Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

On the map of the territory, a large blank area was revealed, even similar in size to the map of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom that was opened before. It should be noted that the Feathered Serpent Goblin Kingdom occupied one-third of the entire map of the Shard.

The fact that such a large area had been opened up this time filled Charles with excitement.

The map marks numerous herb gathering points and food collection areas. It's just springtime, and many plants haven't fully sprouted yet. More plants should be visible by summer.

But this made Charles frown slightly again, as all the people he had were now being used to build the city.

The southern district of Forest City is repairing its fences and laying some defensive measures.

Construction on the West District has just begun. Fortunately, much of the work involves excavating underground spaces to create breeding grounds for Mimics and Slimes.

On the ground, Shire plans to build some warehouse areas and a simple port.

Captain Byron Lack of the "Earn Enough to Retire" had hinted at the port's needs several times.

They now transport goods by small boats, like ants carrying food, transporting only a small amount at a time. It takes many people working for several hours to process a whole boatload of goods.

Speaking of which, this captain was quite interesting. At first, he was on tenterhooks every day, fearing that he and his crew had drunk the "algae wine" given to them by Shire and would die from poisoning one day. But after several days, he found that he was still alive and kicking, and even had a better appetite.

Captain Byron Lack only felt reassured after Charles reiterated several times that he had not poisoned the crew of the "Money Forever" ship.

But then he discovered that running the Dallen Lake route seemed to be more cost-effective, faster, less troublesome, and with timely payments. The crew even joked that they would leave for work in the morning and come home for dinner in the evening.

No one can resist the temptation of gold coins, especially since you don't have to break the law or morality to get them.

As for trading with goblins, so what? Aren't goblin gold coins gold coins too?

So one day, Byron Lack and his entire crew found the Shire, offered a long-term contract, and willingly signed his name.

After signing the papers, Captain Byron cautiously asked if it would be possible to add another ship so that more cargo could be transported.

Charles didn't agree at the time. He knew the temptation of wealth was great, but adding another ship meant hiring more people. These crew members had been through thick and thin with Captain Byron and had fully accepted doing business with goblins. He couldn't guarantee that newcomers would change their mindset so quickly.

What's more troublesome is that these crew members like to have a few drinks at the tavern at night. Once they get carried away and have drunk too much, they don't keep their mouths shut, and news about their goblin kingdom will definitely leak out.

This is not what Sharl wants to see now. The Goblin Kingdom will one day appear before the world, but that should be when it is powerful enough, in the future, not now.

However, Charles did not completely reject Captain Byron, but promised that after the port was completed, he would allow Byron to directly organize a fleet.

This lifted Byron Lack's spirits, and he straightened his back with renewed vigor, seemingly determined to expand and strengthen his fleet.

When Charles saw him, he couldn't help but shake his head. When he first met him, he was listless, looking like he would sell the ship after working for a while and then go on to pursue his dream of studying acting.

"Wealth can indeed nourish people." The words of our ancestors are truly true.

With the help of the elephant herd and the water magic of the Naga race, building a simple port shouldn't be a problem.

Once the port is built, cargo transportation will be much more convenient. At that time, goods can be directly transferred from the ship to the cargo box on the worker ant's back, saving the trouble of transferring them by small boat.

In contrast to the western district, Shire is now examining the situation in the eastern district of the city.

This area was previously inhabited by very few goblins, and there were almost no underground caves. This was the area he planned to use as a residence for members of the tribe.

You can only build a house on a surface without worrying about holes in the ground. The first step in building a house is to make a good plan and clear away any excess vegetation on the ground.

The main people in the tribe are currently engaged in cleanup work. They need to identify and preserve the precious trees, such as the Dragon Claw Tree, which produces "Dragon Breath" snuff, and other tall trees also need to be preserved. After all, goblins are a forest race, and it wouldn't look good if the area became barren. It's good to preserve some greenery.

Once the ground is cleared, the road planning will begin, and that will be the time for Elephant God to truly shine.

After Spencer stayed, the elephant owner and herd naturally stayed as well. Charles even planned an area in the West End for the elephants to live in, and even set aside a group of people to take care of the elephants, clean their bodies, trim their nails, and look after the baby elephants.

Many members of the herd enjoy watching the elephants when they have free time, observing them bathing in the pool and watching the baby elephants nudging each other.

When the goblins no longer worried about food, they also began to experience life. When the elephant herd appeared before, Shire remembered that White Fur pointed at the elephant and said, "So much meat, we can make jerky."

The entire city is rapidly advancing in the direction planned by Xia Er, but when he opened the map to the east, he couldn't spare the extra manpower to develop it for the time being.

And on that map, he unexpectedly discovered several icons.

One of them was a double swords icon, which Sharl was very familiar with. He had seen it before when exploring the slime underground chamber, and it foreshadowed a battle. However, this one was much larger than the previous one.

"Does this mean the battle will be huge?" Charles stroked his chin, staring at the map. "Or is this entire area vast, requiring battle throughout?"

He couldn't determine the specifics yet, so he could only send Broken Tooth to check and wait for his report before making any further decisions.

Moreover, the Feathered Serpent God also fled eastward at that time. Could this double-sword icon represent it?

Charles frowned slightly, stopped thinking about it, and continued to look to the left of the map. A short distance past the dual swords icon, he saw a strange hint—a semicircle.

It's not entirely a semicircle; only the part of the map he opened was marked as a semicircle. There should be another part hidden in the clouds that wasn't opened.

But this semicircle was strange; it was the first time he had seen such a regular pattern on a map. "What does this semicircle mean? A circular building? Or a circular plateau, or something else?"

Charles was a little unsure what could be a perfectly round shape in the Nightmare Forest. He considered several possibilities, but ultimately he was more inclined to believe it was a building.

"Mage Spencer, I have a question." Charles ignored the domain map and turned to the lizardman lich beside him. The lizardman was watching something with great interest. Hearing Charles's question, he looked directly at Charles with an expression that said, "Go ahead and ask."

"What does that magical teleportation array to Avalon that you mentioned before look like?" Charles asked calmly.

"Round."

"Is it really round?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Charles waved his hand, not explaining to the other party the "semicircle" he saw on the map, the ability granted to him by the obelisk, which others could not see.

But Spencer's answer stirred something within him. "Could this semicircle be the teleportation array to the floating city of Avalon?"

"But the size," Charles gestured slightly and found that the semicircle was too big. "Does a teleportation array need to be this big? It's almost as big as my forest city."

This is the first time I've ever seen such a huge pattern.

Furthermore, there were no other clues around the semicircle, not even a question mark or a pair of swords, which puzzled Charles. He wasn't sure what the semicircle was.

"I'll just have to go see for myself when the time comes," Charles sighed. "But to get there, we have to deal with that giant pair of swords first, and that's going to be a big problem."

With that in mind, he could only close the map and wait for Broken Tooth to bring back useful information.

Spencer beside him was still looking at something, his expression subtle, seemingly curious yet somewhat puzzled. Charles followed his gaze to a spot not far away, where Nine Fingers was standing, with three firebirds flapping their wings and flying up and down on his fingers.

"That's my subordinate, Nine Fingers," Charles introduced in a low voice. "He's practicing his magic. Is there a problem?"

"Problem? No, no," Spencer said, still staring intently at Nine Fingers, "or rather, big problem."

"Huh?" Charles was taken aback. What did the other party mean?

"Your subordinate must have awakened his magical abilities by accident," Spencer said, tilting his head slightly. The nine-fingered firebird was no longer confined to fluttering on his fingers, but began to circle around his body. This made Spencer's vertical pupils light up. "Not bad, it has actually developed into the form of a fire shield."

"What are you talking about?" Charles turned to look at his subordinate. In his eyes, Nine Fingers' magic was just a modified version of Rocket Spell. How could it have developed further?

"He has figured out his own magic model, and he is constantly improving it," Spencer explained with a smile. "You know, nowadays, those guys who study magic strictly follow their teachers' instructions and practice and use their magic according to the established model. This makes the forms of magic very monotonous. Rocket spell is just a fireball shot at the opponent, and water arrow spell is the same. Only a few people change some of the magic models and develop new and novel forms."

"Is this good or bad?" Charles pressed.

"There are pros and cons. The advantage is that there is no danger in learning it, and there is no risk of any magical backlash. The disadvantage is that it is all the same. You can know how to defend yourself just by seeing the opponent's gestures or spells. In the end, you can only desperately improve your mental strength and master higher-level spells in order to defeat the opponent."

"Uh, no," Charles waved his hand, he had no time to worry about those mage apprentices, he was more concerned about his subordinates, after all, Nine Fingers was known for his loyalty, "I mean him, my subordinate, how is he doing now?"

"Well," Spencer grinned, "there are pros and cons. The advantage is that he can develop his own unique form of magic and is more adept at it in battle. As for the disadvantages..."

He glanced at Charles beside him, who was looking at him nervously. "The downside is that you'll die."

"Dead?" Charles's eyes widened. "How could this be?"

"First, figuring out a new model on your own can easily lead to a disruption of the magic field, resulting in a magical backlash or even magical turbulence," Spencer slowly extended his second finger. "Second, once a backlash occurs, even if you manage to survive, the subsequent magical plague will be much stronger, and if not handled properly, it could be life-threatening."

"Magic backlash, magical plague?" Charles frowned. Agatha had told him these terms before, and he knew what they meant.

However, it seems that since Nine Fingers was given the Rocket Spell, he has never been in any dangerous situation, not even once, and that so-called plague has never appeared.

Not only him, but also the lame and buck-toothed have not appeared. In fact, the lame can now stand on the "big baby" and fly off the ground.

"Can you get him over here?" Spencer smiled at Charles, seemingly wanting to ask Nine Fingers himself.

"Uh, okay." Charles walked over, whispered a few instructions, and brought Nine Fingers over.

"My name is Spencer Finescale," Spencer said, pointing to himself. Seeing Ninefingers nod, he was somewhat surprised that the other could understand his Common Tongue, but glancing at the distant shed where many goblins were still learning the language, he felt relieved. "Could you demonstrate your spell again?"

"Oh, firebirds?" Nine Fingers nodded, raised his only arm, and soon three firebirds "emerged" from his raised finger.

Spencer stared at the nine-fingered firebirds, watching with great interest as they flew around the nine fingers.

Then, he took two steps back, reached out and beckoned to the side, and a wooden stick flew directly into his hand. With a "thud," Spencer stuck the stick behind him.

"Try attacking the stick behind me," Spencer said with a laugh.

Nine Fingers looked at his leader in surprise, and seeing Charles nod silently, he urged the three firebirds to fly quickly toward Spencer.

The firebirds were fast, like arrows released from a bow, but unfortunately they didn't succeed. Instead, they crashed into Spencer with a few loud thuds.

Three wisps of green smoke rose up, and only then did Charles see that Spencer's body was surrounded by a layer of grayish-white bone armor, which the firebird had just crashed into.

"Come on, let's try again," Spencer said with a smile, waving his hand.

Nine Fingers frowned. He conjured three more firebirds, but this time he didn't immediately send them to attack. Instead, he stared intently at the lizardman lich.

A few seconds later, he pointed ahead, and the three firebirds began to trace a graceful trajectory in the air, just like real birds, grazing Spencer and flying directly at the stick behind him.

With a "crack," an explosion rang out, and the wooden stick behind Spencer shattered into several pieces, falling to the ground and burning. The lizardman lich then waved his hand again, and another wooden stick was stuck behind him.

"Now, you need to control them and hit the wooden stick behind me again," Spencer said with a smile, patting his black robes.

"But this time, I need both of them to hit me in quick succession, and one of them needs to hit me from behind."

Charles's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Spencer, then at Nine Fingers beside him. "A tracking missile?"