Path of Light.

Chapter 982, Section 977: The Gray Dwarves' Dilemma
Unlike ordinary architectural blueprints, these blueprints, marked with dwarven symbols, depict a vast network of underground mine tunnels extending nearly a thousand meters underground. These tunnels are intricately interwoven like a spider web, and are marked in layers on the blueprints.

The entire box of blueprints only depicts the mine tunnels in the Padesles Mountains. These tunnels are not actually a single mine, but rather a collection of several mines. Due to the rich mineral resources in the Padesles Mountains, some tunnels in many adjacent mines intersect and connect, forming a very special underground transportation network.

Of course, these mine tunnels are meaningless under normal circumstances, but with most of the area occupied by the Nakma demons, the mine tunnels of the Padesles Mountains can serve as secret passages connecting other regions...

Without these blueprints, if one were to lose their way in the intricate underground passages, they might not be able to find their way out for months.

Roy carefully examined the blueprints in the box, then stuffed the entire bronze box into his magic pouch without saying a word.

"We will return to Boles City tomorrow morning, and I will come to take over Precitus at the end of the month. Before we arrive, I hope you can defend this city well."

General Imster frowned, and his sharp eyes blazed with anger once more.

Roy ignored him, turned and walked out of the hall, and a group of half-elf followed Roy away.

Chief of Staff Redbeard chased after Roy from the hall and shouted:
"Boss Roy, do you really want to protect Priscilla?"

"We, the half-elf, will join forces with the orc warriors of the Aries tribe to defend this place. By the end of this month, you will see our warriors enter Pristis..."

As they spoke, Archmage Graemus handed thirty rune bombs to the red-bearded chief of staff, whose face was contorted in pain.

The grey dwarves have always been seen by the elves as a bunch of outright bandits.

Even though the grey dwarves were being beaten so badly by the Nakmar demons that they were forced to leave Durag's Knee, no elf felt sorry for them...

……

Roy only stayed in Presidius for two days.

On the morning of the third day, Roy hastily departed Priscilla on the Black Pearl.

Standing on the deck of the Black Pearl and looking south from high above, the Padesles mountain range, which runs east-west to the south of the Villaria Valley, immediately transforms into a cluster of petal-like peaks. These peaks are close together, and most of the black peaks are even covered with snow, making them look like a turbulent sea from a distance.

The orc leaders of the Aries tribe have always lived in the Kangarmor Forest. The furthest they have ever gone is to wander around the Mensa Plains. Few orcs have had the opportunity to travel that far and see the icy landscape of Durag's Knee.

The orc leaders were very excited to hear that the Black Pearl would only stay in Boles City for one day before ascending directly into the wind layer and heading south back to the Mensa Plains.

Even knowing that they would soon have to return to the Valley of Veralia by magic airship, the orc leaders couldn't help but discuss what they had seen and heard in the valley.

I hadn't come to Durag until I realized the Grey Dwarves had fallen into such a state of decadence...

These bandits, sailing three-masted ships, plundered the west coast of the Eastern Continent. Now it was finally the Nakma demons' turn to drive them from their homeland. These grey dwarves were about to leave their home and head to Garo Island in the Seven Realms Sea, thousands of miles away.

These white sheep orc leaders didn't care about the life or death of the gray dwarves. Their excitement stemmed purely from the fact that they would soon be leading their tribes' warriors here to fight the demon servant army, and the warlike nature hidden in their blood was fully unleashed.

The grey dwarves built such a formidable city at the eastern end of the Valaria Valley that even the orc chieftains couldn't understand why the grey dwarves chose to abandon the city and flee...

High Chief Grop was surrounded by a group of orc chieftains, and they began to argue about who should lead the vanguard to the Valley of Veralia. Roy promised them that the first group of orc warriors to go to the Valley of Veralia would consist of only about 15,000 men.

"Boss Roy, could the number of orc warriors heading to the Villaria Valley be increased to 20,000?"

When Grand Master Grop found Roy on the Black Pearl, he actually asked him this question.

Roy knew these orcs were all impatient, but he didn't expect them to be so eager to go to the battlefield...

“Even if we could transport 20,000 Aries orc warriors over at once, we still wouldn’t be able to gather that many heavy armors suitable for orcs. My forge is currently working hard to create magical heavy armor suitable for orcs. The magical armor in the warehouse is only suitable for elves and imperials. For orc warriors, that magical armor is a little too small.”

Roy quickly explained.

Upon hearing Roy's words, Chief Grop waved his hand:
"That's alright, we can make do with the chainmail plates left behind by the gray dwarf warriors. Don't underestimate these dwarves just because they're small; their armor and weapons are perfect for us!"

Roy felt it wouldn't be good to discourage Chief Grop's enthusiasm under these circumstances, so he said:

"Alright, I'll send five more magic airships to transport the Aries orc warriors."

Seeing that Roy had agreed, Chief Grop was very pleased:
"That's wonderful! I saw so many demon servants on the city wall yesterday, and I was itching to fight them. I felt like I wouldn't be able to sleep well unless I fought them on the city wall!"

After Chief Grop left excitedly, Archmage Graemus approached Roy and whispered to him:
"For so many years, elves and orcs have always regarded each other as mortal enemies. How exactly did you manage to get these Aries orcs to fully support you? Sometimes I really don't understand you. There was absolutely no need for you to get involved in the Battle of Durag's Knee. So many grey dwarves were defeated by the Nakhmar demons, yet you insisted on leading a group of half-elves head-on into the fray, and even managed to drag these fearless orcs into it..."

"Greems, what do you think of this valley?"

Roy asked the Archmage Graeme.

"Huh? That's great! There seem to be several hot springs in this valley. The valley and the surrounding mountains are like two completely different worlds..."

"That's what the Archmage Graeme said."

Actually, he hadn't paid much attention to the environment and climate of the Villaria Valley these past few days. Opeia told him that the magic guild in the elven world was preparing to fully support Roy, and this alone attracted all his attention.

Now he turned his attention to the Valley of Villaria itself and found that the lush forests there seemed to be a perfect place for elves to live.

"Roy, you didn't see the Black Riders of the Nachmar during your trip to Presidius. Are you so sure you can defend Presidius?" Archmage Gremus asked him.

Roy chuckled, his eyes shining slightly at that moment.

“When I came here, I was a little unsure, but now I’ve figured some things out, so I’m very confident.”

"What have you figured out?" asked the Archmage Graemus, surprised. Roy, his hands gripping the ship's railing against the damp, cold wind, replied to the Archmage Graemus:
"I've discovered that the elven world isn't entirely unaware of the war on Durag's side! Some elves are worried that the Dark Legion of the Nakhmar demons will march south along the eastern continent, threatening the elven world at the southern edge of the continent!"

……

The Black Pearl arrived in Boles before nightfall. The city was even more chaotic than it had been three days prior, with the entire harbor packed with large ships.

A large number of grey dwarves crowded the dock waiting to board the ship, and some grey dwarves carried a large amount of supplies onto the ship. The city of Boles was already in dire need of supplies. A large group of grey dwarves surrounded the dock, holding up protest signs and flags.

The city of Boles was even more crowded. Roy took all the half-elves aboard the Black Pearl, and before dawn, guided by the gray dwarf officials, he sailed the Black Pearl to the frozen island.

He came to Durag's Knee to meet with Field Marshal Kane of the Northern Fleet.

He thought he would meet Marshal Kane in Boles City, but Marshal Kane invited him to visit the frozen island instead.

After Roy toured the Villaria Valley, he had a clearer understanding of the Grey Dwarves' current situation, and therefore had no reason to worry about Marshal Kane's invitation to the Frozen Isle...

He could even guess Marshal Kane's intention in meeting him on the frozen island.

"Ultimately, it's because the Grey Dwarves' southward migration fleet wasn't adequately prepared with supplies. Although their fleet had departed port as planned, the supplies on board were simply not enough for them to sail all the way to Garo Island. They needed to obtain sufficient supplies on some islands along the way."

"I suspect their fleet will face a severe shortage of supplies once they enter the Mensah Strait..."

In the captain's cabin, Roy, Woods, Graemes, and several other half-elf officers sat together. A pot of steaming lemon tea sat on the table. Although they were all wearing two extra layers of clothing, they still felt the cold wind blowing in through the crack in the door, which made their joints ache.

As the Black Pearl entered the frozen sea, the temperature plummeted to below zero. The sea was filled with floating ice and icebergs, and the giant waves whipped up by the sea breeze caused the ice to press against each other. No ships could be seen on the sea.

“Boss, why should we help these gray dwarves? If they are really in such dire straits as you say, I think we should just drive them all into the sea and let them all starve to death. That way, we can still take over the Villaria Valley smoothly and completely eliminate these potential enemies.”

A young half-elf sitting in the corner, holding a cup of lemon tea, offered Roy a suggestion.

After he finished speaking, the captain's cabin immediately fell silent.

At this moment, the half-elf officer's companion couldn't help but shout:
"Vitas, when did your heart become so black?"

The young half-elf Vitas immediately explained:

“These grey dwarves killed many of my relatives and friends in the spinel mines of the Pagisto Plateau. Now that they're down on their luck, I naturally want to kick them while they're down…”

At this moment, Roy also remembered that this young half-elf officer was one of the half-elf rescued from the spinel mine. Over the years, he had gradually risen from an ordinary elf guard to a captain-level officer in the mine's guard force.

He didn't continue the discussion; some hatreds are impossible to forget easily.

But we can't let this hatred escalate any further, since we still need to cooperate with these grey dwarves...

Roy put down his teacup and asked everyone:
"How many grey dwarves do you think will remain in the Villaria Valley after these five fleets of ships have left the port?"

Woods said:

"There are probably still a few hundred thousand elderly, children, sick and disabled people left!"

“I guess there might be two hundred thousand. Boles City is overcrowded right now... and their fleet only has two more batches left. If they can transport all the gray dwarves that have gathered in Boles City, they can probably fill all the long-distance fleets to the brim,” Captain Rodhart said.

Graemus looked at Roy, though he didn’t want to guess, but he knew there were probably far more grey dwarves left in the Valley of Villaria than that.

Roy shook his head and said:
"According to my estimate, the number of grey dwarves remaining in the Villaria Valley may be far more than this, possibly several times higher."

Woods asked in surprise, "You mean there might be half a million grey dwarves left in the Villaria Valley?"

Roy shook his head again and said, "It might even be higher. I guess there are between 700,000 and 1 million gray dwarves stranded in the valley!"

The half-elf officers were all taken aback, but then they immediately realized the seriousness of the situation…

With so many grey dwarves stranded in the Valley of Villaria, how many half-elves would it take to completely subdue them? If they resist the management of the half-elves and rely on the complex terrain of the Valley of Villaria and the guards of the half-elves to maneuver, things could become very troublesome.

Woods couldn't help but gasp, asking in surprise, "How could there be so much left?"

"I suspect they themselves misjudged the number of grey dwarves in the Villaria Valley, and their southward migration fleet likely didn't have the capacity to carry two million people..."

Roy continued:
"I estimate that there are no fewer than 100,000 grey dwarves remaining in the city of Presity, and even more in the city of Boles. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands more grey dwarves secretly living in this valley, and they probably won't be able to leave the Villalia Valley smoothly either..."

"Huh? Boss, how did you know?"

One of the half-elf officers was somewhat skeptical of Roy's assessment.

Roy sighed before saying:

"If it weren't for that, Marshal Kane wouldn't have asked me to meet on the Frozen Isle. He not only wants to offer the Frozen Isle in a trade with us, but he might also want to increase the bargaining chips!"

Archmage Graemus gave a disdainful snort:
"Ha! What valuable stuff could these dark-skinned dwarfs possibly have left?"

Woods then slapped his thigh and exclaimed:

"I suddenly realized that we have overlooked a very serious problem. Even if these grey dwarf fleets migrating south are severely undersupplied and need us to provide them, can we really provide that many supplies?"

(End of this chapter)