Chapter 14: 014
【014】 Luring Goblins
Seeing the surprised expressions of the two, Gu Qing continued, “This method can be applied in many situations. First, propose a large, almost impossible goal that others are unlikely to agree to, then propose a smaller, more reasonable goal. Many people, having rejected the first, will find the second much more acceptable.”
Ulysses and Alex listened thoughtfully and silently made a note of it.
This indeed seemed like a good way to persuade others. It also seemed like something they had unknowingly done before, though they had never thought of it as something that could be consciously planned.
They had learned something.
But more importantly, from Gu Qing’s words, they realized something.
It seemed their lord didn’t have the intention to enslave the goblins, but rather wanted to cooperate with them.
The two of them now had a clearer understanding of their lord’s character.
Although their lord was completely different from what they had expected, they had to admit that having a lord with such a broad mind made them feel reassured.
【Congratulations, host. The loyalty of your resident, Ulysses, has reached 100. He will never betray you.】
Suddenly, Gu Qing received a notification from the system.
Ulysses, the village chief she had met only twice, had an initially high loyalty. It had always stayed at 90, even when Albert’s loyalty reached 100. But now, it had suddenly maxed out, as though his affection for her had been filled all at once.
Why was that?
With a slight thought, Gu Qing quickly understood.
Was it her attitude toward the goblin gathering place?
She couldn’t think of any other reason.
She couldn’t help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
Ulysses had been completely relying on his imagination to judge her as his lord!
Let him imagine all he wants! More loyal subordinates, that’s a good thing.
Then, both sides discussed the details more thoroughly. They had already reached a preliminary consensus on the cooperation regarding the goblin gathering place.
In the end, Alex eagerly went off to prepare.
This task was assigned to him by the lord. If he could complete it well, it would definitely be a great achievement. Perhaps his team members would have a higher chance of becoming soldiers.
He knew full well that Bart was also secretly trying to earn some merit!
Compared to him, Bart and his team’s combat power was clearly stronger. They could go further and bring back more refugees than his team could.
He thought to himself that the lord probably had a clear understanding of the situation.
In the lord’s heart, he absolutely could not let Bart surpass him.
Gu Qing fully understood Alex’s desire to make a contribution, and she welcomed the competition between him and Bart. She saw it as a good thing because healthy competition would lead to continuous improvement in the strength of both teams.
After Alex left, only Gu Qing and Ulysses remained at the scene. Once Ulysses was certain that Gu Qing would be the lord he would follow for life, his respect for her deepened.
“Lord, the number of refugees is increasing every day. I believe that soon, we’ll be able to upgrade to a level 3 village. A level 3 village will definitely be able to survive the Beast Tide!”
Ulysses had learned about the history of previous territories and was very familiar with the current development of their territory. He knew that the next stage was a level 3 village. In his understanding, a level 3 village was nearly guaranteed to survive the first Beast Tide. Each upgrade seemed to require a certain population number, as after each upgrade, the population limit for each territory would be lifted.
So right now, the territory was lacking in people.
For this, Ulysses had to admire his lord’s foresight.
Gu Qing was a bit surprised when she heard Ulysses’ words.
She was already very familiar with the current situation of the territory.
The buildings required to upgrade from a level 2 village to a level 3 village, such as the two blueprints given by the system, were already in place. The fence had been upgraded to a wall due to a sufficient supply of stone, and the basic blacksmith shop was operating smoothly, manufacturing weapons using the available resources. The basic lumberyard and quarry had begun to function effectively as well. In addition to the wood and stone collected by the villagers themselves, the two buildings produced a certain amount of wood and stone daily and had their own storage space, solving Gu Qing’s immediate shortage of materials.
As for buildings, there were no issues left. The only problem was the population, but with the barracks and soldiers now in place, this problem had been addressed to a certain extent.
As for the system’s claim that a level 3 village could withstand the Beast Tide, Gu Qing hadn’t expected Ulysses to know this as well. It only indicated one thing: Ulysses had indeed learned a lot from the past and was now using that knowledge as his own capital.
He was truly a talent.
The thought from before surfaced in her mind.
When Ulysses’ loyalty was at 90%, Gu Qing had considered having him learn her skill cards. Now that it had reached 100%, there was no hesitation.
With the upgrade to a level 3 village imminent, maybe it was time to release some skill cards.
Thinking this, Gu Qing spoke, “Ulysses, do you know about professions?”
“Yes, I do,” Ulysses nodded.
“Do you want to become a professional?”
“Yes,” Ulysses replied without hesitation.
In this world, there was no one who didn’t want to become a professional. But for ordinary people, becoming one was extremely difficult. He had seen many people only officially enter the ranks of professionals when they were old, but by then, it was too late.
“I can make you a professional ahead of time, let you experience skills early,” Gu Qing suddenly said.
When Ulysses fully understood her words, he froze for a moment, and then an unprecedented joy erupted from him.
He knew that the lord would never joke about such matters.
He immediately looked at Gu Qing with an expectant gaze.
At this moment, Gu Qing was indeed operating the control panel. It was the first time she was giving a skill card to someone.
Quickly, she opened her backpack and clicked on the skill card. When the introduction appeared, she saw an option to gift it. After selecting the gift option, a prompt appeared in front of her.
【Do you want to gift the skill card “Wisdom” to resident Ulysses?】
【Yes.】
After confirming, Ulysses quickly received the skill card, and relevant information appeared in his mind.
【Skill Card: Wisdom】
【Effect: Each use temporarily increases the user’s wisdom. Long-term use may enhance the user’s intelligence.】
Ulysses was ecstatic about this skill. For someone like him, this skill was a perfect fit.
“Thank you, Lord,” Ulysses said excitedly, his eyes reflecting unmasked enthusiasm.
Gu Qing had given him a new lease on life.
“The skill card is just an external item. The best thing is for you to become a professional as soon as possible. I know you’re just one step away from becoming a professional,” Gu Qing said.
She could see that Ulysses lacked an opportunity, and now she hoped that this skill card could serve as that opportunity, helping him become a professional.
Just like Bart and Alex, who became professionals after the stimulation of military training camps.
“Yes,” Ulysses replied sincerely.
“I still have many skill cards like this. If you find someone suitable in the future, you can bring them to me,” Gu Qing added, reminding him.
The scale of the territory now was no longer comparable to when it was first established. Besides Ulysses, the village chief, there were now more workers who were working for the territory, effectively becoming part of their own team.
If the territory could become stronger, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to grant skill cards to those with potential, as long as their loyalty could be guaranteed.
“Lord, I’m worried that the people I bring may not be able to keep this secret. If that happens…”
Then the lord might be in danger.
This was Ulysses’ concern.
“When people come before me, I will naturally know whether they are trustworthy or not,” Gu Qing replied indifferently.
Her calm attitude immediately reassured Ulysses, and he began mentally selecting suitable candidates.
He understood that the more professionals there were, the stronger the territory would become, and he hoped that the territory would continue to grow stronger.
—
With the blessing of the “Wisdom” skill card, Ulysses became more adept at handling the affairs of the territory. The overall development of the territory continued to improve, with new refugees arriving daily. They were able to adapt to the territory’s environment in the shortest time possible and quickly integrate into their new lives.
At this moment, Gu Qing didn’t have much to worry about with the territory. She was simply waiting for the population to reach 1,000 so the upgrade could happen, as well as for the situation with the goblin gathering place.
After coming up with a plan, Alex once again surveyed the situation at the goblin gathering place and quickly started putting the plan into action.
The first task was to trap the goblins.
At the outskirts of the goblin gathering place, a group of goblins were scattered, forming small teams and sweeping through their territory.
Suddenly, a wild boar darted out from the forest. Upon seeing the boar, one of the goblins in a team immediately brightened up and excitedly pointed at the boar, shouting, “Look!”
The other goblins quickly turned their attention toward it.
Wild boar = food.
In the next moment, the goblins in the team grabbed their weapons and quickly ran toward the wild boar.
However, as they approached, the wild boar swiftly dashed back into the forest.
Seeing this, a few goblins anxiously chased after it.
At first, they didn’t feel anything unusual, but occasionally, when they were about to give up chasing, the wild boar would stop as if waiting for them to catch up. One clever goblin in the team immediately noticed something was off.
“Stop chasing, it might be a trap,” said Andre, a goblin, to the others.
It seemed like the wild boar was intentionally leading them somewhere.
Clearly, Andre had some respect within the group. As soon as he spoke, the other goblins immediately stopped.
Without even looking at the wild boar, they turned around and prepared to leave.
At this moment, Alex, who had been lying in ambush, saw them preparing to retreat and immediately shouted to his soldiers, “Move.”
As soon as the command was given, many soldiers emerged from the trees or bushes, weapons in hand, quickly surrounding the goblins.
“Humans!” Andre shouted in excitement as soon as he saw the soldiers, and then he loudly commanded, “Run!”
Humans were one of their races’ enemies, but it was undeniable that their strength surpassed that of the goblins. When encountering humans, if fighting wasn’t an option, it was best to run as far as possible.
Without hesitation, Andre led the way, intending to escape with the goblins.
But just as they were running, several arrows suddenly shot out from the forest, landing on the ground in front of them, deeply embedded. It was as if the arrows were warning them that if they tried to run, the next time the arrows would strike their bodies.
Andre and the others halted, turning to face the soldiers, gripping their weapons tightly.
“Humans, what do you want?”