Chapter 315 - 281: What Broken Tooth Saw and Heard

Chapter 315: Chapter 281: What Broken Tooth Saw and Heard

"What did you say? You saw the Feathered Serpent God?" Shire jumped out of his chair in shock. His movement was so abrupt he accidentally bumped into the table, nearly knocking over the teacup on it.

Broken Tooth, who was sitting across from him, flinched back, then nodded in alarm.

"What was it like? What did the great serpent look like?" Shire didn’t even bother rubbing his bruised knee. He crossed to his subordinate in a few steps and stared intently at him.

It was the first time Broken Tooth had seen his leader act like this, and he couldn’t help but feel a little scared. He fidgeted, slowly squeezing out a few words: "I... I couldn’t see it clearly."

"Couldn’t see it clearly?" Shire raised his eyebrows, taken aback.

Lately, he had been busy managing all sorts of affairs for the tribe. He had even risked teleporting to Yangjiao Town multiple times to personally guide Mary on how to communicate with the tailors and how to post notices in town to recruit local women with free time for the planned Clothing Workshop. At the same time, he also had Mary make a special trip to the town hall to negotiate a land purchase.

This was his first time substantially extending his "feelers" into a human settlement, and also his first time hiring humans on a large scale.

Of course, he couldn’t show his face, so Mary had to handle everything. But now, many people in Yangjiao Town were speculating about who the real owner of the "Drink Undying" Alchemy Workshop was. Many had tried to get information out of Mary, but without exception, Little John had crudely turned them all away, and his refined equipment only deepened their suspicions.

At first, they suspected Church Influence. Then, it was a connection to the nobility. Some even said they had seen people wearing Black Lion City Armor entering and exiting the Alchemy Workshop on several occasions. The one who finally set the tone for all the speculation was the owner of the Blacksmith Shop. His take was, "That guard is very strong. Many Adventurers have lost to him. He might have a noble background."

This situation was somewhat unexpected for Shire, but it seemed to be working out well for now. After all, with so many Gold Coins being spent, many people were clamoring to ask if new orders were available. For the time being, he didn’t have to worry about a lack of craftsmen; instead, he was worried he wouldn’t have enough.

And just as he was racking his brain over which plot of land to buy for the Clothing Workshop, Broken Tooth returned.

He had sent Broken Tooth out many days ago—about half a month, all told. Now that he was back, Shire had no choice but to immediately return to the Fortress to meet with his reconnaissance general.

When the filthy Broken Tooth appeared before him, Shire could hardly believe his eyes. If not for the warm clothes made by a human tailor and the shoes on his feet, Shire might have thought he had reverted to his old life of burrowing through the forest, climbing trees, and foraging for food.

Broken Tooth’s clothes were covered in stains and torn in several places, revealing the lining underneath. His shoes were covered in scratches and mud. One of his sleeves was completely gone, leaving an arm exposed. The seam where the sleeve used to be showed quite a few scorch marks.

Shire didn’t have his subordinate clean himself up first. He saw the urgent look in Broken Tooth’s eyes, so he immediately pulled him into his stone house and poured him a cup of hot tea with his own hands.

As it turned out, Broken Tooth’s very first words startled Shire.

"Was it hidden in the fog, or was there some other reason? Or were you just too far away?" Shire composed himself; he had gotten a little too excited just now.

"It was in the Darkness, with only two big eyes." Broken Tooth spread his hands apart, gesturing to show the size.

Shire thought for a moment and understood what his subordinate was trying to convey. "The eyes were that big," he said, nodding as he watched Broken Tooth’s gesture. "Smaller than the Elephant Lord’s eyes, it seems, but hiding in the Darkness is indeed a problem."

"But it spotted me," Broken Tooth continued. "It shot an Electric Ball at me."

"An Electric Ball?" Shire frowned, his gaze focusing on Broken Tooth’s bare arm. The arm itself looked perfectly fine, but the marks left on the sleeve proved that things weren’t so simple.

"I tried my best to dodge, but I still got hit," Broken Tooth said, pointing to his arm. "It hurt a lot at the time. It was bleeding and broken, but it healed slowly."

"I see." Shire studied the arm. ’Thank goodness I gave the [Regeneration] Ability from those two Giants to Red Eyes and Broken Tooth. Without that Ability to protect him, Broken Tooth would probably be long dead by now. Getting hit by a huge Electric Ball, even if it only grazed his arm, would have made it nearly impossible to escape the Feathered Serpent Kingdom without the Regeneration Ability.’

"So you’re all right now?" Shire asked.

Broken Tooth nodded without speaking, instead flexing and extending his arm several times to prove that he had indeed made a full recovery.

"Good," Shire said, patting his subordinate’s shoulder before returning to his chair. "Tell me what you saw in the Feathered Serpent Kingdom."

"They," Broken Tooth thought for a moment, then said, "stink."

...

"They stink."

A voice inexplicably emerged from beside a large, simmering iron pot, but it was so quiet that it didn’t attract the attention of the nearby goblins.

These goblins were dressed in ragged tatters. A few of them were only wearing a single, yellowing leaf. In the winter weather, they huddled together, shivering uncontrollably. It was hard to tell if it was from the cold or from the stout goblin standing before them, yelling at them loudly.