The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

"Please, save him." Shire placed Shan Xi Ao on a bed of leaves.

After the Druid was killed, he had hurriedly checked on Shan Xi Ao and his own subordinates. The situation was grim. Many of his men had been affected by the death cloud and suffered heavy blows, leaving them severely injured.

The one in the most danger was Shan Xi Ao. The boy had been lurking invisibly by his side and had drawn his sword without hesitation when he saw the goblins couldn’t defeat the enemy. But now, not only was he unconscious, but the Little Elf’s entire body was riddled with fractures, like a dishrag that had been wrung completely dry.

Shire had no choice but to have his still-healthy subordinates carry out the wounded. He himself carried the little goblin with both hands, rushing straight for the Tree-man territory.

This was arguably the fastest he had ever run, even faster than when he fled from the Fearsome Claw Bear right after he first transmigrated.

Fortunately, he ran into some Tree-men on the way who brought the two of them back.

"Thank you, inheritor of the ancient will." The Mother Tree clutched her chest and bowed deeply.

Shire saw that the black portion on her long dress had receded to her knees.

Then, the leaves on the ground began to tremble slightly. Shan Xi Ao was slowly covered by the leaves until he disappeared from sight.

"He..." Shire stepped forward, wanting to ask about his condition.

The Mother Tree smiled. "He will be all right. The Tree-men never forget a benefactor."

Hearing this, Shire nodded. "The matter has been dealt with. When I left, my subordinates were burning down that Mushroom Tree."

"I can feel it. That evil power has vanished. You must have paid a great price," the Mother Tree said with a slight bow.

"The price wasn’t small. Many were injured," Shire said, his expression serious. "Of course, this kid was hurt the worst."

"Please, bring the wounded to my domain. I will use my power to heal them, but it will take some time."

"Really?" Shire was surprised. "Okay, I’ll have my men bring them over right away."

"My power has not yet fully recovered, so for now, I can only do my best to treat them. In the future, once I am fully restored, you may bring any injured to the tree spirits’ territory. As long as they haven’t suffered crippling dismemberment or catastrophic injuries, I can heal them over time," the Mother Tree said elegantly.

"That’s wonderful news! Thank you so much," Shire said cheerfully.

"You are too kind. It is we of the Tree-man Race who have troubled you. This is the least we can do."

"Right, there’s something I wanted to ask." Shire considered it for a moment before deciding to go ahead.

"Please, go on."

"I heard from the little goblin that Tree-men can flower and bear fruit. Is that true?" Shire organized his thoughts and asked tentatively.

"Are you asking if the goblins may gather that fruit?" The Mother Tree raised a hand to cover her mouth, smiling as she asked.

"Yes." Shire was a little embarrassed. He felt like he was trying to poach her grandchildren’s generation.

"They may. These Tree-men are all my children. In our Tree-man Race, only the seeds of a Mother Tree can grow into a Tree-man. Although ordinary Tree-men do flower and bear fruit, their fruits are just ordinary fruits. They do not contain seeds like other trees do," the Mother Tree explained courteously. "So the fruit is edible. If you wish to harvest it, you can have your subordinates do so. Just please try not to hurt my children."

"In that case, that would be wonderful."

"I would also like to ask you to help me care for my children," the Mother Tree said softly. "It’s nothing major. Just help them clear away vines and surrounding weeds—a little maintenance work is all."

"No problem, leave it to me. It’s just a few Tree-men, after all." Shire nodded with a smile.

"If I may be so bold as to remind you... I..." The Mother Tree lowered her head slightly, hesitating for a moment. "I have over 500 children."

"Oh. Well, raising kids must be pretty tiring for you." Shire gave a hollow laugh. But then a thought struck him: if 500 Tree-men were flowering and bearing fruit, what a huge income that would be!

’Should I collect some fertilizer to spread around the Tree-men and increase their yield?’ he muttered under his breath.

"What did you just say?" the Mother Tree asked.

"Ah, nothing," Shire immediately changed the subject. "I was just wondering how that kid’s recovery is coming along."

The Mother Tree smiled and said, "That child is very strong. He’s almost recovered."

SWOOSH. The leaves on the ground were thrown aside as Shan Xi Ao sat bolt upright.

"Yaaawn—" He let out a big yawn, then saw Shire squatting in front of him. "You’re here. I think I was just dreaming."

"Tell me about it." Shire sized up the little goblin.

"I dreamed of a lady in a long green dress. She told me she was grateful for my help. You know my personality, so I told her it was a fated encounter. ’Mortal,’ I said, ’everything I did was merely a casual act, there is no need to...’" Shan Xi Ao held his head high, speaking with great eloquence.

But he noticed Shire’s gaze kept flicking behind him, so he turned to look as well. "Ah, milady. I see this is not a dream."

"You might be the first person to ever call the Mother Tree a ’mortal’," Shire said with a nod.

"Milady—ah, no, Great Mother Tree, don’t listen to his nonsense," Shan Xi Ao hastily corrected himself. Then he turned to Shire. "You’d better not tell my father about this."

"My Red Bulls are growing a little slowly," Shire said, looking away and speaking out of the blue.

"I’ve already been using the Wind of Nature on them," Shan Xi Ao said, throwing his hands up.

"And you still dared to sneak out on your own," Shire continued.

"Don’t threaten me. I just came out to take a look around and find some nectar," Shan Xi Ao started to play dumb.

"If your father and mother found out that you charged a powerful Druid, only to get sent flying by him..." Shire held up a finger and wagged it slowly.

"Bro, we can talk about this." Shan Xi Ao grasped Shire’s fingertip with both hands.

"Hehe," the Mother Tree watched the two of them, covering her mouth and laughing elegantly.

"Great Mother Tree." Shan Xi Ao reacted at once, struggling to his feet. He flew in front of her and gave a deep bow.

"Thank you, child," the Mother Tree said with a nod.

Hearing her sincere gratitude, Shan Xi Ao just grinned foolishly, not knowing what to do with his hands.

"Alright, stop moving around so much. Your body hasn’t fully recovered yet." Shire stopped Shan Xi Ao, who looked like he was about to say something else. The little goblin’s movements were clearly still stiff; he needed more rest.

"Well then, we’ll be taking our leave. I still need to bring my injured subordinates over," Shire said, bidding her farewell with a smile.

"Thank you. If you need anything in the future, you may come find me," the Mother Tree said, bowing deeply once more.

...

"You’re so amazing! The Mother Tree actually bowed to you," Shan Xi Ao said, sitting on Shire’s shoulder and looking at him with envy.

"Is the Mother Tree very powerful?" Shire asked.

"Of course she is! We little goblins are taught from a young age that if we meet a Mother Tree from the Tree-man Race, we must show the utmost humility. They are beings who have lived for an incredibly long time."

Shire turned his head to glance at the excited little goblin.

’If the Mother Tree is so powerful, then why couldn’t she deal with the Mushroom Tree and the Druid hiding behind it? And what was that ’whisper of the forest’? Why was it so certain that I would be the one to solve this matter?’

He had his doubts. There were too many mysteries surrounding this affair. He felt as if he had been swept into a great maelstrom from the very beginning.

’Forget it. I’ll stop thinking about it for now.’ With no leads, he had no choice but to give up.

"Back then, why did you dare to charge in and swing your sword?" Shire asked, feigning casualness.

"No reason. It just felt like the right thing to do. You know how we little goblins are. The elders in our clan often tell us stories about how they’ve helped Adventurers of their own accord." Shan Xi Ao gazed into the distance, his eyes clear.

"Don’t be so reckless in the future. If something happened to you, how would you face your sister?" Shire thought for a moment before saying softly.

Upon hearing this, Shan Xi Ao fell silent.

Before long, Shire returned to where the Mushroom Tree had stood. The entire great tree was now ablaze, the air thick with smoke and a foul stench. The mycelium-like roots on the ground had all shriveled up, their color no longer white but a withered, desiccated gray.

"Red Eyes, go find two long, sturdy branches." Shire gave his subordinate an order. He planned to use the branches and some rope to make a stretcher so they could carry their men directly to the Tree-man territory.

"How are they doing now?" Shire called over Nine-finger to ask about the goblins who had been sitting on the root system.

"They don’t seem to be in any major physical trouble. They all vomited a lot of black water just now." Nine-finger looked at the group of goblins and gave a detailed report.

These goblins had all moved far away from the Mushroom Tree and were now slumped on the ground. Their eyes were fixed on Shire, their gazes filled with a mixture of gratitude and confusion.

Shire nodded and walked over. The goblins actually shuffled back a little, as if in fear.

"I am your new leader," he declared loudly.

The goblins looked at each other, but not a single one moved.

"Does this mean you don’t plan to join my tribe?" Shire frowned as he studied the goblins.

"Pledge loyalty to me, and you’ll have a full stomach every day," he said.

The goblins remained unmoved.

"Don’t pledge loyalty, and I’ll send you back to that tree," Shire said, pointing to the burning Mushroom Tree.

He then watched in shock as the goblins before him scrambled up from the ground and staggered toward him. Some even started pushing and shoving each other to fight for position.

Soon, the goblins were all tremblingly paying their respects. Shire asked and found out that they never wanted to go near that tree again. As long as they didn’t have to approach the Mushroom Tree, they would do anything.

When they sat on that tree, their bodies didn’t feel hunger, but they also lost their senses of hearing and smell, retaining only a tiny bit of vision. The moment they left its area, their hearing would return, but all they could hear was a cacophony of shouting that violently assaulted their minds. Ultimately, the only way to find peace was to sit back down on the root system.

Now, these goblins were finally back to normal.

’The number of subordinates I have now exceeds 150.’ Shire had just felt the letters on the Obelisk activate.

He submerged his consciousness and arrived before the Obelisk.