The guards who were blocking the Goblins saw the two officials approaching and quickly stepped forward to greet them, saying, "We apologize for disturbing your meeting, Your Excellencies. We will immediately drive away those two troublesome Goblins."
"No need, let them come over," Unas said, adopting a leader's stance. "We can't discriminate against goblins just because Goblin, ugly, and noisy. We should be open to the opinions of any race."
The guards dared not argue, repeatedly agreeing and retreating to let the Goblins pass. The lame goblin leader Goblin ran to the two men, bowed deeply to Unas, and shrieked, "Congratulations, my lord, on your great victory!"
Unas smiled and nodded. "General Manager Kraz, it's been a few days. How have you and your staff been?"
Kraz's eyes lit up with surprise. He hadn't expected the Warden to remember his name. Unas was indeed Goblin by this lame goblin; the general manager's business card was still in his bag.
"Thanks to your generosity, sir, we have been able to have a few full meals, and none of the Goblins have starved to death." Kraz bowed again in gratitude.
"So, how are things going with what I assigned you?"
"I've come today to report to the master," the Goblin exclaimed dramatically, "The explosives experiment was a great success!"
"Really? I'd like to see your experiment with my own eyes." Unas wasn't about to believe this boastful, unscrupulous merchant; he wanted to see it for himself.
"Of course, no problem. I can arrange it for you tomorrow," Kraz, rubbing his hands together. "It's just that we've run out of our food supplies, so I'd like to ask you to..."
"If your explosives actually work, I will revoke the captive status of all Goblins, and you will receive a share of the Argent Dawn's food aid to refugees," Unas's tone turned stern, "But if you dare to lie to me..."
"I wouldn't dare," the Goblin nearly collapsed in fear. The title of Executioner Paladin was no joke, and an inexplicable spiritual pressure made it hard for him to breathe. "I'll go back right now to arrange the test explosion for the master. It will be ready before noon."
"Very well, then I'll wait here for your good news." Threats are definitely more effective than sweet talk when dealing with these cunning fellows.
The Goblins fled like the wind. Perella asked suspiciously, "So you were having them make gunpowder? We don't have the Dwarves ' guns and cannons, so gunpowder isn't actually that useful."
"It doesn't necessarily have to be used in war. For example, with your current mining problem, explosives are much faster than manpower."
Upon hearing this, Perella's eyes lit up. Unas added, "Provided it has enough power. Let's see how things go first."
"I want to go with him and see for myself." The captain of the rangers seemed to think there was a lot of potential in it and eagerly sought the Warden's opinion.
"Then I'll leave this matter to you. Carefully observe their test explosion process. If the power is sufficient, the explosives they manufacture can be used for mining first."
Perella nodded slightly and hurriedly chased after the Goblins in the distance.
"What a woman who believes everything she hears, "Unas shook his head. In truth, he had always been skeptical about the Goblins extracting explosives from feces. It wouldn't hurt to have the female Elf oversee things; if the Goblins were lying, it would be a good excuse to expel them.
Perella returned with a beaming face right after lunch. Unas, knowing things were looking promising, eagerly asked, "How was it? How powerful was it?"
"Very good. Their daily output is enough to blast a three-meter-deep hole in an ordinary mountain wall. That General Manager Ke said that the greater the concentrated quantity, the stronger the explosive force. I want to take them to the Crystal Cave to take a look. Maybe we can blast open that crack. Right now, only a dozen or so unwilling Gnomes can go in to mine, which is really inefficient."
Given Perella's shrewdness, she shouldn't be Goblin the goblins. The explosives seem quite effective. Unas thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement, "Go ahead and do it. Tell the Goblins that if they do well, I will immediately keep my promise to them."
"Thank you for your support, sir." Perella clutched her heart in gratitude, then turned and hurried away.
As Unas watched her rapidly disappearing figure, another plan surfaced in his mind: if he could accumulate enough explosives to blast down the narrow Blue Rock Pass, it would be a massive barrier that would cleave the Spider in two.
However, it's too early to think about these things now; we still need to solve the crystal mine problem first. While pondering this, Unas gathered his personal guard. He had an important task this afternoon—to welcome Tyrosus, who was coming to visit in person.
When his subordinates won a battle, their superiors would come to inspect and offer praise, but Unas felt uneasy. He remembered that before taking office, the One-Eyed Baron had given him a secret mission—to investigate the cause of Holiya's death.
Although Unas knew the truth, he did not report it because the matter was related to Emily's kidnapping, Emily in turn was related to his prison break, which in turn was related to the buying of death row inmates. If someone followed the clues from his report and investigated further, the consequences would be unimaginable.
He hadn't yet come up with a perfect solution to this challenge. With a heavy heart, Unas and his guards rode all the way to the mouth of the Canyon to wait.
Just as the appointed time arrived, a small group of people appeared on the mountain road in the direction of Farshire. Unas quickly rode up to meet them and saw a one-eyed middle-aged man at the head of the group being surrounded by several strong figures. He also quickened his pace to meet them.
The two sides exchanged pleasantries upon meeting. Unas, who had accompanied Tyrosus, recognized the faces of the men, even though he didn't know their names; they had all fought together at Lordamere Lake. Only one unfamiliar man, a bald, burly man in a blue robe, seemed out of place and didn't appear to be a member of the Argent Dawn.
Seeing an opportunity, Erigor introduced, "This is Sir Thomas from headquarters. He will be in charge of the Monastery after we leave for the campaign, and he has come specifically to introduce you."
This bald, burly man looked like a very serious person. His thick, sharp eyebrows made his face seem to be constantly filled with murderous intent. When he saw that he had been introduced, he forced a smile and nodded slightly to Unas.
Unas outwardly returned the greeting respectfully, but inwardly he thought, "The people from our headquarters have been entrusted with the important task of staying behind; they've probably been controlled by Balnazzar, meaning they're 'one of us.'"
He led everyone to inspect the stronghold, focusing on the Mushroom Caves that the Dwarves were working overtime to dig. Everyone was very interested in the Yellow Banana Mushroom, a crop with a short cycle and high yield, which was the best emergency food.
Sir Thomas immediately expressed his desire to send a group of people to learn mushroom cultivation methods, Unas agreed without hesitation. Free labor was free, and he never intended to keep the mushroom cultivation a secret; on the contrary, he hoped to spread the word so that everyone could have food to eat.
Given the current harsh living conditions, Unas is not lacking in this spirit of unity; it's just that damp caves are hard to find, and hopefully, there will be such places in the Farshire as well.