Chapter 42: Goblin Servant

With an additional five hundred human slaves, Su Lun’s labor shortage was finally not so critical. All five hundred slaves were sent to farm. This time, Su Lun no longer planned to cultivate just five hundred acres of farmland, but to plant as much land as possible. More food was naturally a good thing.

As the caravan returned, the camp became more lively. The twenty wagons also brought back a large amount of supplies, after all, the furs from the Northern Lands wilderness were still very popular.

The caravan’s return made Su Lun temporarily set aside his search for suitable materials to make bows and arrows, turning his attention back to developing his territory. The large increase in population made the territory more prosperous.

More than ten days after Owen’s caravan last left, they passed through Su Lun’s territory again. However, because of the issue with the Barbarians escaping last time, Owen went straight to Su Lun to demand compensation. But Su Lun flatly denied that he had let those Barbarians escape and claimed that the escaped Barbarians were not with him.

To prove his innocence, Su Lun even let Owen personally inspect his Barbarian Guard. Of course, Owen’s inspection yielded no results, and in the end, Owen had to leave extremely frustrated.

Su Lun noticed that there were many longbows in Owen’s caravan. Those longbows were nearly six feet long, with purple shafts—they were Centaur Longbows. There were at least fifty of them. It seemed Owen had a very successful haul this time.

These Centaur Longbows could sell for at least three thousand gold coins in human kingdoms, and they were scarce—any that appeared were bought immediately. A team of archers equipped with Centaur Longbows would be an absolute nightmare for any attackers.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the money to buy them. Suppressing his strong desire to rob them with immense willpower, Su Lun arranged for someone to escort Owen’s caravan away.

Days passed, and the territory continued to change. The emergence of a new Pioneering Territory naturally squeezed the living space of the wilderness races originally inhabiting the area, posing a threat to the tribes around the territory. After defeating that medium-sized Gnoll tribe, the territory enjoyed a brief peace, but this peace would not last long.

Humanity’s forceful intervention was like a small fishpond into which a young crocodile had entered. Though it was still small, once this crocodile grew up, it would devour the entire pond.

Facing human pressure, and after over a month of chaos, the surrounding Wilderness races finally reached an agreement. They formed a powerful army to drive the humans out of the Wilderness.

The remaining two Gnoll tribes, along with numerous Goblin and Kobold tribes, were preparing to form a strong alliance. The rule of survival in the Wilderness was always the survival of the fittest; rarely did multiple tribes unite. Only when faced with a common threat would these tribes choose to join forces.

After the last battle, Su Lun had restored the Beacon Towers in the territory, even adding a few more, and kept a close watch on the surrounding area.

Floer was a Goblin, to be precise, he was the Lord of a small Goblin Tribe. When Su Lun and his Barbarians were clearing the Wasteland, their entire tribe was captured and made into slaves.

Surprisingly, this Goblin tribe’s leader, Floer, had managed to learn the human language. Although his speech was halting and had a strange accent, he had indeed successfully learned it.

After learning the human language, Floer volunteered to serve as a translator and pledged allegiance to Su Lun. He believed that being Su Lun’s slave was not so bad—at least Su Lun gave them food so they wouldn’t starve.

Goblins in the Wilderness often became slaves to various powerful tribes. Trolls, Gnolls, Lizardfolk, and others all enslaved Goblins. Under their rule, Goblins were used as cannon fodder or as food reserves. In comparison, being slaves to humans was like heaven.

Though they still got whipped, at least they weren’t killed arbitrarily, and if they worked hard, they received food. Although the food given was pitifully little, it was better than starving.

Although Su Lun had been in this world for ten years, he still retained many values from his previous life. Of course, he didn’t try to challenge this world’s traditions. Opposing slavery, Noble exploitation, religious oppression, etc.—as an adult and a vested interest holder, he wouldn’t defy universal norms to emancipate slaves.

However, he also didn’t oppress slaves cruelly like others of this era. For instance, for Goblin and Kobold slaves, as long as they didn’t resist, Su Lun wouldn’t let people kill them arbitrarily, and hard work earned them food. But that was all.

Even with these minimal requirements, that Goblin Lord Floer considered it a blessing. This Goblin leader told other Goblins about the benefits of being Su Lun’s slave and praised Su Lun’s kindness. What surprised Su Lun even more was that this Goblin named Floer was acknowledged by the System.

[Goblin Servant: Floer, Goblin Leader. Master: Su Lun; Loyalty: 100. Former Goblin Lord. Although most Goblins are very stupid, there are always one or two exceptions. As a smart Goblin, he learned the human language through his own efforts. To have enough food and warmth, he chose to pledge loyalty to humans. With his status, he easily gained the trust of other Goblins. Skills: Keen Observation +2, Goblin Favor +20]

With this Goblin servant, the Goblin slaves became more docile. Su Lun put the previous Goblin overseers under his command, and the work efficiency of the Goblins actually increased again. Those Goblin overseers even became Soldiers acknowledged by the System…

[Goblin Overseer: The stronger among Goblins. To live a better life, these Goblins chose to pledge loyalty to the human Lord. Strength: 4, Constitution: 3, Agility: 5, Spirit: 3, Charm: 3, Skills: Lashing, Keen Observation. Though their combat power is low, even less than a weakling, they still have their uses.]

After discovering this, besides having them direct the Goblin slaves in work, Su Lun also sent these Goblins into the surrounding Wilderness to gather information about the tribes. Because of their Goblin identity, they were naturally accepted by the Wilderness races and easily blended into these Wasteland tribes, spying for Su Lun.

For these undisciplined Wilderness races, one more or one less Goblin slave went completely unnoticed.

With these Goblin slaves providing intelligence, Su Lun finally gained a relatively accurate understanding of the other tribes near his Territory.