Chương 43: Iron Smelting

The battle concluded. Li Qinwu breathed heavily, his sword and armor drenched in blood. Though physically exhausted, he eagerly pulled up the post-battle statistics. You are Victorious! Enemies Killed: 489 | Enemies Captured: 56 Experience Gained: 612 | Casualties (Self): 5 Loot: Grain x69, Stone Axes x35, Bone Knives x18, Cured Hide Armor x80, Canine Tusks x60, Denars: 1234. Having leveled up twice, he dumped his attribute points into Intelligence and put the extra focus points into Engineering.

He opened the inventory and tossed out the captured stone axes and bone knives for the common Goblins to equip—they were better than nothing for increasing their melee potential. Li Qinwu gathered the survivors and recruited those who showed signs of evolving into Hobgoblins to fill the vacancies in his system troops. Among the front-line elites, one Goblin Warrior and four Hobgoblins had perished; casualties were inevitable when facing an enemy twice their size. However, their sacrifice was worth it.

More than half of the hundred-plus Great Kobolds had been slain, a testament to the equipment advantage of Horned Crocodile armor and iron weaponry. Among the surviving Hobgoblins, four had accumulated enough experience to be promoted to Goblin Warriors. As he surveyed the field, the sight of the elite Great Kobolds lying dead in heaps gave him satisfaction—Dragon-Fang would be reeling from this loss.

But Li Qinwu's side had also suffered; while only five system troops died, over a hundred common Goblins were wounded or killed. Despite their leather armor, the inherent frailty of a Goblin's body meant they were occasionally dragged out of formation and swarmed. Looking at his tired, relieved troops, Li Qinwu weighed his options. Should I strike while the iron is hot? Dog-Witch and the Ogre cubs were still in Dragon-Fang's hands, and the Earth Goddess's quest remained unfinished. The Kobolds had to be dealt with.

However, his troops were spent. This had been a meeting engagement; if he invaded their territory where every Kobold was a combatant, the outcome would be uncertain. Dragon-Fang wouldn't kill Dog-Witch yet, and he wouldn't dare harm the Ogre cubs for fear of the five adult Ogres' wrath. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Better to retreat, develop for a while, and then crush them. He ordered his troops to scavenge the battlefield and withdraw.

As they were leaving, Goblin-Spear approached him.

"Boss, there are so many Kobold corpses. Should we turn them all into barbecue?" Li Qinwu looked at the 56 trembling prisoners and shook his head.

"Pass down my order: no one is to eat Kobold remains. Violators will be dealt with by military law!" In his mind, the blueprint for a future monster nation was forming—a nation led by Goblins but inhabited by various intelligent monsters. Kobolds would eventually have a place in it. For different races to coexist, respect was as necessary as force. Since they didn't lack grain, there was no need to sow the seeds of future division now.

Upon returning to the settlement, he had Hana use her healing magic on the wounded Goblins and then on the Kobold prisoners. He fed the prisoners well and told them: "From now on, you are part of the tribe. Work hard, and you'll eat your fill." The Kobolds, whose intelligence wasn't much higher than a Goblin's, didn't fully grasp their situation, but between the full bellies and the sharp spears of their guards, they settled down. After a day of rest, Li Qinwu pivoted to production.

He sent Goblins into the woods to find Wood Rats and rewarded high-performing Goblins with breeding rights; increasing the population was the only way to eventually wipe out the Kobold tribe. Construction began on three key facilities: The Corrals: To house the Wood Rats. The Goblins wove these easily from branches. The Nursery: To increase the survival rate of Goblin infants.

The five Ogres helped here; their immense strength allowed them to hammer tree trunks into the ground like stakes, finishing the structure in less than a day. The Blast Furnace: This was the priority. In the last battle, the spearmen had been remarkably efficient, while the polearm Goblins behind the spikes had killed fewer than fifty. To annihilate the Kobolds, Li Qinwu needed an army purely composed of spearmen. To do that, he needed iron.

He summoned Iron-Orc and, with Hana as an interpreter, established a smelting plan. Ore: Easy to get. He sent a team to the cave spider area, which was essentially an open-pit mine of high-quality ore. Processing: The Ogres were put to work smashing the ore into powder. Li Qinwu had them fashion large stone hammers to increase efficiency. Fuel: Charcoal was produced in earthen kilns and also ground into powder. Reducing Agent: Limestone.

Li Qinwu dispatched his fastest runner, Gobu-Bow, back to Gobu-Fort to bring back limestone and at least 300 Goblins who had undergone military training. They needed the labor. While waiting, Iron-Orc brought good news: he had found fireclay, the essential material for building the blast furnace.