The Sentinels happily divided the spoils, and just as the group was about to return, the three leaders, having received the news, arrived with their men.
After Unas explained what had happened, Luther kicked the bald man on the ground hard, yelling, "I never thought you, you bastard, were a traitor!"
Frank asked, "What do you intend to do with him, sir?"
"Since you're all here, you have a witness," Unas pulled out a large machete that had just been confiscated, "Execute him on the spot."
"Spare me!" Driven by a sudden surge of survival instinct, Riedel screamed and scrambled away. Bas lightly leaped and pinned him down on the back of the neck, rendering him immobile.
Seeing that no one objected, Unas stepped forward and switched places with Bas. He then beheaded Riedel, who was still begging for mercy, with a single stroke. Only then did he realize that killing people also had experience points. In the game's parlance, red-named monsters were all monsters, but the experience gained was minimal. Riedel and his group of eight only received a total of 5%.
Luther suggested, "Pierce his head through a spear and display it in the residential area as a warning."
With this source of trouble gone, Unas felt relieved and nodded in agreement, saying, "Do as you say."
The last bit of chaos of this long day finally came to an end. Of course, there is no day or night underground; people use simple water clocks to measure time, and someone rings a bell when it's time to get up.
Unas, who was resting in the White Cave, was also awakened. Although he had only slept for two hours, he felt quite refreshed.
The three newly occupied mines were allocated last night, and now each group can have its own mine face, while the small Dark Iron Vein is shared by all four parties.
The remaining fifty-one Trolls were scattered across five mining areas. After they realized that their kin who had been taken away the day before had been slaughtered, they were unable to regroup and resist, and could only accept human control.
Unas gathered the men of the various leaders together and selected some strong and loyal young men from each division, forming a guard of more than sixty men. Even after distributing all the existing and confiscated weapons, it was still not enough, so he had to organize those who had not yet received weapons into a reserve force.
Then, they trained the soldiers using the methods they had learned at the Argent Dawn, hoping to quickly improve their combat effectiveness.
His actions truly integrated the previously fragmented human forces into one, weakening the power of the three leaders. However, since the blood from Riedel's head had not yet dried, they dared not complain.
Luther not only didn't complain, but was actually very happy. He was originally an officer, so Unas entrusted him with most of the specific training work, making him the de facto commander, as if he had rediscovered the feeling of youth.
Unas also assigned several people to Bas, instructing him to keep watch and gather intelligence on the outskirts of human territory; the assassin should be more than capable of doing the work of a scout.
Frank made him the chief foreman, in charge of managing production at five mining sites. When Unas inquired about the weapons, he learned that the weapons were controlled by a Dark Iron Dwarves.
In some places in the underground mines, magma leaks out, but there is only one place where it doesn't solidify and forms a magma pool, and that is in the West District. The Dark Iron Dwarves use the magma to smelt ore and forge iron, turning that place into a small Arsenal. Almost all of the weapons from the Black Furnace come from there.
The first person to control the Arsenal was a Dwarf Torbjorn Torbjörn. He knew the saying "possessing a treasure invites trouble," so the Arsenal was open to everyone, but if you wanted weapons, you had to trade them for ten or a hundred times more ore and food. That's how Riedel and his men obtained their crude weapons.
Of course, it was a fair trade for the top leaders to exchange weapons, and Torbjorn made a fortune from it, which made everyone envious. However, after he swiftly quelled several attacks on the Arsenal, his position gradually became stable. Later, he killed Coldsteel's original leader and became his agent. Now, he is the most powerful of the four forces.
"At this rate, it's only a matter of time before Torbjorn unifies the entire Black Furnace. I think the Orcs' plan to attack the Dwarves this time is probably because they don't want to sit idly by and wait to be killed," Frank concluded with his speculation.
A major battle seemed inevitable and was about to break out. For Unas, the more chaotic the situation, the better, so that he could take advantage of the chaos and find a way to survive.
Just then, someone came to report, "An Ogre has come to visit, saying he was sent by Half-Face and wants to speak with you, sir. The brand is indeed that of Blackbeard."
"Let him in." The food trading channels are still controlled by Half-Face; we can't afford to offend him now.
After dismissing the messenger, Unas asked, "Isn't Half-Face Dark Iron Dwarves? Why send an Ogre?"
Frank replied, "The situation in the Black Furnace is complex. Some groups are united by race, like us; others by faction, like the Dark Horde; and agents like Half-Face have all sorts of races under their command, but they are all Blackbeard slaves who fight only for their own personal gain."
Are there humans here?
"There are a few," Frank stroked his white beard, "But don't worry, he sent the Ogres to show he's ready to accept you."
"Why?"
"You'll find out soon enough," Frank said, keeping everyone in suspense.
Unas didn't bother to ask any further questions and walked towards the entrance of the passageway leading to the Central District. A moment later, heavy footsteps approached from afar, and a giant-like Ogre emerged from it, head bowed and back hunched.
This was a burly man, over three meters tall and nearly two meters in circumference, with bluish skin and bulging muscles. He gripped a thick, wooden-handled spiked club and, upon emerging, complained in a rough voice, "You humans dug the tunnels too low! Isaac's neck is about to cramp!"
"So your name is Isaac. I am Unas, the new leader of humanity. It's a pleasure to meet you," Unas introduced himself politely.
The Ogre glared at him, patted his belly, and yelled, "I heard you killed a lot of Trolls, didn't you? Where are the corpses? Isaac wants to eat meat!"
"Come with me, I guarantee you'll have your fill." Unas was worried about what to do with so many corpses piled up together; it would be perfect if someone could consume some of them.
The group arrived at Jinsai's room. After a night, the stench of blood had not dissipated at all, and the slight stench of decay indicated that the body had begun to rot.
The Ogre, however, didn't care and pounced on it, tearing off a Troll's thigh and devouring it, saying, "Us, you're a good person, I promise I'll put in a good word for you."
Unas turned to Frank and said, "Is this what you mean by accepting me?"
"Half-Face sent a gluttonous Ogre over to give you a chance to curry favor with him, and to show that he doesn't care how many Trolls die—that's his usual tactic," Frank whispered. "So he accepts the outcome of the humans defeating the Trolls and won't interfere with our capture of the mine."
"But that's not enough to prove he accepts the change of leadership among humans. Perhaps he wants revenge for Riedel and Jinsai?"
"Sir, you're overthinking it. He's unlikely to avenge two pawns he can discard at any time. As long as you show him obedience at the right time, he'll acknowledge you."