[Tombstone Artifacts: Shire Merlot]

[Race: goblin (Human)]

[Danger Level: 0.5, Useless]

[Subordinates: 81]

[personality: ???]

[Own State: Advanced Transformation Curse (Negative)]

[Title: Leader of the Vibrant Forest Organization]

[Available Abilities: Blessing of the Evil God, Lustful, Basic Endurance x2, Eye of Confusion, Regeneration x2]

’Eighty-one goblins. That’s a huge boost in manpower.’ Shire’s spirits lifted as he looked at his status panel.

Agatha’s collection list was still in the burrow, and now he finally had enough hands for the job, at least for now.

Shire watched the goblins frolicking and running around, feeling gratified. ’What free-spirited "workhorses." I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re fed and warm. All you have to do is work hard.’

Realizing this new batch of subordinates hadn’t eaten yet, Shire called over Red Eyes. "How much of the jerky we brought is left?"

"Leader, all gone. Every last bit." Red Eyes puffed out his chest, his face full of pride. He thought the leader must be asking if everyone had eaten their fill.

"Huh? Not a single piece left?" Shire’s jaw dropped. He had prepared for this, bringing plenty of extra food specifically to feed any new goblins. And now, it turned out they had devoured it all in the meal before the fight.

"Take some goblins and go hunt. Now." Shire sent Red Eyes off with a kick.

They would just have to hunt for some game on the spot. Fortunately, he still had plenty of Healing Potions. They could temporarily boost vital signs, which might at least serve as a placebo.

Shire called over Buck Teeth and had him give each of the new goblins a few sips of his special "Drink Undying" brew to tide them over.

Then, he let his consciousness sink and opened the Domain map.

A wax-yellow parchment slowly unrolled, and then ink began to appear.

The newly opened area was a wide rectangle. A thought struck Shire. ’Zoom in.’

The ink rippled and settled. Shire saw that this vast area was dotted with clusters of herbs, most of them perfectly preserved. It was clear that Adventurers hadn’t ventured this far in yet.

"Blue Thorn Grass, Red Thorn, Wind Charm Grass, Purple Wood Flower..." Shire’s eyes lit up as he scanned the names.

He would organize a herb-gathering team composed of the new goblins, assign a combat squad to protect them, and clear out all the herbs in this area as quickly as possible.

’Agatha’s probably going to cry. If I hand over this many herbs, she’ll be stirring until her rod sparks, and she still won’t be done.’ Shire grinned mischievously. He even pictured the despairing Ghost Witch slumped on the floor, disgustedly chugging a Magic Potion to restore her Mana while using Mage’s Hand to stir several large cauldrons in circles until she had a complete breakdown.

At the same time, he spotted a crossed-swords icon to the north.

’This must be the entrance to the Fortress.’ Shire mused. ’I wonder how big it is.’

’Can’t go today. I have to meet Little John and get the new grenade casings first.’

Shire’s territory now formed a sharp, inverted triangle. The Fortress was quite a distance from their original four-goblin burrow. It would take over an hour to walk there in a straight line, but trekking through the actual forest would take much longer.

Moreover, with more and more subordinates, the demand for supplies was growing. Relying solely on trading with Little John once every three days seemed like it was becoming inadequate.

’I have to find a way to secure this trade route.’

He had considered organizing a mule train led by Little John. That way, his own subordinates could handle the loading and unloading during their meetings. But this presented a security problem.

A mule train entering the forest would definitely be spotted by other Adventurers. If they followed it, they would discover that the Future Hero was a "Traitor" collaborating with goblins. That would be a huge mess.

’I’ll just have to play it by ear for now.’ For the moment, Shire couldn’t think of a better solution.

Exiting his Consciousness Space, Shire stretched and prepared to check out the inside of the Giant’s burrow.

He had braced himself before going in, but the stench still hit him like a club to the head.

The burrow wasn’t large, about the same size as the compact one the original four goblins had lived in.

The ground was littered with filth—bones, rotting grass, and hair. In a corner were a few pieces of tattered equipment from human Adventurers, tossed aside carelessly.

Shire dragged the tattered equipment out of the burrow and threw it on the ground, getting a rough idea of the haul.

"You, come here." Shire called One-Eyed to his side.

"Are there any dangerous animals around here?" he asked.

One-Eyed thought for a moment before saying, "No. The Giants would sometimes patrol the area and mark their territory. None of the larger beasts or Magical Beasts dared to come close."

"Mark?" Shire was intrigued by how Giants marked their territory.

One-Eyed nodded, squatted down, and mimed the act of taking a dump. Then he reached out his hand...

"That’s enough, you can get up," Shire said hastily. He had just eaten not long ago.

"There’s one more thing. Please come with me, Leader," One-Eyed said, suddenly remembering something.

He led Shire to the base of a tree. Shire looked warily at what was on the ground.

It was a Giant with pale blue skin, curled up on the ground. His feet were shackled by an iron chain wrapped around the tree trunk.

His cheeks were sunken, making his eyes seem unnaturally large. His red hair was sparse, growing in just a few tufts. His limbs were like bamboo poles, his ribs were visible, and his stomach was caved in.

Shire pulled up the other’s status panel.

[Name: Caocao]

[Race: Giant]

[Danger Level: 9, A Little Dangerous (Hunger 2, Still Okay)]

[personality: Kind]

[Ability: Regeneration]

[Own State: Severe Malnutrition (Negative)]

At that moment, the Giant was slowly grabbing handfuls of weeds from the ground and struggling to put them in his mouth.

"Do Giants eat grass?" Shire asked.

One-Eyed was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Leader, you eat it to survive."

"Why is he like this?"

"His name is Caocao. Because he wouldn’t eat goblins, the other two Giants despised him. They said Caocao wasn’t worthy of being a Giant, that he only deserved to eat grass. They beat him up and chained him here."

"He’s never eaten a single one?"

"No. Sometimes, I would give him a little meat," One-Eyed answered firmly.

Shire didn’t ask any more questions, simply observing this new subordinate of his.

One-Eyed felt a little tormented under Shire’s gaze. He lowered his head and said softly, "I was just hoping he could help me if I ever needed to escape."

Shire said nothing. He could understand the thoughts of these goblins living on the brink of death. After all, the remains of a goblin lay on the ground where the two Giants had been eating.

Caocao arduously pulled up a handful of green grass from the ground, listlessly preparing to stuff it into his mouth.

Shire stepped forward, shook the grass from his grasp, then crouched down to look the Giant in the eye.

"Come with me," Shire said softly.

"Caocao hungry."

"I’ll make sure you get a full meal, and you’ll never go hungry again."

"Caocao hungry."

"It’s okay. We’re going to eat right now. We’ll eat meat."

"Caocao hungry..."