Path of Light.

Chapter 981, Section 976: Exchanging Chips
"When fighting demonic servants, one thing to be especially careful about is when your swords strike the tumors on their backs. The venom stored inside those tumors will explode completely. This venom is much more corrosive than the acid spewed out by the demonic insects. If it splashes on your skin, it will burn it. A significant number of our warriors have been killed because they were splashed with the acid from the tumors. This is something the elven guards of the mine defense force should also take note of..."

The chief of staff stood in front of the model of the city of Presidius and spoke eloquently. It was clear that as the head of the staff of the front-line army, he had extremely rich battlefield experience, and his introduction to the demon servant army was extremely detailed. He quickly won the favor of many half-elves, including Roy.

These battlefield experiences could help Roy further avoid casualties among the elven guards.

The tense atmosphere began to ease, and Roy even asked the chief of staff about the specific steps the gray dwarf warriors usually took to kill the demon servant warriors.

"It's not a secret, there's nothing that can't be said..."

The chief of staff stood in front of the model and demonstrated to everyone. Usually, the gray dwarf warrior would use brute force to knock the demon servant back a step, leaving them wide open, and then use his sharp axe to sweep across and cut off the demon servant warrior from the shoulders up.

In reality, demon servant warriors do not have necks; their heads and torsos are tightly connected, and their shape is somewhat like that of a toad that can walk upright. It takes extensive combat experience to cut off their heads.

The gray dwarf official breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw the atmosphere between the two sides ease.

“Yesterday we saw a swarm of demonic insects. Those insects climbed up the cliff and kept spitting acid poison at the city walls, while also climbing up the walls. How do you usually deal with those poisonous insects?”

Woods, standing in the group of half-elf, couldn't help but ask a question.

After the gray dwarf official finished translating, the chief of staff continued:

"As you saw yesterday, the simplest way to deal with them is to use magic bombs. Before the heartland of Durag's Knee was conquered, we had several alchemy workshops in Istanbul that could manufacture these magic bombs. In fact, all the warships of the Northern Fleet are equipped with these magic bombs. Our Northern Fleet has a large stockpile of war bombs."

"So even though Istanbul has fallen, we still have a lot of magical bombs. Over the years, our methods for dealing with the magical insects have been very simple: we take advantage of them climbing the rock walls and blow them up at all costs. Otherwise, once they climb onto the city walls, they will cause extremely serious damage to our warriors. I'm not exaggerating. They can turn all the corpses they eat into acidic corpse poison and then spray it out from their mouths."

"Furthermore, these poisonous insects are enormous and can swallow our warriors whole. Even if they wear the finest armor, it will be of no use against them; they will devour our warriors whole!"

"The number of these demonic insects in the demonic servant army is limited. Even if they open the connection channel to the Abyss at Durag's Knee, only one demonic insect squad will attack the city every half month."

"My advice to you on how to deal with these demonic insects is to use magic bombs. You elves are much better at using magic than we gray dwarves, so I believe these demonic insects won't cause you much trouble..."

The chief of staff was very eloquent, and the grey dwarf official translated fluently as well.

After listening to his introduction of the demonic insects, a group of mixed-blood elves even showed some smiles on their faces.

"To be honest, the gray dwarf warriors in Presites City are quite different from the gray dwarves we've seen before. You are more disciplined and have higher combat skills. If we had encountered you when we attacked Quel'Thalas, that island battle might have been much more difficult."

Woods laughed heartily as he spoke to the chief of staff.

He didn't seem to notice the chief of staff's expression, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward for a moment...

Everyone knows that Quel'Thalas was seized from the Grey Dwarves by Roy and his mine guards, but under these circumstances, no one will bring it up to avoid making things unpleasant for everyone…

But Woods brought up the group of grey dwarf bandits on Quey Island. Although they had the support of the Northern Fleet, they were not a regular army.

Later, when the Northern Fleet sent Commander Magio to attack Que Island, the Half-Elf Mine Guards were already prepared to fight. The Darkmoon Elf Assassin Chapter displayed terrifying firepower in the jungle, and together with the Half-Elf Guards, they annihilated Commander Magio's army in one fell swoop.

It was that battle that completely overturned the image of half-elves in the minds of the grey dwarves...

Now, this group of half-elf has brazenly entered the city of Presidius, and even openly told all the grey dwarves that they will officially take over the city by the end of the month, and the Valley of Veralia will also fall into the hands of the half-elf.

Many grey dwarves couldn't understand it, but they were helpless...

The pent-up frustration would cause many of the Grey Dwarves, like the Imster Army, to unleash their pent-up anger all at once.

"Chief of Staff, do you have any information on the catapults of the Demon Servant Legion that can unleash meteor showers?" Roy asked.

The chief of staff nodded and said:

"In fact, what the Demon Servant Legion can use to hurl meteor showers is not some large catapult, but a giant black scorpion that can only grow on dark land."

"These black scorpions are enormous. A single black scorpion is about thirty meters long, and its tail alone is about fifteen meters long. It can throw boulders weighing several hundred kilograms, with a maximum range of about five kilometers."

"Due to their enormous size, they move very slowly. Even their food is fed by their demonic servants. And once they enter a territory, they insert all their limbs into the rock to stabilize their bodies."

"At the beginning of the defense of the city, our city of Presites had a strong fighting force. At that time, we were able to rush out of the city to the Despair Plains and engage in hand-to-hand combat with these demon servants."

"Back then, the ones causing heavy casualties to our soldiers were these demonic insects that could burrow out from underground. The black scorpions, on the other hand, were our soldiers' primary targets. They were enormous, and once our soldiers got close, they had no way to protect themselves. Their only defense was to spew out large amounts of poisonous mist, and our soldiers would charge straight into the mist and chop the black scorpions to pieces..."

A hint of nostalgia flickered in the chief of staff's eyes as he continued:
“Each Black Scorpion is extremely precious to the Demon Servant Army, so each Black Scorpion is surrounded by a large number of Demon Servant Army soldiers. If you want to leave the city and destroy these Black Scorpions, you must make full preparations!”

If both sides could have communicated with this attitude from the beginning, Roy wouldn't have needed to make such harsh statements.

Perhaps this is just the temperament of the gray dwarves...

Before communicating, you must slap the other party to wake them up; only then will they become obedient.

"Currently, the market and workshop areas above ground in Pristis City have been completely destroyed by the Meteor Shower of the Demon Servant Legion. Only the underground city remains intact. However, some of the equipment in the workshop area has been moved to the valley outside the city. Basically, only a few furnaces and forging tables remain. Once we withdraw from Pristis City, we will hand over the equipment we have preserved to you."

"Fighting against the Demon Servant Army will consume a lot of military supplies. If you want to stay in Presidius City, you should replenish these supplies as soon as possible."

Roy was surprised that the chief of staff brought this up...

Roy had assumed that after the grey dwarves withdrew, they would destroy anything they couldn't take with them. Now, the chief of staff was actually suggesting leaving the grey dwarf artisans' forges to them. Roy took a deep breath and asked the chief of staff:
"Tell me, what do you want?" The chief of staff, also a red-bearded dwarf, gave Roy an awkward smile:
"Within the city of Pristis, there are currently only 15,000 gray dwarf warriors still fighting on the city walls. Don't be fooled by the large number; when these warriors are spread out across the three-kilometer-long city wall, they need to be on duty day and night in shifts. In reality, there are not many people on the city walls at all..."

"We need the Northern Fleet to send another strong and capable force. The military should agree to this request."

"But we are still lacking some military supplies. Even if the military agrees, they may not be able to provide them. You probably understand our situation..."

"In fact, we have run out of magic bombs. If we can't deal with those demonic insects in the next siege, they might climb onto the city walls. Once the walls are breached, a large number of demonic servants will surge up, which will inevitably lead to street fighting inside the city, which is certainly not what any of us want to see."

“We hope to withdraw safely from Pristis City, while you want to take over Pristis City intact. But the current situation is just so bad, so I have a somewhat immature idea: we should preserve as many buildings and facilities in Pristis City as possible and hand them over to the half-elf mine guards... So if possible, I hope the mine guards can provide us with some magic bombs.”

“I know that elves are skilled in magic, and there is a great mage in your team,” the chief of staff said.

"Sure, I can provide you with thirty magic bombs."

Roy agreed very readily this time.

The chief of staff excitedly raised his fists, his eyes brightened, and he looked at Roy with much greater kindness.

He continued:

"Currently, there are still nearly 100,000 people stranded in the underground city. Some of them will follow our legion to the city of Boles, while others will choose to stay. There are also some seriously wounded soldiers who cannot be transferred. So what we are handing over is not just a city. I hope that the mine guards can accept the wounded soldiers and stranded civilians."

Roy simply sat in his chair and listened quietly...

"I have no obligation to take care of these gray dwarves for you."

Roy raised one hand and said:
“They must leave Pristis before the handover date. I promised you that the gray dwarves who stayed behind could continue to live in the Valley of Villaria, but we have no obligation to take care of them, nor can they continue to live in the city of Pristis.”

The chief of staff's face turned bright red at that moment. He knew that his request was not excessive, but he had no bargaining chips to offer. Why should the other party agree?

The gray dwarf official quickly grabbed the chief of staff's arm, signaling him not to continue the conversation.

"The problem of stranded civilians and wounded soldiers in the city of Presidius should be resolved by the Northern Fleet; let's not bring this up again."

“I’ve had enough of these empty promises. You always say you’ll make proper arrangements for the soldiers who are holding out in Presidius City, that you’ll take them and their families to Garo Island, but in the end, some of the wounded can’t be taken away, and their families have to stay behind. Your promises are like a fart…”

The gray dwarf official was rendered speechless by the chief of staff's rebuttal.

Of course, the gray dwarf officials didn't translate these words; Roy only knew that the chief of staff and the gray dwarf officials had started arguing.

But that's none of his business. He won't take the initiative to care for these wounded gray dwarves and the old gray dwarves stranded in the city. These troubles are best left to the high command of the Northern Fleet. This is no charity organization.

He needs grey dwarf craftsmen, but they have to be prisoners of war, as the wages and subsidies given to prisoners of war are relatively cheap.

Of course, Roy also had to admit that the efficient operation of the forging workshops in Partington was inseparable from those grey dwarf prisoners of war...

At that moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the hall. General Imst, who had turned away in a huff, suddenly strode in from outside carrying a large bronze box. The box looked very heavy, and he could not even see the way in front of him while holding it in his arms.

With each step General Imster took forward, the ground trembled slightly.

The gray dwarf officer's expression changed immediately when he saw the pattern on the bronze box.

Chief of Staff Redbeard also stopped arguing. He turned to General Imster and said:
"Imster, what's going on...?"

"Since we're leaving here, we won't need these things anymore. While they still have some value, let's take them out and exchange them for something more practical."

After General Imster finished speaking, he looked at Roy. The rage in his eyes had completely subsided. Although his breathing was still a little heavy, he was able to control his emotions.

He said to Roy with a confident expression:

"This contains a map of the underground world. Back then, we Grey Dwarves searched for minerals all over the world in Durag, and we don't know how many veins we dug up. Although we have mined them all out, many mine tunnels still remain today. This box contains some of the mine tunnels in the Padesles Mountains."

"I think this blueprint might have lost its value to a mine owner, but it's a rather valuable piece of information for a commander who wants to break the deadlock at Durag's Knee..."

"What do I need to give up in exchange for these mine tunnel blueprints?"

Roy asked General Imster very directly.

"As for the wounded soldiers remaining in Presidius, I only hope the mine guards won't drive them away and will give them some space to survive. Besides the gray dwarf warriors, the elderly gray dwarves will also stay behind, these gray dwarves..."

Before General Imster could finish speaking, Roy interrupted him:

"I won't support them for nothing. As long as they can still move and are willing to work, I can share some food with them so they don't starve to death..."

"make a deal!"

General Imster didn't even bother to unlock it; he simply used brute force to pull open the lid, revealing a whole box of parchment drawings inside.

(End of this chapter)