Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Looking at the four white sacred stones pieced together around the huge stone chamber, Charles couldn't help but tug at his collar. "It's much warmer than outside. I'm even sweating a bit."

"I've set the temperature to early autumn; the elephants should be able to adapt by now." Agatha looked down and fiddled with the rune controller beside her. The controller had eight temperature standards, each corresponding to two temperatures for each season. The stone chamber that had originally been reserved for the elephants had now been set to early autumn.

Charles reached out and gently patted the massive white holy stone. "You used quite a few materials this time."

"Yes, quite a lot has been used. If we build three more rooms like this, I estimate we won't have enough materials to make the portals." Agatha nodded.

"Not for now. This stone chamber is located at the entrance of the fortress. The wind blowing in from outside will bring some warm air into the fortress, which will slightly improve the temperature inside," Charles said, waving his hand. For now, they can only build a "greenhouse" to ensure the elephant herd's living conditions.

With the "greenhouse" in place, and dozens of goblins going into the forest every day to collect grass and leaves, the elephant herd should not leave before spring.

Originally, Charles thought that as the temperature continued to drop, the Elephant Lord might lead the elephants further south, which would be a huge waste for him. Now, the runewords he obtained from the Frogmen have finally dispelled his concerns, and he named this new set of runewords "Temperature".

"However, the remaining white holy stones are still enough to renovate a few stone houses." After thinking for a few seconds, Sharl turned his gaze to the interior of the fortress. "We should at least build a few houses to accommodate those little goblins. They are weak and will have a hard time surviving the winter if the temperature drops too low."

He planned to turn the two stone houses into rooms similar to "warmth rooms" to concentrate the newborn goblins inside, thereby ensuring the survival rate of the race and the chance of obtaining SS cards.

"That's no problem, it can be done in a little time." Agatha thought the suggestion was easy. "I think this runeword set - Temperature is great, especially in summer, it can effectively preserve food."

"Hmm," Charles chuckled, "it's like having a giant ice cellar."

In the hot summer, it is difficult for ordinary people to preserve food. However, the nobles have built huge underground ice cellars. They would pay some low-level mages who know ice magic to cast spells in the ice cellars to preserve food and wine. Now, with this new runeword, the tribe has essentially a huge cold storage in the summer.

Char even had some new ideas: if the runeword "Temperature" were engraved on the inner wall of a container, would the water inside maintain a very high temperature, or a cool temperature?

"Could you make me a cup with runes engraved on all four sides, using white holy stone?" He looked at Agatha and offered his idea.

"A cup, made of stone?" Agatha was taken aback. "That's a bit difficult; the rim is rather small, making it hard to carve..."

"No, it doesn't have to be a cup. I think a jar or a big bucket would work too. Of course, you can also ask One-Eye. I think he's very professional in carving." Charles pointed to his finger and said with a smile. One-Eye had borrowed the Tin Soldier from Charles before when he wanted to carve a small wooden figure. Charles had also seen the other's carving results. The completed head looked very good. Although it was still a bit rough, it was already far beyond what a goblin should be able to do.

"If it's a large container, we can give it a try. Do you want to test its heat retention?"

"Yes," Charles said affirmatively, "the medium for maintaining the temperature in this stone chamber is air, so I was wondering if replacing the medium with water would help keep it warm."

He was fed up with drinking cold water in winter, and if he could succeed, at least he would be able to drink warm water.

"A medium..." Agatha pondered for a moment, "You've reminded me. I originally thought it only worked on temperature, but if we introduce the concept of a medium, then many objects in space can be affected."

"Yes, if my idea is correct, then we can build several huge bathrooms for the tribe in the future." Charles said, stroking his chin. Taking a hot bath in winter is such a pleasant thing. Only nobles and rich people can experience such a life. Ordinary people rarely take hot baths in winter. On the one hand, it is a waste of fuel, and on the other hand, if they stay in the water for too long, they may catch a cold when the water gets cold.

"The bathroom," Agatha said upon hearing Charles's suggestion, then looked down and sniffed herself. "Speaking of which, I think I really need to take a hot bath. I've been so busy with all sorts of things these past few days, I think I smell."

Charles smiled and shook his head. He knew Agatha had been very busy these days, but she was by no means an unkempt person. Despite her current appearance as a witch, he had never seen her with messy hair since they started working together.

Moreover, building several large bathrooms can also ensure the cleanliness of the tribe. He had already gradually changed the goblins' living habits and started to implant the concept of cleanliness and hygiene into their consciousness. But now that winter has arrived, the number of times goblins take baths has decreased sharply. Shire does not want all goblins to return to that state of being filthy all over with insects crawling in their hair.

"I'll go try it out right now and see if the new runeword can be used this way." Whenever there's a new project, Agatha will take immediate action, which is consistent with her studious habits.

Charles watched his old classmate leave excitedly, while he frowned as he walked out of the fortress. In the distance, several elephants were using their trunks and tusks to lift logs, helping the centaurs build their huts.

"Is it coming again?" he said softly.

Just as Agatha was excitedly deciding to conduct the experiment, Charles suddenly heard a light, airy voice say, "They're here again."

This was the third time he had heard the whispers of the forest. The previous two times had given him a deeper understanding: "they" might not be just humans, nor just one force; there might be several forces returning to contact his people.

The goblins of the feathered serpent god, the strange magicians "hired" by Valentine, and the forces of the four major churches may all appear, and they may even appear together.

Among them are enemies, but there are also characters like Sophia or Elephant who could become friends.

"Who will it be this time?" Charles walked to the side, picked up a handful of grass from the ground, and handed it to the little elephant that ran over. However, the grass was not as tender in winter and looked a bit yellow. The little elephant picked it up with its trunk and threw it everywhere.

"There should be goblins from the Feathered Serpent Kingdom among them," he dodged to the side, avoiding the little elephant's "touch." After all, he was only a goblin 1.3 meters tall. If the little elephant came close and fell on him, that would be bad enough. "Besides them, who else might be coming?"

Charles reached out and nudged the little elephants that were shoving around. These little guys seemed to have a natural sense that the creatures posed no threat to them, and they would always play with the goblin centaurs.

"Stop fooling around," he stroked the baby elephant's head, dodging it constantly, "Let's send our men out first and see if we can get any news about the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom."

Several loud snorts came from not far away, seemingly calling to the baby elephant. Finally, the baby elephant stopped bothering Charles and ran to its "mother".

"I estimate this will become one of the elephant herds' patrol routes in the future." Charles brushed the dust off his clothes. Elephants have excellent memories. When these calves grow up, they will remember this forest clearing and that warm underground space.

Compared to the "visitors" who were about to arrive, he was more interested in the mine in the northeast. Originally, Charles had planned to rest for a while and then take his men down to take a look, but after hearing the whispers of the forest, he had to postpone the exploration plan. "I need to have definite information before making a decision."

Thinking of the goblins of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom, those flying snakes with molted bodies, and the petrified lizards, he considered whether to create some more runewords called Winter, so that when enemies rushed over, he could launch an ice attack directly.

"However, that thing seems to be activated by water magic, and there are no members of my tribe who know water magic."

This gave Charles a bit of a headache. If it were driven by fire magic, he could have Nine Fingers activate the runeword. Currently, only Prince Naga knows water magic. He couldn't very well trick the other party into coming here, kill him, and see if he could obtain the other party's water abilities and then give them to one of his subordinates.

Putting aside the fact that his tribe was still cooperating with the Naga and needed them to provide water ink and potions, from his heart, Sharl felt that he couldn't bring himself to kill Pazani.

"That guy may seem unreliable, but he's not a bad person," Sharl said, gently kicking aside a small twig. "The inability to contact the Naga is a problem. Next time Pazzani comes, we must make him bring back a stone ring for a teleportation portal."

"No, we should find a way to get it over there for him." He rubbed his temples. Prince Naga alone couldn't carry the stone ring back, and if he brought people to transport it, they might encounter invading goblins along the way. "There are no ships that can transport goods to Lake Lun, that's a problem."

Without the help of the runeword Winter, the tribe would have to rely on its own strength to fight the petrified lizards. Sophia had also helped a lot in defeating the flying goblins. "Now we have to rely on ourselves."

Charles took a deep breath. "We need to find Mary and ask her to urge those craftsmen to hurry up."

The blueprints for the new rune mortar have been broken down into several components and sent to Mary in Goat Horn. Charles values ​​this thing highly, and he directly told Mary that if there are other production commissions that conflict with the mortar, they should be put aside for now, and the rune mortar order should be completed first.

They had to be made strictly according to the standards on the blueprints. This time, they were paid by piece, and he would only pay the craftsmen for products that met the standards.

Furthermore, because of Chi Mu's previous antics, Sharl discovered a new use for the rune cannon: a shoulder-mounted, recoilless "rocket launcher."

The rune mortar can be modified slightly, its barrel made lighter, and some simple launching devices added.

This "Rune Api Chicken" can not only shoot at targets in a straight line, but also attack aerial targets. It is also easy to operate, and even those black men in Africa can master it. There is no way that goblins cannot learn it.

"If we had these things, we wouldn't be afraid of flying goblins and stone ring lizards," Xia Er muttered to himself. "No, we don't know how many people they'll send this time. Last time they sent 800 and still failed. This time they'll send at least 1500 goblins."

With that thought in mind, he immediately strode towards the depths of the fortress. "I need to inform Mary immediately and have the craftsmen speed up the production."

He quickly wrote the intelligence report and sent it through the portal. Not long after, Mary replied.

"Hmm, even if it costs extra, we have to complete the commission ahead of schedule, and the quality must be guaranteed," Charles examined Mary's reply, the ending of the intelligence letter making him pause.

"Low-interest loans?"

He frowned as he looked at the contents. The Chamber of Commerce Alliance of Girdle Town had actually contacted them to promote low-interest loans to the "White Shell" Chamber of Commerce. However, Mary didn't know much about this kind of thing, so she came to ask the boss for his opinion.

"What does the Chamber of Commerce Alliance want?" Charles flicked the letter. He didn't quite believe that the other party would be so kind as to take the initiative to "support" a small chamber of commerce. He was more inclined to believe that some guys had already noticed the White Shell. After all, Mary had already moved all the artisans in Giraffe Town, and even the number of boats on the Darren River had started to increase.

"Are you guys trying to scheme against me again?" Recalling his previous deductions, he didn't have a good impression of these greedy merchants. Although he didn't have direct evidence, Charles's intuition told him that the Merchant Guild Alliance must have done something behind the scenes when the Melo family was in trouble.

"Low-interest loans, low-interest loans..."

Charles muttered to himself that he wasn't really short of money right now, but since the other party had taken the initiative to contact him, he wondered if refusing them directly might attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

"But I am no longer the Charles Mello I once was." He chuckled, returned to his stone house, and pulled out his notebook. "Let me see Earl Herbert's contact information."

"Found it," Charles said with a smirk. "First, write a letter to the vampire count and invite him to Goat's Horn Town for a chat."

"Before that, I can take a look at what kind of loan contract the Chamber of Commerce Alliance's bank will offer me."

After saying that, Charles wrote an intelligence letter to Mary.

"Make them provide a detailed contract, and the maximum amount of gold coins they can offer."