American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

"We're saved!"

Having gained a respite, Gandalf smiled and nodded to the King of Eagles, then gathered his adventure party members and rode away on the giant eagle.

"roar~"

Seeing the "fat meat" that was about to be eaten escape again, Azog chased after it to the edge of the cliff and let out a furious roar of resentment.

……

The dwarves were incredibly lucky; the giant eagles had been entrusted by the brown-robed wizard to watch over Gandalf and his companions.

Therefore, a few days ago, the King of Eagles led the giant eagles to the middle section of the Misty Mountains.

This is why the flock of eagles arrived shortly after Gandalf sent out his distress signal.

Meanwhile, the dwarves, who had escaped death once again, had already flown over the towering Misty Mountains on giant eagles.

Looking down at the vast expanse of land and sky, many dwarves, while laughing, couldn't help but sing ancient dwarven songs.

Meanwhile, two fledgling eagles with golden lines on their beaks left the flock and flew south after obtaining permission from the eagle king.

……

"You mean, the King of Eagles just rescued Gandalf and the others with you. And you two came here specifically to help me?" On a barren slope in the wilderness, Mike saw the fledgling eagle brothers who had hurriedly flown in.

"Chirp...chirp..."

The two fledgling eagles nodded human-like, as if they were asking for credit.

"Alright, at least you guys still have some conscience. It wasn't for nothing that I've been so good to you~" Mike patted the heads of the Guan brothers, then took out two large pieces of fresh meat from his spatial storage and fed them to the two eaglets.

Mike then learned from the two eaglets that the giant eagles led by the Eagle King would continue to stay in the middle of the Misty Mountains to provide support to the adventure team at any time.

Therefore, the Guan brothers don't need to rush back to the northern highlands this time.

"So they're planning to stick with me, huh?" Mike muttered, then a smile spread across his face.

Although Rohan was already close at hand and it would be quick to walk there, having two giant eagles as mounts and flying there would feel quite nice.

So, half an hour later, Mike once again experienced the feeling of flying on a giant bird and arrived at the border of Rohan.

Furthermore, because human towns may contain creatures like crossbows that could threaten the lives of giant eagles, giant eagles generally avoid unfamiliar human settlements.

So when they reached the Rohan border, the Gwanhar brothers put Mike on the ground, while they themselves flew up thousands of meters into the air to continue following.

……

"The situation here doesn't look too good." As Mike walked into Rohan, the border villages were filled with scenes of financial ruin.

Farmland that should have been harvested is now overgrown with weeds due to neglect.

In some of the small villages along the way, most of the houses were empty, and there were hardly any living people to be seen.

Logically speaking, the Gondorian defenses established by the human forces connected Rohan and Gondor. No matter how weak their military strength was, it shouldn't have left Rohan's rear area so desolate.

"Something must have gone wrong..."

Mike was silently calculating in his mind when, as he passed by a dilapidated village once again, dozens of orcs riding dire wolves suddenly rushed out of it.

This……

The situation looks worse than Mike thought.

"Seize him and hand him over to the chief as provisions..."

"Aww, we haven't had fresh meat in ages, why don't we save it for ourselves..."

"Eat him...eat him..."

"..."

Perhaps mistaking Mike for an ordinary citizen of Rohan, the orc group surrounded him and excitedly began discussing how to deal with him.

This also suggests that most of the missing residents of the village likely became food for the orcs.

"Death~"

Faced with the inhuman orcs, Mike had nothing to say. He conjured a longbow and instantly pinned them all to the ground.

"Come out, perhaps I can offer you some help..." After defeating the orc squad, Mike looked toward the village.

Over there, in a secluded, dilapidated thatched hut, someone was looking out.

"Outsider, Rohan is no longer a habitable land for humans. You should leave now." An old man walked out shakily, looking at the dead orcs on the ground with a mixture of shock and satisfaction.

"Can you tell me what happened here?" Mike looked at the old man's weak appearance, as if he hadn't eaten for days, so he took out some milk and bread from his storage space and handed them to him.

"Well, it's a long story. If you're interested in knowing, let's find a safe place and I'll tell you slowly..." Perhaps it was because Mike was willing to share his food that the old man regarded him as a very kind person.

Then she led him into the village.

Next, the two entered the thatched hut, which was half collapsed, while the other half was also filled with miscellaneous items.

At first glance, this place doesn't look like a habitable place at all.

"Grandpa, are you alright? Have all the monsters left?" Just then, a piece of discarded wood on the ground slightly lifted up, and a faint questioning voice came from inside.

"Lily, Grandpa's alright. It's safe outside for now; those monsters have been killed by the warriors around me. Let everyone come out for some fresh air..."

As the old man answered, a brief discussion arose from beneath the wooden plank. Then the plank was lifted, and a timid child climbed up.

Then a dozen or so other people, equally covered in dust, climbed up.

Even though these people knew that it was safe outside for the time being, they were still very careful in their actions and did not make any big commotion from beginning to end.

After everyone came out, the old man immediately distributed the food he had just received to everyone.

Mike also noticed that the old man hadn't touched the food even though he was very hungry, because there were so many people waiting there.

"Don't be shy, everyone. I have plenty of food here..." Seeing how carefully everyone handled the food, Mike shook his head and took out a large amount of food from his storage space.

This time, we specially included many soy products and some meats that can be stored for a long time.

"Thank you, thank you so much." Seeing so much food, the old man was moved and thanked them again.

At the same time, it was also wise of them not to investigate how the young man in front of them stored this food.

The dozen or so people behind him also thanked Mike.

Mike then observed that even with ample food, these refugee-like villagers did not eat much at once.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh. You can ask me anything you want to know..." After carefully chewing half a piece of bread, the old man came to Mike again.

"Where did the young people in the village go? And how come there are orcs here?" Mike asked, voicing his doubts.

He also observed that the dozen or so people there were all elderly people and children, with not a single young person among them.

"This all started when the greedy and incompetent Van Zel became King of Rohan..." The old man's cloudy eyes were filled with reminiscence.

Rohan, the second largest country in human history and close in size to Gondor, the most powerful kingdom, also had a glorious history.

At that time, Rohan, with its best cavalry regiments, built an iron wall on the Allied defenses, forcefully suppressing the Orc army outside its territory.

This provided a stable living environment for the people of Rohan, and the hardworking people of Rohan also supported the kingdom's entire army with their own hands.

If this virtuous cycle continues, even though Rohan is right next to Mordor, it can still become a paradise.

But all of this changed when the incompetent and greedy Van Zel became King of Rohan.

The king, who only cared about his own enjoyment, not only plundered the wealth of the people without restraint in order to satisfy his own desires, but also stingy with the funds allocated to the army.

If this continues, the people's lives will become unbearable, and the army will gradually lose its combat capability.

As a result, the Orc army could easily breach Rohan's defenses and invade the interior, making the already suffering Rohan even more miserable.

Large numbers of defenseless civilians were slaughtered by the orcs, and the survivors, seeing no hope for the future, fled their homeland to Gondor.

This situation has led to a rapid decline in the population of Rohan, which originally had over a million inhabitants.

This time, the orc leader Azog led his orc warg pack across the Rohan defense line to Moria in pursuit of Thorin and his men.

The food supplies along the way should have come from the people in Rohan.

"That guy named Van Zel is really something else." After listening to the old man's explanation, Mike had a general understanding of the current king of Rohan.

In short, he's both stupid and wicked.

"I'm planning to go to Gondor next. Do you want me to take you with me?" Mike had originally planned to visit Edoras, the capital of Rohan, but now he had completely lost interest.

He just wants to go to Gondor to check on things first. If all else fails, he'll have to wait until he returns to Rohan to kill King Vanger and then install a new king.

As for becoming king himself, Mike neither had the patience nor the time.

After all, he still had to get to Lonely Mountain before the dwarves.

“No, no, we worthless people wouldn’t necessarily survive even if we escaped to Gondor.” The old man declined Mike’s offer and continued, “Prince Sezer of Rohan is an ambitious heir to the kingdom. Disgusted by his father’s incompetence, he went to Gondor alone to study…”

"Perhaps it won't be long before the Prince of Rohan returns and overthrows Van Zel's rule. Then, our lives should be a little better."

It's a helpless and cruel reality.

Whether the people could survive depended entirely on the king's character.

Mike didn't have a good solution either. He couldn't believe that as the king, he could only help these dozen or so people. How could he possibly save every single person in Rohan?

Who can guarantee that the situation in Gondor, or even other human kingdoms, will not become like that in Rohan?

"I'm definitely not cut out to be a saint," Mike thought to himself, unable to be selfless and afraid of trouble.

After leaving a large amount of food for the dozen or so people in front of him, he set off on his journey to Gondor.

Chapter 606 Rohan and Gondor (Continued)

"Excuse me, are you the human [Hero] from the Northern Highlands?"

Two days later, when Mike was clearing out the remaining orc troops and arrived at the border between Rohan and Gondor, he was stopped by a middle-aged general with his cavalry squad.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Mike stopped and looked at the cavalry squad in front of him.

The opposing force was entirely clad in half-body armor and winged helmets, giving them an imposing presence. While their warhorses couldn't compare to the crossbreds of Rivendell, they were still of excellent breed.

It is evident that although the Rohan Empire had fallen into decline, its cavalry was still quite capable.

“We are members of the King’s Royal Guard Cavalry Regiment. I am Andrei, the current cavalry commander…” Andrei was also observing Mike. Seeing that Mike’s fair skin and delicate features did not resemble the legendary fierce man, he continued, “The King greatly admires human warriors. After hearing about your experiences, he would like to invite you to meet him in Edoras.”

Middle-earth is vast, but news travels quickly. Mike has dealt with over a hundred orcs in the past two days while traveling.

Given his previous reputation in the deep forests and the northern highlands, it's not surprising that the King of Rohan took notice of him.

Even Mike's legendary experience of killing Yama in Moria probably hasn't been spread by the dwarves yet, otherwise there would have been even more people sent by Van Zel to invite him.

“Andrei, former Second Marshal of the Rohan Line, I’ve heard of you. I just never imagined that the general who was always praised by the people would now be the king’s personal bodyguard…” Mike had indeed heard of Andrei’s name from that dilapidated village before; he was a very capable human commander.

They guarded the Rohan Line for over a decade.

Judging from the current situation, even though King Van Zel is incompetent, he knows that he only has one life.

Therefore, he placed General Andrei by his side as a precaution.

As for sending someone to summon Mike, that's easy to understand. That cowardly King Rohan probably wanted to gather more powerful human warriors to protect his safety.

It's really ugly.

"Please allow me to refuse Van Zel's summons. Perhaps I will go and see that foolish king when I return from Gondor." Mike was naturally in no mood to play along with Van Zel's nonsense, and his words unconsciously revealed a sense of contempt.

"How dare you insult the King of Rohan..."

"It is an honor that the king has taken notice of you, yet you refuse his offer..."

"Tie him up and present him to the king..."

"..."

As the king's personal guard cavalry, this cavalry squad was naturally loyal to the king.

Therefore, after Mike spoke rudely to Van Zel, the cavalry squad members rode forward and surrounded him.

As for Andrei, who was standing to the side, he didn't even have time to stop them.

"If only you could perform like this when protecting the people." Mike suddenly unleashed a powerful aura, causing the cavalry squad's warhorses to involuntarily retreat, and the cavalrymen were all pressed down and unable to move, as if they were drowning.

"Considering we are all human, I will not make things difficult for you this time. Go back and tell your king that since he wishes to see me... I will certainly grant his request when I return from Gondor..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Mike strolled out of the encirclement and was gone in no time.

"Sorcery...this must be sorcery..."