Steel torrents pioneering a different world.

Chapter 264 Little friend, you don't want them to know you stole food, do you? (Bonus Chapter)

Bonus chapter today, please vote with monthly tickets!

Words are like knives; the harm they inflict on people's hearts can have a cumulative effect.

When the defense forces of Taran Mountain, under the command of Belegas and the Liers envoy, relayed the news from the humans, the dwarves were forced to convene another meeting.

The atmosphere in the dwarven council hall of the High Mountain Kingdom was even more somber than the ale in the cellar.

The elders of the various clans sat around a huge stone round table, their faces full of worry, the cheap tobacco in their pipes filling the entire hall with smoky haze.

The king, the master craftsman of war, the master rune master—the pillars of all kingdoms—remain absent.

The top figures who held power among the dwarves were not present; only these clan elders, who were not widely respected, were communicating.

Because none of the major clans were willing to submit to the others, many policies could not be easily implemented unless they threatened the safety of the kingdom or clans!

This secret letter, sent back by frontline commander Bellegas using the fastest falcon beast, has already circulated among the elders, and the edges of the letter are now frayed.

"Bullshit! Utter bullshit!" Gustav stroked his beard, slammed his fist on the table, and roared so loudly that dust fell from the ceiling. "If you can believe humans, pigs will fly! This is just an excuse they're using to start a war!"

"I'll say it again: don't disturb His Majesty the King!" He glared at the crowd with his large, bell-like eyes. "His Majesty and the masters are carrying out the most important task: reinforcing the ancient seal! Any disturbance would be a betrayal of the kingdom!"

In the corner, Bobby Hammer slowly tapped his pipe, his weathered face revealing no emotion.

"Gustav, your voice is still as loud as ever," Bobby's voice was hoarse and calm. "But a loud voice doesn't solve anything. Our elite troops are constantly putting out fires and running around like headless chickens. If what the humans say is true, the celestial conjunction is extremely dangerous, and the crisis brought by the three-tailed comet is greater than we anticipated, then what we are facing now may be annihilation."

"Extinction? When have we ever faced annihilation? I think you've been scared out of your wits by humans!" Gustav's mustache bristled with rage. "Bobby Ironhammer, you coward! Don't try to boost others' morale while diminishing your own!"

"I'm just stating the facts," Bobby said calmly, taking another drag of his cigarette. "I suggest we expend some magic stones to open the forbidden area and take a look. Only when we confirm that His Majesty the King is safe and sound can we be at ease."

"Ha! I knew it!"

Gustav, as if he had caught Bobby red-handed, pointed at him and laughed.

"Look, you've definitely allied with the Mithril Clan! Heh heh, the Blackrock Clan has a very clever plan! Are you out of your mind for money? How many magic stones are consumed each time the forbidden area is opened? That's the kingdom's strategic reserves! Are you trying to take advantage of the situation to resell resources and make a fortune?"

"You idiots of the Molten Clan, I was just making a suggestion!" Poppy finally frowned.

"No suggestion will do!" Gustav refused to budge. "The great King Iron Hammer, with our most elite warriors, could have easily slain even the most monstrous dragon in the forbidden lands! This is nothing but a test from the King!"

"A test? I only feel uneasy, and it grows stronger every day." An elder who was fond of drinking hiccuped while holding a wine jug.

"Drink your wine! What do drunkards know about the trials of blood and fire!"

"Damn trolls, stubborn fools, all they do is mindlessly spew insults!"

"You gluttons, always drinking and eating meat! How many war opportunities have we lost because of your undisciplined behavior?"

The council chamber instantly transformed into a bustling marketplace, filled with shouts and angry arguments.

"That's enough!"

The eldest clan elder struck the ground heavily with his scepter, and only then did the hall finally quiet down.

Everyone fell silent, but the expressions on their faces varied. Some were angry, some were worried, and most of all, there was an undisguised sense of weakness.

They all knew that the departure of the king and the main elite forces had left the High Mountain Kingdom a hollow shell, strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Although the threat from the south has temporarily receded, who can guarantee they won't come back again?

Especially when—the humans who suddenly appeared in the north were also very strong!

Bobby Ironhammer spoke again, his voice not loud, but like a heavy hammer striking the hearts of every dwarf.

"Don't forget, the human lands in the south have a new king. And he's firmly established himself on the throne!"

My men have reported back that the king on horseback fought his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood using a runic warhammer. And, even worse, it seems the prince and princess of the former southern human dynasty have arrived here!

"Huh? It's not fake?"

"We haven't found them, but the humans say they're here! Damn it, how can they be so unreasonable!"

"Fool, this is just an excuse to start a war, just like the people in the north. They find a reason to start a war. They don't care where the princes and princesses of the previous dynasty are. They just want to invade!"

"Yes, the king is now in high spirits. Will they abide by the peace treaty signed between the previous dynasty and us?"

"Then let's fight!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight! You think you can fight with your head? Once the celestial convergence occurs, the environment of the Forsaken Continent, as recorded in our clan's history, will become extremely harsh! We won't even be able to supply food then, so how can we fight?"

A dwarf elder looked around and, seeing the gradually darkening expressions on his colleagues' faces, continued to raise the stakes.

"Furthermore—our people have confirmed that those mysterious northern humans did indeed use weapons we've never heard of in the Long-Eared Forest, weapons whose power rivals that of forbidden magic!"

"What if—they really put that stuff on our heads?"

"Impossible! It's a low point in magic, there haven't been any god-like powerhouses for a long time!" Gustav was still trying to convince himself, but his confidence was clearly lacking.

"Yes, there are no powerful beings, but there are divine artifacts, aren't there?" Poppy sneered. "The wisdom of our ancestors tells us to think of the worst-case scenario. Now, tell me, Gustav, what is the worst-case scenario?"

"Oh, right! Gentlemen, the humans in the north also have a type of short but incredibly powerful steel magic golem. Those things are the most dangerous! They completely render our dwarves' prized cave and tunnel warfare useless!"

Gustav opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

What's the worst-case scenario?

The king and his elite army have been wiped out, humanity has broken its alliance, and the kingdom is now caught in a pincer movement from the north and south. The convergence of the heavens has triggered a monster uprising—is the Mountain Kingdom on the verge of collapse?

In an inconspicuous corner near the core city of the High Mountain Kingdom, amidst dense caves and jagged rocks!

A pale blue halo quietly lit up in a recessed area, then quickly vanished.

As the light faded, a forest of projected clones appeared.

At this moment, he had shrunk considerably, and even the features of his face had become rugged, making him look exactly like a typical dwarf.

This is precisely the disguise of his projected clone!

Since Laplace's Fairy is asking for an exorbitant price, claiming there's a threat to the exploration team, then let me, the one with the cheat codes, help them solve it.

After slacking off for so long, Lin Li finally felt he had improved a lot and believed he could give back to the pioneering team.

With a flick of his wrist, a palm-sized bionic drone appeared out of thin air.

These little creatures were disguised as birds, and with a nimble and almost silent flapping of their wings, they blended into the darkness.

Unless a master of soul-seeing sees the birds here and uses mind magic to control them, no one can discover that these birds have no souls at all.

From a bird's-eye view, this land is spread out before you.

Lin Li had hoped to find some secret passage entrance or energy node, but he had used up several of the scout bird's batteries and still couldn't find anything of much use.

He chuckled to himself, realizing he'd made a mistake in his thinking.

In a place teeming with dwarves, instead of searching for their secrets, it's better to be straightforward and simple.

He adjusted the drone's reconnaissance mode, focusing his attention on any corners that might conceal signs of life.

Soon, a comical scene was transmitted back via drone.

In a mountain hollow a kilometer away, a young dwarf, less than 80 centimeters tall and with a beard that hadn't even fully grown, was standing on a ridiculous wooden mat, looking around furtively.

He was gulping down a luxurious wine flask that clearly didn't belong to him, while in his other hand he was wolfing down a piece of half-cooked, bloody roasted meat, his mouth dripping with oil.

That guilty yet satisfied expression was absolutely vivid.

Lin Li smiled and said, "Found it."

He moved swiftly and silently crept towards that direction.

The young dwarf was enjoying his meal when he suddenly felt a light appear on his back, followed by a cool sensation, as if something was there.

He felt a jolt and turned around abruptly.

The next second, all the color drained from his face.

A gun muzzle covered in eerie patterns and gleaming with a cold metallic light was pressed firmly against the back of his head.

The dwarf holding the torch smiled and opened his mouth. A mocking, yet strangely awkward, voice rang out.

"Young man, you don't want to be discovered stealing the dwarven noble's treasured wine and roasted meat, do you?"

The young dwarf froze completely, the meat in his mouth falling to the ground with a "thud," mixing with the dust.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to sound the alarm, a hand reached out from behind him, holding a short black stick.

Lin Li pressed the switch on the stun gun.

"Sizzle sizzle—"

""

Blue arcs of electricity exploded, and the young dwarf trembled violently as if he were being shaken, his eyes rolled back, and white foam spewed from his mouth.

A strong, burnt smell mixed with an indescribable stench instantly filled the air.

In just one second, Lin Li put away the stun gun.

The young dwarf collapsed limply to the ground, his body convulsing, and his groin was soaked with sweat from the uncontrolled muscle and nerve signals caused by the electric shock.

Lin Li didn't mind. After he caught his breath, seeing that he was about to struggle and shout again, he smiled and brought the electric baton closer. The crackling sound of electricity became the most terrifying demonic sound for the dwarf at that moment.

The young dwarf immediately shut his mouth and stared at him in horror.

Lin Li nodded in satisfaction, and with his other hand, he magically produced a golden-brown, juicy pork rib and a pot of fine wine that exuded a refreshing aroma.

He held a fragrant bowl of meat and wine in one hand, and waved the electric baton in front of the young dwarf with the other.

"Young man, think carefully before you answer."

"Would you like to try my energizing tonic, six times a second, guaranteed to put you right to your senses! Or would you prefer some freshly roasted lamb paired with a top-notch dark beer?"

The young dwarf's Adam's apple bobbed as his gaze darted back and forth between the terrifying electric baton and the enticing aroma of meat and wine, drool involuntarily dripping from the corner of his mouth.

The battle between fear and appetite lasted only half a second.

He nodded rapidly toward the meat and wine, as fast as if he were pounding garlic.

Lin Li's smile grew even more amiable. He brought the sizzling, oily roasted meat close to the dwarf's nose and slowly asked, "The first question is very simple—where has your king, His Majesty Iron Hammer, been lately?"

After a while, Lin Li glanced at the dwarf boy who had fallen into a baby-like sleep. The boy's mouth was crooked, and he still had the shock of before he fell into a coma.

Lin Li thought for a moment, then took out some alcohol and poured it directly on him!

Get it done.

He leisurely looked at the empty corner: "Laplace's Demon, see? Even without your fancy spacetime rift precise location information, I still found the dwarven stronghold."

"In this operation, I only spent a very small amount of spacetime source matter to analyze and learn the dwarven language, and then to read dwarven books. This time, the cost-effectiveness was simply maximized."

From the darkness came a lazy meow tinged with disdain.

Meow~

"Heh, still not convinced?" Lin Li laughed in anger at the cat-like meow. "Who do you think you are? Just wait! Based on the information I got out of this kid, I can find those idiots trying to reopen the spacetime rift and wipe out their entire hideout!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of pale blue light appeared, and Lin Li's figure vanished into thin air.

After a few flashes, Lin Li reappeared in a winding, complex cave with a structure so intricate it made one's scalp crawl.

The air inside the cave was scorching hot, mixed with the smell of rocks, burning metal, and a very faint smell of burning coal.

"The dwarves aren't afraid of poison!"

Lin Li looked around and had to admit that these dwarfs were truly exceptional at digging tunnels.

The caves here are not all the same. Some are over ten meters high, and some are wide enough to accommodate a small army, making them comparable to underground main tunnels.

The smaller passages, varying in size, are filled with deceptive and murderous malice.

Following the route he had extracted from the young dwarf, Lin Li groped his way into an inconspicuous side road.

This is a secret passage specifically used for transporting military equipment and supplies.

The height of the passageway was strictly limited to 1.5 meters, and its width was only 1.2 meters.

This size even seems a bit tall and wide for dwarfs who average just 1.1 meters tall and elites are 1.3 meters tall.

But for a human of normal height, or even an elf, let alone fight, they can't even straighten their backs. Coming in would just make them a sitting duck, stretching their necks out to be slaughtered.

"To deal with them, humans must use mechanical dogs, various customized robots, submachine guns, and all sorts of trench rifles!"

Lin Li understood that only custom-made weapons and equipment could pose a deadly threat to the dwarves in this environment!

but----

Lin Li took out his watch and looked at some of the wireless communication devices he had set up.

"It's going to be difficult to plant wireless bombs or something similar in such a dense network of caves!"

Many of the dwarven caves have metal reinforcement structures, which, combined with magical rune traps, can directly interfere with wireless communications.

If you want to deploy bombs here and wipe out the dwarves in one fell swoop, you'll have to set them to a timer.

His projected clone, now a dwarf, traversed the deep, winding passages, memorizing the terrain and its structure.

The units of spacetime source matter are also being consumed in units of a fraction of a percent.

This is another function of spacetime source matter—consuming source matter to rapidly enhance and learn, thereby strengthening one's own memory.

If there were enough spacetime source matter, Lin Li could completely transform himself into an incomparably powerful scientific genius and memory genius!

These seemingly inconspicuous passages, which stand side by side, intertwine to form a vast underground network, which is the most solid barrier of the mountain kingdom, as well as its most deadly trap.

Just then, a series of heavy, rhythmic footsteps came from deep within the passageway.

Tap, tap, tap—

The voices were perfectly synchronized, indicating that it wasn't just one or two people.

It's a patrol team!

Lin Li's eyes narrowed, and he quickly dodged into a narrower recess nearby, concealing his presence to the extreme.

Another world, Ice River Base, Command Center.

On the electronic screen, a drone hovered more than ten kilometers away, but kept scouting the dwarf outpost.

At this moment, those places were deathly silent; for several days in a row, the other party did not even go out.

Commander Fu's eyes were bloodshot, and his knuckles tapped the table absently.

These short guys were so quiet.

It was unusually quiet.

This suggests that the clues obtained by Li Weiguo's command are likely true.

Something is really happening among the dwarves!

After he dozed off for a while, a young staff officer approached, his voice tinged with anxiety. "Commander, the nearby dwarven outposts are also quiet. Apart from sending those elven prisoners out of the High Mountain Kingdom a few days ago, they've even reduced their regular patrol area by a third."

"7

This staff officer was a top student at the military academy and was used to using data and models to deduce everything, but the dwarf's behavior made him sense something was amiss!

"They returned the elf, along with the weapons we gave it for self-defense! They even politely escorted the elf back to the southwestern forest." Commander Fu took a sip of tea, his gaze still fixed on the screen. "Xiao Zhang, this isn't inaction; this is a statement."

"Make a statement?"

The staff officer was taken aback.

"I reckon they've already told the elves they don't have time to deal with what's going on outside." Commander Fu put down his teacup, leaned back slightly in his chair, and said, "Maybe their house is on fire, who has the mind to worry about their neighbor's fence?"

These words were spoken bluntly, and the officers in the command center who were listening intently all showed expressions of understanding.

It seems highly likely that there's something wrong within the dwarves themselves.

However, they had no idea how far the fire had spread or whether it would affect their border.

All they knew was that if the spacetime rift posed a great danger, they had to act in advance to resolve the problem!

Commander Fu rubbed his throbbing temples, stood up, and grabbed his coat hanging on the back of the chair.

"I'm going to check out the lava world. If I find anything unusual, get the deputy commander!"

"Commander, it's almost dinner time—"

Commander Fu waved his hand and walked out of the room, which was filled with the buzzing of electronic devices and a tense atmosphere, without looking back.

Now that the framework of the Ice River base has been set up, the responsibilities of front-line command have been gradually handed over to his deputy. He is now doing more of a coordination and oversight role.

In contrast, Brigade Commander Fu was more accustomed to charging into battle and staying on the battlefield.

However, there's no other way; job titles need to be clearly defined.

At the University of Tokyo, academic and military affairs are separated, and there needs to be a clear division of responsibilities for command, finance, and personnel.

The construction of the Ice River Base is nearing completion. Once the reclamation team has fully established itself, his identity will change, and he will need to adapt to his new job in advance.

A short ten-minute ride in the command vehicle will take you to the spacetime rift that connects to the lava world.

However, before the command vehicle had even driven 2 kilometers, a gust of dry, hot air mixed with cold air hit us.

The closer you get, the more thoroughly the surrounding ice and snow melt, revealing the frozen, hard black earth underneath.

The air was filled with the smell of sulfur and molten metal. In the distance, the spatial rift that stood between heaven and earth resembled an orange-red wound that would never heal. The air at the edge of the halo was violently distorted by the high temperature.

The car stopped at a temporary parking lot that had just been leveled, about two kilometers from the crack.

As soon as Commander Fu opened the car door, he felt another wave of heat hit him!

Not far away, the deafening roar of heavy construction machinery filled the air.

A dozen or so heavy-duty trucks, each weighing over 100 tons, were lined up, loading pieces of cooled, black lava-like material onto the trucks and transporting them away.

The closer you get, the more you can see the bustling scene.

Seawater collected from the Devil's Sea is being pumped out by high-powered water pumps, and water jets are spraying water. The high temperature causes the scalding magma to produce water vapor, and at times, there are even scenes of explosions.

The scene was spectacular yet rugged.

Wearing a protective mask, Brigade Commander Fu watched this scene with overwhelming emotion!

These unassuming black stones are the cornerstones of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The superconducting materials and various rare elements contained within are one of the key pieces of the puzzle for Southeast University to achieve the industrialization of controlled nuclear fusion.

"Hissing"

A sharp, clear cry pierced the industrial noise, carrying a hint of joy.

Commander Fu looked up and saw a lush green shadow sweep across the sky near the crack, nimbly circling once.

It was a Western dragon with a wingspan of no more than half a meter, its entire body emerald green, making it particularly conspicuous in the dim sunlight.

"The little thing looks quite happy." Commander Fu's lips curled up in a rare smile.

Staff Officer Zhang, standing nearby, chuckled and chimed in, "Commander, the biology team says the dragon has performed another miracle that defies conventional biological knowledge. It rarely eats the meat we provide anymore; its favorite thing to do every day is to soak in the lava pool over there. Each time it finishes, its size and weight increase slightly, growing at a rate several times faster than when it first arrived."

"Taking a bath?" Commander Fu's interest was piqued. "Using lava as bathwater, what a formidable magical creature!"

He rubbed his chin, his soldierly instincts immediately drawing a deeper thought: "What if we brought the other dragon egg we captured from the elves here—could we get it a companion?"

Xiao Zhang's smile faded, and he became serious: "Brigadier, I'm afraid that won't work. According to the intelligence from the dwarves, dragons are an unruly race and are top-tier weapons of war in this world. We were only able to keep this one alive because of that mysterious person who forcibly established a mental link with it in a way we couldn't understand."

"Hatching one is easy, but we don't have the means to intervene. It doesn't matter if it disappears in a flap of its wings when it grows up, but if it attacks us, it will cause significant losses."

Upon hearing this, Brigade Commander Fu's smile faded, and his brows furrowed again.

"A mysterious person!"

From the initial contact to the provision of technical information, and then to the ownership of this dragon, the entity hidden behind the scenes was like an invisible hand, always giving them a push at crucial moments.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable, like a puppet on a string.

"Let's go check on the scientific exploration team. I wonder if they've finished the industrial transformation here! If they continue to use these primitive methods of mining, the impact on the surrounding environment will be too great!"

'

"There are many, Commander Fu, please follow me!"

'