Chapter 292 - 264: Let Big Golden Fur Suffer a Little

Chapter 292: Chapter 264: Let Big Golden Fur Suffer a Little

Shire had always believed that with equality among all races as the foundation, only through greater understanding could they gradually eliminate the divides between them. As for ordinary people, many didn’t live every day consumed by hatred.

It was just like that major confrontation between two nations he’d experienced in his past life. The people on both sides viewed each other through their own initial biases, and only after the confrontation ended did they realize the people on the other side were just ordinary folks, too, with their own small worries and little points of pride.

Of course, this change in relationship was predicated on the other party being at least "human." If some guy started running his mouth and spouting filth, Shire wouldn’t mind having Caocao grab him and swing him back and forth against the ground.

The goal he set for himself was to retake Torch City, and only then would he consider breaking the curse. But to retake Torch City, he needed a powerful army. Goblins and Centaurs alone weren’t enough—he still needed to recruit some humans into his forces.

So the goal was now simple: first, build up his strength in the forest. Then, on some future day, he would strike out and seize Yangjiao Town. When the Fran Kingdom fell into chaos, he could use all sorts of resources to leverage his position and find a way to have Yangjiao Town designated as his own territory. This would allow him to legally accept more war refugees.

Of course, the current target was just Yangjiao Town. But if Valentine really turned out to be an idiot, Shire wouldn’t mind gladly accepting Black Lion City either.

Only then would he have truly taken the first step on his path to power.

"You all should move to the other side," Shire said, standing before a group of Fulu. The Fulu were chattering amongst themselves; these big, round disks were a bit resistant to Shire suddenly telling them to move house.

"Why is this Bandit making us move?"

"I don’t know. He’s probably after something of ours."

"What could it be? I just won several White Stones yesterday."

"See? A Bandit, just as I thought. He’s after our White Stones."

Shire sighed softly, took a few steps forward, and announced, "I’ll give you a new place to live, add five more forest game tables, and give each Fulu an extra 10 stones as a relocation fee."

"Ten stones?" Hearing this, a few Fulu immediately squeezed to the front. "You’ll really give us ten?"

Shire nodded slowly. He had accumulated a good number of those colorful shells, so now was the perfect time to hand them out to these Fulu. The ones crowding at the front were probably the ones who had already gambled away everything they had.

The Fulu quickly started chattering again. The words "Bandit" and "Hero" kept popping up, so it seemed they were having a disagreement.

’Gambling really is a scourge,’ Shire thought, shaking his head slightly. These big, round disks were now divided over a mere 10 stones. He recalled how, when he first met them, they had all unanimously denounced him as a Bandit.

Soon, the Fulu reached a consensus. "Twenty stones." They surrounded Shire, raising their tentacles.

Shire looked at the pale pink tentacles surrounding him. He knew they were all secretly pleased with themselves, but they were still trying to sound conflicted. ’So they even know how to play hard to get.’

"Deal." Shire nodded immediately, then turned and shouted to his men, "Move the tables! Quickly!"

The Fulu stared blankly as a group of goblins rushed over, grabbed the square tables they used for their forest mahjong, and sprinted off in another direction. For a moment, their clever little brains couldn’t keep up; they weren’t sure if they had gotten a good deal or been ripped off.

"Don’t just stand there gawking, go on and follow them," Shire said with a smile. "I’ve already had someone prepare the stones. You can go collect them and get a game started."

"Twenty stones! I’m gonna win back my losses!" one Fulu shouted. It started puffing air from its underside with a "FURU-FURU" sound and chased right after the goblins.

Then two of them, then three...

Finally, all the Fulu had left the area. Shire surveyed his surroundings. ’This area should be big enough. Add in the space where Big Golden Fur lives, and it should be just barely enough to house more than thirty elephants.’

These elephants would still go out to forage in the surrounding area during the day and only return to the Fortress to sleep at night. If he needed them to work, he would have to provide them with food.

’Good, we have enough hands now. We can spare a few to gather leaves and grass and have the Worker Ants transport it all back.’ Shire called over One-Eyed and told him to take the goblin engineering team to clear out the area. He specifically told him to reconfigure Big Golden Fur’s living space. The Unicorn was currently out wandering the forest and grazing, so while it was away, they could shift its den.

’I’m sure the Unicorn won’t mind. And if it does, the Elephant Lord can ’persuade’ it.’ Shire glanced toward the Fortress entrance. He wondered if Big Golden Fur would just pack up and leave in the middle of the night when it returned to find it had a whole new herd of elephant neighbors—especially since the young ones were so mischievous.

One thing Shire was sure of, however, was that even if the Unicorn did move this time, Evita and the others wouldn’t. That custom of following the Unicorn wasn’t always so absolute.

"The elephants are coming?" a voice asked from nearby. Bai Mao was walking over, holding a pot full of meat.

"Yep, that’s right." Shire nodded. He glanced down at the pot, which was filled with wild boar meat and had a layer of fat floating on top. Bai Mao was probably experimenting with a new dish again. "I’m putting them in the area by the entrance. That way they won’t wander too far in and damage any of our structures."

The Fortress also contained various breeding pens. An elephant walking by could easily break things, like the cedar-wood racks built for raising the Red Bull. If those got knocked over, it would definitely disrupt the livestock.

"Do they eat our food?" Bai Mao asked, tilting his head slightly.

A corner of Shire’s mouth lifted. Shaking his head, he said, "No, they don’t. Elephants are herbivores. I’ll have people gather grass for them. We’ll keep eating meat."

"So we eat the elephants?"

"No, no, elephants are friends, not food," Shire said, waving his hands dismissively. As he spoke, he glanced again at the pot Bai Mao was holding. The meat inside was neatly cut into small, even pieces, but something else caught his eye and made him frown.

"What happened to your hands?" he asked, looking at Bai Mao’s hands.

Bai Mao glanced at his own hands and said nonchalantly, "It’s nothing. They’re just cold."

Shire looked at the purplish hue on the backs of Bai Mao’s hands and fingers, realizing they must be frostbitten. Although the female goblins who did the cooking worked right next to the fire pit, the dropping winter temperatures made the underground river even colder. The cooks often had to deal with the bone-chilling water.

What’s more, ever since the weather had turned cold, his people had become reluctant to bathe. After all, not everyone could handle a cold bath—except for that guy, Red Eyes.

’Looks like I’ll have to buy more fuel from Yangjiao Town,’ Shire muttered to himself. But that was going to be a major expense.