Chương 169: Submission?

On its third trip, the flight vessel carried six cannons, a vast supply of ammunition, provisions, cookware, and additional troops from the 1st Regiment. By now, the ground force deployed to the northern bank comprised the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment—totaling 1, 000 elite soldiers—along with 500 engineering personnel and an artillery company. This constituted a formidable military presence. Li Qinwu was confident that with this force, he could handle any unexpected emergency on the northern shore.

Having unloaded all cargo, the flight vessel grounded itself for the evening. Darkness had fallen, and the fourth transport run would have to wait until dawn restored visibility. After a long day of manual labor, Li Qinwu was covered in sweat and grime. He cast a basic Water Orb spell to clean himself off, then glanced over the newly established encampment, feeling immense satisfaction. This was the domain he was building with his own two hands—a deeply gratifying achievement!

Whistling softly, he climbed back aboard the flight vessel, intending to get a good night's sleep before continuing the expansion tomorrow. He first located Pusha to inquire about their operational capacity.

"How many more flights can the vessel make?" Pusha bowed respectfully and reported, "Your Majesty, we currently have 570 high-purity mana crystal cores remaining in storage. Assuming local mana tide levels remain stable, each round trip will consume roughly 42 cores. That leaves us with enough energy for 13 more ascents and landings." Li Qinwu calculated mentally: That allows for roughly six more cargo runs. We need to use them sparingly.

With sufficient personnel now stationed on the northern bank, the immediate priority was relocating a self-sustaining segment of Iron City's industrial pipeline here to ensure continuous long-term development. Li Qinwu winced slightly at the cost. Operating a flight vessel is ridiculously expensive. Without a way to replenish high-purity mana crystal cores, every core consumed was a permanent loss.

Using the vessel as a routine cargo transport was unsustainable over the long run; frequent takeoffs and landings burned through reserves far too quickly. It was better to keep the craft airborne for extended periods, assigning Pusha and his crew to map surrounding terrain and conduct reconnaissance. As for cross-river transport between the north and south banks, they would need to build surface vessels.

The great river's current was gentle enough that rowed vessels or sailing ships could reliably connect the two shores. Alternatively, they could skip a generation and jump straight to steam-powered boats. After a moment's reflection, Li Qinwu instructed Pusha, "Run one more transport leg to the south tomorrow morning, primarily loading cassava and food supplies. Once that run is finished, use this base as your center of operations and map out the terrain within a hundred-mile radius." Pusha nodded in understanding.

Li Qinwu then stepped into the captain's quarters, throwing himself onto the bed to rest. The captain's quarters had originally belonged to Pusha, but now it was Li Qinwu's personal quarters. The spacious room was luxuriously furnished with complete living amenities. The bed, in particular, was filled with soft goose down, making it dozens of times more luxurious than his Grand Commander's residence back home. However, such luxuries were ill-suited for this early expansion phase.

The vessel contained far too many decorative elements and oversized rooms, wasting precious interior space and performance capacity. Li Qinwu made a mental note to strip out the excess decor later, converting the vessel into a strictly functional transport capable of carrying more troops and cargo. Li Qinwu lay back, preparing to enjoy a peaceful sleep. Yet just as his mind drifted off, a knock sounded at the door. He sat up and opened it to find Pusha standing outside. Pusha bowed.

"Your Majesty, Gob-Run, commander of your cavalry regiment, is looking for you. He reports that while patrolling the perimeter, his scouts spotted a group of Aquatic Dragons approaching. Seeing no signs of hostility, Commander Gob-Run escorted them into the camp. Would you care to grant them an audience?"

"Oh? The Aquatic Dragons initiated contact on their own? Interesting!" Li Qinwu strapped on his armor, grabbed his weapons, and disembarked from the flight vessel. Near the center of the camp, he found Gob-Run mounted on his spider steed, keeping watch over a dozen Aquatic Dragons.

"What's the situation?" Li Qinwu asked. Gob-Run pointed at the visitors.

"Boss, I was leading a patrol along the perimeter when these dozen old guys walked right up to us. They weren't carrying any weapons and didn't try to run when they saw us. I wasn't sure what they wanted and couldn't understand their language, so I brought them inside." Li Qinwu scrutinized the Aquatic Dragons. Every individual in the group was advanced in age, with frail frames and shedding scales—creatures that looked to have only a few years left before stepping into the grave.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Glancing at the woven vine baskets placed beside them—filled with various fish and wild fruits—Li Qinwu immediately grasped the old dragons' intent. Standing at the head of the group was the Elder. Seeing Li Qinwu clad in dazzling, ornate plate armor, he instantly recognized him as the Goblin King. The old dragon immediately lifted a vine basket high with both hands.

"King of the Goblins, we bring the finest food of the Aquatic Dragon tribe to offer our deepest respects." Li Qinwu offered a low grunt of acknowledgment. Gazing down at the fish in the basket, he drew a dagger from his waist and picked up a creature resembling a loach. He had initially assumed this was a simple tribute of mundane food. But as he brought it closer, he felt something unexpected—a distinct trace of mana emanating from the loach!

"This is... a magical beast!" Li Qinwu spoke using Translation Magic. After extensive study with Miss Hana over the recent months, he had fully mastered translation spells. Kneeling on the ground, the Elder was taken aback to hear Li Qinwu speak his language so fluently. However, knowing the world was full of strange wonders, he quickly pushed his surprise aside and replied respectfully, "O King, this is the Wetland Fish, a species domesticated by our tribe.

Their flesh is rich in earth and water mana, highly delicious, and consuming them regularly helps our young grow strong and resilient!" Li Qinwu lifted the fish on his dagger tip and brought it to his nose. Indeed, there's mana present—roughly 40% of the energy density found in Horn-Crocodile meat. Intrigued, Li Qinwu asked, "You've fully domesticated this species? Can it be farmed on a large scale?"

He had previously observed an important phenomenon: goblins who regularly consumed magical beast meat had a significantly higher probability of evolving into Hobgoblins. This represented a fundamental method for elevating the overall quality of his population. If every goblin in the Alliance could evolve into a Hobgoblin, the resulting explosion in societal productivity would be staggering to imagine!

However, achieving complete Hobgoblin transformation across the entire population required a terrifying quantity of magical beast meat. Up until now, Li Qinwu had considered it a pipe dream. He had previously attempted to farm Horn-Crocodiles; while successful—since the System dropped numerous eggs after killing crocodiles, which hatched when buried in sand—the creatures were outrageously gluttonous.

Their meat-to-feed ratio was terribly inefficient; raising them required constant hunting just to feed them, making it unprofitable even with the System's double-yield modifier. Yet right before his eyes was a small, potentially mass-producible magical beast! Unaware of why the Goblin King was asking about this, the Elder replied hastily, "Yes, O King. Our tribe has domesticated the Wetland Fish. The numerous ponds along the marshlands serve as our breeding grounds."

Hearing this, Li Qinwu's expression toward the Elder softened visibly. He hadn't expected such a valuable discovery on the northern bank! If he could acquire the cultivation techniques for Wetland Fish, turning the entire population into Hobgoblins would no longer be just a dream. Though the Elder couldn't comprehend why the Goblin King was gazing at him with such intense warmth, Li Qinwu promptly ordered his men to bring over simple wooden stools, inviting the old dragons to sit.

Li Qinwu began asking about the Aquatic Dragon tribe's living conditions, and the Elder answered everything with absolute candor. The Aquatic Dragon population numbered nearly 20, 000, concentrated primarily in the marshlands along the great river. As an oviparous species, male and female Aquatic Dragons were equally muscular, making them almost indistinguishable by physical appearance alone. Males were called Yanku, while females were called Gusula.

However, because female Aquatic Dragons continuously laid basketball-sized eggs upon reaching sexual maturity, suffering heavy physical impacts to the abdomen during this period could cause fatal hemorrhaging. Consequently, dangerous societal roles like hunting fell exclusively to the males. The Aquatic Dragons maintained an agricultural society, possessing established techniques for both farming and aquaculture.

Their primary crop was an aquatic plant similar to rice that produced a high-sugar fruit—samples of which were present in the baskets brought to Li Qinwu, appearing as deep-purple, fist-sized berries. Their social structure was equally intriguing: leadership succession was based entirely on meritocracy! This stemmed directly from their reproductive biology. As a degenerate offshoot of water dragons, female Aquatic Dragons had low conception rates.

To sustain their population numbers, the entire tribe participated in communal breeding, typically with four males pairing with one female. Furthermore, all eggs were gathered and incubated collectively in sand with controlled temperature and humidity. Once hatched, no one knew the biological parentage of any child. With neither mothers nor fathers identified, the tribe practiced communal child-rearing. Consequently, all societal positions—including tribal chief—were awarded based purely on individual capability.

Li Qinwu listened with fascination. Seeing the old dragon's mouth grow dry from talking, he ordered his men to hand him a canteen of water. At the same time, Li Qinwu felt curious: Why is this old guy spilling everything so openly? Such information was strategically vital, yet the Elder was laying it all bare before even understanding who he was dealing with. Did he have no defenses whatsoever? Li Qinwu perceptive realization took hold: this behavior was a clear sign of voluntary submission.

The presence of the flight vessel, full plate armor, and firearms had likely projected an aura of absolute, unbeatable power, driving the tribe to choose complete compliance from the outset. His guess was spot-on. The Elder had been deeply shaken upon seeing over a hundred Troll zombies standing beside Gob-Dead. The Aquatic Dragons had clashed with the Trolls for years. Yet constrained by primitive stone weaponry, their combat effectiveness was extremely low.

Over a dozen battles across several years, they had failed to kill even a hundred Trolls combined. Yet in a single day, these mysterious goblins had slaughtered over a hundred Trolls without breaking a sweat! These strange goblins were far too powerful to oppose. Disobeying them would bring nothing but total annihilation upon the Aquatic Dragon tribe! The Elder had quietly resolved that so long as the goblins did not threaten the core survival of his people, he would agree to whatever demands they made.

The Elder asked cautiously, "O King, may I boldly ask... what is the purpose of your arrival in these lands?" Having gauged the Elder's mindset, a warm smile spread across Li Qinwu's face.

"I come from the southern bank. The lands there are no longer sufficient to sustain my people, so I require territory on the northern shore." The Elder trembled. As expected, the worst has come to pass. The goblins intended to expand northward—would that expansion swallow their wetlands as well? With deep anxiety, the Elder inquired, "O King, your warriors are mighty beyond measure, and none can halt your advance. I only wish to humbly ask... how do you intend to treat the Aquatic Dragon tribe?" Li Qinwu chuckled.

He signaled a soldier to bring over a circular star flag, pointing to the stars depicted on the fabric.

"Come, let me introduce you to what we call the Alliance. These stars represent..."