Chapter 326: 【goblin Fighting Theater】
After hearing A Miao’s suggestion, Snake Snake suddenly spoke slyly in Yuan Zhu’s mind: “Boss, I think this business can work! Rent them (Orcs) out to fight and kill in the [Misty Mountains] to hone their skills, while the [Polluted Materials] hunted can be sent to the [Anti-Law Fund Pool] through [Anti-Law.Sacrifice] to pay off debts. When they return after training, we’ll have gained a batch of high-quality talent for free!”
“Aren’t we planning to cultivate a team to explore the world beyond the [Door]? I think this batch of Orcs has captain potential. First let them follow Miao Miao for advanced training, learn a set of skills, then copy it onto ‘Muscular Goblins’, achieving full ascension—wouldn’t that be perfect?”
Yuan Zhu had little resistance to renting out Orcs. After all, Orcs really weren’t valuable, the investment cost wasn’t high, and they weren’t worth pitying if they died.
If viewed from a ‘game perspective’, this free-range mode meant the five Orcs were like five ‘Traveling Frogs’. A Miao not only fed them and provided weapons, but also taught combat experience.
After they left his control, ownership remained his. The Orcs acted freely, fighting monsters to level up, collecting materials, sacrificing back to their hometown, and growing themselves.
While he sat at home, wealth came from the sky. Even if Orcs died in battle, their kin could promptly collect their brothers’ bodies and sacrifice them to [Anti-Law] for recycling.
By then, Yuan Zhu could use the fallen Orcs’ ‘Holy Relics’ to buy new Half-blood Orcs, install and load them up, and quickly turn them out. Once he figured this out, Yuan Zhu nodded to A Miao: “We can cooperate!”
“Roar? You’ve figured it out, then happy cooperation!”
A Miao raised her fist, lightly bumping it against Yuan Zhu’s, then shifted her focus back to the carriage interior, occasionally muttering critiques.
Finally, her eyes were stung by the ugly face of the ‘Devil Muscular Essence’, revealing a highly disgusted expression: “Eww…, your Goblins look pretty sturdy after cultivation. Too bad they’re so ugly they pollute the eyes, really affecting the audience’s viewing experience. Probably won’t attract many, only some curiosity seekers.”
Yuan Zhu also stared at the Goblins he’d long grown used to, feeling this batch of [Goblin Strongmen] was exceptionally robust and well-defined, far more pleasing than those in the [Domain] with grass (Eggplant Seedlings) on their heads ([Eggplant Goblins]).
At the same time he said: “Don’t worry, I’m prepared for this. Little ones, all of you get out of the carriage! Put on face masks, do a show!”
In an instant, over a dozen stifled and restless Goblins who hadn’t dared leave the carriage suddenly burst out like rabbits or mad dogs from a cage, scrambling to jump out the car door.
The originally quiet street suddenly had 12 short and ugly but full-muscled, sharply defined Muscular Goblins appear. Their first act after landing was to pull out 12 zodiac headsets sewn by Nie Yin from their pants pockets.
They tightly wrapped their ugly heads with the highly elastic ‘Frog Skin Headset’, exposing only eyes, nostrils, and mouth, instantly boosting their appearance dramatically. Combined with the fierce beast face patterns, it added an indescribable sense of majesty and mystery.
Seeing this, A Miao’s sense of visual pollution quickly faded. Looking at these Goblins again, majestic yet comical: “Now it’s got some appeal.”
The Goblin Strongmen strictly followed their master’s orders, variously yelling strange sounds like “Go!”, “Fuck!”, “Ignore!” in their mouths, doing continuous somersaults ×12 on the curb, just like acrobatic performances from Earth hometown, their small stature exceptionally agile.
Once the chain of somersaults ended, the twelve Goblins quickly took positions, forming a triangular square formation.
Then in unison on the roadside, they ‘huh haa’ performed a set of simple fist technique. Movements neat and harmonious, but this coordination ability drew a clear line from those filthy creatures living in the sewers—they were entirely different species.
Yuan Zhu confidently asked: “How’s that?”
A Miao: “Very good, full of spirit! Come on, bring them along, I’ll take you to meet the martial arts hall master of ‘Cat Street’.”
Yuan Zhu: “This hall master…?”
“He’s the biggest Martial Arts Hall hall master on Cat Street, and the organizer of all fighting matches on this street. Whether legal competitive matches or illegal underground fighting, he’s involved. Your Goblins want to do animal performances, my bar venue is limited, at most hosting one or two performance matches occasionally to liven things up. To really make money, you need professionals to organize—I’ll take you to pay respects right now.”
Yuan Zhu curiously asked: “Then between you and him on Cat Street, whose status is higher?”
A Miao propped her chin, looking up at the roadside neon signs, then said: “Purely in strength, I could take him down. But in influence on Cat Street, he’s a tiny bit higher.”
“Isn’t Cat Street named after your [Cat House]? You’re still the biggest ‘Underground Black Market’ organizer locally.”
A Miao waved cheerfully: “Just empty fame! [Cat House] is actually named after ‘Cat Street’, and the underground market isn’t up to one person. I just provided more high-end stolen goods from [Taixi], helping Cat Street’s underground market gain more fame and attract more clients. So everyone gives me some face.”
A bar boss with extremely high combat power, freely roaming deep into the [Misty Mountains], carrying a super-large warehouse, with connections and networks in Taixi, enthusiastic about smuggling, smuggling people, fencing stolen goods… seeking fun, yet low-key and non-competitive on weekdays—extremely respected on Cat Street.
She just showed her face, leading Yuan Zhu, 5 vicious Orcs + 12 Muscular Masked Goblins… filing into a large Martial Arts Hall named [Thunderbird].
Along the way, no interception or questioning, instead receiving salute stares from a group of fierce thugs covered in scars on faces and bodies. Under the gaze of a large group of trainees who suddenly stopped training, they went up the stairs to the second floor.
A Miao stopped at a door with a [Manager’s Office] sign, raised her boot, and kicked it twice with a thud, impatiently calling: “O——sen——! You there?”
With that, she raised her foot again to kick hard. But the black wooden door opened from inside first.
“I’m here! Don’t kick it broken.”
Inside the office, a man with a bushy beard, buzz cut, blond hair, blue eyes, a huge crack from forehead to cheek exposing subdermal metal structure. Three steel nails on each side of the crack fixed the flesh to the metal skull.
Besides a tough guy face, his body was exceptionally burly, upper body in a fighting tank top revealing muscular arms, yet without [Power Path] aura.
This white muscular man’s temperament was restrained, chest and abdomen like hiding a furnace, containing some unfamiliar extraordinary aura. Yuan Zhu wasn’t familiar with this power, but felt he’d encountered it somewhere?
“A Miao, who’s this guy? Looks dumb. And this group of comical little things, brought for laughs?”
Saying this, the man named Osen fixed his gaze on the five Half-blood Orc brothers, scanning their sharp muscular lines, showing satisfaction: “These guys have good potential, I like their eyes. You’re recommending them? I’ll take them.”
A Miao shook her head: “You’re overthinking, these five ‘dark skins’ are my subordinates, going with me in a few days to pick up a shipment. Brought them here today for you to arrange several matches, grind some real combat skills on the fly. Don’t break them, I still need them.”
Osen instantly lost interest: “Tch! Then these comical dwarves… what act is this?”
A Miao: “Allow me to introduce my new friend, Yuan Zhu. These ‘Goblin Fighters’ are warriors he’s carefully cultivated, hoping to borrow your venue for an external performance.”
“Goblins? Fighters? How did you connect those two words?!” Osen suddenly widened his eyes, showing surprise and amusement, mocking: “This garbage also deserves to call themselves ‘martial artists’? You’ve been fooled!”
A Miao shook her head: “Not as simple as you think, these Goblins look dumb and stupid, but their ‘Power Modification’ is genuine. Plus, these Goblins’ brains are different, highly rational, even able to perform several full fist techniques without extra moves.”
Saying this, A Miao cut in before Yuan Zhu could speak, ordering: “Little ones, do a show!”
The ‘Goblin crowd’ originally suppressed by the office’s oppressive atmosphere were a bit dazed, thoughts wandering.
Suddenly hearing the familiar command (‘Do a show!’), they instinctively tensed muscles, legs acting before the brain, assuming somersault preparatory stance.
Immediately after, ×12. In the space-limited office, they uniformly flipped continuously in mid-air, flip after flip, no collisions or friction between them. At the landing instant, feet shifting only inches yet performing a set of coordinated unified fist technique.
“Huh haa!” sounds incessant, 12 meaningless animal headsets now alive, like Peking opera faces painted in different colors. Exaggerated expressions with features driving zodiac mask changes.
This sudden scene startled Osen. Still just crowd-pleasing, fragile little garbage. But their sudden performance had an indescribable magic—bizarre, extremely curiosity-inducing—leaving him stunned speechless.
Until the Goblin crowd finished and did a traditional martial arts thank-you pose, that intense dissonance finally snapped Osen back.
“I…, you…” He opened his mouth several times, hesitating, “This… what the fuck is this crap?”
A Miao smiled: “Fun, right? An unspeakable disgust and weirdness, yet can’t stop watching, eyes glued.”
Osen calmed, sneered disdainfully: “Just curiosity bait!”
Despite saying that, he couldn’t help glancing more at the Goblins with weird headsets like ‘Bull Warrior, Tiger Warrior…’. Damn, these little garbage looked stranger yet more pleasing the more he saw?
A Miao’s fun-seeking mood intensified, directly negotiating past Yuan Zhu: “That performance proves this batch of Goblin warriors aren’t the same species as their sewer cousins. They have brains, can learn, master basic martial arts, and accepted [Power Modification]—already better ‘fighters’ than ordinary humans. Most importantly, Goblins aren’t [Intelligent Species], no human rights needed.”
Osen caught A Miao’s subtext: “You mean…”
A Miao raised two fingers: “Training these ‘intelligent Goblin Fighters’ isn’t easy. We provide the ‘people’, you provide the venue, two kinds of cooperation.”
Osen: “Which two?”
“First, we provide 4 Goblins for your organized matches. Legal competitions or underground fighting, whatever. These matches showcase our ‘product’, build fame, and give you death quotas—arrange one or two high-intensity bloody combats, hyping ‘extraordinary beings (Goblins)’ killed on stage to build hype for our contestants. You handle the organization, you’re the pro.”
“The other cooperation is our main goal: launch sustainable overfished [Goblin Performance]. Have evenly matched ‘Goblin Fighters’ do intense dramatic performances on the arena.”
Osen interrupted here: “First one I accept, no problem. I’ll arrange opponents of varying strengths to showcase these Goblins’ abilities fully. Guarantee wins and losses, exciting process, heavily promote ‘Goblin Fighter’ gimmick. Smart, martial arts-knowing Goblins are inherently topical, can sell well. As for the second, pass—Goblin vs Goblin performances? No appeal. Them getting one-sidedly crushed by humans, elves, Orcs, Trolls—that’s the selling point!”
A Miao shook her head: “No no no! The second [Goblin Performance] is the highlight. Your hall’s events are too monotonous, no novelty. My partner here’s a genius—not only cultivated [Goblin Fighters], but a creator too! Seen stage plays?”
Osen scoffed, grabbed a cigar from the desk, clipped, lit, stuck in mouth, deep puff: “Sissy stuff, not interested.”
“My partner fuses stage play’s dramatic content with these ‘genius Goblin martial performers’. Designs unique backstory settings for every masked warrior. Each ‘match performance’ isn’t just arena combat, but hides tales of love, hate, grudges.”
Osen instantly got it: “Throwing a match, huh! Even less appealing.”
A Miao described temptingly: “No! Not fake fighting—real hits, full power, flesh-flying, bloodier than real matches! Just following a set [Script], avoiding vitals to prolong, making combat more spectacular. Bloody slaughter mixed with stage drama, no dull moments, unique viewing experience for audiences.”
Osen was talked dizzy, hesitant: “That work? Won’t ruin reputation?”
“So first help us gain fame, build ‘Goblin Fighter’ name. Then launch independent [Goblin Fighting Theater], disclose the ‘performance nature’. As new brand, new show. If audiences dislike, kill the program—won’t hurt your hall’s reputation. If success, deep cooperation, develop new brand!”
Osen: “Sounds unreliable.”
A Miao: “No problem, find a venue, call your hall’s disciples, everyone watch a [Goblin Performance] together.”
“Good, follow me!”
