The heavens begin with the king of gotham

Chapter 766 Elrond: Are you coming for me?
Shabad Market.

The market is one of the places with the most people coming and going in the city, and it also has the largest number of city guards stationed here.

They are all fully armed and look ferocious. Once they find someone who has violated the law, they will immediately draw their swords.

"Aren't you afraid?"

A man who had just arrived in Shabad asked the merchant.

"What are you afraid of? I've been here for so long that I've already figured out the laws of the territory." The merchant waved his hand and said, "Don't listen to what people outside say. The lord is doing this for our own good."

"It seems that the rules of Shabad are strict, but they just ensure our safety. People who just come here will not be used to it, but after a long time, who would not say that the lord is a good person?"

"Ugh!"

Li Ming, who was standing nearby, sighed.

As expected of Middle-earth, where people live in dire straits, the people in the territory have become accustomed to my high-pressure and cruel rule over time.

Now, not only are they not afraid of themselves, they even love them.

"That won't do. Fear is the source of my strength."

Li Mingcai doesn't need their love, he needs others to be afraid of him.

"Forget it. The people here in Shabad have given up. I have to find a new source of fear power." Li Ming thought.

Actually, he did have a solution. He could just find a tyrant in history and copy him, and he would be sure to make the residents of the territory afraid of him.

But Li Ming didn't want to use such despicable means.

Not only would that easily lead to rebellion, it would also be detrimental to his completing his original mission.

However, after the orcs came to cause trouble once, they never came again. If Li Ming wants to absorb the fear, he has to start from humans.

"Expand northward!"

After Li Ming recalled the map of Middle-earth, he quickly made a decision.

"Fight to Bree." Li Ming confirmed the end point of the battle.

Bree was an important human settlement in the northern part of Eriador, and most importantly, it was on the route from the Shire to Rivendell.

It was here that Frodo and his companions met Aragorn later.

Now that he knew that Gandalf was Loren, Li Ming had to make plans for the future.

Occupy Bree first, so that the initiative will be on Li Ming's side. Whether the Hobbits can pass depends on Li Ming's opinion.

Akshan immediately went back to prepare.

Today, the population of Shabad is over 3000, and it can easily mobilize an army of people. Moreover, Li Ming’s rule is that all men of appropriate age in the city must be trained as soldiers.

Therefore, when necessary, it is not a problem to get 5000 people.

In Middle-earth, an army of either 3000 or 5000 is enough to sweep across an area, not to mention the sparsely populated western side of the Misty Mountains.

The preparation time for the battle did not take too long. Two days later, Li Ming and Akshan set out with 3000 troops.

In fact, according to Akshan's estimation, only 1000 people would be enough to capture Bree.

Although Bree is a relatively large Human city in northern Eriador, its actual permanent population is less than 10,000, not to mention the guards. It is only slightly more than Shabad a few years ago.

Even if the human villages around Bree were included, the total population would not exceed fifteen thousand.

But Li Ming still deliberately brought an army of 3000 people. He just wanted to scare the people near Bree and absorb a wave of fear.

However, Li Ming's high-profile action did not frighten the Bree people, but it already frightened the elves of Rivendell. "The army led by Shabad marched northward, taking all the human villages along the way under its rule, and would not tolerate rejection wherever they went."

After hearing the report from the elven scouts, Elrond, the elven leader of Rivendell, couldn't help but ask, "Is he coming to attack Rivendell?"

"Gandalf said that he had given Lord Shabad the location of Rivendell a year ago, but Lord Shabad has shown no intention of coming to Rivendell for so long."

"Now he is leading a large army to advance in this direction..."

Elrond actually has the ability to see the future, but it has suddenly become ineffective in the past ten years, leaving him with only his own experience to make judgments.

Regardless, Elrond felt that he should make some preparations, and he ordered his captain of the guard, "Haldar, gather the elven guards and prepare for battle. You go in person to contact the human army and see what this Lord Shabad is going to do."

"Yes!"

A male elf took the order and said,

On the other side, Li Ming led the army of Shabad all the way north, and all the villages and human settlements he encountered became his territory.

No one refused.

Of course there is no point in refusing.

The smaller villages along the way had only a hundred or so people, while the larger ones had a population of no more than a thousand. They could only tremble in fear under the attack of Shabad's troops.

They came to the hills south of Bree, and Akshan swung toward them in the distance.

Ever since he got the lantern ring, he has gotten used to this way of traveling.

"My lord, the elven scouts have followed us all the way. Do you need me to drive them away?" Akshan asked.

“No need.” Li Ming waved his hand while riding on a white horse. “They are waiting in front.”

After saying that, Li Ming waved the reins and immediately ran towards the hill nearby.

Akshan quickly ordered a team of soldiers to follow, and the others stayed on standby.

When he reached the top of the mountain, Akshan discovered that there were five elves standing there. They were as handsome as the legend said.

And their lord had already rode up to the elf with a look of surprise on his face.

"Are you from Rivendell?" Li Ming asked while sitting on a white horse.

The leading elf nodded. He didn’t expect Li Ming to find them directly. “I am Haldar, Lord of Rivendell, holder of the Wind Ring Via, and captain of the guard of Lord Elrond, son of Eärendil!”

Li Ming's eyes widened slightly. It was such a long string of names. No matter whether he understood what they meant or not, they sounded intimidating.

"You have been spying on our military's actions. What do you plan to do?" Li Ming asked curiously.

Elves don't like to meddle in other people's affairs. It's a bit abnormal for them to come and monitor Lord Shabad this time.

"The Lord of Rivendell is more concerned about your Excellency. What is the purpose of gathering the army?" Halda answered and asked another question.

Li Ming's mind moved. Bree and Rivendell were not far apart. If he commanded his army to change direction, he would be able to reach the valley where Rivendell was located in a few days.

He laughed and said, "Don't worry, I will stop after I conquer Bree in the north this time, and then I will head south of Shabad."

To the east of Bree is Rivendell, and to the west is the Shire. Li Ming has no interest in ruling over elves and hobbits.

To the north of Bree was Forrost, the capital of Arthedain which split from the Kingdom of Arnor, but it had long been uninhabited and there was no point in conquering it.

Even though his secrets were revealed, Halda remained calm, as long as Li Ming did not plan to attack Rivendell.

Although in Halda's eyes, it was impossible for Li Ming to capture Rivendell.

(End of this chapter)