A Dragon against the Whole World

Chapter 210 - 199: The Goblin Taxing the Dragon Race

On the strongest tribes in the Border Area.

Humans, balanced in all aspects, intelligent and rational, acceptable.

Beastmen, brave and warlike, unafraid of blood and death, strong warrior units, tolerable.

Snakefolk, sinister and cruel, skilled in various curses and witchcraft, with many mages and shamans, passable.

Goblins?

Are you kidding me? What are goblins?!!

—This is the first reaction of outsiders when they learn about the four strongest tribes in the Border Area.

Goblins, synonymous with treachery and weakness, always leave other intelligent species with a bad impression, greedy and deceitful, full of lies, rarely do intelligent creatures want to deal with goblins.

However, goblins also have their merits.

They generally have a good business acumen and are proficient in trade.

Almost all goblins firmly believe.

The concept of ’trade’ first originated from the goblin race in ancient times.

They invented trade and made it flourish, being the creators of today’s prosperous era.

Other races stole the goblins’ intellectual achievements without paying for their knowledge, so in their eyes, their unscrupulous pursuit of wealth is legitimate and legal, as it is what other intelligent species owe them.

"Goblins, Golden Tooth Tribe."

The Red Iron Dragon’s swaying tail plowed furrows into the ground, pondering, "This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with goblins."

Or rather.

The first time he felt a sense of risk and was inspired with a fierce killing intent was because of goblins.

That was when he had just left the protection of the Iron Dragon Lady, living with a single master and servant in the Iron Pine Hills alongside the Earth Bear.

Having killed the Goblin Wolf Riders who were hunting the Red Dragon Samantha, he thus created conflict with the goblin race, exterminating them all, leaving none alive.

"The first time I drank black oil and realized its importance was also due to goblins."

Now coming to the Border Area and encountering goblins again, especially as one of the strongest four tribes, it gave Galos a strange feeling.

Meanwhile.

Iron Dragon Solrog said, "Those lowly crawlers claim that the banks of the Estonian River near the Border Area all belong to them." He snorted coldly, the thorns on his body slightly standing up, and said, "They even sent an envoy to Dragon Valley to collect taxes from us."

The Golden Tooth Tribe has lingered in the Border Area for hundreds of years and has dealt with the Bloodhoof Clan.

Despite significant changes in the Southwest, they were not deterred by the arrival of the Dragon Race, instead attempting to extract gold coins from the dragons’ mouths.

In the eyes of the Dragon Race, goblins held a status no higher than kobolds.

Lowly creatures like crawlers demanding taxes from the Dragon Race?

This indeed goes against the natural order, making the Iron Dragon extremely angry at the Golden Tooth Tribe’s actions.

The Red Dragon Samantha was also quite hostile towards goblins, with the shame of being hunted by goblin cavalry during her weaker years still etched in her mind.

"I say, we should burn all these crawlers to death."

The Red Dragon growled, "Goblins, I don’t even have the desire to eat them. Only turning them to ash would bring me some joy and satisfaction."

Galos ignored the words of the Red Dragon Samantha.

He asked the Iron Dragon, "Did you kill their envoy?"

The Iron Dragon took a deep breath and slowly shook his head, "No, I suppressed my anger and expelled the envoy of the Golden Tooth Tribe without killing them."

Killing a negotiation envoy would mean outright declaring war.

While communicating with the goblin envoy, the Iron Dragon was furious, wanting to peel off the skin of the goblin that offended the Dragon Race’s dignity. However, considering that Galos was still asleep and it was not appropriate to start a war with the Golden Tooth Tribe from Dragon Valley, thanks to the Mind Mage’s control over his emotions and his own personal growth, he forcibly restrained his violent anger.

His nature made him look down on the Golden Tooth Tribe.

But his rationality told him that becoming one of the four strongest tribes in the Border Area meant the Golden Tooth Tribe should not be underestimated; otherwise, they wouldn’t dare tax the Dragon Race.

After a struggle between nature and reason, the Iron Dragon’s rationality overcame the nature of the Evil Dragon.

"An excellent manager does not let their emotions drive them."

"You’ve experienced more than one failure, but they’ve all fueled your success."

"Solrog, you’ve earned my respect."

Galos did not hold back his praise.

The young Iron Dragon from before his slumber would not have been able to restrain his violent emotions and would have killed the goblin envoy.

The growth of the Ignatius Brothers was apparent to the naked eye.

Influenced by Galos’ rational management of power and desire, they also became more adept at controlling their desires, understanding the importance of rationality more than ordinary dragons.

"Whether emperors or prime ministers, none allow emotions to dominate them."

"I’ve read The Prince and Lordship Theory thoroughly, always understanding this point, but never able to implement it."

The Iron Dragon returned the compliment, saying, "Galos, my dear brother, it’s you who gave me the courage and determination to fight against desire. It’s my honor to build the Dragon Empire with you."

The two brothers complimented each other, appreciating each other’s qualities.

"What about me?"

The Red Dragon couldn’t help but ask.

"Dragon Valley cannot do without your Sulfur Hills, you’ve done well."

Galos said.

Upon hearing this, the Red Dragon Samantha nodded in satisfaction and then, as if remembering something, hurriedly said, "I almost forgot, I have things to do, I’m the key part of the alchemy workshop’s assembly line and can’t leave for too long."

The assembly line-style industrial production brought wealth to the Red Dragon but also reduced her free time.

However, as long as she could gain wealth, the Red Dragon didn’t mind a busy life.

After bidding farewell to Galos and Solrog, Samantha left Dragon Valley and returned to the Sulfur Hills.

"After being rejected, the Golden Tooth Tribe hasn’t come back to negotiate with us."

Facing the Red Iron Dragon, Solrog said, "They haven’t continued to deploy defenses on the western riverbanks."

"But ever since our contact, besides the ships from the Gemstone Merchants Association, the number of other ships willing to trade with us has gradually decreased."

"Even the ships of the Gemstone Merchants Association received warnings, with arrows landing on their hulls, carrying notes that warned them to consider the consequences of trading with us."

"I believe it’s the Golden Tooth Tribe causing trouble."

The Gemstone Merchants Association is a formal association established by Nick over the years.

During their return journey to the Dragon Valley, Galos had already learned about this.

The Red Iron Dragon didn’t get angry about the small antics of the Golden Tooth Tribe, but instead chuckled and said, "It seems the goblins want to fight a trade war with us, using commercial operations to strike at our trade channels with the outside world, forcing us to pay taxes."

Not opting for direct warfare, using primitive barbaric means to solve the problem.

This is indeed a bit more ’civilized’ than the human nobles encountered at the Scale Earth Rift.

As for why the merchant ships from truly civilized realms would cooperate with the goblin tribe from the Border Area, thinking it through makes sense.

The Border Area is barren and harsh, its resources only supporting four tribes over a long period.

However, the Border Area also has its advantages.

There are no black oil reserves here, rare magic ore deposits are scarce, and there are no legions from powerful kingdoms.

In comparison, the resources of the Sel Wilderness can sustain many tribes, yet, at least Galos hasn’t seen any tribal-level forces in the wilderness.

The Lothern Federation doesn’t allow tribes in the Sel Wilderness.

Any that shows signs or trends are ruthlessly crushed.

In the Sel Wilderness, there are only various struggling biological races and countless fierce beasts and monsters........ such an environment is deliberately cultivated by the Lothern Federation.

They see the entire Sel Wilderness as a ’pasture and mine.’

Back to the topic, the four major tribes control most of the resources in the Border Area, and trading with the tribes usually allows merchant ships to acquire the resources they want at a low price and then sell them back to the Southern Federation at a high price. The Golden Tooth Tribe is the biggest trading party, and for more profits, the merchants choose to cooperate with the Golden Tooth Tribe, which isn’t surprising.