Chapter 88: Divine Grace Appears Again

Seeing Sinuoli push the money bag back again, Lord Alike-Lufusen grew a bit anxious; it felt as if this had become a competition to determine whether he was pious enough. With his own subjects watching, he did not want to fall behind.

"You need not worry about the Mother Goddess temple in Karak-Hern; my mother serves as the high priestess here. If you have time, you may go visit and offer your suggestions for modifications," Alike responded first to the suggestion Sinuoli had proposed.

"Consider this small sum an offering from us to the Mother Goddess. Please, I entrust you to purchase items on our behalf to express the respects of all our brethren in Haojiaobao to Her!" Alike continued.

Seeing that things had reached this point, Sinuoli found it difficult to decline further, so he simply accepted the money bag and tucked it into his robe.

The clansmen present saw this and began to loudly praise Lord Alike's generosity and piety; judging by his expression, he, who was still quite a young man, found this very gratifying.

Since Alike still had to arrange the reconstruction of the merchant guild and the subsequent revenge operations, it was inconvenient for Sinuoli to stay long. He also wanted to return the precious Oath Gold and the Left Half of the Tongs to his safe as soon as possible.

Sitting on the bed in the guest room, Sinuoli let out a long breath. He touched his back; the undergarment beneath his robe had just been soaked through with cold sweat, and now it felt chilly and quite uncomfortable.

Sinuoli was not accustomed to wearing Plate Armor; it was a burden for both him and his Rock Sheep. If the Twilight Sisters had concentrated their firepower on him just now, he surely would have had no chance of survival.

This blow to the head made Sinuoli tense up again. A victory combined with newly acquired equipment had made him a bit carried away; this time, he realized he still had a significant gap to bridge before he could stand among the true powerhouses of the world.

Recalling Lord Alike's equipment from earlier, Sinuoli shook his head. That axe was engraved with a Master-Grade Vengeance Rune and two matching, enhanced common runes; it was undoubtedly of Legendary Quality.

The Shield he stood upon was also no ordinary item; it was the shield used by Kurgaz, the first lord who slew the Dragon occupying the Black Mountains and established Haojiaobao.

That ancestor Kurgaz had a tall stature, and his shield could not be used by ordinary Dwarfs, so it was used to build a platform.

Thinking that Alike was not old, yet possessed the strength to contend with the vast majority of powerhouses thanks to this set of Legendary Quality equipment, Sinuoli's desire to retrieve his Artifacts became even more urgent.

The next morning, Sinuoli was startled awake by a round of knocking. He stood up, muttering and cursing the guy who had woken him from a dream where he had assembled a set of legendary cloak, Plate Armor, and lining, allowing Tiepi to hack at him wildly, while his hands were full of ten legendary rings, using a round of runes to blast Archaon into smithereens.

Balin led several Dwarfs inside; judging by their attire, they were all clansmen of considerable status.

"Why is it this again?" Sinuoli's heart gave a jolt.

Fortunately, the clansmen of the Black Mountains were much more respectful of tradition than the Dwarfs of the Engineer city of Zhufuba. They wanted nothing, only wishing for Sinuoli to accept bag after bag of Oath Gold.

These nobles had seen Lord Alike's act of offering gold yesterday and had all decided to follow suit.

After another round of repeated back-and-forth, Sinuoli finally decided to take only one piece from each as a token of their intentions, and only then did these Dwarfs disperse, still feeling unsatisfied.

"It really lives up to the saying: life lies in movement, and money lies in circulation!" Sinuoli sighed, looking at the Oath Gold in his hand, which had increased by several dozen pieces since he left Everpeak.

After breakfast, two more Dwarfs brought news: Alike's mother, Queen Mother Kaili, invited Sinuoli to the Goddess's temple for a chat.

Sinuoli had no objections. He arranged for Tomi to contact the Human who had shown interest in firearms at the auction, then headed out.

Because Haojiaobao was large in scale, the temple here was much more magnificent than the outposts he had passed through before. Sinuoli chatted with the kind Dwarf noblewoman for an entire morning; through this communication, he finally understood why Lord Alike was so conservative and respectful of tradition.

This elderly woman's faith in the Ancestor Gods had reached a fanatical level, and after the Mother Goddess manifested, her reactions became even somewhat extreme.

However, in Sinuoli's view, everything had its pros and cons. At least at the current stage, this woman could effectively spread the Mother Goddess faith in Haojiaobao, contributing strength to the growth of his Revival Points.

Seeing that his points had crossed the five-hundred mark again, Sinuoli decisively performed a ritual providing the Vigorous Effect for Queen Mother Mali when she led all the prominent Dwarf women of Karak-Hern to worship the Mother Goddess with him.

Watching her sing praises of the Mother Goddess's grace, looking refreshed after a tremor in front of all the noble women of Haojiaobao, Sinuoli knew these five hundred Revival Points were well spent!

Dwarf men were accustomed to exchanging information in taverns, and Dwarf women naturally had their own places to go.

After lunch, Sinuoli returned to his room. Let the Divine Grace fly for a while longer; he began to look forward to the subsequent growth of his Revival Points.

"Cousin, I found that Human!" When Sinuoli woke from his nap, Tomi had just brought back the news.

"As you instructed, I didn't talk business with him directly, but arranged to have dinner with him at the Heishi-Jiuguan! Are you going to go in person?" Tomi asked happily. As Sinuoli displayed Divine Grace, the Dwarfs who had come with him also felt a sense of reflected glory.

"Yes, I intend to go," Sinuoli said indifferently. He had gradually adapted to his relatively high status, and his speech now carried a bit of a leader's style.

"The population of our Sons of the Mountains is still too small. I intend to find some promising Humans and try to reach trade or military agreements with them; this will be of great help to my future plans!" Sinuoli painted a grand picture for Tomi.

Sinuoli still very much hoped to recruit Tomi under his command. He needed someone relatively flexible to be in charge of trade and diplomacy. On one hand, Tomi had shown his capabilities along the way; on the other, he was the son of his own aunt, making him absolutely reliable in terms of loyalty.

As dusk approached, Sinuoli took out the fake beard he had prepared and wore it under his chin, then put on the hooded cloak from yesterday.

He did not want his clansmen to discover that the Chosen of the Goddess, who was preaching the Mother Goddess's grace during the day, was engaged in arms trafficking at night.

Snuori took Tomi and two Eternal Hammer Guards out the back door of the inn. They followed the less-traveled path Tomi had scouted in advance and arrived at the Heishi-Jiuguan in the Human residential area on the outskirts of the city.

"This way!" Tomi led Sinuoli to the back door of the tavern.

"This is a famous lawless zone; half of the shady deals in all of Karak-Hern are finalized here!" Tomi said while knocking on the door.

Thanks to Tie Jia Yi Ran for the large tip and monthly ticket, Zi Jin Ling Shi Xiong Mao Wang, Lie Ning Zhi Yin Zhe Fang Xiang for the tip, Xiao Deng Ling, and French Chasseur Major Youli for the monthly ticket.

I will add one extra chapter at noon and one in the evening today.