Path of Light.

Chapter 954, 953. Interrogation
Of the seventeen captured three-masted sailing ships, eleven required full-scale repairs. One thousand one hundred half-elf crew members piloted these seventeen three-masted sailing ships, carrying four thousand grey dwarf prisoners of war to the Nantali Islands.

There were no Imperial merchant ships docked at Luyun Fortress, and no half-elf was found inside, which surprised Roy somewhat.

Given the slave trade orchestrated by the Grey Dwarves and Silvermoon Elf nobles of the Northern Fleet, and the fact that Luyun Fortress is one of the Grey Dwarves' most important transit points on the west coast of the Eastern Continent, there's no reason for Imperial merchant ships not to dock at this naval port.

However, these imperial merchants preferred to dock on the Nantali Islands and use the deserted island for rest rather than enter the Ruyun Fortress.

When Roy asked the imperial merchants, they explained that they did not want to have their profits exploited by the Northern Fleet, which is why they did not choose to dock at Ruyun Fortress.

Roy has now captured four thousand grey dwarf prisoners of war from Runemont Fortress. The highest-ranking grey dwarf officer among them is the captain of the third patrol squadron in Runemont Fortress, where he manages seven patrol squadrons.

The grey dwarf officer was now covered in wounds, wearing a loose linen robe, his beard curling at his chest, and he looked somewhat listless.

He sat listlessly in the chair, his head tilted back slightly, his eyes half-closed as he leaned against the back of the chair, without saying a word.

Roy and Olive walked in from outside. The grey dwarf officer glanced at Olive out of the corner of his eye, and it was clear that he was very wary of her...

A half-elf interrogator stood up and offered his seat to Roy.

Roy first invited Olive to sit in the main seat before he sat down himself. He didn't rush to question the gray dwarf officer, but instead looked at the interrogation notes. Seeing that the notes were almost entirely blank, Roy frowned.

It was clear this grey dwarf officer was difficult to deal with, but surprisingly, he really didn't say a word...

There are four such interrogation rooms on this three-masted sailing ship, and in each room, the interrogator is investigating these grey dwarves.

Roy would only participate in the investigation of Grey Dwarf officers of captain rank or higher.

Roy kept his head down, not even glancing at the gray dwarf officer, and spoke in Elvish:
"You will be sent to Quel'Sai for trial, and then most likely to serve your sentences on the Pagisto Plateau in the Partington plane. Regardless of your current position, you will all be classified into two categories there: skilled grey dwarf artisans and ordinary grey dwarf prisoners of war. You will be assigned to forges and various mines respectively."

The half-elf interrogator repeated Roy's words in Dwarven.

Actually, Roy had one condition he didn't mention: all the grey dwarves of officer rank and above would stay in the forge, in order to prevent them from causing trouble with the grey dwarves in the various mines.

The gray dwarf officer seemed not to have heard, his eyes closed and head tilted back...

Roy continued:

"It's about a five-month voyage from here to Kui Island. You'll be traveling to Kui Island on these three-masted sailing ships. Before you leave, is there anything you'd like to say to me?"

The gray dwarf officer had no intention of communicating with Roy, so he simply closed his eyes.

Roy seemed oblivious to the gray dwarf officer's expression. Seeing that he remained silent, he lowered his head and continued:

“I know the situation in Durag is gradually deteriorating. You are now preparing to carry out the southward migration plan, using a large number of ships to transport the Grey Dwarves to Garo Island in the Seven Realms Sea. Are any of your family members among the Grey Dwarves currently stranded near the west coast of Durag?”

Roy's casual question at the end made the gray dwarf officer purse his lips uncomfortably.

Roy's words clearly hit a nerve.

Seeing the look Olive gave him, Roy understood and gave the order to the half-elf guard at the door:
"Give him a glass!" The half-elf guard brought over a glass of strong-smelling rum, which Roy had prepared in advance, and Olive had also added a little magic potion to it.

The gray dwarf officer, upon seeing a glass of rum in front of him, instantly sobered up. He grabbed the glass with lightning speed and gulped down the entire glass of rum, not putting it down until the last drop was in his mouth…

After drinking, the eyes of the gray dwarf army finally regained some luster.

Roy gestured for the half-elf guard to refill the glass with rum, which the grey dwarf officer then drank in one gulp.

At that moment, Olive suddenly blew a breath at the gray dwarf officer, who sat in his chair as if he were completely drunk, his eyes glazed over...

Olive asked him in Dwarven:
"I heard the gray dwarves in the north are preparing to migrate south in their entirety. How are their preparations going?"

The grey dwarf officer let out a burp, chuckled sheepishly, and answered readily:

"We planned to transport the last of the people to Garo Island. The port on the Frozen Isle Island has been fully prepared. If it weren't for the problem in the waters off Kui Island, the vanguard of this southward migration would probably have reached Luyun Fortress by now. It was those brainless bandit gangs who ruined our plans and kept our transport ships stuck on the Frozen Isle Island."

Olive then asked:
"You've given up a lot of territory in Durag's Knee, and your stockpiled supplies are almost gone!"

The gray dwarf officer replied, dazed and confused:
“There’s still some left, enough for us to send all the people to Garo Island. Over the years, we’ve built quite a few secret warehouses to stockpile supplies…”

Olive stood up, slowly approached the gray dwarf officer, and whispered in his ear:

"I'm actually very curious to know why you encouraged imperial merchants to go to the elven kingdom to swindle those half-elves?"

Her voice carried a seductive quality, making the gray dwarf officer feel as if he had entered some kind of dream, and he even began to confide his innermost thoughts...

The gray dwarf captain answered in a daze:
"Why? We've committed at least 300,000 warriors to the battlefield on the Queen Ivani Islands, and at least 200,000 of them, the Grey Dwarves, were defeated by the Hybrid Elves. We don't want to see a fourth powerful elven race emerge outside of the three great elven kingdoms, so we must stop their growth momentum directly!"

"Not to mention that these hybrid elves have been constantly encroaching on our living space off the coast of the Queen Evanni Islands..."

Olive glanced back at Roy, then asked:

"So that's why you've been secretly encouraging the imperial merchants?"

The gray dwarf officer waved his hand haphazardly and struggled to say:

"This was carried out by the fleet's intelligence department. We don't know the specific details. The intelligence department even forbade us from contacting those imperial merchant ships..."

After saying this last sentence, the gray dwarf officer began to snore, seemingly having fallen into a deep sleep.

"..."

The wine glasses on the table were empty, and the gray dwarf officer was fast asleep…

Roy waved his hand, signaling for his men to drag him back to the room where he was being held.

(End of this chapter)