No matter how strange these Kobolds were, surely they wouldn’t run all the way to the Qika Kingdom to capture them.
If something like that really happened, they would just accept their deaths.
However, this was almost impossible.
At that moment, Helu and Kumir smiled at Chen Heng, hoping that he would let them go.
After all, even though these Kobolds did not seem to want to harm them, they were still Kobolds in the end.
To humans in the wilderness, Kobolds were not very friendly creatures.
In fact, there were even Kobolds who ate humans.
If they remained in this place, who knew when they would become food for a Kobold?
In order to avoid this, it would be better to leave as soon a possible.
As such, they looked at Chen Heng in anticipation, waiting for his response.
Meeting their gazes, Chen Heng smiled.
He knew exactly what they were thinking—after all, he was not actually a Kobold but a human.
However, he did not care.
“Since you are so eager, then I am at ease,” Chen Heng gave a sincere smile.
Following this, he walked down from the bed.
“Please come with me,” he said as he walked out.
As Chen Heng walked in front of them, they noticed some things.
Different from all of the other Kobolds, Chen Heng wore clothes as well as shoes.
Those shoes were incredibly simple, and they were indeed made for Kobolds.
Moreover, when Chen Heng walked, he walked with great elegance.
It seemed that apart from looking like a Kobold, there was nothing else that was Kobold about him.
Who could imagine that there would be such an abnormal Kobold?
At that moment, both people felt quite strange.
However, they looked at each other and quickly followed behind Chen Heng.
As they walked, they saw the surrounding scenes.
There were wooden houses all around the city, which were the residences of the Kobolds.
Usually, Kobolds preferred to dig a hole and sleep in the holes.
As such, many of the structures in this city were actually underground.
Most residences had a little wooden house on top, but the area below was much bigger.
Currently, within the tribe, there were the Kobolds Chen Heng had brought from the original tribe, as well as some roaming Kobolds who had joined them; there were not yet any extremely large families.
However, as time passed and the Kobolds reproduced, the Kobold families would become larger and larger.
After all, compared to humans, Kobolds’ reproductive abilities were far too powerful.
A pair of Kobolds could give birth to many eggs in one go, and some even gave birth to ten or so eggs.
After the new-born Kobolds were born, they only needed a few years to mature.
This was completely different for humans—it took them a whole year to get pregnant, and twins or more were quite rare.
Because of this, even though Kobolds were weak, they could be found everywhere in the wilderness.
Within this city, there were already nearly 1,000 Kobolds.
Back when Chen Heng had left the original tribe, he only had around 200 Kobolds with him.
After reaching here, the number of Kobolds under his rule had quickly increased, reaching nearly 1,000 in just a few months.
The main reason for this was the number of roaming Kobolds they had taken in.
During these few months, the teams responsible for hunting also had another important task.
That task was to bring in other Kobolds from outside and have them join the tribe.
Over the past few months, the number of Kobolds had greatly increased.
By now, they had more or less reached their limit.
From Chen Heng’s estimates, he had gathered most of the Kobolds in the surroundings and there were not many more in the wilderness.
If they wanted to gather more, they would have to look further.
However, Chen Heng did not mind for now.
From how things seemed, there would most likely be many Kobolds in other places as well.
Just in this region there were thousands of Kobolds.
In the entire Wastelands, there was most likely an astronomical number of Kobolds.
For Chen Heng, this was a massive advantage.
At the very least, he would not have to worry about population.
Of course, if he gathered so many Kobolds, there would be problems too. The most evident one would be the pressure of food.
In the past, the reason why the Kobolds were so scattered was because of the problem of food.
A region had limited amounts of food.
Even though Kobolds supposedly ate anything, they still took up a portion of a region’s resources.
Moreover, apart from particularly prosperous areas, most Kobolds lived separately.
Apart from when they reproduced, most Kobolds lived by themselves.
However, Chen Heng had gathered almost 1,000 Kobolds.
Such a large number would ordinarily be disastrous.
After all, it would be incredibly difficult to find enough food for such a large population.
However, under Chen Heng’s management, everything was alright.
Because of the nets, the Kobolds’ ability to hunt and fish had been greatly increased.
This greatly reduced the pressure of food, and because this was a particularly abundant plains, they were able to maintain the status quo.
Of course, that was only for now.
As their population increased, the pressure of food would become greater and greater.
As such, Chen Heng had sent some Kobolds to cultivate fields a while ago, and there were already decent effects.
As long as they could develop their agriculture, they would resolve the problem of food.
That was why Chen Heng had asked Helu and Kumir to provide tools and weapons from the Qika Kingdom.
After all, right now, they still lacked many things.
Agriculture required more than manpower.
It required various tools, as well as agricultural techniques.
They were all necessities for large harvests.
Without those things, they would not reap great returns from agriculture.
Similarly, some techniques that originated from the humans were also what the Kobolds needed.
After walking out from the room, Chen Heng led Helu and Kumir to visit different places.
It was still daytime, and some Kobold juveniles were playing about while some Kobolds were digging.
“What are they doing?” Helu asked in curiosity, looking at the digging Kobolds.
“As you can see, they are digging.”
Looking at the Kobolds who were digging, Chen Heng smiled and said, “Different from humans, Kobolds prefer to live in holes that they have dug. As such, rather than luxurious houses on the surface, we prefer to build our homes underground. That is what those Kobolds are working towards right now.”
Chen Heng explained for Helu and Kumir.
As they continued onwards, they could see some Kobolds with spears patrolling about, maintaining the order.
Elsewhere, some skinnier, female Kobolds were busying about.
Helu and Kumir also looked over in curiosity.
These female Kobolds were cooking over fire, preparing food for the day.
The Kobold society was still somewhat primitive—not only did they not have much economic activity, but they also had a small population.
As such, Chen Heng opted for a collective society.
All food was shared, and it was prepared for everyone by the weaker females.
Of course, the collective society was also responsible for looking after the elderly and orphans.
It seemed that everything was going quite well—at least, things were no longer chaotic.
This kind of system would be usable for quite a long period of time. Only after the Kobolds reached a certain population and trade began to become common would Chen Heng begin to assign private property.
The meals that the female Kobolds prepared were very abundant; they contained the prey and fish that the hunters had caught, as well as bugs and plants that the gatherers had collected.
Because of the abundance and richness of food, many Kobolds’ bodies had become stronger and no longer looked frail and weak.
However, what caught Helu’s attention was something else.
His gaze was attracted to some females who were dealing with some other things.
“That is…”
Over there, the Kobolds were dealing with all kinds of skins and furs.
“These are the skins and furs from prey, which I’ve stored,” Chen Heng said as he looked at Helu and Kumir and smiled, “I know that these things are very valuable in the human world, so I kept them. Do you see that storehouse over there?”
Chen Heng led Helu and Kumir onwards.
Following this, a shocking scene appeared before the two hunters.
Within the storehouse, there were countless skins, fur, and leather.
Looking at this scene, Helu and Kumir were completely dumbfounded.
When they came back to their senses, they looked at each other, their gazes filled with greed and desire.
These furs and skins were all high-quality goods in the human world.
Such precious goods filled almost an entire storehouse.
“It seems that you are quite interested in these things…” a teasing smile appeared on Chen Heng’s face.
Of course, he knew the value of these things.
There were many valuable goods in the Wastelands, including the furs and skins of wild beasts, as well as various medicinal grasses and magic materials.
Because of how dangerous the Wastelands was, very few people could obtain these things.
On the other hand, for the Kobolds living in the Wastelands, these things were very easy to obtain.
Because Chen Heng understood this, he had long since made preparations and just waited for a human merchant group to come by.
It seemed that the effects were quite good.
“Please come with me,” Chen Heng looked at Helu and Kumir and gave a slight smile as he turned and walked away.
He led Helu and Kumir to visit other places, all of which stored all kinds of goods.
Those things completely stunned Helu and Kumir.
There were all kinds of skins and furs, medicinal herbs that they would have to risk their lives for, and rare magic materials.
There were many of them, and it seemed as if they had been stored up, waiting for them.
They could not deny that these things held a fatal attraction to them.
After walking around with Chen Heng, they could feel their heartbeats speeding up and the desire within their hearts growing.
Why did adventurers risk their lives to go into the Wastelands?
Wasn’t it to bring back valuable goods to sell?
And now, everything they had been searching for was right before their eyes.
If it wasn’t for the fact that they were not strong enough, they would have wanted to take all of these things by force.
However, the reason within their brains stopped them.
They knew that if they dared to try anything, they would be ripped to pieces by furious Kobolds.
Looking at Helu and Kumir’s reaction, Chen Heng nodded in satisfaction.
This was the reaction that he wanted.
“Just as you can see,” he smiled as he said, “These things are not very precious to us, as we can find them everywhere. As such, we don’t mind giving them to people who actually need them. As long as those people can help us too…”
He looked at the two people and gave a bright smile as he asked, “I wonder if the two of you are willing to help us?”
Hearing Chen Heng’s words, the two hunters fell silent.
Of course they did not want to help.
After all, this kind of thing was quite risky.
They had to pass through the Wastelands and deliver things such a long distance away. In a sense, they would have to risk their lives.
Moreover, the ones they were trading with were the barbaric Kobolds.
Ordinarily speaking, even if they agreed, they definitely would not uphold their side of the bargain.
However, looking at the mountain of furs and skins, the dried medicinal grasses, and the precious magic materials…
It would be impossible for Helu and Kumir to resist.
Who could refuse gold coins?
A wise sage had said in the past, “As long as there were sufficient profits, people would be willing to ignore all risks, and even sell the rope that would hang them.”
Now, with the profits sitting right there, how could they refuse?
They were hunters in the Wastelands and faced danger anyways for some meager profits.
Why not work hard for far bigger profits?
That was how Helu and Kumir convinced themselves.
