Green Monster Epic

Chapter 76: Allen's Choice

Two paths lay before the Greenwild Tribe: one was to return from whence they came, avoiding any contact with the kobolds. Allen's best option would be to lead the remaining tribesmen back to the Greenwild Tribe's former territory, slowly developing and growing stronger in that barren, impoverished land, until one day they felt strong enough to return and reclaim their home.

The other path was more arduous: to never retreat, to remain on the Green Lake lands in the face of the kobold threat, in exchange for relatively fertile land, abundant water resources, and food sources.

The choice between these two paths swirled in Allen's mind. At times, the conservative side of him prevailed, urging him to lead the tribe back to their old territory to avoid the kobold threat. But then, the ambitious side would whisper in his ear, reminding him that only fertile land could allow the Greenwild Tribe to recover and grow stronger more quickly, offering a better future.

It was with great difficulty that they had seized this treasure land from the gnolls, and giving it up would be a true waste of the sacrifice made by the tribesmen who had fallen in battle, as well as the potential of this fertile land.

Allen had no concept of democratic decision-making, so he did not gather the tribesmen to discuss the matter. With their limited minds, preoccupied with eating, drinking, relieving themselves, and sleeping, there wasn't much room for other thoughts. Talking to them would be less reliable than making the decision himself.

Walking among the broken walls of the village, watching Camellia lead a group of females and the compliant goblins as they slowly cleared the garbage from the village, with seven or eight mischievous young hobgoblins and goblin cubs playing and frolicking nearby, getting covered in black dirt, Allen felt an inexplicable sense of peace.

Perhaps Philip was right: intelligent beings are inherently social animals. Allen, who had once considered abandoning the Greenwild Tribe after Stone's death and venturing alone into civilized society, ultimately decided to stay.

Flower Snake and the others returned, bringing with them seven original members of the Greenwild Tribe. Among them were three male warriors who Allen had left behind to help Stone guard the village, but who had quietly slipped away when things turned bad, saving their lives.

There were also four females who had fled in a panic after the village was breached. When they regained their senses, they didn't know where to go, and instinctively returned to the old Greenwild lands, living together with the three males.

Allen didn't even feel the desire to be angry with these fleeing tribesmen. In previous years, hadn't he been the same way himself? Since he had acted in such a manner, he couldn't blame the tribesmen for their actions.

"I've decided," Allen announced to the tribesmen at dinner that evening. "We will stay in the Green Lake village. Starting tomorrow, Mountain, you and the earth goblins will go out and cut down logs to reinforce our village walls. Camellia, you will lead the females and goblins to clean up the garbage in our village, and we will plan and build a new wooden house."

"But what if the kobolds attack again?" asked one of the three hobgoblins who had survived the escape, his face pale green and filled with fear.

"What if they attack?" Allen glared at the tribesman who had asked the question, causing him to shrink back, hiding behind the other tribesmen, afraid to meet Allen's gaze. "Are the brave hobgoblins afraid of those dog-heads?

"We haven't avenged Stone and the others yet! I'm only afraid they won't come. If they do, it will be a good opportunity for us to avenge Stone and the others!"

Allen's tone seemed fierce, but in reality, he had no real basis for his strong confidence. However, as far as the tribesmen were concerned, the chieftain's choice was fine with them. Anyway, when it came to matters of life and death, everyone would scatter like birds and beasts, and wouldn't really fight to the end.

On the contrary, those tribesmen who were somewhat clever, but whose loyalty to the chieftain was not yet strong, and whose methods were still gentle, secretly rejoiced at seeing their fellow tribesman being put down by the chieftain, and nodded in agreement with Allen's decision to show their support.

"Remember, don't be lazy or try to slack off on tomorrow's tasks, or I'll catch you and tear you apart!"

Trying hard to recall the actions and tone of the previous chieftain when intimidating the tribesmen, Allen, with his face that was still considered young among the hobgoblins, used cruel words to subdue the tribesmen.

"Understood!"

"Got it!"

The lazy voices rang out, and Allen felt a sense of powerlessness. Needless to say, these guys didn't feel anything from his intimidation at all. Tomorrow's labor would probably be a matter of each person trying to be cunning and delaying work as much as possible.

Only when he truly began to exercise the chieftain's power and responsibility did Allen realize how heavy the burden on this identity was.

Of course, if he still wanted to rule the tribesmen like Man-Claw before, Allen could stay in the chieftain's position and act like a tyrant, and life wouldn't have too many worries. It was only after this journey, which brought shock to Allen's heart, and the overlapping of many scenes in his dreams, that he suddenly realized that the real life should be like that, and the real strength was not only the individual himself.

"Disperse, disperse, everyone rest early, we have to get up early to work tomorrow!"

What else could Allen say? He could only wave his hand to dismiss the bunch of bastards, and then suddenly thought of something, turning to Camellia and said, "Several of the females we brought back are pregnant, please take care of them when you arrange the food."

"Okay, I will."

Earlier, when the tribesmen gathered, Allen had already conveyed Camellia's task to the many tribesmen, so Camellia, who now had great power, was naturally overjoyed. Her response was not as perfunctory as that of the other tribesmen, and was full of sincerity.

Philip had now become Allen's servant. From a dignified manor lord, he had become a servant who served Allen's washing, dressing, and so on. The change was naturally great, but compared to being kept in a cage as a slave before, living in fear all day long, he couldn't accept it.

As a servant, Philip had a greater advantage than other tribal slaves, which was that he was freer to move around during his daily activities, and could walk around the village at will when Allen didn't need him. At the same time, he didn't have to do the hard work that the other tribesmen had to do, but only had to answer Allen's questions and solve his doubts.

Allen's thirst for knowledge made Philip feel horrified. If every goblin was as diligent and studious as him, then they would surely have a place among the civilized races of the Fayman Plane. However, the goblins around Allen were completely different. They would never stand when they could sit, and they would never sit when they could lie down. Their laziness and gluttony had reached a point that Philip found amazing.

Like a dry sponge, Allen was frantically absorbing the knowledge in Philip's mind. At the same time, his conversation, social skills, vision, and so on were changing rapidly day by day. Every day when he communicated and talked with Allen, Philip could personally feel a completely different person. Now, he was finding it increasingly difficult to withstand Allen's increasing wisdom. Perhaps it wouldn't be long before he could no longer answer Allen's questions.