In the space of just one sentence, Lane was startled twice by Tomor Fuchs.

"I am honored that you are willing to entrust half of the young and strong men in the clan to me." Lann shook his head, "But I can't understand it."

"What I can't understand even more is why you want to destroy the Davor Abyss. If I remember correctly, this is the guarantee of the Fuchs clan's survival, right? You even had conflicts with the Sieglin clan many times in order to protect it!"

After hearing Lan's doubts, Tomor snorted coldly. That emotion was not directed at Lan, but at Qi Gelin.

"The conflict between us and Sieglin was not to prevent them from getting their hands on the resources in the mine, but simply to protect the clan's territory and property. This is not a dispute over interests, but the clan's honor cannot be compromised!"

"In fact..." At this point, Tomor sighed, "The mineral deposits in the Davor Bottomless Pit are almost exhausted."

…

The quantity and quality of diamonds contained in the Davor Abyss are among the best in Mahakam and the entire North. All the palaces in the North are shining with the brilliance of the gems produced there, decorating crowns, embellishing scepters, inlaid in holy chalices, and adding splendor to ceremonial swords; and most of the drills and cutters used by the dwarves themselves are also made of diamonds produced from the Davor Abyss.

However, because these diamonds are so precious and practical, Mahakam has asked the Fuchs clan more than once to increase their mining efforts. By now, the diamond mines, as a non-renewable resource, are close to exhaustion.

"Perhaps this is what we deserve. The mission targets required by Carbon Mountain are getting higher and higher. We can only continue to increase the intensity of mining, which has caused great damage to the underground environment, causing the monsters living deep underground to crawl to the surface."

"Every year during the general cleanup, Davol would send the most support troops to Tanshan. I reported this to the Great Elder more than once, but he said: In the face of these diamonds, all the costs are worth it."

"But the output of the mine is far from meeting the mission's targets. We can only invest more manpower in mining, but the output is only one-tenth of what it used to be. The Davor Mine is no longer our Fuchs' wealth, but a 'bottomless pit' that drags us down."

"This time, the mine was almost completely occupied by monsters, but Broval still ordered us to take back the mine... It was obviously almost exhausted. How could he give such an order to use the young man's life in exchange for such a barren mine?"

Under the influence of his emotions, Tomor couldn't help but growl in a low voice, which attracted the attention of the dwarves and Cintra people nearby.

Lann understood now: "So you want to destroy the entire mine under the pretext of eliminating the monsters, so that the Fuchs clan can completely get rid of this burden?"

Tomor calmed down and nodded glumly. It was obvious that he was not happy to make this decision. But for the lives of the young people and the future of the clan, he had to give up the Davor bottomless pit that Davor had once given Fuchs glory.

"After that, I plan to lead all my compatriots to Polo Pass, where we used to have an iron mine, with numerous steel mills, workshops and forges. After the ore veins there were exhausted, we dug houses on the cliffs and transformed the mines into living areas. It can help us survive the difficult times."

Lann's thoughts became clearer. "And in this difficult time, you need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. So you want us to help you take care of the young men by handing over half of the young men in the clan to Cintra?"

Lann couldn't help but laugh. It turned out that there was no help without reason. Any gift was secretly marked with a price.

"But Tomer, I'm taking your boys out to fight. And do you really trust me to take care of them? I can, but I mean, we don't know each other at all."

"Young people can only earn food through work. Every inch of land we live on was reclaimed with blood. They are just repeating the path of their ancestors." Tomor said sullenly, "As for Cintra... I know that Yarpan of Sieglin serves under you. When he occasionally writes home, he praises Cintra and the lions there. Even we have heard of it."

Tomor looked at Lann and said, "Although the Sieglin clan is greedy, violent, and stupid, they never lie to their own people, so I believe that Cintra can take good care of Fuchs who will help you restore your country."

Yarpen always manages to surprise himself in various ways.

"I have one last question." Lan and Tomer Fuchs looked each other in the eye. "Your plan to flood the Davor Abyss actually goes against the wishes of the Great Elder. If I help you, it will probably anger the Great Elder. Why should I do this?"

"He is only the Great Elder. Although he wears a crown, he is not the 'king' of your human kingdom after all." Tomor said in a deep voice, "He has prestige, but the premise of this prestige is that he is beneficial to Mahakam. We all want to contribute to Mahakam, so we allow him to give us orders."

"But now there are more and more people who are dissatisfied with him. In addition to us, Fuchs, there is also the Ferenz clan who is responsible for serving the Red Dragon. I have a good relationship with them. If you help us, then in addition to sending the young man, I can also send Petrit as a messenger to help you lobby them and gain more support."

"Believe me, our two clans alone are enough to form a heavy infantry regiment of more than 2,000 people. The dwarf boy's iron hammer can be replaced with a war hammer at any time. You don't even need to look for Sieglin and other clans anymore - of course, if you want to look for them again, I have no objection."

"After all, the more compatriots there are around, the better life young people can live."

"And what support did Brovard give you? A few light letters?"

The old dwarf chief shook his beard and looked at the young duke in front of him expectantly, his eyes full of confidence.

Then he smiled, for he saw the expression he had hoped to see on the lion's face.

"So, Tomer, how are you going to blow up this dam?"

…

Geralt slowly smeared a layer of [Hybrid Beast] oil on his wolf-headed silver sword, and at the same time checked his alchemy backpack straps for the last time to make sure that the bomb he needed was within his reach.

The Wolf School is the most orthodox school of demon hunter inheritance, and also the most comprehensive school, covering sword skills, sword oil, magic seals, and bombs. These skills support the Wolf School demon hunters to deal with most unexpected situations without any shortcomings.

The upper limit of this configuration is very high, but the lower limit is also very low. A strong person, like the future Geralt, can become a master in all fields and become a top demon hunter; a weak person, however, will eventually become mediocre because of his miscellaneous knowledge and lack of mastery of any one thing.

The protagonists of many old novels also have this configuration. Basically, except for the protagonist himself who becomes a versatile person, most of the others are mediocre.

However, since Lann had more and more demon hunters under his command, the Wolf School had frequent academic exchanges with other schools. The Wolf School demon hunters, who had laid a solid foundation in various fields early on, easily absorbed the excellent experience of other schools like a sponge in this process.

Compared with other schools, the Wolf School has made the greatest progress in this kind of academic exchange, and Geralt's growth rate is therefore more than one point faster than normal history.

Behind him were several dwarf hunting teams. It was unknown when Geralt had become their leader.

Because the dwarves of the Sieglin clan declined Lann's help, Geralt followed the army as a "consultant" at first. But soon the dwarves of the Sieglin clan encountered trouble during the "big cleanup". The living habits and the number of monsters were completely different from previous years. Even though the Sieglin clan had been mentally prepared, they were still in a mess.

So Geralt took action at this time. He keenly sensed several of the monsters' hidden attacks, accurately located and tracked the monsters' movements, and skillfully destroyed several monsters' nests.

In the process, he also rescued dwarf warriors from dangerous battles many times, including the leader of the dwarf team, Kuba Zigrin.

These various methods and experienced fighting postures quickly impressed the warriors of the dwarf hunting team, and Geralt naturally changed from "advisor" to "leader".

"Stop." Geralt noticed something and raised his hand suddenly. The dwarf hunting team behind him immediately stopped their pace obediently, but a dozen warriors at the back of the team were unable to brake in time and bumped into their companions, and they all rolled on the ground in a rather funny way.

However, the people who fell did not scream. Instead, they climbed up in silence. At most, they glared at each other in reproach, showing their superb fighting qualities.

"Geralt, have you found anything?" Kuba Sieglin asked in a low voice.

The amber pupils of the white wolf sparkled. He first pulled out a bloody feather from the snow under his feet, then looked around at the sparse black forest trees and the marks on the trunks. The smoky pheromones stimulated his nerves in his demon hunter senses.

"Harpies, this is their nest, on the cliff ahead." Geralt whispered, "There are quite a few of them. I guess several nearby harpies have gathered together. This is very abnormal - but considering the recent situation, it is expected."

Kuba Ziglin suddenly became excited.

"Then what are we waiting for? There are many of them, but we have more. Those winged guys always steal our cattle and sheep!" Kuba said hatefully, "You can explore more accurately, right? Find out the exact location of their nest, and then leave it to us!"

The white wolf looked at Kuba expressionlessly and shook his head.

"Mountain hunting is the worst option. After all, this is their home turf, and they can fly," Geralt explained. "When facing these monsters, the biggest advantage humans... and dwarves have is their equipment and organized formations. Once the team is scattered, it's easy to cause unnecessary casualties."

Seeing that his proposal was rejected, Kuba no longer insisted, as if this situation had happened many times before. He simply put his hands on his waist, with an expression of giving up thinking:

"Then Geralt, you decide what to do. We will listen to you."

Kuba's "proposal" caused the hunting team members behind him to nod, and they all looked at Geralt eagerly.

Geralt had gotten used to this kind of look. He sighed slightly:

"Didn't I ask you to collect a lot of fresh blood and meat during the previous hunt? Bring it out."

Kuba showed a curious look: "Are you trying to make bait? These are just some pieces of meat. The harpy can't be so stupid, right?"

"Normally, no, so I will use a special herbal mixture to add some ingredients." Geralt shook a small bottle in his hand. These were already prepared in the Carbon Mountain. "Although the black pine forest here is sparse, it is enough to serve as a cover so that the harpies lured by the smell cannot see the true appearance of these baits. By the time they can see clearly, our attack will have arrived."

Kuba's eyes lit up, and then he nodded heavily: "I'll listen to you!"

The flesh and blood mixed with alchemical herbs were soon thrown into the dense black pine forest, and a strong and pungent smell to humans continued to emanate.

Geralt hid in the bushes nearby, evaluating this hunt in his mind. If Lann was here, he would definitely choose to use a low-intensity [Alder Sign] to create a breeze to quickly spread the scent of the bait.

It's a pity that Geralt doesn't have such abundant magic power.

However, the mountain wind did not disappoint Geralt, as he had specially observed the terrain here. After two hours of waiting, a strong enough mountain wind finally swept over and spread out; after about half an hour, hoarse and noisy chirping could be heard faintly in the sky.

More than twenty harpies were circling in the air, swooping around the Black Forest, as if searching for the alluring scent.

And this distance is enough for the dwarves to launch an attack.

"Leave it to us next." Kuba grinned. Geralt nodded in agreement. Once on the front battlefield, the combat effectiveness of a single demon hunter would be inferior to that of a group of dwarves.

Then, they used standard tactics to fight against flying creatures. Arrows rained down, and ground troops followed up. The dwarves cleared the harpies in an orderly manner in teams of ten. Geralt deftly interspersed among them as a firefighter, occasionally pulling the team that had been temporarily rushed out of the gap, and using the [Alder Seal] to shoot down the diving harpies.

This premeditated ambush came to an end as the last harpy, which raised its body to escape, was shot down by a longbow.

The hunting team members roamed around the battlefield, helping the harpy, who was only breathing her last, to die completely, and at the same time collected monster materials needed by the clan, to make up for some of the losses caused by monsters during this period.

Kuba walked around the team for a while, ascertained the losses, and the smile on his face grew even bigger.

"That's amazing, Geralt. There were no casualties during this cleanup!" Kuba patted Geralt's thigh hard. "This is all because of your help. I really hope there will be a few demon hunters in the clan!"

Geralt shook his head and didn't respond to Kuba's words. He just said, "Even if the main force of the Harpy's nest was not attracted this time, at least two-thirds of them were destroyed. Now we can organize people to climb the mountain. I have a lot of bombs suitable for destroying their nests, which is enough to solve them once and for all."

Kuba laughed and was about to nod, but then he thought of something and suddenly became hesitant.

He wasn't the type to hide his thoughts or let his expression change smoothly, and this anomaly immediately caught Geralt's attention.

"I say... Geralt, actually we don't need to go up the mountain again." Kuba stammered, "Uh... This is a rule of Mahakam, that is, when cleaning up, some monsters should be left behind, and not all of them should be killed. Otherwise, it will destroy... the ecological balance. Yes, the ecological balance!"

"Anyway," Kuba said, "Let's stop this cleaning now. How about we go back and rest? Then we can check on the reconnaissance of other teams to see if there are any more places that need to be cleaned up."

Geralt's pupils narrowed slightly.

After looking Kuba up and down, and then at the dwarves who had just finished fighting, he said leisurely:

"Of course, I'm just here to help. How and how much I help is up to you..."