If there are no reliable managers to trust, they can be searched for gradually.

  However, the smelting furnace must keep running.

  If need be, he himself can personally oversee its operation.

  At the very beginning, all three camels contributed by the humans were put to good use.

  Karlov crafted three trailers from thorns, which were used to haul sand from a distant location.

  They couldn't collect sand from around the tribe, as it might lead to the collapse of the ground within the tribe.

  There were eight remaining slaves, consisting of two trolls and six orcs.

  The trolls were assigned to add firewood and pour sand into the furnace, while the six orcs were sent out to gather thorns to serve as firewood.

  Thorns were abundant in the vicinity, and they grew at a rapid pace, so there was no need to worry about the availability of fuel at all.

  When the thick chimney started to radiate heat, the sand in the furnace finally began to be consumed bit by bit.

  Sand was continuously fed into the furnace, yet not a single trace of iron seemed to be smelted out. This left Gorgin rather perplexed.

  He had chosen to smelt iron and specified the shape as a cylinder.

  The sand had been poured in several times, but the outlet remained stubbornly silent.

  If the furnace weren't clearly in operation at that moment, Gorgin would have seriously doubted whether this equipment was genuine or not.

  The furnace burned from dawn till dusk, and the slaves worked overtime throughout the night.

  Finally, on the morning of the next day, the product was ready. A searing-hot iron column, approximately twenty centimeters in diameter and one meter in length, dropped out of the outlet.

  The iron column glowed a vivid red, indicating an extremely high temperature.

  Gorgin was left dumbfounded.

  "Is this all???"

  "After burning for an entire day and night, is this the result?"

  "Damn it!" Gorgin stared in disbelief, but in the end, he still allowed the slaves to take turns resting.

  He wouldn't feel overly concerned if the slaves perished, but he would be truly heartbroken if those three camels were to die.

  Since he had no prior experience in smelting metal, Gorgin couldn't determine whether the quantity and quality of the iron produced were satisfactory or not.

  However, considering that it was a blue-quality smelting furnace, the iron it produced should, at the very least, be of decent quality, right?

  Gorgin planned to accumulate a batch of iron and then make a trip to Giant Sand City.

  He now somewhat regretted giving Nu the order to kill all those slaves previously.

  Otherwise, the smelting furnace could have operated around the clock without interruption.

  Gorgin was now contemplating going out to find a gathering place to acquire some more slaves.

  However, as the old saying goes, the best-laid plans often go awry. Before Gorgin could put his plan into action, uninvited guests arrived.

  The gnolls were the first to sound the alarm, and subsequently, all the ogres rushed back to the tribe.

  Gorgin donned his armor, his expression grim.

  "Goblins?"

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  "Are you seriously telling me that goblins have invaded the territory of my Dragon's Lair ogres?"

  Gorgin realized that he had been too lenient, which had emboldened even lowly creatures like goblins to dare to challenge them.

  "It's indeed goblins. They're riding in large machines, and some are mounted on cyclops beasts. They look menacing and are clearly here to pick a fight!"

  The Dog Captain, momentarily forgetting his usual humility, promptly reported everything he had witnessed and heard.

  "Damn it!"

  Gorgin angrily scratched his head, drew out his boning knife, and strode out.

  The ogres had already assembled in formation, and everyone was eagerly awaiting the chief's command.

  Gorgin spat on the ground with disdain.

  "Even goblins have the audacity to encroach upon the Dragon's Lair Tribe. We've been thoroughly disgraced!"

  "Follow me and wipe out those despicable goblins!"

  Gorgin took the lead and marched in the direction from which the goblins were approaching.

  A thunderous roar erupted behind him.

  "Waaaaagh!!!"

  The ogres, brimming with eagerness for battle, hefted their weapons and followed their chief closely.

  Ogres were never daunted by combat; instead, they always yearned for more intense and thrilling battles.

  The gnolls also brandished their curved crossbows and hand axes and trailed behind, perfectly exemplifying the phrase "acting tough only because of the support of a powerful backer."

  The other members stood by and watched this scene unfold, their thoughts and feelings hidden behind their expressions.

  Karin sauntered past the group of slaves with her arms crossed.

  "If I were you, I'd follow closely behind and be the first to charge into the fray."

  "You cowards staying here, do you intend to contribute in the same way as us, by using your lower bodies?"

  The succubus had a strikingly beautiful face, but her words were extremely harsh.

  Both orcs and trolls were inherently warlike races, and they couldn't tolerate such blatant provocation.

  The orcs exchanged glances, thumped their chests defiantly, and let out roars as they dashed out. The trolls followed suit.

  However, compared to orcs, trolls were less proficient in close combat.

  They selected several straight main thorns from the firewood pile, snapped one end diagonally, and transformed them into makeshift javelins.

  The slaves also summoned up their courage and prepared to fight with all their might, hoping to finally shed their slave status.

  Moreover, since they had all been captured by goblins in the past, the sight of their enemies only fueled their hatred.

  On the way, Gorgin had already formulated a hypothesis.

  This situation was likely the consequence of the earlier incident where they had been hired by the dwarves to attack a city of the Hot Sand Consortium.

  After all, even goblins from a major city wouldn't be so foolhardy as to pick a fight with ogres without good reason.

  Whether they could prevail or not aside, the potential losses far outweighed any possible gains.

  The distinct rumbling of goblin machinery could be heard from a distance. Gorgin exchanged a meaningful glance with his mother.

  horne waved her hand grandly, and a scarlet glow enveloped each and every ogre.

  It was the effect of Bloodlust, which boosted all the ogres' attack power and speed.

  Gorgin rubbed his neck and charged towards the goblin troops with a menacing grin.

  This group of goblins was evidently an elite force dispatched by the Hot Sand Consortium to exact revenge.

  There were numerous goblin mining machines, but they were merely secondary.

  Among them, one goblin was operating a machine with legs resembling those of a duck.

  The machine had no head; instead, a rotating machine gun occupied the position where the head should have been.

  It was a goblin Gatling gun, and its caliber was quite intimidating.

  There were more than thirty goblin machines in total.

  Coupled with those goblins brandishing explosives or shotguns, the total number of enemies exceeded a hundred.

  Among them, there were also goblin alchemists mounted on cyclops beasts.

  "Are you these brutish ogres who attacked our city of the Hot Sand Consortium...."

  "Roar!!!"

  Before the leading goblin could finish his arrogant speech, Gorgin's deafening roar drowned out all other sounds.

  He brandished his three-meter-long boning knife and charged headlong into the goblin formation like an unstoppable tank.

  "Attack!!!"

  The goblin shrieked in a high-pitched voice and issued the order.

  A hail of bullets and explosives rained down on the ogres, with the majority of them aimed at Gorgin.

  His imposing figure clad in heavy armor made him seem like an extremely threatening target, prompting all the goblins to instinctively focus their fire on him first.

  If the heavy armor forged by the dwarves could be penetrated by those small shotguns, the dwarves might as well give up their craftsmanship altogether.

  The Gatling gun roared to life. Three thick gun barrels began to rotate rapidly, and a stream of small shells spewed out.

  horne took on the task of attacking the Gatling gun.

  She thrust her massive bone hammer into the ground, and her hands were engulfed in flames.

  Her two heads each channeled their own magic power. It took her only two seconds to conjure a Fireball spell.

  The Fireball spell cast by an ogre mage was far more powerful than the one cast by that human before.

  The ogre's Fireball was even larger than a human basketball.

  horne launched a two-handed assault, hurling Fireballs at the Gatling gun with her left and right hands alternately.

  The goblin operating the gun quickly sensed the imminent danger and shifted the fire towards horne.

  Dong dong dong~~ The shells slammed into horne, but most of the damage was absorbed by a layer of earth-yellow energy film.

  With a rustling sound, some chunks of soil fell off. It was the Branding of the Rock working its magic.

  horne and the goblin, the two-headed ogre mage and the Gatling gun.

  It was a clash between a mechanical turret and a magical turret. Meanwhile, the ogres charged headlong into the goblin's mechanical formation.