I have a Human Emperor's Banner; I'll start by educating the goblins.

Ryan Lister was considered a madman by fellow adventurers who were also extraordinary, but the resources he possessed were astronomical for ordinary people. Just that manor with its blooming golden flowers alone was something an ordinary person couldn't buy even after working hard for ten lifetimes.

Being extraordinary is the greatest privilege in this world.

On Craftsman Street, Luo Qi once again realized the status of extraordinary powerhouses after spiritual awakening in this world.

On the outermost edge of the steel street, low tin-roofed houses and towering chimneys are mixed together, and the air is filled with the pungent smell of coal smoke and rust. The stone slabs underfoot have long been worn smooth and shiny by the footsteps of passing carriages and pedestrians.

Ordinary blacksmiths could only rent a small shop of a few dozen square meters in such areas, which was simple, dirty, and dangerous.

Luo Qi's client this time was an extraordinary craftsman whose workshop in Steel Street looked almost like a modern factory.

The storage warehouse alone occupies hundreds of square meters, with coal and iron ore piled up like small mountains.

A water channel runs through the center of the factory, and dozens of hydraulic forging hammers, driven by waterwheels, keep striking, the dull and rhythmic sound making one's chest tingle.

Dozens of muscular blacksmiths, shirtless and glistening with sweat in the firelight, worked tirelessly, their bodies and machines creating a unique symphony in the workshop.

Steel weapons, armor, and farm tools were produced in the workshop.

Dorothy the little rabbit stared in disbelief. "How much can these weapons sell for?!"

Many ordinary adventurers risk their lives several times just to obtain one piece of steel plate armor, and in the workshop, steel plate armor is piled up like a mountain.

"Sigh, being an adventurer really is a penniless profession!"

At this moment, Miss Scout realized the objectivity of Luo Qi's evaluation of the adventurers.

In addition to the materials needed for smelting steel, the workshop also imprisoned a number of ferocious monsters.

Several-meter-tall moose, ten-meter-long crocodiles, giant apes standing upright and roaring... Among these powerful monsters, there are also goblins with a completely different style mixed in.

Clearly, the craftsman's "Capture Goblins" quest wasn't a one-time thing, but rather it was updated periodically. It wasn't just Ryan and Loki who received this quest; other adventurers were also capturing goblins for the craftsman.

Through the Human Emperor Banner's vision, Luo Qi noticed that these goblins were in very poor condition.

They seemed to have overdrawn their life force, with their blood and muscles reduced by more than 30%, and even their souls becoming somewhat dim.

"Little Ryan, I knew you would come looking for me."

The armorer who commissioned the work was not at all surprised by Ryan's arrival. After seeing the two adventurers and a druid, he spoke in a loud voice.

He stood up and strode forward, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.

The client appeared to be in his forties and was extremely tall, standing over three meters tall, making him look like a small giant compared to ordinary people.

The fact that someone of such a large size can move so freely indicates that they are quite strong.

Even among other extraordinary beings of the same level, warriors of this size would have a significant advantage in battle. The fact that dragons and giants stand at the top of the food chain is closely related to their enormous size.

The craftsman had also heard of the druid who was trying to raise goblins and anticipated that this "celebrity" from Greenwood City would come knocking on his door because of the commission he had posted.

"However, the goblins you provided have some quality issues, and I find it difficult to use them as materials," the craftsman said, shaking his head. His tone carried a hint of regret, but more so an undeniable certainty.

"It's also my fault for not describing it clearly in the commission. This batch of goblins theoretically matches the description in the commission, so I'll consider this a completion of your mission. But I won't be taking in goblins like this again."

"What's wrong with these goblins?" Ryan asked. "These goblins of mine have never been in battle; their skin doesn't have a single scar. Shouldn't their skin be easier to channel spiritual energy into than that of wild goblins?"

"It's simple, your goblins' diet is too monotonous!" The craftsman pointed out the problem without any hesitation: "They've been eating relatively refined food since they were born, and that's the biggest problem."

"Oh? Eating too well is a problem?" Ryan couldn't help but frown.

The bait secreted by the man-eating flower contains a lot of sugar. From this perspective, the quality of life of these farmed goblins is indeed better than that of their wild counterparts.

This problem is fatal.

Unless he changes his breeding strategy, it will be difficult to avoid the problem of goblins "eating too well".

However, if the strategy of feeding goblins with man-eating plants is abandoned and they are fed ordinary food directly, the cost will increase to an unacceptable level, and the risk of raising them will also increase significantly. If a goblin escapes, someone may be harmed as a result.

Ryan's mind raced, and one solution after another flashed through his mind, but he rejected each one of them, causing wrinkles to appear on his forehead.

"certainly."

The craftsman explained, "Whether it's humans or monsters, all living things evolve according to their environment, and this evolution is more pronounced in places with abundant energy."

"Because wild goblins can only eat rotten and spoiled food, and grass roots and tree bark mixed with soil, their digestive system will evolve in the process, and that is the core of my use of goblins."

"Did you feed the goblins iron ore before using them?" Luo Qi recalled the goblins' unusual condition and made this judgment.

A smile spread across the master armor maker's enormous face, and he hummed, "That's right, exactly!"

"Goblins' skin is too fragile. When using them as materials, they must be given some nutrition. My life alchemy can make these goblins condense the iron they digest into their skin's keratin, but only if they can digest that iron. And the goblins that Little Ryan raises obviously don't have the ability to absorb these nutrients."

"Digestion ability?" Ryan had a headache.

He had no way of solving the problem raised by the craftsman, at least not until his druid class advanced to the second tier.

"I think your judgment is too hasty. Whether this kind of goblin can digest iron is just your deduction. Some things always need to be verified before they can be confirmed."

Loki said, "If you rashly refuse Mr. Ryan like this, you might miss an excellent opportunity."

"Haha, since that's the case, then let's make you face reality completely," the armor master said with a laugh.

The armor master was very friendly, at least when dealing with his fellow superhuman collaborators.

Moreover, he wasn't worried at all that Luo Qi and the other two might steal his skills, and he even prepared to perform an alchemy demonstration right in front of them.

The master craftsman first walked to the workbench, picked up some special minerals with his thick fingers, examined them carefully for a moment, then threw the minerals into a stone mortar, picked up the heavy pestle, and began to grind them rhythmically.

The ore made a crisp "crackling" sound under the heavy pestle, gradually turning into fine powder.

Then, he slashed the skin of a goblin, and dark red blood flowed out, dripping into the powder and mixing with the mineral powder to form black ink, emitting a strange, fishy smell.

Immediately, the master armor maker pulled out a thin, silvery-white needle, its tip gleaming coldly in the firelight.

After dipping his brush in ink, he quickly carved patterns onto the goblin's body.

The goblin convulsed violently, letting out a sharp scream, but the extraordinary craftsman remained unmoved, his arm steady and his brushstrokes fluid.

Suddenly, the experimental goblin began to convulse violently, its limbs kicking wildly, and the color of the pattern kept changing, from black to dark brown, and then from dark brown to dark red, as if it had come to life.

Several tens of minutes later.

The goblin's entire body had changed color, from dark green to an unnatural grayish-brown, like rotting iron.

Through the Human Emperor Banner's vision, Luo Qi clearly saw that the patterns were absorbing the life force from the goblins, concentrating the life force on the patterns, like countless tiny blood vessels pulsating.

The goblin's body shrank at a visible rate.

Immediately afterwards, the armor master fed the goblin, whose body had shrunk by three-tenths, some white creamy food.

The food had a faint smell of rust.

Luo Qi felt that she absolutely could not get used to this kind of food.

"When normal goblins are fed food mixed with iron powder, their bodies shrink at a slower rate. After a period of adaptation, they will return to normal. Until their bodies gradually solidify and they can no longer move, at which point they become a potential material that can be used to make magical armor."

The armor-making master explained it this way.

He took out a piece of green armor plate that had already been made from his waist, tapped it with his finger, and it made a crisp "clang" sound with a metallic texture.

"And these goblins that Little Ryan is raising..."

The final result was self-evident—the goblin's rate of shrinkage slowed slightly, but this did not prevent it from continuing to shrink at a visible rate.

The creature, which was originally nearly a meter tall, was transformed into a goblin statue the size of a palm in a short period of time.

The conservation of mass-energy does not exist in this world!

To be precise, based on the information Luo Qi currently has about the other world, the conservation of mass-energy can be broken in this world; perhaps after he learns more information, he will also learn that the mass lost here may appear elsewhere, and the conservation of mass will still apply overall.

In any case, this world will always be somewhat different from the world before the journey.

"Actually, goblins of this size can barely be used as the base material for leather armor, but as you can see, the whole processing is very complicated. Even if the process is simplified in the future to the point where workers can help, it will still take a very long time to process a single armor plate. At least 120 armor plates of this size are needed to make a set of armor. As for wild goblins, only 40 plates are needed."

The master armor maker said, "From a cost perspective, I will inevitably suffer a loss as a result."

The extraordinary craftsman stood up and took out a set of leather armor from his waist.

This time, Luo Qi saw it clearly: the craftsman's belt was obviously a storage item. She just didn't know how much such a spatial item, which allowed people to carry a large amount of supplies, was worth.

Even he, the human emperor, was a little envious at this moment.

Luo Qi took a deep breath and shifted his gaze from the storage belt to the leather armor—the skins peeled from those special goblins were layered together and woven together using alchemical techniques, seemingly becoming a whole again. At first glance, the leather armor looked like a green, tight-fitting leather suit.

With a smile, the master armor maker put the leather armor on a goblin, demonstrating to the two the effects of magical items made from this biological material.

First of all.

When attacked, the leather armor emits a faint green light, which makes the air as viscous as water. Melee weapons are less affected, but ranged weapons experience a significant drop in speed upon contact with the green light, and by the time they hit the leather armor, they have almost no kinetic energy left.

Second.

This leather armor is so self-repairing that it seems to have a life of its own, which makes maintaining it extremely difficult.

again.

This leather armor can conjure up forests and grasslands, allowing the wearer to perfectly conceal themselves in such environments.

At last.

This leather armor can also slightly amplify the wearer's strength. Specifically, it can increase the wearer's strength by about the equivalent of ten goblins. This is a fixed value. The amplification received by spiritually awakened superhumans is very limited, but the benefit received by ordinary adventurers is much greater.

Overall, this is a pretty good set of equipment.

Whether they are low-level adventurers, soldiers under lords who have not yet reached the transcendent stage, or farmers with spare money, they will all love this equipment.

If the price is right, its sales volume will definitely be substantial in the future.

"Normally, it takes forty goblins to make one set of equipment like this, and I can still earn a fee for my labor; but one hundred and twenty goblins to make one set of equipment like this? I can only say that neither you nor I can profit from it."

Inside the workshop, the roar of the waterwheel still echoed, and the hammering continued, but at this moment, Ryan's expression became unusually solemn.

He stared at the palm-sized goblin statue on the table, his expression complex, and remained silent.

A mysterious smile appeared on Luo Qi's face as he glanced at the mountains of armor and the caged monsters in the workshop, pondering his own armor-making methods.

The Armor Master is very skilled at using goblins, but he is still somewhat inferior to the Emperor's Banner. He cannot completely exploit them like the Emperor's Banner.

What Ryan couldn't solve was no problem at all for Loki, who possessed the Emperor's Banner.

"The workshop owner is reasonable enough. Perhaps we shouldn't abandon him and try cooperating with him first, since this craft originated from him."