Quadruple split.

Chapter 2760 Targeted Treatment
"Phew... Although it was a bit of a stream of consciousness, I think I understood it."

After letting out a soft sigh, Sharia put down her quill and looked at the old dwarf who was swirling the last bit of alcohol in his glass, his face filled with melancholy but showing no signs of drunkenness. She asked, "So you mean that the gray dwarves of the Pale Plains have actually been doing good deeds all along? To prevent that 'killing impulse' from harming everyone in the entire Dwarf Mountain Range?"

"Good thing?"

Old Daglan chuckled dryly and shook his head, saying, "I don't think so. Even for those compatriots living in the mountains and Furnace City, this is indeed a good thing, but what our clan has done is undoubtedly a 'wrong thing'. No, it shouldn't even be called a 'wrong thing', but a sin, a sin that cannot be redeemed even by death."

"..."

After a brief silence, Sharia nodded and said softly, "That's right. Although the Grey Dwarves of the Grey Plains are considered relatively mild among the Blood Barbarians, your brutality and cruelty have been no less than that of the other three factions for a long time. This is not something that can be dismissed as a 'mistake.' At least for me, every single Grey Dwarf on this land, except for those who have joined Skork, deserves to die."

“It’s not just that, Ms. Sharia. Even we Grey Dwarves who joined Skork have our hands stained with the blood of innocents.”

Old Daglan raised his right hand, examining it closely as he said, slightly tipsy, "I'm not afraid to admit it, but after 'sobering up,' my wife and the other adult grey dwarves who chose to join us here were actually seeking 'atonement' more than 'rebellion.'"

Hearing this, Elgar, who had previously heard some stories about the origins of the Grey Dwarves of the Grey Plains from old Dagran but hadn't asked much for fear of reopening old wounds, narrowed his eyes slightly and asked the indispensable master craftsman in Skolsk, "So, my dear old friend, what is the current situation of that Grey Castle...? And what is the situation of you Grey Dwarves?"

"The situation? The situation is that the influence of that 'bloodthirsty impulse' far exceeded expectations, so shortly after His Majesty Northron and his kin who chose to follow him arrived in the Pale Plains and established the Grey Castle, everyone was affected without exception, a deep-seated influence."

Old Dagran clenched his fist and said in a deep voice, "Even so, we still remember our mission. We must destroy that hammer, turn [Selio, King of the Mountains] into a pile of scrap, and completely destroy the spirit inside that is devoid of consciousness but constantly influencing us."

After that, old Dagland, his face flushed, explained the current state of Château Grey after downing his last sip of wine—

As the most mysterious of the four Blood Barbarian tribes, the Grey Dwarves, who call themselves the 'Grey Rock' race and have brought the entire Grey Plains under their control, have been engaged in a fierce and arduous struggle against [Selio, King of the Mountains] since they arrived on this land. Their main city, [Grey Castle], is actually a huge 'forge'.

This forge has four floors in total. The living area is closest to the ground, where most of the residents are elderly people and children. The elderly people give the children strict instruction every day, and they are dedicated to training them into powerful craftsmen and warriors.

The reason for making them craftsmen is so that the children can continue their endless struggle with that warhammer in the future, while the reason for making them warriors is so that these children can survive as long as possible in the process of venting their 'killing impulse'.

Because of [Selio, King of the Mountains], almost every newborn in the Grayrock tribe is affected. Although at first they are only somewhat violent and have much weaker emotional control than normal people, as the children grow up, their 'killing impulse' will become more and more obvious, eventually reaching its peak in their youth and middle age.

At this stage, these young people, who constantly crave killing and violence, are transferred to the second layer, 'Foundation Rock,' which is divided into two areas—

To the east lies a large mining area where limestone ore is produced. This limestone ore is the tribe's most valuable asset. The raw ore extracted from it is forged into various tools and equipment, which can be used to arm tribe members and traded with other Blood Barbarians or certain large merchant guilds that can bypass the Holy Church's intervention.

To the west lies the gladiatorial arena, but unlike most gladiator arenas and arenas, there is no glory or wealth here. Members of the Grayrock tribe fight to the death here simply to vent their uncontrollable 'killing impulse'. Although killing is not allowed in principle, thousands of people still die here every year.

Below that is the third level, known as the 'Great Forge'. This is where the gray dwarf craftsmen forge their weapons. Those who can come here can generally control their 'killing impulse' to some extent. They spend about twenty days a month forging various equipment, and the remaining ten days are spent gathering in front of a large device called the 'Grinding Wheel' to perform high-intensity 'forging' on it.

It's worth mentioning that what they were actually forging was not the [Grinding Wheel] itself, but the warhammer located in the deepest center, connected to the [Grinding Wheel]—[Selio, King of the Mountains].

The so-called "grinding wheel" was a complex "casting tool" personally forged by Northron after he took the lead in establishing Greyhold. Its sole purpose was to allow tribal members to perform smelting and casting work on the warhammer while remaining far away from it.

As time goes by, although the physical body of [Selio, King of the Mountains] will be gradually worn down and melted down, the spirit hidden within it will become stronger and stronger. Correspondingly, the 'killing impulse' will become more and more violent. Therefore, in order to prevent the tribe from being driven mad before completing its mission, the [grinding wheel] is an essential device.

That is why, on the last level of Greyhold, besides the [Grinding Wheel] which encases the warhammer and can fully reflect the pressure and impact from above, there is only Northron Blackrock, the former dwarf king.

Of course, if nothing unexpected happens, Northron should have died a very, very long time ago.

The reason it is said to be 'should' is because when he knew that his life was entering its final stage, he took the initiative to enter the fourth level and completed a 'destructive reinforcement' that ordinary people could not break through.

In simpler terms, after descending to the fourth level, Northron blew up the only entrance and exit himself.

According to old Dagran, Northron was already old and exhausted from building Grey Castle, so if nothing unexpected happened, he would probably die within a month of leaving himself on the fourth floor.

However, some strange tales circulate within Grey Castle. For example, every now and then, people hear rhythmic hammering sounds coming from underground. The timid mistake it for the resentful spirit of the Dwarf King being reawakened, driven by his vengeance. The loyal believe that the King's will has become one with Grey Castle and is still fighting against the forging hammer. But most people... have no interest in these strange tales and are simply eager to unleash their pure bloodlust.

Thus, when they could no longer find satisfaction and pleasure in the rigid and lifeless arena, those with weak wills would leave Grey Castle in droves and launch indiscriminate attacks on everything in sight. As a result, Dunbua City, Gospel Mountain City, the northern settlement of the Holy Land, and other Blood Barbarians have all been attacked by those crazed Grey Dwarves. Any retaliatory counterattack would give those madmen an excuse to vent their anger in a justifiable way.

"This is the story of how the Gray Rock tribe became the 'Blood Barbarians'."

Old Daglan gave a dry laugh and shook his head, saying, "Our compatriots have been fighting against that depravity. Occasionally, their tenacious will and sense of mission will prevail, but most of the time, everyone is living in a daze. Even those elders who are able to get rid of the influence of the artifact spirit due to their age can only do some trading with the outside world to try to keep everyone from starving to death."

"And what about you, old Dagran?"

Mo Tan, who had remained silent throughout, leaned forward slightly, interlacing his fingers in front of him, and asked softly, "Why don't you and the other grey dwarves who joined Skolker show any signs of being corrupted by the so-called 'killing impulse'? To me, you are no different from those kind, simple ordinary people." "Because we are cowards who have abandoned our mission."

Old Dagran gave a weak smile and said in a dry voice, "As we transition from youth to old age, there will be a period when we develop a certain resistance to the 'killing impulse.' At that time, our rationality and emotions will become infinitely close to those of normal people. However, driven by responsibility, most of the Grey Dwarves will choose to continue their mission on the third level, because we know very well that only by destroying that damned hammer sooner can our tribe be freed from torment sooner. But... but..."

“You are not a coward, Dagran.”

Elgar raised his hand and pressed down on his friend's slightly trembling shoulder, and said in a deep voice, "I know very well that you are a brave man, and I know even more that you would never abandon your compatriots for your own sake, but when you and your wife first came to Skolsk, little Dagran was less than a year old. His life had just begun, and there was no reason for it to be ruined by that so-called 'killing impulse'."

Old Dagland, his eyes bloodshot, took a deep breath, his hands trembling as he covered his face, letting out a painful whimper. After a long while, he murmured, "Even I don't know... was that child just an excuse I made to escape that curse..."

"In any case, Mr. Dagland, I think you, little Dagland, will be very grateful that he is your son. It's just a pity that we don't have the time to lavishly praise your success as a father right now."

Sharia comforted the old dwarf in her own way, then steered the conversation back on track: "The most urgent problem we need to solve now is how to get those people like you in 'Grey Castle' to join Skolker, or rather... join the [Black Vane Independent Army]."

Old Daglan sniffed and said in a deep voice, "This is not easy, young girl. You must know that the curse brought by that hammer has been deeply etched into the soul of every member of the Grayrock tribe. Even I only completely escaped its influence several years after leaving Graywhite Fortress, and..."

Sharia blinked: "And what?"

"Moreover, those who can suppress their 'killing impulse' through willpower are people with firm beliefs."

Old Dagland stroked his long beard and said in a deep voice, "Their ideology is different from Skork's. They don't want to resist anything, nor will they stand up for so-called justice and morality. They value their responsibility more, the responsibility to destroy that hammer."

"So what you mean is..."

Mo Tan narrowed his eyes slightly and said thoughtfully, "They have no reason to side with us in this conflict, right?"

"Fortunately, they shouldn't be on our side either."

Old Dagland nodded and said with a wry smile, "As long as we avoid the Grey Plains and stay away from that ominous place."

"Unfortunately, my friend, we cannot avoid the Grey Plains."

Mo Tan looked at the terrain map in front of him and said calmly, "There is a lot of detour space and strategic depth there. It is an important part of the Blood Barbarian region. If we want to win this absurd battle, we must make the most of everything we can. So from my point of view, no matter whether we can win over those clear-headed people like you in the Gray Rock tribe, our plan cannot completely avoid that area."

"but……"

"Speaking of which, old Dagran, have you ever considered that besides the so-called 'unyielding will,' there are actually many other things that can counterbalance the influence that has plagued your race for countless years?"

"Uh, what do you mean by that?"

"To put it bluntly, don't you think we clergy from the Holy Church Union are particularly adept at dealing with the 'killing impulse'?"

"Huh? You mean..."

"At least in my limited understanding, few organizations have more authority to speak on issues such as 'curses,' 'pollution,' and 'spiritual plagues' than the Holy Church Union."

"It's not that simple. Gray Castle has only ever had enmity with your Holy Church Alliance over the years; there's no talk of cooperation..."

"As far as I know, Skolke's past relationship with the Holy Church was also very cold."

"..."

"But it's now even being jokingly referred to as the 'Black Vatican Independence Army'."

"..."

"And I happen to be Black Van."

click
Chapter 2751: The End

(End of this chapter)