On the strongest tribes in The Borderlands.
Humans: balanced development in all aspects, wise and rational, acceptable.
Orcs: valiant and warlike, unafraid of bloodshed and death, formidable warrior units, passable.
Snake-men: insidious and cruel, skilled in various witchcraft and curses, many Warlocks and Shamans, barely acceptable.
Goblins?
Are you kidding me? What kind of joke is a Goblin?!
—This was the first reaction of strangers when they learned of the Four Great Tribes in The Borderlands.
Goblins are synonymous with cunning and weakness. The impression they give other intelligent races is always appalling: greedy, deceitful, and full of lies. Few intelligent beings are willing to deal with Goblins.
However, Goblins also have their merits.
They are generally very business-minded and proficient in trade.
Almost all Goblins firmly believe that the concept of 'trade' first appeared in ancient times, originating from the Goblin race.
They invented trade and made it flourish, becoming the creators of the current prosperous era.
Other races stole the fruits of the Goblins' wisdom without paying for their knowledge, so in their eyes, their own unscrupulous methods of earning wealth are legitimate and legal; it is something other intelligent races owe them.
"Goblins, the Golden Tooth Tribe."
The Red-Iron Dragon flicked his tail, plowing furrows into the ground, lost in thought: "This is not my first time dealing with Goblins."
Or rather, the first time he felt risk and was incited to intense killing intent was because of Goblins.
That was when he had just left the protection of the Iron Dragon Mother, when it was just master and servant living in the Hemlock Hills alongside an Earth Rampage Bear.
Because he killed the Goblin wolf riders that were hunting Red Dragon Samantha, he came into conflict with the Goblin clan, exterminating them all, leaving none behind.
"The first time I drank black oil and realized its importance, it was also because of Goblins."
Now that he had arrived in The Borderlands and encountered Goblins again—and they were one of the Four Great Tribes in The Borderlands—it gave Garros a strange feeling.
Meanwhile, the Iron Dragon Sorog said: "These lowly reptiles claim that the banks of the Estonia Great River near The Borderlands belong to them." He snorted coldly, the spines on his body slightly bristling, and said: "They actually used this as an excuse to send envoys to Dragon Valley to collect taxes from us."
The Golden Tooth Tribe has lingered in The Borderlands for hundreds of years and has dealt with the Bloodhoof Clan.
The subsequent changes in the southwest caused quite a stir and did not escape their notice, but they were not afraid because of the arrival of the Dragonkin; instead, they tried to scrape gold coins from the mouths of the Dragonkin.
In the eyes of the Dragonkin, Goblins are no higher than Kobolds.
Lowly things like reptiles, turning around to collect taxes from Dragonkin?
This is truly turning the world upside down; the actions of the Golden Tooth Tribe made the Iron Dragon feel very angry.
Red Dragon Samantha was also very hostile toward Goblins; the humiliation of being hunted by Goblin riders when she was weak was still fresh in her memory.
"If you ask me, we should burn all these reptiles to death."
The Red Dragon growled: "For things like Goblins, I don't even have the desire to eat them. Only by turning them into ashes can I feel a little pleasure and gratification."
Garros ignored Red Dragon Samantha's words.
He asked the Iron Dragon: "Did you kill their envoy?"
The Iron Dragon took a deep breath and slowly shook his head: "No, I suppressed my anger and expelled the Golden Tooth Tribe's envoy, but I did not kill them."
Killing a negotiating envoy means declaring war directly.
When communicating with the Goblin envoy at the time, the Iron Dragon was furious and wanted to skin and dismantle the Goblins who offended the dignity of the Dragonkin, but considering that Garros was still sleeping and it was not suitable for Dragon Valley to go to war with the Golden Tooth Tribe, thanks to the control his Psion profession gave him over his own emotions, as well as his own growth, he forcibly suppressed his violent anger.
His instinct made him look down on the Golden Tooth Tribe.
But his reason told him that as one of the Four Great Tribes in The Borderlands, the Golden Tooth Tribe could not be underestimated, otherwise they would not dare to collect taxes from Dragonkin.
After a struggle between instinct and reason, the Iron Dragon's reason overcame his Evil Dragon nature.
"An excellent manager is not driven by their own emotions."
"You have experienced failure more than once, but they have all become food that fuels your success."
"Sorog, you have impressed me."
Garros did not spare his praise.
If it were the teenage Iron Dragon before he went to sleep, he would definitely not have been able to restrain his violent emotions and would have killed the Goblin envoy.
The growth of the Ignas Siblings was visible to the naked eye.
Near vermilion, one gets stained red; near ink, one gets stained black. Garros's approach of using reason to govern power and desire was also subtly influencing the other dragons around him, making them better able to control their own desires than ordinary Dragonkin and more aware of the importance of reason.
"Whether it is an emperor or a prime minister, neither allows emotions to dominate them."
"I have read 'the prince' and 'The Theory of Lords', and I have always understood this point, but I have not been able to put it into practice."
The Iron Dragon returned the praise, saying: "Garros, my dear brother, it is you who gave me the courage and determination to fight against my desires. It is my honor to build the Dragonkin Empire with you."
The two brothers praised each other, cherishing the mutual understanding between them.
"What about me?"
The Red Dragon couldn't help but ask.
"Dragon Valley cannot do without your Sulfur Hills; you have done well."
Garros said.
Hearing this, Red Dragon Samantha nodded with satisfaction, then as if remembering something, she hurriedly said: "I almost forgot, I still have things to do. I am the most important part of the Alchemy Workshop assembly line and cannot leave for too long."
Assembly-line industrial production brought wealth to the Red Dragon, but it also reduced her free time.
However, as long as she could obtain wealth, the Red Dragon did not mind a busy life.
After saying goodbye to Garros and Sorog, Samantha left Dragon Valley and returned to the Sulfur Hills.
"After being rejected, the Golden Tooth Tribe did not come to negotiate with us again."
Perched opposite the Red-Iron Dragon, Sorog said: "They did not continue to deploy defenses along the western riverbank."
"But since contacting them, apart from the ships of the Gem Merchant Guild, other ships willing to trade with us have gradually decreased."
"The ships of the Gem Merchant Guild have also been warned; arrows landed on their hulls with notes attached, writing that there will be consequences if they continue to trade with us."
"I believe it is the Golden Tooth Tribe causing trouble."
The Gem Merchant Guild is a merchant guild that Nick has officially formed over these years.
During the conversation on the way back to Dragon Valley, Garros had already learned this.
The Red-Iron Dragon did not get angry at the Golden Tooth Tribe's petty tricks; instead, he laughed and said: "It seems the Goblins want to wage a trade war against us, using commercial operations to strike at our trade channels with the outside world, forcing us to pay taxes."
Not starting a war directly, using primitive and barbaric ways to solve problems.
This is actually a bit more 'civilized' than the human nobles encountered at the Scale-Earth Rift Road.
As for why those merchant ships from truly civilized nations would cooperate with the Goblin Tribes of The Borderlands, it is reasonable when you think about it carefully.
The Borderlands are barren with a harsh environment; exhausting the resources of The Borderlands has only supported four tribes for a long time.
But The Borderlands also have advantages.
There are no black oil reserves here, rare magical mineral deposits are scarce, and there are no legions from powerful kingdoms.
By comparison, the resources of the Serel Wilderness can support a large number of tribes, yet, at least Garros has never seen any tribal-level wilderness forces.
The Lothern Federation does not allow tribes to exist in the Serel Wilderness.
Any that show signs or trends are ruthlessly crushed.
In the Serel Wilderness, there are only small, struggling biological clans and countless Vicious Beasts and monsters, and this environmental atmosphere was deliberately created by the Lothern Federation.
They regard the entire Serel Wilderness as a 'pasture and mine'.
Returning to the main topic, the Four Great Tribes control the vast majority of the resources in The Borderlands, and merchant ships trading with the tribes can often obtain the resources they want at low prices and transport them back to the Southern Federation at high prices. The Golden Tooth Tribe is the largest trading party, so for more profit, it is not a problem for merchants to choose to cooperate with the Golden Tooth Tribe.