Bri-Cinder was an ordinary resident of Shadowforge City. After inheriting a few plots of land from his father, he lived a meager life as a farmer, far from the gentry who spent their days drinking and reveling in the Grim Guzzler. But compared to the slaves who were squeezed dry every drop of blood and sweat, his life was alright.
In his rare moments of leisure, his greatest hobby was "fishing." There was an extremely wide lava river beneath Shadowforge City. Fish could not possibly survive in it, but precious metals, gleaming crystals, and even priceless gems could be brought up from underground by the lava.
Although it was like finding a needle in a haystack, his interest in "fishing" only grew stronger after he once caught an unknown piece of metal and sold it to the famous metal collector Hal for a fortune.
Today's luck was really bad. He had already sweated profusely, but still hadn't caught anything. After drinking the last drop of water from his water bottle, he decided to pack up and go home.
But then a dark, humanoid object floated down from upstream—the "big fish" had arrived!
Bree's spirits lifted. Sometimes, corpses would float down from the lava river, and by scavenging, one could obtain some relics from the dead.
He swung his fishing rod, the fishing line made of twisted Blacksteel Wire drawing an arc in the air, the three-pronged hook at the end accurately grabbing the corpse. The Dwarf smiled smugly; he had mastered this skill to perfection.
He easily pulled the "corpse" ashore, and the Dwarf's gaze was immediately drawn to the sword tightly gripped in the corpse's right hand. The sword's body was made of exquisite red crystal, with intricate magic patterns and a dragon-carved hilt, all of which proved the sword's extraordinary nature.
The Dwarf forcefully pried open the corpse's fingers, snatched the sword, and a blazing light shone from his scarlet eyes. This sword was sure to be a coveted item for weapon collectors, and perhaps this was his chance to make a fortune.
He was already thinking about how to raise the price, make a fortune, and then buy a dozen or so slaves so he could enjoy the treatment of masters.
Just then, the corpse suddenly coughed, startling the Dwarf so much that he jumped up. Only then did he turn his attention to the person he had pulled out.
This was clearly a human. His clothes were burned to black ash mixed with lava and stuck to his body, but his skin was not burned. After coughing, his chest began to rise and fall slightly, but he did not wake up and was still unconscious.
With such a precious sword and unburnable skin, this guy must be a formidable opponent. The Dwarf immediately considered eliminating him completely, but greed ultimately prevailed. He had a better way to deal with this human, and he could even make a small profit from it.
Carefully wrapping the sword, Bri suppressed his excitement and, dragging one of the human's legs, hurried home.
Unas was suddenly awakened from the darkness. He felt a cold, wet sensation on his head, face, and shoulders, and he immediately realized that someone had splashed cold water on his head.
He opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit room. Three or four Dwarf stood before him, one of them setting down a bucket of water.
These Dwarves looked slightly different from Stonebrow; their gray-black skin and scarlet eyes revealed their identity— the Dark Iron Dwarves.
Looking around, he saw that the walls were covered with strange and unusual instruments of torture. To the right was a furnace with several branding irons glowing red-hot inside. He himself was tightly locked to an iron chair. He tried to struggle, but he was too weak to move at all.
"Listen, human," spoke the Dwarf standing furthest away, his voice hoarse and metallic. He wore a magnificent black robe and leaned on a jewel-encrusted scepter, clearly the master of the place. "I don't care what your name is, where you come from, or who your father is. From this day forward, you are my property Holder Blackbeard's property."
Without waiting for Unas's reaction, he nodded slightly to a Dwarf beside him. The Dwarf stepped forward, pulled out a red-hot branding iron, and pressed it hard against Unas's forehead.
"No!" Unas screamed, shaking his head desperately. The other Dwarves pounced on him, pressing his head down with several thick hands, rendering him immobile. As the branding iron drew closer, he considered activating Invincible or Divine Protection, but he couldn't break free of the chains. What if the skill's duration expired? It would also expose his means of survival.
With a hiss, the sound of meat being roasted filled the air, and the branding iron finally pressed against his forehead. The Fire Protection Potion had long since lost its effectiveness, and the excruciating pain almost made him faint again.
A pungent smell of burnt meat filled the room. Unas stared intently at everyone before him, determined to remember their faces and repay them a hundredfold for the pain they had suffered.
The Dwarf who called himself Holder Blackbeard stepped forward, looked at Unas with a cold smile, and said, "Call me master."
Unas simply stared at him coldly, without uttering a word.
Blackbeard suddenly smiled, "He really is a guy who won't give in easily."
Just as Unas thought the instruments of torture would befall him, the Dwarf slave owner turned around and ordered his men, "Give him a good whipping, and when the time is up, throw him into the 'Black Furnace,' so he'll understand the meaning of submitting to me."
With a clang, the iron door opened and closed again, Blackbeard left the room. The interrogators grinned as they took down the steel whip from the wall. Unas closed his eyes, enduring another round of pain.
After being ripped to a bloody pulp, Unas was locked in a cage and transported to a dark Cave.
The wounds were painful, but they were all superficial and not serious. Lucifron's twin blades had caused him much more serious injuries, but the wounds on his left hand and back had already closed. Based on this, he judged that it had been quite some time since his death battle with the Flamewaker Chieftain.
But what puzzled him was that despite having such a strong self-healing ability, capable of healing even such deep wounds, why hadn't his strength returned, leaving him feeling weak and powerless all over.
Just then, a voice came from the darkness, "Hey, newbie, what's your name?"
The voice came from not far to the left, and the tone suggested it belonged to a Dwarf. It turned out there was someone else imprisoned here. Unas's name wasn't a secret. He replied, "My name is Unas. Who are you?"
"I am Moreby Ironmountain, a second lieutenant in the infantry under Hill Lord Rendaen of the Hills," the voice introduced itself. "I was unfortunately captured in the last battle and sold here as a slave."
Unas had no idea who Hill Lord Rendaen was, nor was he interested in finding out. He had many other questions on his mind. "Is this Blackrock Depths? Who is Holder Blackbeard? And what is Black Furnace?"
"You know nothing about this place? Aren't you Dark Iron Dwarves?" Tieshan retorted.
"I am human, from Lordaeron."
"No wonder your voice sounds so effeminate! We don't see many humans around here. How did you get here?"
"It's a long story..." Unas was also frustrated at being inexplicably imprisoned. What worried him even more was whether the battle with the Flamewaker had ultimately failed, and that's why he had been sold here as a slave by the Flamewaker?
This conjecture doesn't make sense; the Crimson Diamond is still quietly in his Spatial Bag, and the Flamewaker wouldn't let him go.