Chapter 103 - 87: New Xenomorphic Letter
Shire carefully studied the 4 goblins before him.
The 4 goblins were in a sorry state, their bodies covered in sweat and bloodstains. One of them was even missing a hand, his severed arm wrapped in a piece of cloth, with red blood seeping through the filthy fabric.
Perhaps out of fear, their bodies were hunched over. Every few seconds, they would glance around, immediately looking down and away if they met anyone’s gaze. Their legs were constantly bent, as if they were ready to flee for their lives at any moment.
’They’re the sixth group of escaped goblins we’ve found in the last few days,’ Shire silently calculated.
These refugee-like goblins had nothing with them; their only focus was escaping. There were no young goblins among them; Shire figured the young had long since been abandoned. As for why there were no old goblins, it was because goblins generally didn’t live to an old age.
To Shire’s slight surprise, there was even a female goblin among the four.
He had previously bestowed the Cyan-Eyed Dragon Snake’s [Basic Passive Perception] Ability on Broken Tooth and had also bought him a monocular telescope. This had significantly improved Broken Tooth’s vigilance.
Recalling the description from the earlier intelligence report, Shire felt that more goblin refugees would appear, making Broken Tooth’s patrol duties even more critical.
"I am the chief of this tribe. Do you wish to join?" he asked, walking up to the four goblins and puffing out his chest.
As Shire approached, the four goblins were already backing away slowly, as if trying to maintain a safe distance. But because of the other goblins standing around them, they only retreated by about a foot’s length.
Hearing Shire’s words, they didn’t reply immediately, instead glancing at one another. Finally, the female goblin stepped forward, knelt, and performed the Ankle Touching rite.
Shire watched the four goblins finish the rite, preparing to have a subordinate call Buck Teeth over to get them settled.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed as Caocao walked by, shouldering a section of a tree trunk. The four new goblins flinched in terror and spun around, looking for a place to hide. However, they soon noticed that the surrounding goblins were all calm, so they too stood their ground, trembling.
"Go get Buck Teeth," Shire ordered, waving a subordinate over. Then he walked up to the female goblin. "Was it human Adventurers who drove you here?"
The female goblin nodded and recounted how their tribe was slaughtered by human Adventurers and how she managed to escape with her life.
"Chief," Buck Teeth said, running over.
"Take them to wash up, then have Bai Mao arrange for someone to treat the injured," Shire immediately commanded.
"Of course, Chief, I will..." Buck Teeth nodded. He then placed a hand on his chest, and just as he was about to recite something, Shire kicked him.
"Just go."
Deprived of the opportunity to praise his chief with poetry, Buck Teeth dejectedly led the four goblins away.
Shire glanced at their retreating backs and called up his panel. In the subordinates column, he saw, [Subordinates: 88/101].
’It seems the newly joined goblins don’t fully trust me yet.’
"Still, we’ve finally surpassed 100 goblins." He let out a soft breath, then turned to Broken Tooth and said seriously, "We need to increase patrol intensity over the next few days. I’ll get you all more telescopes and winter clothes as soon as possible. Keep a constant watch on the surroundings. If you encounter any more refugee goblins, bring them to the Fortress immediately."
"Yes, Chief," Broken Tooth replied with a nod.
"Alright, it’s almost time to eat. You can continue the patrol after the meal." Shire patted his subordinate’s shoulder.
After watching Broken Tooth and a few other goblins leave, talking and laughing, Shire sank his consciousness and appeared before the Black Obelisk.
He had felt it right after they performed the Ankle Touching rite—he had activated and lit up another strange letter.
[Advanced Road Markers: This Ability reveals the conditions for the next advancement.]
’Show advancement conditions?’ Shire looked up at the towering Obelisk. ’What’s the use of that?’
Then he looked at the next dim letter.
[Blessings of the Gods: You may choose a Divine Being and force it to bestow a blessing upon you and your territory. Advancement Condition: Possess 150 subordinates.]
"This..." Shire paused, his heart suddenly filled with ecstasy.
’Excellent! I can directly obtain a divine blessing.’ He examined the Ability word by word. ’"Force it to bestow"... that means whichever god I choose, I’m guaranteed to get its blessing, and it will bless me personally as well.’
On the continent, humans generally believed in the four great Churches. Many people donated to the Church every day in hopes of receiving a divine blessing. But Shire knew the Four Gods were very busy and paid little attention to the needs of the common folk. Nobles, on the other hand, had much better access to the Church’s resources and frequently participated in blessing ceremonies.
In his memories, Shire had often attended events for the God of Night and Destiny with his father. At the time, Church personnel had told them that the Merlot Family would be less likely to encounter natural disasters and man-made calamities.
But now, it was clear they had obviously deceived his family. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have a 300,000-coin bounty on his head.
’One hundred and fifty subordinates, and I’ve just passed one hundred,’ Shire calculated. ’Once the Storm Brotherhood leaves Yangjiao Town, I’ll find time to annex a few more goblin tribes. The Fortress is big enough to house them anyway.’
Exiting his Consciousness Space, Shire walked out of the Fortress and saw Red Eyes commanding 30 goblins in throwing practice.
"You’re all... completely unqualified!" Red Eyes yelled, standing before the goblins and berating them.
Shire walked over and asked, only to find out that Red Eyes had Caocao throw something with all his might to set a distance, then made all the other goblins use that distance as their target. Naturally, every single one of them failed.
If they failed, they had to fight Red Eyes in groups of five, armed with wooden clubs. The result was that all of them were beaten to the ground by Red Eyes.
Moreover, the guy had been granted Regeneration, so he recovered quickly after being hit. Those 30 goblins had it rough.
’You bastard, you really know how to have your fun.’ Shire was left speechless by this "genius."
He personally tested his subordinates’ throwing distance, then marked a new, slightly farther target for them. He also repeatedly stressed to Red Eyes, "Stop just playing around and train them properly. If you want to play, go practice with Caocao."
However, he also added a new training exercise for his subordinates: stabbing scarecrows with Long Spears.
As for other exercises, they would have to wait until the Blacksmith Shop delivered the custom-ordered weapons.
’Our numbers are still too low. I can only train 30 soldier goblins. We can’t spare anyone from gathering herbs, digging, or cooking. I wonder when I’ll be able to form a real goblin army.’
’But the area I control is just a tiny piece of the entire forest. There are still many goblin tribes hiding within it. I just need to find them.’
After arranging the training matters, Shire was in high spirits. ’This might be the first full-time goblin combat squad in the forest. Once I equip them with proper Armor and weapons, I’ll be much more confident about exploring the forest.’
’Just need to strengthen the Fortress’s defenses a bit more. As for the Storm Brotherhood... if you dare to come, I’ll make sure you die.’