Chapter 77: Compliance Rising

The sun had already set.

It was still fairly bright around them.

It would be another hour or so before it was completely dark.

They could have kept working, but there weren't enough tools now—not even enough to hand out to those goblins.

Besides, this was only the first day, so this would do.

They'd work properly again tomorrow during the day.

Zhao Chi gave the order: "Gu Qing, that's enough for today. While it's still light out, you all go wash up, and after that get some rest early."

Gu Qing laughed: "My lord, aren't you going? You sweated quite a bit today too."

Zhao Chi shook his head: "I'll stay here and watch the goblins, otherwise they'll definitely try to run."

"I'll watch the goblins. My lord, you take them to wash up, and you can wash up together while you're at it."

"It's fine, I'll go in a bit. You all go ahead."

Gu Qing stared into Zhao Chi's eyes.

She found that he meant it.

Why?

Those were all young women.

With good looks and figures.

And the lord wasn't going to look?

Gu Qing looked around.

Those goblins were all tied up, so the danger wasn't high.

The lord's stats were a bit low, but dealing with them was no problem.

Gu Qing asked softly: "My lord, you can go. They don't mind."

Zhao Chi smiled: "That's good they don't mind. Go on now, it's fine."

"Oh…"

Gu Qing walked off, still suspicious.

She led the female villagers together toward the river.

The goblins watched Gu Qing leave and gradually began to stir.

Zhao Chi picked up a length of rope and walked over to the goblin chieftain.

The chieftain looked at the rope in Zhao Chi's hand and asked nervously: "Wh-what are you doing?"

Zhao Chi asked: "Are you questioning me?"

"N-no… no."

"Without my permission, you're not allowed to chatter. Got it, Old Bu?"

"Ol-Old Bu? My name is Tash…"

"No." Zhao Chi cut him off: "Your name is Old Bu."

"I… I'm called Old Bu."

The goblin chieftain had a name, and Zhao Chi could see it in the system too.

But his name had five characters—too long.

Since he was an old goblin, he'd just be called Old Bu.

Zhao Chi tied the two ends of that length of rope to Old Bu's knees respectively.

The rope was only 40 centimeters long, so even if he wanted to run, his stride would be restricted and he couldn't possibly get away.

"Alright, Old Bu, there's still a little over an hour left. Have your people start chopping trees. There are only 5 woodcutting axes, so you arrange the manpower and take turns chopping."

With that, he tossed the 5 woodcutting axes in front of him.

Old Bu looked at the axes on the ground, then at the trees nearby.

"Um… human lord, which tree should we cut?"

"Whatever you like, but in one hour, 5 trees must be felled, or I'll chop you instead."

"What!?"

Old Bu couldn't believe it.

Zhao Chi smiled: "The timer has already started."

"Ah? It starts now? Then what do I do? I need to untie them."

Zhao Chi sharpened the hatchet in his hand: "Fine, but after you untie them, don't forget to tie them to the trees again. If one runs off, I'll chop off your leg."

"Holy shit! Why?"

"58 minutes left."

"!? "

Old Bu scrambled off toward the goblins in a panic.

But with the rope on his knees, he couldn't take proper strides and could only scuttle over with his toes turned inward.

He rapidly untied a few goblins and tied them to different trees respectively.

"Chop fast! You all chop fast!"

The goblins picked up the axes helplessly.

They hadn't even eaten their fill, and now they had to chop trees.

Every one of them had arms trembling.

"All of you, hurry up, chop faster!"

Old Bu shouted loudly, urging them on without pause.

After chopping for a while, those goblins, seeing themselves running out of strength, couldn't swing their axes at all anymore.

Zhao Chi shouted: "You can rotate people. There are twenty-one of you—don't just let those five chop the trees."

Old Bu slapped his forehead and quickly swapped in another five.

The tree-chopping speed picked up again.

Roughly forty-plus minutes later, five trees toppled one after another.

The sky had already turned deep blue.

Zhao Chi tossed over some cooled-down skewers.

"Old Bu, you distribute them. Give them to the ones who chopped trees."

Old Bu hurried over, picked up the skewers, and handed them out to those people.

The other goblins watched enviously as they ate.

Zhao Chi said: "There'll be chances tomorrow. If you work seriously, I'll definitely let you eat your fill. If you don't, you'll not only go hungry, you'll get beaten too. Understand?"

The goblins nodded one after another.

System notification:

【Your captive "Tashigeganu" compliance degree already increased to 4 — Submissive】

【Your captive "Gewuheila" compliance degree already increased to 5 — Groveling】

【Your captive "Sazelugai" compliance degree already increased to 3 — Unwilling to Be Outdone】

【Your captive……】

Over ten goblins had their compliance raised.

Now the lowest was also 3 points.

The goblin chieftain's full name was Tashigeganu.

How does one even pronounce this lousy name?

Calling him Old Bu is still more convenient.

Anyway, he'll be sold off in a few days—no need to remember his name.