Chapter 302

At the evening banquet, Mr. Bilbo Baggins from Hobbiton drank a lot of honey mead, and his speech became somewhat slurred.

But after Allen's guidance, the smile on his face finally increased. He babbled drunkenly, saying he would set off tomorrow to go to the Lonely Mountain to see Thorin, to Mount Gundabad to see Balin, and then to Moria to visit other Dwarves.

Allen promised the drunken Bilbo that he would arrange for someone to send him to the Lonely Mountain. In fact, Bilbo would likely not be able to leave in the short term, because a major event was about to happen, and Allen needed Bilbo to help him.

Before the banquet, he had already sent out several teams of messengers with his personal letters to Rivendell, Lothlorien, Moria, and the halls of Thranduil.

The letters stated that he had extremely important matters and wanted to organize a Northern Lords' meeting in Fislate, which concerned the safety of all Middle-earth.

If the worst-case scenario for the current situation was assumed—that the ring had returned to its master—what would Sauron do first?

It shouldn't be putting on the ring immediately, because then the Wise who possessed the Three Rings would immediately sense him and know that the ring had returned to the enemy. But Allen had not heard any news about this.

For such a serious matter, Gandalf should have come to him long ago to let him prepare for war.

Then what remained might be using the power of the ring to re-condense the Dark Lord's fierce and terrifying body. After all, opening a big eye in Barad-dur every day seemed quite boring.

Of course, this was just Allen's guess. The Shire was more than a thousand miles away from Mordor. In half a year, those Black Numenoreans might not necessarily be able to walk back.

Moreover, they still needed to resist the temptation of the ring at all times and might not obediently send the One Ring back to Mordor.

However, the ring was now out of Allen's control. For such an important matter, he had to notify his allies immediately, especially the three who often wore rings.

With a thousand threads, in a place like Middle-earth, one could only do things bit by bit. No matter how anxious one was, one still had to rely on the four hooves of a horse to travel.

The next day, Allen, with dark circles under his eyes, confirmed the location of the ring. It was at Mount Doom. A mass of pitch-black shadow wrapped around that unremarkable ring, and a dark, ferocious, and brutal body was looming under the hammering of the flames.

Unfortunately, after nearly three thousand years, the One Ring had finally found its master. Another figure that surprised Allen was also at Mount Doom. He hunched his small, scarred body, his face full of flattery, but his large, pale eyes stared fixedly at the ring in the air.

That was Gollum, Gollum!!

Allen finally understood why Sauron could accurately find the ring. He had captured Gollum in Mordor in advance and used torture to force out the whereabouts of the ring.

After all, Bilbo Baggins had told Gollum himself that he was Baggins from the Shire.

As for why Sauron could capture Gollum in advance, Allen was a bit puzzled. Perhaps it was because the rise of Rhovanion had attracted the attention of the Great Eye.

It was also possible that the great battle that took place over a dozen years ago had dealt too heavy a blow to Mordor, causing Sauron to put more energy into Mordor rather than Gondor and Rohan, which was why he had accidentally found Gollum, who had once worn the ring.

Regardless, fate had changed for one reason or another, and the war that could end the Third Age was likely to arrive early.

With Allen's prestige today, the letters sent out soon received responses.

The first to arrive in Fislate was the Elf Prince Legolas, who was ordered by Thranduil to participate in this Northern meeting called by Allen.

Regarding the One Ring, Thranduil didn't have many thoughts, but regarding Sauron, the murderer of his father, the Elven King still had some thoughts. If he could help, he would certainly help.

The second team to arrive was from Lord Elrond of Rivendell. It was not surprising that this lord came in person; regarding matters of Middle-earth's stability, he would certainly be there.

Accompanying him was Galdor from Lindon. This person could be considered an old acquaintance of Allen, sent by Cirdan, Lord of Lindon, to attend the meeting.

The third team was the Dwarves from Moria. Fili, wearing a crown, led the team in person. A mighty team arrived in Fislate, which could be said to be very giving of face.

But Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien was late to arrive, only sending a messenger saying to let everyone be calm and wait for a while.

Helplessly, Allen had to talk about the current situation with the big shots who had already arrived.

Elrond told everyone that in the North today, the traces of the Dark Shadow had not been seen for a long time, and life was becoming more and more comfortable and peaceful.

Fili described to everyone the Moria that had restored its past glory—brightly lit, music floating, the life of the Dwarves getting better day by day, and recently, they had even established a good relationship with the Rohirrim.

As everyone described the things happening in the outside world, time passed bit by bit. Lady Galadriel finally arrived in Fislate at the end of summer.

Accompanying the Lady were the dusty Grey Wizard and Saruman, who had dressed himself meticulously.

Allen had not invited Gandalf, really because his old friend had no fixed residence. He only entrusted the birds of Rhovanion to help him pass a message if they encountered Gandalf.

As for Saruman, Allen had no intention of inviting him. However, it was clear that others did not think so. After all, the White Wizard was still the leader of the White Council and had not accepted Orcs and Wargs as his subordinates as in the original trajectory.

At least, under Allen's monitoring, he had not done so. He had only completely closed Orthanc and recruited a large number of humans living in Dunland, starting his progress on the "Industrial Pioneer" achievement.

The soldiers under his command were very well-equipped, with heavy armor, long spears, and powerful crossbows as the basic configuration. As for whether he had researched "Orthanc Fire," Allen was not very clear.

At this time, Saruman's look at Allen was full of dissatisfaction mixed with a trace of fear—dissatisfaction that the other party had not invited him, and fear because he had fresh memories of Allen's power. That crisscrossing lightning far exceeded his ability to bear.

For the sake of Gandalf and the Lady, Allen was too lazy to bother with Saruman. Mainly, he couldn't see Saruman's true intentions clearly. If he were a firm ally, that would naturally be a good thing; he was afraid that the other party would not change his ways and make some trouble at a critical moment.

That would be impossible to clean up.

Watching everyone gather in the banquet hall, Allen coughed lightly and recounted everything he knew.

"Today, I invited you all here to recount a matter that is of vital importance to all of Middle-earth. I will speak first. If there are any questions, you can ask them after the recounting is finished."

"I think everyone here should know one thing, that is, during the Second Age, Sauron, under the alias Annatar, deceived the Elves of Eregion with a beautiful appearance and forged many Rings of Power with magical effects..."

Allen's voice was low and clear, recounting the birth, twists, and deep, vicious schemes of the One Ring.

The many listeners present, some silent, some suddenly enlightened. These secrets hidden in time were presented in front of people so completely for the first time.

"... After the War of the Last Alliance, this ring fell into the hands of Isildur, son of Elendil, and Middle-earth gained peace once again.

I don't know why, but this ring was not destroyed, and after two thousand years of twists and turns, it fell into the hands of Gollum."

"Gollum?" Gandalf made a sound of surprise. He knew who this was. The Grey Wizard's eyes looked at Bilbo Baggins, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, Gollum."

Allen nodded to Gandalf and continued to recount everything he knew.

"However, twenty-two years ago, that is, the year Thorin reclaimed the Lonely Mountain and the dragon Smaug was slain, when we passed through the Orc caves, that ring fell into the hands of my friend, Bilbo Baggins."

At this time, everyone looked at the anxious Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins only learned today how precious the ring he possessed was. Not to mention the entire Shire, even adding the nearby Bree, it couldn't compare to its value.

"This was originally a very good arrangement. That ring had too much influence on me, and I couldn't make any decisions about it, nor could I even reveal its information to anyone. Staying in the peaceful and quiet Hobbiton was the best way I could think of."

Speaking of this, Allen's tone changed.

"But it was lost. Just last September, the ring was taken back by the enemy's loyal servant through despicable means. After my investigation, it has now returned to its master, at Mount Doom."

"Lost." While everyone's faces changed drastically, Saruman was the first to attack.

He said angrily: "For such an important thing, why did you hide it until now? Now that the thing is lost, what is the use of calling us here?"

Allen also looked at Saruman with unkind eyes and said sarcastically: "Saruman, don't think I don't know what those bounty hunters searching in the Gladden Fields are doing. If the news of the ring were told, you would definitely try every means to hold it in your hands. I tell you, you cannot control that ring; you will only fall into darkness and become a puppet of the enemy. At that time, I will definitely lead the army to crusade against you first before fighting a decisive battle with Mordor."

Allen's words made Saruman's beard float with anger. He stood up suddenly, pointed at Allen and said.

"You...!!"

"Me what me?"

Allen's voice directly suppressed Saruman's words, and the wind swirled in the closed banquet hall.

"Could it be that your Orthanc wants to go to war with my Rhovanion? I will accompany you to the end!!! However, before that, I will kindly notify you: as long as Sauron puts on that ring, he can influence the owners of all rings, even those forged with his techniques."

As early as when Allen said the One Ring was missing, Lady Galadriel, Lord Elrond, and the Grey Wizard Gandalf very tacitly took off what was on their hands.

At this time, the slow-to-react Saruman also hurriedly took off his clumsy imitation from his finger, his expression uncertain.

Going to war with Rhovanion was, of course, impossible. He didn't even have the confidence to defeat Allen head-on now. But he couldn't just admit defeat; he was really stuck, neither sitting nor standing.

"Allen's way of handling it was not wrong. That ring has a very strong ability to bewitch people. Even an outstanding king like Isildur was bewitched by it and wanted to keep it as a family heirloom. It's just that the ring has its own consciousness and would try every means to return to its master, which led to the disaster in the Gladden Fields. However, I am curious, Allen, why can you be sure that the one Mr. Baggins possessed was the One Ring?"

The good-tempered Elrond stood up to smooth things over for the two, pulling the topic away. They couldn't let the leaders of the two forces fight at such a critical moment.

"It was an ordinary gold circle. If placed in a fire, an inscription would appear, the content of which is roughly: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. This information is recorded on a scroll in the library of the White City. If you are interested, you can go and confirm it."

Allen answered Elrond's question, but his eyes kept staring at Saruman. The other party also knew this news.

"Then that's correct. That scroll should have been left by Isildur. Now the enemy has obtained his treasure, and his power will soon return to its peak. Then how should we respond?"

Elrond confirmed Allen's statement and opened the theme of this meeting: how to deal with Sauron, who was about to make a comeback.

"Now the dark forces in the entire North have been cleaned up. My intention in inviting you all here is also very clear: to gather an army and, before Sauron recovers, unite Rohan and Gondor to pacify Mordor in one battle, destroy that ring in the flames of Mount Doom, and give Middle-earth a long-lasting peace."

After Allen stated his plan, everyone at the scene was silent.

To wage war against Mordor with the strength of the entire clan was a matter that any lord would inevitably be extremely cautious about. It was impossible for them to make a decision immediately.

Seeing this situation, Allen knew he needed a reason sufficient to shock the whole scene to persuade everyone.

He took out a box covered with inscriptions from his bosom and opened it. A peerlessly brilliant light poured out, covering the box and Allen's hands.

"Silmaril?!" **CHAPTER 303** **Radiance**