American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

Seeing that Gandalf was truly angry, Balin, the "strategist" who had served three generations of the Dwarf Kings of Durin, quickly apologized, saying, "Gandalf, you know that we dwarves are naturally like this; we meant no harm. It was just a slip of the tongue..."

As he spoke, the white-bearded dwarf gestured to Thorin with his eyes, signaling him to back down to the wizard.

Just as Gandalf said, the Durin dwarves now number only a dozen or so, and they are no match for the Erebor Mountain on their own.

“I believe my people are not wrong. Lonely Mountain belongs only to the Dwarves of Durin. We can take back our homeland without anyone’s help…” Thorin’s attitude remained firm, as if he had not seen Balin’s hint.

Or rather, arrogance.

"Is that really the case?" Gandalf, equally enraged, showed no respect to the dwarf king before him and said bluntly, "Are you sure you can enter the Lonely Mountain without a hidden map and key?"

"Furthermore, Smaug has been memorizing the scent of you Durin dwarves for over a hundred years, and it will be alerted if you get too close..."

"So, you really think you could have stolen the Arkenstone back from Smaug without the 'Flying Thief's' help?"

Here, the old wizard subtly hinted once again at Bilbo's importance to Thorin and the others.

“Even if you’re right, we can just let this hobbit ‘Flying Thief’ join us. There’s no need to find anyone else to share our Lin family’s treasure.” Thorin agreed with some of the old wizard’s points, but he still didn’t back down.

"Fine, whatever. I just hope that after we get back Lonely Mountain, you'll keep your promise and share the wealth of your Durin dwarves with Bilbo." Gandalf had come to understand the dwarves' bad temper, so he wasn't going to argue with Thorin any further.

As for sharing the wealth, that was an agreement Gandalf made with Thorin before the adventure party was formed.

“No problem. If this ‘Thief’ can really help us get back the Arkenstone, how about we share one-fourteenth of the treasure with him?” Thorin was clearly prepared. After glancing at Bilbo, he took out a contract from his pocket.

“Wait, wait, although I sympathize with the plight of the Durin dwarves, I am really not some ‘Thief’…” Bilbo panicked again as he looked at the contract handed to him.

“It’s decided then!” Seeing the dwarf’s sincerity, Gandalf walked to the dining table, cleared a space, and then carefully took out an ancient scroll and a key, explaining, “Time is of the essence, so I’ll get straight to the point. This scroll records a hidden entrance to a lonely mountain, and this key is the key to opening that entrance.”

These two items were the last resort left by the Dulin dwarves, and the old wizard obtained them by chance.

Now it has come in handy.

"A map to Lonely Mountain?" Thorin excitedly picked up the scroll to examine it.

On the other side, the white-bearded Balin held the golden key as if it were a treasure.

This is the hope for the revival of the Dulin dwarves!

Meanwhile, the other dwarves gathered around Balin, admiring the key in his hand as if on a pilgrimage.

For a moment, only Bilbo remained in the room, lost in thought and unaware of what was happening.

"So, what's written on this?" Thorin asked after a long while, studying the scroll.

They had a clue to enter Lonely Mountain, but Thorin couldn't understand the text on it at all.

The other dwarves, hearing this, also curiously gathered around, only to shake their heads, indicating that they didn't understand either.

Then, the group of dwarves all looked longingly at the old wizard.

“This is written in runes, so before we go to the Lonely Mountain, we need to find someone who understands runes to help us decipher the information,” Gandalf said without hiding anything, revealing the solution directly.

"Then, who can read runes?" Thorin's nephew, Kiri, voiced the dwarves' unspoken question.

“Elf!” Gandalf answered again.

“No, I can’t possibly ask the elves for help.” The feud between the dwarves and the elves was sown a hundred years ago. Thorin put the scroll away and said, “I refuse to believe that no one but the elves can understand runes.”

After obtaining the important clue, he avoided the old shaman and said to the other tribesmen, "Everyone, get some rest. We'll set off for Lonely Mountain early tomorrow morning."

Thorin hadn't forgotten that there was a human "competing" with the dwarves.

Meanwhile, after saying goodbye to Bilbo and the old wizard, Mike flew out of the Shire not long after.

Strictly speaking, the Shire is almost entirely Hobbit territory, and many humans also live around the hardworking and simple Hobbit town.

Some of them made a living by farming, but a considerable number of them made a living by doing business with the hobbits in the Shire.

Therefore, the commercial area surrounding Shire is not small.

Mike, who did not intend to travel overnight, chose an inn called Green Dragon Tavern and went inside, partly to find a place to stay and partly to gather information.

Middle-earth is vast, and Mike doesn't want to wander around aimlessly like a headless fly. So his immediate priority is to obtain a map of Middle-earth.

"A beer, please."

The Green Dragon Tavern is the largest hotel in the business district, and its lobby is lively even at night. Many people dressed as wanderers are drinking and bragging, so Mike follows suit and goes to the bar, orders a beer, and sits down.

As the dark forces revived in Middle-earth, hunting dark creatures gradually became an industry.

The rangers who can fight against dark creatures may not necessarily be very strong, but they are certainly knowledgeable.

Otherwise, he would probably have died in some dark corner long ago.

"You're new here, right? Do you need any help?" Just as Mike was drinking and listening to the drunks chat, a woman wearing a hoodie sat down next to him and said confidently, "I guarantee that no one here has better connections than me."

“Oh, do you have a map to Lonely Mountain?” Mike turned to look at the woman.

The newcomer had a delicate face, and the ears, deliberately hidden under the hood, were more pointed than those of an average human, clearly indicating that he was a half-elf.

"A map to Lonely Mountain?" Sophia seemed surprised by the question and looked at the man in front of her again.

He was impeccably dressed, exceptionally handsome, and his demeanor was completely out of place with the others in the tavern. Initial assessments suggested he was an inexperienced "easy prey" who hadn't faced any hardship.

As for Lonely Mountain, it's located at the easternmost edge of Middle-earth, not far from Mordor, the dark stronghold.

The closer one gets to Mordor, the stronger the dark forces become, and rangers generally avoid such dangerous places.

"What, you don't have any?" Mike looked at the woman in front of him with interest, her eyes sparkling.

Although the other party was being very subtle, their scrutinizing gaze made people very uncomfortable.

To be precise, this half-elf woman had ill intentions.

“You’re lucky. I happen to have a map to Lonely Mountain here…” Sophia smiled, took out a simple map from her body, and said, “For just ten… no, just eight gold coins, it’s yours.”

"Deal!" Mike pretended to reach into his pocket, and then eight gleaming gold coins were placed on the table.

"The road to Lonely Mountain is dangerous. If you really want to go, you'd better find a few more companions." Perhaps out of compassion, Sophia kindly added this sentence before accepting the gold coins and leaving.

……

Chapter 593 Identity Exchange

The warm yellow oil lamp illuminated the mottled wooden walls as Mike watched the half-elf woman walk through the noisy crowd to a corner of the tavern.

"Did I guess wrong?"

Mike sensed malice from the half-elf woman, but her warning before leaving didn't seem like that of a bad person. "Whatever, who cares? Whether she's good or bad, it doesn't affect me anyway."

Human nature is complex, and constantly trying to understand others' thoughts isn't a pleasant experience. Therefore, Mike avoids using his mind-reading abilities on others unless absolutely necessary.

After shaking his head slightly, Mike looked away and focused his attention on the map he had just received.

The map was very rudimentary, but most areas were marked, so it was barely usable.

"I didn't expect that half-elf to actually be quite capable." Having gotten what he wanted, Mike had no interest in staying in the lobby listening to the drunks brag any longer, so he asked the bartender for a room and headed upstairs.

Meanwhile, Sophia also found her companions, two tall rangers.

"So, what did you gain?" David, the older, long-haired ranger, asked.

Upon her return, Sofia opened her palm and tossed eight gleaming gold coins onto the table, then carefully collected them into the purse at her waist.

One gold coin is enough for the monthly expenses of an average family of three, and a simple map selling for eight gold coins is already quite a lot.

“It’s confirmed that the other party is not only a big fat sheep, but also a complete novice. He actually wants to cross the entire continent to reach Lonely Mountain…” Sophia said after putting away the gold coins, “So, our ‘robbing the rich to help the poor’ this time might also be considered saving his life.”

Life wasn't easy for ordinary rangers; they generally couldn't handle those strong orcs and trolls.

They can only bully the weak goblins in the forest.

Therefore, in order to survive, most of the wandering knights have their own side jobs, such as hunting or collecting herbs in the forest.

There are also a few rogues who occasionally engage in shady side jobs.

For example, Sofia's team of rangers sometimes engages in "robbing the rich to help the poor" business.

“I don’t think what we’re doing is right…” Just as Sophia was about to make a plan, the younger ranger Sam stammered, “With our abilities, why don’t we go to Mirkwood and take on some missions to eliminate orcs and giant spiders? We can earn money that way too.”

Clearly, this young knight-errant has a relatively high moral standard.

“Don’t be silly. Fighting dangerous dark creatures is no easier than robbing rich people. At worst, we’ll go easy on him this time and leave that ‘fat sheep’ some money for his journey home. Look at his fair skin and tender flesh, it’s good that he’s going home sooner…” Sophia, who looks younger than Sam but has actually lived for over a hundred years, is the leader of this team because she is the strongest.

Sophia's unique half-elf identity has exposed her to too much darkness, so her personality is no longer innocent.

"Won't it cause problems for Abraham if we make our move in the Green Dragon Tavern?" As a veteran ranger, David didn't think there was anything wrong with robbing a "fat sheep".

However, he still had some reservations before taking action.

“I know Abraham’s personality. As long as we don’t kill anyone, he usually won’t interfere…” Sophia then ignored Sam’s opinion and worked with David to devise a plan to rob the “fat sheep.”

……

"Stop right there, you liar! I'll make you pay today!!!"

After following Mike to the second-floor accommodation area, Sophia and her two companions staged a chase scene.

David and Sam made menacing faces, forcing Sophia towards Mike.

"Help me~" As she approached her target, Sophia revealed a weak expression and hid behind Mike.

"Kid, this is none of your business, get out of here!" David threatened, brandishing his weapon. "Or you can pay us a hundred gold coins as compensation, and we'll call it even..."

"See? All you need is some gold coins to be a hero and save the damsel in distress."

It must be said that the three men's performance tapped into the psychology of men's desire to show off.

A hero saves a damsel in distress—what a great story!

However, Mike was not a hot-blooded and prideful young man. He watched the performance of the three people in front of him with great interest and was convinced that the half-elf woman was indeed not a good person.

"What are you standing there for? If you don't pay, don't blame me for being rude!" Seeing that Mike was unmoved, David started his performance again.

His already tall stature, coupled with his fierce expression, certainly gave him a somewhat intimidating presence.

"It's just money, right? There are over a hundred gold coins in here. Consider the extra as a tip." Mike suddenly produced a pouch, weighed it in his hand for a moment, and then tossed it to David across from him.

“This…” David looked at the pink purse in his hand, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar.

Just then, Sophia, who was hiding behind Mike, suddenly reached for her waist and exclaimed in surprise, "That's my purse!"

“Yes, losing money is better than losing a lot of money, what’s wrong with that?” Mike said seriously.

At that moment, Sophia, who had no idea when her purse had been taken, and David, who was carrying the purse, both realized they had run into a tough opponent.

However, having come this far, Sofia accepted the fact that her plan had been exposed.

So she gave David a subtle look.

“You guys are really rich. Now I’ve changed my mind…” David, understanding the implication, stepped forward again and threatened, “Kid, hand over all the money you have.”

At the same time, Sophia, who was behind Mike, pretended to be scared and quietly hugged Mike's arm.

"So, they can't scam money anymore, so they're resorting to robbery now." Mike said with a half-smile after feeling the pressure on his arm.

Then, before Sophia could react, Mike dragged her forward and knocked David and Sam unconscious with two karate chopes.

"So, are you satisfied with this way of rescuing a damsel in distress?" Mike asked with a smile, one hand holding the pink purse he had retrieved and the other around the half-elf woman's waist.

After playing along with them for so long, it's time to collect some interest.

"What do you want to do?" Sophia panicked a little. She realized that the "fat sheep" in front of her was more powerful than she had thought.

She couldn't break free from the hands resting on her waist. This was quite incredible for a half-elf warrior.

As the favorites of the creator god Ilúvatar, the elves are born with a physique and strength far superior to humans, as well as eternal life.

Sophia, being a half-elf, naturally inherited some of the abilities of the elven race; at the very least, her strength was much greater than that of an average human.

But now that she's being held hostage, she can't use any of her strength.

"What do you want? Don't you know?" Mike pulled the half-elf woman close to him, then laughed and walked toward his room.

This tactic is called: "Evil people will always be punished by other evil people."

"Ahem~ Friend, could you give me some face and let Sophia and the others off this time?" Just then, a muscular, mature man with a thick beard walked out from the corner on the second floor.

"So your name is Sophia, not a bad name." Mike teased the woman in his arms before turning to the newcomer and saying, "You must be the owner of this tavern. Since you pretended to be mute and blind before, you don't have any face here with me now."

Mike had sensed this beforehand and had been watching the scene unfold around the corner for quite some time.

"It seems I was being presumptuous." Seeing Mike's firm attitude, Abraham gave a forced smile and turned to leave.

Just as Sofia had said, he wasn't one to meddle in other people's business.