The Great Thief

While Goblin Engineering itself was well renowned, a remote place like Rattan City only had garbage Engineering Masters.

However, learning the basics of Engineering was the same everywhere. It was only when you were specializing that would need to choose an appropriate mentor. To gain back some Goblin reputation, Lu Li would have to bite the bullet and learn some engineering from Rattan City.

The guards brought Lu Li across the wooden deck. Along the way, he could see the unfavorable looks that the NPCs gave him. This was the effect of his hated reputation.

After reaching the shore, they travelled to a house with two mechanical dolls placed by the door.

A goblin’s body was like that of a dwarf, so their houses were tiny to Lu Li.

He needed to bend over to enter the house, but fortunately, there was a sofa that could accommodate his butt. Only after he sat down could he straighten his neck.

“Oh, Gabi, why did you bring this Elf to me?”

The Goblin Engineer looked at him curiously. When he turned around, Lu Li could see his magnified eyes behind his glasses, a truly horrifying sight.

“Although he is an unwelcome robber, he brought some gold to atone for it,” the head guard said with a smile.

“Oh, you want to study Engineering?”

The expression of the Goblin Engineer improved, but he was still preoccupied with his work. He pushed a semi-new book towards Lu Li.

“5 gold.”

Lu Li almost coughed up blood. Everywhere else, studying a Trade Skill would only cost 50 silver. This greedy dwarf was charging ten times the price.

However, he didn’t have a choice: he wanted to gain back reputation, so he needed to pay them. He was also under the surveillance of a LV60 NPC. The only thing he could do was obediently pay the money.

System: You have received the Goblin’s goodwill. Your reputation is now neutral.

System: You have discovered Rattan City, receiving 200 EXP...

Lu Li was relieved after hearing the System Announcements. At least these NPCs would not oppose him anymore.

Goblins were always polite to people who were rich. The head guard gave Lu Li a salute and walked off with his gun, satisfied.

Lu Li opened the Engineering Skills book. The title page was written in blue ink, describing an outline in goblin language. He couldn’t understand it at all, but this was a virtual game, so he didn’t need to. After he used the skill book, it disappeared.

The Goblin Engineer didn’t observe the way that Lu Li did his learning. He was working on his experiment and told him, “If you don’t need anything else, please leave. I’m very busy right now.”

“Respected Master, do you have a recipe for sale?” Good or bad, each Trade Skill Trainer had his/her own unique recipes. Lu Li knew that this trainer was no exception.

“Oh, it’s over there on the side. Three gold for each one. If you want one, you can pay me directly, but don’t expect me to explain it to you, despicable elf.” Because his reputation was only neutral, the Goblin Engineer’s attitude was still unfriendly.

Lu Li wasn’t angry; he walked over to the dusty oak table. There were a few thin parchments on it.

Blueprint: Blue fireworks, used for entertainment. This was not a unique formula. The mainland sold a similar one, so this definitely wasn’t worth 3 gold coins.

Blueprint: Fine handmade guns. These had average damage and the required materials weren’t cheap. The weapons were only bronze anyway. Lu Li shook his head and put down the drawing.

He looked at another two and was completely disappointed. It seemed as though this Goblin Engineer was only an Intermediate level – these blueprints were all for low level useless items. He didn’t have any expectations when he picked up the last one.

“Master, are all the blueprints here for sale?”

Lu Li put in effort to calm his frenzied heartbeat, lest the Goblin Engineer saw his excitement.

But he was needlessly worrying; the Goblin Engineer didn’t even care enough to look back, impatiently scolding him.

“Pick one, leave the gold coins and get out of here! Or else, I’ll show you the Engineer’s wrath!”

Lu Li took the last recipe, dropped the three gold coins onto the test bench and left in large strides.

As he left the store, an arrow flew at his head!

Had he been exposed? Lu Li’s heart sank. Maybe a group of NPCs were coming to take back the recipe.

The arrow hit his shoulder, dealing 70+ damage. The attack seemed pretty high, but for a LV60 NPC, this was the lowest damage it could do.

While he was confused, a group of NPCs rushed over.

The mechanical doll by his side moved forwards and used a magical sword to cut the attacker down.

Lu Li then realized that it was an attack by a group of Evil Faction players. The NPCs weren’t after him.

Dawn had areas which were neutral with neutral NPCs. Rattan City was one of these. They had no preferences for Light or Evil Faction players, but if someone used an attack in front of them, it would be taken as a provocation. Just like that, they would be killed before they could do anything.

The poor Evil Faction Hunter didn’t even react and turned into a corpse.

Not only that, he also dropped an equip.

Lu Li rushed over to pick up the things and threw them into his bag before running out of town. He instantly transformed into a Cheetah and carefully avoiding the monsters outside of the village, dashing along the coastline towards the marsh.

“My recipe, hey! Where is the recipe I put down?” A sharp roar suddenly sounded from within the Goblin Engineer’s cabin, “Damn elf, he stole my Akare’s Bomb recipe! Dammit, dammit, guards, GUARDS!”

“Master, what happened?”

The guard rushed over and was shocked to see the nearly crazy Goblin Engineer. There were broken bottles and jars scattered everywhere and all kinds of materials and accessories lying around. None of this was enough to quell his anger.

“An Elf that Captain Gabriel brought over, he... he...”

The Goblin Engineer couldn’t go on.

Took away?

Cheated away?

Stole away?

The Goblins were crafty merchants, always selling for exorbitant prices and always firm when the transaction had been completed.

One of the classic sayings of the Goblin race was, “Don’t even think about taking a single gold coin from me. Refund isn’t a word I know.”

Akare slumped on the dirty floor. He had to admit that Lu Li didn’t take, cheat or steal, but rather had bought the recipe. He was under the witness of the System God and was willing to complete the transaction.

“Ooo, the Great Akare suffered a loss. Akare sold all his possessions for 3 gold coins.”

The sad goblin engineer couldn’t help but burst into tears. His cries were so distressing that those who heard them wept too.

The few guards were very understanding; the Goblins only earned and never lost. To lose money was worse than to kill them. It was no wonder that Akare was so sad.