The blizzard in the Forest of Gloom arrived without warning.
Overnight, the entire Blackrock Clan was covered in thick white snow.
Wooden palisades, thatched huts, and even the top of the statue of brother mao er were piled high with half a foot of snow.
The cold wind, carrying snow pellets, struck the greenskins' leather armor, making a "Swooshing" sound.
Yet, there was no sign of desolation in the tribe—the hobgoblin laborers were busy working against the wind and snow in the open space on the east side of the tribe.
The wooden saws and axes in their hands flashed cold light in the snow, as they built a wooden shed about half the height of a person.
In the center of the shed, a thick wool blanket was laid out (spoils of war captured from a human slaver Squad), and on it rested an egg the size of a basketball—the shell was deep purple, covered with silver markings, and occasionally it would tremble slightly, as if life was squirming inside.
This was the system-rewarded arachnari giant spider egg, and it was the most precious thing to Kurzadh at the moment.
"Be gentle! Don't damage it!" Kurzadh squatted beside the shed, cautiously touching the eggshell with his hand.
He could feel a slight warmth on his fingertips, and his heart was full of anticipation.
Just hearing the name Arachnari Giant Spider indicated it was a massive creature unit.
If it could hatch successfully, once grown, it would definitely be a formidable weapon for conquering cities and strongholds—the giant spider's silk could entangle enemies, its sharp chelicerae could tear apart armor, and even when used for reconnaissance, it could silently move through the forest, making it ten times more useful than a hobgoblin scout.
The five hobgoblin laborers responsible for caring for the giant spider egg treated it like treasure.
They took turns guarding the shed every day, using charcoal fire to maintain the temperature (not daring to get too close, fearing they might overheat it).
They also gently wiped the snow pellets off the eggshell with clean linen cloth, and even ground up dried mushrooms they were reluctant to eat, scattering the powder around the shed, while muttering "Gurgle, gurgle," as if praying for the egg to hatch quickly.
Once, a goblin accidentally bumped the wooden frame of the shed, causing a snowflake to fall onto the eggshell, and he was immediately pinned down in the snow and beaten by the other goblin, scaring everyone else away from approaching the shed again.
Meanwhile, a large-scale construction boom was underway in other parts of the tribe.
Since upgrading to a Level 2 village, the system had unlocked several new buildings, each crucial for enhancing the tribe's strength.
Kurzadh had long since drawn up the construction blueprints and posted them on the wooden board in the council hall so that all the greenskins could see them.
On the open ground west of the tribe, dozens of Orc Boyz were busy surrounding a circular earthen pit—this was where the Fighting Pit was to be built.
According to the blueprint, the Fighting Pit would be thirty meters in diameter, its walls constructed of bluestone slabs, and the bottom covered with thick sand (to prevent injury during fighting).
A circle of wooden stands would also be built around it.
The purpose of the Fighting Pit was simple: first, to allow the Orc Boyz to train their fighting skills here and quickly become independent warriors; second, to serve as a place for the greenskins to settle private disputes—whether they were hobgoblins or orcs, if they had a conflict, they didn't need to fight privately.
They just had to enter the Fighting Pit for a duel, and the loser would have to obey the winner, which was both fair and effective for honing combat strength.
"Build the stone slabs higher! Don't let the Boyz fall out when they fight!" Bone Tree, bare-chested (orcs are not afraid of the cold), commanded the hobgoblin laborers to move the bluestone slabs.
He held a stone hammer, occasionally tapping the pit walls to ensure the slabs were firmly set.
Several Orc Boyz were already restless, shoving each other at the bottom of the pit, eager to start a fight, but Bone Tree glared them back: "What's the rush! Wait until it's finished! If you dare to fight now, I'll make you haul dung!"
To the north of the tribe, the hobgoblins were busy clearing an area, preparing to build a junkyard.
Although called a junkyard, it was actually the foundational building for the greenskin technology tree—greenskins were skilled at finding usable items among scrap, whether it was a broken sword discarded by humans, gears left behind by ratmen, or a axe worn out by an orc.
Once in the hands of hobgoblins, these items could be dismantled, modified, and turned into new weapons or tools.
Kurzadh specifically had the hobgoblins pile up the damaged armor and broken spears seized from the slaver Squad here.
Once the junkyard was complete, the hobgoblin Boys could "treasure hunt" in it.
What Kurzadh anticipated most were the two military structures: the "Vile Tent" and the Squig Pen.
The Vile Tent was to be built at the edge of the woods on the east side of the tribe.
It looked like a low thatched shed, and inside, training stakes and hidden compartments would be set up to train Vile Stalkers—this specialized unit was the most insidious existence among the hobgoblins.
They excelled at lurking in the shadows and launching surprise attacks, either popping up between the enemy's legs to stab their knees with bone daggers, or leaping down from trees like assassins to slit the enemy's throat directly.
Once they latched onto an enemy, they would use all sorts of torturous tricks, like disemboweling or eye-gouging, and would not let go even if they were stomped to death.
Just imagining these hobgoblin Stalkers lurking on the battlefield made Kurzadh excited—in the future, Vile Stalkers would definitely be the perfect weapon for breaking human spear formations.
The squig pen was to be built by the pond next to the mushroom field—squigs liked to hide at the bottom of the pond, so building the pen here would make capturing and raising them easier.
The pen needed to be built with thick timber and surrounded by barbed wire (seized from a human camp) to prevent the squigs from escaping.
Once built, it could be used to train "Squig Cavalry" (hobgoblins fighting atop squigs) and also to train squig Hoppers—this type of unit excelled at fighting in complex environments, riding squigs through the woods.
When encountering an enemy, they would let the squig pounce and bite off the opponent's leg, while they took the opportunity to stab with a stone spear, making them both agile and ferocious.
In order to gather the materials for these buildings as quickly as possible, the quarry and the lumberyard were bustling with activity.
In the quarry, thirty hobgoblins held iron chisels and stone hammers, frantically digging into the rock layers.
The "Clanging" sounds carried far across the snowy ground.
To speed up the process, Kurzadh also had the hobgoblin sappers make several simple pulleys to hoist large bluestone slabs—slabs that previously required five hobgoblins to move could now be easily transported by two hobgoblins using the pulleys.
The scene at the lumberyard was even livelier.
Fifty Orc Boyz were divided into small teams; some were felling large trees in the forest (specifically choosing cold-resistant hardwoods), some were splitting logs in the lumberyard, and some hobgoblin laborers were coating the timber with tung oil (to prevent rot).
To fend off the wind and snow, Kurzadh also had the hobgoblins build a temporary wooden shed at the lumberyard, with charcoal fires burning inside so the hobgoblin laborers could work more warmly.
The timber transported out of the lumberyard every day piled up into a small mountain, enough for the construction team to use for an entire day.
"If only we had iron ore," Kurzadh muttered to himself, standing by the quarry and watching the bluestone slabs being transported out.
Currently, most of the tools and weapons in the tribe were made of stone or wood, with only a few having been captured from humans.
If they could find iron ore and forge iron axes, iron spears, and iron armor, both construction efficiency and the combat power of the greenskins would increase exponentially—it took half a day to cut down a tree with a axe, but an iron axe could finish the job in an hour; a stone spear could not pierce human chainmail, but an iron spear could easily stab through it.
However, he had sent several waves of hobgoblin scouts into the forest to search for iron ore, but they had all returned empty-handed, so the matter had to be shelved for now.
But right now, there was an even more important task—once the junkyard was completed, a hobgoblin would need to be appointed as the Tinker, responsible for leading the other hobgoblins in studying the "treasures" in the scrap and advancing the tribe's technology.
After much deliberation, Kurzadh finally set his sights on Bone Tree.
Although Bone Tree was an orc, he understood how to "tinker with things" better than the average hobgoblin—last time, it was Bone Tree who dismantled and reassembled the broken sword captured from the human camp, figuring out the basic principles of forging; when the wooden cart's wheel broke, Bone Tree reinforced it with iron sheets, allowing the cart to carry more goods.
In the entire tribe, Bone Tree was the only one stone could trust with technological research and development.
"Bone Tree! Come here for a moment!" Kurzadh shouted toward the quarry.
Bone Tree immediately put down his stone hammer and ran over, still covered in Kurzadh chips: "Boss, what is it?"
"The junkyard is almost finished, and I've decided to make you the Tinker.
You'll be responsible for leading the hobgoblins in studying the scrap and inventing new stuff," Kurzadh patted Bone Tree's shoulder.
"Don't disappoint me.
If you can invent iron weapons, I'll treat you to a whole roasted sheep!"
Bone Tree's eyes instantly lit up—Tinker?
Responsible for inventing new stuff?
Plus a whole roasted sheep?
He immediately straightened his back and thumped his chest, assuring Kurzadh: "Don't worry, boss! I'll definitely do a good job! I'll invent usable iron tools for you in less than half a month!"
Kurzadh nodded in satisfaction.
Looking at the bustling construction scene before him, and thinking about the giant spider egg that was about to hatch and the future iron weapons, his heart was filled with anticipation—once all these buildings were complete, the Blackrock Clan's strength would definitely rise to the next level.
At that time, let alone establishing themselves in the Forest of Gloom, they would be fully confident even if they challenged other larger greenskin tribes!
The wind and snow continued, but they could not dampen the greenskins' enthusiasm.
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tinker or mekboy, either is fine I think