Chapter 216: The Anti-Aging Potion

As Allen gazed toward the south with sharp eyes, pondering how to deal with the schemes woven by Sauron's evil.

In that land shrouded in darkness where sunlight could not reach, there was likewise an evil presence watching Allen's figure and pondering.

It was a giant Eye of Sauron located at the top of a pitch-black tower; scorching, unbearable flames erupted from its body, and merely looking at it would sting a person's eyes.

And at the center of that Eye of Sauron, a profound, incomparable darkness condensed; if someone's eyes could endure the scorching of those flames, they could see a terrifying, tall figure within that darkness that drew one in.

This was the new form Sauron had taken by completely merging himself with Barad-dûr.

Before the Dark Lord could reclaim his most precious treasure, he could only appear in this form, for he did not have enough power to help himself condense a real body.

At this very moment, Sauron was peering at everything with the help of the Palantir, his field of vision in the sky like a king, looking down upon Allen's small yet clear figure.

And everything that had just happened left his thoughts far from calm.

The conspiracy he had meticulously laid out had just been easily crushed by the enemy without causing the enemy any losses, which made Sauron even more wary of this human in his field of vision.

Yet he did not have the slightest thought of being discouraged; Sauron, known for being sinister and ruthless, also possessed another quality: ample patience.

Moreover, Sauron did not feel he had gained nothing; he believed he had found Allen's weakness and had tested the limits of this human's power.

If one could not rely on an ambush to kill a powerful enemy, one could also use sinister schemes to lead others to fall, thereby achieving one's own ulterior secrets.

This was a technique Sauron had learned from his master, Melkor.

As for Allen's ability to control lightning, Sauron had also meticulously discovered the limits of this power.

Even counting from the First Age, which was gradually being forgotten by people, this human who was king in the north was worthy of being called powerful.

But Sauron did not care; what did it matter if they were as powerful as the Númenóreans? The temperament and short lifespan of humans would be strongly affected by time, and Sauron was not short on time at all.

As for the Dwarves who died or were captured in the ambush, he naturally did not care in the slightest.

Because Sauron would not waste a shred of concern on any life other than his own.

Of course, if it were an enemy he hated and detested, Sauron would not mind spending some energy to torture them, obtaining a sense of pleasure from it as their life faded away.

Or, if the conspiracy he had meticulously woven could succeed, that would also be a thing full of joy.

Sauron's gaze, which was fixed on Allen, flashed with layers of cunning amidst his thoughts; soon, he stopped using the Palantir.

Because even one as formidable as him had to pay a considerable price to use this treasure to view such a great distance.

But Sauron's gaze did not leave the north, for he had already woven a sufficiently evil conspiracy in his heart, which would soon be staged in the north.

In terms of the terrain of Rhovanion, Heidelberg, ruled by Alayen, although the area it controlled was not large and only occupied a tiny bit of the Running River basin, it would soon go from a castle defending the frontier to the center of the entire Kingdom of Rhovanion.

Of course, this was only speaking in terms of terrain.

And this castle was about sixty kilometers away from the location where Allen was ambushed.

Two hours after the battle ended, Alayen, having received the request for reinforcements, hurriedly rushed over from the east bank of the Running River with a team of his Cavalry.

And the fleet departing from the port of Heidelberg was also speeding along the river, but against the current, the speed of the ships could not compare to fast horses in the short term.

Alayen, who was no longer young and had become increasingly experienced in battle, also considered that if the enemy fled from the east bank, he could still pursue them for a while on horseback.

Ha, in his mind, the possibility of his own king losing a fight simply did not exist.

At least, in the dozen or so years Alayen had followed Allen, he had never seen his boss taste the flavor of defeat; the scale of battles ranged from dozens to tens of thousands of people, and the troops had only ever maneuvered, never routed.

As for the anxious-looking Malherbe, the talk of reinforcements coming out of his mouth was, in Alayen's view, complete nonsense.

If Allen needed support, the only possibility was that he had brought too few people himself and could not annihilate the enemy on the other side, needing some hands to help.

Yes, Alayen had such strong confidence and worship for Allen.

Therefore, when Alayen looked at boat after boat of Dwarf captives, there was not a hint of surprise on his face; instead, he asked his boss as a matter of course.

"My lord, I wonder how you wish to deal with them?"

Regarding this, Allen had long had a plan.

"Alayen, please trouble yourself to lock them in the dungeon of Heidelberg first. Be extra careful; it is best to add both handcuffs and shackles. Only allow them to be provided with one meal of porridge a day, and then wait for my news."

It was not because these Dwarves before him were loyal to Sauron and had ambushed him here that Allen was mistreating them.

It was truly because the constitution of Dwarves was far too powerful; if they were served good food and drink, once this bunch of guys recovered and obtained some crude weapons, they could cause huge trouble.

With only the few soldiers under Alayen's command, it was not certain they could beat these hundred or so strong adult Dwarves.

It was better to keep them hungry; with nothing in their stomachs, even Dwarves would have no desire to wield weapons.

"Very well, I understand, my lord." Alayen accepted Allen's order with a respectful expression, but the gaze he subsequently cast toward the Dwarf captives flashed with fire-like anger.

Such an obvious expression was naturally seen by Allen. After a moment of slight consideration, Allen gave Alayen one more instruction: "Keeping them hungry is enough; do not torture them."

Alayen was not a native of Middle-earth and did not have the tolerant character of the people of Rohan. Having grown up in Calradia and received a complete aristocratic education, he also had a certain level of expertise in how to torture captives.

Originally, Alayen had wanted to apply the skills he had learned in the past to these Dwarves who claimed to be tough, to let them understand what kind of miserable fate they would suffer after offending his boss.

But at Allen's instruction, this young man lowered his head dejectedly. He understood that the person he served had a kind heart and did not like to torture others unless absolutely necessary.

"I understand, my lord."

Allen looked at Alayen, who had followed him since he was a teenager, and did not doubt whether he would disobey his orders.

What he thought of in his mind were other things; he was hesitating whether to grant Alayen a longer life, or whether he should also grant the same long life to Alayen's wife, Caroline.

According to the power Allen possessed at this time, it was no longer as difficult as before to obtain a Dragon Tear Gem in Pendor; as long as he wanted, he could obtain the Anti-Aging Potion continuously.

Even if he could not redeem it from the Simulator, he could obtain it from Finnis of Dikit under other conditions, because what Allen experienced was not a rigid game world; Finnis naturally had various other needs, and sometimes would even take out a Dragon Tear as a reward for Allen helping him complete some things.

And these were exactly the things Allen was currently experiencing, but his simulated experiences were currently very fragmented, and when he had the opportunity, he would still summarize his gains.

So the potion was not the problem now; what made Allen hesitate was actually the affection between Alayen and his wife.

Whether in Heidelberg or Fislate, the love story of Alayen and Caroline had always been a story people loved to talk about after tea and dinner.

An Attendant by the king's side and a female leader of the Woodland Residents came together in a time of crisis, received the blessing of a great monarch, and became a lord and a lady.

No matter how boring this story might have been at the beginning, after being processed layer by layer by time and the crowd, it would certainly become a rumor that people loved and yearned for.

And the affection between Alayen and Caroline was indeed always very good; they loved each other deeply and worked together to keep the entire territory in perfect order.

At the very least, the result Allen saw was like this, so he was also thinking about whether to let this loving couple grow old together and leave this world together in the end, rather than artificially intervening and letting one live on alone.

It was not that Allen had not thought about also bestowing a bottle of Anti-Aging Potion on Alayen's wife, but his struggle was precisely on this point.

Because Caroline is a "Secondborn" of Ilúvatar, it is not yet known whether the magic potion will have an effect, and if a bad reaction occurs, what should be done then? Allen is by no means a master alchemist.

Allen had been thinking about this matter since they were in Heidelberg, because he saw wrinkles on Alayen's face, which suddenly reminded him that this young man had also passed the age of thirty, and was now a man in his thirties.

And now, Allen decided to ask for Alayen's opinion in person; he never liked to drag things out, as an unresolved matter would only endlessly drain his energy.

What's more, he viewed Alayen more as family than as a subordinate.

Thinking of this, Allen pointed to the seat opposite him and said, "Alayen, come, sit by my side; I have some things I would like to ask your opinion on."

Hearing these words, an expression of surprise finally appeared on Alayen's face; he had always been accustomed to following Allen's orders and had never encountered such a situation before.

Precisely because of the uncertainty, the anxious Alayen followed Allen's instructions and sat down beside him cautiously, waiting nervously; he did not know what on earth his boss wanted to "consult" with him about.

In fact, when they first arrived in Middle-earth, although Alayen was very respectful to Allen, he had not been so reserved in front of him.

It was just that over these past ten-plus years, Allen's own prestige had grown stronger and his status had become more noble, which forced Alayen to pay more attention to his own conduct.

These things were naturally seen by Allen; in fact, it was not just Alayen who was like this, as the behavior of Bandak, Desaiwei, Fatis, and Artimenner over these years had been the same.

Reserve and respect seemed to be their only attitude toward Allen; perhaps only Yamila and James had not changed much for various reasons.

Even Cress was no longer as mischievous as before; of course, this was something Allen was happy to see and applauded.

But for the others, Allen had no better way to change this current situation, because his attitude toward everyone had never changed; what had changed was his status, his power, and his position and impression in the hearts of others.

Such things could not be changed by human effort alone, and Allen, who understood these truths deeply, could only silently accept these changes.

"Alayen, how many years has it been since we arrived here?"

Hearing this question, Alayen was suddenly stunned and subconsciously began to think, but it had indeed been quite a long time, and since he had lived quite happily after arriving here, he had never paid attention to the passage of time.

"My lord, it must have been at least ten years."

Allen nodded; to be precise, it should be eleven years.

"Yes, it has been ten years, and you have gone from a young lad to the father of two children; you have grown up and are now a mature man, so there are some things you need to make a choice about yourself."

Speaking to this point, Allen paused slightly, and the expression on his face became even gentler, because Alayen's expression was truly too serious, as if he were about to be given a very major task.

However, the reality was not so.

"You also know that I possess some very special abilities, one of which is that I can pay a great price to obtain a kind of potion; this magic potion can grant people a longer life, a point I think you are clear on. Now you are busy with affairs in Heidelberg, and I am even more entangled in miscellaneous tasks; if there is nothing else, we might not see each other for years, so I intend to give you this magic potion in advance."

Hearing this, Alayen suddenly relaxed, and at the same time, a wave of emotion surged in his heart.

He certainly knew that his boss possessed a magical potion that could help people who were growing older regain their youth; people like Artimenner and James had once received this reward, and this time he had discovered that even Desaiwei had become younger.

And now, it was his turn to receive this reward!

!

Alayen stood up extremely excitedly, knelt on one knee before Allen with great solemnity, and said with his head lowered:

"My lord, I feel extremely honored to receive such a reward, but what efforts must I make to obtain a second bottle of the magic potion? I do not wish to watch Caroline gradually grow old while my own appearance remains the same; I hope you can give Caroline a chance!

Let her also be able to extend her lifespan!"

Allen patted Alayen on the shoulder and said slowly:

"In fact, the choice you have to make is exactly this. I can ensure that this magic potion will have a very good effect on you, but for Caroline, I cannot guarantee it; the reason does not need me to elaborate, right? So, Alayen, are you willing to take this risk? Or you can also discuss it with your wife; we still have plenty of time, and you can think about it slowly."

It was not that Allen had not thought about finding a native of Middle-earth to test the effect, but who to find? Find a Dark Man?

Not to mention the waste of the potion, such behavior itself is immoral; if he did so, how would he be any different from those people who live their little lives quite well?

So, having thought about these things, Allen gave up the idea of experimentation and instead gave the right of choice to Alayen and his wife; if they were willing to take the risk, he would not be stingy with a bottle of magic potion, and if they were not willing to take the risk, then he had already given the opportunity.

And now, this trouble was for Alayen to think about instead.