Chapter 388 - 317: Tallying the Harvest

Chapter 388: Chapter 317: Tallying the Harvest

"You’re Bald Hide?" Shire tilted his head, frowning as he looked at the goblin shivering from the cold before him. Half the goblin’s face was swollen, and more interestingly, the unswollen side of his face bore a distinct, black boot print.

"I am," Bald Hide mumbled. He had been so focused on running for his life with his head down that he’d run straight into a wooden stake, which was why he couldn’t speak clearly now. Every word tugged at the painful swelling on his mouth.

"How did you end up like this?" Shire clasped his hands behind his back, sizing the other up and down. The fellow looked much more miserable than when he was last captured. "Didn’t you bring a lot of goblins with you this time? When those goblins were trying to persuade me to surrender, they even said you had over 100 Petrifying Lizards. How did you end up in such a sorry state?"

Bald Hide’s lips trembled, and for a long moment, he couldn’t squeeze out a single word. ’He desperately wanted to curse out the goblins he had sent to demand surrender. All that nonsense about "Those guys are scared, they’re just being stubborn and won’t surrender because we sent too few people," and "As soon as the Military Leader’s army arrives, those goblins will surrender on sight"—it was all bullshit! He also wanted to grab a wooden club and beat the Dongtous of the other army column to death. When they split their forces, he had repeatedly warned them, "The moment you see Flying Goblins in the sky over here, charge out all at once," and "As the surprise troops, just charge at the enemy’s rear." And the result? Not a hair of the surprise troops was to be seen.’

’They’re all idiots.’ He glanced back with a venomous look at the Feathered Serpent Kingdom goblins sitting on the ground in the distance. The creatures were sitting around listlessly, a carefree look on their faces that seemed to say, ’We’ve been defeated. When do we get absorbed into your tribe?’ Many other goblins were even running wild in the forest, waiting for the Centaur "heavenly soldiers" to come and lead them to this settlement.

Noticing Bald Hide’s expression, Shire also looked over at the goblins in the distance. They were sitting on the ground, huddled together, many of them leaning on each other for warmth. There wasn’t a trace of resentment or fear in their eyes. Many of the goblins were staring at Caocao, who was sitting further away, gnawing on dried meat. The aroma of the meat was tantalizing the goblins. If Red Eyes hadn’t been patrolling the perimeter with armed guards, these goblins might have risked trying to snatch the snack from Caocao’s hands out of sheer hunger.

"How many goblins did you bring this time?" Shire asked with a smile.

Hearing the question, Bald Hide turned back, his lips trembling. He didn’t answer. For one, he didn’t want to say. For another, he couldn’t—he wouldn’t be able to get an accurate count without a few other goblins to help him count on their fingers.

"Never mind. I figured you wouldn’t be able to answer. I’ll just count them myself after they’re all rounded up," Shire shrugged. "In any case, I’ll know the final tally after the ankle-touching ceremony is over."

More than the captured goblins, he was thrilled about catching over a dozen Petrifying Lizards. Although a few of them were injured, if their wounds could be healed, they might be able to tame these Petrifying Lizards in the future.

In his tribe now, the elephant herd helped build houses, the Shape-shifting Monsters provided grease, the Star Realm Dogs guarded the homes, the Brain-Eating Monsters were for petting, the Slimes handled waste disposal, and the Giant Ants were used for transport and riding. Compared to these other creatures, the Petrifying Lizards could only be used as beasts of war. As for how to breed and utilize them, Shire would have to pick some of the newly joined goblins to conduct experiments.

"No need to rush. We can take our time," Shire murmured to himself with a smile, then looked at the silent Bald Hide. "I also wanted to ask you how many goblins were left behind in the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, but I imagine you won’t tell me that either."

Bald Hide kept his head down, his eyes darting about. ’Why does the enemy leader keep asking such troublesome questions?’ he wondered. ’Is he planning to attack us?’

"Don’t even think about attacking the Kingdom," he said, grimacing through the pain. "There are still plenty of goblins in the Kingdom, and the Feathered Serpent God is there too. If you try to attack us, you’ll all die on the way."

"On the way?" Shire asked with interest.

"That’s right. You won’t be able to overcome the dangers along the road." As he spoke, Bald Hide slowly puffed out his chest. "If you let me and my subordinates go, I can try to persuade the High Priest not to attack you again."

Shire chuckled. ’Bald Hide’s making a pretty clever calculation. He’s only asking for the release of the men from his own cave, not for me to release the other Dongtous. On top of that, he only offered to *try* to persuade, with no guarantee of success.’

’Considering his previous tactical maneuvers, one could only say he has a bit of low cunning, making him a cut above the other goblins.’

"I’m curious. The Feathered Serpent Kingdom isn’t very far from us, so why did it take you so many days to get here? Did you get lost?" Shire asked. "Broken Tooth can make the round trip by himself in just a few days. Your group of goblins took nearly 20 days. I have no idea how you managed that. Logically, you should be familiar with the route by now."

Bald Hide fell silent again. ’This guy can’t possibly be a tribe leader. How could he ask such a stupid question? With such a large group of goblins, they had to find food wherever they went, fighting over meals and places to sleep. It had already taken all my brainpower just to successfully lead this pack of idiots here.’

At this thought, he glanced up and rolled his eyes at Shire, inwardly fuming at how he could have lost to such a person.

Seeing the other’s reaction, Shire thought for a moment, then lightly tapped his forehead. "Oh, I get it."