The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

Many teenage boys will secretly save up their allowance, then go to the convenience store and lie about buying cigarettes for their parents. They’ll hide in a corner to light one up, take a huge drag, and then choke and cough endlessly, wondering how adults could possibly like this stuff. Then they’ll try a few more puffs, and finally, they’ll brag to their friends that they’ve smoked before.

Shire had seen plenty of kids like that, and he felt that veteran Adventurers were much the same.

Because humans were limited to three days inside the Nightmare Forest, the amount of Beast Cores they could acquire was small. Although they could use Awakening Potions to extend their time, the cost was too great.

This meant that not just anyone could get their hands on Secret Medicine; only those with close ties to the nobility had a stable supply.

But since consuming Secret Medicine to increase one’s strength made it easier to win the favor of the nobility, many veteran Adventurers would desperately save up their money. Once they had enough, they would secretly buy a bottle of Secret Medicine from a Black Market merchant at an exorbitant price. When no one was around, they’d down it in one gulp. They might not feel any different afterward, but when they saw their comrades, they would definitely strike a pose and say, "Hey, I’m more of a man now."

As a result, this also drove the price of Beast Cores on the Black Market to even more ridiculous heights.

Although Shire didn’t know the exact price, he was sure it was very high.

He even considered getting his hands on the Secret Medicine’s formula so he could produce it himself. He could then sell a generic version at a low price—he wondered if that would be enough to bankrupt the Kingdom Alchemy Association.

’I just don’t know if goblins can use Secret Medicine, or if Beast Cores have any other uses,’ Shire mused. He had heard that some people who took too much Secret Medicine ended up turning into mutated, terrifying monsters.

’Forget it. I should find some time to deliver the Beast Cores to Agatha first.’ Shire decided to take things one step at a time. If he ended up with too many Beast Cores on his hands, he wouldn’t mind becoming an underground smuggling king. After all, the title really suited a goblin.

He picked up a wooden spoon and stirred the contents of a small pot. ’The results of that last experiment were just too shocking.’

The splattered bits of flesh from the last experiment in the glass tank had given Shire his first physical understanding of the word "explode." A single transformed rat had been smeared all over the inside of the tank. Shire now understood what Agatha meant by "a long way off." He sometimes thought he should just let go of his obsession for now. After all, being a goblin was much better than being a smear of flesh.

As a goblin, when he saw Vivian he could still say, "Come on, pick your big brother up." If he became a smear of flesh, he could only say to his sister, "Come on, scrape your big brother up."

Shire chuckled, scooped up a little of his lunch with the wooden spoon, and tasted it. "Needs more salt." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He would need to make a few more trips to see Agatha. The hunt for the Fearsome Claw Bear had shown Shire the benefits of potions. The Adventurers he had killed recently didn’t have a single potion on them, which led him to deduce that Alchemy Potions were likely expensive. But he could have his subordinates gather herbs and deliver them to Agatha for brewing, paying only a processing fee at most. That way, his own subordinates could also live the good life where "the potions never stop."

Besides, the entire forest was his personal herb garden. If potion-making wasn’t too complex, Shire was even considering dividing the labor among his subordinates: one group for gathering herbs, one for processing, and another for brewing and bottling. A clear division of labor for assembly-line production.

Of course, that was all a long way off. For now, he had to stay on his current track: deepen his cooperation with the Drink Undying Alchemy Workshop and carve out a path for goblin development in the blue ocean of the potion market. He would achieve forest-sourced material supply, goblin-run potion production, and black-market-based market coverage. When everyone in the great Kingdoms could have a bottle of "Drink Undying," he wouldn’t be far from success. After all, who remembers that Bair originally started out selling flour?

’After we rest up, we need to start gathering herbs quickly.’ Shire sprinkled some salt into the pot. ’Once winter arrives, not only will herbs become scarce, but the Adventurers and Magical Beasts will be even more of a nuisance.’

’Manpower... what a headache.’ Every time he made a development plan, not having enough grunts was a major problem. But he couldn’t rashly go and absorb other tribes, because expanding his workforce too quickly could deplete his material reserves. That kind of thing used to happen all the time in the games he played.

However, the Obelisk did offer some hints. Shire’s consciousness sank, and he appeared before the monument.

The next letter to be unlocked was the Star of the Domain. It was a special marking Ability, and Shire wanted it badly. If he had been able to mark the Fearsome Claw Bear with it, the beast would not have been able to hide.

And the dim, alien letter that had appeared last time was called Advanced Road Markers. Its Ability was to explicitly state the conditions for the next advancement.

"Brother Bei, got any letters that can make me a King?" He knocked on the stone monument. No response.

’I’ll check out the north in a few days.’ Shire shook his hand and withdrew from his Consciousness Space. ’That stone is pretty hard.’

The reason he chose to go north was the Bang Bang Forest. The trees there would keep out both Magical Beasts and Adventurers. Besides, the north held what he wanted most right now—a Fortress.

Just listen to that. What a badass name. Fortress.

Shire was determined to get his hands on it by any means necessary. It would be his new lair. It was like Liangshan Mountain to Song Jiang, the Wagang Stockade to Zhai Rang, or Weihu Mountain to Zuo Shandiao.

He’d even have a Grand Marshal’s Uniform made for himself, one that went all the way down to his feet. He would command his subordinates as they trained to throw Bang-Bang Fruits. How majestic would that be!

"Ah, I think something’s burning." Smelling the scent, Shire hurriedly took the pot off the fire.

Just as Shire was about to dig in, the sound of conversation drifted from the distance. Shire stood up to look and saw several goblins shuffling toward him.

The one in the lead was Nine-finger. He was carrying a large bundle on his back, and behind him were five goblins who were not from the tribe.

Nine-finger had been seriously injured before, so Shire had ordered him to stay in the caves to recover. He hadn’t been brought along on the Fearsome Claw Bear hunt. When Shire and the others returned, they couldn’t find him. They asked Bai Mao, who said he had gone out alone.

Now, here he was, carrying a bundle. Shire gave him a long, deep look but said nothing. Instead, his attention was drawn to the five outsider goblins.

His first impression was that they were thin. Extremely thin. There was barely any flesh on their limbs, their ribs were visible, and their bodies were hunched and stooped. Their thinness made their heads seem unnaturally large, and their sunken cheeks caused their sharp teeth to protrude, making them look more like Ghouls.

Furthermore, their bodies were covered in dirt and bloodstains, and every one of them had bruises. Their clothes were so tattered they were practically naked. One goblin was even wearing a pair of shorts made from leaves and grass stems.

They huddled behind Nine-finger, their expressions timid. They would occasionally glance up at the goblins who were eating, their eyes filled with extreme longing, but they would immediately lower their heads again, avoiding eye contact.

When they did look up, Shire got a clear look at their faces. There was nothing special about their features, except that some were missing ears, and one had only a single eye.

"Chief, I’ve returned," Nine-finger reported as he stepped forward. The five other goblins moved closer with him.

Shire nodded, but his gaze was arrested by what he saw.

All five goblins were shackled together by their ankles on a long chain.