Opening the grain sack revealed a special type of wheat, with large, hard grains. It was said to be Glowing Wheat cultivated by the Dark Iron Dwarves, capable of being grown underground and harvested twice a year. The Dark Iron Dwarves never lacked food and could even brew large quantities of alcohol, all thanks to this wheat.
Unas lit a fire and set up a pot, took out some corn from his bag, cooked a pot of corn porridge, drank it, and then lay down on the stone bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
There is no day or night underground, and he didn't know how long he slept. When he woke up, the effects of the Softbone Agent had finally worn off. Unas did a set of gymnastics in the cave to move his hands and feet, and felt that the knife wounds on his left hand and back were much better.
After washing his face and eating two pieces of dry bread, he pushed open the doorway and walked out of the White Cave into the warehouse and residence of the Riedel trio.
This time, the guards at the cave entrance dared not stop him and hurriedly went in to report. Unas asked the one who remained, "How long have I been asleep?"
This was the same guy whose throat he had chopped with a chop earlier. Trembling, he said in a hoarse voice, "About twenty hours."
Unas wasn't surprised that he had slept for so long; the continuous battles and torment had exhausted his body to the extreme, and he really needed rest.
Riedel personally came out to greet him, and upon seeing him, said, "Paladin, you look full of energy; your strength must have recovered. I was just about to discuss an important matter with you."
Unas sensed a conspiracy. "Don't call me 'Paladin' anymore. From now on, we're all brothers. Just call me Unas."
"Alright, Unas brothers, please come in."
Upon entering the cave, Unas discovered three unfamiliar faces, each with a different brand on their forehead, suggesting they were slaves of the other three mine owners.
Riedel introduced them one by one, explaining that these three individuals shared his identity as human slave managers within the Coldsteel, Angerforge, and Firerock groups, in addition to Blackbeard.
The human leader of Coldsteel was named Luther, a tall and straight young man. He first thanked Unas, saying, "Thank you so much Paladin, for healing Uncle Sam so quickly."
"You would have helped Sam even if I hadn't come, wouldn't you?" Unas retorted slightly, since he had the chance to use the medicine but hadn't.
Luther gave a wry smile and said nothing more, seemingly having his own reasons for his predicament.
The leader of the Angerforge was a middle-aged man with a white beard named Frank, who looked kind and gentle. He then chimed in, "I heard from that kid Hart that a Paladin who can't swim has arrived. I thought he was joking, haha, turns out it's true!"
It seems Hart is his subordinate. Unas has a good impression of the kid, but this old man brought it up just to curry favor. He can't let him have his way. "Thanks to Hart for rescuing me from the water, otherwise I would have had to fly out on my own, which would have taken a huge toll on my energy."
Whitebeard was taken aback, and at the same time, he was surprised that the young man in front of him actually knew such a high-level spell as "Angelic Descent" (the popular name for Wings of Vengeance), and he didn't know if he was just bragging.
The last one was Firerock, also a middle-aged man who seemed unsociable. He only said, "Hello, I'm Bas."
Normally, these four human leaders unite against external threats, but they also have their share of friction over the interests of their own small groups, so their relationship isn't exactly good. Today, they've gathered together, not to welcome the new Paladin, but to discuss common interests.
After introducing themselves, the group sat in a circle. Riedel said to Unas, "Brother, your arrival has greatly increased our strength. I've gathered all the leaders here today to discuss how to reclaim one of our lost mines. You must help us."
Unas remained noncommittal, gesturing for him to continue.
"More than two months ago, Luther's men discovered a vein of Dark Iron near our mine. We originally planned to mine it secretly, but somehow the news leaked out and was discovered by the Trolls of the Burning Thorn Tribe, who were adjacent to us. They summoned the Blackrock Orcs and forcibly seized the vein. The Dark Horde has a large presence here, and no one will fight them for the sake of humans. We had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill and retreat."
The Dark Horde is the remnant of the Old Horde after the Second Great War. They refuse to recognize the New Horde established by Thrall and are led by Blackhand Rend Blackhand, son of Blackhand the Destroyer, the Warchief of the Old Horde. Their main forces consist of Blackrock Orcs, Forest Trolls, and Ogres.
Rend Blackhand allied with the Black Dragons, firmly occupying the upper levels of Blackrock Spire, and constantly sought to drive out the original masters of Blackrock Spire — the Dark Iron Dwarves. The continuous attacks from above made the Dark Iron Dwarves' control over the lower levels of Blackrock Spire precarious. Only the timely assistance of the Firelord prevented the Dwarves from being completely wiped out, but they still lost most of their territory in the lower levels.
The numerous battles between the Dark Horde and the Dark Iron Dwarves resulted in a large number of prisoners, so the Darkforge mines are teeming with Orcs, Trolls, and Ogres. Belonging to the Dark Horde, they naturally banded together, becoming the second largest force there. (The largest force, of course, remains the Dwarves; the Dark Iron Dwarves, enslaved for generations, are the most numerous.)
"Then why are you so confident in taking it back? Don't say it's because of me; I don't have that kind of ability on my own," Unas asked doubtfully.
"The arrival of the Unas brothers certainly boosted my confidence," Riedel laughed, "But the bigger reason is that I received news yesterday that the Blackrock Orcs are preparing to concentrate their forces on seizing a large mine in the West District that originally belonged to the Dark Iron Dwarves. They will inevitably be unable to attend to this area. If it's just the Smolderthorn Trolls, we should be able to handle them."
Unas was deeply puzzled. What a coincidence! I just arrived and you've already received good news?
He speculated that there were two possibilities: either it was fake news, and this bald guy was trying to trick him into running into the Blackrock Orcs' guns, or it was real news, but he hadn't received it yesterday, and Riedel had originally intended to keep the information a secret, but now he was using him as a pawn.
In short, he wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work and get rid of Unas, the newcomer who posed a threat to his rule.
Unas was quite disappointed. He had originally planned to make peace with them and devise a way to escape, but now it seemed they weren't willing to let him off easily, so he wouldn't hesitate to be ruthless!
The other three leaders were very interested in Riedel's proposal. Black Furnace had the most iron ore, and Dark Iron was a kind of by-product ore, which was relatively rare. It was the main raw material for making Blacksteel. According to the mine owners' standards, Dark Iron could be exchanged for five times more food than ordinary iron ore of the same weight.
The Ore Deposits humans currently possess can barely keep two hundred people from starving, far from being able to eat their fill. The food obtained from another Dark Iron Vein would give everyone more strength, making it more advantageous for both self-defense and mining.