Chapter 250: Plague? Rebellion!

Black Wind Fortress, the goblin community was as usual; the air was filled with the smell of metal and machine oil, and the factory chimneys spat out rolling thick smoke day and night, just like the pipes hanging from the foremen's mouths.

Goblins traveled in groups through the narrow alleys, treading on muddy ground, rushing between the workshops and residential areas.

Although poor, it was stable here.

Since Sini'ke took office as the director of the Goblin Neighborhood Committee, the community order had gradually stabilized; the community sheds no longer leaked wind or rain, and the goblin laborers were all willing to work honestly, and there was work to be done.

It wasn't just the goblins who were living well, of course, that also included Sini'ke, who took the most credit.

The Demon King never treated his servants poorly, especially the excellent ones.

Sini'ke believed that he undoubtedly belonged to the latter.

Although he hadn't been to the labyrinth in Lei Ming County, relying on the Demon King's appreciation and the ample funds allocated to the Neighborhood Committee, he had already lived a life in Black Wind Fortress that didn't lose to the "Naobula"—not only using beer instead of drinking water, but even using beer to rinse his mouth; he was just short of doing the butterfly stroke in the granary and soaking in a beer barrel.

Actually, it wasn't that he couldn't do it, it was mainly that his ideological backsliding wasn't fast enough, and the old concept of saving where possible hadn't been changed yet.

Beer used for rinsing could be drunk, but beer used for bathing was a bit tricky; he couldn't just chug it, and even if he burst his stomach, he couldn't finish it.

Goblins were not hell-dwarves after all; their constitutions were different.

But the next generation would be different.

Sini'ke pondered that his children would definitely not lose to him, would definitely be better at squandering than him, and would definitely squander with more peace of mind than him, unlike him, who felt a pang of pain while squandering.

Another busy yet leisurely day.

Sini'ke leaned against the door of his "office"—that dilapidated carriage—while triumphantly shaking a goblet he had picked up from somewhere, flipping through a thick file filled with graffiti.

Recently, there hadn't been much that required his personal intervention; the lackeys patrolling the community were enough to settle things. Although there were occasional complaints, they couldn't reach his ears, let alone the Demon King's. It was precisely for this reason that he had the leisure to drink during work hours. If it were a month ago, when he was still a lone commander, he would definitely not have had such leisure.

"Hiccup... the Demon King's stuff really tastes great... hehe." Sini'ke, slightly tipsy, wiped his mouth, his long nails pinching the file to flip a page, admiring the work results of the past month.

However, at this moment, his beautiful day was broken by a panicked shout.

"Boss! It's bad!"

A goblin rushed into the "office" panting, his expression panicked, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Sini'ke was startled by his appearance, almost falling off his chair, even the hat on his head falling to the ground.

But it was precisely because he saw the hat on the ground that he suddenly remembered his status as a cut above, immediately coughing and signaling the panting goblin to calm down with a straight face.

"Look at your state! What kind of decorum is this? Do you have any appearance of a member of our Goblin Neighborhood Committee?"

The goblin knelt on the ground with a thud, his voice carrying thick fear.

"Boss... it's a plague!"

"A plague?!" Sini'ke's eyes widened. "How is that possible?! How could a plague suddenly break out for no reason?"

Their neighboring community hadn't had this happen even when they were soaking in water, so how could it be unclean now that the broken facilities were all repaired?!

The goblin couldn't say why either, merely stammering.

"In our community, many goblins have fallen... you should go take a look quickly!"

Sini'ke's hand trembled slightly, the wine glass almost falling to the ground. He widened his eyes, and in an instant, countless terrifying images flashed through his mind—a large number of goblins lying on the street dying, corpses piled up, no one working. Looking at the factory with no one working, the Demon King would be furious, hold him accountable, and drag him away to be burned alive...

No—

Wait! It wasn't time to panic yet.

Sini'ke took a deep breath, trying to stabilize his mind, squeezing a smile he thought was calm onto his face: "Don't panic, don't panic... A plague? A joke! We are goblins under the protection of the Demon God, how could we be defeated by a mere plague?"

"But..." The goblin wanted to say something more, but was pushed away by Sini'ke.

"Damn it! Take me to see it quickly!"

The alley, usually noisy, now lacked many playful figures, replaced by groans of pain and intermittent coughing.

Sini'ke walked quickly through the alley, looking at the goblins lying at the street corner—most of them curled up in the corner, hands tightly clutching their stomachs, faces pale, cold sweat on their foreheads, as if being severely tortured by something.

"What, what is going on here?"

He tried to suppress the panic in his heart, controlling the rhythm of his breathing, walking quickly toward a goblin groaning on the ground, and kicked it with his foot.

"Hey, hey! Get up quickly, don't play dead!"

The goblin only let out a weak groan, with no reaction.

Now, Sini'ke's cold sweat broke out.

Could there really be a plague?

"Boss! Come see Snot-Slug!" A goblin on the side ran over and called to him.

"Snot-Slug?! What happened to him?"

Hearing the familiar name, Sini'ke turned his head abruptly, chasing after that goblin and his voice into a dilapidated shed.

The room was dim, a few greasy candles barely illuminating a corner.

Snot-Slug lay on a bed made of rotten wooden boards, trembling all over, lips purple, like a tomato about to rot. His snot... was more spectacular than usual, his entire face almost buried in snot, looking quite miserable.

"Boss, I'm dying..." Snot-Slug groaned in a weak voice, eyes opening a slit, looking pitifully at Sini'ke.

"Don't die! You hold on for me!" Sini'ke kicked away the things blocking his path, rushed to Snot-Slug's side, grabbed his collar, and shook him violently. "Aren't you the most durable? How are you dying?!"

"Boss... my stomach hurts... hiccup..."

He wasn't feeling well to begin with, and being shaken like this, Snot-Slug almost fainted on the spot.

He groaned in his mouth, a trace of unknown liquid flowing from the corner of his mouth, almost vomiting on Sini'ke.

Sini'ke subconsciously took a step back, wrinkling his nose and cursing: "Damn it! Don't vomit on me! Disgusting!"

Snot-Slug rolled his eyes and lay back down, unconscious.

Sini'ke was anxious, quickly looking around the room, and found that Snot-Slug's situation was much more serious than other goblins.

Those goblins lying on the street could at least groan twice, but Snot-Slug's face was black, lips purple, and he was almost out of breath.

Sini'ke felt his heart go numb, the more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

Something was wrong!

This was too strange!

Why were he and his lackeys fine, while these guys had become sicklings?

He tried hard to recall the difference between himself and these poor wretches, and then his gaze fell on the wine bottle in the corner.

That was a beer bottle Snot-Slug had picked up, but it didn't contain beer, but water.

This wimp couldn't drink a drop of alcohol, but he loved to save face, so he picked up the beer bottles his other lackeys had finished, pretending he was also squandering like the Naobula—

"Water..."

Sini'ke widened his eyes abruptly, a strong sense of unease surging in his heart.

He turned around abruptly, rushed out of the shed, grabbed the goblin who had just led the way for him, and asked anxiously.

"Water! Did they all drink water?!"

"Water? Ah... yes..." The goblin was startled by his sudden madness, nodding stammeringly. "I, I haven't drunk water for the past two days... but Snot-Slug can't drink alcohol, he probably drank it..."

"Where did he drink it?!" Sini'ke continued to ask.

"Of, of course, the community water pump... I guess," saying this, the goblin seemed to feel it wasn't convincing, and added in a low voice, "Boss, Snot-Slug hasn't been poor since he followed you, he had already removed the rain-collecting bucket he used to put on the roof long ago... I reckon he wouldn't go drink other people's, that little money isn't a big expense for him."

There was rainwater in the underground world, mainly water seeping in from the towering dome; they said it was no different from the rain outside, just a bit salty.

Some goblins, in order to save money, would collect rain on their own roofs, using whatever tools they had.

And Snot-Slug, because of his relationship, had a purse much fuller than other goblins, so naturally, he wouldn't go drink that kind of "inferior water."

Sini'ke's brain exploded with a "buzz," and in an instant, he understood why Snot-Slug's situation was much more serious than others.

This wasn't a plague at all—

Someone had poisoned the water source of Black Wind Fortress!

"Damn it... these bastards!"

Sini'ke gritted his teeth in hatred, his fists clenched, creaking.

Who was so bold as to dare to play such an insidious trick in the Demon King's territory?!

Actually, there was no need to guess—

As early as more than a month ago, he had already set his sights on those sneaky guys; there was no doubt they had done it!

If it weren't for the merciful Demon King holding him back, telling him to stay put, he would have already rounded up these detestable dog bastards and strangled them in the cradle—

Sini'ke had just thought of this when a chill suddenly climbed up his forehead.

Wait—

The Demon King... seemed to have known long ago?

Even without the Demon King, even small characters like himself had already sensed that a group of ill-intentioned guys were plotting something under his nose.

And now, they had indeed made a move. Sini'ke froze in place, his lips trembling slightly, and a coldness that seeped into the bone marrow silently climbed over his entire body.

His face first turned white, then turned green again, until he had completely digested this fear, his face turned ruddy again.

At this moment, he finally truly understood what the task the Demon King had given him was.

The magic crystal cannon factory wasn't actually that important; even if it were knocked down and rebuilt, it would only cost a bit more money, and not much at that.

The goblins of Black Wind Fortress were naturally the same; there were as many of these things in Hell as one wanted.

The Delagong family wanted to use the chaos created in Black Wind Fortress to obtain an excuse to continue attacking the Demon King; this excuse didn't even need to be woven too beautifully, even if it were a bit far-fetched, it didn't matter, just like the disastrous defeat they had concocted on the front line.

And for the Demon King, meeting moves with moves was obviously not cost-effective, far less efficient than pouring a bucket of kerosene on the other party when they tried to light a fire!

Black Wind Fortress had been a trap from the beginning.

The front line was too far away for the Demon King, but this place was firmly under his control.

And now, those guys who couldn't hold back had finally stepped on it...

The lackey on the side looked at his boss, whose expression was uncertain, and asked in a low voice.

!

"Boss... what... what should we do now?"

Sini'ke remained silent for a long time without speaking.

Suddenly, he roared in a fierce and decisive voice, his voice shrill.

"This is a premeditated rebellion against the lord of Black Wind Fortress!"

The surroundings instantly quieted down.

Pairs of astonished eyes looked at him as if looking at a monster.

Looking at the astonished lackeys, Sini'ke grabbed the shoulder of one of the goblins, roaring with spit flying everywhere.

"Without a doubt, it's the Chamber of Commerce Alliance! Those guys who eat inside and out have poisoned our water source! This isn't a plague at all! Go tell your neighbors, go tell all the goblins! What are you all standing here for? Why don't you go quickly!"

The goblins were startled by his roar, hurriedly scrambling to the depths of the goblin community, passing the news to every goblin they encountered along the way.

Panic spread in the most densely populated area of Black Wind Fortress, and the speed was no less than the spread of the "plague."

At the same time, Sini'ke returned to the overturned carriage, using all his strength to ring the bell hanging on the carriage.

Hearing the tinkling sound, heads poked out from the goblin community, looking at Sini'ke's direction in surprise.

Some of them were sick, some looked pale, and others looked sickly... there were also some guys who were fine, clearly either they were too poor and hadn't drunk that non-free water in the past two days, or it just hadn't been their turn yet.

Sini'ke scanned the goblins present, then took a deep breath, climbing to the top of the carriage in one go.

His fists were tightly clenched, and those eyes, originally cunning and greedy for petty gains, now burned with unprecedented anger.

"Everyone! Look at our brothers and sisters beside us! Look at our neighbors! Look at our compatriots—those poor guys lying on the ground groaning in pain!"

His voice was like thunder, echoing in the narrow and crowded community, shaking every goblin until they pricked up their ears, freezing their gazes toward him, waiting for him to continue.

Not failing their expectations, Snik roared loudly in a resonant voice.

"Someone said this is a plague! I spit on that! Bullshit plague! You ask yourselves, why are we poor wretches who drink rainwater all fine, and only those guys who drank water from the water pump in the past two days have fallen?!"

He naturally hadn't drunk rainwater recently, even using beer to rinse his mouth, but that kind of detail didn't matter; they said the boss of the Serrated Chamber of Commerce even used beer to bathe before!

At this time, no one would jump out to tear down his stage.

Looking at those pairs of pupils with different expressions, Sini'ke roared and continued.

"This isn't a plague! It's someone poisoning our water source!!"

As the words fell, there was an uproar in the goblin crowd.

This sentence was like a lit torch, instantly igniting the emotions in the hearts of the goblins present.

"Someone poisoned the water!?"

"Who is it?! Who did it?!"

"Damn it! It must be those hell-dwarves... a hell-dwarf has been living near our community recently, I didn't think he looked like a good person!"

"Could it be human spies? Those... adventurers?"

"Adventurers?! Here? What kind of bullshit are you talking about! I reckon it's eight out of ten the Chamber of Commerce Alliance—"

"That's right!"

Finally waiting for the voice he wanted to hear, Sini'ke waved his hand abruptly, suppressing the restless crowd, a cold smile hooking at the corner of his mouth, his voice saying in a low tone: "You're right, it's the Chamber of Commerce Alliance! Those guys who flow with the same blood as us, yet suck our bone marrow!"

The scene was dead silent, all the goblins' gazes focused on Sini'ke, waiting for his explanation.

Sini'ke took a heavy breath, then opened his mouth in a low voice, as if he had personally experienced that conspiracy.

"Last night, I was patrolling near our water pump and saw a sneaky figure. He was wearing silk clothes that only the nobles of the Demon Capital have, holding something in his hand, secretly pouring it into the water!"

He waved his fist abruptly, the anger on his face almost turning into tangible flames: "I thought at first it was some bastard stealing water, but now it seems, he was clearly harming us!"

The goblins' breathing became rapid, anger boiling in their hearts; that was the fire brewed by fear with nowhere to vent after being driven to a dead end.

Sini'ke continued to roar.

"Who would go poison our community? Me? Or you? Could it be those dwarves who have nothing to do with us? They have no reason to do so! Only those guys... those goblins who eat, live, and use everything not on the same street as us, yet wear the same skin as us! You know who I'm talking about, it's them!"

"Those damn chambers of commerce! Selfish maggots! They don't want to see us goblins live a good life! Do you remember what kind of life we lived before the Demon King came here? Our homes were soaking in puddles with no one caring, the guys who died were rotting on the street, those guys wouldn't even look at us!"

"And now, we have work! We have beer to drink! We can earn money, eat hot meals, and don't have to go to the garbage dump to find food!"

"But these damned parasites, they're jealous! They can't stand us living better than them! They raise prices, steal our wages, manipulate the market... they use every method they can think of to torture us, even poisoning the water, wanting us dead!"

Sini'ke reached out his hand, pointing fiercely toward the street block standing in the distance under the night. That was the station of the major chambers of commerce, and also the only street in Black Wind Fortress that was out of place with the surrounding atmosphere, just like Queen Street in Lei Ming City.

The buildings there were towering, bright and magnificent, far exceeding the dilapidated sheds of the goblin community.

"... And they themselves live in spacious big houses, sleep on soft beds, drink the best wine, eat the most fragrant meat, and fiddle with tea and tobacco bought from human territory... This is their mercy! This is their attitude toward us! A plague? I think they're all living quite well!"

The crowd was completely boiling.

The goblins' eyes revealed flames of anger, their hands subconsciously clenched into fists, teeth gritted. Some timid guys slipped out to report to the guards, but those guards didn't say anything after receiving their report, just watching quietly from afar, waiting for it to continue to ferment.

Sini'ke clenched his fists, his voice increasingly impassioned, counting everything, whether it existed or not, on those guys, just to make the fire burn higher and higher.

"... These maggots of the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, they forgot they are also goblins, forgot their loyalty to the Demon King! They do business with demons who covet us, and rub shoulders with surface humans! They treat us as tools, they want us to be their beasts of burden forever, they just want us to keep our heads down forever! Drink stinking water forever! Eat garbage forever! And now they want our lives!"

"Enough!"

Sini'ke's voice exploded like thunder.

He scanned the crowd slowly, his eyes cold, his voice low yet incomparably firm.

"My compatriots, we can't endure it anymore! Today they poison our water, tomorrow they will dare to cut off our food! The day after tomorrow, they will dare to climb to higher places over our corpses!"

"We must settle accounts with them! Make those bastards who betrayed the goblins pay the price!"

"We want them to know—we are not slaves they can manipulate at will!"

"We want them to understand—under the protection of the Demon King, goblins are no longer the lowest-tier creatures in the underground world!"

"We, want to fight back!"

His voice was like gushing magma, igniting the anger in every goblin's heart.

A goblin raised his fist abruptly, roaring hoarsely.

"Dry the Chamber of Commerce Alliance!"

"Kill all those bastards!"

"They poisoned our water, we'll drink their blood!"

"Aoooooo!"

Angry roars rose one after another, converging into a deafening frenzy, sweeping through the entire goblin community.

This powder keg, which had been piled up for a long time, exploded into fireworks in the sky the moment it touched a spark.

Sini'ke stood on the dilapidated carriage, watching this scene calmly, seeing off the wave sweeping toward the street block where the Chamber of Commerce Alliance was located, a victor's smile hooking at the corner of his mouth.

Sure enough, the Demon King's guards didn't appear from beginning to end.

It seems his speculation was correct; this was precisely what the Demon King wanted him to do—to play the role of a mad dog biting the enemy.

Perhaps he would break a few teeth, but he would definitely be able to scrape a few taels of meat off the other party's leg.

A plague?

This is a rebellion!

And without a doubt, it was the Chamber of Commerce Alliance, instigated by the Delagong family, that made the first move...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 251 =====