Mercenary Wars

Chapter 141 Title
[Item: Thorium]

[Level: Unknown]

[Description: Silver's most precious associated metal, possessing amazing density and magical affinity, with a soft texture]

Gao Gano squeezed it with his hands, and after applying some force, he immediately deformed the thorium granules, which felt much softer than gold.

“Don’t let Thorium’s softness fool you; with a little magical treatment, it can become even stronger than mithril!” Brian said from the side.

Gaucano asked, "Can you handle it?"

Brian said, "Hmm... I know a little, but to be honest, the enchantment of thorium is an incredibly profound subject. I'm just an apprentice in this area, not even an apprentice. You'd better save up some more thorium and find a real master to help you with it."

Gao Jiano nodded and carefully put the silver nugget in a box, as this tiny bit was worth more than several silver ingots.

Brian added, "You can also use Thorium as currency, which is called 'Thorium Pounds.' In fact, most people do it this way, since genuine enchanted Thorium weapons are too rare and are a luxury item for only a very few people."

The two talked for a while.

Until Groin came from a distance.

“Oh, the mayor is here,” Brian said. Groin has now officially taken office as the mayor of Dibusala.

Gaugano also greeted, "Mayor Groin."

Groin nodded, then took out a letter and a badge: "Gaugano, take these two."

Gaucano's eyes were first drawn to the badge.

This badge is fiery red and shiny, shaped like a raging flame, and looks very eye-catching.

The front of it is engraved with an image of Prometheus, while the back has several lines of text.

The text, written in both dwarven and human script, appears to be identical: “Gaugano, the Free Wind, is a gift from the Church of Prometheus to the Red Dwarfs’ eternal friend.”

Gaucano blinked: "What's this?"

Groin smiled slightly: "Of course, it's a memento of our friendship."

“What I mean is, why is there ‘Wind of Freedom’ before my name?” Gaucano said.

“This is a title. Your wind has awakened the courage of many red dwarves and helped us liberate the slaves of the Underdark. Therefore, the Brotherhood of Prometheus… no, the Church has decided to bestow upon you the title of ‘Wind of Freedom’,” Groin explained.

Gao Jiano nodded knowingly, but still had some doubts in his heart.

Awaken courage?

Presumably, it refers to the time when he used a swift breeze to guide the flames and reveal the true form of those fake white-bearded figures... But can this really be called "awakening"?

At least in Gaucano's own mind, his actions were more like a form of coercion, or rather, a calculated move, to force those fake Whitebeards to stand up and fight alongside Redbeard.

Of course, this doesn't matter anymore.

As a title, "Wind of Freedom" sounds pretty good.

What really bothered him was that, according to the rules of the Mosaic Church, this thing was a contraband, since it clearly stated "Church of Prometheus" on it, which was unacceptable to the Mosaic Church.

Moreover, they were also granted a title.

Granting titles is something all kinds of churches like to do, but for a monotheistic church like the Mosaic Church, only titles granted by themselves are legitimate; titles granted by any other church are illegitimate. Although Prometheus wasn't targeted as vehemently by the Mosaic Church as Yemen, if this badge were discovered, it would still face confiscation, repentance, and forced labor.

However, Gaucano eventually accepted it.

“The material of this badge is a new metal that we are experimenting with, and red is its natural color,” Groin added. “It is made up of half gold and the other half of resbanite, copper… and a small amount of thorium.”

Half gold, and half thorium!
Looking at the bright red badge, which was as big as a palm, Gaucano solemnly said, "Our friendship will never fade!"

Then Groin pointed to the envelope and said, “This letter is our ‘letter of friendship’ to the Mosaic Church. We hope you can deliver it to the Mosaic Church, and if possible, it would be best if it were in the hands of Pope Fonfrew.”

“To be honest, I can’t guarantee that. Not to mention the Pope, I might not even have the chance to meet a purple-robed bishop.” Gao Jiano thought for a moment and then said, “Besides, you know that the human church is monotheistic, and naturally it is opposed to all other churches.”

Growing: "I know your rules, so I was careful with my words in the letter. Your Pope is known for his tolerance and should be willing to accept our goodwill."

Gao Jiano nodded: "I will try my best to deliver it to the church's higher-ups. At least, I can still meet the yellow-robed bishop of Southsea Town."

"Thank you."

The next day.

Gao Jiano and his group of more than a dozen people embarked on their return journey.

Accompanied by Groin and the other red dwarves, they arrived at the northern passage of the Underdark.

Sentinels have been set up inside and outside the passage, with dozens of red dwarf guards standing watch.

The guards looked extremely vigilant, almost as if they were on high alert. This was understandable, given that this was the Red Dwarves' only access to the outside world, and that Gray Dwarves from other Underdark regions could enter through this route at any time and launch an attack.

If the Red Dwarfs weren't only a few hundred in number, they would definitely have sent many more guards to garrison this place.

After walking through the passage for a while, two forks in the road appeared before them.

There were guards at each fork in the road.

Groin pointed to one of the forks in the road and said, “This is the passage that connects to other Underdark areas. We used it to migrate to Dibsala.”

"How far is it from here to the adjacent Underdark?" Gao Jiano asked.

“It will take at least half a month to get here,” Groin said. “And there are several sections of the road that are difficult and dangerous. We would never have moved to Dibusala if we hadn’t been having such a bad time there.”

“The other fork in the road leads to the surface.” He pointed to another fork in the road. “This road is not very dangerous, but the terrain is not easy to walk. Of course, it should be no problem for you.”

As he spoke, he took out a map.

Gaucano looked at the map and found that it covered a very large area, showing the ends of both forks in the road.

Looking at the winding road that connected to other Underdark regions, he couldn't help but feel a little curious: Maybe he could go and see other Underdark regions in the future?

Of course, what he needs to do now is to return to the surface as soon as possible, and return to Southsea Town.

Gaucano bid farewell to the red dwarfs.

"Farewell, my friend." The red dwarf and the human embraced in farewell. "May the flame be with you, and may freedom accompany you forever!"

(End of this chapter)