Chapter 433: The Chaos Dwarf Appears

"I asked you to come over because I wanted to discuss the matter of Eight Peaks."

"Are you finally going to mobilize the troops? Did the Mother Goddess give new instructions? How dare mere rat-vermin resist the might of a Demigod! Just one month, no, half a month, and we could..."

"Stop, stop, don't get excited!"

Upon hearing those three words, Belegar became instantly agitated. The strength he currently had at his disposal was arguably the greatest among the leaders of the Angrund Clan in the last thousand years; if it weren't for the repeated failures of his ancestors looming before him, he would have been unable to restrain himself long ago.

"Our goal is not to charge into the fortress, letting you occupy a few halls on some level and then get bogged down in an endless war of attrition with the rats and Greenskins. We do not retake it unless we are certain; once we retake it, we must let it return completely to the embrace of the Qunshan."

Sinuoli repeated the words he had said countless times. He pushed aside the clutter on the table, revealing an extremely detailed map of the East and South Badlands. It was marked in detail with the situation of every stronghold and information on the enemies within, some even including appendices—detailed down to every tunnel underground.

This was the result of the work of Brian and his expedition team. In the Golden Age, the ancestors had built mining stations and outposts throughout the mountains of the Badlands; over thousands of years, many had been usurped by enemies, preventing the Dwarfs from returning to Eight Peaks.

To obtain this intelligence, besides recruiting experts from the Qunshan, Brian had also hired a group of Pegasus Knights from Bretonnia with generous gifts of rune equipment, achieving a three-pronged advance by land, air, and underground.

Ironbrow cursed and swore as he whipped his Apprentice, only finishing Brian's bill after hammering the Doom Anvil until it was red-hot. Fortunately, when he saw this map, the King of the Three-Hammer Alliance praised it repeatedly; professional matters must be handled by professional people.

"Let us start from these places, clear the roads leading to Eight Peaks, and clip their wings. This kind of relatively low-intensity combat is also a good opportunity to train the troops and strengthen their coordination."

Sinuoli pointed at the green Goblin faces and black rat heads on the map, the different sizes representing the scale of their numbers.

"Very well, such small skirmishes shouldn't require you to take action, right? Then who will represent the Southlands and coordinate with us? Will it be Gotrek, the champion shared by you and the divine Grimnir?"

"No, not him. He has other important matters in the Far North Wastes. I intend to take this opportunity to cultivate more commanders. When the time comes, I will have to trouble you to guide them a little! Actually, you can do this too; a king does not necessarily have to do everything personally."

"Well, I have four ancestors assisting me."

"Gazul has the least connection with me among the gods. I am not sure if they will return to the Ancestor Hall to rest after Eight Peaks is retaken. You are the only seedling left of the Angrund Clan; it wouldn't hurt to make more contingency plans."

"Hahaha, strictly speaking, that is no longer the case! I was just about to tell you this good news! Thanks to the Mother Goddess, Anya is pregnant!"

"Congratulations! If needed, I can make a trip to Keladeluomen before the birth."

"

"Hmm, although it is a bit early, I am thinking that once the child is old enough to understand, I will send them here to receive your teachings. Gaoyuanbao is, after all, in the rear, and safer than my place."

Sinuoli looked at Belegar suspiciously upon hearing this. This was undoubtedly an act of pledging loyalty to him, so that he could feel at ease investing more into the retaking of Eight Peaks. It might even have been taught by Lady Anya; he had felt that woman was not simple back then.

"No problem. I hope we can start the operation within the year. You know, the faster we clear them out, the sooner we can begin, and the better we clear them out, the lower the cost of the support we receive from the Old World."

After suggesting some maternal and infant health products imported from Zhendan to Belegar, Sinuoli threw himself back into his work. The traces of the Chaos Dwarf created a new sense of urgency. The scouts he had sent out, with the help of Wahaf, the eldest son of Settra, had already pinpointed the range of activities of that Chaos Dwarf expedition team. Exact news would likely arrive in these few days.

"The promotion of the compulsory education school is very gratifying. Now the enrollment rate for those under twelve has reached eighty percent, and fifty percent of youths over fifteen are also attending night school."

Noli had been appointed as the Education Official, traveling through the Southlands to push for compulsory education. Because it was a brand-new policy, all new students, regardless of age, were in the first grade.

Most parents could realize the importance of knowledge, but not every youth was willing to give up the opportunity to make money during their prime years to study. Sinuoli repeatedly emphasized that at this stage it must be voluntary enrollment, so Noli's work was mainly focused on promotion and collecting feedback.

"What is the attitude of the church side?"

"Hmm, most of the high-ranking priests can keep their positions straight, but there are some grassroots in individual villages that are quite radical. I have already reported the most troublesome ones to Lord Andemuge."

"Resistance is to be expected. It is just that he has been under a lot of pressure lately. Let's allocate more manpower from the Progress Association to the Western Depot."

Sinuoli waved his hand to signal that Noli could end the report. The scouts had already found the recent campsites of those fallen ones near the Devil's Spine Mountains. Although they had never met, the mixed scent of machine oil and Daemons was too distinctive.

"Red Cloud Mountain relay, found a field pot!"

"Pass on my order, depart immediately!"

Rushing to the tarmac and jumping onto the plane that had been on standby, Sinuoli and his guard headed straight for the coordinates. There were not many things in the Mortal World that could threaten him, but it never hurt to be in the habit of bringing more people.

"Those, those terrifying guys, they are over there! Ancestor Gods above! Your Majesty, Demigod of the Ancestor Chosen, forgive my anger!"

As the news spread, the surrounding dragnet teams also quickly assembled. When Sinuoli landed, he saw two hundred men, half Human and half Dwarf. The Dwarf Ranger who had discovered them first reported loudly and nervously.

"Well done! Mark it as a great merit for you! The other warriors will also be rewarded by me when we return. Now spread out and tighten the fence; don't let a single one escape!"

Khatep had mentioned the scale of the Chaos Dwarf in the intelligence—an expedition team of several dozen people. No matter how down-and-out this race was, they would not have only this many people. Sinuoli could not leave them a chance to go back and report.

"Why can't we find that thing yet?"

"We cannot go back empty-handed like this, unless you want to..."

"The tail following behind is getting closer and closer. We can't shake them off at our speed!"

"I said those bone-racks could not be trusted!"

Sinuoli activated the Mortal Bulwark and approached stealthily with his guard. Before seeing them, the hoarse complaints in the Dwarf language, with some syllables changed, flooded into his ears.

"Boom—!"

The Rune was triggered, the earth cracked, and the Anvil Guard charged in instantly. They had performed this kind of coordination countless times.

"Disarm and surrender! Anyone who dares to resist, chop off an arm first!"

(End of chapter)