The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

Chapter 277: Chapter 250: The Beast Core is a Stepping Stone

These Beast Cores were all an "inheritance" from the Heart Stealer, and Shire had held onto them until now. There were fifteen Intermediate Beast Cores among them, and he knew the Great Nobles loved this kind of thing. After all, with Beast Cores, they could use "private channels" to create a Secret Medicine that slowed aging—something even ordinary nobles couldn’t easily get their hands on.

"So many Beast Cores?" Musa slowly drew closer, his eyes glued to the contents of the box. "This is far more than what those Counts have stockpiled."

"This is all I have for now," Shire sighed. He recalled Little John mentioning that winter was the "peak season" for Magical Beast sightings, with news of new creatures often coming out of the forest. Yet, a month into winter, there hadn’t been a single alert for a Magical Beast in his own territory.

The thought of the flashing alert for the Fearsome Claw Bear piqued his interest in hunting Magical Beasts. After all, their materials were quite valuable—like the dagger crafted from the Fearsome Claw Bear’s claws, and the hide of the Cyan-Eyed Dragon Snake, which served as the base material for Rune Language: Mind.

Furthermore, as his clan grew, he was already considering hiring more Worker Ants and Soldier Ants from the Ant Queen. As a result, the supply of Cyan-Eyed Dragon Snake hides was starting to run low.

Shire had previously halted the production of Leather Armor, using the hides to create base materials instead. For now, relying on supplies from the Yangjiao Town Blacksmith Shop, they had just barely enough weapons and armor. But if he were to "absorb" all the goblins in the entire Feathered Serpent Kingdom, that would be a real headache. That scenario was still a distant possibility, but if it came to pass, he was considering whether he could go through the Third Prince to get his hands on some "Discarded Armor" from the royal treasury.

"For now?" Uncle Musa raised an eyebrow. "Where did you get your hands on so many Beast Cores, Young Master?"

"They were a gift from some ’friends’," Shire said calmly. When the Heart Stealer departed, it had left the box in the stone chamber, clearly intending to "gift" it to him. Of course, it had also been kind enough to gift him more than ten Shape-shifting Monsters, but he hadn’t known their practical use at the time and had wasted them.

"So, Young Master, you plan to use these Beast Cores as a foot in the door?" Musa crouched down, sifting through the Beast Cores in the box alongside Shire.

"Exactly. I doubt those officials would be brazen enough to just take these Beast Cores for themselves. When it comes to Basic Beast Cores, they might get bold and try something," Shire said, picking up a red Intermediate Beast Core. "But an Intermediate one like this? They wouldn’t have the nerve."

"And to win over the nobles, the Third Prince needs more than just money; Beast Cores are a vital bargaining chip. It’s a shame his mother’s family isn’t particularly powerful, so these Beast Cores should be enough to get you a meeting with him."

"My only fear is that he’ll take the Beast Cores and then turn his back on us," Musa said, his eyes on the Intermediate Beast Core in Shire’s hand.

"We won’t need to worry about that. We’ll give them out in installments." Shire placed the Beast Core back in the box and patted its contents. "I estimate that doling these out over time will grant you several audiences with him. Once we’ve built a rapport, we can introduce something new."

"Red Bull?" Musa looked at the short goblin beside him, his eyes filled with a kind of doting affection. This was the enterprise his young master had built from scratch, and it filled him with immense pride.

"That’s right. I’ll use Red Bull to pry open their greedy hearts and make them proactively seek cooperation. No," Shire’s lip curled into a smirk, "not cooperation. ’Dependence.’"

"Once they realize they can’t live without the benefits Red Bull provides, the Third Prince and his followers will be forced down one of two paths."

"The two paths you mentioned earlier? To continue cooperating or to try and seize it by force?" Uncle Musa immediately recalled their prior conversation.

"Exactly. Knowing the true colors of the Royal Family, I’d bet they’ll quickly consider seizing it. After all, you’re just a somewhat capable Island Merchant. At that point, we’ll have to switch to a different product." Shire straightened up, pulling his gaze away from the box of Beast Cores.

"A new product?" Uncle Musa looked up at Shire, who had stood. He had subconsciously adopted the posture of a subordinate, and he found nothing strange about looking up at his young master.

"That’s right. And it’s a product you’re already familiar with," Shire said with a wide grin.

"Something I’m familiar with?" Uncle Musa thought for a moment before a name came to him. "Healing Potions."

"Exactly," Shire nodded emphatically. "I believe a war between the three princes is inevitable. When it breaks out, besides food and fodder, medical supplies will be a top priority. Healing Potions are standard issue for every soldier in the Kingdom. As long as we supply the Third Prince with a large quantity of them, he won’t dare to make a move against you."

"In the Fran Kingdom, a common soldier is issued two vials of that stuff, which are replenished after use. Healing Personnel are equipped with at least twenty," Uncle Musa said, quickly relaying what he knew. "And that’s just the amount carried for a single engagement. If the campaign drags on, the demand for Healing Potions will skyrocket."

"Correct. And with a product like Healing Potions," Shire gave a chilling smile, "we don’t just have to sell them to the Third Prince. I imagine the Second Prince’s faction would be quite interested as well."

Musa stared at Shire for a few seconds, then rose to his feet with a deeply gratified expression and clapped him on the shoulder.

Shire said nothing, only giving a firm nod. Both of them understood that if war did break out, Healing Potions could genuinely influence its outcome on some level.

While the notion that Shire could sway the entire course of the war in the Fran Kingdom with Healing Potions from his current territory was still a fantasy, it would no longer be a pipe dream if he could accelerate his progress and bring the better part of the Nightmare Forest under his control.

Moreover, Shire was certain that war would break out. Even if some nobles wanted to avoid it, the four Churches lurking in the background would push for the start of a new "Battle of Withering Flowers."

"So, for what’s to come, I’ll have to rely on you, Uncle Musa." Shire looked up hopefully at the family’s Captain of the Guard, whose temples were already streaked with gray. A matter of such importance could only be entrusted to him.

Two days ago, when he had learned about the divine war from Sofia, he had given it a great deal of thought. At the time, Sofia hadn’t known Shire’s true circumstances, but while the speaker may be careless, the listener is attentive. For the past few days, Shire had been contemplating how to exploit this opportunity.

But he had been struggling to find the right person for the job. Now, with Uncle Musa’s appearance, his plans suddenly clicked into place.

"Don’t worry, that shouldn’t be a problem," Uncle Musa said with a wave of his hand and a hearty laugh. "I just have one question: once I have news, how do I notify you immediately?"

"That’s the easy part," Shire smiled. "We have a Teleportation Array."