Chapter 95: with translation of chapter title

The leader stepped outside, raised his head, looked at the overcast sky, and felt a tightness in his chest.

He turned to his aide and said, "After this deal, the bounty hunter organization may no longer exist in the world."

The aide wanted to ask something, but the leader had already turned back and returned to his own room.

He followed behind the leader, but he never quite understood what the leader meant by that remark; he walked to the leader's door, ready to knock, but in the end he stopped, thinking, "It's fine if I don't understand these questions; maybe knowing too much will make the boss uneasy."

Just then, the door creaked open; the aide saw the leader, who held a letter in his hand. The leader handed the letter to him and said, "This time, you must carry out my orders as quickly as possible—have all the bounty hunters cease their attacks and wait for my command!" After the leader finished speaking, the aide nodded and went to do as told.

At that moment, Jin Meng also returned to Feng Yan and the others' side, reporting in detail the situation with the bounty hunters. Feng Yan and Chen Hao listened attentively, and when they heard that the leader himself would not aid either side, the stone in their hearts fell to the ground.

Feng Yan asked Chen Hao, "Do you still remember that iron rod we had in the cave back then?" Upon hearing this, Chen Hao was instantly puzzled and asked, "What? You brought that too?"

Feng Yan chuckled upon hearing that, then explained to Chen Hao: "Actually, it's like this—we did rescue a little guy before, didn't we? That little fellow, after being captured because of his carelessness, sneaked away. Of course, it was when we left the cave that he saw the iron rod and took it back. I heard the dwarves are pretty skilled at forging weapons—how about we go take a look together?"

Chen Hao agreed, and then went with Feng Yan to the dwarves' place; at that moment, the dwarves were busy.

We saw a sturdy dwarf with his shirt off, sweat beading on his forehead; the forge's fire blazed inside the blacksmith's shop, while on the other side was a hand-operated bellows. Nearby lay a large anvil, various hammers, tongs, and the bellows, and the constant clanging from the shop shifted rhythmically, rising and falling, blending into a pleasant melody.

The dwarves excel at crafting such weapons; even Aoding's Eternal Spear came from their hands, and the rope that bound Fenrir was also forged by them.

The two thought as such, and the dwarves had already completed part of the work, stopping their labor to look at the two adventurers.

"What's wrong? Keep going, keep going, don't worry about it." Feng Yan sensed something amiss and then urged the dwarves to continue.

Then the chieftain approached, apologizing to Feng Yan: "Really sorry; if it weren't for the tribesmen's sudden decision, perhaps you two would already be in the next country by now."

Feng Yan and Chen Hao said nothing, merely walked into the smithy, glanced at the weapon nearing completion—half of the black iron rod glowed red-hot from the forge. After the dwarves rested, they resumed work, and not long after, the rod finished its first stage of processing.

Seeing the dwarves pause their work, Feng Yan asked, "How much longer will this forging take?"

The dwarf blacksmith replied, "Even at the fastest, it will still take three days."

Chen Hao, while thinking, pulled Feng Yan aside and asked, "What should we do now? Have you seen the World Tree? We don't have much time to waste here playing with these dwarves!"

Feng Yan also clearly understood their situation: the dwarves' main force had mostly been taken away by the dwarf commander, leaving few dwarves available for combat.

Feng Yan also thought it over, nodded, and replied, "You're absolutely right—we can't waste time here; we must fight swiftly and decisively."

The two reached agreement, began planning the attack, discussed for about an hour, then Feng Yan rose and announced, "Listen up, everyone—we are about to launch an assault; our goal is to liberate the dwarves and gain freedom!"

Upon hearing this, the dwarves felt a surge of strength burst through their bodies; their despondent mood vanished instantly, and they began shouting loudly in succession.

"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!"

The dwarves shouted sincerely, which naturally pleased Feng Yan, Chen Hao, and the others. Yet this atmosphere didn't last long before being interrupted by a voice from the crowd.

"What's the point of saying that? The last dwarf commander was defeated, and his comrades' corpses were used by them as potions to strengthen their own bodies—we know this better than anyone. And you want us to fight them in a hopeless struggle? I think we should just forget it." Upon hearing these words, the dwarves' voices dropped one after another, the surroundings fell silent, for what the dwarf said was quite right—now they too were afraid.

After hearing those words, Feng Yan grew somewhat angry; he felt the dwarves could no longer be persuaded, it was pointless—just like those lurking behind the scenes or staring at screens, smugly satisfied with their own conclusions, yet all they earn is deep loathing from the majority.

They think they've gained satisfaction, yet they forget how deeply others despise them; they gain a false sense of existence, yet forget the most basic moral sense of being human. Therefore, they can stand on the moral high ground to attack others, freely voicing their opinions, completely disregarding others' feelings.

At that moment, Chen Hao bent down, looked at the yellow sand on the ground, cupped a handful with both hands, and as he slowly rose, the sand continually slipped through his fingers, a little dust drifting into the air.

The sand gradually diminished in his hand, returned to the ground; a bit of dust appeared in the air, then everything slowly faded away, returning to the earth.

"You guys are nothing like the dwarves I imagined—I thought you'd be like those in fairy tales, but it turns out fairy tales are lies." Chen Hao spoke, the dwarves looked at him bewildered, and all we heard was Chen Hao continuing: "So you're this cowardly, timid, utterly lacking courage—is this your true nature? Or have you simply been on your knees for too long? Do you think kneeling is fine and don't want to stand up? Look at you—I don't know whether to cry or laugh. If you were opponents like this, I'd surely die laughing, but having such fellows as my teammates makes it hard to laugh at all."

Upon hearing Chen Hao's words, the dwarves remained silent, heads bowed in shame.

After Chen Hao finished speaking, he and Feng Yan walked away, the chieftain following behind, leaving only the tribesmen standing where they were.

The blacksmith strove to forge that black iron rod, continuing to busy himself in the smithy; the rest of the people began to disperse, returning to their respective posts, leaving only the dwarf who had spoken those words standing motionless in place.

"Are you kidding me? These guys—I just want to know if I can kill my own teammates!" Feng Yan's face flushed with anger as he said to Chen Hao.

Chen Hao paid no heed to Feng Yan's words; after assigning some matters to the chieftain, he continued, "I've already given you the specific plan—later we'll just follow it and allocate accordingly; that should achieve the goal of a surprise attack."

The chieftain nodded, then returned to his people.

At that moment, inside the Wanggong palace hall, the king was tired of listening; recent days had been nothing but trivial matters, and Yang Xin also felt bored.

"Report! The Red-clothed Devil has refined the magic potion again; this time it can directly provide a two-hour bodily enhancement!"

The king's eyes lit up instantly, then he burst into loud laughter, saying, "Hahaha, that's exactly right—we've already wiped out the dwarves' main force, and now we've added this magic potion; this time, won't Feng Yan and Chen Hao be finished?"

Yang Xin glanced at the king's smug smile, then at the arrow in his hand, feeling that this arrow's moment to be used was approaching!