The orange firelight gradually became brighter with the louder and louder metallic echo.

Brian stood at the bow of the ship, looking at the rows of huge stone pillars illuminated by the firelight.

These bright lights come from the various buildings built along the stone pillars.

The bright light allows people to feel that the cold air of the Underdark is warming even from a considerable distance away.

As the keel boat sailed, he gradually saw clearly the various docks on the shore of the dark lake.

They are made of Zeke wood, stone and flat rocks, and extend out to the lake along the edge of the huge cave.

"Relax, don't be so nervous. Everyone, we have arrived at Yuehu Fortress." The haggard-looking gray dwarf Weitz touched his shiny bald head and said to everyone:

"Its main function is to always be alert to visible threats coming from the dark lake and provide security for the dark lake terminal."

Brian glanced at the gray dwarf who was approaching, and then looked towards the water gate of the fortress that was approaching.

On the big ship at this time, except for the Kuo-Toa monk who suddenly left the team midway, there were only five people: Hesiah, the goblin Copper Nugget, the derro dwarf Jip and Weitz.

He was not surprised by the monks who left the team.

Because the maze composed of various tunnels, passages and pools in the Dark Lake is itself a kind of meditation for the Kuo-Tao fish people.

They believe that if they travel through this labyrinth long enough, it will not only be a spiritual journey, but also bring great enlightenment to their compatriots.

Therefore, when Brian was about to reach his destination, the Kuo-toa monk, whose name he still didn't know, said hello, jumped up, and disappeared into the depths of the dark lake.

Looking at the battlements of Yuehu Fortress, rows of blue-white light sources flashed with regularity like street lamps. He was about to check the source of the light - the complex magic carvings on the city wall, when a narrow tunnel suddenly appeared on the tunnel stone wall.

seam.

"Everyone, stop!"

A rude voice came out of the gap and stopped the sailing keel boat.

"Hey! It's you, hurry up and tell me your name and the purpose of your visit!" The voice ordered in a low dwarf language.

Immediately afterwards, several similar gaps opened simultaneously on the stone wall near the gate, and a dozen loaded crossbow arrows emerged.

With a soft sound of metal, a dozen heavily armored gray dwarves jumped from the two-meter-high battlement to the deck, put up strong metal shields, and raised their long swords to confront everyone.

Brian accidentally glanced and noticed that the derro dwarf Jip looked a little flustered when he saw the gray dwarf guards.

Thinking of the conflict between the gray dwarves and the derro dwarves, he secretly made a reservation.

He used his eyes to signal the sword mage beside him not to be nervous.

As for Copper, this timid goblin had already hid in the shadows in advance, so he didn't have to worry about his safety at all.

Because even if Copper Block didn't activate any hiding skills and was just standing in the shadow, if he didn't look carefully, he wouldn't even be able to see his outline.

"See clearly, Goglak."

Weitz, who was dressed in ragged clothes, took a step forward, motioned him to look at the emblem on his ragged clothes, and said to the leading gray dwarf warrior, "I am Weitz Firehand of the Forge Clan, do you want to detain me here?"

ship?"

The gray dwarf blew his beard and stared at the guard leader, pointing to his empty keel boat.

"Hey! I'm so sorry, it's Waits."

The guard leader took off his metal helmet, scratched his long gray beard, walked over with a common gray dwarf face, and said to him:

"It turns out that you are Weitz from the Forge Clan. My dear friend, welcome back to King Aldus City. It can be seen that you must have made a lot of money in Slobudo. Seeing that you are living so well, I

I feel relieved, hahahaha..."

The gray dwarf leader's eyes and smile shone with cunning. He glanced at Brian and the others, then lowered his voice and said to Weitz:

"But... although you brought back a few interesting slaves, I'm very sorry that none of your crew and followers came back alive. Now, we must seize your ships and people and report them to

King of Deep Earth, investigate this matter thoroughly."

"They are not slaves, they are all my friends."

Weitz looked at the guard leader and gritted his teeth and said, "Gograk, regarding the investigation, if my brain had not been damaged by the Kuo-Toa man's pliers, I think it would still be managed by the Merchant Council now.

Your hand is stretched too far."

"Really? In fact, my hands are not long at all, it just depends on how you express it." The gray dwarf guard chuckled and rubbed his hands deliberately, which was full of hints.

He leaned close to Weitz's ear and whispered, "Hey, then I won't keep your secret of selling arms secretly..."

"You..." Weitz was so angry that he tugged on his long beard, but he didn't know what to do.

After all, all his belongings had been robbed by the Kuo-Toa, and he was extremely poor.

Brian on the side took a surprised look at the thick palms of the gray dwarf guard. He found a strange little bump protruding near the thumbs of both hands, as if something was about to grow.

"Captain Goglak, right?"

Seeing the dwarf in trouble, he walked up to the guard leader, smiled and threw two azurite gems at him, and said to him, "We are adventurers from the surface. It is our first time to come to King Aldus City. One o'clock

I'm sorry, please take good care of me in the future."

"Hey! Boy, who do you think I am?"

The guard leader stared greedily at the gem that Brian handed over, then quickly threw it back, raised his head and looked at him, and scolded righteously:

"You are insulting my profession, my personality, and the laws of our gray dwarf clan. Don't try to bribe me, and don't try to touch my bottom line. I won't accept that."

"Actually, when I saw these two gems, I suddenly remembered that I have a friend Sauron who lives at the dock of Dark Lake. He just lacks two such gems." After the gray dwarf guard vented his declaration of justice,

Then he said to Brian with a smile on his face:

"I can let you go, but after my shift is over, I have to see some surprises from my friends. Otherwise, I will notify the guards at the dock and say that you kidnapped Waits and robbed him

Goods, when the time comes, you will be wanted by the entire city."

"Don't worry, since your friend just needs it, I'll just be a favor and give it to him."

Out of his understanding of the gray dwarf's personality, Brian had the mentality of doing less than doing more, and smiled casually. He handed the two gems worth 50 gold coins to Waits, the gray dwarf next to him, and asked him to do it for him.

Transfer.

"What a wise choice." The guard leader looked towards the gate and shouted: "Boys, open the city gate and let them in!"

The ship docks.

After the gray dwarf Weitz cursed and handed the gem to the gray dwarf Sauron mentioned by the guard leader, he came to Brian and said to him:

"I know Gogelak. He was never like this before. Why has he changed so much after not seeing him for half a month?"

When they heard the gray dwarf's casual complaint, no one took it seriously, but Brian looked thoughtful.

He vaguely felt that this dwarf was probably influenced by another demon lord and became what he was now.

Although he knew that the chaos in Aldus King City was inseparable from the Abyss Demon, he did not yet know which demon lord it was.

Then he recalled the abnormality in the guard leader's palm, and he vaguely felt that he already had an answer in his heart.

Under the leadership of Weitz, they quickly passed through the sparsely populated pier and arrived at the Dark Lake area.

The Dark Lake area is adjacent to the dock and is an open trade area.

In order to allow merchants' carts and carriages to pass smoothly, the streets here are very wide and the density of stalagmite buildings is not high.

The dark lake flows quietly under the chaotic urban buildings and streets, reflecting the city's hollow stone pillars and stalagmites, as well as the countless firelights shining through.

The moment Brian stepped into the Dark Lake area, he clearly felt a wave of heat suddenly rushing towards him.

The acrid smoke rose, catching him off guard and almost choking out all the air in his lungs.

Although the streets were a bit crowded, it did not prevent them from moving among the crowds of buyers, merchants and slaves.

They are not the only outsiders here, drow, svirfnebli, tauren, earth elementals, derro dwarves, orcs and other races appear in groups.

It is different from the frightening silence of the dark elf city and the drow patrols that are like ghosts floating by.

The lively Dark Lake area was occupied by various shouts mixed with the sound of blacksmithing coming from the distance, forming a rhythmic hustle and bustle.

Following the footsteps of gray dwarf Weitz, they did not miss the excitement here too much.

Brian walked through the dense crowd and subconsciously looked up into the city.

He saw countless rooms dug out of huge stalagmites and stalactites that were used as smelting workshops. From a distance, they looked like the bloody mouth of a giant beast filled with fangs.

This made him recall some information about this gray dwarf city.

The Royal City of Aldus is a solid bastion of trade culture in the Underdark, and it is also a ruthless commercial city.

It is located on the wall of a large cave on the southwestern shore of the Dark Lake. It is a political, economic and cultural center governed by the "Deep King" beloved by the gray dwarves.

The city is close to the open shoreline of the dark lake, and the land route connects several caves and passages.

The royal city of Aldus relies on these passages to connect to other areas in the Underdark and promote travel and trade activities between these cities.

In this city, the most intuitive feeling is the heat wave and the pungent air blowing towards you.

There are also patches of furious and dazzling red light in the distance, like dim lighting areas in hell, as if guiding travelers here to every corner of the city.

In fact, all this red light comes from the red-hot steel forged by gray dwarf blacksmiths.

Because the never-ending furnaces continuously supply iron materials, its brilliance continues. As for the places where the red light cannot be found, there are dark road areas.

It is this unique scene, combined with the constant sound of hammers and grinding machinery, that constitutes the sonorous and pulsating steel heart of this industrial city.

Brian also knew that the entire city's furnace power came from an adult red dragon, which was famous as the 'Dragon Blacksmith'.

The red dragon provides the fire source for the entire city's furnace, and countless gray dwarf blacksmiths work day and night to follow the rhythm of the city, producing the best weapons and armor in the entire Underdark.
Chapter completed!