Chapter 250: Where the Predecessors Went

In the game, the Xianzu Dating mainly provides buffs for Longbeard units, which can reduce recruitment costs and upkeep while simultaneously increasing rank and recruitment capacity. This is not hard to understand; Sinuoli believes this place will attract a large number of elderly clansmen to pay their respects.

"This place is well-preserved; the ancestors at the time must have evacuated voluntarily!" Brian said, which was, of course, a load of nonsense. "However, why is there no news whatsoever about these evacuees?"

"I believe further exploration will give us the answer!" Sinuoli smiled and deactivated his Stone Form. He let out a sigh of relief; if Gaoyuanbao were nothing but ruins, he would have no initial capital for further development.

The Dwarfs dispersed into the various passages once again, while the Amazon and Human were asked to set up camp outside the main gate, waiting for the Dwarfs to finish their exploration.

As mercenaries, the Amazons earned a fixed military pay, while the Knights entrusted Count Marvin to be their spokesperson. This warrior from Bastonne had achieved much while fighting against the Nurgle demon army, and that very night, he was led by visions deep into the woods, where he drank the Grail Water and was promoted to "Saint Marvin."

The newly promoted Grail Knight decided to follow tradition by building a Shengbei Jiaotang at the site of his promotion—the small lake where the Lady descended—and tending to it personally.

The Questing Knights requested that territory be demarcated for them on the Lost Plateau, and those who had not contributed enough points had to pay to make up the difference. Only a few Questing Knights who had persisted to the end requested to exchange for some equipment.

Sinuoli agreed to these conditions one by one; his territory could not rely on Dwarfs alone to develop. These Knights would certainly not act as lone commanders and do the farming themselves; when the time came, they would naturally bring in more population.

Kalake-Zuen was not particularly large; by current standards, it was at most the size of an outpost, and it lacked some building complexes that only became widely used after the Dark Age.

An hour later, Sinuoli's subordinates returned to report that they had discovered three portals guarded by multiple Rune Guardians, requiring Sinuoli to lead the exploration. One was on the upper level, and the other two were deeper down.

"Let's go to the upper level first!" Sinuoli stroked his beard and ordered. Generally speaking, the upper level should be the lord's quarters, which might contain some written materials.

After calming the two Rune Guardians at the door, Sinuoli pushed the door open. His judgment was not wrong; this was a standard lord's office layout. Dwarfs were so conservative that their fortress construction style had not changed much in thousands of years.

On the desk, Sinuoli saw what he wanted—several copies of the Book of Grudges. In addition to the Book of Grudges for the Gaoyuanbao fortress, there were also those of the Blacksmith Guild and the Miner Guild. He took the main one directly and flipped through it.

"The God of War God of War Gelunmuni'er is truly a fierce fighter! But thinking about it, that makes sense; the 'High Gentleman' is already so outrageous, so it is only fitting that his true self possesses this combat power!"

Sinuoli muttered as he flipped through the pages. All the grudge entries in the front had been crossed out, and the person listed as having settled most of them was the God of War God of War Gelunmuni'er.

Sinuoli stroked these words, feeling the residual power in the blood that replaced ink even after thousands of years. He had reason to suspect that these were written by the hand of the Father God Grungni himself.

Sinuoli skipped directly over these stories, which should have been, or already had been, compiled into epics. After flipping through a third of the Book of Grudges, the scribe's handwriting changed, and entries that had not been settled began to appear.

Based on his historical knowledge, he knew that by this time the ancestors had already moved north, and the subsequent entries focused on Gaoyuanbao itself. After that point in time, it seemed to have been peaceful for a long period; no faction dared to challenge the Mountain Kingdom, which was at its zenith, until the names of the Elves began to appear in large numbers.

"The War of the Beard actually reached even here!" Sinuoli rubbed the pages. He saw that during this period, the clansmen of Gaoyuanbao and the Elves had fought back and forth; although they lacked the initiative to advance, they were still capable of holding their ground.

The War of the Beard ended with a Dwarf victory, but the subsequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions heralded the beginning of the Dark Age.

"The northern mountains have collapsed; we have lost contact with the fortress over there, and the exploration team we sent out has also disappeared."

"Green-skinned dwarfs and muscle-bound brutes have appeared from nowhere! They don't have decent gear, but they seem to keep coming back no matter how many we kill. A mining station in the west has been overrun by them."

"Traces of pointed-ears have been found in the south. Those bean sprouts still won't give up; the ancestors should have smashed their toilet seats into the sea back then!"

Sinuoli could feel the indignation and helplessness of that Dwarf lord from the lines and paragraphs written in blood. The hidebound Dwarfs were ill-equipped to deal with such drastic changes.

Flipping through the experiences left behind by the ancestors yielded no way to cope, and meetings held to discuss it resulted only in endless grumbling and complaining. Isn't all of this still happening even now?

The records suddenly stopped. Tucked into the end was a letter, which Sinuoli opened without hesitation.

"What does it say?"

The Dwarf managers crowded around. Previously, cowed by Sinuoli's might, they had stood idly in the office for a long time, and now they finally couldn't wait any longer.

"They evacuated voluntarily? That's truly rare!" Brian read the fastest.

"They sailed east. The ships were captured Dragon ships belonging to the pointed-ears. East... what is to the east?" Balin asked curiously.

"The mountains to the north are broken—so that means the Lost Plateau should have been a mountain range originally; it was destroyed directly by the earthquake back then." Andemuge was also analyzing.

"That lord's idea was sound. This place is already the south of the world; there is no point in going further south. Without sailing experience, it would be easy to run straight into the arms of the bean sprouts to the west, and things were not like they are today back then." Sinuoli affirmed the choice made by those ancestors.

"Whoever can come here and see this letter must be a member of the Sons of the Mountains. When we evacuated, we left behind Rune Guardians to protect the gate and the tombs of our ancestors; we hope the deceased have not been disturbed. The carrying capacity of the pointed-ears' broken ships was limited; the equipment and wealth we could not take with us have been sealed in the warehouse. You may use them to protect this place."

A look of joy appeared on Sinuoli's cheeks. A voluntary evacuation that left behind an intact fortress, not to mention additional resources—how could he not be happy? After reading the front, he flipped the letter over; the back was a blood-written note.

"I, Krak-Wanderer, am forced to leave the ancestral homeland. I hereby take the Slayer Oath to atone for my actions!"

"They might have gone to Cathay!" Brian tugged at his beard.

"I heard pointed-ear sailors talking in Lothern; they had seen some sea Slayers, but their attire and accents were different from the Dwarfs of our Old World. Perhaps they are the descendants of this branch of ancestors!"