The Goblins' Development (2)

Mikhailis cleared his throat, attempting nonchalance though the inside of his mouth felt papery-dry. "Rodion," he repeated, injecting mild impatience to mask the quick hammer of his heartbeat. "Where did they get that equipment?"

The projection complied. The AR environment dimmed its ambient glow, highlighting a single luminous thread within the fortress map. It trailed away from the barracks, dipped beneath an unlabelled gate, and tunneled downward along a gently spiraling ramp. Glyphs marked depth readings—twenty meters, fifty, one hundred—before blooming into a fresh view: a natural cave the color of mossy slate.

Rodion zoomed once, twice.