Chapter 102: Divine Envoy

Once the tribe’s direction of development had been settled, Sun Licheng also reorganized its structure.

He divided all tribal affairs into four branches and established four separate departments: the War Ministry, which oversaw the army; the Labor Ministry, which managed production; the Household Ministry, which handled the tribe’s daily organization; and the Rites Ministry, which was responsible for sacrifices and dealings with other tribes.

As the ancients had said, the great affairs of a state were sacrifice and war; accordingly, Sun Licheng took direct charge of those two ministries himself. The Labor Ministry was put under Mister Clever Hands, while Little Cabbage was placed in charge of the Household Ministry. Little Medusa Vina became deputy head of the War Ministry, responsible for training the troops, and the goblin Ston became deputy head of the Rites Ministry, charged with negotiating with other tribes.

With that, the Flowering Tribe’s daily administration and operating system were in place.

The tribal warriors were managed under a semi-military system: they trained in the morning and labored in the afternoon, chiefly producing mercury and bronze ware.

By then, Azure Dragon had already brought the Death Dance Squad to the Flowering Tribe. Sun Licheng ordered them not only to keep watch in secret outside the tribe, but also to keep bringing cold-water fish and salt up from the underground fortress.

The goblins of the tribe cleaned the cold-water fish, then pickled them with seasonings and salt, turning them into delicious preserved fish, another of the Flowering Tribe’s signature products.

Thanks to advanced Earth-style management methods, the goods produced by the Flowering Tribe were of excellent quality. Once they were released, they quickly found a market within the Lunar Alliance. In particular, the preserved fish were warmly welcomed by the miserable goblins there.

Although the Lunar Alliance had several salt mines, their output was limited, and supply had long been unable to meet demand. The Flowering Tribe’s preserved fish were not only delicious, but rich in salt as well. For primitive goblins who usually ate only roasted meat, had boiled meat on rare occasions, and often went months without tasting real salt, they were an exceptionally worthwhile commodity.

Watching the preserved fish being carried off by one tribe after another, Sun Licheng sighed inwardly, “The spending power of food lovers really is something else.”

As the Flowering Tribe’s goods were sold to other tribes, a large number of goblin prisoners and slave captives were exchanged back. Fearing that other tribes might slip hidden enemies into the mix, Sun Licheng only accepted goblins newly captured in this campaign. He believed the chances of them being corrupted in the short term were very small. Of course, he did not delude himself into thinking there were no spies at all. In addition to making the new slaves live outside the camp, he also sent mechanical automatons to monitor them at all times. The moment a spy was discovered, that person would be arrested immediately.

Out of caution, Sun Licheng did not, for the time being, recruit wandering goblin warriors the way other tribes did. At least until a complete internal surveillance system had been established, he had no intention of drawing in drifters.

And so, after more than half a month of trading captives for goods, the Flowering Tribe had grown to nearly a hundred people. With manpower expanded, productivity rose markedly.

Seeing that the tribe’s development had finally settled onto the right track, Sun Licheng prepared to resume exploration of the mysterious region once the troops had completed their training.

Just as Sun Licheng was diligently building up his strength, a half-elf in a hooded robe rode into Full Moon Gorge on a giant wild boar, guided by four goblins.

Looking at the stone fortress before him, the half-elf could not help but let a trace of mockery curl at the corner of his mouth. Some time ago, a great battle had taken place here, and the Northern Army of the Goblin Kingdom had suffered losses of several thousand men. Many of the kingdom’s northerners still bore that grudge. But the half-elf knew that the upper echelon of the kingdom did not care in the least about the defeat, and even felt that too few people had died.

As a high priest of the God of Schemes, the half-elf was well acquainted with wicked conjecture about all manner of things. By instinct, he suspected that the goblin royal family’s true aim in the centuries-long border wars of the north was simply to wear down the population of goblins and gnomes.

Listening to the four goblins complain that war had never been won, the half-elf’s smile grew brighter. “What a simple-minded lot,” he thought with a private chuckle.

On the fortress wall, the gnome sentries of the Full Moon Tribe had already spotted the party and were rapidly striking the bronze alarm bell atop the wall.

Soon, a large force of goblin warriors appeared fully armed on the ramparts.

Seeing so many barbarians aiming bows at them, the four goblins, who had been chatting away just moments before, instantly went pale. They turned pleading eyes toward the half-elf.

The half-elf remained languid and unconcerned, as if he had not seen the fear in the goblins’ eyes at all. He casually pointed at one of them and said, “Go tell them that a messenger of the God of Schemes has arrived. I have come to pay my respects to your great chief.”

The goblin he pointed to had no choice. Gritting his teeth, he raised a flag and walked slowly toward the wall.

Before he had even come close, the gnomes atop the wall were already jeering at him, and then a volley of arrows flew toward him.

The goblin, already frightened out of his wits, saw the arrows coming and immediately threw down the flag. He fled back in a panic, rolling and scrambling the whole way, all while shouting, “We can’t get through, we can’t get through! They’re going to kill us! Run!”

Seeing how cowardly the goblin was, the half-elf shook his head helplessly. He urged the wild boar beneath him forward alone toward the wall. Behind him, the goblin who had just fled back and his three companions huddled together, shivering as they looked on.

“Another one coming to die!”

The goblin warriors were astonished. On the one hand, they had never seen a creature like this half-elf before. On the other, they could not understand how he could be so bold. Hadn’t he just seen the goblin’s disgraceful flight?

“Loose the arrows!”

At the commander’s order, another wave of arrows rose into the sky.

The half-elf acted as though he saw nothing and continued riding the wild boar at an unhurried pace. Before long, a row of arrows had stabbed into the ground in front of him. He had already seen through their bluff: the gnomes on the wall were only trying to frighten him and had no intention of taking his life.

Realizing that intimidation was useless, the gnome commander stopped his men from shooting further and quietly watched the half-elf rider below.

“I am Sibus, a devout servant of His Majesty the God of Schemes. By divine decree, I have come to seek an audience with your great chief. Please let me enter.”

The half-elf reached the gate, tilted his head back, and called up to the wall. What he said was the standard self-introduction of a divine envoy, and it immediately caused a stir atop the ramparts.

Even if the gnomes did not know which Majesty was the God of Schemes, they dared not delay. They promptly sent someone running back to inform the tribe.

About half an hour later, the gate of Full Moon Gorge Fortress was opened, and under the fierce gaze of the goblin warriors, Sibus rode his wild boar slowly into the fortress.

When the gate closed behind him, the four goblin guides exchanged glances and ran back to report the news.

Three days later, Sibus arrived at the Star-Moon Tribe.

The great chief, Adolf, received him warmly.

After servants had set preserved fish before the divine envoy, Adolf asked, “Lord Sibus, envoy of the god, may I ask what brings you to our tribe? What divine decree does your Majesty bear?”

Sibus took a sip of water and said with a smile, “I came here mainly to find someone.”

“Oh? And whom might you be looking for?” Adolf raised an eyebrow and asked in a measured tone.

Sibus kept smiling. “I do not know his exact name, but I do know that he is a goblin hero. Our Majesty has sent me to find him.”