Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

[Divine Blessing: You can forcibly choose a god to bless you and your territory.]

Charles stared at the activated alien letter, pondering which god to choose.

Light and justice, battle and glory, earth and life, night and destiny—these four main gods possess immense power, and the blessings they bestow are undoubtedly powerful as well.

[The gods of light and justice bless you and your land. Evil creatures harboring hostility towards you will find it harder to appear in your territory. Light shines upon your people, strengthening their moral compass. Furthermore, you will find your influence affecting those around you; your subordinates and people will be more loyal, firmly believing you are their savior.]

The gods of battle and glory bless you and your land. Your armies will be even more invincible, and wherever your banners fly, your soldiers will follow. They will be less likely to crumble, their morale will be higher, and glory will be cherished by your people, who will be more confident. Furthermore, your wisdom influences your subordinates, making them more adept at mastering combat techniques and fighting for you.

[The god of earth and life blesses you and your land. The land will become more fertile, crop yields more stable and efficient, and your people will be enveloped in the blessing of life, their physical condition significantly improved. At the same time, you will find your stamina significantly increased and possess strong magical resistance.]

[The gods of night and fate bless you and your land. Destiny will favor your land, making it less susceptible to natural disasters and man-made calamities, leading to a more stable life for your people and consequently, greater inner peace. Furthermore, good fortune will accompany you, bringing significant luck when you encounter major events.]

"I want all four of them," Ciel said, frowning as he faced a painful decision.

"Battle and glory can boost morale and inspire subordinates to learn combat skills on their own. This is incredibly useful for goblins. They are already quite timid, and now they have only gained a little confidence after a few victories. If they encounter stronger enemies or suffer casualties, their morale will likely collapse easily. Moreover, if they learn skills on their own, I won't need to give each of my subordinates so many abilities. They will train themselves."

"This God of War's blessing is quite effective; it's exactly what I need right now," Charles muttered to himself. "And this God of Life..."

"Improving resources and enhancing my own abilities is indeed necessary. Currently, we rely on gathering and hunting, but this method of production is too rudimentary and must be transformed into a more efficient model. However, relying on goblin farming is difficult, and we can only depend on goblins and treants. If this method could improve resources, I probably wouldn't have to worry about filling my stomach, and it would also enhance my own magic resistance and stamina."

"It smells so good, so wonderful." Charles stroked his chin. "The effects of the God of Night seem pretty good too."

"Normal and man-made disasters occur less frequently in the territory. There are no natural disasters for the time being, but there are quite a few man-made disasters. If I had this ability, would the number of times I would be attacked by adventurers be reduced? Moreover, I would have a luck bonus when encountering major events. This is too important. If my family had been lucky enough to escape the trap, I would not have ended up in the forest. I would be waking up on a large bed with a radius of ten meters right now, with 20 beautiful maids lined up to say 'Good morning, young master'."

"The effects of the God of Light are also quite good. It's harder for evil creatures to appear in the territory, so you can just focus on gathering herbs and guarding against adventurers. You don't have to worry about a monster suddenly appearing and attacking your team anymore. Not to mention, it can also increase the loyalty of your subordinates, making it less likely for a situation like Scarface's to occur before."

"I want it all." Charles stretched out his hands and rubbed his face back and forth.

"Moreover, this effect is mandatory, unlike in the human kingdoms where a church bishop might casually say, 'The Lord God has blessed you,' and then nothing happens."

"Slap!" Charles slapped his face, trying to calm himself down. "I can only choose one. I need to analyze it carefully."

"The God of War's effect is very useful for the constantly expanding race, but for now, the race's strength is sufficient. The effects of the God of Night and the God of Light are similar, and neither is necessary at the moment. The God of Life's effect looks good; it can not only improve crop growth but also increase my own magic resistance."

Charles glanced down at his chest, realizing he had been a bit too overconfident in the previous battle, having placed too much faith in that "Whisper of the Forest" thing. "It was so easy to make the Heart of the Warrior recover. When Little John comes back, I'll have to train him like crazy."

"But it's not without its advantages." He brought up his panel and looked at his status.

[My own status: Advanced Transformation Curse (negative), Hero's Heart (positive, recovering), Blessing of the Mother Tree (positive)]

[Mother Tree's Blessing: You saved the Mother Tree and the entire Treant race. They are deeply grateful to you. The Mother Tree blesses you; her power will protect you from all attacks. All attacks that damage you, whether physical or magical, will be reduced by 20%. This effect will remain in effect as long as you maintain your friendship with the Treants, and will eventually disappear with the Mother Tree's demise.]

"20%, not bad. That means many lethal attacks won't be so dangerous, and I can still shout, 'Doctor, I can still be saved!'" Xia Erle paused for a moment, then his eyes regained their firmness.

"Physical attacks can be defended against with armor, but there's really not much we can do against magical attacks now. We almost used up all our anti-magic scrolls in the last battle." He looked up at the obelisk in front of him. "I guess there are other alien letters behind it. I should be able to continue choosing and eventually 'bullshit' all the blessings of the four gods."

"The blessing of the god of earth and life is truly effective; it is mine now," Charles said with a smile.

Ultimately, he chose the blessing of the God of Earth and Life.

Immediately afterwards, he activated his consciousness and summoned his domain.

The area he now controls has expanded considerably to the west. Although it is not as large as the territory of the two trolls before, it is about the same size as the area of ​​the Seven Caves tribe. Further west, Xiaer saw a winding river, which was the Darren River.

Below this area lies the edge of the forest near Giraffe Town, a place frequently visited by adventurers, and above it lies a vast expanse of mist.

At the same time, Charles also discovered that a thin green vine was wrapped around the boundary line of the area he controlled, as if his territory was being protected by the vine. "This must be the blessing of the Earth God."

He nodded thoughtfully, then continued to examine the newly occupied area. "This dim twin sword symbol is from the druid I just dealt with. The symbol of the Treant race is a giant tree, so this should be the symbol of the Mother Tree."

Then, with a sudden thought, ink dots appeared on the parchment-like map of the area, revealing all the various herb regions within it.

"Quite a few here. We can send a herb-gathering team to collect them." Charles scanned the various gathering points, revealing a 'wicked' smile.

"There's still one more question mark." Finally, his gaze focused on the area west of the Mother Tree marker, near the Dallen River. "What could that be?"

Based on previous experience, there might not be a battle here, but we can't let our guard down. "Let's wait a few days for our men to recover before going over to check."

Charles tried to recall the "Southern Fortress Defense Map" he had seen earlier, then pointed with his finger, "This is probably the underground part of that western watchtower."

Remembering that the watchtower's basement was already full of slimes, he suddenly lost interest in the watchtower. "Never mind, I'll go take a look. Maybe it'll be another nest of slimes."

After choosing "Blessing of the Gods," Charles left his consciousness space. Before leaving, he took one last look at the towering obelisk. The obelisk was still dark and covered with cracks, but he had a feeling that the cracks had decreased.

"Maybe it's just my imagination?" He stroked the tower, his fingers tracing a rough crack.

…………

"Chief, they're all alright," Red Eyes reported loudly, standing in front of Charles.

In the past two days, Sharl has brought his combat personnel and newly recruited goblins into the Treant's territory, with the main message being, "Mother Tree, you can heal whether you're alone or with a group of people, so why not just heal them all?"

This also resulted in the newly joined goblins being significantly strengthened, no longer as sickly as before, and they began to vomit a lot of black liquid shortly after entering the Mother Tree's territory.

"This detoxification process will probably take a few more days." Charles looked at his new subordinates, who were currently clearing the vines from the tree-people's swarm as he had instructed. It was like cleaning barnacles from turtles and whales, and the tree-people would even say thank you in a muffled voice.

Charles wanted to say thank you but said no, please bear more fruit. Some of the tree-people still had a few fruits left in the branches and leaves on their heads. Charles ordered everyone to pick them. These fruits had thick skins, were a size smaller than a football, and looked like a grapefruit. When you cut them open, you could see thick flesh inside, which was rich in starch.

Some of the newly joined goblins told Sharl that they had eaten these fruits before; all they had to do was cut them into small pieces, throw them into a pot, and they would cook into a paste in a while.

"It's good that it's edible. If this stuff is paired with jerky and spices, it could probably make a pretty good meal." Xia Er smiled as he held a tree fruit. "The blessing of the Earth God should also affect the tree people. They won't bear fruit in winter now, but next year these 500-plus tree people will provide a lot of food, which will greatly alleviate the pressure on food supplies in the future."

"We want to send a team to be stationed here permanently, and we also want to build a residential area."

Charles put down the fruit in his hand and paced around the tree-man. "I wonder how things are going with Agatha. Although she sent Lupus back to deliver the message, we need to train more people to build up this place."

"Bucktooth could be a leader in this area. The kid's Common Tongue is still decent, and he's loyal and eager to learn. If we give him a few more abilities and pair him with a teleportation portal, there won't be any problems."

The druid we killed earlier gave Sharl the ability [Natural Wind], the same ability the goblins used to care for the red bull mushroom. "If Bucktooth comes to lead this place, give him Natural Wind as well, so he can get along well with the tree people."

"Heir, what did you do?" The Mother Tree's call echoed in Ciel's ears.

He paused for a moment, then looked around. The surroundings hadn't changed. "What's wrong?"

"I felt a power enveloping me and my children, making our lives more vibrant, which is more beneficial to my recovery," the mother tree said softly.

"Oh, it's good that it works." Charles nodded and said casually.

Then he noticed a green leaf drifting down in front of him. Charles reached out and caught it. The leaf looked a lot like a maple leaf, but it was a little bigger than his palm and had three pointed tips.

"Thank you for everything you've done for us. This is a testament to our friendship. With this leaf, you can command the Treant race to fight for you three times," the Mother Tree's voice rang out again. "But please cherish my children."

"A battle?" Sharl examined the leaf by its stem. It would be quite a sight to mobilize all 500 treants, but there were only three opportunities to do so, and it was best not to use them as "expendable resources," as that would damage his friendship with the treant race.

"Okay, thank you," he nodded. "I will use this power carefully."

"By the way, how's that mushroom cave now?" Charles asked the mother tree. He hadn't entered the stone chamber since the mushroom tree was burned down, because he was afraid there might still be some 'residual poison' left.

"The feeling of evil is almost gone. If you want to go in and explore, you can prepare, but you need to be careful," the mother tree replied to her feelings about that area and offered advice.

"Okay, thank you," Charles nodded and said. "I'll go take a look after I finish eating."

"I wonder what will remain after the fire," he said, calling over Red Eyes and Nine Fingers and instructing them to prepare the food.

A druid from the Church of the Earth God came to the forest to "reside permanently" and even linked himself with the mushroom tree to remove the 3-day time limit. What was his purpose in doing this?

Charles stroked the bark of the tree-man in front of him, analyzing what he might find in that stone chamber.

"It'll probably remain a mystery," he shook his head. "But the bizarre and wonderful mushrooms he cultivates are quite interesting."

It took me a lot of hard work to cultivate just one Red Bull Mushroom. I had to search for the original species, conduct experiments, and even use my acting skills to fool that silly boy, Shan Xiao.

It has to be said that Sharl was quite envious of the druid's talent in mushroom cultivation.

"If you didn't take the right path and instead joined me, you could at least become the Minister of Agriculture or something." Charles curled his lip. "You wouldn't even be as good as Little Paw."

He made up his mind to go there and take a look later.