Chapter 22: The Arrival of Newborns
Sitting by the shore, Li ng's body made a series of cracking sounds.
His small body swelled, and the beast skin on him burst open with a pop.
Benben, who was nearby, widened his eyes in curiosity as he watched his boss grow rapidly.
In just a short while, Li ng grew from about 1.7 ters tall to 1.8 ters.
His body was no longer slim but had beco incredibly strong.
"Ah!"
As the intense pain subsided, Li ng lay on the rock, gasping heavily.
With a thought, he opened his character panel.
[Na: Gobung]
[Race: Goblin]
[Level: 15]
[Strength: 175]
[Defense: 159]
[Agility: 91]
[Magic Power: 86]
[Charisma: 0]
[Luck: 11]
[Devour: Consuming the flesh and blood of magical beasts has a chance to acquire their skills.]
[Iron Bones: LV4 (Strength 80, Defense 80, Agility 20)]
[Wind Blade: LV1]
[Body Regeneration: LV1]
Upon leveling up, his attributes had significantly increased.
Each stat rose by 30-40 points.
"It seems the stronger one's base attributes, the higher the attribute boost upon leveling up."
Li ng was very satisfied with his current stats.
Even without the additional attributes from "Iron Bones," his stats were impressive.
After all, he was only level 15.
A regular High Goblin's stats at level 15 ranged between 15 and 25.
His base stats at level 15 were several tis higher than a normal High Goblin.
Li ng wasn't entirely sure if this was the case, but it was his assumption.
Perhaps the attribute boost upon leveling was related to skills.
The more skills one had, the higher their talent.
And the higher the talent, the greater the attribute boost upon leveling.
"Bo—Boss, have you... evolved into a High Goblin?"
Gobuge, who had returned with a bundle of firewood, was startled by the sight of the High Goblin by the shore.
The familiar scent allowed the goblin to recognize its boss.
It had only been away for a short while, yet the boss had evolved?
Li ng grinned and swung his arm.
"Yes, I’ve evolved into a High Goblin!"
Gobuge dropped the firewood in his hands.
He ran forward a few steps and slid to kneel, kissing the back of Li ng's foot.
"Boss, you're amazing!"
Ti passed slowly, day after day.
In the following days, Li ng acted as an examiner, observing the goblin subordinates' iron-slting efforts.
On the first day, the goblin subordinates gathered various materials for iron slting.
They searched for dry wood to burn, clay to make blast furnaces, and iron ore necessary for slting.
On the second day, they began making charcoal and building furnaces.
"The furnace wall is too thin; make it thicker."
Though he was observing, Li ng occasionally gave the goblin subordinates so guidance.
The subordinates working on the blast furnace quickly tore down the foundation and started over.
By the third day, under Li ng’s orders, the goblin subordinates had built a blast furnace about five ters tall.
On the fourth day, they began slting iron.
In the afternoon, just before sunset.
"It’s working! It’s working!"
Cheers echoed along the underground riverbank of the cave.
A large group of goblins danced with joy, watching molten iron continuously flow from the outlet.
So goblins hurriedly placed forging molds near the outlet.
And so, under Li ng's guidance, the goblin subordinates successfully mastered iron slting.
Li ng didn't rush to teach them how to refine steel.
Steelmaking was far more complicated than iron slting.
For now, pig iron was sufficient.
Although pig iron was hard and brittle, making it unsuitable for weapons, the material requirents for spearheads and arrowheads weren’t too high.
Once this crisis was over, they could improve the iron-slting process.
At that ti, they could use the puddling thod to mass-produce steel.
"Very well. Starting tomorrow, you’ll rotate back to the tribe, each having a day’s mating rights!"
Li ng never went back on his word when it ca to rewarding his subordinates.
Hearing this, the goblins were visibly excited.
After teaching the goblin subordinates iron slting, Li ng left the cave early the next morning.
He didn’t head straight back to the tribe but wandered through the forest.
"Benben, break this tree!"
Benben glanced at his boss and then at the small sapling in front of him.
He stepped forward and slapped the tree with his paw.
With a "thud," the tree snapped in half.
Li ng stepped forward and took a piece of wood from the break.
"Too soft!"
He discarded the wood and continued deeper into the forest.
In this way, Li ng searched for suitable hardwood in the forest with Benben.
"This is it!"
On the fourth day, Li ng finally found a tree suitable for making crossbows, spear shafts, and arrow shafts.
In the dim forest, he examined the branch in his hand.
Even the branch had such strong toughness.
The trunk would undoubtedly be even tougher.
"Benben, carry it back!"
Benben walked forward, wrapped his arms around the not-so-large hardwood tree, and yanked it up by the roots.
In the afternoon, Li ng returned to the tribe with Benben carrying a large tree.
"The boss is back! The boss has returned!"
The goblins were visibly excited at their boss's return.
However, Benben’s massive size filled them with fear.
In nearly half a month, the tribe had undergone significant changes.
There were more than a dozen new wooden houses similar to breeding dens.
"Boss, Boss!"
Gobuba led a group of goblins running over.
"Boss, the first batch of newborns in the tribe is about to arrive!"
The news of their offspring about to be born left Gobuba extrely excited.
After glancing at the towering Ogre behind his boss, Gobuba shrank his neck.
The Ogre’s size was intimidating enough to crush him with a single step.
Turning slightly, Li ng looked toward the breeding houses not far away.
The timing seed just right.
Goblin females only had a pregnancy period of 3-4 weeks.
"Ensure there’s enough food so they can grow quickly. The tribe needs them."
Gobuba nodded vigorously.
"Don’t worry, Boss. The food for the newborns is all prepared."
In the following days, Li ng began studying how to make simple crossbows.
Compared to bows, crossbows were easier to handle.
Li ng didn’t expect his dumb goblin subordinates to ever beco archery masters.
Their small builds weren’t suited for using bows and arrows.
On the third day after returning to the tribe, the first batch of newborns arrived.
In the largest wooden house, Li ng was carving a piece of wood with a small knife.
Looking around, the wooden house was piled with wood shavings.
Pieces of wood of various sizes were scattered everywhere.
Li ng initially thought crossbows would be simple to make, but the various ideas flooding his mind delayed his progress.
The more he sought perfection, the harder it beca to complete.
"Boss, Boss, they’ve been born!"
In the afternoon, Gobuda rushed into the wooden house in a frenzy.
Li ng put down his tools and walked out.
Soon, under Gobuda’s guidance, he arrived at a nursery.
The entrance was fenced off.
Inside, a group of small goblins could be seen playing.
They were tiny, resembling puppies.
There were quite a few—more than a dozen.
Newborn goblins had to be separated from their mothers imdiately after birth.
Otherwise, hungry newborns would see their mothers as food.
At that mont, a group of goblins approached, each holding two newborns.
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