American TV series: Starting with exploiting young Sheldon

Seeing each other here made Bilbo, who was naturally optimistic, extremely happy.

"Bilbo, it's been a long time... I hope you don't resent me for taking you out of the Shire..." Gandalf smiled kindly, seemingly infected by the hobbit's optimism.

He then apologized for disturbing Bilbo's life.

After all, in the wizard's view, Bilbo left Hobbiton because the dwarves promised him a quarter of the wealth in Lonely Mountain.

Now that Mike has taken Lonely Mountain, the dwarves' promise is naturally no longer valid.

“No, I have never blamed you. This journey has broadened my horizons considerably. And things are going quite well now…” Bilbo is now quite free on the Lonely Mountain.

With plenty of food, drink, and free time, his life here is no worse than in Hobbiton.

Bilbo, who is easily satisfied, has grown to love his current life.

"That's good~" Gandalf smiled and patted the hobbit's head, relieved that he had been thinking about something.

Then he looked at Mike and said, "The conditions you offered the dwarves aren't bad. I'll go and persuade Thorin and the others later."

Gandalf also realized that the reason he had helped the dwarves was so that they could take back Erebor and use it to stop the orcs from invading Middle-earth.

Now Mike has the Lonely Mountain, and he's done a better job than the dwarves.

This also made the wizard unconsciously lean more towards Mike.

“Now, I need to talk about the orcs. I have received definite news that Azog's orc army will soon attack Lonely Mountain. You need to prepare in advance.” As he spoke of serious matters, Gandalf's expression gradually became serious.

"Don't worry, the orcs' movements can't escape my eyes. If they dare to come, I'll definitely give them a surprise," Mike said confidently.

Having occupied Lonely Mountain, he had already sent out scouts to monitor the movements of the Mordor orcs at all times.

Furthermore, King Sezer of Rohan, who recently signed an alliance pact with Mike, also sends information about the Orcs to Lonely Mountain every now and then.

“It’s good that you know what’s going on.” Gandalf was pleased with the natural leadership qualities that Mike exuded. He then added, “I’ve also brought a flock of giant eagles and Bion the skin-changing man with me. They will fight alongside us against the orc army when needed.”

It's not just the orcs who are concerned about Lonely Mountain; various factions across Middle-earth are also watching its safety.

In the following days, as the intentions of the Mordor orcs became increasingly clear, the Lonely Mountain patrol, equipped with dragon armor forged with the help of the Blackwood elves, entered a state of emergency preparedness under Aragorn's command.

It is worth mentioning that Bard of the River Valley Kingdom has also organized a royal guard of over a thousand people, ready to fight alongside the Lonely Mountain patrol team at any time.

During this time, Gandalf also took the opportunity to visit Thorin. However, their meeting did not seem to go well.

So much so that Thorin seemed to hate Gandalf after that.

Thranduil, the Elvenking, seems to have a lot to say about this situation.

In this tense atmosphere, two more days passed by in the blink of an eye.

That day, while Mike was on the throne exchanging affections with the female elves from the Black Forest, Bilbo rushed into the hall.

It's worth mentioning that, as the situation has become increasingly serious recently, the Elven King Thranduil has also led his Elven warriors to occupy the Lonely Mountain.

Among them were several female elf warriors.

Whenever they have free time, they come to the Lonely Mountain Hall to chat with Mike or something.

"Oh no, Mike! The dwarves and elves are fighting outside Lonely Mountain!" Bilbo then entered the Great Hall of Lonely Mountain, bringing everyone bad news.

Chapter 615 The Human King

"Let's go out and take a look!"

After hearing the hobbit's description, Mike got up and walked out of the hall.

Upon reaching the outer city wall, they encountered the grey-robed wizard who had just arrived.

“This time, the dwarves are from the Iron Hills, led by Thorin’s cousin, Dane II Ironfoot. If I’m not mistaken, he’s here to seek justice for Thorin…” Gandalf, well-informed, gave Mike a heads-up.

At this moment, in the plaza in front of Lonely Mountain, a dwarf with long, reddish-brown hair and a large beard, leading several hundred heavily armored dwarves riding wild boars, was confronting the elven warriors led by Thranduil.

Upon seeing Mike, the main character, appear, the dwarf with long, reddish-brown hair rode his boar and broke through the elven defenses to reach the city walls alone.

Iron Hills is located further east of Lonely Mountain and is part of the Orcs' territory.

The Ironhill dwarves who lived there had developed a more ferocious character due to their long-term battles with orcs.

"Human, you stole Lonely Mountain! Now I command you to return it to Thorin!" Dane approached, raising his giant axe and glaring at Mike on the city wall, exuding an aura that suggested he was ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

It has to be said that this is very much in line with the style of the Ironhill Dwarves.

“What kind of Tom, Dick, or Harry dares to threaten me…” Mike said, casually tossing a small fireball.

The fireball, enhanced with [Flame Affinity], hurtled towards Dane, landing five meters in front of him with a whooshing sound.

The explosion created a large crater in the ground, and Dann, who was on the edge, was thrown off his boar mount by the aftershocks and rolled several times on the ground.

He looked quite disheveled.

"As expected of the Dragon Slayer!!!" Amid the dwarves' exclamations, Dane got up, dusted himself off, and seemed to be unharmed.

However, Mike's strength also made him put away his previous arrogant attitude.

Clearly, although Dane has a fiery temper, he will also show due respect to those who are strong.

“Thorin, my preferential treatment of the Durin dwarves is not a reason for you to take advantage of me…” After teaching Dane a lesson, Mike ignored him and looked at Thorin, who was mixed in with the Iron Hill dwarves, and said, “Two choices. I will give you three days to consider. If you still don’t have an answer after three days, I will take back my promise to you.”

The arrival of the Ironhill dwarves this time is very likely the work of Thorin.

They thought that having someone back them up meant they could get more benefits.

But he seemed to have forgotten that Mike, who possessed the power to slay dragons, was no pushover.

"What choice?" Dane, who had suffered a loss without understanding the situation, rode his boar back to Thorin's side.

"Take back the [Arken Gem], or obtain a portion of the Lonely Mountain treasure..." Seeing Thorin remain silent, the white-bearded Balin explained the current situation of the Durin dwarves to Dann.

"Then what are we waiting for? Of course, we should get a portion of the Lonely Mountain treasure to rebuild the kingdom below the mountain!" After hearing the explanation, Dane immediately made the choice for the Durin dwarves.

After all, no matter how beautiful the Arkenstone is or how great its significance is, it is still just an ordinary gemstone.

In terms of cost-effectiveness, it's definitely not as practical as having a large amount of gold coins.

With the gold coins, the other Dulin dwarves who had ended up in the Gray Alley area could at least live a better life.

This is for the benefit of all the Dulin dwarves.

"The Arkenstone is a token of the dwarves and must not fall into human hands." Unfortunately, Thorin, the new king of the Durin dwarves, did not have that awareness at the moment.

He, who had been wearing a gloomy face, finally spoke up when it came to his own "interests".

“Then choose the [Arkenstone]. With it, you can gather the seven dwarf races, and everyone can look out for each other when they're all together,” Dane urged Thorin again.

In Dann's view, there was nothing to worry about.

Moreover, the human on the city wall is already quite thick, so both options are quite beneficial to the Dulin dwarves.

"What do you know? If we take the [Arkenstone], we'll have to go live in Moria and be controlled by that human..." Well, Thorin still couldn't let go of the treasure in Lonely Mountain.

"Is there a problem with going to Moria? I think it's a good place for us dwarves to develop..." Dane said, but then he saw Thorin's face turn even uglier, so he simply gave up and said, "Fine, you can think about it yourself!"

"Just let me know whether it's war or peace."

It seems that the hot-tempered Dane doesn't like to use his brain, and Thorin's indecisive attitude has already made him irritable.

Just as Dann was about to leave with the Ironhill dwarves, a huge horn suddenly sounded from a mound on the side of Lonely Mountain.

Meanwhile, a large orc banner was erected on the hillside to the side.

Then several exceptionally strong orcs appeared on the hilltop. As they waved their command flags, several large orc armies emerged from the wilderness outside the lonely mountain.

The number was around 100,000, and their overwhelming momentum almost submerged the entire Lonely Mountain.

"【Dragon Slayer】We meet again. I wonder if you can stop my Mordor army this time!!!" As the dark, swarming orc army approached the city, the orc leader Azog appeared on the side hilltop.

The last time Sauron was exiled to Dorgon, Azog was actually there as well.

But seeing that things were not going well, it slunk away first.

This time, having mobilized almost all the orcs in Mordor, it felt the advantage had finally turned in its favor.

Therefore, he also wanted to avenge himself in front of Mike.

"Azog!!...Give me your life!!!!"

However, before the orc leader could receive a response from Mike, he heard Dane's roar.

Like Thorin, Dain also has a blood feud with Azog, whose father, Dain I, was killed by Azog.

With his enemy right in front of him, Dann, consumed by rage, recklessly led a dozen guards and charged toward the hilltop on the side.

The dwarf riding the wild boar had a low chassis, and in an instant, he knocked the orcish group that came to block his way over.

However, under the command of the orc commanders on the mountain, a steady stream of orcs converged at the foot of the mountain, finally stopping Dann's charge.

"Let's go help too!"

Seeing that the Ironhill cavalry were stuck in the mud, Qili, who had recovered from his injuries and returned to the ranks, immediately summoned the Dulin dwarves.

After finding a chariot in the Iron Hills garrison, they also charged towards the side hilltop.

However, before long, the chariots, like the dwarven cavalry led by Dane, were intercepted at the foot of the mountain by the sheer number of orcs.

"Thorin, what are you waiting for? Kiri and the others need help!"

Whitebeard Balin, observing the dwarves' situation, couldn't help but urge Thorin, who had been holding back, to act.

Thorin, who was waiting for Mike's move, saw that the dwarves were already at a disadvantage, while Mike was still leisurely watching the show.

Finally, after glaring at Mike, he shouted to the remaining Durin dwarves beside him, "Let's go! Kill all those orcs!!!"

Strictly speaking, the Dulin dwarves are the true line of the seven dwarf tribes.

Thorin, who has royal blood of the Durin dwarves, is the "king" of all dwarves.

Therefore, under his leadership, the remaining Dulin dwarves and Ironhill dwarves joined forces and quickly unleashed a powerful fighting force.

"Are we just going to watch like this?" On the city wall, Gandalf was getting impatient as he watched Mike make no move.

“Of course we can’t just keep watching like this…” Mike shook his head slightly and shouted down, “Aragorn, it’s your time to shine. Don’t let a single orc break through our defenses.”

"Received~"

With shouts, a team completely covered in black armor emerged from the city gate below.

They quickly joined forces with the River Valley Kingdom's guards and elven warriors to establish a temporary defensive line at Lonely Mountain.

Equipped with superior weapons and armor, they quickly repelled wave after wave of orc hunting parties that tried to bypass Lonely Mountain and head towards the valley behind it.

Chapter 616 The Human King (Continued)

When the strength is equal, the human wave tactic can be surprisingly effective.

With Thorin joining the dwarves, they displayed great fighting spirit, but they were quickly dragged into a quagmire by the tens of thousands of orcs.

After reaching the foot of the mountain on the side, they could no longer advance an inch.

Watching his kin die one by one in the stalemate, Dane, who had been blinded by hatred, finally came to his senses.

"All troops retreat. We're going to rendezvous with the human warriors on Lonely Mountain!"

After observing the battlefield situation, Dane wisely chose to cooperate with the Lonely Mountain forces.

On the Lonely Mountain side, the three forces led by Aragorn, Bard, and Thranduil, the Elvenking, numbered only about five thousand in total.

However, their superior equipment and discipline prevented them from rashly expanding their battle lines. Instead, they adopted a defensive counter-attacking strategy, advancing step by step, thus becoming a solid shield for Gushan.

After the Ironhill dwarves retreated, the Lonely Mountain defense line, led by Aragorn, became even more secure.

Gradually, under the pressure of the orc army, the four forces, united in their hatred of the enemy, began to subtly cooperate:

The dwarves just draw aggro... the Lone Mountain Rangers reap the rewards... the Vale warriors provide support... and the elven archers offer ranged assistance...

With a clear division of labor, despite the larger number of orcs, they were unable to do anything to Aragorn and his men, and their casualties increased rapidly.

"Human, is this all you'll do, send your people to cower like turtles? I'm right here, come and kill me!..."

The orc leader Azog erected a large banner on a side hilltop, making himself a "target" to attract the attention of the powerful figures on Lonely Mountain. He then secretly sent small groups of orcs to infiltrate Lonely Mountain's defenses and head to the Valley Kingdom behind it to deal with the ordinary people there.

This move can be seen as a feint to the east while attacking the west, or as a tactic to undermine the enemy's strength.

In terms of their thought processes, the orc leader Azog and the dragon Smaug do have something in common.

They all chose to "bully the weak and flatter the strong" to retaliate against their opponents.