Goblins and Trolls

Iver took the information provided by the trolls very seriously.

Instead of speaking to them on the busy street, he deliberately led the trolls to a more secluded place.

Considering that coffee is mostly transported from the Southern Continent, Iver didn't take them to a coffee shop. Instead, he took them to a restaurant run by Stibnite Person, got a private room, and ordered a large amount of roast pork—half a pig, for example.

The trolls were clearly flattered. Even in the Theocracy, and even among the elves, not everyone had much patience for trolls, let alone treated them with relative equality.

"I know your history fairly well."

Faced with the young troll priest's stammering questions, Iver calmly replied, "I can trade with you. But you'd better not try to deceive me."

Of course, Iver didn't actually know much about the troll race. After all, the players had never set foot on the Southern Continent back then, and were practically clueless about this land that gave birth to trolls and goblins.

He did know the history of the trolls, but only their origins; he knew nothing about their culture, customs, or politics—if the troll civilization even existed.

For example, trolls and goblins were actually species that emerged in the same era and in adjacent regions.

These are all races with rhinoceros-like rough, thick skin, protruding ears, and hooked noses. Although some are extremely tall with fangs and some are extremely short with fine, flat teeth, they can essentially be considered close relatives.

Even their birth had the same reason.

That is the "creation" of the Beast Lord.

Trolls are a beast-like race created by the Beast Lord in imitation of giants, while goblins are a beast-like race created by the Beast Lord in imitation of dwarves.

The Path of Love possesses the power of creation, like a womb nurturing life. Witches create werewolves, Child of the Moon create new Child of the Moon, and the essence dripping from the moon can also create phantoms known as "monsters." The first fairies were spirits born from mountains, lakes, and forests.

When the Path of Love was still called the Path of the Beast, the Beast Lord also possessed this ability.

He created at least a hundred kinds of beasts—the first twenty, the culmination of His efforts, were called "noble races"; countless others, strange and grotesque, were called "inferior races"; and the last twenty were simply imitations of existing races. Today, only a tenth of these created races remain, but a few still survive.

The Southern Continent is the "cultivation dish" for the Beast Lord.

He piled all his creations together. And after the "Forbidden Fruit," they completely lost control. After a century of utter chaos, each occupied a territory.

In melee combat among low-level superhumans, physique often plays a decisive role in combat effectiveness. Trolls and goblins differ in height by nearly five times, making it less likely for goblins to rebel against trolls than for humans to rebel against giants. However, goblins are intelligent, so they were recruited as slaves by the trolls... The modern troll language and various sacrificial rituals all originated from goblin creations.

Soon, these smarter and more cunning goblins learned how to navigate.

They fled the Southern Continent, which was controlled by trolls, and scattered across various continents. Through trade, research, and theft and imitation of the skills of other races, the goblins quickly grew into a force to be reckoned with.

Most importantly, goblins and trolls have one thing in common—their bloodline is highly contagious.

Regardless of bloodline or gender, children born to goblins are goblins, and children born to trolls are trolls. It often takes eight or nine generations of continuous bloodline immersion to gradually dull some of their racial characteristics.

This obvious racial commonality has made the goblins scattered around the world exceptionally united.

Logically speaking, trolls are an optimized version of giants. The Beast Lord deliberately reduced their size and enhanced their vitality to prevent them from fighting over food.

The optimized trolls, however, took a completely different path from the original giants... giving up.

Because of their powerful physique, rough skin, and incredible vitality—they might not even die from decapitation—they can kill any wild animal in the wild with their bare hands, are immune to most toxins, and are naturally skilled in "witchcraft" and "curses." Trolls are essentially immune to most diseases, so they are not afraid of rain, and mosquitoes cannot bite their skin. And this terrifying race lives in large, communal groups.

Such a powerful race could not possibly have any natural enemies in the fertile Tropical Rainforest.

This is why trolls don't know how to farm, build, or raise livestock; their only way to get meat is by Hunter.

Because the Tropical Rainforest is rich enough in resources, it can easily support these trolls. Therefore, over a thousand years have passed, and the trolls have never become extinct on the Southern Continent, but their civilization has remained in a primitive state.

But the goblins returned, and with more advanced technology, trained abilities, and accumulated wealth, they took control of the Southern Continent and became the masters of the trolls.

However, the goblins do not have their own country, so their behavior is not uniform... Some goblins trade with troll tribes for fragments of ancient technology, while others rob or cheat.

The same applies to plantations and the troll trade. Some trolls were forcibly captured, some were sold by their own kind, some left voluntarily, and some were deceived out of ignorance. To this day, a few powerful troll tribes still reside deep within the Southern Continent, generally hostile to the goblin merchants.

The trolls, who are clearly not slaves but can learn human languages, must be the Si Jie within these troll tribes.

If they can see the wanted poster and obtain the bloodstained pursuit mark, it means that the people trying to hunt Iver come from the Southern Continent —from that savage land inhabited by goblins and trolls, a land teeming with terrifying beasts and even some still-extinct magical creatures.

... So, after the Beast Lord abandoned the trolls, some trolls turned to Bear Angel?

While waiting for the starving trolls to devour their food, Iver rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.

That makes sense.

It is not surprising that these races, lacking wisdom and accustomed to violence, would worship the Supreme Heaven who controls the way of power.

After all, even elves rarely go to the Southern Continent to preach.

Iver even doubted whether the trolls knew that there were nine Pillar God in total, and that Bear Angel was no longer the Supreme Heaven...

Soon, the three-headed troll was full.

These three strong giants, averaging over 2.5 meters tall and with bulging muscles, were full after eating only half a pig, even though they hadn't been hungry for an unknown amount of time... and the pig wasn't even that big.

Of course, it's also possible that they dared not eat too much in unfamiliar surroundings, lest they lower their guard; on the other hand, it also reveals traces of modification by the Beast Lord. Compared to giants, trolls require far less food than giants of the same proportion.

"Can you tell me now?"

Iver, his right hand resting on his scepter, said leisurely, "What do you want me to do? Why does it have to be me? —And also, about the warrant for my arrest. Make sure you explain everything clearly."

"We came to the Theocracy to rescue my grandfather."

The tan-skinned troll replied, "He's been captured."

"Your grandfather?"

Iver became slightly interested. "Was it the owner of that shop who took him away?"

Given the hereditary nature of the Si Jie, his ability to learn human languages indicates that he was at least one of the high priest's first few children. Therefore, his grandfather must have also been a previous high priest.

How could such a powerful superhuman be captured by goblins? They just intercepted Iver at the entrance of the goblin shop... Could it be that they've been lingering outside the shop, wanting to say something but too afraid to go in? "Not goblins. Humans."

The troll emphasized, "It's... a human."

He gestured, pointing to Iver and then to the diners outside.

Then he picked up the stone and said haltingly, "This... too, he gave it to us. To tell us to curse you. Just give me back my grandfather."

"He...broke his promise. He took my grandfather away and brought him to the Theocracy. Someone told me that we are clever and have no curse. My father said...no more. I said yes, yes, and came along."

After talking with him for a while, Iver gradually understood.

A powerful man, renowned among them, ventured deep into the Southern Continent and captured an old priest. He then gave the Iver's Blood the other ritual masters of their tribe, instructing them to curse Iver in exchange for returning the old man to them.

But these trolls weren't entirely stupid—especially the priests, whose ability to learn multiple languages showed they had some brains. His father, not daring to provoke the human, didn't intend to chase after him, but he stubbornly insisted on rescuing his grandfather, so he secretly boarded a cargo ship and smuggled himself across, jumping off and swimming just before reaching his destination.

They initially intended to rescue the person themselves, but these three trolls were all young. Having arrived in the Theocracy, they couldn't speak with the locals, couldn't decipher landmarks, and had no idea where the person was. So they decided to hunt down Iver ... since Iver was that man's enemy, it meant he might know where he was.

Iver's assessment was: He has some brains, not entirely, but still has some.

"... Could they be remnants of the Noble Red faction?"

Iver squinted and murmured, "Humans... humans who serve Bear Angel?"

To the giants, humans were food.

Does that bear really have human followers...?