"Hey, you! Where's the ironware? If you don't hurry up, I'll eat you!"
At that moment, the goblin squad leader approached, gripping his stone spear and barking impatient orders.
The wild boar from earlier hadn’t been enough for everyone. None of them had eaten their fill.
Right now, all he wanted was to eat Tian.
Murderous intent burned in his eyes, drool slipping from the corner of his mouth.
Moon quickly explained, "Please wait a little longer. Ironware isn’t easy to make, but we’re working as fast as we can."
“Hurry up! Hurry up!”
The goblin with the stone spear wouldn’t listen. He shoved Moon to the ground, shouting and brandishing his weapon.
Tian’s expression turned cold as he smiled mockingly. "Here it is. The ironware is ready. Take a look."
Suddenly, a cold gleam flashed!
He pulled out a short sword.
But even this 'short' sword was nearly a meter long—too heavy to hold properly, so he had to drag it across the ground.
“Hm?”
Hearing this, the surrounding goblins rushed over excitedly.
With a sword, they could hunt bigger prey and capture higher-level beings for mating!
Especially the elves to the north—the goblins snuck peeks at them every day. Just watching seemed to satisfy them... for now.
The stone spear goblin froze for a moment, then became wildly excited!
He quickly turned toward the dark gray shack and shouted, “Boss! Ironware! It’s ironware!”
“Swoosh!”
Suddenly!
A cold flash, and the goblin’s shout was abruptly silenced.
The stone spear—and the goblin holding it—were sliced cleanly in half.
Blood and viscera splattered across the ground.
Tian had swung the iron sword with all his strength, splitting the goblin in two. He’d been fed up with this guy for a while.
He was just like Tian’s old boss—always making things difficult, always nitpicking.
Staring at the corpse, Tian felt a wave of satisfaction.
"He killed a goblin!"
Chaos erupted throughout the tribe.
The goblins nearby grabbed their weapons, faces twisted in rage, teeth bared.
If they all rushed Tian, they’d probably gnaw him to the bone.
Moon trembled. "What do we do, Boss? I... I'm scared."
"Relax. That cunning old fox won’t let anything happen to us."
Tian stood his ground, unfazed.
Sure enough, the sound of a staff thumping the ground came from behind.
The goblin shaman slowly emerged, staff thumping the ground, and activated his Summon skill. Instantly, the tribe fell silent.
He cackled. "Kehehe, it really is ironware. Good. I want more. Make me iron armor, too."
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"I can do that, but I'll need help."
Tian replied, planning to have others search for iron ore while he stayed in the tribe—much safer that way.
The goblin shaman thought for a moment, then used his Summon skill again, appointing Tian as a squad leader.
Tian could now command thirty goblins.
It wasn’t many, but Tian had to accept it. If he got more, the old fox would definitely get suspicious.
"Thank you, Boss."
Tian said it deliberately, flattering the shaman to make him think he’d submitted.
The shaman goblin returned to his shack. No one else was allowed inside—anyone who entered became fertilizer.
"Boss... Boss, wait... It hurts..."
The squad leader crawled desperately, dragging his half-body across the ground, hoping the shaman would save him.
After all, goblins were called cockroaches for a reason—they were hard to kill.
Suddenly, a powerful force slammed into his head—Tian stomped it into the dirt without mercy.
Many goblins froze, suddenly wary of the newcomer from another tribe.
For goblins, strength was everything. Right now, Tian’s dominance made them all fearful.
But that wasn’t enough.
Tian shot a cold, contemptuous glance at the goblin beneath his foot, then tore off an arm and began chewing it raw.
The goblin finally stopped breathing, fear and agony etched on his face.
Faced with this savage display, the other goblins finally backed down. All traces of defiance vanished—they cowered, not daring to meet his gaze.
After all, even goblins didn’t eat their own alive.
Tian let Moon eat first, then kicked the remains to the others. "Eat up."
The goblins instantly swarmed in, devouring every last scrap.
Usually, when they went hungry, they'd stare at each other like hungry wolves eyeing meat.
Now, with food before them, only a fool would hold back.
"Boss, you were amazing! You were so terrifying just now—my legs went weak!"
Moon’s eyes were full of awe.
Tian smiled calmly. "Don’t worry—this is just the first day. I’ll take care of you."
"Second-in-command, what should we do now?"
The goblins stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
Tian nearly fainted. "Just call me Brother. Not ‘second-in-command.’"
He even punched the first goblin who said it. If you wanted results, you had to train them like dogs—with a firm hand.
After a moment’s thought, he remembered that goblins were nocturnal by nature, though they could function in daylight just fine.
He asked, "Do you want iron weapons?"
"Yes, Brother!"
At the mention of "iron weapons," the goblins’ eyes lit up.
"Do you want to mate with humans?"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"Do you want to eat your fill of meat?"
"Yes!"
"Do you want to mate with elves? Pin them down and fill their bellies with goblin spawn?"
"YES! YES! Elves! Breed them! Fill them up!"
After just a few words, the goblins were fired up. If Tian asked, they’d probably die for iron weapons.
They all raised their arms and cheered, "Long live Brother!"
At that moment, no one noticed the goblin shaman’s eyes glinting in the darkness of his shack, watching Tian with a complicated expression.
Once the goblins were excited enough, Tian gave his orders. "Go out and find as many kinds of stones as you can—the more, the better!"
"Brother, why do we need to find stones?"
One goblin scratched his head, still confused.
One fool piped up, "Brother must like walnuts! We’ll use the stones to crack them!"
"Your head looks like a walnut. This is an important step for smelting iron. Now get moving."
Tian snapped.
Explaining what iron ore looked like would be pointless—they’d never get it.
Only after someone found a sample and showed the rest would they start to recognize it.
Besides, he wasn’t about to do the searching himself. He could boss the goblins around as much as he wanted.
If goblins were rich in anything, it was manpower.
Still, he hadn’t expected it would take two full days before a goblin finally found a piece of iron ore.
Over the next few days, all the goblins searched the area with that sample for reference, but they still found very little.
As expected, iron ore was rare—every intelligent race coveted it.
It looked like they’d have to raid the elves’ iron mines sooner or later.
"Ten days, and this is all we’ve got. It’s barely enough for ten short swords," Tian muttered bitterly.
He eyed the seven or eight lumps of ore in front of him, frustrated.
But then inspiration struck. If he couldn’t make enough short swords, he’d make spears instead. That way, he could forge at least fifty spearheads.
He could use tougher wood for the shafts.
With fifty spears, they could take the elves’ iron outpost by force. Fully armed, no creature within ten kilometers would dare provoke them.
Tian spent another day building a clay furnace to make smelting easier.
The other goblins broke the ore into smaller pieces.
"You lot, come here and keep the fire going. If it dies down, I’ll toss you in!"
Tian instructed. Iron’s melting point was over 1,500 degrees, so the fire had to be fierce.
Firelight lit up the entire tribe through the night.
While the iron smelted, Tian trained two goblins in blacksmithing and mold-making—otherwise, he’d work himself to death.
Tian turned to Moon. "What kind of weapon do you want?"
She was the first female goblin in history. He’d need to make her not just a weapon, but a set of simple armor too.
Moon flushed, flustered. "I... I don’t know."
"You like the moon, right? I’ll make you a crescent blade."
With everything nearly ready, Tian realized his life simulation ability had refreshed.
Now was the perfect time to use it.
As he sat there, Tian’s gaze drifted to the shack in the center of the camp.
That old fox would probably try to kill him once the weapons were finished.
He needed to be ready.
"System, start the life simulation."
