Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
Kyle knew they were not the only group or tribe of goblins in the area. There might be a dozen tribes or more, but the area was big, spanning hundreds of kilometers. Even if he attacked a den and the other tribes reacted, they would take too long to respond.
However, he had found no sign that the tribes were working together on good terms. On one occasion, he had seen five goblin guards immediately kill a stray goblin who seemed to have lost his way.
This consistent observation also triggered a couple title gains over the next three days.
Title Obtained:
Tracker (Basic)
Helps when those keys are always misplaced.
+5 DEX, +25% increased vision and hearing range.
Title Obtained:
Goblin Observer (Basic)
Hopefully, not a green skin fetish.
+5 DEX, +25% success at learning goblin language.
Kyle had also found a small alcove nearby, a short walk away from the secondary entrance to the goblin’s den. He rested there, planning how he was going to tackle this issue. There was no way of starting a Euria Seeds harvesting business without clearing the goblin tribes.
Theoretically, he should have brought two dozen Seven Snakes members and had them sequentially wipe each tribe. However, that will draw far too many eyes, especially with the enforcers in the town watching his gang’s movements.
No doubt Sebastian and Wrent are also eyeing my members closely now for any anomalies.
Hiring adventurers to fight the goblins would create unnecessary attention. Other businessmen and merchants were also interested in harvesting the bountiful Euria Seeds but were currently blocked by the high cost of eliminating the goblins. Kyle would prefer if that natural barrier remained so as to enable him to quickly develop a monopoly.
However, there was one additional benefit Kyle had over the other merchants and businessmen-it wasn’t the first time he colonized a planet with local natives. If he was right, all the tactics he learned in the Galactic Era would work here easily as well.
If only I had my exosuit, I could have them revere me as a god. But let’s start with the basics first.
*****
The same three goblins headed out to another part of the forest this time. They always sent out two groups to collect more food for the growing tribe. The tribe was always growing. This was how life was in Culdao Peaks.
They harvested fruits, dug up tubers, and sometimes pinched a few fungi, stuffing all of them into the same dirty pouches they had been using for generations. Some boasted a few newer pieces of equipment, seemingly homemade and of adequate quality.
Suddenly, one of the goblins spotted a rare sight that would make anyone in the den go crazy-a loaf of bread dropped on the ground.
Fresh.
The goblin pounced on it immediately, quickly eating half of it.
The other two saw it before immediately tussling and grappling the first goblin, trying to get a bite of the rare bread as well. Loud grunts and squeals echoed through the treeline as the three goblins fought over it.
A silent shadow loomed over them, perched on the tree branches. The moment the three goblins began to tire out from their fight, the shadow dropped, swinging a neon-red arctech hammer and caving a goblin’s skull inward with a single downward swing. A follow up strike finished the goblin for good.
The remaining two goblins yelped, but before they could wield their knives, they were immediately kicked in quick succession, the wind knocked out of their chests. They did not stand a chance.
As night soon fell, a lone goblin guard in the den ran in to report to the shaman, who was the leader of the goblin tribe. Both groups sent out to forage for food did not return home.
The shaman frowned but did not think much of it. The forest was not exactly a safe place, and six goblins were hardly a dent in their numbers. The tribe had more than three hundred goblins. Goblins could already start working after two years of childhood, so the shaman was not bothered, simply sending the guard away.
The next day came and went, but the exact same thing happened. All three groups disappeared as well, never to return. Even the search parties sent to find their bodies were unsuccessful. The shaman was now worried.
On the third day, the killings stopped. The forage groups were afraid to venture out but somehow did not encounter anything. The shaman was extremely confused now but decided to put the past two days behind him. He simply doubled the number of guards at the entrance as well as at the secondary entrance.
On the fourth day, the killing resumed. Search parties still failed to find the bodies, with one of the search parties never returning as well. The shaman ordered the forage groups to be beefed up, attaching two goblin warriors to each of them.
The killing didn’t stop on the fifth day, with the addition of the goblin warriors not doing anything. Now, the shaman was in full panic mode, unable to determine what was going on. The guards were still doubled, and the entire tribe was in a high-tension mode. By now, it had already lost more than two dozen goblins, along with a few trained warriors. Scouts were ordered everywhere in the forest, but they could not find anything.