Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 122 The Crisis of Demons and the Planning of the Dwarf Community

The Redbeard Tribe has more than 3,000 members?
This is indeed a large number of people, and it can be said to be a powerful dwarf clan.

Unlike humans, the dwarf population has always been relatively small, and a female dwarf usually only gives birth to one or two offspring in her lifetime.

Human pioneering territories, such as Hesse Territory, have a population of over 2,000 and are just starting out. They haven't even established a small town yet.

But there are three thousand people in the Dwarf Fortress. They are clans with a long history, and their adult dwarves are all qualified soldiers.

Imagine two thousand dwarves wearing heavy armor, holding huge axes and shields, charging forward with roars and shouts under the cover of artillery and muskets. What a terrifying scene that would be.

Even trolls and ogres would collapse and flee before this powerful force.

Only the huge army of monsters in the forest can stand against them head-on.

Only when the green dragon gathers a large number of followers can it threaten the survival of this fortress.

But behind this strength also lies a huge crisis. With the loss of the surface farms by the dwarves in the Grey Mountains, most of their agriculture can only be transferred to underground farms deep in the fortress.

The mountain terraces their outposts maintain can't even satisfy the dwarven appetite for ale and barleywine.

And there is a huge crisis at hand, and they need to deal with it together with the big friends of mankind.

Even though he was drunk, Dogrin didn't forget his business. He said to Lin Rui, "We have a branch of the famous Jewelers Guild in Redbeard Fortress. As you know, the dwarven craftsmanship is well-known throughout the continent."

Drunk people are more likely to get drunk when they can't control themselves, as was the case with Dogrin. He directly revealed all the secrets among the dwarves: "Within the guild, jewelers choose which market to place their crafts on. But generally, they are only willing to trade slightly inferior crafts with other races. Their best quality pieces are traded with fellow tribesmen, given as gifts, or simply displayed as works of art in the guild or clan treasury."

"When trading with nobles of other races, such as humans and halflings, they are sold at exorbitant prices. The high-quality craftsmanship of our clan's master jeweler, Boris Goldfinger, is renowned throughout the Empire, even in Maleburg."

"But my friend, please rest assured. You are the most noble friend of us dwarves. Dwarves will not deceive their friends. I will personally help you select the best crafts and give you the most favorable prices. I guarantee that even if you sell these jewels in the future, you will earn countless fortunes."

It turns out that when people drink too much, they like to brag. This is true regardless of race or region.

Su Li calmed down his boasting and asked, "Then don't you have other guilds in your fortress? For example, the Blacksmith Guild, the Miner's Guild, the Engineer's Guild, and the mysterious Rune Guild?"

"The Blacksmiths' Guild, that's the symbol of Dragonstone. They not only have a Blacksmiths' Guild there, but they even have the headquarters of the Blacksmiths' Guild in our Dwarven Kingdom. Our King, Krag the Grim, personally presides over the Guild Headquarters and is the Lord of Runesmiths. Many blacksmiths from other kingdoms and fortresses flock to him to seek instruction. He is one of the oldest, greatest, and most respected living ancestors of Dwarven blacksmiths."

Living ancestors refer to those legendary figures in the dwarf clan who are over 400 years old, just like humans in their sixties, seventies, and eighties.

It’s just that dwarves generally have a longer lifespan. Only those who are 120 years old can be called long-bearded, and those who are over 200 years old can be called great-bearded.

Seeing Su Li frown, Dogrin immediately stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and shouted at the top of his voice: "My friend, don't look down on our Jewelers Guild! To the east of our Redbeard Keep is the Troll Kingdom, to the north is the evil Greenskin Tribe, and to the south is the Bloodpine Forest. We have fought a long and endless war with Greenskins, Beastmen, and monsters, but we still stand firm because we have sufficient funds to support any army we need."

"Our Redbeard Castle not only guards the pass, but is also a prosperous trade hub. Tell me, what do you need? I can help you recruit enough manpower with my wealth."

Su Li immediately said: "I need a large number of manpower, including no less than 100 dwarven miners, 50 blacksmiths, 30 engineers and at least 3 dwarven rune masters."

The number Su Li reported made Dogrin's drunken eyes widen. He sobered up a bit and said, "My friend, your castle and territory are just starting up, yet you're hiring so many dwarves? You have to know that although dwarves are very efficient, they are also very expensive to hire. You hired so many people. Did you discover a super-large iron mine?"

Su Li had nothing to hide from his dwarven friends. Dwarves would never actively attack the territory of their human allies. Furthermore, such a thing would become untraceable once the dwarves went in to mine. Deceiving him now would only make Dogrin feel insulted and tarnished the friendship between the two sides.

So Su Li said frankly: "Yes, I discovered a super-large iron mine in my territory, which can mine a considerable amount of vibranium. I need the skilled miners and craftsmen of the dwarves to make enough magic weapons for me."

"Oh! God of the Ancestors, if this news reaches the mountains, the dwarves will go crazy. A large number of dwarves will definitely move down. If you can make a set of vibranium rune armor with your own hands, many people will be willing to serve without compensation." Those dwarves who moved out of the mountains and lived in human territories were called Imperial Dwarves. They had a closer relationship with the Empire and their ideas were a little different from those of the mountain dwarves. They were more inclined to abide by the laws of the Empire, but they still retained the traditional laws and concepts of the dwarves within the community.

So if there really were Imperial Dwarves moving here, it would at least be a considerable family or tribe. They would live in a community in Hessen Town and would be the most perfect urban citizens and craftsmen.

So Su Li immediately said: "This is the best thing. If it can really be achieved, you will be doing a great favor to my territory. Also tell me your requirements. If I can do it, I will definitely help."

Doglin immediately perked up. He had been so enthusiastic in chatting and offering so much help just to make friends with the Black Forest Lords and reach some deals.

He quickly said, "Fighting in the mountains is very frequent. Three of our terraces on the surface have been burned by greenskins and goblins, and two outposts have been captured. This has caused problems with our food supply, and many of our people are starving."

"Thus, although we have a powerful mountain shield, it is becoming increasingly weaker. The greenskins have cut off our trade routes with Dragonstone. If this continues, we may become increasingly weaker. In the end, Redbeard Keep, which once stood firm, may fall under the endless greenskin attacks."

"So we hope to establish trade relations with the humans living beneath the mountains. We will sell you dwarven crafts in exchange for your grain, food, beef, venison, and most importantly, beer."

"Reaching a trade agreement is naturally no problem." Su Li raised his eyebrows and then asked, "But you are worried about the greenskins in the north cutting off the trade routes, aren't you worried about the west?"

You know, when they came, they were besieged by a large number of monsters.

Although these dwarven rangers were experienced in combat and had exceptional fighting power, having slain a large number of monsters without suffering much loss, it seemed that traveling for the caravan was not an easy task.

Doglin immediately said, "This relates to the distribution of forces within the mountains. Generally speaking, the closer to the outer plains of the mountains, the fewer monsters there are."

"Southwest of the Grey Mountains, although there are greenskins, beastmen, bandits, and robbers hiding everywhere, they are all small, scattered forces. They can't unite, so as long as we send out 300 dwarf warriors to guard the caravan, they will be powerless."

"But there's a problem. We saw a group of cultists in the underground tunnels. Judging from the evil items they carried, I suspect they're excavating some dangerous ancient ruins."

"Ancient ruins?" Su Li asked curiously what this was?
Doglin replied, "The human empire has only existed for three thousand years, but this continent has existed for millions of years. The last era was the era of us dwarves and elves. Before that was the era of dragons."

"After the tragic Battle of the Longbeard, the elves and dwarves retreated from the continent in weakness. Therefore, many places have ancient ruins, and explorers of both humans and elves have come to explore the ruins of those ruins."

"Not only does it contain a vast amount of wealth, but it also contains a wealth of powerful equipment from ancient times, as well as buried and sealed monsters. We suspect these cultists are digging up the evil monsters and sealed demons within. Therefore, we hope to form a coalition with our big allies to eliminate these cultists as soon as possible."

In the three thousand years since the establishment of the empire, every time faced with the threat of demons, humans would form an alliance with dwarves. This has been the case in the past and will continue to be the case for a long time to come.

Su Li immediately said, "This is our unshirkable mission. The existence of these cultists threatens the safety of the entire Border Prince Territory and must be eradicated."

"But this is not an easy task. Our territory's army has already engaged in numerous battles with them. However, their numbers have not decreased, and we have never been sure of victory."

Su Li was very clear about the existence of this cultist.

However, Su Li won the victory only when he led a squadron of soldiers to besiege their scout troops. Their powerful combat effectiveness and fierce fighting style during the battle left a deep impression on Su Li.

Until the Halfling Clan joined, the army Su Li could mobilize was just over a squadron.

He also had to fight the Green Tide invasion of the Broken Toe Tribe, and he simply didn't have the energy to spare a squadron from leaving the territory for three or four days to cross the Green Hills and the Bloody Highlands and enter the mountains to fight this cultist. The round trip would take almost ten days. With the main force away for so long, the Broken Toe Tribe could burn the Black Forest Territory to ruins.

Now is the time to deal with these ambitious individuals who are plotting evil in the shadows.

(End of this chapter)