Chương 10: Full Recruitment

The four of them exhaled in unison. Oh, it's just a goblin from our own tribe. Scared us to death! The goblin in the bushes was equally surprised to see four of his kind. He wondered why they weren't back at the tribe lying around. If he hadn't been assigned a hunting mission by the Chief, he certainly wouldn't be out here! Suddenly, his eyes landed on the roasted meat skewers by the campfire. The aroma hit him, and his eyes instantly turned a predatory green.

Without a word, he lunged out of the bushes and charged toward the food. At that moment, he saw nothing but the meat, completely ignoring the other four goblins. Li Qinwu, seeing this fellow act like a stray dog going for a bone, stepped forward and delivered a heavy kick. He sent the intruder flying back the way he came. Standing at 1. 4 meters with Strength stats far exceeding a normal goblin, Li Qinwu's kick left the intruder groaning on the ground, unable to even stand.

Li Qinwu moved to interrogate him, but more rustling came from the thicket. One by one, more goblins emerged—over twenty of them—instantly crowding the clearing. Seeing the sheer numbers, Li Qinwu's heart tightened. He took a few steps back to stand with his three soldiers, his gaze sharp and wary. The newcomers all saw the roasted meat by the fire, their faces twisted with greed. A goblin with a massive scar across his face stepped to the front, staring at the meat while licking his lips.

He was the leader of this hunting party. The scar was a "gift" from a wolf he had encountered; not many goblins survived a wolf's jaws, and this feat had earned him his position and the nickname "Rotten Face." Rotten Face pulled his gaze away from the meat and looked at Li Qinwu with suspicion. Normally, he would have just ordered a raid, but Li Qinwu's height was wrong. In their tribe, no one except the Chief grew this tall. The two sides sized each other up in a tense silence.

At that exact moment, the meat by the fire reached its peak aroma, the fat sizzling as it dripped into the embers. Rotten Face's saliva glands went into overdrive. Deprived of good food for so long, his logic evaporated, replaced by the primitive instincts of a beast. He stopped caring why Li Qinwu was tall and pointed a finger threateningly.

"Give me the meat, or I kill you!" Li Qinwu thought to himself: Classic goblin. Straight to the point. He didn't get angry. Instead, he smiled.

"Sure, help yourself. But how about you all become my lackeys instead?" Rotten Face saw the big guy "soften" and sneered, but the second half of the sentence confused him. What? You trying to stage a coup? Infuriated, Rotten Face barked, "Big guy! Don't look for trouble! Don't think being tall makes you special—I have more people than you!"

"Is that so?" Li Qinwu's expression turned playful. He looked past the leader to the other goblins and said loudly, "Brothers, how about making me the Boss? I'm taller and stronger than Rotten Face. I can catch bigger, better prey!" Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. He pointed at the skewers.

"Be my soldiers, and you'll eat your fill every day. Anyone who agrees can come eat this meat right now!" [Ding! Spend 210 Denars to recruit Goblin x21? You have 16 slots available.] Li Qinwu counted. There were 22 of them across from him; one had refused the recruitment. No prizes for guessing it was Rotten Face. The guy clearly didn't want to give up his authority as a hunting leader. Goblin greed, after all, extended to power. Li Qinwu clicked [Confirm], the Denars vanished, and he recruited 16 goblins.

His party size hit 20/20. Seeing Li Qinwu trying to poach his men, Rotten Face lost it.

"Break his bones!" He expected a tidal wave of twenty goblins to surge forward, but it didn't happen. Most had been instantly converted. Only four unrecruited goblins foolishly charged. Those four unlucky souls assumed the whole pack was behind them and didn't even look back. By the time they reached Li Qinwu's line, they were promptly skewered by four long spears. As they lay on the ground wailing and clutching their wounds, they finally realized the "main army" was still standing at the starting line, motionless.

Rotten Face, seeing his men stalling, roared at the top of his lungs, "Charge! All of you, CHARGE!" His former subordinates looked at each other, then all began walking toward Li Qinwu. Rotten Face thought his shouting had worked—until he saw them walk right past him and stand behind Li Qinwu with expressions of absolute loyalty. Rotten Face was stunned. What is this? A mutiny? But why?! Li Qinwu laughed heartily and waved his hand.

"Get him! Beat him up!" Whoosh! Nineteen goblins swarmed forward, descending on Rotten Face in a frenzied mob. The sounds of heavy thuds and agonizing shrieks filled the air. Even after he fell, the goblins surrounded him in a circle, kicking him until he was rolling back and forth like a ball. Li Qinwu decided they'd had enough. He signaled them to stop, walked over, and planted his foot on Rotten Face's now-swollen head. He raised his spear, intending to take the killing blow for the XP.

Rotten Face spat out a mouthful of blood and broken teeth, mumbling incoherently, "You... you can't kill me! I... I'm the Chief's hunting leader!" Li Qinwu scoffed and drove the spear down with a heavy thrust. Rotten Face's eyes bulged as he felt his life force draining away. He never imagined he would die so easily. His heart was filled with terror and toxic spite. He hissed a final curse at Li Qinwu.

"You... you're growing so tall... you're turning into a Hobgoblin, aren't you? The Chief... he won't let you grow... you'll die too! You'll die too!!" He shrieked hysterically. Li Qinwu frowned, pulled out the spear, and thrust it down several more times until the light faded from Rotten Face's eyes. [XP Increased] Li Qinwu flicked the blood off his spear, thinking about the dying curse. The Chief won't let me become a Hobgoblin?

That implied other goblins had started to evolve in the past, only to be murdered by the Chief during the process. It made sense. This tribe had over 300 adults, but only one Hobgoblin—the Chief. That ratio was suspiciously low. If "manual culling" was involved, it was much more logical. Goblins were greedy creatures by nature; they were born with a rebellious streak. If a common goblin successfully evolved into a Hobgoblin, the first thing he'd do is challenge the Chief, kill him, and take his place.

To maintain his status, the fat Chief would naturally slaughter any pup showing signs of unusual growth. Li Qinwu felt this was "very goblin-like," but such a move completely stifled the tribe's development. By killing all potential talent, the quality of the tribe remained abysmal. How could they ever expand their territory? Then again, Li Qinwu thought, that fat bastard never cared about development. During his half-month of eating grass, he'd seen the Chief do nothing but eat and sleep.

He never even set foot outside the settlement. The other goblins were skinny as skeletons while he was the only one suffering from "Three-Highs" (high blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol). If not for the primal instinct of weak goblins to cluster around a "strong" leader, the tribe would have dissolved long ago. Now, standing at 1. 4 meters, Li Qinwu was a sore thumb among the 1. 0 to 1. 2-meter crowd. If he appeared before the Chief now, the fat bastard would definitely try to kill him.

But Li Qinwu looked at his nineteen subordinates and gave a confident smirk.

"I have nineteen fanatics. You're just one Hobgoblin. How exactly do you plan on winning?"