Chapter 216: Equipment and Troop List

After lingering at Sea Gate for a few more days to console the volunteer troops who had arrived early, Snorri returned once more to Everpeak to make final preparations for the expedition.

Soon, he was summoned by Thorgrim Grudgebearer; the High King wished to give his son a few words of advice before his departure.

It was the same office as before, but Snorri was no longer the ordinary Dwarf Prince and Rune Smith he had once been. He was now the Chosen of the Ancestor Goddess, the War God's Messenger, one recognized by Grimbrindal, and the Vice President of the Rune Smith Guild.

"You, how much certainty do you have!" After the exchange of fatherly concern, Thorgrim finally got to the point. He was the primary supporter and sponsor of Snorri's expedition, and it could be said that the honor and disgrace of father and son were bound together.

Currently, Thorgrim did not yet possess the immense prestige he would have a century later in the Mountain Kingdom; if Snorri failed this time, the entire faction's influence within the Dwarf Realms would diminish for many years to come.

"Over seventy percent!" Snorri had not failed to consider this issue, but he saw no need to speak with absolute certainty during a private conversation with his father. News regarding the Southlands was currently severely outdated and distorted; he had confidence in the force he had assembled, but the unknown was always a cause for concern.

Only after repeated deductions did Snorri set his target on Gaoyuanbao. The Southlands were relatively backward, with resources that were abundant yet had not undergone large-scale extraction; furthermore, being far from the centers of Dwarf power, he would have greater freedom.

He had once considered whether he might retake Gangbadefeng or Karak-Angul; these two fortresses were not far from the core regions of the Dwarfs, and the difficulty was relatively lower. But that way, he would have no way to take the next step, unless he went to the Chaos Wastes or the Dark Lands of the Chaos Dwarfs to expand.

Thorgrim nodded; he trusted his youngest son's judgment and gave him his full support. Finally, he took a glove from his safe and handed it to Snorri.

This was an Exquisite Quality treasure engraved with a Master-class Power Rune, which literally increased the wearer's strength; Thorgrim had prepared it specifically for Snorri, considering his signature flying hammer technique.

As Tiezhuoshugong delivered a breastplate and the Stanlizizhuxue to Snorri's courtyard, his own preparations for the expedition were fully complete. That breastplate was engraved with the Expansion Rune replicated by Tiezhuoshugong and a Fortitude Rune commonly used on armor.

The Expansion Rune had long been lost, and even in the Golden Age, it was very niche. All equipment ordered by Dwarfs was custom-made; even if there were slight differences in the physique of descendants, they could be adjusted by losing weight, squeezing in, adding linings, etc., so there was no need to waste a precious rune slot.

Therefore, no data had been passed down on how to reconcile the mutual influence between this rune and other runes. Even though Tiezhuoshugong was already an experienced Rune Master, he could only engrave the most conventional, ordinary runes alongside it.

The reason Snorri had such a special requirement was to prepare for that Avatar of the Gods skill. He was only a little bit away from reaching level five now, and although the experience required for each subsequent level was increasing, he felt that reaching level six on this trip did not seem like a dream.

When there were ten days left until the departure date, Snorri held a swearing-in ceremony at Everpeak. Both the God of War and the Ancestor Goddess expressed their support for his expedition. Afterward, Snuori took his supporters and supplies gathered at Everpeak and headed toward Sea Gate.

The entire Balake-Wa'er was already prepared to welcome Snorri's expeditionary force; this port city had completely mobilized for Snorri's expedition. Everywhere were clansmen and foreign laborers running about, busily loading supplies into the holds.

Snorri sat in his temporary office on the upper level of the fortress, reading the troop list that had just been compiled and the Runic Telegraphs themed with blessings from all directions.

Rune Master Snorri Thorsson (Doom Anvil)

80 Anvil Guards

80 Hammer Warriors

50 Dwarf Rangers

20 Irondrakes

20 Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedo)

3 Bolt Throwers (Burning Rune)

3 Cannons

2 Organ Guns

2 Dwarf Helicopters (Sulfur Gun)

30 Monster Slayers

50 Ordinary Slayers

Plus Administrator Engineer Buluoke, Dwarf General Henlide-Tulongzhe, and Leviathan Butcher Rogov.

The Dwarf force under Snorri's command had reached a scale of two thousand; for the Mountain Kingdom, this was definitely a large force. Snorri was confident in eliminating any enemy who dared to block his path in the early stages of the expedition,

but he was also clear that his front lines would be stretched very thin; whether he could win one victory after another while his forces were gradually diluted, and still protect the fruits of previous victories, was even more critical.

Many Slayers from Karak-Kadrin had joined Snorri's ranks; with Rogov's example, they also hoped for a chance to receive forgiveness from the White Dwarf or even the Ancestor Gods.

Snorri simply divided them into two categories: those who had killed monsters of the size of Trolls, Ogres, or Minotaurs were collectively called Monster Slayers, while those who had only hacked at Greenskins, rats, or Chaos cultists were collectively called Ordinary Slayers.

This effectively avoided the "Stormvermin Slayers," "Orc Big 'Un Slayers," "Beastman Slayers," and so on, sitting together every day shouting to compete for superiority; boasting about their past achievements was nothing but normal for Dwarfs.

For the volunteers who had rushed over from various Shanbaos, Snorri reorganized those with formal military experience by unit type, but there were still a large number of clansmen from settlements outside the mountains or Little Beards who had not yet served in the military.

The individual combat effectiveness of these clansmen was not necessarily poor, but they lacked discipline and cooperation, and their equipment was mostly strange. A one-handed weapon with a Shield in hand, a two-handed weapon stuck on the back, and an extra short gun or Crossbow hanging at the waist was a standard configuration.

In essence, they were similar to Rangers, but they had not undergone specialized reconnaissance or stealth training; when it came to battle, they would first fire a chaotic volley from afar, and then wave their gear and swarm forward.

Beyond the Dwarfs, Snorri recruited two units from other factions. First was the well-known mercenary army from the mercenary kingdom of Tilea—the Amazons of Anagongda.

The Amazons were a human variant created by the Old Ones; they were all female and used the secret techniques of the Old Ones to reproduce.