Chapter 133: Three Suggestions

Lord Sawake was very grateful for Sinuoli's help. Without a doubt, this assistance directly eased the most immediate difficulties currently facing Karak-Azgalaz and pointed the way for Lord Sawake's future rule.

"Respected Chosen of the Goddess, mere words are far from enough to express my gratitude for your generous help! You hail from Everpeak, and I do not know what in this desolate place could catch your eye, so why don't you go into my treasury here and pick out an item yourself!" Lord Sawake decisively offered his reward.

"Hahaha, you really don't need to be so polite; this was a matter of mutual benefit to begin with! We Sons of the Mountains should naturally help one another!" Sinuoli immediately spoke up to decline.

After two more rounds of back-and-forth, Sinuoli nodded and agreed under Lord Sawake's warm insistence. In Sinuoli's estimation, Fearless Fort likely did not have many rare items anyway.

The truly high-quality equipment here was likely already on Lord Sawake himself and his various high-ranking officials; the treasury probably only contained some strategic reserves slightly above the average standard. Furthermore, the initiative of choice was in Sinuoli's hands, so he could easily advance or retreat regardless of what he chose once inside.

Seeing Sinuoli agree, Lord Sawake did not waste words; the two of them swept away the remaining food like a whirlwind and rose to head toward the lower levels of the castle.

Along the way, Sinuoli noticed that the joy of victory and the arrival of merchant caravans had injected some vitality into the citadel, and the small city was quite bustling with people.

Very quickly, the group arrived at the entrance of the Fearless Fort treasury, which was guarded by a small mixed squad of Hammer Guard and Ironbreaker.

Lord Sawake stepped forward to explain his intentions; some of the guards immediately lowered their heads and stepped aside upon hearing him, while others required the young lord to waste quite a bit of breath before they would grant passage.

Seeing such a situation occur in front of the Goddess's Chosen made Lord Sawake's face burn, and it also gave Sinuoli a very direct understanding of how unstable this ruler's position was. It seemed this young man still had a long road ahead of him.

After opening the gate, Lord Sawake gestured for Sinuoli to enter alone, which was undoubtedly a display of trust. Sinuoli did not stand on ceremony and stepped into the vault, which had Protection Rune inscribed upon its gate.

Although he had anticipated it, Sinuoli still couldn't help but frown when he saw the collection in Fearless Fort. In his view, the value and quality of the items inside were not even as good as the raw material vault he had entered during his assessment at the Rune Smith Guild.

One must know, that place back then was not the true treasury of the Rune Smith Guild, but merely a raw material storage room!

The items placed here could be seen to the end at a single glance. First were some Meteorite Armor inscribed with ordinary Rune; they counted as treasures among rare quality, and in the Dwarf combat sequence, only the elite of the Eternal Hammer Guard were equipped with them.

But that was the extent of it. Sinuoli did not see any Exquisite Quality weapons inscribed with Master Rune, and as for even rarer Artifact, there was no need to mention them.

As for other aspects, there were only some locally characteristic ores and raw materials of decent rarity, some finely crafted jewelry and handicrafts, and bags upon bags of gold coins and Oath Gold.

Sinuoli looked around, feeling uninterested. After all, coming from a noble background, these things did not quite catch his eye. If one really had to say, the boots on his feet, the ring on his hand, and his Warhammer combined were already worth nearly as much as all the trinkets in this room.

He began to consider whether to take a decent piece of Plate Armor as a transition, or simply take a bag of Oath Gold to fill his wallet, which had shrunk significantly due to the large amount of war bonuses he had distributed.

At this moment, he saw several boxes of miscellaneous items in the corner, which usually contained things of unknown use, but perhaps useful. Given the Dwarfs' love for wealth, they would not abandon any potential riches unless they truly had no room to stack them.

"Might as well rummage through them! Consider it broadening my horizons!" Sinuoli shook his head and walked to the boxes. Just as he used both hands to brush away the dust that had fallen on the lid due to it not being opened for a long time, the system suddenly popped up a notification.

"Spur Gear detected!"

Sinuoli's heart gave a sudden jump. Well, well, the second Artifact fragment had just popped up; it seemed this trip was truly not in vain!

Sinuoli became spirited and quickly rummaged through the pile of junk in the box. Soon, he obtained a heavy, slightly rusted Gear made of an unknown material.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining a Spur Gear!"

Hearing this notification sound, Sinuoli knew he had found the right thing.

The Spur Gear was one of the two fragments that synthesized Mogelimu's War Gear in the Artifact Vault. Legend had it that under the guidance of the God of Engineers Mogelimu, the ancestors used individual Gear to construct the first War Machine—ballistae, Grudge catapults, and Crossbow.

Gear could transmit power, change the speed and direction of motion, and had the advantages of high transmission efficiency, large transmission ratios, and a very long service life.

Relying on the first War Machine, the Dwarf race completed their expansion; groups of powerful enemies were slaughtered or driven away, and one Shanbao after another was successfully built. Nowadays, many citadels that respect tradition still use them.

And the production standards for Dwarf Gear were precisely defined by Mogelimu using this set of Artifact. As they lost contact along with the Ancestor Gods, production standards in different citadels gradually diverged, which also led to a decline in product performance.

If Sinuoli found the other Pentagonal Gear and recast this set of Artifact, he would be able to perform a unique Mogelimu's Rite, standardize production processes, greatly increase the range, power, and ammunition capacity of ballistae, crossbows, and catapults, and reduce reloading time.

When Sinuoli walked out of the treasury gate carrying such an unremarkable Gear, he saw several Changxu Dwarf with beards dragging on the ground arguing with Lord Sawake about something.

When they saw Sinuoli walk out the door, most of them shut their mouths, and only one old fellow jumped out.

"Let me see what this outsider Little Beard has swindled from Karak-Azgalaz?" he yelled at Sinuoli quite disrespectfully.

When Sinuoli generously showed them the Spur Gear, these guys were all dumbfounded.

"This, this is?" The old Dwarf before him froze; he didn't even know such an item existed in the treasury.

Sinuoli would not explain the wonderful uses of this Gear to them; he simply maintained a faint smile, eyeing these "country" Dwarfs with a trace of disdain!

After a brief eye contact, the clansmen before him turned red in the face, and they became increasingly embarrassed. Sinuoli's smile, paired with the Gear in his hand, felt like a loud slap across their faces.

Thanks to Wild Gorilla for the tip, and Sakura Night Rain for the monthly ticket.