Chapter 137: The Father
Gobu Ge shook his head.
"Boss, I've never tried!"
"Then go and try it!"
Gobu Ge nodded, turned, and ran into the depths of the cavern.
"Don't use the high furnace, use the campfire!"
"I know, Boss."
Watching Gobu Ge's retreating figure, Li Meng muttered to himself.
Will it explode?
If it does, I wonder how powerful it would be.
At this moment, Li Meng felt both anticipation and a bit of nervousness.
Soon, Gobu Ge returned, holding another fire crystal in his hands.
Since the Boss liked glowing things, Gobu Ge was especially attentive to anything that shone. He collected them regardless of their usefulness.
Reaching the campfire, Gobu Ge threw the fire crystal into the flames.
"Woosh!"
As soon as the fire crystal entered the campfire, the flames turned an eerie blue.
"Ah!"
The intense heat rushed toward Gobu Ge, forcing him to scream in pain. He tumbled away from the campfire and ran into the river, yelling as he went.
The surrounding goblins were also startled by the blue flames. They all quickly distanced themselves from the center of the scorching heat.
"Blue flames?"
Unlike the frightened goblins, Li Meng, standing a bit farther away, looked ecstatic.
Blue flames signified an ultra-high temperature, at least 2500-3000 degrees Celsius.
With fire crystals, the efficiency of iron smelting would increase several times over. Tempering and refining would also become much easier.
And perhaps even the silver ore could be smelted.
Just as Li Meng was reveling in excitement, the campfire suddenly extinguished.
It went out abruptly.
One moment it was burning fiercely, and the next, the flames disappeared, as if doused by water.
Li Meng frowned and quickly approached the campfire.
Upon closer inspection, he understood what had happened.
The extreme heat had instantly turned the firewood into ash.
Without flames to ignite it, the fire crystal ceased to release its magic.
"Looks like charcoal isn't suitable as an ignition source for fire crystals."
A hint of disappointment flashed in Li Meng's eyes.
He had initially thought the fire crystals would greatly improve smelting efficiency, but now it seemed he had overestimated them.
Charcoal wasn't enough, and even coal was unqualified to ignite fire crystals.
The only suitable ignition source might be magical alchemy.
Magic could create fire out of thin air.
As long as magical flames could burn steadily, they could be used to ignite fire crystals.
"We'll still need to steal some people!"
Li Meng shook his head and walked out of the cavern.
Alchemy was a human skill, so they would have to take it by force.
"Boss! Boss! Should we mine more fire crystals?"
As Li Meng left, Gobu Ge, still in the water, called out loudly.
"Prepare some, but not too much."
"Got it, Boss!"
After leaving the Iron Cavern, Li Meng hurried back to the Throne Tribe.
In the following days, Li Meng busied himself with crafting the sand table.
Seven days later, at the Throne Tribe.
Morning, in the Throne Cave Dwelling.
"It's finally done!"
Looking at the sand table before him, Li Meng nodded in satisfaction.
The sand table hadn't grown larger; its footprint was still over ten square meters. However, the models inside had been miniaturized.
Compared to the previous sand table, this one was much more detailed.
The previous sand table only included a small section of Goblin River's banks.
Now, the sand table displayed the entire Goblin Forest map.
Looking into the sand table, mountains, forests, and rivers were lifelike.
Tiny watchtowers stood upright throughout the map.
Each watchtower represented a sub-tribe.
At a glance, watchtowers were scattered all across Goblin Forest.
The distance between each watchtower was nearly identical.
Small flags of red and blue adorned the watchtowers, made from leaves.
Blue represented established tribes, which were few—only 21. They were mainly concentrated in the forests along the Goblin River.
The rest were yet-to-be-constructed tribes.
Each tribe had a population cap of 1,000, with a maximum of 1,500.
When a tribe's population grew to 1,500, they could apply to the Throne Tribe to build a new one.
At that point, the extra 500 goblins could move to a new location to establish a new tribe.
The leaders of each tribe held fixed titles but were not fixed individuals.
Whoever was strongest would rise to the top.
When a new leader emerged, they would inherit the title.
Take the Gobu Di Tribe, for example.
If Gobu Di were ever defeated by a subordinate, he would lose the name Gobu Di.
The new leader would inherit the name.
If Gobu Di survived, he would take on the previous name of the new leader.
"Go call Gobu Mo!"
Li Meng shouted toward the cave entrance.
The goblin guarding the entrance shuddered and quickly sprinted into the forest.
"Boss! Boss!"
Before long, Gobu Mo's voice echoed from outside the cave.
He trotted into the Throne Cave Dwelling, sliding to his knees and bowing behind Li Meng.
"Boss, you called me?"
"Come here!"
Gobu Mo hurriedly crawled toward the sand table.
Li Meng pointed at a section of the southern riverbank on the sand table with a large iron rod.
"Which direction is this?"
Gobu Mo looked down at where the iron rod pointed.
He scratched his head before uncertainly pointing southward.
"And this?"
Li Meng pointed to the Gobu Tian Tribe.
"Boss, I know! It's over there!"
Gobu Mo pointed eastward.
Li Meng was satisfied with Gobu Mo's response.
Being able to recognize directions meant he could read a map.
As expected of his descendant, he was smarter than the other goblins.
"Gobu Mo, remember these mountains. They are the most obvious landmarks!"
Gobu Mo nodded.
"Your task is to lead the goblin army southward to expand the hunting grounds and build sub-tribes in this area."
Li Meng's iron rod pointed toward a deep forested region to the south.
This expansion would extend 500 kilometers into Goblin Forest.
Gobu Mo would lead about 8,000 goblins to establish sub-tribes there.
If all went well, that region would be teeming with goblins by the same time next year.
"If you encounter other goblin nests along the way, eliminate them!"
Gobu Mo nodded enthusiastically. Fighting was his favorite thing.
This expedition was just too exciting.
"Take a few triple-bow ballistae with you. They'll reduce losses when facing strong magical beasts."
The triple-bow ballistae were powerful.
They could kill most "elite" magical beasts with one shot.
Even Yue E would find it difficult to withstand a direct hit from a triple-bow ballista.
Only "king-tier" magical beasts could rely on their tough bodies to resist its attacks.
"Got it, Boss!"
"Bring all the tools you can. The more, the better."
"Make sure to stock up on bolts and bowstrings."
"Once you're far from the Throne Tribe, it'll be hard to resupply these items."
"Leave the female Lizardmen behind, as usual!"
"If you encounter a powerful enemy and suffer heavy losses, retreat."
Li Meng, like a father, gave detailed instructions to Gobu Mo.
Gobu Mo knelt obediently, nodding his large head in acknowledgment.