Chapter 63 - Prospecting

<---Chapter 62 - Plans for Expansion|Table of Contents|Chapter 64 - Regicide--->

[<Ahhhh, save me! Anyone, help me!>] A female goblin wailed in its own language as it cowered on the ground, virulent brilliant flames erupting all around here as the blackened trees burnt down, crashing in a cacophony of destruction. The sounds of fighting and fellow goblin tribe members’ screams of pain echoed all around her, causing her to tremble slightly, clutching and protecting a goblin baby with her life.

The gallop of a horse could be heard in the distance, a steel glint betraying it’s riders armour, the distinctive yellow grin of a goblin soldier appearing in her vision while the tip of a spear pointed right at her and her baby.

[<Have mercy, please! I did not rebel!>] The female goblin pleaded on all fours, clutching onto her only descendant. [<At least let this child of mine go free!>]

[<You think I am a fool?! If I let your child go, who knows if he will also become a rebel? I shall nip this in the bud right now!>]

[<NOOOOO!>]

Just as the rider was about to stab forward, the baby’s eyes suddenly flew wide open, glowing bright yellow with demonic flames spurting out from its pupils, an immense pressure suddenly falling upon the rider.

A strong defensive golden barrier suddenly appeared around the mother, deflecting the spear and knocking the rider off balance. The startled horse jerked backwards, letting out a neigh before galloping off in fear, leaving the rider to his fate.

[<Wha-what is this baby? How can it be so strong? Impossible? Unless…>] The rider wore a face of pure, exaggerated horror, its mouth agape as it watched the yellow aura swirling around the baby goblin surge to an even greater height that towered over the flames around them.

The baby goblin began to rapidly grow up, turning into a full-size hobgoblin in three seconds, cracking its knuckles and walking menacingly towards the rider, each step causing the ground to violently shudder with the force of an eruption.

[<You’ll… you’ll never take me alive!>] The rider screamed at the top of his lungs, pulling out a backup knife and jabbing it right at the yellow aura hobgoblin. The knife barely penetrated more than a millimeter into the yellow aura, the storm knocking the knife away as it twirled into the sky with a twinkle.

[<Fool! My power is over 9000!>] The hobgoblin flicked the tip of its nose as it got into a fighting posture. [<BEHOLD! THE STEEL SONG TRIBE’S FIFTIETH SECRET ART – CONSECUTIVE NORMAL PUNCHES 1000!>]

The enormous hobgoblin roared as he threw a flurry of punches, smacking the rider into an unrecognizable pulp in just five seconds before finishing the combo with a kick that sent the rider flying into the sky. Just as the hobgoblin did a victory pose, it began to shrink again back to a baby form, ooo-ing and gaga-ing at the mother.

The female goblin gasped, scampering over to the baby hobgoblin. [<Oh my dear baby! How did you get so strong in just a month?!>].

The baby hobgoblin couldn’t reply, but it looked in the direction of the audience and winked, ending the scene.

[<Coming to the theatre this Marth 21st: That Time I Went Forward in Time To Be My Great-Granddaughter’s Baby while Retaining All of My Powerups and Skills as well as My Intellect and My Ladykiller Moves and Your Mum. Yes, Your Mum.>]

The lights in the underground theatre began to turn back on as the screen showing the film dimmed, with the goblin audience practically screaming and cheering for the trailer.

<NUMBAS GO UP! He hit 9000!>

<This is the best film by far!>

<Everything is better than the stupid Enforcer Man – who wants to watch a show about stupid humans?!>

<Indeed, we finally get a rendition of our own folklore!>

<I must say, it is not actually accurate. In the original tale of King Sahusa the Great, it was said that he actually reincarnated through every single generation, so he actively found the best female goblins to lay, honing his craft over multiple generations. In fact, is he not the current king of the Steel Song tribe?>

<Exactly! And I recall my mother telling me that he had five arms and four legs! This film is trash! Not even historically accurate! I have cave drawings to prove it!>

Only a single goblin was furious at the film, the said envoy who had been captured by Sasha. <What is this nonsense! How dare they drag the goblins’ culture through the mud like this? Appaling!>

However, none of the other goblins gave a shit, completely ignoring him and infuriating him even more. Before he could shout anymore, a female human hand grabbed him from behind, dragging him back to his prison cell. <Wait, no please, I was wrong! It’s great! I love how the baby's shield glitter- WAIT!> He pleaded, yet the lady did not make a single sound as only his begging could be heard disappearing into the tunnels.

As the audience bickered and discussed the trailer, two other humans near the back of the theatre were silently watching the audience reaction, with a girl holding a clipboard and jotting down details, intently observing their emotions. “Hey, you! Make sure they pay for the trailer! One rakel for each member, even kids. I don’t care if they are one month old or not! If they can breathe - they can pay!” The girl screamed at a goblin worker, who nodded quickly.

She continued writing down on the clipboard. “Reaction: S+, Controversy: S+. This film will surely be one of the best we’ve made for the goblins. Perfect distraction to keep them working.”

The man standing next to her cleared his throat. “Uh… Merissa, I don’t understand why-“

“It’s Ms. Merissa to you, Feldon.”

“Ms. Merissa, why are we making films for the goblins? Shouldn’t we be making films for Raktor?”

“We already are, but the goblins need to be appeased for a few moments to make our position here better secured. We need to present ourselves as a clear force for good, or else they would continuously try to rebel. This is just a simple method to calm down tensions.”

“Did they not try to rebel just a week ago?”

“Only the newer slaves. The better of a class system we build, the easier it is for us to have them turn on each other while we hold the reigns overall.” Merissa tapped her clipboard. “Have you not learnt anything over the past few months you’ve been here, Feldon? How the hell were you hired as a company manager of all positions?”

“Uh… I looked good?”

Merissa wanted to retort, but she couldn’t disagree. Despite for all of Feldon’s failings, he did have a intriguing charm. In fact, Merissa wouldn’t mind if Feldon’s wife took a dip in one of the maggot pits and had a horrible acci –

She caught herself before her mind spiralled off, returning to her usual self. “You’re lucky you look good, otherwise I would have thrown you into the training arena for the rest of your life.”

The arctech radio on Merissa’s belt buzzed, crackling to life. [Ms. Merissa, the boss is here.]

At the entrance to the goblin mine, the defenses had been improved significantly. Instead of makeshift wooden fences, it was metal spikes atop newly fortified stone walls reinforced with support beams, with intimidating watch towers providing the lookouts a good overview over the front. The area in front had been cleared out of trees, preventing anyone from sneaking all the way up to the walls.

Near the gate, there was an honor guard procession to receive Kyle, who walked in accompanied by a meek-looking human who was carrying what seemed to be prospecting equipment. Kyle nodded in approval as he inspected the guards, noticing the apparent improvement that the months of training had done to Gulak’s tribe.

“Mister Kyle, you promised me that I would be safe here!” The meek person whispered urgently to Kyle as he nearly flinched from the snarl of a goblin warrior who stood at attention along the side.

“You are. This will be your home for the next year or so. Once you’re finished with the prospecting and mining for minerals, consider your debts to the Seven Snakes cleared.” Kyle replied.

The meek person reluctantly nodded as he was reminded of his casino debt, sighing internally to himself. The group was met by Merissa and Feldon, who bowed to Kyle. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, sir. We have prepared everything in advance.”

“Mister Raksha.”

The prospector jolted to attention as they began to enter the mining tunnels. “Yes, Mister Kyle!”

“I need an answer by today or so. I’ve heard you are one of the best in town. Keith spoke highly of you, and I’m on a tight schedule. Any delay would be… detrimental to our working relationship. And your health.”

Raksha shuddered slightly at the insidious threat but stood his ground, his professional expertise coming to bear. “Prospecting a brand new mine from scratch is hardly an easy task, especially when there’s barely any infrastructure left to support it…”

“Merissa.” Kyle called out, with Merissa immediately moving over to him. “Explain what you have prepared for him.”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Raksha, we have prospecting surveys from the previous mine owners and a team of elder goblins who have lived in the mine for decades. They will assist you in your search for any minerals.”

“And did the surveys’ mention any traces of iron ore?” Raksha inquired.

“They did not. But they did not mention traces of arcite ore as well, but as you can see here…” Merissa motioned towards some of the excavated arcite ore from the shaman inscription chambers.

“Arcite ore? Here?” Raksha was shocked. “If you monetise it, you could –“ He stopped himself before he continued, noticing Kyle’s clearly irritated face.

"Do try to keep business ideas to yourself, especially those that require a direct license from the Emperor himself to operate." Merissa warned.

"But you guys are hardly lega-"

"That does not mean we try to draw attention to ourselves." Kyle snapped. "I would appreciate if you would focus on the task at hand."

They continued to walk down the converted tunnels, with Raksha obviously surprised at the increased level of infrastructure. None of the arctech lights were flickering, with utility pipes clearly running along the length of the tunnel, providing flowing water and air ventilation into the area. A few air ducts could be seen as well as he passed a tunnel-in-progress that was clearly leading in the direction of Raktor, with goblins hauling out rubble from the consistent digging.

It was already a big surprise to him that a human group would be in charge of such a large goblin operation. Goblins were notoriously hard to govern and could easily start a rebellion due to their sheer numbers that increased over time. He had heard of previous attempts by the Yual Dominion to subjugate this area but had always lost or suffered too many losses against the major goblin tribes.

Raksha began to scan the tunnels, taking note of the various formations of rocks layered into the tunnels, which changed as they went deeper and deeper into the goblin den. They soon reached a foyer of sorts, a large open space where various market stalls were opened, peddling various foods imported in from the town.

At the very far end of the foyer, a manual pulley system ran by a series of sweating goblins hauled arcite ore to and fro towards a separate entrance, where the mechanical wind regenerators had been installed. Half of the arcite ores were being shipped to Raktor, with new depleted ones coming in everyday in a non-stop routine. The mechanical regenerator was hardly efficient, but Kyle had more than enough goblin slaves to make up for it.

Kyle brought Raksha to the main administrative office, which has been expanded greatly. It was now a three-level cavern lit with arctech lanterns powered by regenerators, with each floor having multiple clerks, both human and goblins working hard to manage the logistics of the entire den. Rows upon rows of paper were slotted away neatly on carved stone shelves, organized according to chronological date for better ease of access. It was here where the bulk of the Euria Seeds collection was tallied up and accounted for.

On top of that, the administrative office also acted as a de facto government of sorts. With the absorption of the second tribe to boost their worker numbers, the number of goblins living in the den right now was more than six hundred, nearing the size of a big town.

Since Kyle wanted total control over the entire operation, Merissa had no choice but to hire clerks to assist her, even splintering some of them off into separate ministries to cover different tasks aimed at supporting the current workforce.

As Feldon showed Raksha where all the old survey documents were collected as well as introduced him to the team of elder goblins, Kyle walked around with Merissa, observing the work of the clerks. “You’ve done a very good job of teaching the goblins how to read and write.”

“Thank you, sir. It is but my duty.” Merissa bowed.

“Where is the envoy?”

“Sasha is still currently interrogating him, over here.” Merissa led him to an adjacent holding room, where the envoy was currently screaming its lungs out from the torturous pain that Sasha was inflicting on him.

The envoy spat a glob of blood on the ground as soon as Kyle entered the holding room. Instead of talking directly to the envoy, Kyle turned to Merissa. “Estimate of their combat potential and capabilities?”

“As far as I can tell, we can easily overpower them. The soldiers were ill-trained and fled at the first sight of their comrade’s corpses. The envoy, however, is of stronger will, as you can see here.”

“Any advanced technologies?”

“Nothing of the sort. They even disdain bows and arrows with a passion. All we have is their iron spear and iron shield.” Merissa motioned to a few of the captured weapons lying on the side.

Kyle picked them up slowly, twirling the spear in his hand with ease.

The balance was clearly off, but it did not seem that the spearhead had been crafted out of iron bacteria, rather it looked as though it had been smoothly refined, proving that the goblins had methods of iron refinement.

“Can we negotiate with them?”

“As far as we know, no. The envoy is very… opposed to humans.”

<Of course, you are simply hairless monkeys, skulking and backstabbing instead of fighting with pride and honor!> The envoy understood the human language but refused to speak back in it instead.

Kyle walked right up to the chair in which the envoy was tied up to, before delivering a straight punch to the face, nearly crumpling the envoy’s already crooked nose. Blood spurted out of its orifices as the chair flipped over, its head smacking against the cold hard barren earth.

Kyle spoke in the goblin’s language, leaning over.

<I will only wish the worst of curses on your ancestors’ spirits and your descendants’ future, may their lives be filled with rot and sorrow, and their hearts pierced by the sword of Sahusa!> The envoy roared back in rage, kicking and fighting against its restraints.

<I don’t take insults lightly.> Kyle instantly grabbed the envoy by the neck, crushing it with both hands in a tight grip before tossing the twitching corpse aside. “Throw his body into the maggot pit, but don’t forget to use a light-capturer first of his demise. Make sure everyone in the den knows of this.”

Merissa and Sasha barely flinched nor blinked at the ruthlessness with which Kyle had acted out, nonchalantly getting a few goblin slaves to carry out the order. The treatment of the royal envoy spread like wildfire through the rumours and light-capturer flims, further entrenching the strength and brutality of their human overlords in the goblins living in the den, making them less reluctant to go against Kyle and his rule.

"Sir, killing the envoy could be seen as an act of war." Merissa pointed out as they walked back through the den, many of the goblin slaves cowering in fear.

"We've already attacked another tribe, and our very act of enslaving this tribe is an act of war against the kingdom. We were going to fight them sooner or later, and judging from the quality of their weapons, I expect any war to be swift."

Kyle soon returned to the office, where Raksha had just completed his discussion with the goblin clerks and Feldon.

“Mr. Kyle.” Raksha scurried over, holding a few documents in his hands. “I have yet to survey the area personally, but I find that most of this document is accurate and precise. The formation of arcite ore might not be well known, but iron ore is very well documented.”

“Get to the point. Is there iron ore or not?”

“No sir. There is a very, very low chance of iron ore here in this specific den. Most of the iron here would be trapped in forms that would be exceptionally hard to extract. None of the oxides we normally use would be found here, as there was a clear lack of oxygen and water before the mine was opened.”

“So what’s the solution?”

“I… I don’t have any. I think this mine is done for. You might find other things like coal, but you won’t find much iron ore here.”

“Then we’ll just have to get it elsewhere. Sasha, gather all the warriors and prepare for an assault. We’re taking over the goblin kingdom, one den at a time.”

<---Chapter 62 - Plans for Expansion|Table of Contents|Chapter 64 - Regicide--->