Chapter 125: The Times Have Changed!

During this period, Fiza successfully produced a batch of unicycles and repaired the road from Goblin Valley to River Bay. This greatly increased the transport capacity of the goblin mining team. Goblin miners who could previously only carry fifty pounds of iron ore on their backs could now push carts loaded with over two hundred pounds of ore at remarkable speeds. It wasn’t that the goblins themselves couldn’t carry more weight; their woven baskets and wooden crates simply had limited load capacity.

The warehouse in River Bay was already piled high with iron ore, and despite repeated expansions of the blacksmith’s smelting furnace, it couldn’t keep up with the influx of ore. Following Leo’s advice, Valeri constructed a new forge and warehouse by a small lake in the central peninsula of River Bay, nestled near a rocky outcrop. At the same time, they began building a blast furnace and researching steel refining techniques.

The continuous development of River Bay also attracted some technical talents, unlocking numerous new technologies. However, these innovations were still in the experimental stage and had yet to be put into practical use. Naturally, these novelties caught Fiza’s keen attention. She took it upon herself to act as a spy, daily peering from the rocky outcrop to observe, while her personal guards were seized by Valeri and conscripted as unpaid construction labor.

Fifteen ogres gathered outside Goblin Valley, blocking the goblin ore transport team inside the valley and cutting off Fiza’s path to learning. The foolish goblins merely watched in curiosity, while the clever ones had already hurried to River Bay to report the situation. The ogre chief, Krogg, held back his tribe from launching an attack, instead standing in confrontation with Fiza. He feared that if they struck down the goblins too harshly, Leo would come after him for retribution.

This was human territory, and places that could accommodate an ogre tribe were scarce. Though not particularly intelligent, Krogg possessed basic survival wisdom. Fiza, accompanied by over a hundred goblin guards, stood firm at the valley entrance, keeping the ogres at bay. Compared to fighting in the open, the goblins’ morale at home at least doubled, and even the fearsome ogres could not intimidate them. Many goblin guards bared their teeth and snarled as if ready to charge, prepared to perish alongside their foes.

Their crossbows were only just capable of piercing the ogres’ thick hides and could not inflict serious damage. If the fifteen ogres went on a rampage and charged into the valley, it would be a massacre. The black-haired goblin leader stood behind Fiza, both excited and fearful at the ogres’ arrival, incessantly urging her, “Ogres, so terrifying! So strong! Let’s surrender!”

With Leo’s arrival, the golden-haired goblins barked excitedly and visibly relaxed. Besides their unwavering loyalty to Fiza, they also obeyed Leo, behaving like a group of docile golden retrievers in his presence. Unconsciously, they regarded Leo as the ruler second only to Fiza. Given the goblins’ reverence for strength, if Leo were to compete for leadership of Goblin Valley, he might receive nearly as many votes as Fiza.

The ogres were formidable, but Leo Mundo, the biter of dogs, was no weakling. Seeing Leo appear, Krogg the ogre chief clearly faltered. Not wanting to escalate the conflict in front of the big boss, Krogg raised his club and pointed at Fiza, declaring, “I, Krogg of the Orgei, challenge you to a duel!”

Fiza stepped out from behind the layers of goblin guards, tilting her head thoughtfully before saying, “How about a contest instead?”

“A contest for what?” Krogg asked.

“Counting!” Fiza replied swiftly. “Let’s see who can count their goblins first. Whoever finishes wins!”

“Intelligence is crucial to leading a tribe; you’re too stupid to be chief!” Krogg was not fooled. He couldn’t even count his own people and angrily waved his club, “No! Change it!”

“Then let’s see who has more kin and friends!”

“No!” Krogg became even angrier. “Orgei have no friends!”

Fiza was deeply hurt. “But I’m your friend!”

“Ah?” Krogg was stunned, then stammered after a moment, “Fiza is also Krogg’s friend! Leo too! Krogg has two friends!”

Fiza declared loudly, “Smart Fiza has a hundred friends!”

The ogres admitted a crushing defeat and quickly said, “No, change it again!”

“Then let’s compete in skills!” Fiza continued. “Who has more inventions!”

Counting on her fingers, she added, “The three great abilities to lead a tribe are intelligence, emotional intelligence, and skills. You can pick any one to compete!”

Not just the ogres, even Leo was dumbfounded. Wasn’t this the very theory he had taught Olivia? In his previous life, as a seasoned corporate drone, Leo knew more than a little. He’d skimmed short videos, read light novels, attended workplace trainings—he had a decent grasp of basic theory. Concepts like the six leadership abilities, seven core virtues, three management competencies, and eight essential qualities were familiar to him. When managing River Bay with Olivia, he often boasted about these to impress the two girls, leaving them wide-eyed.

Olivia and the little mouse listened attentively, applying themselves courageously, and improved rapidly.

Of course, talk is one thing and action another. After teaching Olivia and the little mouse, Leo continued to slack off and remain indifferent. Effort was impossible—otherwise, he wouldn’t have accepted being a corporate drone in his past life.

The three core management competencies: technical ability, interpersonal skills, and conceptual ability—translated into terms an otherworlder could understand: skills, emotional intelligence, and intelligence.

Unexpectedly, this theory that Leo had more boasted than practiced was wielded skillfully by Fiza. Her learning ability was truly unmatched in River Bay.

The two-headed ogre Krogg was dumbfounded for a long time before fully snapping back and becoming enraged. “I won’t compete! I want to duel you!”

Just as Leo prepared to intervene, Fiza nodded in agreement.

“Alright then!”

She resignedly accepted the powder keg and the thick musket handed to her by her subordinates. Holding the powder keg in her left hand and the heavy musket in her right, she stepped before Krogg.

“Fiza accepts your challenge!”

Krogg quickly conceded, declaring that Fiza would forever be the undisputed leader and goblin king of Goblin Valley. The ogres and goblins would remain eternal allies, living as neighbors in peace without interference.

Fiza’s enemies were the ogres’ enemies.

Joking aside, Krogg still had two iron bullets lodged in his back that hadn’t been removed, itching terribly on rainy days.

Thus ended the farce, without the usual bloody chaos of a wild frontier chief’s power struggle.

As the mastermind behind the leadership contest, the black-haired goblin leader clutched the powder keg bestowed by Fiza and walked step by step toward the mines, his mind filled with awe.

The times had changed.

Leo watched the spectacle but felt unsatisfied. He had expected Fiza to be overwhelmed, to come running to him tearfully, begging him to arbitrate. Unfortunately, Fiza’s growth had been too rapid. Though she often acted like a childish middle schooler, against the kindergarten-level opponents like the ogres and other goblins, she was able to completely outsmart them.