For the next week, the Blackrock Clan became a massive construction site.
Before dawn, Kurzadh's voice, like a broken gong, echoed through the valley: "Everyone get up! Those cutting wood go to the forest! Those moving stones run to the river! If anyone dares to slack off, they won't get to gnaw on fish bones for lunch!"
The goblins, startled by his roar, scrambled out of their shacks.
The new goblins weren't quite used to it yet, lingering and trying to get closer to the fire, but Scarface threw a stone that landed by their feet, scaring them into immediately scurrying towards the forest—Scarface was now the "overseer," given authority by Kurzadh to beat anyone caught slacking.
He enjoyed this job more than anyone, patrolling the valley daily with a wooden club, striking any goblin he found displeasing, keeping them all in line.
Dragu led the hobgoblins in primarily constructing the statue of Gork and Mork.
Kurzadh rummaged through the system blueprints for a long time, but there was no specific design, only that it was "orcish style."
He simply told Dragu to haphazardly create it based on the broken statue he remembered from the Rotten tooth tribe—after all, orcish aesthetics were like that: the fiercer and more chaotic, the better.
The hobgoblins carried stones to the open ground in the center of the valley. Kurzadh, finding them too slow, had the goblins help as well. About twenty goblins surrounded a large stone, chanting "Heave-ho, heave-ho!"
As they chanted, they veered off-topic, turning into a chaotic shout of "Beat the dwarves! Steal the mushrooms!" Kurzadh didn't mind, as long as the stone was moved to its place.
Wry-Mouth was completely docile now, squatting on a stone with a few hobgoblins, chiseling away—using the tip of a stone spear to meticulously carve, trying to shape the stone into a "head."
He was clumsy, chiseling it crookedly; the nose became a pit, and the eyes became slits. Dragu, watching, got angry, snatched the stone spear, and chiseled himself. After two attempts, he also chiseled it crookedly.
In the end, both of them simply gave up on "fine work," directly knocking off a few chunks of Kurzadh to create a rough "head" outline. They then found a pile of scavenged animal bones—wolf, deer, and a few fragments that looked like dwarf skulls—stuffed them into the stone's "mouth," and plastered them with mud, considering it done.
On the other side, the goblins weren't idle either.
With over fifty new goblins, the old shacks were packed like sardines. Kurzadh had Wreelx lead the construction of new ones—following the old rules: a few wooden sticks planted in the ground as pillars, covered with thatch, with branches blocking the sides. As long as it could provide shelter from wind and rain, it was fine.
Wreelx had learned his lesson, building according to the "Goblin shack" blueprint provided by the system. Although still crooked, it was much better than before; at least it wouldn't collapse with a gust of wind.
Throughout this week, the valley was filled with constant "clanging" sounds.
The goblins cutting wood ran back with tree trunks on their shoulders, their tongues hanging out from exhaustion; the hobgoblins moving stones chiseled bare-chested, covered in more mud than the goblins; even the clumsiest goblins with missing ears learned to twist grass ropes, squatting on the ground and twisting them quickly, afraid of Scarface hitting their heads.
Food , however, was not a concern.
Scarface led his people to the river daily to collect fishing nets. Fish were plentiful in spring, catching thirty to forty fish each day. They cooked a large pot of fish soup. Although it lacked salt and flavor, the goblins ate it with gusto, each holding a broken earthenware pot, squatting on the ground, slurping it down.
After wiping their mouths, they resumed work, looking much more energetic than when they used to gnaw on tree bark in the chaotic forest.
On the afternoon of the seventh day, a burst of "Waaagh" cheers suddenly erupted from the center of the valley—the statue of Gork and Mork was finally complete.
Kurzadh was squatting by the mushroom field, examining the tender sprouts (he couldn't tell if it was psychological, but he always felt like something was moving in the soil), and hearing the commotion, he quickly ran towards it.
As he reached the edge of the open ground, he saw a stone statue, taller than a man, standing in the center of the valley—though called a stone statue, it was actually a large stone that had been haphazardly hammered, with a crooked head, a collapsed nose on its face, and two dark holes for eyes.
The most "striking" feature was its "mouth," filled with various teeth, some with sharp fangs protruding, others shattered into mere fragments. Bathed in the sun, it exuded an eerie ferocity, exactly the kind of thing an goblin would love.
"Boss! It's done!" Dragu shouted, holding a stone spear, his face smudged with mud, grinning proudly. "Look at these teeth! Much fiercer than the one in the Rotten tooth tribe!"
Kurzadh circled the statue twice, finding it more and more to his liking—it had that savage charm. He silently told the system: "Confirm construction of the statue of Gork and Mork."
[Confirm construction of the statue of Gork and Mork? Consumes Stone x5, Wood x3, Waaagh! energy x50.]
"Confirm."
As soon as he spoke, the stone statue suddenly hummed and emitted a green light.
The green light was much brighter than when it had "Blessed" the mushroom field, swirling around the statue three times. The originally rough stone surface seemed to have been polished; although still crooked, it appeared more "solid."
The eye sockets seemed to have something added, dark and deep, making one uneasy when looked at. The teeth in its mouth were also "welded" more firmly by the green light, with one wolf bone even sticking out, making it look fiercer.
The green light flickered and then vanished, but the statue was noticeably more "alive" than before, standing in the center of the valley like a real goblin Warboss, exuding a "Don't mess with me" ferocity.
The surrounding goblins had long since stopped their work and were gathered around the statue. Now, seeing the green light gone, they suddenly erupted in a chorus of "Waaagh" cheers.
The goblins jumped high, some throwing small stones at the statue (perhaps as an "offering"), others bowing to the statue, their heads thudding against the ground; the hobgoblins also shouted with their stone spears, yelling "Gork is awesome!" and "Mork is awesome!" Wry-Mouth shouted the loudest, his voice almost hoarse.
All goblins believed in Gork and Mork. Previously, in the Rotten tooth tribe, Wry-Mouth and the others would kneel to the broken statue every now and then, begging for more fish and fewer beatings.
Now, seeing that the Blackrock Clan had a "Glowing" statue, ten times fiercer than the old one, they were all incredibly excited—this surely meant Gork and Mork were truly watching them! Following this goblin boss, they were guaranteed to live a life with fish every day!
Kurzadh looked at them, amused—the system truly didn't deceive him; their obedience must have increased significantly.
He waved his hand, telling the goblins to get back to work, then turned and walked towards the mushroom field—the statue was built, and he needed to check on his "treasure field."
Walking from the center of the valley to the river, one had to pass the newly built goblin shacks.
About ten shacks were scattered across the northern part of the camp, some leaning to the left, some slanting to the right, with varying distances between them. Some were close enough to brush against each other's thatch roofs, while others were two or three steps apart.
The animal hides covering the shack tops were even more diverse: gray wolf hides, patterned deer hides, and a dark, unidentified hide that rustled in the wind.
In fact, according to the system blueprints, these shacks could have been arranged neatly, aligned horizontally and vertically, with equal spacing, which would certainly have looked more imposing.
But Kurzadh didn't do that—it wasn't orcish enough.
Goblins should be spontaneous, building wherever they pleased. If they were happy, they'd pile stones by the shack; if not, they'd dig a pit by the door. That's what an goblin camp was about.
If it were as neat and square as a dwarf fortress, he himself would feel awkward looking at it.
He walked around the shacks and noticed that three of them were larger than the others, with a few stones piled at the entrance as a "threshold"—these were for the hobgoblins.
Kurzadh specifically had Wreelx build them a bit larger, as hobgoblins were taller than goblins and couldn't be squeezed in with them.
The other shacks were much smaller, each crammed with about ten goblin Boyz. He hadn't seen them during the cheering, probably because they were squeezed inside, sleeping.
"Boss!" Wreelx emerged from behind one of the shacks, holding a grass rope. "The new shacks are built! Six in total, enough for everyone!"
Kurzadh nodded: "Not bad." He pointed to the shacks. "Let the new goblins stay here tonight, don't let them crowd with the old ones."
"Aye!" Wreelx responded, then muttered softly, "It's just that these shacks... too few were built. Boss said only one more can be built for every ten new goblins. If new goblins grow from the mushroom field later, it might get crowded again."
Kurzadh was aware of this.
The system strictly limited construction. Apart from goblin shacks, all other buildings could only have one—one statue of Gork and Mork, one mushroom field, and only one boss's house could be built.
Only goblin shacks were linked to the tribe's population; one more could be built for every ten new goblins or one new hobgoblin, supposedly to "Balance tribe development."
This restriction was quite annoying.
Although "Goblin shacks" were the simplest buildings, each could add 1 point of territory obedience. If there were no restrictions, Kurzadh would genuinely want to build a hundred at once. By then, let alone obedience, the goblins might even worship him as Gork and Mork themselves.
"Just make do for now." Kurzadh patted Wreelx's shoulder. "When new goblins grow from the mushroom field, we'll keep building. We have plenty of wood anyway, what's there to fear?"
Wreelx nodded and went back to work behind the shack.
Kurzadh continued towards the mushroom field, pondering—the statue was built, the shacks were mostly done, so the task was completed.
Next, he should consider other things, like making some decent weapons. stone spears were too crude; if he could make a axe, it would be easier for cutting wood and chiseling Kurzadh.
Also, he could have Dragu lead his people to scout the forest to see if they could find iron ore. Although goblins weren't very good at smelting iron, adding some iron flakes to stone spears would significantly increase their power.
He reached the edge of the mushroom field and squatted down, raking the soil—still no tender sprouts, but the soil seemed a bit blacker.
He stroked his chin, hoping: Grow quickly, grow some little goblins, and the tribe will be even livelier.
In the center of the valley, the statue of Gork and Mork stood under the sun, its mouth full of gleaming teeth.
The surrounding goblins had resumed their work. The "clanging" sounds mixed with the "squeaking" of goblins and the "Waaagh" shouts of hobgoblins, echoing far and wide through the valley.