A Black Market LitRPG

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?”

[About five hours ago.]

“Assemble all the warriors immediately. Prepare for an attack soon.”

Sasha did not question the order, immediately signalling with her hands and passing down the message. The goblin warriors and human squad leaders were all confused, murmuring among each other. The differences in race hardly mattered to them any more as they fought side by side, many bonds forged through the battles and shared despair of Sasha’s training routine.

Kyle took stock of the number of troops left. A portion of them had been diverted to escorting the newly captured goblins back, which meant he was left with a diminished fighting force that was slightly tired as well.

“Sasha, scout ahead and report,” Kyle ordered, prompting Sasha to immediately scale up the mountain, leaping from rock to ledge, trying to get a bird’s eye view of the forest that surrounded the mountain.

“Rest of you, split up into two groups. Both groups will head away from the mountain, two kilometres that way. Keep a line of sight to here. Once you see the signal, you will rush back here and flank the attackers. Got it?”

The warriors nodded first before they began to mumble among themselves again. One of the humans raised his hand, picking up the courage to ask Kyle. “Sorry, but what’s the signal?”

“You’ll know when you see it. Prepare everything and leave now.”

Following Kyle’s orders, they split into two groups of fifty each, heading deep into the forest away from the mountain. With this, only Kyle was left at the mine, save for Merissa, Feldon and the other goblin workers still prospecting with Raksha.

[Sir, large troop movement spotted.]

“Estimates?”

[About two hundred goblins.]

“Then it is an even fight.”

Kyle checked his armour, hammer and arctech handgun. The railgun was hard to use in such a dense forest, so he needed close-range weapons that were reusable. The handgun could only be reloaded twice with the number of magazines slotted in his belt.

The sounds of marching footsteps and drums began to reach Kyle’s ears. The noise echoed into the goblin den, prompting Merissa to come out, astonished at where all the warriors went.

“Stay inside the den. I am going to block the tunnel.” Kyle hefted a few large boulders and broken, abandoned mining equipment to stuff the entrance, ensuring that none of the enemy goblins could enter the den while he was fighting.

A loud horn blared across the forest in a rapid burst of three blows, causing the birds of the forest to fly away en-masse as the drums continued to pound.

Two hundred armoured goblins and hobgoblins were moving in formation while the leader of the force was atop a horse, a skull cap above his head.

He asked a servant who was walking barefoot, carrying his equipment.

The leader held up his fist, prompting the force to immediately stop and form a defensive formation, with the goblins carrying heavy steel shields positioned at the front. None of them had any bows, as bows were seen to be used only by weak pointy-ear elves.

The leader motioned to a goblin messenger, who nodded and grabbed a stone tablet from his backpack, climbing up a tree.

[] The goblin messenger screamed through a makeshift wooden loudhailer, amplifying his voice over the treeline, echoing off the slope of the mountain.

Nothing in the forest moved save for the breathing motion of the goblins, who held their swords and spears at the ready, keeping their eyes peeled for anything in the distance or through the dense foliage that obscured much of their vision.

A fearful young goblin who had been conscripted into the force was slightly trembling as he gripped his spear, sweat glands causing him to lose his purchase on the handle.

An older goblin smacked the back of the young goblin heartily.

The young goblin nodded slightly, still unconvinced. The minute of silence passed slowly, with every pulse of his blood thumping in his ears as he lost track of time.

The leader announced.

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.

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.”