsman, they could have been made into decent leather armor linings, bracers, or even small leather goods, holding a certain practical and trade value.

However, the goblins' crude processing methods had completely ruined these materials.

They seemed to have simply skinned the beasts and used the hides after letting them dry.

This greatly reduced their value. If they were originally worth ten silver coins, they were now probably worth only about one or two silver coins.

“Still, even mosquito meat is meat.”

Matthew muttered as he swept them into his backpack.

As he continued rummaging, some human items appeared: leather canteens, belt buckles, pamphlets...

Matthew had little interest in these and quickened his pace, moving the clutter on the upper layer aside piece by piece. Finally, a small pile of copper coins was fully revealed.

The number was hard to count at a glance. They were of poor quality, heavily worn, their edges full of nicks, and some were even stained with dried filth.

But even so, they could still be used as currency.

Matthew began to carefully count the pile of copper coins.

Before long, he had gathered them all.

“One hundred and twenty-two in total. Not bad.”

By this time, the pile of clutter had been fully exposed after his thorough search.

All that remained was a cloth bag tied with a leather cord and a few ore fragments.

“Is that all?”

Matthew felt a slight pang of regret in his heart, but he wasn't surprised.

The weapons had already been used by the goblins. They had plundered them from the defeated, used them roughly until they were ruined, and then discarded them in the clutter, so they naturally had no value.

Copper coins were useless to goblins. These low-level monsters had no established currency system and didn't understand the nuances of trade.

They collected these human coins probably out of an instinctive fondness for shiny things, or occasionally picked them up from human corpses and caravan wreckage, tossing them into their treasury to make up the numbers. Naturally, the amount wouldn't be very large.

As for the other miscellaneous items—the crudely treated hides, the unidentifiable ores, the scattered human belongings—they all bore witness to the poverty and primitiveness of this goblin nest.

“If the goblins of this nest had been strong, well-equipped, and knew how to utilize resources, they wouldn't have been so easily slaughtered by those kobolds, let alone had their home overrun,” Matthew thought to himself, understanding dawned.

Once he understood this, Matthew came to terms with the shabby harvest before him.

To be able to find over a hundred copper coins and some scraps in such a weak goblin nest was already considered quite lucky.

Coming back to his senses, he looked at the cloth bag in his hand.