Chapter 63: Counterattack

Gulak grinned as he slapped the back of a captured goblin, who was shambling off in a line, heading off back to the main goblin den.

Kyle did not concern himself with how the goblins were being assimilated, as he already expected the first batch of goblins that he dominated to create a class hierarchy. This meant that Gulak and his tribe were motivated to capture and ensure that the new goblins did not overthrow their newfound power.

By creating a class divide between them, I can have them focus their energy and anger on each other rather than the humans running the operation... It was a common tactic that many leaders of the Galactic Era have implemented and perfected since the first human empire was born on Ancient Earth.

The total number of goblins under Kyle neared a thousand in total, composed of three different tribes. Gulak’s First Tribe had transitioned into being the administrative wing as well as the overseers. Gulak had also elevated the Second Tribe, creating the class pyramid in order to retain order.

Now, they were herded back to the goblin den of Gulak for ‘re-education’, where they would be subjected to continuous displays of modern technology and increased living standards. It was not wrong to say that despite their enslaved status, their standard of living was far better than what they had previously.

With the increased number of goblins, the agricultural project becomes even more critical to complete. We can temporarily sustain the population with food bought via the Euria Seeds trading system, but this won’t be sustainable in the long term.

Kyle did not follow the new goblins back to the den, instead remaining in the den that had just been captured. Sasha was resting with the troops while Merissa and Feldon assessed the state of the den and if it could be connected back to the main goblin den.

“It’s not too far, but we would need some serious tunnelling work if we wanted to link everything up in a straight line. Right now the tunnel networks can be used, but it is a bit inefficient.” Merissa pointed out to Kyle.

“Once the steel factory is up, I’ll look into making equipment, but we’ll have to do it manually first.”’

Creating such heavy equipment would definitely not be easy – Kyle was not even sure if he could get it done within two months. It could be done extremely fast if he duplicated the automated mining equipment he knew from the Galactic Era, but he had to weigh the pros and cons of it.

“For now, let Raksha map out the area and see what’s the possibility of digging out a tunnel to connect the existing networks,” Kyle replied. Given the number of goblins under him, it was possible to simply do a rotation shift and provide arctech hand drills to chew away at the rock. It would certainly be easier to implement than an entire tunnelling machine.

Luckily, there was already an existing tunnel network in the dens that could be easily linked, and they had already been digging the tunnel to Raktor for months. If I had the goblins simply dig at the same time in different section, the tunneling speed will be increased multiple times.

Raksha was also busy prospecting and checking every nook and cranny of the den as far as he could with the assistance of captured elder goblins. Kyle hoped that at least a bit of iron ore would be found so they could begin building a distribution system for the factory.

The steel and weapons factory was now being constructed, with Gordon and Reese leading the effort. Baron Cain provided connections for the supply of heavy equipment as well as a starting batch of materials, but Kyle was not happy with the cost of it, wanting to create his own vertical chain.

Just as Kyle was about to leave the den, an excited Raksha quickly ran up to him. “I’ve found it! I’ve found it! Here’s the motherlode!” Raksha’s face was covered in black dirt, his hand holding a few crumbling pieces of black rock.

Kyle’s eyes immediately widened, picking up the rock and feeling it for himself. “Coal. You found a coal seam?”

“Indeed! I cannot determine if there is more than one layer yet, but there is definitely a layer right here that we can dig right into!”

“Merissa, Feldon, you hear that?”

“Yes, sir!” Merissa nodded. “I’ll have them prepare the roof supports and the ventilation immediately. I assume this makes the tunnel even more important?”

Kyle nodded. “Every goblin worker is to focus on this project – we need it done within a week. The steel factory is to be completed next month, so I want the distribution network up and running.”

“The network will be slow if we use the same method that we use for the Euria Seeds.” Feldon said.

“That’s a temporary solution for now. Once the steel factory is ready, we’ll start laying rails for faster distribution.”

Kyle returned to the outside, where Sasha was desperately trying to train the goblins to shoot the handguns. It was not going well, with the goblins being too far used to the bows trained under Kyle.

[Sir, I don’t think it’s possible for us to distribute the extra handguns to the goblins. I fear we may suffer more casualties than expected.] Sasha spoke through the wireless channel.

Kyle nodded. It was impossible to train a human to be a sharpshooter within a day, so he did not have high hopes for the goblins in the first place. “Not a problem. We’ll do it the old-fashioned way, then. Any news from our forward scouts?”

[They claim there’s been rioting over the past day in the central territory, but we have not heard back from them in a while.]

“When was their last check-in supposed to be?”

The words were caught in the leader’s throat as a lone human male appeared in the distance, walking slowly towards them.

The leader was shocked.

The goblins were all stunned but soon steeled their hearts and charged. They split up and jumped over the roots of tree branches and fallen logs, rushing at the human male.

A smirk appeared on the human male’s face as he brandished a handgun.

Intimidation Aura!

Suddenly, every goblin who had their eyes locked on Kyle froze in fear, with nearly half of them stopping and turning around. Even the leader of the goblin felt it, his heart nearly skipping a beat as he felt the eyes of a predator land on his skin, the goosebumps sending a tingle through his spine.

Kyle quickly aimed the handgun, firing rapidly with precision at the goblins who were frozen with fear. Within the first second, two goblins were already crumpling to the floor, and a tunnel formed through their heads.

[System Message]

Killed [Goblin Warrior], +50 EXP

The sounds of the shots jolted those who were still stationary and prompted them to move.

An older goblin that had fought against the Yual Dominion before yelled at the top of his lungs.

Kyle took the advantage to dance around the trees, using the trunks as cover as he darted in and out, sniping at the goblins who failed to conceal their heads completely.

In the first thirty seconds, nearly a dozen had already died, with the fear amplified by the Intimidation Aura. More and more goblins began to flee, running back. The young goblin too, lost his composure, screaming as he ran away. However, a javelin was tossed towards him, landing right in front of him and causing him to shriek in fear.

The leader and his elite troops were now on the ground, fighting against the Intimidation Aura.

The threat did not work until the leader impaled one of the runners with a thrown javelin.

As the fleeing goblins rallied once more and rushed at Kyle, they noticed Kyle reloading, with a metal block dropping out of the handgun.

The experienced older goblin roared, charging out with his own spear and lunging at Kyle.

Penchant for Violence!

Kyle’s speed increased, his hand swiftly retrieving the magazine in his belt and reloading the handgun in an instant. In a blitz spray, he retrieved his hammer and swung at the incoming attackers while he used his other hand to fire the handgun non-stop. The loud bangs of the handguns cracked like a whip as it echoed off the mountain, with the flanking groups able to clearly hear the sounds of fighting.

Kyle grinned as he sheathed his now empty handgun, grabbing the nearest goblin and lifting him high. With an extremely strong toss, Kyle flung the screaming goblin far out beyond the treeline towards the flanking groups.

“That should be a good enough signal.”