Steel torrents pioneering a different world

Chapter 229 Dwarves deserve a beating, and their hands aren't clean either! That's what the elves said! (Bonus chapter, please subscribe)
Sometimes, wars start in unexpected ways!
War will not end with the prayers of a few individuals.

When Belgas relayed the details of the war from Nathan, one of Attila's men, back to the High Mountain Kingdom, a fierce war of words ensued.

The king, his loyal guards, war masters, rune masters, and chapter members were absent from the meeting of the elders of the various dwarven clans.

Only the elders' representatives from the various clans gathered in the council hall of the High Mountain Kingdom.

"...In conclusion, the new humans from the north, who are suspected to have arrived during the celestial convergence, are extremely powerful. The kingdom must be careful!"

"But I saw the letter from Bellergas. Those cowardly Coast Hammer warriors destroyed thousands of human steel magic golems. Our exchange ratio was one to ten! The northern humans only benefited from the sneak attack!"

"Did you get your head eaten by the Grumon? The exchange ratio between our Mithril Clan warriors and humans is clearly one to one hundred!"

"No, you're giving false intelligence! Bellergas's letter says you didn't even inflict any casualties on the enemy, and those steel magic golems are beyond your ability to repair once damaged. Our dwarven lives are so precious; if we lose them, are you going to seek resurrection from the Chaos Demons?"

"Furthermore, you didn't suffer a one-to-ten ratio of losses; you were all captured by humans without a scratch. Captured without a scratch!" a Blackrock clan dwarf shouted sarcastically.

"Bobby Hammer, do you want to die? Can't you spew mammoth dung from your mouth anymore? Or have you been drinking fake alcohol?"

"You're the one who wants to die! Your whole family wants to die! You cursed me to die at the assembly, do you really think I'm afraid of you? You coward of the Mithril Clan, you selfish bastard! Come, let's have a duel between dwarves!"

Just as the dwarven elders of the two clans were about to fight, the elder of the Molten Dwarf clan slammed his fist on the table.

A fat hand encased in steel armor slammed onto an iron table, which was made of steel and covered with numerous slap marks.

The argument finally stopped amidst the ear-piercing thumping sounds!

"This isn't the time to discuss this. What do we do? Those long-eared creatures seem to have betrayed us!"

"Those long-eared bastards should all be killed! They're shameful traitors, always betraying us!"

"Next time the human slave-catching team comes, I'll capture some long-eared animals to sell."

"Enough, you fucking stop ruining our alliance!"

"Come on, you guys did it too, didn't you? Anyway, those long-eared ones are really expensive!"

"Gentlemen, let's not get sidetracked. Let's get back to the mixed race! Those new humans from the north are troublesome, and it's not convenient for us to mobilize a large army to deal with them for the time being! Those long-eared ones are also untrustworthy."

“Our Mithril Clan has achieved a 1:10 exchange ratio! Let the Mithril Clan fight against the humans in the north, and we can destroy our enemy. We only ask for a further reduction in this year's trade tax.”

You want to eat shit?!

"Idiot, there are too many mixed-race people from the South. If they don't pay taxes, what are we supposed to do?"

"Damn it, we don't have that many troops!"

bang bang bang...

There was another sound of banging on the table. The elder of the Molten Clan rubbed his temples and said, "Gentlemen, everyone wants to fight and make a name for themselves by taking enemy heads! But even if we want to start a new round of war, we must postpone it until the war with the southern human hybrids is over."

"I didn't, I don't want to, I'm not one of those Mithril guys, tsk tsk... By the way, have you guys been bewitched by the Outer Gods again? Always wanting to snatch people's heads?"

"You're talking nonsense! I am utterly loyal to Great Grenin! I worship the supreme war god, Great Grenin! Our clan leaders are all here to serve Great Grenin!"

“The great Grimnir does not need the heads of his enemies to please you; you have been bewitched by the Outer Gods!”

"You're talking nonsense! The loyalty of the Mithril Clan is as clear as day and night. If you dare to insult the faith of the Mithril Clan again, I will surely chop off your head!"

"Come on, you bastard..."

bang bang bang...

"Fuck you, all of you shut up! If you say another word, you can forget about getting meat with your lunch!"

The elders' heated argument, which had been like a street brawl, finally subsided somewhat.

“Bobby, Malzahar, Gustav, our people have suffered enormous population losses due to war in recent decades! If we fight on two fronts, we will easily collapse! If those monsters are released, we will all be punished by the gods!”

"Gods? Ha, they've been gone for so many years, and we still have to pay with our lives for those promises! How many years has it been since we received a divine decree?"

"Shut up, Gustav! If you dare to publicly slander the gods again, I will follow the ancient law and rip out your tongue!" a stern and rigid dwarf elder wearing the Blackrock Clan emblem roared.

"Humph!"

The dwarf named Gustav turned his head away disdainfully, then grabbed a piece of beef jerky that had been traded from the south and began to eat it in large bites.

"Gentlemen, let's discuss what to do now? Should we continue the war, or fight on two fronts?"

"Fighting on two fronts? Are you fucking crazy? Although the High Mountain Kingdom is brave and skilled in battle, our forces are not capable of supporting a multi-front war."

"First, let's drive back those untrustworthy southern bastards! I feel that the newly emerged humans in the north are quite easy to communicate with. They even give Bellagas enough wine and meat. Those wretched southern scum never gave us any wine or meat."

"Yes, the new humans who emerged from the intersection of the heavens in the north are at least relatively well-off in terms of resources. If we were to interact with such a race, they might not even look down on our oddballs! Hiss, speaking of which, you guys didn't see the terrible state of the Long-Eared people's territory after the attack. Tsk tsk... Large areas of forest have become cursed lands, and the Long-Eared people are terrified!"

"The key is the long ears; those long ears might have betrayed us!"

"Gentlemen, I have always said this is a conspiracy by the savages!" The elder of the Blackrock Clan slammed his fist on the steel table. "Six hundred years ago, they used a feint attack to raid the Valley Mountain Territory and massacred thousands of noble Valley Dwarf citizens. Those guys cannot be trusted!"

"I also believe this is a conspiracy by those humans. They silently dispatched a new army here, which means they have been plotting against us for a long time! They must want to capture us and make us into blacksmith slaves, forging iron and manufacturing armor for them for generations!"

"Come on, are you out of your mind? Didn't you read the description of those humans' clothing? It's completely different from the Easterners of the Eastern Continent! Their weapons and equipment are like cutting melons and vegetables for them!"

"Who the hell are you talking about? You're the one who's out of your mind, you damned Molten scum! Clothes can be disguised."

"Do you want to fight? You greedy mithril bastard!"

dong dong dong...

Another dwarf elder slammed his fist on the table: "Shut the hell up! If you dare to make another sound, I'll cut off 10% of your clan's alcohol supply for the next year!"

Upon hearing this, the dwarves fell silent.

Gustav, the dwarf who had previously mocked the gods, spoke up: "Gentlemen, these newly emerged armies in the north have begun mobilizing resources to build cities and towns on a large scale, and three or four at a time! Regardless of whether the new humans in the north and the people in the south are connected, we must fight a fair and square victory, otherwise our people's homeland will be devoured! If we don't even have strategic depth, our people will become like some of the glorious races in history, just words on someone else's books!"

Upon hearing this, the dwarves in the dwarven council hall felt immense pressure.

The dwarves of the High Mountain Kingdom are the most powerful dwarf race on the continent of the Forsaken Gods.

However, for various reasons, the total population of the dwarves has been slow to increase, and with a slow population growth, their war potential is naturally small.

With a small population and limited war potential, the dwarven leaders have more to consider and more to worry about.

Otherwise, given their confrontational and defiant nature, they would have already wiped out all the other hostile races.

The dwarves suffer!

They were in a very harsh environment and also had to deal with security pressures from the surrounding borders.

Within some forbidden fortresses, there are still some strange and monstrous creatures eyeing this world covetously. The southern humans also intend to control and blockade those dwarves who, though down on their luck, still possess immense potential.

Now that a new human has emerged, the dwarves' military strength is somewhat insufficient.

Currently, apart from the more than 100,000 dwarven troops stationed in key nearby locations, the High Mountain Kingdom can only mobilize less than 30,000 elite troops in an emergency.

Leaving aside the tens of thousands of Northern New Humans that Long-Eared has already detected, they don't even have the confidence to defeat the untrustworthy bastards in the South.

The dwarves were merely relying on the high mountains and dangerous terrain for passive defense.

Recent events have been causing the dwarves a great deal of trouble.

The king, the master craftsman of war, and many sages who had mastered the dwarven heritage suddenly mobilized a large number of elite troops to carry out the task of reinforcing the runes in the forbidden area.

Although some letters have been sent back through magical channels, the dwarves' top strategic forces have yet to return to the kingdom to serve as their ballast.

The dwarven council originally thought this would be the same as usual, with at most some minor setbacks, and then the king would lead the elite to reinforce the runes.

Who knew that in recent months, one accident after another would happen.

First, the Southern humans who had made peace treaties with them suddenly deployed 25,000 elite Winter Wolves from the Northern Kingdom to garrison in front of the Great Wall Fortress.

After setting up camp, they neither attacked nor withdrew.

The dwarves were furious and launched a diplomatic offensive, threatening the other side to return.

And then it's completely useless!

Those human Winter Wolf troops who tore up the agreement and inexplicably appeared here are acting as if they want to fight the dwarves, but they just won't move!
Humans do not actively send troops to fight the dwarves; the minor skirmishes between scouts are simply not enough to sever the enemy's supply lines.

For the sake of the kingdom's safety, the dwarves mobilized a large number of troops to the south. The Mountain Kingdom had all the troops it could mobilize at the moment, and it simply couldn't mobilize more forces to deal with the new humans in the north.

"Can we find out from those southerners why they are attacking us? They said they were in internal strife, why aren't they in turmoil yet?"

"How should I know! I'm not human!"

"You're in charge of intelligence in the South."

“By Grimnir! Those untrustworthy bastards never speak the truth. You want to get information from them? Do you think we have enough long-eared, slender sex slaves to exchange for information?”

An elder of the Mithril Clan nodded: "Nika, everyone, don't worry. As long as our trading caravans return, we will be able to easily obtain information about the southern humans!"

"Greedy devil, your Mithril Clan's merchant ships are too slow. Recently, the fortress has been experiencing strong magical fluctuations, making it impossible for falcons to transmit messages. At this rate, it will probably take several more months for the fleet to bring back useful information, by which time the war will be over."

An impatient dwarf elder slammed his hand on the table: "Gentlemen! We've been arguing here for so long, why don't we eat first! The chef said today we have some summer red wine that he bought at great expense from the Western Continent, and it tastes absolutely amazing."

"This is good, let's eat! Let's eat!"

The meeting only resumed after the many dwarven high-ranking officials, who couldn't live without wine and meat, had eaten and drunk their fill.

"...In short, the Southern Winter Wolf Legion is building camps right under our noses, clearly trying to block us. We absolutely cannot give in to their wishes!"

"Yes, the new humans in the north are also expanding their territory at a frenzy. By the time the king and his men return from the forbidden area, our territory will probably have shrunk by half! We must make a decision soon."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Gustav sneered. "Let's see what your ideas are!"

“My idea is simple,” a dwarf elder said, taking a deep breath. “Put pressure on the Long-Eared in the west; we need their help.”

"The people in the south are too diverse for us to defeat, so let's appease them for now. We don't know anything about the new humans in the north, so let's make contact with them first. Let's not offend either side, avoid war with either side, and buy time until the king returns!"

"Isn't that obvious? Long-eared dogs are fickle and have betrayed us time and time again! And humans are so greedy! Do you want to kneel down and be a dog? Damn it, I don't want to be a dog!"

"For the continuation of our community, we must make choices! Everything is for the sake of our community."

After a period of silence, one of the dwarves, puffing on his pipe, asked, "So how do we drag this out?"

“Long Ears, keep the pressure on! And let Bellegas continue negotiating with the new humans in the north,” said the dwarf named Poppy. “Tell them we’re willing to trade, exchange intelligence, and discuss border demarcation. As long as we can stall them, we’re open to anything! When the time comes, we’ll send out our army and slaughter all the humans, chopping off their heads to use as wine jugs!”

A brief silence fell over the council chamber.

"This would make our race appear extremely weak!"

“But this is a feasible method.” The Mithril Clan elder stroked his beard. “It’s at least better than arguing here.”

"What about the South?" someone asked.

“The South has also sent envoys to continue protesting their violation of the treaty,” the young elder said. “But at the same time, we should have the border garrisons prepare for defense. If the enemy really wants to fight, we will retreat, hold the fortress, and as long as we can hold them off for a long time and lure them into the mountains, their supply lines will become longer and longer, and our advantage will become greater and greater.”

"Gentlemen, in short, we can go to war, but we absolutely cannot fight on two fronts!"

"Yes, we don't even know the war potential of the newly emerging human forces in the north. If we act rashly, we could easily end up losing more than we gain!"

The elders of the High Mountain Dwarf Kingdom and the various clans are engaged in intense exchanges.

Gradually, a basic consensus was reached.

Their old friend wants to put pressure on the other side.

The North continues to maintain contact with the newly emerging human forces, gathering intelligence.

Meanwhile, the people in the south urged the other party to leave.

If all else fails, we'll have no choice but to launch a high-risk military strike.
-
In another world, south of the portal base, in the elven prisoner-of-war detention area, another round of post-labor demands and discussions among prisoners of war begins.

It has been a long time since these nearly a thousand elves were defeated and captured.

Many elves initially panicked, became agitated, and filled with hatred, but after realizing that humans were not harming them or subjecting them to various inhumane tortures and persecutions, they temporarily calmed down.

Through frequent education and shaping of their consciousness, the psychological tactics employed by humans subtly transform them.

At least the elves weren't so hostile towards humans when they saw them, and they didn't attack them as soon as they had the chance.

The dark rooms, the leaky rooms, and all sorts of strange single rooms presented the elves with considerable challenges to both their minds and bodies.

Among them, Anise, who was imprisoned the longest, was probably the most deeply affected by her own life-or-death crisis and the young female elf captive who leaked the most information from her family and other sources.

In the past two days, humanity has learned a great deal of new information from the dwarven envoys and prisoners of war.

Currently, the humans are also compiling and summarizing information from the dwarves' side, and then consulting with elves who have had many dealings with the dwarves to see how they would judge the dwarves' behavior patterns.

When the routine evening questioning session began, Anise relaxed, eating creamy strawberries while watching Crayon Shin-chan.

After finishing the plate of strawberries, she took a few breaths, her expression quite satisfied.

Click~
The door opened, and Gong Pengfei walked in.

Annie didn't even look up, staring intently at the cartoon: "Human, what are you going to ask this time?"

"Good evening, Ms. Anise! Rest assured, this time it's not about you, it's about the dwarves."

Gong Pengfei handed over the milk tea made by the tea master, called "Shanghai Auntie".

"It's iced, and it's your favorite flavor! We want to investigate the dwarves' thought processes this time! We have some questions..."

“Half-humans?” Annie shook her head. “There’s nothing to say about them. It’s the same old story: greedy, cunning, and cruel; clever but utterly immoral! The best way to negotiate with them is to maintain absolute military deterrence.”

"So, in other words, if we want lasting peace, we have to beat them up again?"

Anise thought for a moment, shook her head, then nodded: "Perhaps. The dwarves' only weakness is meat and wine. There are many traitors among them, and they often do things that damage their honor for these things. Perhaps this is a good breakthrough point!"

She paused, then added, "A long time ago, our kingdom seemed to have had some conflict with the dwarven border army. We used three thousand barrels of aged wine, plus five hundred moose, to persuade those half-humans to agree not to wage a larger war against us."

Gong Pengfei wrote it down on a piece of paper: "Using food and drink as a diplomatic tool? You previously said they were fickle and greedy. After giving them food and drink, do you think they will still attack you?"

"Yes, the insatiable greed of half-humans is ingrained in their bones."

“As long as you manage your own military strength,” Anise took a sip of milk tea and licked her lips, “the dwarves will become very easy to bribe after you inflict more losses on the enemy, provided you offer them enough.”

"I've heard from my elders that the clan elders of the dwarves are all incredibly greedy. They talk about what honor they're doing, but all they have in their mouths is wine and meat."

Gong Pengfei nodded, and then asked Annie if she had encountered any problems during her labor reform in prison, and whether her fellow prisoners would suddenly bully her or something like that.

These were all routine consultations, and Annie had become accustomed to many of them.

Most of the time, Annies doesn't make any requests.

However, this time, Annies raised some minor concerns.

“I don’t get along with some people in the Fire Clan, and I don’t want to be on the same team as them if there’s any farm work or planting in the future!”

"Why?" Gong Pengfei asked.

Annie frowned: "They always bully me, saying I'm too close to you humans. They work too, but they still have to eat the food you give them."

Gong Pengfei wrote it down in his notebook: "Don't worry, we will reduce your possible contact with the Fire Clan. Of course, appropriate contact is also necessary, and you know you can't be too antisocial!"

There were seven or eight elven clans in total. During the previous war with the elves, humans saved many elves who were almost killed by the energy entities of the Nightmare of the Void. Because the Fire Clan elves were extremely skilled in combat, they discovered that the magic was out of control and immediately fled towards the humans. They were not killed in large numbers by the forbidden magic, and the humans captured nearly 150 of them, almost one-fifth of the entire elven captive group.

It would take some technical means to prevent Annie and the others from working with the other side.

"Is there anything else?" Gong Pengfei flipped through his notebook.

“That’s all.” Annie looked down at the milk tea cup in her hand. “Are you humans planning to take action against the dwarves lately? You’ve asked them so many questions.”

"It's just some preparatory work," Gong Pengfei said without further explanation.

“Then I wish you good luck.” Annies said calmly. “Dwarves are tough to deal with, especially in mountainous terrain. But I would be happy to see you actually defeat them.”

Thank you for letting me know!

"You are welcome!"

After Gong Pengfei asked some questions about the work period and left some fruit and snacks, he left.

Anise looked at the door that had been closed again, then glanced at the countdown on the wall.

Having been here for a long time, she has learned to watch some human news.

ten minutes.

She has ten minutes of alone time left.

Then, Annies started eating.

Although Annies often dreamed at night that she should have been more stubborn and not reported more information to humans.

But this thing is like your girlfriend cheating on you, or domestic violence—it happens once, you get beaten once, and then it will happen countless times in the future…

She took a bite of the strawberry; it tasted very sweet.

It can't compare to some of the delicacies in the Elf Kingdom, but these things have a very unique flavor!

Annie closed her eyes, trying not to think about those messy things.

Anyway, the Elf Kingdom won't come to her rescue.

You can eat your food properly, and then you might be locked up for life!
-
The modern world!

As various messages gathered, Li Weiguo looked at the dense workload before him, his face showing exhaustion and frustration.

Tired, but happy!

There have been quite a few achievements in the other world recently, but we still have to deal with all sorts of news in the modern world.

Most importantly, it involves transforming key achievements into technologies and discoveries for the modern world.

For example, the drug that's a boon for men.

Originally intended to synthesize medicine to treat wounds, it somehow ended up enhancing male fertility.

Phase II and III clinical trials have now begun in the modern world, and long-term follow-up and screening have been carried out.

Although the subsequent discovery of large amounts of gold greatly reduced the financial burden on human pioneering teams, it was ultimately a long-term and effective means of generating wealth.

All the progress has been very stable. Recently, Li Weiguo has been paying attention to the many clues he learned after investigating the dwarves in the other world.

I've been gathering a lot of information lately, and it's quite contradictory!
According to information gathered from the elves and analysis of human behavior regarding the dwarves, the analysts discovered that the dwarves are a demonic race.

Normal groups are naturally easy to communicate with.

But so far, the elves seem to be controlled by the upper echelons of religion and nobility. Their minds, identities, and much else need to be reshaped.

There will be many conflicts between humans and elves in the future.

Dwarfs are even more of a headache.

The elves say the dwarves are greedy, cunning, and fickle, but they also say they can be bribed with wine and meat.

Human forces have taken control of over a hundred dwarven warriors from the Mithril Clan. An investigation revealed that these dwarven warriors are highly disciplined and strong in combat, and do not seem like they could be easily bribed.

"What exactly is going on? Could it be that the dwarf clans and tribes also had some genetic traits that were infiltrated, causing them to become like this?"

"Or are you saying that dwarves are actually a genetically edited race?"

Li Weiguo rubbed his temples.

The racial hypothesis of gene editing is a hypothesis recently proposed by scientists.

The more humans study the alien elves discovered in another world, the more they realize that they may have undergone explicit genetic editing by some civilization.

Some elven clans are seen by humans as completely inconsistent with the natural evolution of races in nature.

Take the Water Clan of the Elves as an example; they cry a lot and are particularly prone to...sensitivity in certain areas.

Some clans excel in the arts, but are hypocritical, arrogant, and stubborn...

There are also some elven clans that, according to research, humans should never treat with kindness.

Such sprites only need to be locked up in a dark room for a period of time, then taken out and seriously treated in different ways to make them feel threatened, and they will become very obedient after that.

Moreover, the elves are incredibly beautiful; male elves are few, but female elves are many… and they all possess a captivating and alluring style. The complex and multifaceted personalities of elves differ greatly from those of humans, and even from those of normal human prisoners.

In short, this scientific speculation is quite outrageous.

If elves are truly an artificial race, then the waters of this world are definitely deeper than humans imagine.

"Hey……"

Li Weiguo exhaled, then stuffed the cigarette into the ashtray and continued reading the latest compiled news.

This is the latest intelligence compiled by Gong Pengfei regarding the first elven captive, Annies—the dwarves want peace, but they may need a precious peace that comes after they've been beaten black and blue!
Upon seeing this, Li Weiguo's face showed a strange expression.

"Is that guy so deserving of a beating?"

I really don't understand the thought process of dwarves.

If, as the elves say, we seek peace only after being beaten black and blue, wouldn't that be handing the initiative over to the other side?

How much negotiating power will they lose as a result?

Isn't this just pushing yourself to your doom?

The Elf race is in chaos!

The dwarves are in chaos!

What about the humans from another world?
Are they crazy?
If they are also lunatics, then there must be many more undetected dangers in this world.

Li Weiguo lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it!"

"Perhaps only the strong are qualified to negotiate in the culture of dwarves?" he muttered to himself. "Like some primitive tribes, you have to subdue them before you can sit down and talk?"

This idea made him understand it a little better, but he still found it absurd.

The office was quiet for a moment as Li Weiguo suppressed some of his more irritating thoughts—such as digging holes for all the dwarves to use as fertilizer.

“We are civilized people,” he said to the air. “If the dwarves really want to fight, then let them fight! If they want peace, then let them have peace!”

"It's just a weapons contest, right? We've never been afraid of anyone!"

With this in mind, Li Weiguo signed the document, approving the modern side to continue mobilizing more weapons and ammunition to be transported to the Ice River base in the other world.

If the other side really mobilizes troops, give them a good beating before negotiating!
In any case, humans held the initiative, and they understood the dwarves' unwillingness to accept defeat.

After signing the document, Li Weiguo leaned back in his chair and looked out the window at the sky.

"Hopefully, after another battle, we'll figure out what the dwarves are thinking," he muttered. "Otherwise, this war is just too inexplicable!"

(End of this chapter)