Chapter 176 Shi Lezhi

Author: Arion's Dolphins

Chapter 176 Shi Lezhi

It took another two days to go back. After all, it was not convenient to carry the corpse and the griffon cub.

The griffon cub is left to the care of the fairies, and after it is in good condition, it will find a way to send it to the royal capital. The situation in various parts of Oran is not stable now, and the farther the journey, the more likely it is that something unexpected will happen.

Before Tang Zhao could take a breath, Bourne, who had returned from his destination, sent someone to pull him back to the city of Karak Solma.

The atmosphere in the city was different from before, more serious and depressing.

Almost all the moving carriages had been pulled out. The carriages and the ground were filled with various supplies. Soldiers from all ethnic groups were gathering, and Bourne and several others were gathered around a round table, having a heated debate.

.

Seeing Tang Zhao's arrival, everyone stopped temporarily and stared at him.

【Can you explain the situation to me? I'm still a little confused now.】

"We did find the survivors of the Greybeard Kingdom at the northern foot of the Yongwang Mountains, and there are still a lot of them. Their condition is not very good, they lack contact with the outside world, and they lack weapons, equipment, food and medicine. We need to rescue them,

Immediately”

Then Byrne went into some specific details.

Several groups of dwarves also broke out of the encirclement, but they have disappeared since then. It is difficult to say whether the entire army was annihilated or dispersed.

In addition to a core fortress, the Greybeard Kingdom also has some small strongholds in the outside world, with a small number of garrisons and material stores. The dwarves in the fortress fled to these places through tunnels. After the initial chaotic stage, these people finally united.

Together.

They took all the resources they could find and moved together to the deepest stronghold in the mountains. This place was far away from the threat of the hobgoblins, but it was also far away from civilization.

The Blood Fist hobgoblins retreated after capturing the fortress and looting a large amount of supplies. Only a few guards were left in place. They seemed to have other tasks and did not fight with these survivors. After all, they were in the vast mountains.

Even if you can find someone, you will face a lot of losses. It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the gain is somewhat outweighed by the loss.

In addition, Bourne learned from the dwarf survivors that the Bloodfist hobgoblins did not appear in large numbers in the areas around the Greybeard Kingdom in the spring.

This shows that their route to the Cubango Swamp did not pass through the Everlook Mountains, but first went north from the hobgoblin territory in the western part of the continent, bypassing the Everlook Mountains, and then went south through the orc territory and entered the Cubango Swamp.

Inside.

[This shows that the connection between the orcs and the hobgoblins may be deeper than imagined. This road is not easy to walk, and they have to pass through many clans and tribes. The fact that they can come here safely means that these clans and tribes are helping behind the scenes.

, at least acquiescence, and the scope of involvement is larger than previously estimated.】

From Karak Solma to there, the distance is not close, but it is far from unreachable, so Bourne is thinking of ways to rescue those dwarves.

He wanted to bring the dwarf survivors here, because the geographical environment in the north is really bad - the surrounding humanoid intelligent creatures, except goblins and orcs, all have a blood feud with the dwarves. It is not necessary to survive for a long time if they are isolated and helpless.

Hold on tight.

There will still be threats from enemies here, but after all, it can receive support from other dwarves, even humans and elves, and it is also far away from the enemy's core area, which is much better geographically.

There was no need for Tang Zhao to refuse this matter. In fact, it was difficult for him to refuse, so he immediately agreed to go with the other party.

Everyone is busy preparing for action. The remaining supplies are quickly loaded into trucks, and the convoy is making final task assignments and is about to leave.

The dwarves were most eager to rescue their fellow tribesmen and dispatched nearly 400 warriors at once, almost all the dwarves in the entire settlement who could still fight normally.

In addition, there are one hundred lizardmen whose equipment has been adjusted as a supplement for frontal combat; two hundred kobolds as auxiliary troops; twenty elves, fifty goblins and countless beasts as scouts

Activity.

The settlement itself still needs a lot of manpower for protection, and many people go to the humans to perform tasks. This is already the maximum manpower that can be dispatched.

There are many druids among the elves and goblins, and most of these people are working in Ruford City or at the winery, and they can't get away.

There are only so many carriages in total. The transportation capacity required to transport a dwarf is not much different from that required to transport a kobold. However, in terms of combat effectiveness, one dwarf heavy infantry is at least worth eight kobold warriors.

, incomparable from all aspects.

He didn't know how long this trip would take, so before leaving, Tang Zhao consulted with Lilith and others who stayed behind to take charge of the defense, and discussed in detail the arrangements for the protection and reconstruction of the settlement during this period.

After all the arrangements were completed, Tang Zhao, Bourne and others left the settlement and headed north to find the dwarf survivors.

——

Bourne was relatively familiar with the road back and forth. Not only had he scouted it before with a horse vulture, but it was also the road they took when they first came south to near Insula. They worked very carefully and had already drawn it.

Having a rough map makes it easier to move around.

There are many dangerous factors along the way, but creatures with normal intelligence would not take huge risks to attack a convoy of this size, so it is safe for the time being.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to rush on the road, Tang Zhao mentioned to Bourne what he had discovered deep in the Yongwang Mountains, the peak where a giant dragon was suspected to live.

Although the two places are far apart, one is in the north and the other is in the northeast, the dwarves have lived nearby for a long time, so they might know something.

When it came to sensitive matters related to dragons, Bourne's expression became much more serious.

"It is true that there is such a thing, but we don't know much about it."

Bourne briefly introduced the situation there to Tang Zhao - there was indeed a dragon living there, it was a silver dragon, a relatively easy-to-talk type, which made Tang Zhao sigh in relief, at least it was not a fighting and violent character like the red dragon.

Almost all creatures with dragon blood are greedy for money, especially pure-blooded dragons. Dragons are greedy for money, and dwarves are not only greedy for money, but also create a lot of wealth. It can be imagined that the relationship between the two parties has never been very harmonious.

In the long history of dwarves and dragons, there have been many wars and bloody conflicts. Thanks to this, even if the silver dragon is a relatively friendly and reasonable species, the dwarves will not take the initiative to contact each other, and even if the other party takes the initiative

Contact them and they will most likely turn a blind eye.

The dwarf, who was barely a neighbor, had never seen the silver dragon a few times, and it was only a hundred years ago, so he didn't know what the real situation of the dragon was.

Silver Dragon's curiosity and desire to explore are relatively strong. There is a certain possibility that the opponent is not in the lair, but in a remote area on the mainland, or playing a role-playing game in a wealthy and prosperous city. Tang Zhao does not want to know the details.

In short, as long as they don't provoke them, there is no threat to their next series of actions.

[By the way, from the information you have received, it seems that there are not many troops stationed at the old site of the Gray Beard Kingdom? 】

"The survivors' scouts have explored there. The number of enemies is very small, and the equipment level is average. They are secondary troops. The scale of a complete dwarf fortress is very large, and the residents' production and life are all completed within the fortress. With their only

A few hundred people simply cannot control the entire fortress."

It is indeed rare to grow crops within the city walls. Among the historical knowledge reserves of ordinary people in Tang Zhao, this kind of wonder exists only in Constantinople. The population has declined seriously, from half a million

Plunged to 50,000, the city degenerated into a countryside, with several disconnected villages behind the majestic city walls.

However, the wonders of the past life are considered normal for the dwarves. Dwarf fortresses are fundamentally different from human cities. They are self-sufficient and do not rely on the outside world. That is why the dwarves can close the mountain and not leave their nests for decades.

The city has suffered from famine countless times.

[So, the survivors are trying to take back the fortress, or do you have any plans for the fortress? 】

"They didn't consider taking back the fortress. After all, they didn't have enough manpower, the fortress was severely damaged, and the repair work was also a big trouble. However, they did go through the tunnels and enter the fortress to obtain some leftover materials and weapons and equipment. There are many secrets in the fortress.

In space, it is impossible to dig out all those hobgoblins."

Although there were some activities, they never exposed themselves. They were in peace with the hobgoblins who had been stationed near the city wall, and no bloody war broke out.

We also encountered many unexpected situations on the way, such as scattered wild goblins and powerful wild monsters, but everything was under control. We did not encounter any invincible creatures such as titans or dragons, and the team successfully arrived at Gray Mountain.

Areas surrounding the Beard Kingdom.

The camp of the dwarf survivors is deep in the mountains. The terrain there is rugged and carriages are basically inaccessible, so they can either choose to stay where they are or attack the ruins of the Greybeard Kingdom.

Tang Zhao did have this idea, but he didn't know the specific situation yet and he would not act rashly, so he chose the former.

They set up camp and fortified themselves far away from the Graybeard ruins, and sent out a team of rangers to scout the surrounding environment and terrain to prepare for the next possible move.

The vulture knights did not return to Ruford, but kept moving with the team. At this time, they came in handy again.

The horse vulture carried Bourne and others all the way to the depths of the mountain to get in touch with the dwarf survivors.

——

From that night until noon the next day, Tang Zhao finally arrived at Bourne and a group of dwarf survivors.

Tang Zhao was not a dwarf, and in his opinion, dwarves were all about the same, but the haggardness could clearly be seen on the faces of these dwarves.

The stamina of dwarves is among the best among all humanoid intelligent races, and they can maintain forced marches for several weeks (although with their short legs and heavy armor, the speed of forced marches cannot be expected). Such a Grimnir superman

The obvious haggardness can be seen on their bodies, indicating that their condition is really not good.

[Thank you for your hard work. We have water and food here. This is also a safe area. There are a lot of sentries around. Do you need to take a rest first? 】

Tang Zhao proposed this to Bourne and a group of survivors, but they were directly rejected by the other party: "No, I think we can go directly over there. Everyone and supplies should be moved there first. My people need help."

.”

There were obvious bloodshot eyes in Byrne's eyes. He had barely closed his eyes these days and was in a state of high mental stress.

Tang Zhao stared at the opponent for a few seconds, and then his figure suddenly grew countless times, returned to his original size, looked down at the opponent, and slapped the ground twice with his tail, attracting everyone's attention.

come over.

[You are too tired and need to relax mentally. Your sanity is almost broken. Let me ask you, how can we carry so many cars of luggage deep into the mountains with our hands and shoulders? At the same time, over there

Is there enough space for people like us to live? What about the hobgoblins over at the Gray Beard Ruins? What should we do with the creatures along the way? Have you thought clearly about it? 】

The extremely intimidating vertical pupils stared closely into Bourne's eyes, and he even used psychic powers to calm down the other person's mood.

Bourne was silent and seemed to be thinking about something.
To be continued...