American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

Arrows struck the giant spiders' heads with pinpoint accuracy, reaping their lives.

I must say, the Elf Prince's movements in battle are so smooth they're like acrobatic performances. Regardless of practicality, he's undeniably cool.

Just as the Elf Prince was preparing to continue his performance in order to win and show off his charm to Tauriel, he suddenly heard the sound of arrows whistling from behind.

Turning around, I saw a shower of golden arrows, like a sky full of stars.

These arrows seemed to have eyes, bypassing obstacles and riddling all the giant spiders in sight with holes in one go.

"This..." Legolas stared in astonishment at the gruesome sight of the giant spider being killed by arrows below.

The young elf prince had never seen anything like it before; this power was completely unlike anything a human should possess.

Moreover, the Elf Prince would never admit that this kind of "whitewashing" fighting style was archery.

This is clearly cheating!!!

"You win~" However, as the Elf Prince, Legolas was not a sore loser.

Although reluctant to admit it, Mike did use a bow and arrow to kill more giant spiders.

"Sorry, I was in a hurry, so I rushed it a bit," Mike explained, clarifying that he hadn't meant to embarrass the Elf Prince.

Of course, it can also be seen as him giving Legolas a way out.

“I’ve heard that you’re going to Lonely Mountain like those Durin dwarves.” Legolas put away his longbow and came to Mike, saying, “But please allow me to take you to meet my father, Thranduil, first. He’s heard about your legendary adventures and longs to meet you back then.”

"In return, I will personally escort you out of the Black Forest later."

Having put aside his competitive spirit, the elf prince is quite easy to get along with.

Afterwards, Mike, under his guidance, went to the Sindar elves' encampment, a rock palace that exuded an aura of decay.

Compared to Rivendell and the Golden Forest, the environment here is indeed not very good.

"Welcome, human hero!" Thranduil, wearing a crown adorned with a thorn wreath, warmly greeted Mike in the great hall.

Although this Sindar Elf King usually has a stern face and seems unapproachable, he is surprisingly an upright and kind elf.

Later, after learning that his son had made a promise, he also arranged for Legolas to lead a small elf team to escort Mike to Lonely Mountain.

At the same time, he also gave Mike a white stag with large antlers, a symbol of good luck, as a mount.

"Thanks to you, Queen Galadriel, and others for defeating the Dark Lord Sauron, the borders of the Black Forest are much quieter now. You know, not long ago, many orc tribes came to harass us here..." Legolas also expressed his gratitude to Mike for the peace that had been brought to the Black Forest on the way to Lonely Mountain.

He also couldn't help but tell Mike about the thrilling experience he had recently had when he and Tauriel escorted the Dulin dwarves out of the Black Forest.

It's clear that this elf prince is quite "lively" in his daily life.

After traveling for more than a day, Mike and his group arrived near Lake Town. Across the river was Lonely Mountain.

“Leave the crossing to me. We elves have trade relations with the residents here, so getting you across shouldn’t be a problem.” A day or so is enough time for Legolas and Mike to become friends.

As previously promised, all he needed to do was escort Mike out of the Black Forest.

However, judging from the current situation, it seems that the elf prince intends to escort Mike all the way to the Lonely Mountain, the final destination.

Chapter 610 The Dwarf Lonely Mountain

While Legolas found an elven merchant ship and carried Mike towards Lake-town, the dwarven adventure team that had arrived earlier was caught red-handed for stealing from the Lake-town mayor's armory.

The dwarves had escaped from the Sindar elves by breaking out of prison, and their weapons had been confiscated by Thranduil.

Not wanting to face Smaug, the dragon of Lonely Mountain, empty-handed, they returned to their old ways—stealing.

This time, however, their luck seemed to run out. Due to Qi Li's injured leg, they were caught by the Changhu Town guards and then brought before the town mayor.

At this moment, the mayor of Longlake Town was leading his private guard to judge the adventure team's despicable acts in Longlake Town Square.

Lake-town, on the other hand, is a water town nestled between Lonely Mountain and the Black Forest. Most of its inhabitants are refugees who fled from the Vale kingdom, which was destroyed by the dragon Smaug.

Furthermore, due to the geographical location of Changhu Town, there is no suitable land for farming, making life very difficult for the residents.

Only the bald mayor made a fortune by doing business with the elves of the Black Forest.

Even so, the bald mayor of Changhu Town, still not satisfied, remains a stingy and greedy fellow.

The dwarves stole his wealth, which was considered to have offended the mayor.

Therefore, after criticizing the dwarves' immoral behavior, the mayor in the center of the square decided to sentence them to hanging.

On the one hand, it was to vent his own anger, and on the other hand, it was perhaps a way to intimidate the residents of Changhu Town.

As for the already numb residents of Laketown, they gathered in the square simply to watch the spectacle. No one thought the mayor's judgment was wrong, nor did anyone consider helping the dwarves who had been treated so harshly.

“Please wait, Mayor. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Thorin, grandson of King Thor of the Mountain. I have returned to Lonely Mountain to reclaim the wealth that belongs to the Weald Dwarves of Weald…” At the crucial moment, Thorin, seeing through the mayor’s greedy nature, stepped forward.

"What? You're the grandson of the King of the Mountain..." The bald mayor was indeed drawn in by Thorin's words and said, "I've heard that your dwarf race hides countless treasures in Lonely Mountain, is that true?"

Without a doubt, the mayor's greed had already been set in motion.

A pair of grayish-brown eyes, seemingly glowing with a greenish light, stared intently at Thorin.

“Indeed, there are countless treasures in Lonely Mountain.” Thorin’s face showed a proud expression, and then he said, “As long as you can give us your help, once the Dwarves of Durin take back Lonely Mountain, we will share its treasures with you.”

"That's not important. I just want to know how much wealth you can give me if I let you go?" The king of the mountain and the grandson of Thor are not important to the mayor. He just wants to know how much money he can get.

“One-fourteenth…yes, everyone who has helped us will share one-fourteenth of the wealth in Lonely Mountain.” Thorin looked at the surrounding residents of Lake-town and rallied them, “With that money, you will no longer suffer poverty, and you can live a life of abundance!!!”

This time, the apathetic residents were no longer apathetic and shouted out:

"We support the dwarves in taking back Lonely Mountain; it has always been their territory..."

"Long live the dwarves! Long live Thor's grandson!!! Quickly send them to Lonely Mountain!!!..."

"..."

Amidst the shouts of the crowd, the dwarves in the adventure team knew that they had overcome another ordeal.

Only Bilbo in the crowd seemed hesitant to speak, after all, the contract he signed with the dwarves stipulated that he would share one-fourteenth of the wealth of Lonely Mountain.

Therefore, if Thorin wants to redistribute the treasure of Lonely Mountain, he should promise the residents of Lake-town one-fifteenth of the wealth.

However, after his expression changed, Bilbo still chose to remain silent and did not expose Thorin's secrets.

Just then, several wandering swordsmen dressed differently from the residents of Lake-town and carrying weapons at their waists stepped out from the crowd and asked, "Grandson of Thor, if we go to Lonely Mountain with you, will we also be able to share in your wealth?"

These were the rangers organized by the half-elf Sophia, who came to Lonely Mountain to seek cooperation with Mike. However, compared to Mike, who had not yet appeared, they clearly favored the group of Durin dwarves.

"What should we do, boss? Should I go and call them back?" Sam, a tall man in the crowd, glared at the rangers who had "betrayed" them.

“No need, it’s their choice.” Sophia shook her head and said, “I’d rather believe that wicked guy than the dwarf.”

The half-elf was referring to Mike as the guy with the worst personality.

Meanwhile, the other dozens of rangers gathered behind Sophia clearly had more faith in the [Ogre Slayer], who had proven himself in the northern highlands.

Further to the side, "Big Steps," also hidden in the crowd, was waiting for Mike to arrive, scoffing at the dwarf's promise.

In short, although the square in Changhu Town was bustling at this time, everyone had their own thoughts.

"Of course, as I said, anyone who has helped the dwarves can share in our wealth." Thorin looked at the rangers who had stepped forward, pondered for a moment, and then smiled again, giving his promise.

But that smiling face looked so fake.

Of course, none of this mattered to the few rangers who stepped forward; they were clearly blinded by Thorin's promises, only interested in getting rich.

Just as everyone was overjoyed and urging the dwarves to set off quickly, a tall man stepped forward, blocking the dwarves and the crowd, and loudly rebuked them: "Have you forgotten that the dragon Smaug slumbers in the Lonely Mountain? If the dwarves go there, they will surely awaken him."

"Do you want to see the tragedy that befell the Kingdom of River Valley decades ago repeat itself in Long Lake Town?"

The newcomer was none other than Bard the Archer, a descendant of Gillian, King of Dale.

Because his grandfather failed to stop Smaug from destroying Dale, Bard never mentioned his ancestor's name after ending up in Lake-town. Instead, he made a living by ferrying people across the lake and became an ordinary resident of Lake-town.

This time, the dwarves came to Laketown because they were seeking his help.

Bard had no idea that these dwarves were after Lonely Mountain.

Although Bard, a descendant of the Girian family of the River Valley, had fallen on hard times, he had not forgotten the glory of his ancestors and had been silently protecting the people of the River Valley.

The dwarves' actions could very well ruin the lives of the residents of Lake-town once again, so this descendant of Gillian naturally disagreed.

His reminder quickly reminded the residents of Lake-town of the terror of Smaug the dragon, and their gazes toward the dwarves ceased to be fervent.

"Are you going to stop me, Bard?" Sensing the situation was turning sour, Thorin looked coldly at the man who had helped him before and said, "We're not just doing this for ourselves. Think about it, there's countless treasures in Lonely Mountain. With those treasures, the residents of Lake-town will never have to worry about making a living again..."

"By stopping me, you are stopping them from having a better life."

As Thorin spoke, the eyes of the impoverished residents of Longlake Town lit up once more.

Yes, what could be worse than poverty?!

So, in order to get rid of Bard, this troublesome fellow, some people started recounting how his grandfather had failed to stop the dragon Smaug.

They attributed all the current hardship in Changhu Town to their grandfather, Bard.

On the other side, the mayor of Lake-town, whose greed had long been aroused by the dwarves' wealth, ordered his guards to capture Bard.

“My great-grandfather, Girian, did his best back then; he almost killed that dragon…”

Hearing the accusations from the crowd, a young boy came to Bader's side and defended his great-grandfather.

He was Bard's son, and he too carried the blood of the king of the Valley Kingdom.

Then, the boy and his father were surrounded by the guards, who were preparing to arrest them and put them in jail.

Just then, a huge Elven merchant ship broke through the thin ice on Long Lake and arrived at the Long Lake Town dock.

"Hey, Thorin, long time no see. Looks like we're back to square one." Mike, who had jumped off the merchant ship, greeted Thorin, who was in the center of the crowd, with a smile.

However, Thorin did not seem particularly happy to see Mike again.

Having finally managed to appease Bard, his expression instantly turned even more grim.

"Are you here for the Lonely Mountain treasure too?" Mayor Longlake looked at the Elf team and Mike who followed him down and said with a smile, "If I let you go to Lonely Mountain, how much money will you give me?"

Yes, the greedy mayor of Longlake wanted more.

If two teams go to Gushan at the same time, then there will be competition. With competition, the mayor of Changhu Town will naturally support the one who bids the highest.

Mike glanced at the bald mayor, greeted Bilbo in the crowd, and then asked, "Even if I obtained the Lonely Mountain treasure, why should I share it with you?"

The bald town mayor was dressed in gold and silver, while the residents of Changhu Town, who were already approaching winter, did not even have a thick coat to keep warm. This showed that the mayor was not a good person.

He was not much better than the wicked former Rohan king, Van Zel.

“This…” The bald mayor was stumped by Mike’s question, but quickly said with a quick glance, “Since you’re not willing to share the treasure with me, you’ll have to pay me a good enough toll if you want to cross Lake Town, otherwise you can forget about getting through here.”

Changhu Town is said to be a water town, but it is actually a large water fortress with many checkpoints set up on the lake.

To get to Gushan, you need to pass through these water checkpoints first.

The bald mayor seized on this point and attempted to extort money from the town.

"And why do you think I'll obediently hand over the money?" Mike suddenly appeared in front of the mayor, holding the Nando elven longsword to his neck.

"Spare me... I don't want the money anymore..." Feeling the coldness on his neck, the bald mayor instantly cowered.

Having grown accustomed to being superior to others, he was worse off than ordinary people when his life was threatened, and his crotch was soaked.

Seeing this, Mike said with disdain, "How can a piece of trash like you be the mayor? You should give up your position and let someone more capable take it."

As he spoke, Mike looked at Bud in the crowd.

In Changhu Town today, a good life doesn't necessarily require the treasure of Gushan.

But it's definitely necessary to replace the town with a more capable and better mayor.

"Are you the Healer who saved Gondor and Rohan?" Bard asked, sensing a glimmer of hope.

Bard may have heard a little about Mike's fight against the dark creatures, but he was more interested in what Mike had done at the Gondor Line and in Rohan.

That truly saved many ordinary people.

“It’s me,” Mike smiled and nodded, saying, “I think you’re a good person. Perhaps you should be the mayor of Longlake Town.”

Ultimately, people have to rely on themselves. Whether the residents of Changhu Town can live a good life depends on their own choices and those of Bader.

"If I were to become the mayor, what would you do with the previous mayor?" Bud asked cautiously.

“Kill him, or lock him up, it’s up to you. Once you become mayor, this matter should be your responsibility,” Mike suggested. “You could even distribute his property to all the residents of Lake-town so they can have a better winter.”

You should at least have one thick coat for winter.

The residents of Changhu Town, who had long been oppressed by the bald mayor, never imagined that they could improve their lives by "fighting the rich."