The Lord of the Rings: Lords of Middle-earth.

Chapter 20 New Features

"Congratulations, host, on unlocking a new feature—the shopping mall! Please check your inbox." The screen of light from The Lord of the Rings unfolded before Roland.

Roland was about to examine it more closely when Bard interrupted him.

"It all feels like a dream!" Bard exclaimed in disbelief as he looked at the sea of ​​fire behind him.

“Yes, such a large town… overnight…” Roland was also filled with emotion.

“Let’s go!” Roland led a horse over and handed the reins to Bard.

“I still need to wait for my soldiers,” Roland explained, noticing Bard’s confusion.

"River Valley needs you! King Bard!" Roland shouted at Bard's retreating figure.

……

"Caslo! Get the horses on board, let's go meet our lovely archers!" Roland instructed Caslo and his men to lead the Battanian archers' warhorses along the lake shore to search for the departing archers.

"Here!" A shooter scrambled to his feet from the shore! He was clearly exhausted, and was now slumped on the bank, trying to be a lazy bum, but unfortunately, there was no sun...

“Hey! Get on the horse, buddy! We still need to search for the others!” Caslo called out.

"Hurry! Time is of the essence! Everyone, spread out and search for our brothers!" Roland anxiously mobilized all his men to search for the scattered archers.

……

"Thank you, Dragon God! May the glory of Lagrange bless you!" Roland looked at the group of disheveled and unkempt men who could barely be called soldiers.

In the Battle of Smaug, the Battanian archers miraculously survived, except for a few unlucky ones who were swept into the water by the collapsing buildings... but their excellent physical condition as professionals allowed them to recover quickly.

"Let's all take a rest, we've all had a long day!" Roland said, then took the lead and led the group into the woods.

"My lord! Aren't we heading to Lonely Mountain? The dwarves owe our boss a huge sum of money!" Caslo, as one of Roland's earliest followers, was well aware of the contract between the dwarves and Roland.

"Heading to Lonely Mountain?" Roland looked at Caslo with a strange expression.

"To be honest, I'm not even planning to go to Vale right now!" Roland shook his head. How brave this kid is! Heading straight for Lonely Mountain now? Forget dragon riders, even a dragon rider would be helpless against him. This is the real world, and Roland doesn't know if the dwarves and elves will fight first. If they do, whose side will he take? He doesn't want to be wiped out by his own people before even engaging the orcs… Lonely Mountain is a bottomless pit! The dwarves have to jump in (after all, it's their capital), the humans have to jump in (they need the wealth to rebuild their homes), the orcs are willing to jump in (it's strategically important), the elves thought it over and jumped in too (Thrandruid wants the white gems), and Roland is still considering whether to jump in or not…

Never mind, let's study the new features of the system first. As for getting rich, we don't necessarily have to rely on the Lonely Mountain treasure of the dwarves. If we piss Roland off, we can just launch the Moria Expedition! (Orc: You're kidding me! Dwarf: Thank you, human friends, for reclaiming our lost territory.) After all, there must have been a lot of wealth in the dwarves' former capital.

Roland sensed the Ring and discovered that it could now display an interface. A screen of light appeared before him, showcasing the system's new feature—the marketplace. Twelve different items would be randomly refreshed daily, and purchases required Wealth Points. Roland's face immediately darkened upon seeing his Wealth Points… Damn, that "5" was truly glaring! After some fiddling, Roland finally understood the origin of the Wealth Points—10,000 gold coins converted into 1 Wealth Point.

"Heh, poverty limits my imagination!" Roland discovered that he couldn't even afford the cheapest item on the list: Lagrange Dragon Hunter: 10 Wealth Points. Quantity: 50. And Roland even found a forbidden scroll! Unfortunately, the staggering one million Wealth Points forced Roland to face reality.

Roland casually dispelled the system light screen, silently walked out of the tent, looked at the burning Long Lake Town in the distance, and sighed softly.

"My lord... when can we go back to Lagrange City for a visit..." Renault arrived quietly.

"Lagrange City has been lost to the passage of time..." Roland could only use a white lie to dissuade Renault, after all, he couldn't tell Renault that Lagrange City hadn't even been built yet. Lagrange City was the capital of the Lagrange Empire, built on the north bank of the confluence of the Swift River and the Red River. The entire city was magnificent, with nine city walls and a vast area. Seven of the thirteen dragon knights of the Lagrange Empire were stationed in the city year-round, as was the Lagrange Royal Guard Paladin Order. Their special unit, the Lagrange City Guard, was the strongest and most elite of all non-professional units. Roland had recruited these units before, and as expected of soldiers from the capital, their equipment was as luxurious as that of knights.

"Lost people, perhaps you need the guidance of the Holy Light of Lagrange..." A clear female voice came through the darkness.

Roland's expression changed, and he immediately looked over with delight, while Renault quietly drew his sword, watching the figure in white robes warily.

"Ivy, the priestess of the Lagrange Empire, greets Your Majesty." The visitor bowed in greeting.

"Priests of the Temple? Which god do you worship?" Renault lowered his guard, but still asked curiously, since different temples had slightly different spells.

"May the Dragon God bless you." Pure white holy light showered down on Ivy.

"A priest of light?" Renault was somewhat disappointed. It would have been perfect if he were a priest of holiness, he thought to himself.

"The priests of the Dragon God Temple?" Roland's eyes lit up with interest. After all, as a deity worshipped by the royal family of the Lagrange Empire, the Dragon God's temple priests were quite powerful.

"Caslo! Get a tent for Miss Ivy!" Roland shouted.

Caslo reluctantly crawled out of the tent with sleepy eyes, pouting as he went to fiddle with it...

"Alright, everyone should get some rest. There might be a big battle tomorrow." Roland looked at the familiar faces around him and his heart sank. If a fight broke out... he wondered how many people would still be sitting here.

……

As if it had all been rehearsed, history was unfolding in an orderly fashion. The elves still came to Vale, Bilbo still gave the Arkenstone to Bard and his men, and Thranduil still arrived at the foot of the Lonely Mountain with Bard and his forces...

"Peace or war!" Bard issued his final ultimatum.

Thorin glanced meaningfully at the eastern mountains and said in a deep voice, "I choose war!"

"Boom~ Boom~" Heavy footsteps sounded, and a well-organized dwarf army appeared on the hillside.

“The Ironfoot Army! The army of Dain, the dwarf king from Ironhill,” Gandalf murmured.

"Oh ho! The ravens have carried our message to the dwarves throughout Middle-earth!" the dwarves of Irubel cheered.

Meanwhile, the orcs are about to arrive at Lonely Mountain.

Roland and his party were also slowly marching towards Lonely Mountain.

A battle at Gushan, destined to be different from any in history, is about to begin.

Thank you to all the readers for your recommendation votes.

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(End of this chapter)