"Gobu Da, you're up for the second wheel!"

As soon as he heard the boss's words, Gobu Da trembled slightly.

To help the goblins better learn how to make wheels, Li Meng modularized the process, teaching each goblin to make different parts, and then having them teach others. This way, teamwork would help open up those little goblin minds.

Gobu Da was tasked by Li Meng to learn the final assembly.

"What, after all this time teaching you, don't tell me you still can't do it?"

Facing the boss's cold gaze, Gobu Da took a step back in fear.

"I can do it, I can do it, boss, I've remembered everything!"

Gobu Da nodded vigorously.

"I'll check in three days!"

With that, Li Meng leaned the wheel against the wall and turned to leave the carpentry workshop.

Gobu Da chased after him, peeking out the door to watch the boss's departing figure.

Seeing the boss truly leave, he breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran back inside the workshop.

"You, you, and you, come here!"

Three goblins were called over by Gobu Da.

"You've all learned what the boss taught me, right?"

The three goblins exchanged glances.

Seeing Gobu Da's fierce gaze, they could only nod.

"Haha, great, the boss will definitely be satisfied."

Gobu Da danced with excitement.

"Don't slack off, wheels, wheels, wheels, I need wheels!"

Meanwhile, outside in the tribe.

Hearing Gobu Da's strange shouts from the carpentry workshop, Li Meng grinned. How could he not know about Gobu Da's little tricks? While teaching Gobu Da, three goblins had been eavesdropping nearby.

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Li Meng simply allowed Gobu Da's little cleverness. For goblins, a bit of cunning wasn't a bad thing.

"Boss, boss!"

Not long after leaving the workshop, the sound of hooves rumbled through the tribe.

Five forest boars charged out from the western forest, heading straight for Li Meng. Each boar had a goblin riding on its back.

The noise of the boars running was tremendous, and their momentum was impressive, like a mountain of flesh bearing down.

Gobu Qiang, riding on one of the boars, shouted loudly. When they were about twenty meters from Li Meng, the boars suddenly stopped, their hooves skidding several meters on the ground.

Looking at the five large boars in front of him, Li Meng's eyes lit up.

By his calculations, the first batch of male boars had reached maturity. Although smaller than their fathers, their shoulder height was about 1.3 meters.

The longer a boar lived, the larger it grew. In another year or two, reaching a shoulder height of 1.5 meters wouldn't be a problem.

Gobu Qiang dismounted and ran up to Li Meng with a flattering smile.

"Boss, you're amazing. We've raised these boars from young, and they're very obedient."

Li Meng approached Gobu Qiang's forest boar, reaching out to touch its tusks.

Though classified as magical beasts, forest boars were only first-tier, with limited potential. They had magic crystals but were unlikely to learn magical skills.

However, the presence of magic crystals gave the boars a physique far superior to ordinary animals.

"Oink oink!"

The boar being petted by Li Meng was very obedient, its eyes gently watching him, occasionally making "oink oink" sounds.

"Gobu Qiang, what weapons do you prefer?"

Li Meng had been considering what weapons would suit the goblin boar riders. Typically, cavalry used lances, but lances required skill to be effective.

And goblins would undoubtedly struggle to master lance techniques. Moreover, long weapons were difficult to use in the forest's narrow spaces.

Goblins were better at slashing than thrusting, so equipping them with long spears was a compromise.

The iron output from the Iron Cave was limited, and forging blades required much more iron than spearheads.

"Boss, I like using crossbows!"

Li Meng then noticed that the other four goblins each held a single crossbow, with no other weapons.

Looking down at the forest boar's tusks, Li Meng pondered.

Lances were for breaking formations, a one-time-use weapon. The boar's tusks were good for ramming, effectively replacing the lance's role.

Mounted archery could also disrupt enemy formations, allowing for flexibility between charging and shooting. A sword could complement close combat abilities.

Moreover, the boar's shoulders were broad, making it difficult for a lance to attack enemies directly in front at a 90-degree angle.

Li Meng nodded and smiled.

"Then use crossbows. Gobu Qiang, how many adult male boars do we have now?"

Boars were quite prolific, so there should be plenty.

"Boss, there are many, many adults, and even more juveniles."

Gobu Qiang's answer made Li Meng's face darken.

He realized goblins couldn't count.

They didn't care about numbers.

They didn't care how many goblins were in the hunting party.

As long as they could eat their fill while hunting, they could reproduce and bring in new members.

If they couldn't eat enough, they couldn't reproduce.

"Alright, let's go check the beast pen!"

Li Meng then headed towards the beast pen.

Before nightfall, Li Meng figured out the number of forest boars.

There were 137 female boars, half of which had just reached maturity.

There were 481 juvenile male boars.

There were 281 juvenile female boars.

"Gobu Qiang, how many goblin underlings do you have now?"

By the beast pen, Li Meng asked Gobu Qiang.

Gobu Qiang scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

He didn't know how to answer the boss.

As soon as he asked, Li Meng realized he shouldn't have asked that question.

Li Meng turned to look at the densely packed boars in the pen, all "oinking."

"Gobu Qiang, how do you manage to feed so many boars?"

The pen was full of unweaned piglets.

Once weaned, the piglets would be adopted by goblins.

As for how many adult male boars there were, Li Meng didn't know.

Gobu Qiang's underlings were all out hunting.

Only about thirty goblins had returned with him.

"Boss, boars eat everything—grass, mushrooms, plant roots, berries, leaves. They eat everything except dirt and stones. They even eat meat and gnaw on bones. They're easy to raise."

Hearing this, Li Meng understood.

No wonder Gobu Qiang could raise over a thousand boars without any pressure.

"Looks like I'll need to take some time to count the population!"

Looking at the "oinking" boars in the pen, Li Meng thought to himself.

Since the tribe's founding, Li Meng had noticed the population boom. But he hadn't kept track of the exact numbers.

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