Infinity: Our Zhongzhou team is really amazing!

Chapter 296 Lonely Mountain is not a Utopia

The sunlight is dim, making the stones look like gold.

Zhang Jie admired the Lonely Mountain Fortress in front of him with polite curiosity.

Given the gorgeous appearance imposed by the ruler, the nobility of the elves, the solemnity of the dwarves, and the luxury of humans are integrated into one, making it the most noble palace on earth.

Then it would be inappropriate to emphasize its original function as a "fortress" when it was built.

It would be more appropriate to call it the Palace of the Lonely Mountain, the Throne of Durin, or the Second Khazad-dûm.

Back then, Zhang Jie and Zheng Zha fought a fierce battle and destroyed the royal palace on Gushan Mountain.

This building should be a fortress that was later built on the ruins.

Every wall of the building is painted with paint that is smooth to slightly shiny. The golden spires echo the purple stars in the sky. It has the gorgeous spires that are characteristic of elven architecture, as well as the spatial planning of human cities.

He is the only one in the Central Plains team who has witnessed the luxurious scene of Smaug "lying on a bed of gold" and the complete Kingdom of the Lonely Mountain.

Zhang Jie tried to compare it with his impression of Gushan decades ago.

He then concluded that the palace was more than one level taller, more gorgeous, more luxurious and more majestic than it was sixty years ago.

A thing that has lasted longer is more brilliant and has richer decoration and content than when it was younger.

If it were in the past, Zhang Jie would at most laugh and say that the dwarves' aesthetics and craftsmanship are just so advanced.

But this was when the remnants of the human, dwarf and elf armies were driven to the Lonely Mountain like stray dogs, and most civilians were unable to get enough food.

A golden kingdom built with countless resources.

This is not normal, so abnormal.

He stopped in front of the gate inlaid with gold and silver reliefs. The members of Nan Yan and Bei Bing beside him looked at each other. Although there was confusion on their faces, no one dared to urge him.

Zhang Jie looked back and saw Legolas also looking at him. The elf unconsciously gripped the longbow tightly, and his face, covered with scars, showed only shame and embarrassment that was difficult to conceal.

Even the hot-tempered Jin Li lowered his head at this moment, not daring to look directly into Zhang Jie's puzzled eyes.

Zhang Jie sneered and shook his head. He now finally understood why the two men spoke in a strange tone when they mentioned Gushan.

"There are frozen corpses on the road, and the rich have wine and meat in their houses." He muttered in a low voice.

That's what happened.

His former comrades betrayed him and began to enjoy wealth and glory.

Without ambition, they eat the remaining blood and bones of the survivors.

Unfortunately, Zheng Zha is not here.

Otherwise, as a teammate of the Lonely Mountain team, he must have a lot to say to Thorin on the throne.

The Zhongzhou team should not look down on the remnants of Lonely Mountain, or have too high expectations for this last bright kingdom in the world of Arda.

After all, this is a hellish world, and there can be no heaven.

Zhang Jie quickly adjusted his mindset. When dealing with the indigenous forces in the reincarnation world, one needs to have a certain level of arrogance.

For example, when you meet the dwarf king later, if you just want to cooperate with him out of goodwill, you will definitely be questioned and ignored.

Only by using absolute strength and slapping him to the ground can this arrogant dwarf king be completely subdued.

He rubbed his eyebrows. It seemed that there would be another conflict soon. It really had not stopped since he entered this world.

Neos immediately realized the problem and asked Gandalf, "Is the King of Lonely Mountain a tyrant who would rather let his people starve to death while he sits on the throne and indulges in pleasure?"

As they walked along, there were not many living people, everyone was hungry, and there were starving people on the road.

Even several human corpses, gnawed beyond recognition by either wild dogs or rats, emerged from the drain.

The bodies were left unattended, and everyone seemed to be used to it.

Most residents were either lying in front of their homes with a blank look on their faces.

Or they would hold on to the remaining food and look warily at these well-dressed outsiders.

Apart from the dwarves and human soldiers who were still patrolling non-stop, the rest of the tragic scenes were not much better than the hell outside Lonely Mountain.

Neos had seen this kind of look in the people of some small African countries.

Hatred, numbness, resentment, powerlessness, and loss of all hope.

As if it was difficult to answer this question, the wrinkles on Gandalf's face became even more serious.

Rather than speaking out to defend the king's honor, the always frank Gandalf found it difficult to speak: "Thorin is not..."

"He wasn't like this at first." Jinli whispered.

As Thorin's cousin, his uncle was once a member of the Lonely Mountain team.

At that time, Gimli had heard many legendary stories about Thorin's journey of thousands of miles to retake Lonely Mountain, and he had great respect for the Dwarf King.

"He once had the ambition to recover his homeland, he once led the troops to chop off the head of an evil dragon, and he once shared his last grain of food with a human pregnant woman who was about to give birth." Jin Li's voice became lower and lower.

"Stop talking." Legolas's face was very gloomy. "I thought that as long as I left Lonely Mountain, he would be more restrained."

“But I didn’t expect the situation to get worse.”

Legolas demanded, "Gandalf, where is Grace?"

Gandalf hesitated for a moment, glanced at the towering peaks of the Lonely Mountain, and then said, "After you left, the Blood Lady and Thorin had another quarrel."

"She was powerless to change the status quo, so she led the Survey Corps into patrolling the dense forest, hoping to open up a new land."

"But that time, she was contaminated by a monster."

Gimli and Legolas exclaimed at the same time: "How could it be!"

Gandalf sighed, "I can only suppress the curse on her, but I can never solve her alienation."

"Thorin wanted to kill her outright, but she was, after all, the Lord Commander of the Elves of Lothlorien and had dedicated everything to the Lonely Mountain."

"The White Council decided to exile her. Perhaps she's still somewhere in the jungle."

Legolas gripped the longbow tightly, and the veins on his hands were exposed.

"The White Council? What White Council still exists? Aren't they all Thorin's lackeys?"

"Gandalf, why don't you stop Thorin? Grace is the one among us who understands Chaos best. How can we lose her?"

Gandalf lowered his head and whispered, "I did my best, Legolas."

"You know I can't disobey Thorin under the current circumstances."

Legolas stared at Gandalf and wanted to say something, but when he saw how old he looked, he had to force himself to hold back.

The last of my anger could only be expressed in one sentence: "Damn it!"

Neos instinctively felt that the reason was definitely not as simple as Gandalf said.

But now was not the time to dwell on this. He quietly took out a piece of chocolate and began to eat it, a slight smile on his face. He had thought this was just a boring journey where he would play the role of savior, with the survivors ecstatically bowing down to him.

I didn’t expect that the first scene after arriving at Gushan would be so exciting.

He looked at the back of the man with glasses in the front.

So Chu Xuan, the so-called wisest man in the reincarnation world, what will you do?

Chu Xuan's eyes were calm as he looked at the gate of Gushan Palace.

More than twenty people stood in front of the palace gate.

The soldier who reported the incident had been inside for a long time, but there was still no response.

"Thorin was having a banquet with a group of dwarves and human jesters, watching the singing girls perform, and not dealing with government affairs at all." Zhan Lan was angry and furious in the mental link.

Her mental scan had already seen the eye-catching scene in the palace.

"The last king of Lonely Mountain turned out to be this kind of person. Chu Xuan, let's quickly drag him off the throne and let Gandalf or Legolas rule this country!"

Chu Xuan did not comment on the busty writer's suggestion and continued to wait quietly.

Twenty minutes later, even the most patient Zero couldn't wait any longer, and the guard came out in a hurry.

But when he went in, he looked very excited, but when he came out, his face was covered in blood, and even half of his hand was broken.

"King Gandalf said he was tired and looked disheveled, so he would not receive any guests from outside the Lonely Mountain today." He lowered his head and said in a very miserable tone.

Apparently, he offended the king and was severely beaten.

"I'll go in and pull him out!" Jin Li's beard was shaking with anger. He picked up an axe and wanted to rush in.

"Wait!" Gandalf advised, and then he sighed, his exhaustion obvious.

"Thorin is no longer the same as he was before, Gimli!"

"Five years ago, ever since you and Legolas opposed his plan and left the Lonely Mountain one after another, he has become increasingly greedy and vain, and opposed all forms of exploration outside the city."

"If you just rush in, you'll make things worse."

Arrogance, vanity, arrogance and hedonism.

These words were like nails driving into Legolas and Gimli's hearts.

Legolas took a step forward and said to Gandalf expressionlessly, "Don't stop us. We can't let him continue the mistakes made five years ago."

Gandalf did not respond, but simply stood at the doorway and looked at Legolas with his blue eyes pleadingly.

The guards nearby slowly drew their shiny swords and approached.

"Are you going to attack me?" Jinli puffed up his beard, picked up the axe and smashed it on the ground: "Do you want to see how spicy it is to have the monster's blood on my axe?"

The guards looked at each other, but still surrounded them.

Suddenly, the situation was tense.

The Zhongzhou team looked at Chu Xuan. If Chu Xuan said, "If you want to rebel, then rebel. Just kill them, storm into the Lonely Mountain Palace, and seize Thorin's throne."

Then they would immediately summon twenty Astartes swordsmen and axemen, rush in and hack Thorin to death with their swords.

It would be easy to push Legolas to become emperor.

"Gandalf, since the king is tired, let's visit him another day. We need to rest after a long journey." Chu Xuan pushed his glasses.

He unexpectedly said something like this to ease the atmosphere.

Neos raised an eyebrow, looking thoughtful.

Although Gimli and Legolas were very confused, they had no choice but to put away their weapons.

"I'm so sorry." Gandalf said with his head down. The worsening situation made his already tall figure even more hunched.

Although the members of the Zhongzhou team were surprised that Chu Xuan took a step back, they all obeyed the command and left the palace.

With the current strength of the Zhongzhou team, in a head-on confrontation, the entire Gushan Mountain combined cannot pose a threat to them.

Now for the Zhongzhou team, Gandalf is the only one who deserves a little attention.

The people from Nanyan and Beibing wouldn't show up at this moment. Hofer had already hidden behind the crowd. Gunnir was also confused.

Zhu Wen was in the crowd, looking at the towering palace. She felt that the palace was like a demon whose entire appearance could not be seen clearly, and the closing city gate was the huge demon's mouth.

It opened its bloody mouth and bared its sharp fangs at them, ready to bite them, which was terrifying.

The evening breeze blew, making a very sharp sound like a sinister laugh.

She hurriedly took a few steps back and turned back to find Chu Xuan, but found that the last ray of sunset light was shining on Chu Xuan.

The light strangely penetrated his body and extended to the top of the palace which was becoming dark.

It was like lighting a lamp in a palace that had fallen into darkness.

The lamp flickered in the darkness with the devil's breathing and could go out at any time.

But it was this oil lamp that could go out at any time that was like a nail, nailing the giant beast to the spot, preventing it from moving forward.

It was raging, it was howling, but to no avail.

"What's wrong?" The tall Wang Xia gently touched Zhu Wen's head.

Zhu Wen suddenly woke up and found that everything just now seemed to be an illusion. As the sky gradually darkened, the entire Gushan Palace fell into darkness.

But lights were on in the windows, and many people walked by. The sound of clinking glasses at a banquet could be heard, and it was very lively.

It seemed as if the strange scene I just saw was all an illusion.

She immediately lowered her head in embarrassment: "It should be nothing, maybe I saw it wrong."

"Then follow the team. I always feel unsafe here." Wang Xia said with a frown.

Perhaps it was because his Imperial Guard bloodline was very sensitive, but after arriving at Lonely Mountain, he always felt uncomfortable all over, and it was not much better than in the Misty Mountains.

Zhu Wen nodded obediently and immediately turned around to catch up with the main group.

She didn't seem to notice that the vague figures in the windows all stopped what they were doing.

Each figure was facing outside, with their hands supporting their heads, maintaining the same posture, watching them leave.

like a statue.

Like a fixed sculpture.

"Ah."

An emotionless, disembodied voice sounded.

In an instant, all the figures disappeared.

　Chapter 2 at Ten O'Clock
　　
　
(End of this chapter)