Chapter 372: Seeking the Skin of a Demon

Chapter 372: Seeking the Skin of a Demon
Goblins attacking wizards is not without precedent, especially when the wizard is in a secluded place where no one will know if he is killed, and it is a three-to-one situation. This kind of scene is enough to put tremendous psychological pressure on any wizard.

However, Xie Lin still had his usual smile on his face, not showing any sign of panic. He said calmly and confidently, "Three of you, I came all the way from the Scottish Highlands with good intentions. I have been here for such a long time, but I haven't even had a sip of your drinks, and I don't even know your names or identities, yet you are questioning me so aggressively. Is this the way the goblins treat their guests?"

The three goblins looked at each other first. After a while, Ragno stood up with his splayed feet and said in a gentle voice, "Mr. Malfoy is right. We were rude. I apologize in advance." After that, he made a gesture of invitation with his hand, and an exquisitely carved mithril wine glass suddenly appeared on the table in front of Sherin, filled with clear wine-red liquid.

Xie Ling remained calm on the surface, but he was laughing in his heart. It turned out to be the same old trick. The goblins, who were known for their cunningness, always used the same tricks. One of them played the good cop and the other the bad cop. First, the tough-minded Bolig put pressure on others with words and tried to take the initiative. If the effect was not as expected, the gentle-looking Ragno would step in to save the situation and maintain the momentum.

This method may work against others, but it is totally ineffective against Xie Lin - this is mainly due to Xie Lin's own strength. With his current strength, as long as there is no figure of the great magician level, he has absolute confidence that he can escape unscathed even if the place where the fairies gather is a dangerous place.

"I've heard for a long time that the goblins are descended from the ancient goblins. Like the ancient dragons, ancient giants, and ancient elves, they are all descendants of ancient bloodlines. They are also proficient in metal forging and wine brewing. Today I have the opportunity to see your famous 'Earth Spring Brew'." After saying that, he drank the red wine in the mithril cup without any fear on his face.

“Well, it tastes a little spicy, but it’s not bad.” Xie Lin commented with a smile.

Seeing that Schelling drank a large glass of wine without changing his expression, the faces of Bolig and Ragno changed slightly.

The goblin's "underground brew" is not only delicious, but also mixed with many fruits and minerals that can only be found deep underground, and brewed using the goblins' unique magic techniques. It requires one's own magic power to absorb the energy contained in the wine. Even goblins who are born with abundant magic power can hardly drink it all in one go.

Even though the goblins in the original world repeatedly disobeyed the Ministry of Magic's control and resorted to violent resistance, in fact, the goblins themselves are very self-protective. At least when they were facing the slaughter of Grindelwald and Voldemort, there was no example of goblins gathering together to resist.

The strength shown by Xie Ling is enough to win their respect.

At this time, the goblin who had been sitting on the far right and had remained silent finally spoke, "You are worthy of being the champion of the Triwizard Tournament and the rising star of the British wizarding world, Mr. Malfoy. Your strength really amazes us."

"Let me introduce them to you. The one in the middle is Bolig, the leader of the Fairy Brotherhood, and the one on his left is Ragno, the deputy leader. Although you should not have seen them, I believe you must be familiar with them." His voice was deep and majestic, and the moment he opened his mouth, the two fairies beside him kept silent.

Xie Ling nodded in agreement. The intelligence network he controlled not only covered the goblins, but also the important figures of all the major alien races in Great Britain. He knew their names, appearances, personalities, and preferences, including werewolves, vampires, hags, and even the banshees and ogres whose presence in the original book was close to zero.

However, the list he had did not include the goblin in front of him.

"I think," the fairy smiled and said, "you must be wondering who I am and why I am sitting here?"

A shrewd look flashed in Xie Lin's eyes, and he said, "Are you the leader of the goblin subversion group?"

"Right!" the goblin said approvingly, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Slark, the leader of the goblin subversion group called "Green Devils" by your wizards."

Xie Ling's eyes narrowed slightly. Goblins never trust wizards easily. So although there have been rumors that the goblins have a subversive organization secretly operating, no wizard has ever been able to prove it. Not only has the other party now acknowledged the existence of the subversive group, they have even told him the name of the organization and the identity of their leader. It seems that if he fails to deal with it properly this time, the ending will be difficult to have a good ending.

"Your courage and strength have won the respect of our goblin tribe. I don't think we need to test each other anymore," Slark said in a deep voice. "I believe that you took great pains to invite us here to meet, not to taste our fine wine. Mr. Malfoy, could you please tell me why you are here today?"

"There's no rush for this," Schelling said calmly, "Before that, I'd like to give you all a gift." After that, he took out the unconscious Ludo Bagman from the suitcase space and threw him on the ground.

Upon seeing Bagman, Ragno, who was usually the gentlest, reacted most violently. He shouted sharply, "It's Ludo, that liar! That bastard!"

Bolick changed his previous tough attitude and began to speak enthusiastically: "I didn't expect Mr. Malfoy to bring us such a generous gift. This guy owed us goblins a lot of money, but every time we tried to collect it, we were blocked by the Ministry of Magic. In desperation, we made a bet with him - he bet that Harry Potter would win the Triwizard Tournament, but he lost the bet but still refused to admit it. Please be sure to hand him over to us!"

Xie Lin smiled and said, "Of course there is no problem. But I have to remind you that Ludo is a fool and a poor guy. I think it will be difficult for you to recover your debt from him."

Bolik said, "It's okay to get money if you can't get back. At least he has to get angry. Besides, he is also a celebrity and star. There is always the value of advertising. It is also a way to make a magic contract with him forcing him to repay the debt ..."

Sherin shook his head and said, "I will pretend I have never heard of what you said. The Ministry of Magic will not let your ideas come true."

Schelling is not shooting in the dark.

Firstly, in the eyes of most high-ranking officials in the Ministry of Magic, such as Fudge and Umbridge, goblins are no different from house-elves, they are all inferior races, their status should be better than those discriminated werewolves, vampires, and giants, but only slightly better. However, if a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Magic, especially a director-level official, were to work for a goblin, it would undoubtedly make the Ministry of Magic lose face, so no matter what the reason, the Ministry of Magic would never allow this to happen.

Bolick showed an angry and unwilling expression on his face, but he also knew that what Xie Ling said was true, so he could only keep silent for the moment.

At this time, Slark stared at Sherin with sharp eyes and spoke again: "Well, I believe, Mr. Malfoy, since you have the ability to bring him here, it means you must have a way to deal with this matter. Do you think I am right?"

"Well," Sherin knew that today's negotiations had finally gotten to the point. He straightened up and said seriously, "You probably think that Bagman's most valuable qualities are his position and power in the Ministry of Magic, as well as his status and fame as a sports celebrity, but you may have overlooked one point - he is actually a member of the Bagman family."

"The Bagman family?" Slark frowned. In his memory, the Bagman family did not seem to be a powerful and profound pure-blood family.

"I'm not talking about wealth and inheritance," Sherin said. "His father and uncles all worked in the Ministry of Magic, or at least had a lot of connections in the Ministry of Magic, which allowed them to master some of the Ministry's secrets..."

"You mean..." Slark vaguely guessed Xie Ling's intention, but he was not sure.

A green light flashed in Xie Lin's eyes. He suddenly changed the subject and said in a cold voice: "Have you heard about what happened in the Little Hangeden Cemetery three days ago?"

The fairies exchanged a few brief and nervous glances, then looked at Xie Lin and nodded, "Yes, I heard that the demon king who cannot be named has been resurrected."

"I can guarantee that this news is absolutely 100% true, because I have seen the Dark Lord with my own eyes. Now what I want to know is, how do you, the goblin clan, plan to deal with it after the Dark Lord rebuilds his power and makes a comeback?" Xie Lin's aura suddenly burst out, his shining eyes were as sharp as a knife, he stared at them and said.

In fact, the goblins have already had in-depth discussions on this matter among themselves.

Although the goblins hated the Ministry of Magic, at least the confrontation between them and the Ministry was based on the rules of the game - Voldemort didn't care about that. He would only act more radically, wanting the goblins to submit to him like werewolves and giants and obey his orders completely.

Simply put, the Ministry of Magic only wanted to oppress the goblins institutionally, but had no intention of enslaving or ruling them, and all Voldemort needed were slaves who would obey his orders.

However, at the same time, the consequences of rebelling against Voldemort would be much more serious than rebelling against the Ministry of Magic - for example, goblin riots happened more than once or twice, and each time the Ministry of Magic would just arrest a few ringleaders and end the matter. If Voldemort were in power in the wizarding world, the goblins would not doubt that he would dare to make the decision to exterminate the goblins.

This put them in a dilemma.

Seeing that the three fairies fell silent, Xie Ling probably guessed what they were thinking.

"Since the three of you haven't answered my question," Sherin said, "I have a suggestion."

Seeing that the topic had completely fallen into the rhythm dominated by Sherin, Slark sighed and said, "Mr. Malfoy, you are really the most astute wizard I have ever met. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to speak up."

"I'm just giving you Bagman as a token of my appreciation, but I know this won't solve your debt problem..." Sherin said calmly, "I just hope to make friends with you goblins."

"Make friends?" The three goblins looked at each other, unable to believe their ears. Since when did a wizard want to make friends with goblins? Slark shook his head, trying to sober himself up, and said in a hoarse voice: "Mr. Malfoy, I don't quite understand..."

"Then I'll be frank—" Sherin chuckled, "I'll pay off the money Bagman owes you! In exchange, I hope to gain the friendship of the goblins. Don't worry—"

Xie Ling said in a deep voice: "I will not take advantage of you or let you do anything to suffer. We can reach equal cooperation in many aspects-"

"Troubled times are coming. I have alchemical products businesses in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade Village. I believe that armor and amulets that can defend against magic will be very popular. If your unique goblin metal forging technology is used for armor, it will definitely be a great help. We can start a business cooperation on this point."

The three goblins looked at each other and nodded in tacit agreement in less than a second. Slark said, "We can make money together. We will definitely not refuse. Mr. Malfoy, do you have other areas of cooperation in mind?"

Slark almost said what was in his mind. Voldemort was resurrected, and making money was secondary. What was the use of having a lot of money if he was dead?

"Actually," Xie Ling showed an evil smile on his face, his eyes flashing with a fascinating black light. His voice was very soft, but it was clearly heard by the three goblins: "Do you know what happened in the Little Hangleden Cemetery three days ago?"