IMPERIUM INSECTUM

The wall slid back, revealing a shallow passage that turned to the left. The warriors entered first to check the coast was clear. A few moments later, I got the all-clear and entered the passage. The passage angled down slightly before splitting in two directions, one going left and the other right. I released a small clutch of royal flies that flew ahead and quickly scouted the left and right paths. In no time, they came back. The left path was empty. However, there were more goblins and something I needed to see down the right path. A quick wave of thought pulsed from my mind into the warriors, and before I knew it, they positioned themselves behind and in front of me As we Headed down the right path.

<Jesus Christ. The smell. The smell was like rotting fish and cow dung mixed together and painted all over the walls!. What were those animals doing in here…>

We followed the stench further and further into the passageway. The warriors walked on, unfazed by the smell. I wish I could do the same. We hurried through the path, and soon, the passageway angled to the right, and a soft pink light glowed from around the corner.

I stopped and let the warriors go first before following them. Whatever is here better have been worth the-

“EUGHAAAAAAA”

A loud moan hit my ears. Just as I rounded the corner, my eyes were met with a goblin letting out a load inside an unfortunate girl.

<well…this is interesting…...>

Another moan hit my ears, and another. Yes, what I had walked into was the goblin's very own breeding room. Chained to the walls and ground were several women. From a quick count, I saw at least 30 of them, all of them in different stages of pregnancy.

“Gruuu gruuu gruahhhhhhhhh!” The goblin grunted as it pistoned into her without care. Thankfully the goblins were too busy fucking to notice the 10 of us watching them go at it like rabbits. An order shot from my mind towards the warriors, and swiftly they moved. In an instant, they were on the goblins and with ease, they pulled them away. Loud slopping noises followed by moans and then angry screams came from every corner of the room. In a way, I understand their frustration. If someone were to do this to me, I would eat their head right there and then.

<Mother the goblins…> One of the warriors walked up to me with his hands wrapped around a goblin's neck like a vice.

I chuckled.

<Usually, I'd want you to kill them, but these ones I want to keep.>

I sent an order back to the hive to bring a certain freeloader. I need someone who knows more about goblins than me….

A few moments later…..

“OH GOD, WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SMELL?”

“Oh, grow up, Penn and get in here,” I said as I watched her gag at the door of the room.

“My senses are more sensitive than your weak human ones. If it's bad for you, what do you think it’s like for me?”

She glared at me before pinching her nose and stepping towards me.

“Why did you wake me from my sleep and drag me here? Was it to see the goblin fuck dungeon”

“Not entirely. Follow me”

“Oh god… Why me….” We walked towards a corner where all of the goblins were kept surrounded by a wall of angry chitin.

“Why are you showing me this….”

“I'll cut to the important bit. How do goblins reproduce?”

“By having sex, diva…if you couldn’t tell,” She said flatly.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I lay eggs, but to do that, I have to have sex with a host. Do goblins do the same or..”

“No. They are more like traditional mammals. Sperm meets egg, yada yada. I'm sure you know that part already. What is interesting is that goblins can impregnate any mammalian species, like humans and some demihumans. However, the downside is that there are no female goblins, which means that they are forced to….” She gestured towards the women strapped to the ground.

“I see. Maybe that could work.”

“What are you planning.”

“I guess I'll tell you this tidbit. Another “resource” for lack of a better word, I can make is Growth Accelerant. As the name implies, it speeds up the growth of my eggs. However, to make it, I have to do the deed with males.”

“I see where this is going” She looked down at the goblins and grimaced.

“Well, goblins are known to be quiet. Virile. So they could be useful doing that. My only concern is that instead of growth accelerant, you may get pregnant with a goblin. Whatever a goblin impregnates, it always gives birth to another goblin. So you have to be careful also. Are you okay with doing that….with them…”

“I do have some standards. Wouldn’t catch me dead with a goblin unless I had to. I'm just wondering if it was possible. However, what you said has got me thinking.”

An order shot from my mind to seven of the warriors. In no time, the goblins were being escorted out of the room and back to the hive, where, hopefully, I could find a use for them. I'll need to make a guinea pig to test my theory before fully committing to anything.

“Now for the elephant in the room.”

We both glanced towards the women. “ What do you plan to do with them,” She asked.

“Simple. They will join the others in the hatchery. We will wait for the pregnant ones to give birth, and then we will raise them to adulthood, where hopefully, by then, we will be able to use them to make growth accelerant. The very few that aren’t. I will personally visit them later on today. *sniff* *sniff* after we give them a thorough cleaning.”

“You are not wasting time, are you?”

“Can't afford to.” I stepped away from Penn and started to move among the ladies. Most of them had empty eyes devoid of any life. I doubt any of them even realised I was here. The ones that didn’t were driven mad. Laughing and giggling, talking nonsense to themselves.

“Reminds me of the hatchery….” I looked around and noticed one of the crazed women was holding what looked like a card in her hands. I knelt down next to her and pulled on the card.

“Stop that! The rocks and I don’t like you! Heheheheeeee” She giggled as her grip tightened on the card. Causing blood to flow.

“Is that so. How can I make the rocks like me? I’m really curious.”

“TeeHeeehe. The rocks and I pick and choose. Only those who bridge the rainbow can see. You are not allowed NOT ALLOWED”

“Is that so? What a shame…” Suddenly, my hands lunged up and grabbed the top of her arm. Instantly, I yanked down, and a loud pop hit my ears, followed by a pained scream. Her hand spread open, dropping the card to the ground. I swiftly picked it up off the ground and gave it a quick read. Instantly, my face scowled.

“Shit! This isn’t good at all….”

“What is it?” Penn asked as she moved closer. I flipped over the card and showed her. When she read it, her eyes sank as well. In my hand was an adventurer's card. One issued from Doonvatel. Her being an adventurer isn’t the problem. It’s the fact that she’s here that bothers me.

“If she’s here. It means the Adventurers Guild could have caught wind of this place and planned to exterminate it. Looking at her card, she is only a low-rank adventurer, but if she has been missing for a while, they may send search parties to look for her or the missing woman, which means….”

“More humans in the forest….SHIT! Shit shit FUCK! One of my biggest advantages is the fact my hive is unknown. And I want to keep it like that. I can't risk being discovered, not now!”

“What do you plan to do?”

I Let out a long sigh….” I don’t know. We continue as we are, but we move faster.” <ALL OF YOU MOVE THESE WOMEN BACK TO THE HIVE.>

“I'll have to speak to azuura and ensure all those tunnels are sealed. There is no evidence we were here at all, and I also think it's time we start thinking about defence. Penn, you both head to thank you for your input.”

I didn’t need to tell her twice, as in a flash, she disappeared.

<What a shit show….>

Meanwhile, in Doonvatel….

I tapped my foot on the ground as I waited outside a massive wooden door. The door had gold lettering and the words “Guild master” engraved on it.

“This is not how I wanted to spend my weekend…”

Yesterday, I got a message telling me I was needed here this morning; messages like that are never a good sign. Why me?! I just want to lay in bed and drink whiskey all day. Is it too much to ask? *Sigh* I need a drink.

Suddenly, the door creaks open, and a short secretary steps out. “He is ready to see you now, Joshua.”

“Thanks, Lynn. How is the big man.”

She glanced back into the room and then at me. “Stressed.”

“Business as usual then….” I stepped through the door to see him buried in mountains of paperwork and towers of empty mugs. He looked up and gave me a weak smile.

“Ah, Joshua, nice to see you.” He said with about as much enthusiasm as a tired snail. His eyes were red and bloodshot, surrounded by black bags. His hair was a tangle of knots and clumps that twisted on themselves, and his skin was flaking off, leaving a nice pile of skin on his large desk.

“Fuck Ristran. You look like hammered shit!” I said as I took a seat at his table.

“Feel like it, man.” He said, taking a sip from one of the many cups of coffee at his desk. “Look, I'm not gonna waste your time. There have been a lot of disappearances of merchants and low-rank adventurers in the forest. We suspect that it may be goblins.”

“Goblins? How did that happen?! Don’t we have teams of people dedicated to hunting them?”

“We do. However, the Ashdown incident has thrown a wrench into everything. The family called for all adventures to be kept in the town at all times in case of another attack. This has been the case for some time now. Only now are we being allowed to resume regular duties.”

“I see. Fuck, that isnt good. What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to create a team to go out and eliminate the goblins and rescue those we can.”

“Doable; however, I may need something to help convince people.”

“Refer them to Lynn. She will handle all of that.”

“No problem, I’ll get on-“

“There is one more thing I need you to do for me as well.” His tired tone suddenly disappeared, replaced with a more serious and concerned one.

“A close friend of mine has been missing for a while now in the forest. He’s a demihuman who goes by the name of Thaylen. Do you know him?”

“I… think so…..Does he have big bunny ears?”

He nodded. “That’s him. He was sent out on a scouting mission. And he hasn’t been heard from. It’s been almost a month now, you see. If you can-“

“You don’t need to say it. I'll find him or what remains of him if I can.”

“Thank you. It's nice having dependable people around. Honestly, it's been a shit show as of late. An attack on the Ashdown, the goblins, and now these stupid mushrooms are coming onto the street.”

“Oh, I've heard of those. Haven't seen them myself. But they are quite popular. However, isn't stuff like that the guard's problem?”

“Usually. But the ashdowns are still reeling from the attack. Most guards are on protection duty, so they’ve outsourced the work to us, but adventurers do not make good city guards. It's been tough…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get through it .”

“Yeah. Hopefully soon. I want this shit to be over…..”