The shadow of war diluted the joy of victory. Although the news of Smaug's fall made many northerners excited, the shadow of the approaching army of tens of thousands of orcs also made many people feel fearful.

When the news gradually spread, what Wayne did not expect was that both Thorin's dwarves and the Silvan elves were very excited. Although they all entered a tense stage of war preparation, they did not show any panic or timidity.

The hatred between the kind races in the north and the evil Orcs is old, basically dating back thousands of years. Countless ancestors turned into dry bones in the war with the Orcs. They are natural enemies, destined that only one side can survive, and there is no possibility of any compromise.

Even the refugees from Changhu Town, whose total number was less than 600, did not retreat at all and volunteered to participate in the battle.

Most of their relatives and friends died in the orcs' pillaging not long ago. Now, even if they are torn to pieces, they all want to avenge their relatives and friends.

This puts Master Wayne in a difficult position. The remaining refugees in Hegu Town are the elderly, the weak, women and children, and a few people. There are less than twenty soldiers left, barely forming a militia squad. As for the other civilians, they have basically not received professional combat training. They are just helping hands on the battlefield and may even make things worse.

However, in view of the unity and indignation of the people, Wayne went to King Thranduil to buy two hundred elven light crossbows, and also bought a lot of weapons and equipment. Then he arranged for the militia captain Jerry and the archer Bard to pick out one hundred refugees who were barely capable of fighting, and formed a combat team. Before the war began, they would give them military training and try to train them into light crossbow shooters.

As for the others, if they were unable to join the army but really wanted to contribute, he arranged them into the logistics team. They would not directly participate in the war, but they could still do their part to fight the orcs.

No one knew when the orc army would arrive, so everyone was trying their best to reorganize the team. However, at this time, there was a very obvious problem between the dwarves and the elves.

That is, Lonely Mountain and the Woodland Kingdom are several days apart, and it is impossible for the dwarves and elves to abandon their homes to help defend each other. Before the orc army has determined its target, they can only fight alone and defend their own territory.

But this is a very dangerous situation. If the elves and dwarves cannot gather together, they will be easily defeated one by one by the orc army, or even directly attacked and crushed by absolute numbers. It is very dangerous.

After receiving the news of the Orc army, Thorin's cousin Dain immediately returned to the Iron Hills where the northern dwarves lived. In less than a week, he returned to the Lonely Mountain with a thousand Ironfoot soldiers in heavy armor, a large number of dwarf residents, and various dwarf living props.

They decided to defend the regained Kingdom under the Mountain to the death, and in the near future, they would gather most of the Durin dwarves back to the Lonely Mountain to continue mining the treasures in the mountain, redevelop the dwarf kingdom, and make it a paradise for the dwarves once again.

And this is exactly what Gandalf wanted.

The reason why he launched this expedition to the Lonely Mountain was that he hoped the dwarves of Middle-earth could gather again in the kingdom under the mountain, hold back the orcs and other dark forces in the entire north, and prevent the dark races of the north and Mordor from joining together to form a more threatening evil alliance.

In a sense, Gandalf's goal has been achieved. In order to protect their homes, the dwarves of Durin and the Silvan elves of the Woodland Kingdom will definitely fight to the death with the Orcs in the north.

However, these have little to do with Wayne. He participated in the Battle of Five Armies not for world peace or saving the world or other noble things. Of course, those are just side effects. Wayne's most important task is to complete various commissions and improve his own strength.

So he came to Lonely Mountain again, and saw Thorin sitting on the throne in the palace of Lonely Mountain which had been restored to its former splendor.

This handsome dwarf prince has put on gorgeous dwarf royal armor and a jeweled crown on his head. His solemn expression reveals a gleam of wisdom.

After meeting Wayne, Thorin was very enthusiastic, and his words and actions always revealed his respect and gratitude for the witcher. Wayne also showed his respect for the King under the Mountain.

After all, if someone respects me an inch, I will respect him a yard. Thorin, the King Under the Mountain, is one of the most high-end and powerful people he has met so far.

"Wayne, thank you for the gift you gave me. I like it very much. I have hung it on the wall outside the palace."

"I believe that anyone who sees Smaug's head in the future will understand that we, the Allies, have a will as strong as steel. We will avenge our enemies and repay our kindness. We have a spirit as strong as gold."

Wayne almost burst out laughing when he heard Thorin call their dwarves the golden spirit. However, this time, he came to meet the new King under the Mountain not to chat.

Since retaking the Lonely Mountain, Thorin's mental state seems to be much better than before. He is no longer as gloomy, scheming, and easily obsessed as when they first met.

The king of the mountain now has a kingly bearing in his every move. His appearance and temperament are very good, which makes people can't help but respect him.

Before Wayne could say anything, Thorin spoke up, "We'll talk about the rest later, Wayne. I promised to give you the commission, one-third of the treasure of Lonely Mountain, and the ten pieces of mithril armor we promised."

"After counting these days, we have moved your gold to another room. You can send someone to deliver the gold at any time. The gate of the Kingdom under the Mountain is always open to you."

"However, I'm sorry to say that our craftsmen have searched the entire Lonely Mountain and only found two finished pieces of mithril armor and enough materials to make three pieces of mithril armor."

"The remaining five pieces can only be made for you after we continue to mine the resources of Lonely Mountain or after we have enough mithril after we recapture Moria."

Thorin paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Of course, my friend. We dwarves will never break our promise. Even if it takes decades to obtain the mithril, we will not give up our efforts. But if you are willing to accept our commission to retake Moria and help us defeat the Balrogs and orcs in Moria, you will be richly rewarded."

"As for the integrity of us dwarves, you should have experienced it, my friend."

As Thorin finished speaking, a system prompt sounded in Wayne's mind.

Ding! Mission triggered, [Destroy the Flame Demon] epic, do you want to accept it? Suddenly hearing the reminder of an epic mission, Wayne subconsciously wanted to accept the mission, but soon he realized that this mission could not be completed in this time period. He could only accept one mission per day. If he accepted this mission, today's trip would be in vain.

Then, Wayne smiled calmly and said, "Thorin, my friend, I can certainly accept Moria's commission. I also think there is no problem in getting rid of a Balrog."

"Otherwise, even if we conquer Moria, you won't be able to find so many dwarves to live there, right?"

Seeing Thorin's smile due to his words, Wayne continued, "Thorin, we will put the matter of Moria aside for now. When the time is right, we will discuss the detailed contract."

"The main reason I came to see you this time is because of the upcoming orc army."

"This army is huge, dozens or even tens of times larger than your dwarven warriors. Although I don't mind helping you deal with these orcs for free."

"But as an adventurer, I am used to accepting commissions to do work."

Wayne looked at Thorin's serious face because of the matter of the Orc army, and said, "I think it would be better if we sign a commission contract. The content of the commission is that I will help you in this war and kill the commander of the enemy army."

"As for the reward for the commission, for the sake of our friendship, I won't make it difficult for you. I just need the blacksmith masters of the Kingdom under the Mountain to help me customize 10,000 sets of knight armor and weapons. And they won't make them for free. I will pay you accordingly based on the value of these armors. How do you think?"

Thorin was slightly stunned when he heard this. He first considered the necessity of this contract, then was surprised at the reward Wayne asked for, and was immediately quite moved.

To be honest, if Wayne would pay the cost of making the knight armor, then their commission this time would basically be free.

And if Wayne could kill the enemy commander after the war started, just like he killed Smaug, it would definitely be a very meaningful thing for the dwarves and they would make a big profit.

Being able to make a good friend is a happy thing for anyone.

Thorin walked down from the throne with a smile on his face, took Wayne's wrist and said, "No problem, I will handle this commission according to your terms. I will have someone write a contract and then formally sign this commission contract with you."

"But before that, I will take you to see the gold that belongs to you, and the mithril armor you asked for."

"Haha, I dare say that if you want to transport so much gold and bring it back to the Shire, back to your Wayne Manor, you may need to prepare hundreds of carriages or a caravan of thousands of people."

Listening to Thorin's joking words, the two quickly bypassed the antechamber of the Lonely Mountain Palace, walked through several passages, and came to a huge and spacious room.

There, piles of gold were neatly stacked, forming a huge gold mountain that was hundreds of meters wide and dozens of meters high. In addition to the gold coins piled up like a mountain of gold, on the other side of the room, there were a large number of gold utensils, sculptures, jewelry, and various valuable jewels, which were stored in dozens of huge wooden boxes, emitting a strange and attractive light.

Thorin stood in front of Wayne with a proud expression, opened his arms, and said in a heroic tone:

"Wayne, all the gold in this room belongs to you. Please trust the credibility of us dwarves. This is one third of all the wealth in the Lonely Mountain treasury. Not a single gold coin is missing."

"With this gold, you are already the richest adventurer in all of Middle-earth, even far surpassing many kings."

As he spoke, Thorin moved an exquisite wooden treasure chest from the corner of the room, opened the lid, and revealed an extremely exquisite chain mail inside that looked no different from ordinary silver. He said with a pained look, "As for this, they are the only two pieces of mithril chain mail that are currently left in our Lonely Mountain. They are as light as goose feathers, as thin as cicada wings, and invulnerable to swords and guns. They are the top-level inner armor."

"We will complete the other three pieces of mithril mail armor one month after the war ends. They are not only the rewards for your commission, but also the symbols of friendship between the Durin family and you."

Wayne watched all this with great satisfaction, then reached out and took out the two pieces of mithril armor, held them in his hands and looked at them carefully, waiting until Thorin left to deal with something.

He patted his black purse with a feeling of unsatisfied feeling and called out softly.

"Vivian, come out quickly, it's time for a big job today."

………………

Three days later, even though the wealth elf had extremely powerful abilities in handling money and property, the mountain of gold in the room still made Vivian exhausted. It took her three full days to collect the gold.

The conclusion Vivian came to in the end also made Wayne feel uneasy for a long time.

1.8 billion Orens, yes, if this wealth is converted into Orens, it would be as much as 1.8 billion.

This is a number that most people can hardly imagine. Even the nobles, the king, and even the emperor of the South, I am afraid they can hardly imagine what it means to have hundreds of millions of gold coins. But now, Wayne has become the owner of these gold coins. He has wealth that can rival the world.

This is a force that can influence the world. To some extent, it is even more powerful than the legendary gods and can cause more far-reaching impacts.

Anyway, no matter how excited Wayne was in his heart, Thorin did not break his promise, and Wayne got the reward he deserved.

The most important part of this mission in Middle-earth has been completed.

(I attended a wedding today and I am so tired. I will resume normal updates tomorrow. 8k a day. That's it. Muah!) (End of this chapter)