As the favorites of the God of Creation, although most of the elves have arrogant personalities, they are mostly kind-hearted and are in absolute hostility to the forces of darkness.
Half a month after the tragedy of Lake Town, after a brief discussion, His Majesty Thranduil, the Elf King of the Woodland Kingdom, temporarily took in the surviving refugees of Lake Town, allowed them to temporarily live in the territory of the Woodland Kingdom, and provided them with the necessary living supplies.
Of course, this was not free. Although the Sylvan elves did not ask for any compensation, as the temporary leader of these refugees, Wayne still insisted on paying the corresponding compensation.
As for where this money came from, it was of course obtained from the mayor of Changhu Town who once exploited the people and amassed wealth.
This fat-headed guy was not so lucky in this disaster. He and some of his officials were attacked by the orcs at the first moment. They didn't even have time to escape and died under the orcs' butcher knives.
Therefore, the wealth that the mayor had accumulated throughout his life naturally became ownerless. After digging out this wealth from the ruins, Wayne did not choose to keep it for himself. He used it as funds for the refugees in Changhu Town to rebuild their homes. This move undoubtedly won the gratitude of all the refugees.
That afternoon, when Wayne was discussing how to rebuild Lake Town with several management personnel among the survivors of Lake Town, Legolas, the prince of the woodland elves, came over.
The handsome elven prince bowed to Wayne very politely, and then said, "Mr. Wayne, my father invites you to participate in a meeting tonight. The grey wizard Gandalf is going to Dol Guldur tomorrow. This is the most important meeting before dealing with Smaug."
Wayne nodded when he heard this, returned a salute to the Elf Prince, and agreed to participate in the discussions in the evening.
After his record of rescuing the captives in Long Lake Town was exposed, he gained the favor and admiration of the entire Sylvan Elves. As a woodland kingdom that has fought with the orcs in the Black Forest for thousands of years, there is no one who does not hate the orcs extremely. What's more, people with strong strength are welcome everywhere. Wayne gladly accepted such kindness.
After Legolas left, Wayne turned to look at the people surrounding him, the archer Bard, the guard captain Jerry, the captain and merchant Old William, and the clerk Winget.
These four people were the most capable and prestigious among the survivors of Changhu Town. After the orcs' looting, almost half of the townspeople died in the war, and the remaining survivors were mostly the elderly, the weak, women and children. Those who really dared to resist had all died under the orcs' butcher knives in the previous confrontations.
Even in the original book, Bard, whose family survived, lost his wife to protect their children. Now he is the only one left to survive with his children.
"Lord Wayne, what do you think about this?"
Jerry, the former captain of the guard and now the captain of the refugee camp's militia, asked apprehensively, "After our discussion, we want to nominate you as our king to lead us in rebuilding our homeland."
Wayne sighed slightly in his heart when he heard this. His expression did not change. After looking at the four people, he said helplessly, "Sorry, I need to think carefully about this matter, because soon, I will participate in the operation to hunt down the evil dragon Smaug."
"I will give you an answer after Smaug is eliminated."
After hearing Wayne's answer, the four people on the opposite side couldn't help but show disappointment, and after struggling for a few seconds, Archer Bard let out a breath and said:
"Lord Wayne, if you want to hunt Smaug, I have some information that may be of some use."
Wayne nodded slightly. He roughly guessed what the other party wanted to tell him. To be honest, he was indeed a little hesitant about whether to accept becoming the king of Long Lake Town.
Today, the population of Long Lake Town is only about 500 people. Such a force is not strong, but it also has certain value. The only pity is that the portal to Middle-earth is in the Shire, and he cannot stay here for a long time to manage the country.
However, this place is too far away from Charles. It would take at least two or three months to go back and forth. He felt that it was a waste of time and it would be a pity to abandon it, which made him quite melancholy.
Sure enough, as Bard told the story, everyone was amazed by how his ancestor, the King of the Valley, once shot off a dragon scale from Smaug with a black arrow.
Although Wayne already knew the news, he still expressed his gratitude. At least Mr. Bud was not an ungrateful person. He had not forgotten his life-saving grace and concealed something, which meant that he was still trustworthy.
Unfortunately, the remaining black arrow in Bad's old house disappeared due to the destruction of Long Lake Town. If you want to find it, it may take some effort.
After talking with the four people, Wayne, led by a woodland elf, entered the palace of the Woodland Kingdom.
Since thousands of years ago, Mirkwood has been invaded by dark forces. The long-term pollution has directly turned this forest, once known as the Great Greenwood, into the Black Forest today.
Not only do spiders, orcs, twisted creatures, and all sorts of messy monsters breed here, but even the environment here has changed greatly due to the distortion of dark forces.
The territory of the Silvan elves was also compressed from the entire forest to a corner of the forest.
This is not due to the low combat effectiveness of the Woodland Kingdom. Compared with the speed at which orcs can reproduce a batch every few years, all the elves in Middle-earth are almost immortal.
Their long lifespan also led to their low fertility rate. Even if one elf could kill ten orcs, for most of the elven forces, the long-term losses from war were unbearable for everyone.
After entering the palace, several others were already waiting there. King Thranduil, whose appearance was as handsome as a work of art, sat on the throne, wearing a gorgeous light green robe. Prince Legolas stood beside him, also very handsome.
Prince Thorin and the old dwarf Balin sat on the seats to his right, while the grey-robed wizard Gandalf sat opposite the dwarves, smoking a pipe with a serious expression.
When Wayne came in, everyone nodded slightly to him. After he sat down in his seat, Gandalf, the only one who had no interest in any of the three parties, stood up, coughed lightly, and said:
"Everyone, now that everyone is here, let's start discussing the matters related to dealing with Smaug this time."
Seeing that no one had any objections, he stroked his beard and continued:
"According to our previous discussion, the first strategy we will adopt to deal with Smaug this time is theft."
"The Hobbit Bilbo sneaks into the palace of the Lonely Mountain and finds the Arkansas Diamond from the treasure of the Lonely Mountain to ensure the safety of this treasure."
"If the dragon wakes up midway, then Mr. Wayne will hunt it down, and they will fight inside Lonely Mountain."
At this point, Gandalf paused for a moment, then continued:
"At this point, if the hunt is successful, then the defeat of the evil dragon Smaug will be our victory."
"If Mr. Wayne fails in his hunt, we must be prepared to deal with Smaug's revenge."
"According to the intelligence we have received, the orc clans in the Grey Mountains seem to have received some kind of order and are gathering in secret."
"Prince Thorin has also written a letter to inform the Dwarf Kingdom of Iron Hills. We will soon receive Dwarf reinforcements."
"His Majesty Thranduil is also willing to send out troops to fight against the orcs together."
"We must work together to stop the alliance between the evil dragon Smaug and the orcs of the Grey Mountains. We must not allow these two evil forces to become one."
"The best scenario is to concentrate our efforts to eliminate one of the two parties before they come into contact."
"And no matter what the result is, His Excellency Prince Thorin will return the necklace to His Majesty Thranduil, and is willing to give out a portion of the treasure of the Lonely Mountain as a reward for this battle."
(End of this chapter)