Chapter 35: The Goblin's Generous Gift

"Phew, that was a close call." Bissel bent over, bracing his hands on his knees, his face showing lingering fear.

At that moment, an elderly goblin approached from a distance, accompanied by a small group of his kin. The elder was shorter, barely ninety centimeters tall, with a deeply wrinkled, dark green complexion and eyes that held the depth of one who had weathered many storms. Despite his appearance, his expression was incredibly kind as he chatted with the younger goblins following him. Suddenly spotting Bissel, the old goblin hurried over in surprise.

"Bissel, didn't you head out with the caravan? Why have you returned alone?" the elder asked.

Seeing the old goblin, Bissel’s expression turned dejected. He walked up to him and apologized, "Uncle Tassel, my first business venture was a disaster."

"Child, what happened?" Tassel inquired.

"My caravan was ambushed by the troll Volkins in the Orc Hills. Everyone who traveled with me is dead, and I was nearly killed by Volkins myself," Bissel explained.

"What?" Tassel exclaimed, hurriedly checking Bissel for injuries. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine. The human behind me saved me when he killed Volkins, which is how I was able to return," Bissel said.

The old goblin looked up calmly at Lu Yang and said, "Sir, thank you for saving my nephew. Would you mind if I had a word with him?"

"Of course," Lu Yang replied.

The old goblin nodded slightly and said, "Paisley, take this gentleman to see our camp."

"Yes, sir." A young goblin stepped out from behind Tassel and walked over to Lu Yang. "Sir, please follow me."

Lu Yang glanced at Bissel, who nodded at him and said, "Brother, wait for me. I need to report the situation to my uncle, and then I’ll come find you."

"Alright, no problem," Lu Yang said.

As Paisley led the way, he said cheerfully, "Sir, how about I show you our goblin goods first? Trust me, you’ll definitely like them."

"Sounds good," Lu Yang agreed.

The goblin camp was located right next to the marketplace on the west side of Saint Gall City. There were many merchants within the camp, though the items they sold were generally mundane.

In his past life, Lu Yang had visited this place and never found anything of value. Just as he thought Paisley was leading him to the market, the young goblin brought him to a building made of beige stone on the right side of the camp's center.

The building wasn't very large, covering about 200 square meters. Lu Yang followed Paisley inside and saw three middle-aged goblins in pristine white robes standing by the shelves, chatting.

"Sir, these are the master alchemist Buwa, the master tinkerer Gigg, and the merchant Anders," Paisley introduced.

"Paisley, why is there a human here?" the master alchemist Buwa asked with a frown.

"Mr. Tassel asked me to bring him," Paisley replied respectfully.

"Oh, since he is a guest of Tassel, please feel free to browse our goods," the merchant Anders said.

Paisley bowed and turned to Lu Yang. "Sir, please follow me. The shelves are over there. Although these premium items are usually reserved for the nobility and monarchs of various nations, if you wish to purchase them, we can sell them to you."

Lu Yang felt a surge of interest. He had never encountered this in his previous life; he couldn't even enter this place before. It was likely a secret location designed by the game system.

"Secret locations" were rewards from the developers of *Second World* for players completing specific, unique tasks. If a player failed such a task, it would disappear forever.

He followed Paisley to the display cases. When he saw the goods on offer, he couldn't help but look surprised.

"Engineering Rocket Boots, Web scrolls, Polymorph scrolls, Flash Powder scrolls... you actually sell these here?" Lu Yang remarked.

Web was a crowd-control skill for hunters, Polymorph for mages, and Flash Powder for thieves. These were skills players usually couldn't learn until after level 15. He hadn't expected to find scrolls for them here. Though they cost five silver coins each and were single-use, they could be life-savers in critical moments.

Unfortunately, although they were only five silver coins each, Lu Yang didn't have enough money, having spent his funds on equipment, materials, and skill books.

As he continued browsing, he suddenly spotted a scroll in the next cabinet titled: "Antidote Recipe."

Lu Yang was truly stunned this time. If anyone knew the true value of the Antidote Recipe, it was him.

He clearly remembered that in his past life, when a large number of players hit level 8 and began raiding the level 8–12 dungeon, Viper Valley, they wore the silver-tier sets from level 3 dungeons. However, against the poison attacks of the monsters in the level 8 dungeon, their high defense was useless.

Poisoned players would lose 50 health per second. Shield warriors and protection paladins could manage, but other DPS classes with low health would often die in less than three seconds—too fast for priests to heal.

Lu Yang desperately wanted to buy it, but the purchase button was greyed out, indicating that his reputation was insufficient.

At that moment, his reputation with the goblin race was still Neutral. Although he was only 500 points away from Friendly, many players remained Neutral with the goblins for their entire time in the game because there were very few quests to raise reputation with them.

Just as Lu Yang was worrying, the door was pushed open. Bissel walked in quickly, his face glowing with excitement. Behind him, the old goblin, Tassel, looked at Lu Yang with a kindly expression.

"Hey! Brother, I told my uncle about what you did, and he approves of you!" Bissel said excitedly.

Lu Yang replied, "I told you, it was just a small favor. There’s no need to make such a fuss."

Tassel spoke up, "Sir, your 'small favor' saved the future heir of my Venture Company and my own life. Furthermore, your character is so noble that the doors of our goblin race will always be open to you."

*System Notification: Your reputation with the Venture Company has reached Friendly.*
*Your reputation with the Goblin race has reached Friendly.*

Bissel asked, "Brother, you saved my life. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lu Yang glanced at the recipe and noticed that the Antidote Recipe was no longer greyed out—it was now available for purchase for five silver coins.

"Keep this recipe for me. I’ll come back in a couple of days once I’ve saved up enough money to buy it," Lu Yang said, pointing to the recipe.

Bissel glanced at the Antidote Recipe, had Paisley fetch it, and then handed it to Lu Yang with both hands. "Brother, since you need this recipe, I’ll give it to you as a gift."

"I can't accept that. I can't take this," Lu Yang said. He had his own ways of making money; he wasn't short on five silver coins.

Bissel held his head high, looking at Lu Yang with a firm gaze. "Brother, I give you this gift only to show you that we goblins are not just greedy—we also know how to be grateful."

Lu Yang thought for a moment and said, "Alright then. I accept your gift. Thank you."