Free Web NovelChapter 61: Chapter 55: Moving
"How are you doing?" Shire asked, looking up. "Rest for a bit if you’re too tired."
"Caocao not tired. Caocao can do it." Giant Demon Caocao said, struggling to drag a long string of chains toward the Fortress entrance.
The battle for the Fortress was over. In the end, Shire had fed the Mastermind to a group of Brain-Eating Monsters.
After killing the Heart Stealer and the Mastermind, he had gained complete control of the Fortress. But a big problem now awaited the goblins: sanitation.
The Fortress was filthy, littered with rat corpses and pools of slime.
After Shire took care of the Mastermind, all the Skull Rats dropped dead. As a result, you couldn’t walk more than a few steps in the Fortress without seeing the corpse of a rat with its brain exposed. It was disgusting beyond words.
And then there was the slime. It made SQUISH SQUISH noises when stepped on, not to mention it stank and was slippery. It all needed to be cleaned up.
What’s more, the two massive corpses of the Mastermind and the Heart-devouring Giant Worm also had to be dealt with. Shire certainly wasn’t going to eat them, and he figured his subordinates wouldn’t either. Their palates were getting pickier.
"How many is that?" Shire asked.
"The..." Caocao stopped and started counting on his fingers. "The third one."
The Giant Race’s Regeneration was truly impressive. After just a few full meals, Caocao was already up and working. In a few more days, once he was fully recovered, Shire considered training him in some combat techniques. That would give the tribe’s fighting strength a huge leap.
In the battle against the Heart Stealer, the tribe had lost five goblins, all killed instantly by Mind Shock. Although Shire’s heart ached for them, there was nothing he could have done. A goblin’s Magic Resistance was hardly enough to withstand the Heart Stealer’s powerful Magic. Losing only five goblins was far better than Shire had expected.
"Rest for a bit after you finish dragging this one," Shire told the Giant.
"Caocao not tired," the Giant replied stubbornly, a simple, happy smile on his face. Being able to eat his fill of meat made him very content.
Shire had previously asked One-Eyed if there were more of these chains and locks. One-Eyed didn’t know. He only remembered that the Giants had stolen them from the Fortress, then used a boulder to seal the entrance. Perhaps the two Giants had already encountered the Brain-Eating Monsters or the Heart Stealer back then.
Or perhaps the Heart Stealer had originally intended for the Giants to act as guards.
’It doesn’t matter now. The Fortress is mine.’ Shire stretched, then started walking toward the Fortress alongside Caocao.
The Giant had to stop every couple of steps to wait for the goblin to catch up. After a few more steps, he simply grabbed Shire and placed him on his neck so he wouldn’t have to keep stopping.
Shire laughed and hugged Caocao’s head, enjoying the unique perspective. "We’ll eat more meat later."
"Caocao likes meat. Caocao likes Green Egg," the Giant said happily.
The sound of chattering voices came from a distance. Shire looked back and told Caocao to put him down.
It was his subordinates. They were carrying large packs on their backs, heading for the Fortress.
The packs contained unprocessed Adventurer equipment, leftover dried meat and food, herbs that had yet to be delivered to Agatha, and several large pots.
But none of the goblins had forgotten to place one particular item on their backs—a sheepskin, the very one Shire had said belonged only to them.
’I need to hand out more of these, and soon,’ Shire mused.
The goblins who had been enslaved by the Giant hadn’t received their sheepskins yet. Seeing the other goblins with theirs, their eyes were filled with fervent envy. Shire felt that the end of the battle for the Fortress was the perfect opportunity to distribute them.
Once they had their own sheepskins, their motivation to work would be even higher. Then, Shire planned to let them experience the wonderful life of "going all out, leaving no regrets; giving it their all, and quickening their pace."
Hunting, making dried meat, gathering herbs, modifying the Fortress, raising Red Bulls, combat training, patrolling the territory, opening trade routes—so many things were waiting to be done. Shire watched his approaching subordinates with a cheerful smile, already starting to assign roles in his head.
"How are you? I am fine, and you?" Buck Teeth said, carrying a fir log for raising Red Bulls while practicing his Common Speech as he walked.
"The rainbow in the sky is like your smile, your beautiful..." He trailed off, stumped. He stopped walking, pulled out a book, and flipped through a few pages. "Your beautiful eyes shot into my heart, as merciless as an Arrow."
Then he tucked the book away and continued walking and practicing.
"Buck Teeth, where’s Red Eyes?" Shire walked over and asked. He hadn’t seen his top general in the crowd. It was understandable not to see Broken Tooth, but it was strange not to see Red Eyes.
"He is like the rainbow in the sky, making me..." Buck Teeth replied in his broken Common Speech.
"Stop. Say it in goblin speech," Shire immediately cut his subordinate off. Ever since he got that poetry book, the guy had become obsessed.
"He’s behind us. He’ll be here soon," Buck Teeth said in goblin speech, his words immediately becoming clear and concise.
"Alright, you guys go on ahead." Shire waved his hand, dismissing his subordinate. Buck Teeth walked away, muttering, "How are you? I am fine."
A few seconds later, Shire saw a rectangular object moving in the distance, looking like a door plank.
When he looked closer, he realized it was Red Eyes. The goblin was bent over, struggling to carry a 1.8-meter-long wooden bed.
"Huh?" Shire was stunned. ’What is this reckless fool up to?’
He walked over, watching Red Eyes struggle forward step by step. The original burrows of the Seven Cave Race were quite a distance from here. ’Don’t tell me this guy carried it all the way.’
"You didn’t carry this bed all the way through the Bang Bang Forest, did you?" Shire asked, walking alongside his subordinate. freēwebnovel.com
"Yes, Chief," Red Eyes said through gritted teeth. "I... carried... it... all the way..."
As he spoke, the strength he’d been using to grit his teeth and persevere gave out. He stumbled to the side, and though he tried to correct himself instantly, he lost his grip on the bed, and the whole thing crashed to the ground.
Seeing the bed with one of its legs broken, Red Eyes slumped to the ground. He panted heavily, tears welling in his eyes. "The bed... my bed."
"Alright, alright. It’s broken, but we can make another one. Everyone’s getting a bed this time, and we’ll make yours first," Shire quickly comforted him.
"But this bed... is broken," Red Eyes was still heartbroken. It was his first bed, after all.
"You’ll have a new one soon. Out with the old, in with the new." Shire pulled his subordinate to his feet and patted the dust off him. "Come on, we still have a lot to do."
Red Eyes nodded, looking back every few steps at the wooden bed lying overturned and lonely on the grass.
Shire, meanwhile, called up his subordinate’s panel to check it.
[Name: Red Eyes]
[Race: goblin]
[Danger Level: 4, Slightly Strong]
[personality: Reckless]
[Own State: Basic Power (Positive), Basic Endurance (Positive), Intermediate Magic Resistance (Positive), Charge, Horizontal Sweep, Regeneration]
This was his number one general. The Magic Resistance was an Ability given to him by the Heart Stealer.
"Now all he needs is a good set of armor and a good weapon," Shire said with a smile.
’Heart Stealer, what kind of good loot did you have hidden away?’
