Larry handed the last Goblin ear to Lin Mo. The man beside him seemed to have no objection, while the youth named Rhein remained silent.
He sat hugging his knees, staring blankly at the Goblin corpse. He tightly gripped the bloody ear in his hand.
Lin Mo accepted the ear without ceremony and stuffed it into his pocket.
He was penniless and homeless—this was when he needed money the most.
They could leave the Goblin corpses where they lay. Wild beasts or other Demons would surely take care of them, and the same went for Barnes.
Not long ago, this was the same young man who said he would wait for a Goblin to smash Lin Mo's head in and then strip his clothes. Now, his own head had been smashed in.
Of course, "smashed" wasn't entirely accurate. It was more like a hole had been punched through his temple. There was an extremely small chance he was still alive, just severely wounded and unconscious.
But even if he was, in a forest this dangerous, no one was willing to carry such a burden. So, no one bothered to check if he was still breathing.
Larry plucked a wildflower from a nearby patch of grass, placed it on Barnes's chest, and murmured, "May the Holy Light Blessing bring your soul to rest, my friend."
Lin Mo watched the short, hasty little ritual with keen interest, using it to glean more information about this world.
'Judging by what Larry just said, this world must have religion.'
'I can't be sure yet if this religion has corresponding gods, but from Larry's well-practiced words and actions, there's a high chance a Church exists that established these rituals.'
Of course, after the prayer, it was time to loot Barnes's body. The kid was just as poor as he looked; a thorough search only turned up a dozen or so Copper Coins. As for his clothes, which were already covered in patches and now stained with blood, they were left on him as a makeshift shroud.
Larry discreetly pocketed the dozen or so Copper Coins. While his family had been relatively well-off, that was in the past. Lately, he couldn't find any work, his farmland had been ravaged multiple times by the damned Goblins, and life had become increasingly difficult.
Lin Mo said nothing about it, instead walking over to the young man squatting on the ground and patting him on the shoulder.
"You were really brave back there, charging in like that."
The young man glanced up at him, shook his head, and then rested his chin on his knees again, looking very downcast.
'This wasn't how someone should act after winning a battle and getting loot worth 100 Copper Coins. Combining this with the ferocity and mania he'd shown against the Goblins, Lin Mo had a hunch.'
He patted his shoulder again, took the small, half-eaten piece of black bread from his pocket, and handed it to the young man, Rhein.
"Here. You have to keep looking forward."
Rhein froze for a moment, then hesitantly took the bread and stuffed the entire piece into his mouth...
Lin Mo noticed the rims of his eyes were red, and his chewing was mingled with the sound of choked sobs.
"What's next?"
The older man, Leo, spoke up. "So, do we head back now, or keep going?"
Larry felt the Goblin ear in his pocket. "With these ears as loot, they probably won't chase us out if we go back to town now. But do you really want to head back already?"
He slowly raised a finger. "One Goblin is 100 Copper Coins. Even back in the good times, you'd have to slave away for half a month for some rich lord to make this much... The way I see it, since we're already here, we might as well make some real money—enough to get through these hard times."
"He's right! Weren't we rounded up by the Guards and 'conscripted' just because we were looking for work on the streets? If we go back now, 100 Copper Coins won't last long. We'll have to find a way to earn more, and who knows, we might get rounded up again. I don't want to come back to this godforsaken place a second time. We might as well earn enough money right now. Then I'll just hide at home. The Guards can't just break into my house and drag me out, can they?"
Leo chimed in. Both he and Larry then looked over, as if to ask for Lin Mo's and Rhein's opinions.
"Keep going!"
Rhein's reply was short and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
Lin Mo frowned. 'To be honest, I don't want to press our luck.'
'Even though I gained two points of Agility and a new Skill, I'm not going to get cocky. I still know far too little about this world, and my knowledge of the Loran Forest is practically nonexistent. Compared to Larry's gambler-like mentality, I'd much rather quit while I'm ahead, go back and gather some intel, and then venture out again once I'm properly prepared.'
'But now the other three have all made their positions clear. Even if I object, it's probably too late to pump the brakes.'
'Causing a rift or splitting up now would be a bad move. I definitely don't want to be wandering around this dangerous forest by myself.'
'Ah, what the hell. If we're continuing, we're continuing. Worst-case scenario, if things go south, my two extra points of Agility make me the fastest one here. I can always find a chance to make a run for it.'
'On the other hand, if everything goes smoothly, I can make some extra money.'
'I'm still not sure what the purchasing power of 200 Copper Coins is, but with that as my entire net worth, it's highly unlikely I'll be living a comfortable life.'
"What a coincidence, I was thinking the same thing."
And so, he gave an affirmative answer.
"Alright then, let's get ready and move out!"
Larry made the final call, then stood up, decided on a direction, and carved a simple mark into a nearby tree with his small knife.
Along the way, Lin Mo took the initiative to speak with Larry and learned more about Goblins.
Just as they were depicted in most of the stories he could recall, individual Goblins weren't strong—in fact, they were quite weak. The biggest headache they posed was their incredibly powerful reproductive ability.
If left completely unchecked, a single pair of Goblins could multiply into a small tribe of over a dozen in just one year. Their growth rate was also astonishing; a Goblin could reach maturity in less than a year.
Therefore, the Lord of any town bordering a forest had to actively manage the Goblin population in the vicinity, culling them periodically to prevent the damned Demons from multiplying into a full-blown plague.
Clearly, the Lord of Roland Town had failed in this duty, which was what led to the current situation.
Lin Mo also learned an even more significant piece of information from Larry.
Pure-blooded Goblins were usually quite weak. However, their potent reproductive genes weren't limited to their own kind. Goblins could breed with any powerful Alien Race—like humans, Beastmen, Half-Beastmen, or Elves—and produce offspring.
These Goblins, born from crossbreeding with an Alien Race, would often inherit or even mutate to develop more powerful gifts. This was the primary reason Goblins were so obsessed with abducting human maidens.
'I wonder what a Mutated Goblin, the result of crossbreeding, would look like?'