Chương 29: Return to the Tribe

Li Qinwu was dead-set on mastering the Human Common Tongue. For a long period, he kept Hana by his side, forcing himself to converse with her in his clunky, broken grammar. Learning a foreign tongue was agonizingly dull—so much so that Li Qinwu felt like those who claimed to "love learning" were practically anti-goblin subversives. Yet, he pushed through the boredom. Since taking Gobu-Fort, he felt a lingering sense of urgency, as if some unseen danger was slowly encroaching.

If he didn't grow stronger now, he would be nothing but meat on a chopping block when the time came. Time flew. Two weeks later, another wave of goblin cubs was born, bringing the population to 800. Sensing the strain on their food supply, Li Qinwu ordered an end to breeding activities. It was time to consolidate. During this period, the humans discovered to their shock that the goblins—under Li Qinwu's iron fist—weren't the man-eating rapists of legend.

Those who lacked self-control had been executed, their bodies hung in the woods as a grim warning to the rest. With the fort stabilized, Li Qinwu decided to lead a force back to his original tribe for a dual-development strategy.

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket," he thought. He took 20 Hobgoblins, 300 newborns, the elite human craftsmen, Knight Leo, Lord Lance, and Hana. He left behind only the most submissive human farmers.

"Gob-One," Li Qinwu said, patting his subordinate's shoulder.

"You stay and manage the fort. You have 80 system soldiers to back you up. If humans run, kill them. If goblins riot, use 'decimation' (three-draw-one-kill). Keep the fort safe, and I'll reward you with 100 strips of jerky when I return!" As the troops marched, Hana kept looking back at the fort with worry.

"Will your kin really obey your orders after you leave?" she asked. Li Qinwu laughed.

"Don't worry. Those human women are skilled weavers now. They are my 'high-value currency.' My tribe wouldn't dare damage their own wallet." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. They marched until dusk. Li Qinwu ordered them to set up camp and cook." Within three meters!" Hana stomped over, fuming.

"Can you please use my name?! My name isn't 'Within Three Meters'!" Li Qinwu ignored her, pointing at a clay pot and some fresh crocodile meat.

"Cook! Do it quickly. We move out before dawn." Having grown tired of the goblins' questionable hygiene, Li Qinwu had been cooking for himself. Now that he had Hana, he naturally delegated the duty. After a dinner of meat and vegetables, Li Qinwu spread a rag by the fire and fell asleep. Hana huddled in a corner, drifting into an uneasy slumber. Sometime later, she heard a whisper: "Within three meters..." Hana bolted upright only to see Li Qinwu's massive green face inches from hers.

She almost screamed, but he clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Shh! Don't scream! I'm checking the guard posts." He led her to the edge of the camp. He had set up four sentry posts and wanted to see if his newborns were following orders. His disappointment was immediate. At the first post, two goblins were sprawled out, snoring loudly. Li Qinwu's fury was instantaneous. He slapped both of them awake with resounding cracks.

"FALL IN!! EVERYONE, WAKE UP!!" His roar jolted the entire camp. Goblins and humans alike scrambled to the center, thinking they were under attack. Once everyone was gathered, Li Qinwu spat on the ground and pointed at the two trembling sentries.

"These two slept on duty. If an enemy had come, we would have been slaughtered in our sleep. You have broken military law. The sentence is death!" Without another word, Li Qinwu swung the massive 8kg greatsword he'd taken from Leo. Two swings, and two green heads rolled into the dirt. He shouldered the blood-stained blade and glared at the crowd.

"I have repeated the military code a thousand times. You can choose not to listen, but if I catch you, this is the result!" Watching from the side, Knight Leo sighed to Steward Monde.

"He really is different."

"You can't even understand their language," Monde said, surprised.

"How do you know what's happening?"

"Oh, it's obvious," Leo pointed at the headless corpses.

"Sentries caught sleeping, executed on the spot. I'm familiar with this; I used to catch my own men doing it back in the day. But he's brutal—we'd usually just give them a lashing. He goes straight for the neck." Monde watched Li Qinwu roaring in the firelight, a deep sense of dread filling his chest. The discipline and order this goblin displayed made him realize that this creature was destined to become a great and terrible scourge upon the world.