Free Web NovelChapter 62: Chapter 56: Hiring Fulu
What’s the first thing you need to do when moving into a new home?
Clean? Plan the layout? Light candles for good luck? Or throw away things you bought years ago but never used?
It’s none of the above. Nowadays, many people just drop their things, snap a picture, then go to a small restaurant downstairs and order fried rice. While waiting for their food, they edit the photo and post it to their social media feed with a caption like, "How to fit my hundred-square-meter dream into a space of just over ten square meters."
Shire, who had once hustled in the big city, really wanted to do the same right now.
He set down his small pot and rubbed his full belly. With the Fortress entrance right behind him, he desperately wanted to post, "How to fit my dream for this entire forest into a few thousand square meters."
Of course, if this world actually had social media, he figured plenty of people would comment, "Yo bro, where you at? Your little bro is a bit tight on cash and wants to trade you for 300,000 Gold Coins."
’Agatha wouldn’t, though. Once I’m done cleaning up, I’ll ask her to come take a look. There’s a lot of stuff here I need to ask her about.’
Inside the Fortress were several reliefs that looked ancient. There was also a large stone chamber filled to the brim with all sorts of strange and bizarre materials, some made of stone, others of bone. They were all covered in mysterious, incomprehensible patterns.
As a complete dunce when it came to this Otherworld, Shire couldn’t understand any of it. He decided he’d just have to get Agatha.
Not far away, only Caocao was still munching away. The other goblins had already finished eating.
Funnily enough, during the last few meal times, the new goblins had watched the original five splay their legs and scuttle like crabs up to Bai Mao. They had all gotten the hint and started imitating the posture.
Now, the entire goblin troop used the crab walk when getting their food. It left Shire at a loss for words, and he felt it might evolve into some kind of strange ritual.
However, he hadn’t expected that the goblins, formerly subjected to Enslavement by the Giant, were already accustomed to forgoing their afternoon rest to go hunting. This actually saved him a lot of trouble.
’We’re running low on Red Bull... Getting the goblins to cultivate Mushrooms is proving to be a real challenge,’ Shire mused, rubbing his chin. He had added a generous amount of chopped Red Bull Mushroom to their lunch, which was why his subordinates, despite having finished their meal, were still standing around hyperactively, stroking the sheepskins in their hands. ’I’ll aim to get the whole Fortress cleaned up this afternoon.’
Just as Shire was making his plans, a dozen or so large, round discs floated out of the passageway. It was the Fulu.
After the master brain died, the Brain-Eating Monsters were no longer restrained and began running amok throughout the Fortress. Shire had his subordinates lock them in a stone chamber to make cleaning up later easier. As a result, the Fulu were finally able to slip out of the Fortress.
"Where are you all going?" he called out to the Fulu. freēwēbnovel.com
The Fulu drifted over, chattering their replies.
"We can finally get out."
"Find a new place, find a new place!"
"We’re not living with the goblins. Their Spiritual Power tastes bad."
"They’re definitely all thinking evil thoughts."
"Alright, on your way then," Shire said, sitting on the ground and watching as the large, round discs’ tentacles turned a light pink. "Just be careful out there, and don’t get yourselves killed by other monsters."
He waved his hand, bidding farewell to the little goofballs.
"We won’t die. It’s better than living with Bandits."
"Let’s go, quick! He’s going to let the Brain-Eating Monsters out again soon."
The Fulu drifted far away, but Shire noticed that halfway through their departure, their tentacles surprisingly turned green, a sign of curiosity.
He watched as the Fulu floated over his subordinates’ heads and placed two long tentacles around each goblin’s head. A few seconds later, his men started yawning, spread out their sheepskins, and lay down. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"Hmm?" Shire frowned. ’What are these Fulu doing?’
A moment later, the Fulu drifted back toward the Fortress, their tentacles returning to the light pink color of pleasure.
"You’re not leaving?" Shire called out to them. "What were you just doing?"
"We’re full now."
"Such delicious Spiritual Power! The best I’ve ever tasted."
"Yes, truly delicious."
"And it’s not the least bit evil!"
"You sucked my men’s Spiritual Power dry?" Shire’s mouth twitched. All that Red Bull Mushroom had gone to waste. "So now you’re not leaving?"
"That’s right! If we can eat Spiritual Power like this every day, we wouldn’t even mind living with Bandits," the Fulu chirped happily.
"No, no, you should still go," Shire said, waving his hands dismissively. If they kept eating like that, no amount of Red Bull would be enough.
Hearing this, the Fulu huddled together, chattering amongst themselves. Shire watched their tentacles shift from light pink to dark blue, then alternate between deep red and green, before finally settling on dark blue again. They looked just like the spinning pole outside a barbershop.
Finally, the Fulu spoke: "Bandit, let us stay."
"Excuse me? I’m a what?" Shire said.
"Hero," one of the Fulu corrected itself the quickest, and the others immediately followed suit.
"But..." Shire dragged out the word, wanting to tell them that he wasn’t made of Red Bull.
The Fulu drifted over to Shire, extending their tentacles to gently knead and tap his shoulders, arms, and legs.
They chanted, "Hero, hero!" as they gave him an obsequious massage. Shire was left completely speechless.
The two parties began to haggle. After some back-and-forth, Shire finally nodded in agreement.
’There were many Relics in the Nightmare Forest, and no telling what was hidden inside them. If he rushed in recklessly again like he did this time, he would surely suffer for it.’
’But if he brought a Fulu along, it could use its Telepathy to scout ahead. That would make his "tomb raiding" much more convenient.’
For this reason, Shire finally agreed to let this Fulu "order"—which didn’t even seem to have a name for itself—stay.
"Well, this is a bit of a problem now," Shire said, looking worriedly at the field of sprawled-out goblins.
He immediately scrambled to his feet and chased after the huffing Fulu.
’He decided to let his men rest for a while. In the meantime, he would go check out the Heart Stealer’s treasury himself.’
"One of you is coming with me," Shire said to the Fulu.
The dozen or so Fulu debated for a good while but couldn’t decide which one of them should go. Shire gave up waiting and just pointed. "You."
He simply tugged the one closest to him along and led it deeper into the Fortress.
"Hero, what do you need me to do?" the Fulu asked.
"Nothing complicated. Just stay next to me and tell me if you sense any Mind fluctuations nearby," Shire said, striding ahead.
After passing through several stone chambers, they reached the master brain’s room. Shire carefully sidestepped the pools of slime on the floor. Behind the chamber was a downward passage, and Shire and the Fulu stopped at its entrance.
"Sense anything?" he asked.
"Nothing."
Shire nodded and entered the passage. It wasn’t a long walk down before they reached a fork in the path. To the left was the massive stone chamber piled high with bizarre materials, and to the right was a smaller stone room.
Inside this smaller room were twenty large wooden chests, all neatly arranged. It was clearly the Heart Stealer’s private collection.
Shire walked into the stone chamber, turned to the Fulu with a smile, and asked, "Any Mind fluctuations in here?"
"Yes. A lot."
"Hmm?" Shire’s brow furrowed.
