Chapter 19: Something's Off About This Domain

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're that eager to see me dead?"

Realizing he had said the wrong thing, the goblin blacksmith gave an awkward laugh. "Sorry about that — I just assumed all the domains along the border had fallen..."

"The Undead Domain hasn't been invaded by adventurers?"

Xia Er shook his head. "It has."

"They just haven't managed to take it down."

"Huh?"

The goblin was stunned once again.

As far as he knew, the other party was only around level 30 or so — and his own tribe's goblin chieftain had been level 35, yet still ended up being turned into weapon materials.

Is he pulling my leg?

Seeing that the goblin clearly didn't believe him, Xia Er couldn't be bothered to prove anything. "Just forge the equipment for me first."

With that, he got straight to work unloading everything from the cart.

Goblin Blacksmith: ……

I haven't even said yes yet!

As a goblin, he never imagined there would come a day when someone would just steamroll him like this. Judging by the situation, there was no way he'd be allowed to leave until the equipment was finished.

Back inside the smithy, the fire was stoked.

The goblin blacksmith put on his apron with practiced ease and asked, "What do you need?"

Xia Er silently produced the materials. "Use this as the core and forge me a staff."

"This is…?"

Taking the skull from Xia Er's hands, the goblin blacksmith felt the surging magical power and resentment within it and exclaimed in surprise, "Uriel?"

"That's right."

With confirmation, the goblin blacksmith looked troubled.

He didn't care about the item's origins — the problem was that the forging difficulty was quite high.

Xia Er asked, "Can you do it?"

The goblin blacksmith hesitated. "I can, but it'll take a while."

"If I rush it, I can finish in a day — but the craftsmanship quality will be very low. Materials of this caliber usually need three days to be properly worked."

For equipment, craftsmanship quality was an extremely important metric. With such excellent materials, Xia Er naturally didn't want them to be handled carelessly. "Three days it is, then."

The goblin blacksmith shook his head. "No good."

"In three days, those adventurers will have caught up for sure. I'm not looking to die."

"Either I finish it for you within a day, or you follow me to the new town and pick it up three days later."

Xia Er couldn't accept either option.

Three days — who knew how many players would have completed their quests and be waiting for him by then? How much free labor would he be wasting?

After thinking it over, Xia Er hit upon the perfect solution.

"The Undead Domain isn't far from this town. Come forge it at my domain, and once it's done, I'll escort you to the new town."

"Well…"

The goblin didn't know how to respond for a moment.

The drop from Uriel seemed to prove something, but he was still afraid of being swarmed by adventurers once he entered the other party's domain.

After some deliberation, the goblin blacksmith gritted his teeth. "I can do it…"

"But you'll have to pay more!"

Xia Er nodded. "No problem. Come back to my domain with me."

He extended his hand, and a magical seal slowly pulsed with light. In the next moment, several Undead Soldiers burst up from the ground, grabbed hold of the heavy cart, and set off swiftly toward the domain.

The goblin blacksmith followed along behind, eyeing the Undead Soldiers on either side who were casually swinging their large blades, and felt a growing unease in his heart.

"Was I too hasty?"

No matter how he looked at it, this guy didn't seem like a good person.

With a heart full of anxiety, after roughly two hours of travel, the Undead Domain finally came into view.

What he saw exceeded his expectations.

He had assumed this domain must have survived through fierce, bloody battles — monsters sacrificing their lives in wave after wave against the players — to have held out while so many other domains had fallen.

But this domain didn't have a single corpse, not even a decent trace of battle anywhere.

It didn't look at all like adventurers had ever come to attack it.

They entered the Undead Domain.

The moment he stepped inside, the goblin blacksmith saw a group of adventurers in thin, light clothing standing before the castle, wearing strange smiles on their faces, staring straight at him.

The instant those gazes landed on him, the goblin felt goosebumps crawl all over his body, and the questions that had been clogging his mind suddenly became crystal clear.

No wonder the Undead Domain showed no signs of battle.

It turned out this Domain Lord had already gotten into bed with the human adventurers!

Otherwise, he simply couldn't explain why these adventurers were standing here without any equipment on.

Damn! It's a trap!

With his thoughts now clear, the goblin blacksmith immediately turned to run — but before he could take a single step, an immense surge of magical power enveloped him completely, leaving him unable to move at all.

He stiffly turned his head and found Xia Er watching him with a grin. "Master Blacksmith, you're planning to leave before the equipment is even finished?"

"Is there something off about my domain?"

Goblin Blacksmith: ……

There is absolutely nothing right about your domain, damn it!

After venting furiously in his heart, the goblin blacksmith put on a fawning smile. "There's nothing off about it at all. I just wanted to find a good spot to get to work quickly."

Hearing this, Xia Er nodded and patted him on the shoulder. "Good to hear. Get to work then."

"Also, all four areas of the domain are overseen by my lieutenants. If you need anything, just let them know."

"Now that you're here, don't treat yourself like an outsider."

As a blacksmith who frequently dealt with monsters and domain lords, the goblin blacksmith understood that these words were certainly not as caring as they sounded on the surface.

This was a warning not to think about escaping.

He recalled the grim fate of the chieftain, who had been turned into weapon materials.

Then he looked at the eerie glow in the adventurers' eyes and couldn't help shuddering. He quickly patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Lord Xia Er — I absolutely won't treat myself like an outsider."

With that, he hurried over to the cart, unloaded everything, and even picked out two weapons of exceptional quality.

"Lord Xia Er, these two weapons are both high-craftsmanship blue-quality gear. Please accept them — I'm sure some of your lieutenants in the domain could put them to use."

Seeing the equipment being offered to him, Xia Er was taken aback for a moment. "Isn't that a bit too generous? I hired you to forge here, and I haven't even paid you yet — and you're already giving me gifts?"

"It's nothing. We're not outsiders here."

The goblin waved it off, his seemingly carefree expression written all over with the desperate will to survive.