Riverdale Town.
City Hall Square, inside the golden royal tent.
The Elf King Thranduil finally couldn't bear it anymore when he saw the bombastic and alarmist wizard.
"Those orcs you mentioned have been hiding for so long."
Thranduil stood up and looked at Gandalf and said contemptuously: "Then why don't they continue to hide, but choose to take action at this time?"
"Of course we were forced to do so!"
Gandalf spoke decisively and continued: "What forced them to attack was the expedition of Thorin Oakenshield and his party to regain the kingdom under the mountain."
"Those dwarves had no chance of reaching Erebor..."
"The Orcs led by Azog the Destroyer have been hunting them down."
"The real master behind Azog has always wanted to occupy the Lonely Mountain."
"Not only because of the treasures in Gushan, but also because of Gushan's vital strategic location."
"Because if they use the Lonely Mountain as their starting point, they can conquer the land of Angmar further north..."
"If that terrifying kingdom rises again, Rivendell, Lorien, the Shire, and even Gondor will all be captured!"
Gandalf solemnly spoke out the Orcs' conspiracy.
After all, Thranduil is the king of elves, although he hates and even hates alarmist wandering wizards like Gandalf.
But he could still hear the seriousness of the message in Gandalf's words at this time.
Slightly putting away the contempt on his face, Thranduil looked at Gandalf seriously and asked: "Mithrandil, these Orc armies you mentioned..."
"Where are they now?"
Faced with the Elf King's question, Gandalf, who was originally so impressive, was immediately speechless.
He did meet the Orc leader Azog and a large number of Orcs in the ruins of Dol Guldur.
When Sauron was seriously injured and trapped in a cage, he also vaguely saw the orc army leaving the ruins of Dol Guldur.
He knew that Azog's ultimate goal must be to march into Lonely Mountain.
However, he really didn't know where those orcs were now.
Looking at Gandalf who was embarrassed and speechless, Thranduil couldn't help but have a contemptuous smile on his face again.
But at least I can see that Gandalf and the dragon-slaying warrior Morgan have a good relationship.
Thranduil didn't say anything unpleasant, he just turned around and sat back on the bench, ignoring Gandalf at all.
At this time, Morgan stood up immediately, smiled and said a few words to ease the atmosphere, and quickly took Gandalf out of the royal court tent.
"Don't you even believe me?"
Gandalf said angrily as he looked at Morgan beside him, who was almost holding him out.
Morgan shook his head and smiled: "Gandalf, of course I will believe you, just like I believed you when we first met."
"I've always believed in you."
"but..."
Having said this, Morgan, who had left the royal court and walked into the corridor of the city hall, stopped and said in a deep voice: "That Thranduil doesn't trust you at all, Gandalf."
"Unless you have completely accurate information, the other party will not believe you."
"I can see that he is biased against you."
Morgan watched Gandalf finish speaking solemnly.
Gandalf was silent.
He did notice Thranduil's strange attitude towards him.
Think about it for a moment.
Gandalf could even guess where these strange attitudes came from.
The grudges between Thranduil and the Erebor dwarves have been building up for a long time.
Originally, Erebor was conquered by the evil dragon Smaug, and the country was destroyed.
Seeing the enemy suffer disaster, no one knows how the Elf King Thranduil in the Dark Forest feels, whether he is happy or not, whether he is ecstatic or not.
But I'm sure I won't feel sad for the dwarf.
If this continues, Thranduil won't feel anything.
However, Gandalf actually encouraged and organized the expedition of Thorin Oakenshield, the legitimate heir of Erebor, to regain Erebor.
In the end, it was successfully recovered by Thorin Oakenshield.
And all of this was caused by the expedition organized by Gandalf at the beginning.
Now Thranduil himself has to deal with the dwarves himself.
As the chief culprit, Gandalf actually came to persuade him not to use troops against the dwarves.
How could Thranduil endure this.
He was already very restrained if he didn't just blast Gandalf away from the beginning.
How could he listen to Gandalf's advice and look good on him?
While Gandalf was silent.
At this time, footsteps suddenly came from behind.
Morgan turned around and saw Bud following him.
He reached out and patted Gandalf on the shoulder and said: "Forget it, don't think about it."
"It just so happens that Smaug still has a lot of meat left. It's been a long time. Let's have a drink together."
As soon as the words fell, Gandalf, who was in deep thought, immediately raised his head, as if wondering if he heard something wrong, and looked at Morgan in confusion: "Smaug's flesh?"
Morgan looked at Gandalf and grinned, feeling secretly happy: "Yes, it's the flesh of Smaug, the dragon Smaug."
Deep in the lonely mountain.
In front of the weapons depot.
Looking at the terrifying and hysterical Thorin Oakenshield in front of him.
Bilbo was completely silent.
He finally understood what Bahrain had said to him on the King's Road:
"Arken Gem is the King of Gemstones..."
"It gives power to the person who wears it..."
"Can Thorin's disease be cured?"
"No, it will only make Thorin even crazier..."
"Perhaps it would be best to never find it..."
Balin's words kept coming back to his mind.
Bilbo understood that Thorin Oakenshield's "dragon disease" had penetrated deeply into the bone marrow and was terminally ill.
Thorin Oakenshield is hopeless.
It was impossible to expect him to wake up on his own.
The Arken Stone must never be given to Thorin...
If you want to stop the war between the dwarves and the elves and humans outside, you can only think of other ways.
Bilbo's heart was determined.
At this time, all the dwarves in the weapons warehouse were already dressed.
Everyone put on the most powerful armor in the entire kingdom under the mountain, picked up the sharpest weapons, and strode outside.
Bilbo glanced at Thorin Oakenshield for the last time.
Then he turned around, followed the dwarves, and walked out.
The waiting is excruciating.
Especially waiting for a losing war.
Waiting for death.
A group of dwarves put on the best armor and weapons in their lives.
Standing on the tall city wall of Gushan, looking at the dense golden army of elves on the wall of River Valley Town opposite.
At this time, everyone was thinking heavily, and no one was in the mood for joking as usual.
"Do you think we can win this time?"
"impossible..."
"It's impossible. There are only thirteen of us now, but there is an entire army of elves facing us!"
"We are destined to lose..."
"But hasn't Bahrain already sent a message asking for help?"
"Looking for help, who can I call for help?"
"Iron Hills?"
"They won't come. Have you forgotten what Thorin said after the Council of Eredlon when we were first at Bilbo's house?"
"Dane said this was just our adventure, just us..."
"Then this time it will be thirteen of us against an entire army of elves and those humans?"
"It's just us, what are we afraid of?"
"That's right, we're not afraid of those damn elves!"
"Just do it with them..."
"Let them know that we dwarves will never back down! We will never surrender!"
"..."
The dwarves talked a lot and encouraged themselves.
But everyone can hear the strong tone hidden in the strong tone.
Bilbo was sitting in the corner of the city wall with his eyes distracted, staring straight ahead in trance.
The distraction is very obvious.
Bilbo was thinking hard now.
He wanted to come up with a way to avoid a war between the dwarves and the elves in the opposite valley town.
Bilbo reached into his arms and grabbed the smooth Arkenstone, thinking about it.
Not long after, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Bilbo's eyes widened for a moment and he came to life.
He finally thought of a way!
Just when he stood up happily, he suddenly remembered that it was only noon now, and it was still far from night.
So, Bilbo sat back in the corner again.
After thinking over the plan in my mind several times, I confirmed that it should not go wrong.
Bilbo felt much better immediately.
Leaning against the wall and basking in the warm winter sunshine.
Bilbo fell asleep just like that.
Time passed quickly.
When the sun sets in the sky, darkness covers the world, and the cool breeze blows on your face.
Bilbo woke up.
After getting up and having dinner with the dwarves around the campfire.
Bilbo found the prop he was going to use for the night and hid it.
Then continue to wait patiently.
Time passed slowly.
The crescent moon disappeared into the dark clouds.
The sky and the earth were dark.
All the dwarves fell asleep, except for the night watch dwarves who continued to gather around the bonfire.
Bilbo took a roll of thick rope and quietly climbed up the tall wall of the Lonely Mountain Gate.
Find a spot to tie the rope that you thought you'd see during the day.
Bilbo began to get busy.
It was only when Bilbo concentrated on tying the rope.
At this time, a voice suddenly came from not far away.
"You should be inside at this time, that way you can escape the cold wind."
Startled by the suddenness, Bilbo turned his head quickly.
He saw Bofur, a dwarf in a mighty armor, standing not far away rubbing his hands and looking at the dark night sky in trance.
Seeing that it was Bofur, Bilbo's extremely nervous mood was inexplicably relieved.
He stood up quickly, looked at Bofur with an embarrassed smile and said, "The dragon smell inside is serious and it's too stuffy. I want to come out for some air."
Bofur turned to look at Bilbo and asked something strange: "The elves are already deploying their archers."
"If there are no accidents, the battle will definitely be over before tomorrow night."
"At that time, I didn't know if I would still be alive..."
Bofur said, looking at Bilbo, smiling and saying, "Everyone has the right to choose whether to live or not. Such people should not be blamed."
Before Bilbo could speak, Bofur continued: "It's almost midnight, and Bombur will be the next one to keep watch."
"It will take some time to wake up Pombo, I'll go down first..."
Bofur said, turning around and walking down.
"Bofur..."
Bilbo finally spoke, stopped Bofur, smiled and said, "We'll see you tomorrow morning."
Bofur looked at Bilbo and looked slightly stunned, then shook his head and smiled: "Goodbye, Bilbo."
After saying that, he turned around and went down.
Bilbo didn't care that Bofur didn't understand what he meant.
He quickly grabbed the tight rope and threw it down onto the boulder outside the thick gate.
Then he grabbed the rope and quickly climbed down.
Soon, the agile Bilbo successfully landed on the ground outside the gate.
Not long after, the small and flexible figure disappeared into the darkness.
Riverdale Town.
City Hall Square, inside the golden royal tent.
"When did my opinion become so disrespected?"
Gandalf was angrily questioning Thranduil, who was sitting on the bench: "What do you think I want to do?"
"I think you want to save your dwarf friend..."
"Don't forget, Mithrandir, this happened because of you..."
Thranduil also stood up and spoke unceremoniously.
Looking at the two people facing each other in front of them.
Morgan sighed in his heart, but had no intention of speaking.
He had persuaded Gandalf before when he and Gandalf Bard were drinking together during the day.
But if Gandalf, who was well aware of the terror of Orcs, could listen to advice at this time, he would not be Gandalf.
Looking at the two people arguing in front of them.
Morgan already had an idea in his mind about what would happen next, how to prevent the war between the elves and the dwarves tomorrow.
But there was definitely no way to tell Gandalf these thoughts.
So, if Gandalf wants to quarrel, let him quarrel with Thranduil.
Bud on the side looked a little heavy.
Apparently some of Gandalf's words had affected him.
But there was the Elf King Thranduil in front of him to block Gandalf's "enthusiasm".
Bud looked quite calm.
at this time.
A short and sturdy figure suddenly appeared in front of the royal court tent.
Looking at the familiar figure in his sight, Morgan immediately widened his eyes and said in surprise: "Bilbo."
Bilbo's unexpected arrival immediately stopped the argument between the two men in the tent.
"Bilbo Baggins..."
Gandalf looked at Bilbo with the same look in Morgan's eyes, one that was also full of surprise.
But the Elf King Thranduil looked at Bilbo and recognized him at a glance.
"If I remember correctly, you should be the halfling who stole the key to the dungeon from under the nose of my guard?"
Thranduil looked at Bilbo and spoke slowly.
Bilbo looked a little embarrassed and scratched his head, then said softly: "It's me."
"But I'm here today to give you this."
Bilbo said as he walked forward, took out something wrapped in cloth from his arms, and placed it on the table.
As Bilbo quickly opened the cloth instantly.
Everyone in the entire royal court tent was stunned for a moment.
"Heart of the Mountain..."
Thranduil looked at the gems on the table that were constantly emitting charming light, and couldn't help but murmur to himself.
"The King's Treasure..."
Bud is also a gem on the table with an incredulous look on his face.
Even Gandalf and Morgan were all focused on the priceless and precious king of gems in front of them.
Morgan looked at the dreamy gems that were exuding dazzling colors all the time, and it didn't even feel like they were real.
"How come you have something like this?"
Bard quickly reacted, looked down at Bilbo and asked.
Bilbo said calmly: "I regard him as my fifteenth share of the treasure commission."
Bud looked complicated and continued: "Then why do you do this? This is your treasure and you have no obligation to us?"
"no no..."
Bilbo shook his head quickly: "I'm not doing this for you."
Having said this, Bilbo raised his head and looked at the Elf King and the dragon-slaying warrior in front of him and said seriously: "I know that dwarves are often very stubborn and stubborn."
"Sometimes they are stupid and difficult to deal with, and they are secretive and suspicious of everything..."
"And it's incredibly rude..."
"However, they are kind, they are brave, and they are even so loyal that they don't care about right or wrong..."
"I like them a lot now, so I want to save them as much as I can."
"Thorin, you value this gem more than anything right now..."
"You just need to take it to Thorin in exchange. I believe he will hand over the share you deserve..."
"This way, you won't need to start a war anymore."
Bilbo said these words in a very calm tone, which weighed as much as a thousand pounds.
Everyone present was moved.
this moment.
Thranduil and Bard looked at Bilbo in disbelief and silence;
Gandalf looked at Bilbo with joy and relief;
When Morgan looked at Bilbo, he glimpsed the deepest brilliance of human nature, which is great and radiant.
