Chapter 704: Iron beard reappears

Zoltan's residence is on the second floor of the lava castle.
The distance from the fourth floor to the second floor is not short, and along the way, Ren and the extreme fighters have become the focus of the dwarves. After finally getting to Zoltan's house, closing the door, and blocking the eyes of the neighbors, Zoltan breathed a sigh of relief.
Renn looked around, and Zoltan's residence was very spacious, more than enough for the dwarves, but after the influx of twenty-four extreme fighters, it seemed a bit crowded.
"You are waiting outside." Renn ordered.
He followed Zoltan into the house. The layout of the room was not much different from that of Longshande’s Basil Hotel. It was simple and low-key. Only Zoltan lived in Noord’s house. There were alchemy rooms and mechanical workshops on both sides. It was very clean.
This reminded Rennes of the days he spent at the Basil Hotel a few years ago, and he suddenly missed it.
"Come and sit down."
Zoltan greeted with a smile.
There was a counter in the room, similar in style to the Basil Hotel, with tall wooden wine barrels on the wall behind the counter.
The All-Seeing Eye penetrated the barrel and found that it was full of liquor.
"These are the wines you made yourself?" Renn asked in surprise.
"Of course." Zoltan opened the valve of the barrel, poured out two large glasses of wine quickly, pushed one of them in front of Rennes, and smiled: "This is the purest lava fort dark beer, using the best Made from rye, you try."
Renn smiled knowingly.
When I went to the Basil Hotel on the first day, I bought a glass of beer from Zoltan with a copper rissole and asked him if it was real wine, only to get a dry laugh.
The two picked up the wine glasses, touched them lightly, and then took a big swig.
With a few grunts, the glass in Renn's hand bottomed out. He put down the glass, burped comfortably, and exclaimed: "It's the best dark beer in the world. It's much better than the fake wine you sold me back then."
"Hahaha..."
Zoltan burst into laughter and laughed away the froth on his beard. He asked happily, "One more glass?"
"No need." Ren shook his head, now is not the time to drink.
Seeing his serious face, the dwarf also put down his wine glass.
Ren took the initiative to tell the content of the discussion with the three dwarven kings just now. These are the contents only known to the top of the dwarf kingdom. Zoltan has just arrived in the legend and his status in the clan is not high enough. If it is not because he is friends with Renn, he is not even qualified to participate in this matter.
However, Zoltan certainly knows more as a dwarf than outsiders, and maybe you can get useful information from him.
So Renn didn't make a decision immediately.
"Zoltan," Renn observed the dwarf's emotional changes, and said softly: "We are friends, we will not embarrass you, let alone ask you to betray the lava castle kingdom. If you can't say something, you can keep it silence."
Zoltan nodded and shook his head again.
"I didn't have access to the top secrets of the kingdom. There is nothing to taboo. If you are afraid that I will leak the secrets, Your Majesty Magna will not allow you to contact me privately." The dwarf shook his head, and the flaming cockscomb hairstyle swayed sideways. It looks a little funny, "I'm still considering the conditions put forward by the three kings."
"Have you thought of any result?" Rehn asked.
"Not yet." Zoltan shrugged and asked curiously: "Will you accept setting up a dwarf zone in Gotham City?"
Ren shook his head: "If the dwarf wants to become a legal resident, of course I will not refuse, but I will never allow the dwarf to have power outside the law. There is no room for negotiation on this point."
Don't even think about extraterritoriality.
Once you start this head, it will be difficult to take it back in the future.
What if the elves want too? If the elves and the dwarves clashed and fought in their own city, breaking the law and discipline, what should be done?
It is foreseeable that the inhabitants of Gotham City will be dominated by humans in the future. How will humans view the privilege of dwarves? The seeds of racial division have been planted from the beginning, and this city is bound to be unable to go far. Therefore, we must kill it in the bud at the beginning.
All in all, Gotham City does not allow such awesome extraterritoriality to exist!
There can only be one voice and one will in the entire city.
That is my voice, my voice!
"I knew that your character would not agree." Zoltan sighed, "If you don't accept this condition, I'm afraid it will be difficult to reach an agreement with the three kings."
"Why?" Renn's eyes flashed.
Zoltan did not immediately explain, but instead asked: "Rene, what is your strongest feeling on the way from the king's palace to my house?"
Renne thought for a while to answer: "Crowded."
A large number of dwarves make the lava castle very crowded.
Underground fortresses are generally divided into ten floors. The top five floors are residential areas. Each floor is composed of multiple huge caves, which are constantly being excavated and expanded, but it is still not enough. Every cave, every street, every stone floor is full of dwarves.
Especially on the third and second floors, the population density is so large that Rennes reminds of the train stations in first-tier cities in the past life.
When he and the Extreme Warrior passed by, the dwarves onlookers blocked the street.
If it hadn’t been for King Magna’s to clear the way, he might have only walked halfway until now, or even blocked his head.
Rennes had heard this from Bremmett's mouth before.
I saw with my own eyes today that the number of dwarves that the fortress can withstand has reached its limit. The life expectancy of ordinary dwarves has reached 400 years, which intensified the pressure of population explosion. If it is not possible to expand abroad and obtain territorial resources, terrible disasters will occur sooner or later.
"You can see it."
Zoltan sighed, with a sad face, and said solemnly: "The population of Lava Fort has exceeded 600,000, surpassing the peak period of the Third Age, and it is growing every year."
"Since more than a hundred years ago, many new-born tribesmen have not been trained and lack weapons and equipment. Such incompetent tribesmen, no matter how large they are, are of no use, but they are a drag."
"The most terrifying thing is that in a few years, there may not even be enough food."
"The bottom four floors of the lava castle have been expanding, and they are all planted with mushrooms and rye, but they still can't keep up with the rate of population growth. There are too many people who need to be fed."
"The situation in Zhishan and Dufeng is similar."
"Several sires once proposed to move some of the tribesmen to the Mithril Palace and Jiufeng Valley, but the area of ​​the two underground fortresses was originally relatively small, far inferior to the three kingdoms, and could not accept many tribesmen. Moreover, the two kings Also wary, unwilling to accept too many people..."
"If there is no solution, the three dwarven kingdoms are likely to collapse."
"This is the most troublesome problem for the three kings at present, but the life of the people is too easy, there is no crisis, and they keep giving birth to children, alas..."
Zoltan was worried and poured half a glass of dark beer in one breath.
He was about to continue talking, but saw Renn's hesitant expression, and asked, "What do you want to say?"
You need a family planning policy.
Ren answered in his heart, but didn't say anything.
Family planning is obviously not feasible among the dwarves. The king of the dwarves does not have such great courage and determination, nor has such a strong ability to execute it. Considering that the resistance of the people may threaten their kingship, the kings will never adopt it.
Moreover, the dwarves’ crisis may be their own opportunity, there is no need to help them out.
"Nothing." Ren shook his head.
Zoltan pressed his doubts, and then said: "The solution to the problem of too much population is actually very simple. This is what the ancestors did, that is, to get out of the fortress and get more territory, so that you can support more people. ."
"But it's not the Third Age anymore. At that time, dragons and giants were declining, and most of the Old World was barren land."
"Today, humans are the masters of the Old World."
As expected, Ren said he was right, and said: "So the three kings are going to open up a new world?"
"It's not a development, it's a recovery." Zoltan corrected: "Half of the New World originally belonged to the dwarves, from the west coast to the foot of the Chicross Mountains, all belonged to the dwarves' territory."
"Ha ha…"
Renn smiled non-committal. You can talk to the abyss.
"This is not what I said, but the original words of some dwarves. They haven't walked out of the underground fortress in their entire lives, immersed in the glory of their ancestors, and don't know much about the outside world, they are already out of reality." Zoltan hurriedly told This kind of thinking clarifies the relationship.
"Even if the western part of the New World belongs to dwarves, but Shield Island is on the east coast, it has nothing to do with dwarves, right?" Renn straightened out a critical loophole.
Zoltan smiled bitterly, unable to answer.
"The three dwarf kings also have this idea?" Renne asked again.
"It shouldn't be." Zoltan's tone was not sure. "My Majesty Magna and I have had more contact with each other. He is a wise and wise king who is also very pragmatic. You can rest assured about this. But the other two kings, I can't guarantee it."
Renn already understood very well.
In order to solve the population crisis, the three kings set their sights on the New World. Maybe they had an idea, but they were more than minded but not inadequate. Their city-building plan on Shield Island gave them an opportunity.
If the New World can be "recovered", not only will the population crisis be resolved, but also the glory of our ancestors will be restored.
But with the dwarf's own strength, it is definitely not possible.
All the dwarves in the mountains of the world add up to less than three million people. There are only a few million people who want to conquer the new world.
Even Rennes himself, for the time being, just wanted to build a city.
He has no specific plan on how to open up the new continent in the future, but he will not open up the support of the empire in any case. Without the backing of the entire Orion Se Empire, the power of Gotham City is limited to Shield Island and the Abraken area at most, and it is impossible to expand much of the territory.
The dwarf king’s intentions were obvious. Using Gotham City as a springboard, he would first gain a foothold in the New World, and then step by step his plan to "recover" the New World.
Of course, it is best to directly own part of Gotham City's rule.
Rennes certainly wouldn't let the dwarves do what they wanted.
He would never allow the dwarves to rebel against the guests, and the cities that he invested in countless funds and power to build the city eventually made the dwarves cheaper. Moreover, he has greater ambitions for the New World, and if he agrees to the conditions of the dwarf, it is equivalent to training himself a formidable opponent.
Rein thought for a while, drawing a bottom line in his heart.
Then asked: "What's the situation with that king of the hill?"
"I guess the commander appointed by the three kings is Kerstakin," Zoltan replied: "Kstakin was originally one of the most powerful warriors among the dwarves. He was also an extremely skilled forging talisman. Lord Wen, his position is no less than that of the king."
"Two years ago, Kersta King Kong was promoted to King of the Hill. His promotion has something to do with us."
A trace of surprise appeared on Ren's face.
He has never heard of the name of the king of the hills, how can he get involved?
Zoltan lowered his voice and explained: "Four years ago, we entered the iron fortress together and got back the knowledge of the runes of the Third Age. I shared it with the rune craftsmen in the clan. Starkin also got it. He was inspired by this knowledge of runes, and his forging skills were refined, breaking through in creating an epic battle axe, and being promoted to the king of the hill."
"It's such a coincidence!" Renn had a feeling of destiny.
A hill king and rune lord, his status among the dwarves is equal to that of the king. Nowadays, a powerful character, how can Thorgrin hate him so much?
Even at the mercy of sending Kerstakin to the New World.
Any rune lord is the most precious treasure to a dwarf, and he will never let the rune lord take risks easily, and he can send out other hill kings.
"Kstakin is not liked by the king?" Renne asked directly.
"Yes." Zoltan's expression was a little weird. "Lord Kerstakin lives in the High Mountain Kingdom. He was originally a member of the Longbeard clan, but after he was promoted to the King of the Hill, he announced that he had left the Longbeard clan. Change the surname to Tie Xu."
Ironbeard clan!
Ren was taken aback. This was the greatest clan in the history of the dwarves. It gave birth to many high kings and forged the town's treasure, Thor's Hammer, but it is now close to decline. Zoltan said before that there are only dozens of people left in the Ironbeard clan, who are attached to the Copper Ring clan in the lava fort.
The dwarves are very focused on blood continuity and cannot change their surnames.
Rehn wondered: "Why can Kerstakin change his surname?"
"Because he is the blood of the Ironbeard clan." Zoltan sighed: "He inherited the Ironbeard clan's book of hatred, which records the ancestors of the past 10,000 years. His grandmother is It comes from the Iron Bear clan."
The dwarf's book of hatred is equivalent to a genealogy, and Kerstakin can show it enough to prove his identity.
However, his move obviously has a different meaning.
The Ironbeard clan ruled the highest mountain kingdom in the Third Age for five thousand four hundred years. Most of the dwarf clan ruled during most of the Era. If it did not perish, it would be the greatest clan of the dwarves.
Kstakin intends to revitalize the Ironbeard clan. In the eyes of the current King of the High Mountain, it is a rebellion. He is pierced in his eyes and stabbed in his flesh.