Chương 46: The Dean of Students

After finishing his rounds, Li Qinwu arrived at the nursery. It was a simple wooden building, but the interior was insulated with thick straw and beast-skin bedding, with rotating shifts of adult Goblins providing water and food. Except for those with congenital disabilities, almost every Goblin infant survived. These creatures had a tenacity similar to weeds—extraordinarily hardy. It happened to be feeding time.

One-Ear arrived with a dozen Goblins, lugging large ceramic pots filled with a steaming, thick meat-and-vegetable mash. Seeing Li Qinwu, One-Ear scurried over to greet him.

"Boss!" Li Qinwu sized him up and smiled.

"Not bad. You're about to evolve into a Hobgoblin." One-Ear grinned. Because he had done a stellar job as the Executive Vice-Chief, Li Qinwu had rewarded him with a hundred strips of Horned Crocodile jerky. The fellow had polished them off in ten days. Perhaps due to the magic within the beast meat, he had hit a second growth spurt; he was now 1. 5 meters tall, and his belly had rounded out, giving him a "prosperous" look reminiscent of the former chief.

"How's the hunting going? High pressure?" Li Qinwu asked.

"Not really," One-Ear replied.

"The hunting teams have crossbows, so catching prey is easy. Plus, the fish traps in the river keep us well-fed. The only issue is a lack of cooks; everyone is busy from dawn till dusk." Between the tribe and the 300 infants, the population had surpassed 1, 100. With 500 professional soldiers and scores more in construction, farming, and forging, the logistics staff was stretched thin. One-Ear was managing meals, hunting, and the brats simultaneously—he was working himself toward a fatty liver.

Li Qinwu patted his shoulder.

"Oh! My Executive Vice-Chief, you've worked hard. We're in the early stages of our venture. Once this batch of infants matures, I'll assign the labor to you first. Keep at it; the days will only get sweeter." One-Ear shuddered. He always felt a hidden "great horror" lurking behind the Boss's words. To save himself from being worked to death, he quickly suggested: Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

"Boss, if we need labor, we can 'take' it. My scouts found other wild Goblin tribes nearby. We've had a few skirmishes, but we have crossbows, so we never lose." Li Qinwu's eyes lit up.

"How many? Any Hobgoblins?"

"Anywhere from fifty to two hundred. At most, there's one Hobgoblin per tribe. Their chiefs are stingy—they kill anyone who shows signs of evolving." This was the bottleneck of Goblin society. Li Qinwu made an immediate decision: "Tomorrow, give me some guides. I'm going to 'resolve' those wild tribes." He felt that just standing in formation wasn't enough; real combat was the best training.

Besides, it was a chance to see if any of his subordinates had a talent for command, so he wouldn't have to micromanage every skirmish. Inside the nursery, the scent of food sent the infants into a frenzy. The noise was like ten thousand ducks quacking at once. One-Ear's face darkened. He snatched a wooden spoon and began clattering it against the pot.

"SHUT UP!! GET YOUR BOWLS! FORM A LINE!!" The chaotic infants were suppressed by the aura of the near-Hobgoblin. Surprisingly, they fell into line and fetched their ceramic bowls. Li Qinwu watched, fascinated. He realized Goblins were a peculiar race: at five days old, they possessed mobility and language, with a rapidly forming worldview. They were born with an instinct to avoid danger and worship the strong. The problem was a "generational gap."

Once they reached adulthood, their intelligence plateaued at the level of a ten-year-old human, and their chaotic nature led to mutual cannibalism and a lack of foresight.

"The Goblin God was slain by the pantheon, the race lost its females... the underlying logic of this world is fascinating," Li Qinwu mused. Suddenly, a loud shout broke his train of thought. One-Ear had pulled a thin switch from his belt, yanked a line-cutting infant out of the queue, and was delivering a thorough "bamboo-shoot-fried-meat" (a spanking).

"Think you can cut the line?! You little brat, if you don't learn rules now, you won't even survive the first round of 'three-pulls-one-kill'! Get to the wall and reflect! No dinner for you!" The infant's rear was bright red. He wailed but didn't dare resist, submissively going to the wall to face it. Li Qinwu was stunned. One-Ear, with his protruding belly, hands on hips, and switch pointing at the wall... he looked exactly like a Dean of Students.

He realized One-Ear had intuitively mastered basic arithmetic and management. Crude as it was, this education shattered the "Berserker" genes in the Goblins and taught them to follow rules.

"Start them young. A spanking today saves them from an execution tomorrow." Thinking this, Li Qinwu beckoned One-Ear over with a smirk.

"Oh, my dear brother One-Ear. You've been promoted. From now on, in addition to Executive Vice-Chief, you hold the rank of 'Dean of Students'."