Chapter 391 - 318: New Ability (2)

Chapter 391: Chapter 318: New Ability (2)

These days, Shire had grown accustomed to using the [Group Dumbing Curse] on himself. Whenever he met with people, he would also use the [Group Language Curse] on himself. He was appreciating the benefits of these strange spells more and more.

’Come to think of it, I asked Agatha about this before. She was never able to find any information on these two types of Magic. I wonder what tier these Curse Techniques are.’ Shire stroked his chin, continuing to ponder. ’If I keep using them, under the effect of the War God’s Blessing, will I end up learning even more strange Curse Techniques?’

’As soon as I learn those new Curse Techniques, they’ll be immediately transcribed into the Magic Book. If that happens, will I still need Lust?’

After some thought, Shire dismissed the idea. For one, he wasn’t sure if it would even work that way; it felt a bit like exploiting a glitch with the stone monument. For another, he didn’t dare sever his connection with Lust just yet. After all, the other party was a Demon Lord. For an entity like that, killing him would be as easy as playing a game.

’I’ll just keep going. Who knows when I’ll find the eyes it wants, and we signed a ten-year agreement anyway.’ Shire sighed lightly and reached out to pat the stone monument. ’For now, I’ll just milk it for all it’s worth and worry about the rest later.’

Having sorted out his thoughts, Shire looked up at the towering Pyramid Tower, feeling a bit annoyed about the [Ability Overdraft] he had obtained earlier. ’It would’ve been great if I had unlocked the [Private Magic Book] first and then gotten [Ability Overdraft].’

’But, is this Energy obtained from the Creator?’

He knew that Mages in this world used Magic by synchronizing with the Magic Field and drawing upon its Energy. However, he wasn’t a Mage yet, so he didn’t know the specifics. ’And who is this Creator? The Creator God?’

When he had met the Elephant Lord before, it had told him that it was the Creator’s guidance that led the elephant herd here. Shire had asked at the time if the Creator was the Creator God, but the Elephant Lord had not given a clear answer.

’The slumbering Creator God... is it about to awaken?’ He patted the stone monument, a little confused by the current situation. ’Could the eyes Sofia mentioned before be the eyes of the Creator God? If that’s true, they would certainly possess a great deal of Divinity.’

But why would he be mixed up with the Creator God? If that were the case, couldn’t he just go to the Four Gods Church and tell them, "Hey, your Main Gods’ dad and I are pretty tight. If you don’t mind, you can call me your grand-uncle. Now, how about you help your grand-uncle solve a few problems?"

Shire chuckled and shook his head at the thought. ’Better not. I’ll wait for a chance and have Little John ask Sofia about it.’

Putting these thoughts aside, he let his awareness surface. The ankle-touching ceremony was still underway. In the distance, more goblins were being driven out of the forest and brought to the clearing.

Three large cauldrons were now set up in front of Bai Mao. Many female goblins scurried around the steaming cauldrons under her command. As soon as one cauldron of Forest Soup was emptied, it was immediately cleaned and put back on to brew another batch.

The tribe’s population was continuing to grow, and Shire had mixed feelings about it. He was happy because more manpower meant he could consolidate his entire territory. He could try to establish underground strongholds in several locations to control the whole area. The project would be massive, since many places had no burrows, or the existing ones were the wrong size. But this work was necessary. It was currently winter, and the growth of many medicinal herbs was limited. This was the perfect time to build a transportation network. By next spring, they could use it for herb gathering.

The worrisome part, however, was that the increase in manpower was straining the tribe’s material stores. Mary had previously reported that all the artisans in Yangjiao Town were now working for the tribe, and many of their order books were full. To place more orders, they would have to go to other regions. As for the food problem, they could only purchase it from outside. Furthermore, these purchases had to be made from Black Lion City, because the surrounding towns had tightened their grain sales due to Count Valentine’s repeated tax hikes. And there was more bad news: buying large quantities of grain from Black Lion City meant it had to be transported via the Darren River, but the port at Yangjiao Town was too small and lacked sufficient docking berths.

’Expanding too quickly isn’t necessarily a good thing,’ Shire mused, rubbing his cheeks. He unconsciously shifted his foot, and a sound came from below. He immediately looked down to see a rather scrawny goblin kneeling on the ground, hand outstretched to touch his ankle. Shire’s movement had startled the goblin, making it look terrified. "Oh, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. Go on, you can touch it."

With that said, he placed his legs in front of him again, waiting for the goblin to continue the ritual.

’Although we’re facing some minor difficulties now, the overall situation is still good.’ Shire felt his ankles going numb. He’d have to give them a good scrub to get the caked-on grime off when he took a bath later. ’Manpower is labor. As long as we put them to work immediately, they can create value.’

Then there was the batch of Magic Beast Materials. Shire had been truly shocked when he saw it with his own eyes. When Pazani had been dancing and wagging his tail with excitement earlier, Shire hadn’t imagined there would be so much.

’Just how many Magical Beasts did they kill?’ Seeing the mountain-like pile of bones, Shire felt a little overwhelmed. The bones were piled up haphazardly, not sorted by type at all. This meant that identifying them would take a tremendous amount of time and effort, and the goblins didn’t have the Ability to do so.

These colorful Beast Bones could only be handled by professional Magic Artisans.

Not long after seeing the bone pile, Shire noticed a heap of Beast Cores tossed carelessly onto the nearby grass like trash. Most of them were Basic Beast Cores, with only two Intermediate Beast Cores.

’These Beast Cores must have been collected intentionally, but the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom clearly don’t value them.’ Recalling what Broken Tooth had said about humans trading with the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, Shire figured these items were probably meant for those leaf merchants. ’Did I just intercept someone else’s shipment?’

He chuckled at the thought, then pounded his legs a few times. The ankle-touching ceremony was still going on, so he could only remain seated in his high-backed chair, waiting for the long line behind him to finish.

...

"What did you say? You need our bank to help you coordinate docking berths at the port?" In the reception room on the first floor of the Commerce Alliance building in eastern Yangjiao Town, an employee from the Commerce Bank stared indignantly at Mary, who sat across from him.

Mary calmly picked up the coffee in front of her and took a light sip. "Just average. Not a premium blend."

"Hmph," the employee snorted, looking arrogantly at Mary.

"You should be aware that we signed an agreement. Our commerce chamber now requires dedicated docking berths at the port." Mary looked up at the bank employee and said with a smile, "If you don’t help us handle this, and it leads to problems with our final repayment, you will also be held responsible. After all, the bank’s upper management wouldn’t want anything to go wrong with this massive loan, would they?"

"What does your commerce chamber’s business have to do with our bank?"

"Oh, I’m sorry," Mary said, wagging her index finger. "Not your bank. You. After all, you were the one who pushed for this contract. If something goes wrong in the end, your boss definitely won’t let you off the hook."

"You!" The bank employee’s expression shifted several times before turning ashen. He didn’t dare gamble on Mr. Crow being so forgiving. "Fine. I’ll help you coordinate with the port in Yangjiao Town."

"No, no, no," Mary interrupted with a smile. "Not just Yangjiao Town. Black Lion City’s port as well."

"Don’t push your luck!" The employee shot to his feet.

"If upper management found out you weren’t capable enough for your job, who knows what might happen..."

"I’ll... work out a plan." The employee slumped back into his seat, defeated.

"Thank you so much, then." Mary nodded with a smile and took another sip of her coffee.

"The taste really is just average. I’ll have someone send you a bag of premium coffee when I get back."