The Dwarves seemed used to such scenes of conflict, and another leader stepped in to smooth things over, and the four groups were at peace again.
Each of the Dwarves who were leading the group took out a key, and the four keys were inserted into the heavy lock in the center of the round iron gate at the same time. The four of them turned the keys at the same time, making a loud clicking sound.
"The lock is open, open the cover!" one of them ordered.
Four or five Dwarf soldiers immediately began chanting and turning the winch next to the iron gate. With a tooth-grinding creaking sound, the iron gate was slowly pulled up, revealing a narrow gap that could only allow one person to pass through.
This iron gate was almost a meter thick—a thickness that instilled despair. Seeing this gate, no one would even consider escaping from here.
The Dwarf soldiers began to drag the slaves out of their cages and throw them into the deep well. Those who dared to struggle and resist were often beaten and kicked. There were about sixty Dark Iron soldiers in the hall. Although they were at odds with each other, they were always of one mind when it came to dealing with slaves.
Finally, it was Unas's turn. He did not put up a futile resistance; the effects of the Softbone Agent had not yet worn off, and even at his peak, he was not confident he could handle so many Dwarves.
The boy was pulled out of the cage and led to a crack in the iron gate. The well was pitch black, and he had no idea how deep it was. A soldier behind him shoved him and shouted, "Get down!"
Unas glanced back at Tieshan, who was still in the cage, then squatted down and put his legs in, sliding down the stone wall like he was on a slide.
The initial section of the well wall was almost vertical, making it impossible for him to stick, and he immediately somersaulted in the air. However, he soon reached a section with a certain slope. Many people must have slid down here before, so it was very smooth from friction, and Unas slid down smoothly and quickly.
After sliding for a while, the well suddenly became vertical again. Looking down, he saw a glowing opening in the distance. He hurriedly took out a spare iron spear from his bag. The circular well was about two meters in diameter, and the iron spear was just a little longer than it.
He held his iron spear horizontally, scraping the tip and butt against the well wall to greatly reduce his descent speed. When he reached the entrance and looked down, he was surprised to find a large, steamy pool below, surrounded by many figures. Reassured, he put away his spear and jumped down.
Suddenly someone shouted, "Get ready to rescue them!"
With a splash, Unas fell into the water, choking on a mouthful of warm liquid with a strong sulfur smell. He never dreamed that the first thing he would do after getting out of the water would be to take a hot spring bath.
A pair of rough, Blackhand scooped him out of the water. Turning around, he saw a dark-faced, red-eyed Dark Iron Dwarves. The dwarf shoved him aside forcefully upon seeing his face, cursing, "******, a human, and a Blackbeard!"
After cursing, he swam away without looking back. Unas struggled to stay afloat, shouting, "Help! I can't swim!"
He heard the sound of someone diving behind him. He turned around and saw a young human with brown hair swimming quickly towards him. Sure enough, in a critical moment, he still had to rely on his fellow countrymen to save him.
The brown-haired young man swam closer, gently touched his chin, and said, "Don't move, I'll bring you ashore."
"Thank you, my friend," Unas said quickly.
The young man gave a slight smirk and quickly swam towards the shore.
The two swam to the shore, and several hands immediately reached down to pull them ashore. At that moment, Tieshan also fell out of the hole in the ceiling, and people were already waiting in the hot spring pool to rescue him.
Unas knelt on the ground, coughing up water a few times. Finally feeling a little better, he raised his head and saw four or five humans surrounding him, all young men. He stood up, thanked them again, and introduced himself, "Thank you for saving my life. My name is Unas, and I come from Lordaeron."
"I am Hart, from Stormwind City," the brown-haired young man introduced himself. "People from Lordaeron are rare here. How did you get captured?"
"I was knocked unconscious in a battle, and when I woke up, I was a slave to the Dwarves. I'm really curious to know what happened."
Hart pressed further, "What kind of battle? Which army do you belong to?"
"A battle against invaders," Unas said vaguely, not wanting to reveal the Flamewaker's identity, "I am Paladin of the Argent Dawn Knights."
"Paladin? You're Paladin?" a young man exclaimed in surprise. Unas's disheveled appearance after falling into the water and crying for help was completely at odds with the glorious image of Paladin in his mind.
Unas shrugged, activated his Sacred Shield, and a pale golden shield of light enveloped his entire body, making his identity as Holy Light caster beyond question.
Hart frowned and asked, "As far as I know, the Argent Dawn is fighting the Scourge in Lordaeron, thousands of kilometers away from here. How did you get here?"
"Only the Holy Light knows this." Unas wouldn't reveal the Spatial Rift to someone he'd only met for less than a minute, even if that person was his savior.
Hart was clearly not satisfied with this answer, but he couldn't do anything about Unas, so he said, "You should rest first. We'll wait and see if any more humans come down before we take you back."
"There are two more. I saw them up there," Unas said, deactivating his Sacred Shield. It was necessary to display his strength slightly, but not too conspicuously. He then asked the others, "I'm new here and don't know anything about the place. Could you tell me about it?"
"We'll talk about that later. Do you know healing magic?" a skinny young man suddenly asked.
"I know a little bit of basic Holy Light, but it can only heal superficial wounds." Lv1 Holy Light has been proven useless many times, but Unas doesn't want to be a healer, so he has never learned the skills of a Holy Paladin.
The thin young man exclaimed with delight, "That's wonderful! Uncle Sam broke his leg when a landslide occurred a couple of days ago. You have to save him!"
"It depends on the severity of the injury. I can't save someone with serious injuries." Unas wouldn't dare make an empty promise.
"I'll take you to see it right now." The young man pulled Unas away.
"Stop!" Hart shouted sharply. "Rams, have you forgotten the rules? Do you want to drag the newcomer down with you?"
The thin young man was stunned by the shout, lowered his head, and stammered, "I'm sorry, Brother Hart."
Unas asked curiously, "It can't be that serious, can it? What rules are there?"
It turns out that in this lawless underground mine, humans are the fewest in number and the most vulnerable group. Being alone is extremely dangerous, and they are likely to be attacked and killed by other races. Therefore, according to the rules, they must travel in groups of at least five.
The group offered Unas explanations, and he gradually came to understand what kind of place this was.
Tieshan came over to say hello and then followed his fellow Dark Iron. Neither he nor Unas expected that the people below would be divided according to race, and their fragile Alliance existed only in words.
A short while later, the other two human slaves also fell in. Hart pulled them both ashore, and after resting for a while and making sure no one else would fall, they headed towards the human settlement.