MDT Chapter 134 (Patreon)

Chapter 134: The King and the Merchant

Soon—

Duo Ba, pickaxe slung over his shoulder, led a formidable procession of a hundred goblins as they leaped from the rear carriage and marched toward the front of the train.

"Foolish human, what are you—"

Before the words finished, Duo Ba's pickaxe flew through the air, embedding itself with a resounding thud in the ground before the Black Market Merchant. This was accompanied by Duo Ba's thunderous roar: "Foolish Black Market Merchant! How dare you address the great Human Prophet with such disrespect?!"

"You—"

The Black Market Merchant, still shrouded in its black cloak, turned toward Duo Ba, brow furrowed and expression darkening. "Foolish... foolish goblin?"

The Black Market Merchant froze, finally registering the situation.

"You're goblins?"

By now, Duo Ba had reached the Black Market Merchant, his voice stern: "Address me as Duo Ba, King of the Goblins!"

"To encounter a Black Market Merchant here... Only one in several thousand Goblin Merchants achieves such status. Truly, the heavens smile upon the goblin race!"

"I—"

"I am Duo Ba, the new King of the Goblins."

"Under the guidance of this great Human Prophet, goblin civilization slowly undergoes revival. These behind me are my people. Will you return to the goblin race, join my command, and aid me in restoring our people to greatness?"

"I..."

The Black Market Merchant's body trembled. It yanked back its hood and dropped to one knee before Duo Ba, tears streaming down its face as it cried out: "I am willing to follow Lord Duo Ba and help revive the goblin race together!"

"Excellent."

Duo Ba nodded with satisfaction, then stepped forward to help the Black Market Merchant to its feet. "Make the goblin race great again." 【TN: This phrase seems to be popular across all species these days. 😀】

"Now, follow me back to the train."

The Black Market Merchant nodded emphatically, eyes red with emotion as it followed Duo Ba toward the rear carriages.

"The goblin race finally... finally has a king again."

"Make the goblin race great again."

"Hey, hey, wait just a minute—"

Inside the control car, Chen Mang, who had been watching the scene unfold, finally snapped out of his stupor. He quickly thrust his head out the window and called to the group of goblins already nearing the rear of the train. He glanced at the cigarette in his hand, which had burned down to the filter without his notice. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the entire goblin procession disappeared into the carriage.

He looked again at the message on his screen:

"Attacking, imprisoning, or harming the Black Market Merchant is prohibited."

Imprisoning? Attacking?

He hadn't lifted a finger. The Black Market Merchant had offered no resistance whatsoever—it had simply followed Duo Ba obediently, chanting "make the goblin race great again" as it trotted into his carriage.

Moments later, the text on the control console screen gradually faded, as if nothing had occurred. Only the targeting radar revealed the change: a yellow dot now resided within his 11th carriage.

"That actually worked?"

Chen Mang slumped in his chair, stunned. After a long moment, he exhaled deeply and rubbed his temples. "Have Duo Ba come here."

His original plan in sending Duo Ba out had been simply to see if being fellow goblins might earn a discount. He hadn't held much hope, but it seemed worth trying. He'd never expected the Black Market Merchant to be so... accommodating.

Duo Ba had merely stood there, projected a kingly aura, and the previously arrogant Black Market Merchant had immediately knelt in surrender.

Were goblins really that simple and trusting?

The creature had accepted Duo Ba's claim to kingship without question.

Perhaps next time he should claim to be the Goblin God.

He'd been so absorbed in the unfolding drama that he'd forgotten to purchase any of the four items. He wondered if he could still buy them from the Black Market Merchant, now that it had joined his train.

Soon—

Duo Ba, pickaxe across his shoulder, traversed several carriages to reach the control car.

Chen Mang eyed the pickaxe and frowned. "Since when do you carry that thing everywhere?"

"Great Human Prophet."

Duo Ba raised the pickaxe, his expression solemn. "For a race to possess unity, it must have a symbol. The revival of goblin civilization owes everything to the hundred-plus goblins who excavated it with the pickaxes in their hands."

"Therefore, I have designated the pickaxe as the emblem of the goblin race. When goblin civilization achieves full revival, I shall record the story of our service aboard the Stellar as our racial history, and this pickaxe will serve as our symbol."

"Mm."

Chen Mang nodded expressionlessly. After a prolonged silence, he spoke: "What's the situation with our new friend?"

"Reporting to the great Human Prophet."

"Among the goblin race exists a special variant called the Goblin Merchant. You've witnessed their unique abilities—exceptional carrying capacity and remarkable speed. They often travel as wandering merchants. This is an innate gift."

"Among Goblin Merchants, there exists an even rarer variant."

"The Black Market Merchant."

"Black Market Merchants lack the enhanced carrying capacity or speed, but they possess the ability to traverse space. With a single thought, they can appear in completely new, unknown locations. This power is entirely uncontrollable."

"Black Market Merchants are therefore difficult to locate, because even they cannot predict where they'll materialize next. Many become separated from their families the first time they learn to use this ability, never finding their way home."

"As they mature, they can teleport randomly up to ten times daily."

"I just spoke with him. Unlike me, he hasn't fully recovered his intelligence, though he surpasses the other goblins. He can speak and possesses some reasoning ability. However, his mind has been programmed by some unknown force with the compulsion to halt trains and sell goods."

"Much like how I was compelled to journey to the Mohe Hills from the underground depths."

"But he still remembers goblin greatness, still vaguely recalls our fall, and still yearns—like me—to revive and rebuild goblin civilization!"

"Great Human Prophet, may he join the train?"

"..."

Chen Mang remained silent, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his temples as he processed this information. He'd always felt that goblins were somewhat... out of place in this world.

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He'd visited the City of Machines and the Kunlun Mountains region.

He operated a mechanical train and had heard of flesh trains.

He'd seen mechs with shoulder-mounted rocket launchers and been pursued by terrifying worm monsters dozens of meters long.

Everything he'd encountered could essentially be categorized into two types:

"Machines" and "monsters."

Only these goblins fit neither category. They certainly weren't machines, nor were they truly monsters. They seemed to have emerged from some forgotten corner, slightly out of sync with this world.

Those monsters were utterly devoid of intelligence, possessing only bloodthirsty instincts.

These goblins, while initially appearing monstrous, harbored no bloodlust—only a desire to prove their greatness.

After a moment's contemplation, Chen Mang looked up at Duo Ba. "He can join, but he is, after all, a Black Market Merchant. I'm not certain if he's able to—"

The moment he mentally agreed, he watched the yellow dot disappear from his display, replaced by a green one. The merchant had officially become a Stellar crew member.

Excellent.

He wondered how many wandering Black Market Merchants roamed this planet. The probability of others encountering one had likely just decreased slightly.

"Bring him here."

"Yes."

Soon—

The Black Market Merchant, still cloaked in black, was escorted over, standing behind Duo Ba with a serious expression.

"Um..."

Chen Mang paused before speaking softly: "Show me your inventory. I'm just browsing."

"I don't have any."

The Black Market Merchant shook its head decisively, then glanced at Duo Ba before continuing with obvious reluctance: "Great Human Prophet, I carry no goods. Only after you pay the Legacy Value will the corresponding items manifest."

"Can I do that now?"

"You can."

Chen Mang said nothing more, simply waving his hand to dismiss Duo Ba and the merchant. As he watched their retreating figures, his expression grew thoughtful. In essence, his train now had a permanent Black Market Merchant.

In the future, when he wanted to spend Legacy Value, he wouldn't need to wait for chance encounters with Black Market Merchants. He could simply conduct business with the one aboard his train.

That advantage alone made it worthwhile.

After all, one additional mouth to feed was hardly a burden.

Perhaps many trains possessed Legacy Value, but couldn't locate Black Market Merchants. He could potentially charge substantial introduction fees.

And...

He studied the train's accessory information on the control console screen.

The Black Market Merchant couldn't even control its teleportation destination. Once it teleported, it might never return to the Stellar.

However—

He possessed the "Train Ticket" accessory. Any crew member who tore a ticket could instantly return to the train. He'd already upgraded it to Level 10, though the range was only 10,000 meters. Only members within that radius could return to the train.

Perhaps upgrading it to Level 100 would provide considerably greater range. After all, as a white-grade accessory, upgrading wouldn't consume excessive resources.

This required careful consideration.

He needed to explore additional applications. Random teleportation was a conceptual-level effect with tremendous potential.

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