The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

"What’s the price?" Shire asked.

"For two cores, I can give you..." Agatha mused, weighing the price.

"One core for one Healing Potion." Shire grabbed a Healing Potion from the shelf and hopped off the stool. "How about it, old classmate?"

"Fine." Agatha thought for a moment, then gritted her teeth and agreed. She didn’t think he could actually get the materials, since Demons like Slimes were rare in the forest.

"Alright then, I’ll be back in a few days." Shire nodded, examining the potion.

"You don’t really think a few Belani Tree Lamp Fruits can deal with Adventurers, do you?" Agatha felt it was best to give Shire a reminder. "Those fruits may explode, but you have far too few."

"Are you talking about this?" Shire pulled a Bang-Bang Fruit from the bundle on the floor. "Goblins usually call it a Bang-Bang Fruit."

"Very descriptive, but..."

"I have several hundred trees," Shire said nonchalantly.

"Several hundred fruits would be..."

"Several hundred trees," Shire corrected her.

"Ah, that’s... quite a lot," Agatha said after a pause.

"I also plan on encasing them in Iron Shells," Shire added, placing the Bang-Bang Fruit on the long wooden table.

"Pretend I never said anything," Agatha muttered, pursing her lips.

"Well then, see you later, Agatha." Shire raised the Healing Potion with a smile. "I’m going to go test the goods. You can have that Bang-Bang Fruit."

"Wait," Agatha called out.

"Hm?" Shire clutched the Healing Potion, watching her with a hint of vigilance. He was afraid she’d go back on their deal.

"Was it really love at first sight for Elder Count Baxter and his wife?" Agatha asked.

"Yes," Shire said after a moment’s thought. "Although, it wasn’t love at first sight, but love at first ’sword.’ The old bastard dumped his wife’s best friend, so his future wife stood up for her friend and challenged the old Count to a duel. Who knew the old Count was such a weakling? He was run through with a sword right at the start."

"As a result, the old bastard guilt-tripped her, saying ’How could you harm an old man like me?’ His future wife had no choice but to visit him repeatedly, and over time..."

Shire picked up his bundle and glanced back at Agatha. "Besides, a year after they got married, they both took lovers and went their separate ways."

"Don’t get any funny ideas. There’s no such thing as love at first sight."

With that, he left the cabin, leaving her grinding her teeth in frustration.

...

"Get ready, the next one is coming out," Shire commanded loudly.

Two goblins stood at the ready, each holding a wooden Long Spear that had been sharpened to a point.

SQUISH SQUISH. A translucent Slime squirmed before them and began to envelop a bloody piece of meat.

"Thrust," Shire called out.

The two goblins ran forward and thrust their Long Spears, piercing straight through the Slime. Corrosive, highly acidic fluid flowed onto the ground with a HISS.

Once the acid had completely drained away, Shire had someone pick up the core with two iron tongs, soak it in a wooden bucket for a few minutes, then take it out and place it in a bag.

"Next one. Open the door."

A few goblins pushed open the great door of the Relic, leaving only a 20-centimeter crack, and then tossed a bloody piece of meat onto the grass.

After waiting quietly for a few minutes, another Slime squirmed through the stone doorway, crawled up the steps, and moved toward the meat.

This operation had been going on for a long time. Shire had brought his men here to "chum the waters" and catch Slimes.

He had previously peeked into the stone chamber and seen only moss and lichen. He knew that Slimes reproduced by splitting their cores, but their population would obviously grow very slowly on a diet of just that. Thus, he was able to lure them out with just a small piece of bloody meat.

He didn’t rashly enter the stone chamber, nor did he consider throwing in a Bang-Bang Fruit.

For one, it would be impossible to defend against Slimes dropping from the ceiling. For another, if a Slime exploded, it would splash acid everywhere.

Using the chumming method was safe and efficient, and it also allowed Shire to clearly observe the corrosive effects of the Slime’s fluid.

The effect was truly potent. It could corrode wood, iron, and even sand and soil. Shire even thought it was nearly as effective as aqua regia. A large Slime could eat a hole half a meter deep, and it would even form a layer of hardened earth around the pit’s walls.

’This fluid can’t corrode glass,’ Shire thought, looking at the potion bottle in his hand.

It was one of the two Healing Potions he had gotten from Agatha. The potion itself had already been given to Nine-finger, and the effect was remarkable; the man was already awake.

He had kept the bottle for experiments.

Based on natural history books and his own deductions, acidic substances generally couldn’t corrode glass products. It seemed his judgment was correct.

Shire also had Little John procure three glass tanks, each half a meter in diameter. He could toss the Slimes inside, add some minced meat and organs, and start farming them. If push came to shove, scraped-off animal fur, plucked tubers and leaves, or even trimmed scraps would do.

He didn’t know what use they would be for now, but seeing their corrosive effect, he figured he could try using them to dig holes.

If it worked, Shire planned to get several hundred glass tanks, line them up in a row, and place a hungry, waiting Slime in each. Once they were mature, he would drag them to a tunnel, stab them to corrode another half-meter of earth, and given time, he could lead his people to excavate an entire Dungeon.

"Chief, we have a full count of fingers and toes," Red Eyes came to report.

"Very good. Let another one out," Shire ordered.

Twenty-one Slime cores. This was more than enough to give to Agatha.

There was something Shire hadn’t mentioned to her during their chat: goblins were actually very easy to win over. You just had to feed them until they were full for a couple of meals, and they would be devoted to you.

Their lives before had been so hellish that after several consecutive days of full meals, Shire felt his subordinates were even starting to put on some weight. Red Eyes seemed to have gotten much stronger.

And one thing was obvious: Bai Mao’s hair had gotten longer.

All these changes made Shire feel that if he led them properly, the goblins could be developed into a powerful force.

The only thing they lacked was a leader.

’I’m a man of great learning, both past and future. A top graduate of the Royal Grammar School, a gamer with nearly ten thousand hours under my belt, a high-intensity short-form video learner, and the undisputed champion of late-night social media scrolling. And I’m supposed to be unable to lead these goblins who can’t even count past ten?’

Shire smiled confidently and gave Red Eyes a playful kick. "Go on, close the stone door."

Red Eyes scurried over enthusiastically to push the stone door shut.

After collecting the 21 Slime cores, Shire led his subordinates in a great procession straight to Agatha’s small cabin.

’This opens up another supply channel. More importantly, my subordinates will have access to cheap potions. That’s something I never would have dared to imagine before.’

’And as for the path to the Heaven-Reaching Tower, I’ll have to rely on Agatha to figure that out.’ Shire had a clear understanding of the limits of his own historical knowledge.

’Add Little John’s work to the mix, and my intelligence network is starting to take shape.’

"Next up, it’s time to deal with the Fearsome Claw Bear." A smirk hooked Shire’s lips as he let out a sinister cackle.