The border of the dwarf kingdom, Ironforge, is the junction between the dwarf kingdom and the territories of other races located in the southeast of the mainland.
Ironforge is a fortress built on the border of the kingdom to separate each other. The volcanic lava surrounds the entire fortress along the artificial diversion trough, forming a natural barrier.
The magma moat protects this pass while heating the entire fortress to a level that is difficult for races other than dwarves to accept.
"Oh, Toby, how is the excavation plan going? I really can't stand the life here anymore. The temperature here is really too high. Although I don't feel it, I really can't stand the wine. You don’t want to know what it feels like to suddenly take a sip of sour wine.”
In this huge fortress made of steel, there is a huge pit on the ground near the Elf Kingdom. You can see many dwarves climbing up and down on the scaffolding on the edge of the pit, waving the mining picks in their hands. and a hammer, hitting the rock wall to expand the size of the hole.
Something similar to a railroad track extended all the way to the bottom of the pit along the not-so-steep "stairs" that the dwarves dug into the wall of the pit. And this guy who was calling another dwarf named Toby, at this moment Just on this track, to be precise, on the "train" running on this track.
Behemoth of steel and serpentine, these two words are probably very suitable to describe the train running on the track at the moment. The superb forging technology of the dwarves is not only applicable to weapons and armors. For this giant magic machine, they The ability is also unique.
The dwarf stood on the top of this huge armored train and followed the train down into the depths of the pit. The person he called to, Toby, was the driver and commander of this metal behemoth.
"It's so noisy, shut up, you stupid brass ingot. When you came here, the clan elders definitely reminded you to bring some "strong" wine, but you definitely didn't listen and brought it yourself. The ones you like, right?”
The iron door of the cab was kicked open by a stubby leg, and a big unshaven head popped out, cursing at the complaining dwarf standing above the train.
"Damn it, I don't like drinking that kind of strong liquor. They are trying to kill me! Can't they give me an alchemy machine for refrigeration? I am also the chief engineer this time! I am Olaf, Never drink without my favorite wine!”
The dwarf named Olaf became even more angry after being scolded by Toby. He waved the wrench that he had always held in his hand and roared to the sky.
"Hmph, you are not the only chief engineer here this time. Don't think that with this title you will get any special treatment. The alchemy machinery used for refrigeration has been used to cool the engine. It's not a big problem to give you another one. , but after starting this, what will other people do?"
Toby snorted coldly and didn't care at all about Olaf's yelling. He just taunted and gave him the reason for not giving him the refrigeration alchemy machine.
"Damn it! You have to know that there are differences between chief engineers, right? Is my level comparable to theirs? If you ask me, just give me the whole one. If someone wants the same thing as me, let him do it. Find me, have a fight with me, and if you win, give him my set."
Olaf screamed in grief and indignation, took out the adamantine hammer he carried on his back, waved it up and down, and told Toby his extremely unfeasible plan.
"Be careful, the train has entered the tunnel. It's not as spacious as the tunnels that have been opened outside..."
Toby rolled his eyes at the roaring Olaf above, closed the train door and retracted into the steel behemoth.
"ah?"
"boom!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Olaf didn't realize why Toby suddenly told him to be careful, and he let out a confused sound. However, immediately, he knew what Toby was talking about. The space where the train was traveling along the track suddenly became narrower, and there was pressure from all directions. The stone wall gave no room for people on the train.
As a result, Olaf's head wearing a horned helmet immediately hit the stone wall above his head at the same speed as the train, making a loud noise and the entire dwarf flew backwards.
…
"Kakakaka..."
The wheels of the train lowered a circle of gears from around them, and the wheels and axles rubbed and fitted with each other, slowing down the train little by little in a not too violent and abrupt but powerful way.
"Woo~"
When the train wheels stopped rotating and turned into a red-hot state due to the heat generated by the friction and the machine extensions and wheel axles, the train also stopped amidst the sound of friction with the last speed bump of the track and arrived at the station.
"Clang!"
The door at the front of the train was opened and Toby stepped out.
"Come here and help unload the goods, and then go report with me. The project is almost ready. When you engineers are here, we can start construction."
Turning back and roaring at the rear of the steel monster train, Toby walked to the middle of the entire train and pulled down a tie rod on it. Half of the carriage slowly separated from the car body and turned into a half-door structure. , after opening it, a large number of various mineral ingots and mechanical parts leaked out.
"Damn it, this damn tunnel is too narrow. I couldn't climb back up, so I had to stand at the back of the train and eat a mouthful of ashes."
Olaf walked over from the rear of the train. He was short, stocky and gray-faced, but except for the dent in the horn helmet on his head, which exposed a head of thick and messy brown hair, there was really nothing wrong with him. The sudden bump against the stone wall didn't matter to him at all.
The dwarf knight, the terrifying physical strength of the knight, coupled with the rough skin and thick flesh unique to the dwarf race itself, makes Olaf particularly strong and resistant to beatings.
The horned helmet on the head is more of a decoration than a piece of armor. Not to mention a collision with the rock wall, if it collides with this train, as long as it is not run over, it will break a few bones at most.
Together with Toby, he pulled another mechanism on the train, and the mechanical structure rotated, lifting up the materials on the train and sliding them at an oblique angle to the platform parked outside the train.
"Let's go. You should be neither the last nor the last one. Once you go over there and register, take a look at the drawings and we'll be ready to start construction."
Toby closed the carriage again and ignored the materials on the platform. Other dwarves would handle these things later.
The train is currently in a space that has been opened underground. The surrounding environment is the kind of mine rock wall that has just been dug out and is only slightly flattened. The lighting conditions are not very good, but only in important areas. , there are magic crystal lights where there are paths for people to walk, and other areas are almost completely dark.
"This place is too simple. Can anything really be built?"
Olaf glanced around the surrounding environment, scratched his hairy forehead, and asked with some confusion.
"Your opinion is meaningless. The elders are convinced that the greatest masterpiece of the kingdom will be born here. Do you think you are smarter than these wise men?"
Toby replied, walking in front and leading Olaf towards the destination.
"Yeah, I still need those old guys to use their brains. I just need to be able to forge iron and create alloy workpieces."
Olaf has the kind of sincerity unique to dwarves. If it is an insult to humans, it may really be nothing to them.
The two dwarves walked to the end of the train parking area and entered a passage connecting other areas.
"What is this? Wow, it feels quite comfortable to touch. Is it some new alchemy work made by those goblins? It does look like a real wooden root system. I have to say that those little dwarfs are quite good at it."
Olaf touched the thick tree roots exposed on the rock walls on both sides of the passage they were walking with some confusion. When his palms touched these roots, some power was injected into his body through the bark of the tree, making Olaf feel a surge of energy. Refreshing, extremely relaxed and comfortable.
Olaf, who felt very happy, immediately asked Toby directly what it was, and without any conscious thought, he called the goblin who was about the same height as them a dwarf.
"Those are the branches and roots of the Tree of Life. They are not the work of goblins, they are real plants. Don't touch them. These roots have a more important function and are not for you to replenish your physical strength."
Toby responded unceremoniously, asking Olaf to take his hands away from those roots.
"The tree of life, aren't those babies with long ears? Why are they willing to give this thing to us? Besides, what use do we have for them?"
Olaf was stunned for a moment. The tree of life mentioned by Toby only made the dwarf even more confused.
"Can you study history carefully? You don't even know about this incident? When the World Tree was split into three, we dwarves and elves were much closer allies than we are now. We helped the elves in the migration and rooting of the Tree of Life. a lot of."
"In order to repay this kindness, the elves and the dwarves signed an agreement. A branch of the tree of life will extend to the border of the dwarf kingdom to provide the dwarves with a special environment rich in vitality, which is where we are."
Toby explained with some annoyance that it was extremely rare for a dwarf to be able to endure his temper and anger and speak well without shouting loudly.
"Oh, Grandpa, I'm not as old as you. I haven't experienced it personally and don't know. It's normal, right?"
Olaf covered his ears impatiently. In order not to listen to the scolding of the dwarf whom he called by his first name, this guy directly reported the real relationship between the other party and him, in order to stop his grandfather from continuing to talk about him.
As a race of dwarves, it is really difficult to distinguish between young and old. Except for the fact that dwarf children do not have beards and can be easily distinguished from the dwarves' unique messy hair, young dwarves to old dwarves, no matter how you look at them, look different when they are full of beards. It has an almost uncle-like face. Dwarves can distinguish it clearly, but it is difficult for other races to distinguish it clearly.
"Damn it, you are the only one in our Bronzebeard clan who has no knowledge, but you are one of the only two chief engineers. It's really hard for me to understand."
Olaf's grandfather, Toby Bronzebeard, cursed angrily. This train conductor, who had always behaved relatively calmly, was really helpless in the face of his unlearned grandson.
"Oh, grandpa, please go away. Stop talking. As long as I can have the title of chief engineer, just don't worry about how I got it, okay?"
Olaf really regretted asking the question about what the roots of the Tree of Life were, so he could only push Toby in front of him and ask his grandfather to take him to the place where he would be working for a while.
The two of them advanced along the passage along the roots extending from the Tree of Life, and the sounds of the destination ahead began to reach their ears.
"Oh, it's so pleasant to praise the God of Forging. It seems that drinking without wine is not so unacceptable!"
Listening to these sounds, Olaf shouted excitedly, with obvious anticipation in his eyes.
The tinkling sound of the forging hammer hitting the metal ingot on the anvil is endless. For the dwarves who are particularly good at and love forging this craft, this noisy environment is definitely more comfortable than letting them stay quietly.
Walking out of the passage, the scene ahead is completely revealed. This is a larger space dug underground than the previous place where the train stopped.
The brackets fixed on the rocks continue to extend downwards. The dwarves are busy walking on these layers of brackets, sending the metal ingots or forged parts in their hands to where they should go. Blacksmiths further forged or spliced them together to form parts of alchemical machinery and special tools.
Below is a bottomless cavity. I don’t know how deep the dwarves have dug down. It is huge and has an obvious goblin style. A mechanical arm composed of various mechanical gears, transmission shafts, hydraulic rods and other components is fixed here. On the top rock layer of the space.
Under the control of dwarf engineers, these huge mechanical arms use their power beyond the limits of the human body to help carry various heavy and bulky materials and parts.
"Woohoo, I don't want to drink at all now. Grandpa, can you control this robotic arm for me? It's so, so beautiful!"
Olaf's eyes were staring at the giant mechanical arm full of heavy industrial beauty, and he was holding his grandfather Toby's arm. When he first entered this space, his hand holding the adamantine forging hammer began to itch. , seeing this thing at this moment, he really couldn't control it.
"Don't make any noise. Go and register first. Well, why is Jenkins Iron Ax looking for me? I'll go take a look first. You stay here."
Toby ignored the yelling of his grandson who didn't know whether to say he was promising or not. He noticed a dwarf greeting him and immediately walked over there.
Olaf watched helplessly as his grandfather walked over there and started talking to a dwarf of about the same age.
"What!"
Suddenly, Olaf was startled by the roar from his grandfather. The undisguised anger in the words made Olaf tremble. He remembered that when he was a child, he secretly drank his grandfather's wine and was thrown from the top of Ironforge. experience, my grandfather may not have been so angry at that time. What’s wrong? This is...
"Those long-eared people gave us an ultimatum. At this time, they want us not to continue with the deep excavation plan, give up our previous efforts, and stop using the Tree of Life!?"
"How dare they? That's not what the agreement said. Damn it! This is impossible. There is absolutely no way we will give up on the results we have worked so hard for so long. Tell the person who sent the letter to get out. There is no room for negotiation. We will never give up the plan!"
