Chapter 238

Hundreds of years ago, Smaug, with the power of one dragon, killed the entire Lonely Mountain dwarf clan, leaving them with countless casualties, and they fled their home in a sorry state.

And after it forcibly occupied the treasure of the Lonely Mountain dwarves, the gate of the dwarf kingdom was closed, and it had been sleeping in the gold of the Lonely Mountain. Whether it was the elf kingdom, the human kingdom, or the dwarf kingdom, everyone could do nothing about this evil dragon and let it occupy the Lonely Mountain for hundreds of years.

An evil dragon that even so many people couldn't deal with, of course, couldn't be dealt with by a few adventurers.

Hearing Wayne's rhetorical question, Gandalf was not embarrassed at all, but reached out and picked up another cookie, stuffed it into his mouth, and said jokingly: "Of course, Mr. Wayne, if we can do it, that is the best result. The warrior who kills Smaug will definitely be able to become a hero praised by everyone and be respected and loved forever in Middle-earth."

"However, our goal this time is not that great. Our purpose this time is just to get back a treasure from the Lonely Mountain treasure. The initiator of this expedition is exactly the dwarf prince Thorin, the descendant of the King Under the Mountain, and the last heir of the Lonely Mountain dwarf kingdom."

"He hopes to invite a powerful adventurer like you to accompany us and has promised a generous reward."

Speaking of this, Gandalf took out a contract from his arms and handed it to Wayne. The witcher who had lived in Middle-earth for a long time could already read the characters of this world.

Wayne reached out and took the contract to look at it. This contract had more than ten pages stacked together, densely written with words, and the terms and conditions, responsibilities, and obligations were all written very clearly. The reward written on the contract was one-fifteenth of the Lonely Mountain treasure.

After seeing this reward, a sneer appeared in Wayne's heart. Anyone who has read the original book knows that Thorin is extremely paranoid, arrogant, and has a family-inherited mental illness, which is the kind of dragon-sickness that is obsessed with gold and stingy.

In the original book, after Bard, the human of Lake-town, and the protagonist Bilbo defeated Smaug together with the dwarves, this guy had a mental illness attack, refused to pay the reward for the adventure, and also disgustingly mocked the humans of Lake-town for taking advantage of the situation.

Although before he died, he expressed apology and regret for this choice, Wayne, who had watched the movie, still had a very deep impression of this matter.

Moreover, he had long been coveting the treasure in the Lonely Mountain and had been restrained because of the existence of the Creator God in this world, not wanting to cause unpredictable disasters due to his own reckless behavior.

But one-fifteenth of the treasure was definitely not enough to satisfy his appetite.

And after Wayne finished reading the contract, the system's prompt sound followed.

Ding! Trigger task 【Obtain Arkenstone】, Master-level, do you accept it?

However, facing this Master-level task, he did not accept it immediately.

Instead, after reading the contract, he folded the contract again, neither agreeing nor refusing, but smiled and said directly to Gandalf: "Gandalf, I am very interested in this expedition."

"However, as a warrior, I do not allow my goal to be just to extract one thing from the treasure looted by the evil dragon, it's that simple."

"If I want to participate in this Lonely Mountain expedition, my goal is to kill Smaug and get rid of this evil dragon that harms the world."

"I have this ability and this certainty."

"So, leave this contract here for now. You help me invite Prince Thorin and other warriors who want to participate in the Lonely Mountain trip together to prepare a banquet at my Wayne Manor. Let everyone drink happily, and by the way, talk about modifying the contract, how about it."

After listening to Wayne's confident speech, Gandalf was stunned for a moment, and then couldn't help but be very surprised, or rather, a bit suspicious in his heart.

As the busiest Maia in the world, the wizard entrusted by the Creator God to maintain the order of Middle-earth, he was the one who first proposed this Lonely Mountain task.

Gandalf's purpose is to use the power of the dwarf clan to drive away or even eliminate the evil dragon Smaug, and eliminate the descendant of this evil dragon before the Dark Lord Sauron is resurrected, so that these two powerful evil tyrants cannot unite and strengthen the power of the dark side.

His original plan was to find a nimble thief among the Hobbits to go into the Lonely Mountain treasure and steal the Arkenstone, and then Thorin, the dwarf prince, would gather the power of other dwarf clans to deal with the evil dragon Smaug together.

Because he hadn't returned to the Hobbit kingdom for a long time, before meeting Thorin, Gandalf hadn't even heard of Wayne, and he knew nothing about his strength, and his participation was not in the plan.

It was only under the recommendation of Thorin, Balin, and some other dwarves that he learned that such a figure had appeared in the Hobbit kingdom, a powerful adventurer known as a witcher wizard.

Although he was suspicious of Wayne's strength at this time, thinking of the terrifying giant beast he had seen before, which was ridden under Wayne and was eight meters tall, a trace of hope rose involuntarily in Gandalf's heart.

Even if the master can't fight, that monster looks very powerful. It's definitely not a loss to fool it into participating in the Lonely Mountain action.

He touched his beard, with a smile on his face, and his eyes unconsciously examined Wayne again. Unfortunately, just from the appearance, he could only see that the witcher was strong and imposing, and he couldn't see much.

However, most of the Maiar on the side of kindness are pure in heart and yearn for light. After thinking for only a few seconds, Gandalf chose to believe Wayne's words and nodded and said:

"Okay, Mr. Wayne, I will bring your words to Prince Thorin. If there are no accidents, three days later, I will come to attend the banquet at Wayne Manor with the warriors who will go to the Lonely Mountain together. It will trouble you then."

The gray wizard was very polite, and Wayne nodded in response politely. The two talked about some interesting things in Middle-earth. Wayne gave the gray wizard some pipe-weed produced in his manor, which made Gandalf, an old smoker, quite like it.

This meeting was not long. After the conversation, Gandalf left Wayne's manor quickly and found the dwarf prince Thorin with his thoughts.

And after the gray wizard left, Wayne was not idle. He began to prepare supplies before the trip. The trip to the Lonely Mountain was long. Even if he didn't consider the consumption of those dwarves, he had to consider for himself and Robin who was traveling with him. There were quite a few things that needed to be brought.

The huge size and strong body gave the Deathclaw super combat power, but at the same time, the food it needed every day was also quite amazing. Although it had no taboos about meat, the amount of meat it could digest every day was more than a cow, and it wouldn't be full no matter how much it ate.

In addition, the Deathclaw can digest a small amount of metal. By absorbing these metal elements, it can enhance the defense of its skin and flesh. The skin and body of an adult Deathclaw can even resist thermal weapons. For some special individuals, even miniature nuclear bombs cannot cause fatal damage to them.

Three days passed in a flash. This afternoon, when Wayne had prepared a lot of meat jerky and other tools for travel, as well as cooking ingredients, and prepared a large table of delicacies with the help of some servants in the kitchen.

Subsequently, Gandalf and a group of short and strong dwarves came to Wayne Manor and, under the guidance of Old Ford, came to the banquet hall together. The banquet hall of Wayne Manor was decorated quite luxuriously, but because Wayne, as the owner, did not often stay at home, this banquet hall had rarely been used.

But even so, the old butler Ford had been earnestly performing his duties and had been sending servants to clean it here. Under his management, this banquet hall had always maintained a clean and brand-new appearance, waiting for the master's use.

After Gandalf and others arrived here, they found that many candles and torches were lit in the banquet hall, illuminating the entire hall brilliantly.

A huge long table was placed in the center of the banquet hall, and all kinds of food were placed on the long table, and even a huge wild boar roasted whole was waiting for the guests to eat.

And as the owner of the manor, Wayne was wearing a gorgeous and casual outfit, standing in the banquet hall. After Gandalf and his party entered the banquet hall, he saluted slightly and expressed welcome to the guests.

"We haven't seen each other for a long time, Prince Thorin, Mr. Balin."

Suddenly, his eyebrows picked, and he found that familiar and unexpected figure among a group of dwarves, and couldn't help but curl his mouth slightly, saying:

"It's really surprising, Mr. Bilbo Baggins, you will also participate in this dangerous Lonely Mountain expedition. It seems that the adventure gene in your body is already restless."

The party could not be considered strangers. A few years ago, when Balin led the dwarf engineering team to help Wayne build Wayne Manor, some dwarves in the expedition team also had contact with him, and in terms of the lifespan of dwarves, a few years is not long.

Facing Wayne's welcome, Thorin performed very calmly. He raised his head slightly, and because of the height difference, he could only look up at Wayne and said: "Thank you for your welcome, Mr. Wayne. We haven't seen each other for several years. I still won't forget that you only spent a few hours to kill the huge black bear Beorn who was harming the forest and avenged many townspeople."

"Even now, your name is still often mentioned by others in the tavern, and many people are still discussing your generosity and bravery."

"So this Lonely Mountain expedition, I naturally thought of you. You are a powerful warrior. If you can join our team, you will definitely increase the success rate of our action this time and help us take back that treasure."

Wayne nodded with a smile, but did not discuss these, but picked up a glass of red wine from the dining table, raised his glass, and said enthusiastically:

"Let's not talk about these, as guests from afar, my friends."

"Let's enjoy this banquet to the fullest first. The food on the table is all made by myself, and those fine wines are also quite rare treasures. You will definitely like them very much."

"After we finish enjoying the fine wine and food, let's talk about the Lonely Mountain expedition."

Thorin's brows frowned slightly, and he looked back at the old dwarf Balin and Gandalf, but chose to obey the request of Wayne, the manor owner. The party began to enjoy this banquet.

As a dwarf clan that has been working in human towns, Wayne's fine wine and food soon conquered the appetites of these dwarves. Even Bilbo, who was usually very proud of his cooking, couldn't help but praise him repeatedly, and together with others, ate and drank happily.

This time, the dwarves who dared to follow Thorin to the Lonely Mountain to participate in this expedition were all elite warriors among the existing dwarf clan, and as a group of dwarf warriors, their appetites were quite good. After about two hours, the table of good dishes prepared by Wayne and several barrels of high-end fine wine were all poured into everyone's stomachs.

Even the gray wizard Gandalf ate a lot, lit a pipe with a comfortable face, leaned on the chair, and puffed smoke rings leisurely.

After eating and drinking, the other dwarves touched their round bellies happily, leaned on the chairs, experienced the happiness of enjoying food, and occasionally made praises for Wayne in their mouths.

As the dwarf prince Thorin, he adjusted his expression, then looked at Wayne seriously and asked:

"Wayne, I have heard Gandalf's retelling. He told me that you want to change the content of the contract, right?"

Wayne nodded calmly, took a sip of red wine, and said:

"Yes, Prince Thorin, not only the reward problem on the contract, I also have different opinions on the goal of this Lonely Mountain expedition."

Hearing that Wayne had an opinion on the reward, Thorin was a little unhappy, but still asked: "I originally followed the principle of fair distribution and gave the same reward to everyone who participated in this task. However, since you have an opinion, then say it boldly. As long as you can get the consent of everyone present, I will have no opinion."

Bilbo saw this and wanted to smooth things over. Among so many people, it is estimated that only he and Wayne have the best relationship. Although the number of meetings is not many, they have been familiar with each other ten years ago, and the Direwolf White Fang in the manor is also Bilbo's good friend.

Wayne was not angry at Thorin's attitude. To be honest, as the original owner of those treasures and the only heir of the Durin clan, he was already quite generous when he was willing to divide the Lonely Mountain treasures equally among the fifteen people who participated in the Lonely Mountain expedition.

Although in the original book, because of the mental illness in his family, he did not fulfill this promise during his lifetime, but after he died, this promise was fulfilled.

Although dwarves are stubborn, they also value promises and feelings.

Wayne smiled and said:

"Prince Thorin, if we follow the original contract and just go to the Lonely Mountain treasure to take a treasure, I am of course very satisfied with such a reward and am willing to accept it."

"However, you may not understand my true strength. For me, this Lonely Mountain expedition, what I want to do is to eliminate the evil dragon Smaug and get rid of this evil dragon."

"And when dealing with Smaug, there is no need for everyone to help, I will complete the dragon slaying alone."

"So, I hope to add an auxiliary agreement to the contract."

"For example, when I kill Smaug alone and avenge the dwarves on the Lonely Mountain, give me one-third of the Lonely Mountain treasure as a reward."

"What do you think of this proposal, Your Highness?"

(End of this chapter)