Chapter 257: The Secret Passage of the Lonely Mountain

After the meeting set the tone, Gandalf left in a hurry.

This Grey Wizard, along with the White Wizard Saruman and the Brown Wizard Radagast, all belonged to the White Council. This organization, also known as the Council of the Wise, was an organization specifically for dealing with the shadow of Sauron.

The dark power of Dol Guldur was becoming increasingly powerful, and it was rumored that there were also Necromancers and the shadow of the Witch-king of Angmar. The members of the White Council were already prepared to conduct a thorough investigation of this place, which was why Gandalf left in such a hurry.

And after the wizard left, and everyone had obtained many supplies from the Woodland Realm, the expedition team prepared to head to the Lonely Mountain to find the secret passage leading into the interior of the Lonely Mountain.

Although they were prepared for the possibility of having to wait for Durin's Day to open the secret passage, they were idle anyway. Thorin and the others were unwilling to waste time in vain, nor were they willing to stay in the Woodland Realm for too long, preferring to camp in the open at the Lonely Mountain rather than stay with the Elves.

As a member of the team, Wayne also prepared to go with them. Anyway, he had a Magic Flying Carpet to fly, so even traveling between the two places was quite convenient.

However, before leaving, he instructed the Lake-town refugees to sail along the Running River to other forces to purchase supplies for rebuilding their homes and gave them a lot of money.

This was a long-term investment. Perhaps there would be no return in the short term, but as a long-lived Witcher, his vision was much further-reaching than that of ordinary people.

Although the road to the Lonely Mountain was rugged, they did not encounter any enemies along the way. Coupled with Wayne's flight ability, whether it was steep slopes or jagged rocks, it was not too much trouble.

The Woodland Realm was not far from the Lonely Mountain; walking would only take about two or three days. They soon arrived near Dale and arrived in front of the gate of the Lonely Mountain Kingdom.

Looking at the tightly closed magnificent gate, the Dwarves of the expedition team could not help but burst into tears, singing the Dwarves' ballads one after another, with lyrics full of the sadness of being forced to leave their homeland.

However, this was not the final destination of the expedition team. According to the map left by Thorin's father, they spent a few more days following the rugged path, circling half of the Lonely Mountain, before finally finding the location of the secret passage exit indicated by the secret text on a cliff.

Unfortunately, it was a huge stone wall covered with countless holes. Everyone searched for a long time without finding the keyhole, and they were all dejected, even talking about packing up and going home.

"Anyway, there are still a few months left, why not try every keyhole, or simply take a pickaxe and chisel through this door? With your strength, it shouldn't take long, right?"

Actually, seeing this scene, Wayne felt a bit annoyed. After all, in the original work, the Dwarves only tried for half a day without finding it and then gave up, even preparing to return the way they came, which made him feel it was very childish.

Regardless of whether there was a hint from the secret text, as long as it could be determined that the keyhole was on this stone, even if there were ten thousand holes on this stone that needed to be tested, how many days would it take?

However, the Dwarves' personalities in the original work were just like this; the ideas in their heads were always very strange, so it was not surprising.

After Wayne's reminder, Thorin and the others were enlightened, and their motivation was immediately reignited. They simply camped in the open space nearby and began to search for any place on the wall where the secret passage was located that could possibly be a keyhole, testing them one by one.

The result was quite good. After testing for about three days, they finally found the correct keyhole and opened the secret passage leading to the interior of the Lonely Mountain.

This was undoubtedly very exciting news. However, Wayne stopped Thorin and the others who wanted to carry out the theft mission immediately, telling them that they must be prepared.

Although the Arkenstone was close at hand, the evil dragon Smaug was also close at hand. If they entered, it was very likely that they would immediately wake the dragon and lose their lives; they must be prepared.

Originally, Thorin did not want to wait any longer. They had waited for hundreds of years, and now all their hope was before their eyes; they were really somewhat impatient. But they could not withstand the strong attitude of Wayne, an important character. After some discussion, everyone decided to wait another week before taking action.

Because of the lack of the One Ring's concealment ability, Wayne took out two of the five Invisibility Potions he had obtained previously and gave them to Bilbo.

Along the way, this Hobbit's resilience and bravery had already moved many in the team. They regarded this short thief as their companion and also hoped that he could survive in the final mission.

And having obtained Wayne's Invisibility Potions, Bilbo's confidence greatly increased, and he hurriedly thanked Wayne for his generosity. In the expedition team, both of them came from the Shire, and they had known each other ten years ago. Along the way, he had taken good care of this Hobbit, and the two were already good friends.

Actually, saying they were preparing, there was not much that needed to be prepared. For Dwarves like Thorin, facing the evil dragon Smaug, ordinary weapons and armor were just for show. Whether facing the dragon's bite or its fire breath, even full heavy armor was useless.

And the Dwarves' sword attacks were basically impossible to break through Smaug's dragon scale defense. Therefore, even if Thorin and the others entered the palace of the Lonely Mountain, they would just be living targets attracting the dragon's attention.

However, that was before meeting Wayne.

Now that everyone was in one team, Lord Wayne was not stingy either. He gave Thorin and the other Dwarves two North Wind Bombs each as their means of attack.

Perhaps Smaug's defense was strong enough that ordinary Honeycomb Bombs could only scratch this evil dragon, but the North Wind Bombs, which could create intense frost, would definitely be able to cause an impact on this fire-type evil dragon.

Not only that, Wayne also arranged for the Deathclaw Robin to be at the gate of the Lonely Mountain palace, arranged on the only path Smaug would take when it broke through the gate and flew away from the Lonely Mountain in the original work.

After all, the Deathclaw could not enter the interior of the Lonely Mountain through the narrow secret door, and even if it entered the interior, with its body size, it would not gain any advantage fighting Smaug and would instead become the main target of fire breath.

As for Wayne himself, he took off his blood-red heavy dragon scale armor and changed into the lighter Green Dragon Leather Armor, which was suitable for agile combat.

In the week before the battle preparations, he drove the flying carpet to inform King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm that they had found the secret passage and were about to start the formal battle, so that the Wood-elves could make the corresponding preparations.

And on the day of the agreed-upon battle, Wayne, just like executing a powerful Witcher contract, checked all the combat items that might be needed, drank six Witcher Potions that enhanced physical functions, and then, carrying the Oath of Victory Sword, entered the palace inside the Lonely Mountain with Bilbo through the secret passage at the back of the Lonely Mountain.

Before leaving, he patted Thorin on the shoulder and said earnestly:

"Thorin, if things go smoothly, then there will be no need for you to take action in the upcoming battle."

"However, I hope you can be mentally prepared. You are about to see the treasures of the Lonely Mountain, and your wish of many years is about to be fulfilled."

"Your decision affects the fate of many people. Do not let everyone down."

(One more chapter.) (End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 258 =====