save the bachelors

Chapter 5067-5070 [The Threat of Shadow]

Due to the dark forces in the Mirkwood, they were expelled from the Elf Kingdom, and most of the Orcs in the Misty Mountains were also wiped out by the expedition.

Thus after the Battle of Five Armies Beorn was lord of the plains between Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains.

He then established his own kingdom there, and after his death, his descendants continued to rule. His descendants, like him, have the ability to change skin and are very powerful.

As for Bilbo, under the protection of the wizard Gandalf, he returned safely to Hobbiton in the Shire. On the way, he stayed in Rivendell for a while.

Bilbo was willing to give the Arkenstone to the elves and dwarves during the Battle of Five Armies in order to prevent war between humans, elves and dwarves.

Bilbo was warmly welcomed in Rivendell and was affectionately called "Friend of the Elf". Elrond even welcomed him to visit at any time.

……

As for the orcs, the orcs in Mount Gundabad, the Misty Mountains and Dol Guldur all suffered fatal blows, and it was difficult for them to regain their strength.

But Xiang Nan knew that this did not mean that the darkness had gone away and peace would last forever. This peace would not last long.

Because the big boss Sauron was not destroyed. On the contrary, when the White Council attacked Dol Guldur, he found that the situation was not good, so he ran to Mordor in the southeast corner of Middle-earth.

To the west of Mordor is the human empire Gondor and the Kingdom of Rohan, to the north is the Lonely Mountain, the Iron Hills and Mirkwood, to the east is the Kingdom of Rhun, and to the south is the region of Harad.

Mordor itself is surrounded on three sides by the Grey Mountains and the Shadow Mountains, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Although Rhun in the east and Harad in the south were both human kingdoms, they had been corrupted by the then Demon Lord Morgoth as early as the First Age, so they later became minions of Sauron.

In the movie "The Lord of the Rings", it was the Haradrim who attacked Gondor riding mammoth war elephants; and the army that Frodo and Sam encountered at the Black Gate were from the Kingdom of Rhún.

Therefore, Sauron's power is still very strong. He occupies the fortress of Mordor and controls the region of Harad and the Kingdom of Rhún. He still poses a huge threat to the human world.

Sure enough, less than ten years after the Battle of Five Armies, Sauron openly appeared in Mordor.

He began to gather the dark forces again, orcs, ogres, fallen humans... The dark forces were gradually expanding in the magic nest of Mordor.

Moreover, he sent out three Ringwraiths to retake Dol Guldur, their lair in Mirkwood, and drove the forces of the Elven Kingdom out of the southern part of the forest again.

The Elf King Thranduil did not choose to fight the Ringwraiths head-on. Instead, just like before the Battle of Five Armies, he chose to retreat and close the country to the outside world.

This makes the Ringwraiths and the dark forces even more confident.

……

Xiang Nan did not take any action to deal with this matter, because the next era would belong to mankind, and it would be up to them to create miracles on their own.

Whether it was the dwarves, elves, tree people, or even the Maiar and Valar, they were all destined to withdraw from Middle-earth. Therefore, he and Tauriel lived comfortably in Erebor, enjoying a life of wealth and glory.

They have tens of millions of dollars, which means they never have to worry about having no money to spend, so they can enjoy life every day. Even if they hold banquets every day, they will never run out of money.

Moreover, they traveled everywhere, to the Northern Kingdom in the north, to the lost kingdom of Arnor in the west, to Rohan and Gondor in the south, and to the Kingdom of Rhun in the east...

Time flies, and more than 30 years have passed. The lonely mountain Erebor has become prosperous again, and tens of thousands of dwarves live here. They continue to dig underground mines and jewelry, and forge iron, bronze, silver, gold and other wares.

Through trade with humans and elves, they exchanged the minerals they dug for food, wine, spices, cloth, etc.

The iron, bronze, silver, and gold wares produced by the Kingdom under the Mountain are also very popular in the human and elven kingdoms, so everyone gets what they need and the kingdom prospers.

In this year, Balin decided to lead a dwarf adventure team to retake Moria.

Moria was the former home of Durin's clan. Back then, the dwarves were too greedy and dug too deep into the ground, so they dug out the Balrog.

The Balrogs are fallen Maia who rebelled with the great devil Melkor (Morgoth). After Melkor was defeated, the surviving Balrogs went into hiding.

One of them happened to be hiding under Mount Moria, and was dug out by the dwarves. So the Balrog killed two kings of the Durin clan, and was therefore called the "Durin Nemesis".

Because the Balrog was too powerful, the dwarves had no way to deal with it, so they had to leave Moria and come to the Lonely Mountain to develop.

Although the dwarves of Durin's clan are now doing well in the Lonely Mountain and the Iron Hills, Balin still wants to take back Moria.

On the one hand, it is the hometown of the Durin clan after all, and it is of great significance to the Durin clan; on the other hand, the mines in Moria contain unparalleled treasures - mithril.

It shines like silver, but is as light as a feather, and it feels like nothing is on. However, this piece of armor is indestructible, and no matter how sharp the sword or how heavy the axe or hammer is, it cannot cause any harm to the wearer.

Therefore, it is the most valuable mineral in the world, and one gram of mithril is worth more than one hundred ounces of gold. Thorin once gave Bilbo a mithril armor, which was worth enough to buy the entire Shire.

And with the demise of the orcs in the Misty Mountains, Balin also believed that the orcs in Moria might have suffered a fatal blow, and it is very likely that Moria is now an empty city.

Then it would be a waste not to take advantage of it. In this way, he can even proclaim himself king.

Because if the dwarves want to be kings, they must have their own territory. For example, Dain Ironfoot's Iron Hills, Gimli's Crystal Cave, etc., they are all called the kings of the dwarves because they have their own territories.

Therefore Balin hopes to retake Moria.

Ori, Oin and others responded to his call and prepared to go to Moria with him to recover the lost land.

After considering it, Xiang Nan decided not to go with him.

Because if he were to go, he would have to kill the Balrog. But if he killed the Balrog, how could Gandalf have died in battle and been resurrected by Ilúvatar to become the White Wizard Gandalf?

If Gandalf had not been promoted, it would have been difficult for him to fight against the dark forces. Not to mention the difficulty in dealing with the final boss Sauron, even the white-robed wizard Saruman was no match for him.

Therefore, Xiang Nan finally just wished Bahrain and his team success, but did not go with them.

Balin then led a team of dwarves to Moria, and in the first few years there was news that they had successfully recaptured Moria and found the long-lost Axe of Durin and some mithril.

This news made the dwarves of Erebor very happy and relieved for them. But for more than 20 years, no news came back.

Such changes made every dwarf in Lonely Mountain begin to wonder whether Balin and his group were in danger.