Green Monster Epic

Chapter 248: Passing Trade Caravan (This counts as a super update today, right? 5,000 words delivered!)

After that argument, A'Xiong and Hua She became even more at odds. They mostly wore cold expressions when they met, and didn't even bother to communicate unless absolutely necessary.

However, soon after, the sudden arrival of an event eased the relationship between the two.

A trade caravan suddenly appeared in the territory of the Green Field Tribe, intending to bypass Green Lake Village from the east and travel north. The people who discovered this trade caravan were Da Shan and his hunting team. Ever since Hua She and the others embarrassed Da Shan last time, he had been determined to change, and his six hunting team members felt this most deeply.

The discovery of the caravan was accidental. Presumably, the other party had already sent scouts or thieves to investigate the Green Lake Village, so they bypassed it far from the eastern edge of their tribe's territory, trying not to attract the Green Field Tribe's attention.

These days, Da Shan had suddenly changed his temperament and become diligent, saying he was taking the hunting team to places with more prey, but in reality, he wanted to run farther to train his strength and accumulate background. Unexpectedly, this unintentional action led him to discover the existence of this trade caravan.

"We need to make a decision quickly, otherwise these guys will run out of our territory. By then, even if we want to chase them, it will be difficult."

After Da Shan discovered the trade caravan, he led the hunting team back as quickly as possible to report this major discovery to the village. Coincidentally, A'Xiong had brought Philip back to the village for supplies. After hearing this news, their expressions varied.

"Have you observed the scale of this trade caravan?"

Hua She, as the person making the decision on the spot, grabbed Da Shan and asked him a series of detailed questions, without rushing to mobilize troops.

Mao Luo and Hei Tou also rushed over. After all, the passage of a trade caravan was no small matter. Hua She felt that he should inform the village chiefs, and they had to cooperate regardless of the decision made.

"They have 1, 2, 3... they have so many vehicles, I counted them one by one!"

Da Shan stretched out both hands, revealing eight fingers, and replied affirmatively.

None of the villagers were as fond of learning to read as Allen. At most, they learned some simple arithmetic under Allen's strong urging. With Da Shan's lazy appearance in the past, the learning results were self-evident. Fortunately, the scale of this trade caravan had not escaped Da Shan's counting range.

"Eight trucks, excluding one or two carriages carrying daily necessities, that means they only have 6-7 carriages. I think we can send people out to make a fortune!"

Hua She's mind was spinning rapidly, muttering to himself as if he was about to make a decision, when Philip suddenly interjected.

"Actually, I think we can send people to stop them, but we don't necessarily have to really fight them!"

It was rare for Philip to speak in public. According to his previous personality, he might give Allen and A'Xiong suggestions in private, but in a situation like this with a large number of goblin chiefs present, he always came with two ears, only listening and not speaking, unless the leader asked him.

This time it was also a coincidence. Philip was originally helping A'Xiong manage the mine, but the mine's food supply was almost exhausted, so A'Xiong brought Philip back to find Tea Flower to receive a new batch of supplies, and just happened to catch up with this matter.

"What do you mean?"

Hua She was curious, and A'Xiong's puzzled eyes also shot over.

"A few days ago, when Mr. Jack was bored in our village, I talked to Mr. Jack about some things about trade caravans."

Philip was also uneasy. He couldn't guarantee that his suggestion would be accepted by Hua She, this bear goblin. He was afraid that the other party would not see the long-term benefits of his suggestion. If it were Allen, he would have more confidence.

"I asked you to explain the reason, why are you talking about this!"

A'Xiong on the side became impatient and glared fiercely, making Philip even more nervous.

"What I'm going to say next is the reason."

He turned his gaze to Hua She, and seeing the other party's noncommittal attitude, he regained his courage and explained in detail: "In recent years, the reason why many small trade caravans occasionally travel from our remote Green Field Plain to Thornsburg, instead of taking the safer Mansha Corridor, is said to be because the territories around the Mansha Corridor are occupied by various large tribes."

"After these large tribes occupy the prosperous Mansha Corridor, they never plunder passing trade caravans, but instead protect their safety. Do you know why?"

Philip paused to play a trick, but after looking around, he found that no one intended to participate, and even A'Xiong had a suppressed impatient expression, which quickly alerted him, and he quickly returned to the topic: "That's because they charge a toll from passing trade caravans, which is not too much compared to the value of the caravan's goods."

"Trade caravans don't need to risk being plundered by large tribes and losing members and goods, while large tribes can obtain a certain amount of wealth and supplies without any effort. This can be said to be a mutually beneficial thing."

"It's just that small trade caravans like this don't have much goods to begin with, and the profits they earn are naturally very small. If they have to pay tolls all the way, they may not only run for nothing, but even lose money. In comparison, even if they take some risks, bypass the Mansha Corridor, and pass through our remote areas without large tribe settlements, they can save a lot of expenses."

"I understand what you mean, but what I want to know is, how much supplies can the trade caravan that is passing through our tribe's territory now take out as their toll?"

Hua She listened very carefully, and asked a very insightful question: "Also, we could have taken down this trade caravan in one fell swoop, why should we only collect a little toll from them and give up a large amount of valuable goods?"

"Chief Hua She, Patriarch Allen has a saying that's right, things can't only be viewed from a short-term perspective."

Since Philip had spoken up and made a suggestion, he naturally hoped that this suggestion would be accepted by Hua She and the others. After taking a deep breath, Philip continued to use his tongue and began to persuade Hua She and the others: "According to our tribe's current development speed, it won't be long before our tribe will be respected within a radius of hundreds of miles, which means that in the future, whatever our tribe says and the rules we set will become the iron law of this area."

"If we can stabilize the chaotic situation in the Green Field Plain and attract more merchants to pass through our territory, then we can earn a lot of money just by collecting tolls, and then purchase more sophisticated equipment to arm the warriors present."

"By then, our tribe will become even stronger, and the range we can influence will become wider and wider."

"However, it is the first step forward that requires the leader's courage and vision."

"Of course, there are many unknown situations in this kind of thing. I can't guarantee that after we only collect tolls from the other party next, they will continue to take this road when they return. Everything must have a beginning. As long as we set the rules first and then let these trade caravans see our sincerity, and publicize it among the trade caravans in the future, I believe that sooner or later our Green Lake will become the first choice for many small trade caravans traveling to and from the north and south!"

"You guys have said so much, what's the use? We still have to intercept this trade caravan first, don't let them run away!"

Da Shan was very anxious. If this matter was done, his first contribution to discovering the trade caravan would be foolproof. Seeing that the trade caravan was running north, these guys in the village were still leisurely discussing it, not in a hurry at all, how could he not be annoyed.

"That's right, dawdling!"

A'Xiong also became impatient and immediately began to shout.

"You're right, whether we let the other party go next or directly intercept and kill them, we have to stop them first and see if they are easy bones to gnaw on!"

Hua She nodded and then began to order: "Da Shan, Mao Luo, Hei Tou, you go and gather 30 warriors from the tribe and chase after them to stop the team for me!"

"Yes."

"A'Xiong, you come with me too, I'm afraid the dog-heads in the east will take the opportunity to make trouble."

"Okay."

At this time, A'Xiong knew how to cooperate and did not give Hua She a cold face, and immediately responded in a deep voice.

"I also want to go and see. If you, Chief Flower Snake, find my suggestion feasible, I can act as an envoy for communication and negotiate with them. After all, the outside world still has some doubts and fears about you goblins. They are more likely to listen to a human like me."

Philip suddenly made a request to go along. Flower Snake exchanged glances with him a few times, knowing that what he said was indeed true, and nodded in agreement.

The team of all-goblin warriors was very fast, catching up with the tail of the caravan on the eastern side of their tribe's territory before sunset. Beyond that was the territory of the Jackal Clan, led by Ivan.

The caravan ahead had obviously noticed the arrival of the Green Field tribe's main force, and their pace became more hurried and swift, raising a long trail of dust. However, eight wagons loaded with goods slowed their pace. Although the drivers were desperately whipping the horses' rumps, the two sides were finally locked together an hour later under the swift steps of the goblin warriors.

This was a human caravan. Apart from the fact that many of the porters and mercenaries had faces of the wilderness and orcs, most of the rest were human. The caravan was not too large, with only 60-70 people, but more than 20 of them held weapons in their hands, and they were nervously on guard against the oncoming goblin team, protecting the wagons firmly.

"What do we do? Go straight in, or what?"

Many members of the human team held weapons, especially a team of more than ten humans, orcs, and wilderness natives mixed together, who were even more capable. Facing the goblin team of more than 30 people, they did not show any nervousness and confronted Flower Snake and the others with a stern look. Seeing that the other side was a bit tricky, A-Xiao turned his head and asked Flower Snake for his opinion.

"Throw a few rounds of javelins to test them out!!"

Not long after Flower Snake's voice fell, the goblin team drew out the meter-long javelins from behind them one after another. With A-Xiao's command, they directly swung their powerful arms and threw them out.

"Be careful!! Everyone unrelated, hide behind the wagons!!"

The javelins fell like rain with the sound of wind. A human shield warrior held an iron shield, easily blocking the oncoming javelins, and at the same time turned back to order the porters to hide behind the wagons.

Several rounds of javelin throws had little impact on the human caravan. The human guard team, whose numbers were not much different from the Green Field tribe warriors, easily used the weapons in their hands to block or dodge these powerful javelins. The other non-combatant porters hid behind the wagons covered with goods, shivering. The only thing that suffered was probably the goods on the wagons covered with fur and oil paper, with sparse sharp javelins stuck on them. It was unknown how many goods were damaged in this javelin rain.

The human mercenary team guarded the caravan and moved forward slowly, nervously waiting for the goblin team to pounce. However, after staring for a long time, they still did not see the goblins' forward movement. Instead, more javelins began to be fired. At the same time, after discovering that the javelins caused little trouble to the wagons and manpower, this group of green skins turned their shooting target to the twenty-odd packhorses that did not know how to dodge.

For a time, the packhorses, frightened or injured, screamed and struggled. No matter how the drivers tried to comfort and whip them, it was no use. In the end, the caravan had to stop on the spot.

After the other side stopped, Flower Snake gave the order to stop the javelin offensive temporarily. After a while, the javelins had been thrown out in sevens and eights, but the actual effect was very little. In terms of ranged attacks, the goblins' talent was indeed very poor.

The unusual actions of the wilderness tribe's team made the caravan's supervisor and the mercenary leader they hired even more worried. It was not that the caravan did not have the ability to protect itself. Being able to bring the caravan here safely meant that they had encountered many fights, but very few wilderness tribe teams were as disciplined and had such complete and well-equipped weapons as the team in front of them.

The human team had no desire to attack because they were burdened by the goods, while Flower Snake on the other side stubbornly suppressed the attacking desires of A-Xiao, Da Shan, and others.

Flower Snake's idea was very simple. The strength of the human caravan on the other side was not bad. His group might have the advantage, but if they really wanted to take down the human caravan, the losses would be unpredictable. As a warrior, he naturally longed for a hearty fight, but as the leader who made the decision, Flower Snake needed to consider how much damage a fight between the tribe and the caravan would bring, and whether the gains could make up for the losses.

"Chief Flower Snake, I have a suggestion!"

Philip was very active at this time. Seeing Flower Snake's hesitation, he suddenly stood up and spoke.

"Tell me!"

The human caravan did not dare to act rashly. As the sky gradually darkened, being targeted by a strong team of goblins, how dare they leave their backs to the other side? Therefore, Flower Snake had plenty of time to wear them down.

"We are not far from the Jackal Clan, led by Ivan. Perhaps we can invite them to join us in putting pressure on this human caravan!!"

Philip's suggestion made Flower Snake's eyes light up. Boban would definitely not dare to offend Green Field easily in order to consolidate his current position. Coupled with the previous cooperative relationship, it was very likely that he could be persuaded to bring people over.

Before, he had already been a little tempted by Philip's suggestion when he was in the village. Now, seeing that the strength of the human caravan was not bad, he was even more hesitant. He did not want to lose too many warriors in the tribe when he was temporarily leading the tribe. As a person who claimed to be aiming for Allen's goals, Flower Snake wanted to do better in every aspect, at least not worse than Allen.

"Well, not bad, Mao Luo, you are not slow. Why don't you take a trip!"

Flower Snake listened to Philip's suggestion, and then turned to Mao Luo and ordered.

"Okay!"

Mao Luo's departure made A-Xiao, Da Shan, and others who were eager to try next to him a little unhappy. In the past, when their tribe moved out collectively, they rarely dragged their feet like this. When it was time to do something, they did not hesitate at all. On the other hand, Philip, seeing that his suggestion was recognized, a flash of excitement flashed in his eyes, and then he spoke even more actively.

"Chief Flower Snake, I am willing to risk going to communicate with the other party first to see their attitude!"

"Oh?"

Flower Snake looked sideways. Even A-Xiao seemed to recognize Philip for the first time. This guy always hid far away when there was danger. Why did he change his mind this time?

"Are you sure?"

"For the Green Field tribe, I am willing to go!"

Philip's eyes flickered, and his heart was beating violently because of excitement and fear. However, he, whose legs were shaking, did not flinch at all and looked at Flower Snake expectantly.

"Okay, then you go and try."

Flower Snake nodded, and then watched with A-Xiao and the others as Allen walked towards the human caravan in front.

"Don't move, I'm here to discuss things with the supervisor of your caravan!! I have no weapons, no malice!!"

Although he spoke very bravely, when he really wanted to go to the human caravan on the other side, Philip still inevitably appeared embarrassed and timid. As soon as he walked out of the goblin team, he immediately raised his hands high, and at the same time shouted loudly. The people on the other side were stunned, but they were so wary that Philip walked to the front of the team.

Two human mercenaries carried a shield and walked cautiously to Philip. After a search, they savagely tied Philip's hands behind his back before bringing him to the human caravan supervisor, Joe Shan. During this period, Philip did not dare to have any dissatisfaction with the human mercenaries' rude body search, even pinching his private parts hard. Apart from blushing, he did nothing else until he saw the human supervisor.

"I am the representative of the Green Field tribe. This time, I am here with the goodwill of the Green Field tribe to negotiate with your caravan."

Facing the caravan supervisor, who also had a weak posture, Philip's attitude was much tougher. He directly expressed his intentions to the other party on the spot.

"Hello, I am Joe Shan Smith, the supervisor of the Fox Chamber of Commerce. I am fortunate to meet a fellow human being in the wilderness."

Joe Shan's wrist was not bad. The friendly and polite smile on his face did not disappear when he saw Philip, and he took the initiative to introduce himself.