"Damn it! If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have chosen to go to Menzoberranzan, and I wouldn't have hired you useless bastards."

The original owner of the caravan covered his swollen face and cursed under his breath with gritted teeth.

Because of this loss, all the property he had accumulated over more than ten years of hard work was wiped out, and he himself became a slave.

Of course, the gray dwarves were not completely unprepared for this situation.

After all, when doing business in a dangerous place like the Underdark, the first thing to do after making money is often to find a way to buy a magic item that can allow you to escape at any time.

He also once spent a large sum of money to buy an amulet that could instantly teleport him back to the gray dwarf city in case of emergency.

But the problem was that he was too greedy and was unwilling to give up so many valuable goods. As a result, after seeing the dark elves appear, he did not choose to escape immediately, but wanted to save his caravan through negotiations.

You have to know that no matter how fierce, brutal, and evil the Dark Elves are, they can at least be traded with. This is completely different from the Mind Flayers who use mind control to capture slaves at every turn.

Unfortunately, this time the gray dwarves misjudged the situation. Not only did they fail to save their caravan, but even the amulet they used for escape was snatched away.

As a person who possesses master-level skills in making magic items, Zuo Si recognized all the things that flashed with arcane aura on this cunning merchant at a glance.

Then the dark elves rushed forward and looted all the valuable or dangerous magic items, scrolls and potions from the caravan owners.

At this moment, half of his face was swollen because he tried to resist, but he was slapped hard in the face, and several of his teeth were knocked out.

The dark elves have no sympathy when dealing with the gray dwarf slaves.

Not cutting his throat directly or cruelly breaking his limbs and making him crawl on the ground was already considered quite "merciful".

If Vinar was allowed to show some initiative, this female drow could even find 180 different tortures to teach the other party how to be a "qualified" and "well-behaved" slave.

Compared to the unwilling caravan owner, the other captured gray dwarf warriors seemed much more submissive. Their high level of obedience might even make people mistakenly believe that they were originally a group of slaves.

Of course, this obedience is largely due to the Dark Elves' notoriety for killing people in the Underdark.

Almost all the gray dwarves believe that if they do not perform well enough, they will most likely be executed in various cruel ways before arriving in Menzoberranzan.

In this way, Zuo Si and his party drove the gray dwarf captives and the convoy eastward along the tunnel for more than ten hours, and finally encountered a patrol team sent by the city of Menzoberranzan.

Suddenly, in the darkness, several sharp crossbow arrows shot out and accurately pierced the ground less than half a meter away from the toes.

Then a woman came out from the darkness and shouted, "Stop everything immediately! State your identity and purpose!"

"Don't move! If you make any threatening movements, they will attack immediately." Trist hurriedly lowered his voice and reminded behind him.

"Don't worry, I know how to handle it."

Zuo Si responded casually, then raised his hands to show that he had no weapons. He walked straight to the front of the team and bowed slightly to the drow woman who looked like a priest, with one hand on her chest.

"May the great Spider Queen bless everyone. Hello, honorable priestess, I am Soth from the city of Eredlin. As you can see, I am the leader of this mercenary group, and I am planning to go to the city of Menzoberranzan."

"Eridlin City? You guys really walked a long way."

There was strong suspicion and distrust in the female drow's tone, and she did not relax just because the other party was a dark elf.

Because compared to other races, our insidious and cunning compatriots are the ones we should be most wary of.

Zuo Si pretended to be helpless and shrugged his shoulders. "I can't help it. My family ran into some problems, so I was forced to leave and find a new city to start over. I think Menzoberranzan should be a good place. There should be many mistresses here who need mercenaries like me."

While saying this, he deliberately revealed the spider-shaped emblem that he had made himself.

moment!

The drow woman caught sight of this emblem and immediately imagined a story about a noble family that failed in an internal struggle and was exterminated, but the youngest son who had gone out escaped and fled with a small number of family warriors and became a mercenary.

In fact, similar situations occur in dark elf cities on average about once every ten years, and are not worth making a fuss about.

In the city of Menzoberranzan, there are many mercenaries who are "refugees" who have escaped from other cities.

The mistresses will select talented and valuable people from these "refugees" and absorb them into their own families.

Thinking of this, the female drow gestured to the others hiding in the darkness.

In the blink of an eye, dozens of fully armed dark elves came out from their hiding place.

Some of them occupied the commanding heights, holding bows and crossbows and aiming downwards, while others were arcane spellcasters such as mages and warlocks, holding spellcasting materials in their hands and obviously preparing spells.

In addition, warriors armed with various weapons also blocked all retreat routes from all directions.

Trist was right. This patrol had been ready for battle from the moment it issued the warning.

You have to know that they are not the humans on the surface who have lived in a peaceful environment for a long time, but a group of evil dark elves who grew up in conspiracies and schemes.

Especially the weapons and armor they wear, which are at least made of refined gold with an enchantment level of +3, and are worth at least thousands or even tens of thousands of gold coins in the surface world.

Those cloaks and boots that were imbued with magical powers were even more incredible. Even when they stepped on gravel, they would not make any sound at all. From a distance, they looked like a blurry shadow.

The shadow thieves and assassins of Amn would definitely be willing to spend a lot of money to get themselves one.

Of course, all of this equipment cannot be exposed to sunlight, otherwise its dark magical power will quickly fall apart and eventually turn into a pile of worthless adamantine dust.

However, the dark elves living deep in the Underdark obviously don't need to worry about these.

"Thoth from Eredlin City, I think you can now explain what is going on with these gray dwarves and their caravans."

The female drow jumped down from the stalactite with graceful steps, and the snake-headed whip hanging around her waist proved her identity as a priest of the spider goddess Lolth.

Obviously, she is the supreme commander of this patrol.

To be precise, the priestesses of Lolth hold all power in dark elf society.

They represent the will of the goddess of chaotic evil and firmly control the spiritual world of all dark elves.

As a double chosen one, Zuo Si could clearly feel the grace of the priestess in front of him, so he immediately bowed in a very humble manner, and then replied calmly: "These gray dwarves and their caravans are all spoils we got along the way."

"Spoils of war? You mean... they are all slaves?" The priestess' eyes lit up slightly.

"Yes. I was planning to transport them and the goods in the caravan to the market to be disposed of in exchange for some starting capital to establish a foothold in Menzoberranzan."

Zuo Si raised the corner of his mouth and revealed the evil smile unique to dark elves.

"Well-trained gray dwarf soldiers are always the most popular goods, especially in this sensitive period. Coupled with the well-trained dark elves under your command, it seems that you will have a good start in the city of Menzoberranzan." The priestess said meaningfully.

"I think so too. After all, the great Queen Rose taught us that chaos is a ladder and a shortcut to power and strength." Zuo Si responded, pretending to be ambitious.

Because he knew that the more he behaved like this, the easier it would be to win the other person's trust.

As expected, the priestess immediately pursed her lips and revealed a playful expression after hearing this. She walked closer and whispered in her ear: "You know what? What I like most is men who are ambitious. But before entering Menzoberranzan, I must advise you to do it within your ability. Because although chaos is a ladder, if you fall down halfway through climbing, you will be shattered to pieces."

"You can call me Herman Baenre."

The priestess raised her chin slightly and stated her name and surname in a very proud manner.

If it were someone who knew nothing about the city of Menzoberranzan, they would definitely not hear anything special about this name.

But when Drizzt, who was born in Menzoberranzan, heard the family name "Banere", his face hidden under the hood suddenly changed color.

Because "Banre" is the first family in the city of Menzoberranzan and also the most powerful family. Its previous matriarch died under his scimitar.

In addition, the ranger also killed Dendro Baenre, the martial arts master of the Baenre family, in a one-on-one duel, and had a feud with him more than once.

It can be said that the hatred between Drizzt and the Baenre family has reached a point where it cannot be resolved at all.

He believed that if the other party knew that he had returned, they would capture him alive at all costs and sacrifice him to the evil and chaotic goddess.

"Ah! It turns out that you are the daughter of the first family of Menzoberranzan. This is really surprising and unexpected. Please allow me to express my most sincere respect to you and your family."

Zuo Si placed one hand on his chest and leaned slightly to express his fear of the surname "Banrui" and family.

Because in the tradition of the dark elves, the number one family often means tremendous power and strength.

What's more, the history of the Baenre family can be traced back to the time when the city of Menzoberranzan was just established. The part with clear records alone is more than five thousand years. During this period, no family has ever been able to truly threaten their status.

Even now that its strength has been greatly reduced after the death of the old mistress, no other family can compare with it.

The current matron, Triel Baenre, had already served as matron and headmistress of the Spider Academy in Sobre when the old matron was still alive, and her status was second only to the matrons of the major families.

So when she took over the Baenre family in just a few years, she brought the originally chaotic situation within the family under control and re-established the rule of the city of Menzoberranzan with the Baenre family as the core.

Although this rule is not yet stable, many ambitious families are secretly trying to find the weaknesses of the Baenre family and then launch a fatal blow at the right time.

"Stop your glib talk here, you conceited lowly man. Bring your people and slaves with me. I believe many families are very interested in the gray dwarf slaves you have and the goods on the caravan."

After saying this, the woman who called herself Heman Banredro raised her hand and snapped her fingers.

Afterwards, the patrols quickly surrounded the entire caravan from all directions and brought it back to the city of Menzoberranzan in a semi-escorted manner.

Unlike surface cities that often have tall walls and deep moats, the city of Menzoberranzan is built in a cave that is about 3,200 meters wide and over a thousand meters high.

There are stalagmites and stalactites of all sizes here, and magic has created relatively independent circular platforms as living places.

At the only entrance, a huge steel gate stands there, completely isolating the inside and outside physically.

Unless permission is obtained, don't expect to be able to attack even if there are hundreds of thousands of troops outside.

In addition, this steel gate is not opened or closed by a gate or winch, but is controlled by magic.

When you pass through the gate and enter the interior, the first thing that catches your eye is the huge stone pillar standing in the center of the city - the Narbondel Column.

This is a device used by the dark elves to calculate time.

Since there are no seasons or alternation of day and night in the Underdark, at the end of each day, the archmage of the Mage Tower will bless the stone pillars with magical flames.

The temperature generated by the intense burning of the magic flame will make the entire stone pillar look red in the eyes of all creatures with dark vision, including the dark elves.

In this way, the dark elves can determine the time of day by observing the temperature of the stone pillars.

At the end of the day, the magical flame will be completely extinguished, and then the archmage will cast it again.

As a relatively large underground city, Menzoberranzan is home to nearly 20,000 dark elves and almost two to three times the number of slaves.

The main sources of slaves are goblins, orcs, half-orcs and bear goblins that can be found everywhere.

As for guys like the gray dwarves who are disciplined, obedient, and have mastered certain craftsmanship and metal smelting techniques, they are usually the more sought-after high-level slaves.

Normally, if a goblin can only be sold for about fifty gold coins on the market, then orcs and half-orcs can be sold for one hundred and fifty to two hundred gold coins, and bugbears can be sold for between three hundred and five hundred gold coins.

The price of gray dwarf slaves is often at the same level as that of trolls, and can be sold for eight hundred to one thousand gold coins.

Of course, the most expensive slaves are the dark elf slaves.

Their origins were very complicated. Some were demoted to slaves because of their mistakes, while others signed huge debts that they were unable to repay and had to allow their creditors to sell them as slaves.

In short, the status and treatment of dark elf slaves are definitely much higher than those of slaves of other races.

If he performed well enough, he might be able to earn his freedom again.

In the marketplace of Menzoberranzan, you can even see mind flayers, githyanki, and beholders doing business.

Especially the first two were complete enemies. After meeting, they did not fight but chose to ignore each other's existence.

At a stall selling goblin slaves, a male dark elf warrior bought six goblins at once, chopped off their limbs at lightning speed, and forced them to squirm frantically on the ground by sprinkling salt on their wounds. Then he made a bet with another group of dark elves nearby to see which goblin would die first and which one could crawl farther.

Whenever the goblins screamed in pain, they would laugh happily, or even take off their pants and urinate on the goblins, showing the evil, coldness and cruelty in their nature to the fullest.

In the end, the dark elf who lost the money became furious and simply raised his foot to crush the goblin who held out to the end into a pulp.

When other dark elves in the market saw this scene, they simply complained that the other party should not have made the scene so bloody, which would be very troublesome to clean up.

In addition to slaughtering goblins, the city of Menzoberranzan also has a very long tradition, which is to drive living slaves to the area where giant spiders are active, and then watch them being killed and eaten by those ferocious arthropods.

Looking at the visually impactful scene in front of him, Drizzt couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "How do you feel now?"

"You may not believe it, but I don't actually have any special feelings." Zuo Si shrugged indifferently.

"Aren't you angry? Among those slaves who were fed to spiders, there were quite a few human adventurers." Trist showed an expression of pity on his face.

"Angry? Why should I be angry?" Zuo Si asked nonchalantly. "These human adventurers are not innocent civilians. They chose to enter the Underdark, so they should be prepared to face this situation. As for goblins and orcs, I never think they should be classified as "humans". Well, don't be so sentimental. Don't forget that we are not here to save anyone, but to obtain information about the Fungus Forest."

Just when Drizzt was about to say something, a drow woman who looked arrogant and accompanied by a large group of followers came towards him.

She first glanced at the goods with interest, and then cast her eyes on the gray dwarf slaves listed for sale. She stroked her chin and asked with interest: "How much does it cost to buy all these goods and the gray dwarf slaves?"

"If the Los beast is included, the total cost will be 80,000 gold coins, honorable mistress." Zuo Si gave a number directly.

From the other party's posture and the noble badge on her chest, he could basically confirm the approximate identity of the female drow in front of him.

But I don’t know what family the other party belongs to, and what position it currently holds in the city of Mozoberranzan.

But those who can directly ask for so many valuable goods and slaves are definitely not those small families with no power.

(End of this chapter)