Chapter 161: Thirteenth Mine! Goblin Lord!

Thirteenth Mine!

This is a completely unremarkable name for a mine!

Yet, buried within this mine with such an ordinary name are extremely rich deposits of Red Iron, Bronze, and Mithril.

Inside this mine, it is covered in dense, crisscrossing mine shafts of varying sizes. Along the way, high piles of mine tailings, dark red in color, contain rich Red Iron ore.

Every day, thousands of Goblin miners extract ore here, scattered throughout the various shafts, waving iron shovels and mining hammers as they continuously dig.

Various sounds of metal striking ore echo from within the mine shafts.

Here, besides the hardworking Goblins, one can also see some metal puppets that look like robots. Their movements are stiff and slow, yet they dig for ore just like the Goblins, moving heavy ore along the mine tunnels to be sent to the bottomless depths underground.

However, in a relatively small mine shaft within the Thirteenth Mine, hundreds of Goblins are busy digging. Among this group of Goblins, there is a human figure sitting deep in the shaft, watching the hundreds of Goblins dig.

This person is named 'Hu Zhongjun', and like Qin Luo, he is one of the Lords who descended onto the Chaos Continent.

His territory is not located on the surface like other Lords, but deep underground.

Due to his status as a Lord and his ability to recruit Goblin miners from his Barracks, the Goblin race did not kill him, sparing his life, but he did sign a series of unequal treaties with them.

For instance, his Goblin territory would become a vassal of the Goblin race; the Goblin miners are considered subjects of the Goblin race, merely belonging to Hu Zhongjun for management; and half of the resources obtained by the territory must be handed over to the Goblin city, and so on.

It seems he is subjected to some unfair treatment, but Hu Zhongjun's path to defying the heavens has thus begun.

Hu Zhongjun's Barracks is a First-Tier Ordinary Goblin Barracks, which can only recruit Ordinary One-Star Goblin miners, and they are not even of the combat type!

But fortunately, the troops he recruited discovered that there were large amounts of metal ore around his territory. Just by digging into the ground, he could obtain Red Iron ore, and even small amounts of Bronze ore, which filled him with joy.

Later, Hu Zhongjun was escorted by the Goblin army to the Goblin race's underground city, where he underwent a series of trials and confessed everything.

The Goblin race strictly forbade him from continuing to mine deep underground, even near his own territory, and instead assigned him to mine at a Red Iron mine underground, but half of the Red Iron ore mined had to be handed over.

Yet, just as he was leading the Goblin miners in frantic digging, an army of over a thousand fully armed troops surrounded them.

But Hu Zhongjun not only did not feel aggrieved, he felt he was too lucky!

When a Magic Energy Gun engraved with runes was pointed at his head, it scared Hu Zhongjun so much he almost wet his pants!

Fortunately, Heaven favored him a second time!

After Hu Zhongjun calmed down, he discovered that this army wearing fine equipment was actually the same as his troops—they were Goblin race creatures.

He had thought it was a disastrous start, but it turned out to be a "paradise" in the middle of nowhere.

Because this was a mineral deposit controlled by the Goblin race, the threats within the mine shafts had all been cleared, and no other faction dared to covet the Goblin race's property.

It was precisely by relying on this Red Iron ore and the high price of Red Iron that Hu Zhongjun made a fortune, and his territory achieved rapid development.

In just a few days, he first upgraded his territory to the Black Iron Grade, then upgraded to a Second-Tier Elite Barracks, capable of recruiting Elite-tier Goblin Alchemists, who have the ability to research or manufacture various weapons and equipment, and even refine Magic Potions.

However, although these Goblin Alchemists are a Rare-tier troop, they are life-professionals and do not possess actual combat power.

Fortunately, his territory is not far from the Goblin city. Relying on the Goblin city, he does not really need to build a defense system. Every night, as soon as Dark monsters appear, they are discovered and eliminated by the Goblin patrol army. As for the gains from the kills, the Goblins don't care about them at all, so it all goes to him.

Although half of his ore gains must be handed over, he is also under the protection of the Goblin race, and he is quite satisfied with this.

Hu Zhongjun also solidified his idea of hugging the Goblin race's thigh. He took the initiative to report to the Goblin race that he could recruit Goblin Alchemists, which caused quite a stir among the Goblins, and he was even praised by the Dìjīng zhī Wáng, becoming a Yìzú Guìzú of the Goblins.

At the same time, he was granted the right to mine the Thirteenth Mine, and the resources to be handed over were reduced from the original half to one-third.

Although the Thirteenth Mine is located on the surface and is relatively far from his territory, it contains extremely rich metal resources, including three types of ore: Red Iron, Bronze, and Mithril!

You must know that previously, Hu Zhongjun could only mine Red Iron ore, and that Red Iron mine was not only very barren, but the content was also very low!

But after obtaining the mining rights to the Thirteenth Mine, his territory, which was already developing rapidly, took off like a rocket, and the speed of development was astonishing.

In addition to the gains from the mineral deposits, because he has the noble status bestowed by the Dìjīng zhī Wáng, he can freely travel to the Goblin city and often runs into the Goblin city to purchase important weapon blueprints, building blueprints, etc.

His development speed is extremely rapid, and he is considered top-tier among Ordinary Lords!

"Once the batch of metal ore mined tonight is transported back, I should have gathered the resources needed to upgrade the territory and the Barracks!"

"Upgrading to a Third-Tier Barracks will allow me to recruit Rare-tier troops. I'm so looking forward to what powerful troops I'll get. I hope it's a combat type, and no more life-professionals!"

Hu Zhongjun stared straight ahead, gritted his teeth, and said, "Also, my territory is currently Black Iron Three-Star. I was warned by that group of greedy Goblins once before after upgrading. This time, upgrading to the Bronze Realm will likely cause the Goblins to come and make trouble, so I must prepare a generous gift for them!"

His territory is relatively close to the Goblin city, and the benefit is that it is protected by the Goblin city, with patrols passing by frequently, so he doesn't have to worry about encountering danger.

The downside is that as the territory develops, it gets closer and closer to the Goblin city, and the Goblin race has warned him many times not to expand the territory's scope anymore!

But as a Lord, how can that be!

Fortunately, there are some Goblin officials who always take bribes and extort him, gaining many benefits.

So he thought of the method of bribery.

Hu Zhongjun is also very smart. He has visited the Goblin city's market and knows what the Goblin race lacks, so he purchased some seafood, fruits, and other things through the Trading Market.

These things are not expensive in the Trading Market, but for Goblins who have always lived underground, they are simply irresistible delicacies, much more important than those metal ores!

Through constant gift-giving and bribery, he managed to get some Goblin officials to turn a blind eye to the expansion of his territory.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 162 =====