“Kekeke.”

  After emerging, the goblin priest let out a chilling laugh, fixing Tian with hollow, blood-red eyes that sent shivers down his spine.

  Then he turned around, ready to head back.

  With the priest’s silent approval, the little leader began preparing a fire, stomping on Tian a few more times for good measure.

  As if he were just an object.

  They were going to roast him alive!

  This was the brutal reality—death could strike at any moment. Who would still fantasize about being isekai’d? Better to just wash up and go to sleep.

  Of course, Tian knew it would be like this. After all, he had transmigrated into a goblin’s body and inherited all its memories.

  He blurted out, “I can make weapons! Let me join you guys!”

  When speaking to these goblins, he had to keep his language simple and stiff, or they wouldn’t understand.

  Hearing this, the goblin priest stopped in his tracks.

  He walked up to Tian with an eerie gait, pressing his long, blackhead-covered nose against him and sniffing repeatedly.

  Only then did he say, “No smell of lies. Let him go. What kind of weapons can you make?”

  The higher-ranked a goblin was, the smarter they were, and the more human-like their speech became.

  “Simple iron tools are no problem. That way, when we run into monsters or humans, we can beat them.”

  Tian said as he got up, his gaze firm.

  He had casually watched a few wilderness survival shows, the kind where tough guys lived alone in the wild. They featured iron smelting, so he had a rough idea of the process.

  When they heard this, the other goblins’ eyes lit up in amazement. They were absolutely stunned.

  Iron weapons!

  Of course, they knew what those were—the very weapons humans used to slaughter goblins.

  One touch from those things and you’d be bleeding out, maybe even lose an arm or a leg.

  “Great! Now we can kill humans and never go hungry again!”

  “If we have iron weapons, can we attack the elf tribe to the north?”

  “I like elves way better than humans, kekeke!”

  The goblin priest was also surprised, letting out an evil, shrill laugh, “Kekeke! Then get to it right away!”

  “I’m exhausted. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

  He had spent half the night running and was already out of breath. Finding iron ore and smelting it now? He would collapse from exhaustion.

  This body was far too weak.

  Instantly, the goblins got pissed off and agitated, feeling like they’d been tricked.

  The little leader even pressed his stone spear against Tian’s stomach—one more push and he’d be gutted.

  The goblin priest’s face twisted slightly, “If you can’t make iron weapons, you don’t eat!”

  With that, he went back into his shack.

  The old goblin was incredibly paranoid—never getting involved in fights, spending his youth breeding, and only emerging when absolutely necessary.

  Tian wasn’t in any position to make demands right now. He could only find a pile of hay to rest properly and calm down.

  If he wanted revenge, his own strength definitely wasn’t enough.

  He could use this goblin tribe.

  But first, he needed to kill the goblin leader who had dared to stomp on his face.

  And from what he had just heard, there was an elf tribe to the north. If he could breed with elves, his strength would increase dramatically.

  With these thoughts, he gradually drifted off to sleep.

  ...

  “Wake up, wake up...”

  While he was sleeping, Tian was woken by a gentle voice.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Opening his eyes, he saw a goblin wearing a tattered cloth robe sitting beside him. The ratty fabric—barely even qualified as a robe—covered almost her entire face, revealing only a small patch of pale chin and thin, trembling lips.

  She was smaller than a typical goblin, with a waist so thin it looked as if it might snap. Beneath the ragged robe, he could make out curves that shouldn't exist on a goblin—two small but noticeably soft mounds on her chest, rising and falling with her nervous breaths, stretching the thin, dirty fabric taut, the edges revealing two faint, embarrassing peaks.

  The hem of her robe barely reached her thighs, exposing two slender legs. When she pressed her knees together, the tender skin of her inner thighs shimmered faintly in the firelight, like grass wet with morning dew.

  Seeing Tian wake up, she hastily pulled the hood down further, almost burying her entire face in shadow, as if terrified someone might see her face—so different from other goblins, with an almost sickly delicate beauty.

  “Are you hungry? Here, take this.”

  The little goblin shakily held out a dark, grimy lump.

  It was obviously some creature’s hide, with fur still covered in bloodstains. Disgusting as hell.

  Almost anything else would have looked more appetizing.

  Seeing Tian unmoved, the little goblin looked clearly disappointed. “This is all I could get, but it’s really good! Try it if you don’t believe me.”

  Hearing this, Tian looked not far away and saw the goblins had caught a wild boar and were dividing it up.

  So this piece of pig hide was this little goblin’s meal for today.

  Maybe even their only meal in several days.

  Tian felt somewhat touched, but suddenly snapped to attention, a bit wary. “Wait, why are you giving this to me?”

  Logically, why would a low-level goblin help someone else when they couldn’t even feed themselves?

  It was far too unusual!

  “I... I don’t know either...”

  Being questioned like this, the little goblin was clearly confused, even feeling like they’d done something wrong.

  Tian didn’t dwell on it and checked her status panel directly.

  [Little Goblin: Lv3

  Race: Goblin

  Class: Divine Messenger

  Titles: Female Goblin, Fallen Deity, Pure Soul, Divine Blessing

  HP: 10

  Strength: 2

  Defense: 1

  Skills: Gene Devouring, Wild Growth

  Equipment: None

  Overall: 10]

  (Note: Not the female protagonist)

  “What?!”

  Seeing these titles, Tian couldn’t help but shout in shock!

  What the hell was all this?!

  Goblins didn’t have females! Yet here was the legendary female goblin!

  According to human legends, if a male goblin had a child with a female goblin, he could become a goblin god!

  Of course, it was just a mockery, since goblins would never birth females.

  They could only reproduce with other species.

  Hearing his outburst, the goblins who were eating raw meat and drinking blood simply glanced over, then looked away.

  “Not my problem” perfectly described their attitude.

  Tian gradually recovered from his shock. No wonder this little goblin was so intelligent.

  Seeing him like that, the little goblin was so scared she collapsed onto the ground. “I-I-I... I didn’t mean anything bad, I just wanted to give you food, waaah...”

  “Ahem, sorry for scaring you. Thanks for the food. Let’s eat together.”

  Tian quickly apologized. He didn’t need to keep his speech simple and stiff with her.

  He tore the piece of pig hide in half, gave one piece to her, and ate the other himself.

  It tasted terrible, but it would restore his stamina nonetheless.

  The little goblin nibbled bit by bit, savoring it as if it were a delicacy.

  Tian wiped his mouth and reached out his hand. “From now on, I’m your boss. I’ll look after you.”

  “Boss?”

  The little goblin froze. She was ostracized in this tribe not just because she was weak, but also because she couldn’t communicate with the other goblins.

  It was like a normal person trying to fit in among fools.

  So the newcomer Tian made her curious enough to try talking.

  “Okay, Boss. I really love looking at the moon, so I call myself Goblin Moon. What about you?”

  The little goblin said excitedly.

  She had even given herself a name?

  Goblins didn’t have names unless they were high-ranking. Tian thought for a moment and said, “My name is Goblin.”

  Goblin Moon nodded vigorously.

  It was time to get to work. Tian took Goblin Moon and climbed a large tree beside the tribe to look around.

  The surrounding terrain was dense jungle, several kilometers from the valley.

  Tian couldn’t help but ask, “Goblin Moon, have you ever seen a kind of stone that’s black and yellow, dusty on the surface, and very hard?”

  “Umm, sorry Boss, I haven’t seen anything like that.”

  Goblin Moon said after thinking for a moment, looking a bit disappointed.

  Tian could only nod. A goblin this weak had probably never even left the tribe. How would she know about iron ore?

  There was probably some in the valley, but crossing the demon forest would be far too dangerous.

  He could only use the system’s Life Simulation.

  “System, start the Life Simulation.”

  [Life Simulation System activating. Current scenario: Integrating into the New Tribe

  You shamelessly took in a goblin underling. Your relationship is good, and you finally felt a bit of warmth.

  But under pressure from the goblin priest, you had no choice but to risk going to the valley to search for iron ore.

  On the way, you encountered a fleeing herd of deer. In the chaos, you realized it was caused by a pack of Tier 2 monsters—Shadow Wolves. Goblin Moon died tragically protecting you.

  After going through hell, you finally reached the valley. There was indeed iron ore here, but it was occupied by elves.

  (Choice 1: Play it safe and leave this place, return in disgrace. Score: -5)

  (Choice 2: Go for it. Try to sneak in and mine some iron ore, or you won’t be able to answer to the goblin priest. Score: +15)

  (Choice 3: Search elsewhere. Score: No change)]

  Since it was just a simulation, dying didn’t matter. Tian still chose the second option. The important thing was that Goblin Moon had died—a valuable goblin like her couldn’t be wasted.

  So he could try any option, no matter how risky.

  [The sharp-eyed elves discovered you. You were shot in the shoulder by an arrow and died of infection a few days after returning.

  The other goblins divided up and ate your corpse.

  Summary: Your weakness led to this outcome. You got both your underling and yourself killed.

  Score: 15 points (out of 100)

  Reward: 15 Life Points

  Life Simulation complete. Time elapsed: 7 days.]

  “Boss? Why aren’t you talking?”

  Goblin Moon’s confused voice pulled Tian back from the system.

  He answered, “I spaced out for a sec. Let’s head back.”

  Since searching for iron ore in the valley was a no-go, he’d have to rely on the system for now.

  Tian checked what Life Points could do.

  Sure enough, transmigrator systems were all pretty similar. Life Points could be exchanged for various things.

  The most basic items were iron tools. One Life Point could be exchanged for an iron sword, a suit of iron armor, or a potion.

  With 15 Life Points, he could get several iron items.

  This was his only option.

  First, he’d deal with the goblin priest, then lay down some demands and send the other goblins out to find iron ore.

  Gradually, he would build his authority and seize control of the tribe.

  This was the first step toward revenge—against the humans, the stubble-faced man, and the white-robed nun.