The three who hadn't returned home all night went back to the Black Furnace. The two bachelors were fine, but Erigor had to face Angela's interrogation. A small argument was inevitable, but it was just a minor incident.
The three of them unanimously claimed that they were going out to gather secret intelligence, but what that intelligence was, of course, was a secret and would not be disclosed.
For the next week, no major conflicts broke out between the parties, and although the Fire Elementals below the city were gathering in increasing numbers, they did not launch an attack.
The Water Elemental has been completely converted, with a success rate as high as 90%, and the environment full of water vapor is the biggest contributor to this success.
These days, the breach beneath the city walls is constantly widening, and seawater is pouring in frantically. While solidifying large areas of magma, it also turns the entire sky above the underground river into a sea of fog, with visibility reduced to less than ten meters.
In this environment, the Boiling Water Elemental thrives, while the Fire Elemental is greatly weakened. All probing attacks are easily defeated, and the Fire Elemental has been slow to launch a full-scale attack, which should be a major reason.
Following Unas's advice, Rendaen sent people to negotiate with the Dark Horde, temporarily stabilizing the threat from above.
These past few days, Unas has been staying outside the city, inspecting the Black Furnace and the three surrounding mines. They are all very good, rich mines, mainly producing iron and tin.
Of the three thousand people, after deducting the elderly, the sick, the disabled, women, children, and soldiers, only half were left who could work as miners, which was far from enough to meet the needs of the four mines.
Frank hired a large number of newly liberated, "unemployed" Dwarf slaves on very favorable terms, and gradually got the four mines up and running. According to the middle-aged man, if they could get through the current war period and manage the business well, earning tens of thousands of dollars a month was not a dream.
Unas took a hands-off approach, instructing Frank that making money wasn't the priority right now; the important thing was to establish a foothold and build good relations with the Dwarf merchant guild.
Unas seized the wealthy district and also occupied such good territory in the Mining District outside the city, which naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of many of Rendaen's subordinates. However, if his merits were carefully considered, he should actually be rewarded more.
First of all, the massive riot in the city was instigated by their group. Without this slave revolt, how would Rendaen have dared to attack?
Secondly, Tieshan was the first person sent to inform Rendaen, and the Dwarf lord's timely arrival was also thanks to him.
Finally, there was the series of battles that took place both inside and outside the city, including the struggle for the farm against the Dark Horde, and the discovery of the U-shaped passage beneath the Black Furnace —in every instance, he was at the forefront.
If it were a contest to determine who deserves the most credit for Rendaen's conquest of Blackrock Depths, Unas would definitely be a contender. However, he knew in his heart that he was neither Dark Iron Dwarves nor a confidant of Rendaen's, and that the reward he received was already quite good, so there was no need to dwell on it any further.
But if anyone who is dissatisfied with him tries to provoke him, Unas will not back down; only a strong counterattack can shut them up.
Today, Rendaen finally began his attack on the gates of the Imperial Palace. The Thorium Brotherhood put all their efforts into building over a hundred Mole Machine for him, each capable of carrying ten to fifteen soldiers. These Mole Machine were excellent at digging tunnels, allowing them to transport suicide squads into the palace from deep underground, disrupting the enemy's morale and deployment from within.
There were also three steel siege engines, their full-body armor, half a palm's width thick, capable of withstanding most ranged attacks, specifically designed to breach city gates.
Unas received orders from Rendaen early on, instructing him to lead the human army to participate in the siege.
Humanity currently has a force of just over a thousand, a result of streamlining. Besides those brought from the Black Furnace and the original Stormwind City soldiers, there are also some newly selected recruits. Unas left half of his forces to guard the city and only took five hundred of the more elite troops into the city.
The Imperial Palace is located in the very center of Shadowforge City, with only one gate facing north. In the past few days, Rendaen has selected elites from the surrendered soldiers and slaves, multiplying his main force many times over. Now, a full 20,000 men are lined up in front of the palace gate.
The small human group was placed at the very back, almost like the logistics camp. It seemed that Rendaen's invitation to Unas was merely out of politeness. This position clearly told the humans: you just need to watch from the sidelines.
Enjoying the peace and quiet, Unas had no intention of stealing any more credit; gaining experience in the background was just fine.
The experience requirement for leveling up from 39 to 40 has suddenly increased dramatically. The series of battles after entering the city only reached 56%, which would have been enough to level up long ago. Now, I can only hope that the elite enemies in the Imperial Palace can provide more experience.
At the sound of a horn, three siege engines drove side by side toward the palace gate. The clattering sound of them rolling on the road was extremely intimidating. Dozens of small windows on the gate immediately opened, and arrows and javelins poured down, but they could not damage the armor of the siege engines in the slightest. They could only watch as the siege engines slowly approached the city gate.
The rain of arrows above stopped, and the projectiles were replaced with obstacles such as stones and logs. However, due to the small arrow ports, these obstacles were no match for the siege engines and were easily crushed.
As the siege engine drew closer, a green beam of light shone down – the Dark Iron Mages's Corruption, capable of severely damaging metal. Rendaen's ranged units immediately began a counterattack, providing cover for the siege engine.
Next came hot oil and Fireballs, which quickly set the three vehicles ablaze. But the Thorium Brotherhood's technology was top-notch; they had anticipated this attack and had a heat-insulating layer beneath the armor to ensure that the drivers and siege crew inside wouldn't be burned to death.
With a series of loud crashes, the three siege engines finally reached the palace gate. The people inside activated the siege mechanism, and two thick iron pillars extended from the front of each engine, slamming them against the gate.
The reaction force pushed the chariot a short distance away, and the chariot drove up again, repeating the process of hitting the door, colliding, and retreating.
The booming sounds continued incessantly, and rubble and dust fell from the gate. The people on the arrow slits were helpless against the chariots and could only futilely smash down various blunt weapons.
Cracks began to appear on the surface of the heavy granite palace gate. Although the city was still far from falling, hope was already in sight. At this moment, the three chariots suddenly stopped and stood motionless in front of the stone gate.
Rendaen's excitement vanished instantly. He grabbed Orphest, the guild master of Thorium Guild, by the collar. "What's going on?!"
"It must be a problem with the fuel or lubricant," Orphest calmly pulled his hand away. "This is also the first time we've built this kind of vehicle. Although we have the blueprints, a week is still too short. The engine isn't perfect yet."
The Dwarf lord was frantic, shouting, "Whether it's out of fuel or the engine is broken, get your men to fix it quickly! I'll send men to escort you across!"
Orphest nodded and immediately summoned four Gnomes technicians. The group pushed a cart full of repair tools and various materials, while Rendaen's elite soldiers provided cover with their shields, and they ran swiftly toward the stationary chariot.