The Geared Immortal

Chapter 869

(Unedited)

…

A wide expanse of land inside a wide space underneath the mountain is where a large castle made of hardened stone lays in the middle. The castle is decorated with grandly crafted statues of dwarven warriors wearing imposing armor and showing their grand demeanor.

As he walks inside the gates, Shin Jiao could see many types of metal works, ranging from weapons, armors, to kitchen utensils, and farm tools.

Everything inside the secret dwarven kingdom made him feel that the dwarves really like to craft things.

It seems that blacksmithing is really the main occupation of the dwarves as he could see many blacksmith shops in the area.

But no matter how many the blacksmith shops are, it seems that all of them are swamped with work. This only means that even though the dwarves are hidden in this place, they might still have communication in the outside world.

The evidence of this is the conversation that he accidentally picks up while walking.

"Hurry it up! Those dark elves from the Lifeless forest are coming soon. We still have a lot to finish…" a grumpy dwarf shouted.

"Have the Hobgoblin chief of Jujumi contacted you yet? If he does not want these weapons anymore, we can send them to the other Hobgoblin clans."

"Do not do it haphazardly, those majestic elves would not want their stuff roughly made. You know how they value finesse and aesthetics…"

From those words alone he could already guess that the dwarves really have their own ways. And this made him look at them with admiration.

They are kings of the mountain underground. Though they live among the denizens of the underground world, they still show that they are able to stand proud and tall among the rest.

As he walks deeper into the city filled with busy working dwarves he has caught much attention. This is not because he is human but because of the mysterious mechanical golem walking beside him. Many of the curious dwarves would take out their goggles and carefully watch the thing walking.

"There are no fumes? How is it able to move?"

"There are no sounds of gears?"

"How was it able to imitate the movement of a beast?"

Everyone who looks at the Windfall would always have a question blurted out. Everyone is like a kid who saw a beautiful toy for the first time. They all wanted to break it open and see how it ticks.

While they are in this mood, Shin Jiao soon arrives in front of a building. It says 'Dwarven Merchant Association' in the signpost.

"Well, you want to trade in the dwarven kingdom, you have to register first so that we can track you for security reasons." The dwarf wearing a nice robe said.

Shin Jiao cupped his hands and say his thanks. He then fished out a small box of canned meat from the sack on the Windfall's side. Inside the box, there are around 12 canned meats. And he handed it to the dwarf who showed a surprised look on his face.

The dwarf did not say anything and just nodded his head and accepted the box with a big smile on his stubby bearded face.

The dwarves in this kingdom are not what he thought they were. They don't have short arms and short legs; instead, they just look like a smaller version of an ordinary human. However, the men have stockier built with bulging muscles and big beards. As for the women, some have stocky built and others are fair and slender.

Loom is a young woman, but she is already taller than these guys by a bit. That would make her a bit conspicuous amongst her people.

Entering the building, Shin Jiao was met with a dwarf that looks like a small middle-aged man.

"Hello, I am Hoodwig Logmaster. I am the head of the Dwarven Merchant Guild. I heard that you are a traveling merchant and also carry a mysterious ability… Are you perhaps a mage?" the dwarf asked while fixing his glasses while looking at Shin Jiao with interest.

"Ah… Yes… I am a mage and a part of the Mystique Shop traveling merchant. As a greeting to the head, this is my greetings gift…" Shin Jiao produces canned meat.

The dwarf has already received a message on what the thing is and showed interest in it. He looks at the top of the tin can curiously and he carefully tried to move the pull tab. As if by inspiration, he suddenly lifted the pull tab and the can was slowly opened.

Upon opening a mysterious aroma assaulted his senses and he quickly showed a shocked expression on his face.

How could he not be surprised? The thing in front of him is actually a slice of high-level beast meat.

From what it looks like, it seems to be a slice of meat from a 2nd level wild boar or something.

The dwarf did not hesitate and immediately gobbled up the meat. His eyes light up upon perceiving the taste of the meat.

"This… this is too delicious. What is this thing? How can it be this good?" the dwarf muttered as he could feel the flow of mana in his body.

"This… this… is good…" he suddenly turns towards Shin Jiao and with glowing eyes, he stood and hit the table.

"I'll take everything stock you have of this meat!" he shouted with a wide smile on his face.

This is the first time that he has tasted such good meat for a long time. Though they traded with the others inside the Dragon's Ridge, they could only have lower-level beast meat as the higher ones could not be eaten casually.

But it seems that the humans outside have discovered a way to prepare higher-level beast meat. And he wanted to have this lucrative business on hand.

"I only have around 1,000 cans for now. If I can return to my ship, then I might provide more… As you can see, we are providing such goods to the mercenaries, adventurers, and soldiers in Central Town, so I could only bring as much." Shin Jiao explained.

Upon hearing this, the dwarf was a bit disgruntled. However, if this person could sell him the canned meat, then he could offer a high price for it and make it a luxurious and rare good, then that would bring him more profit.

With that in mind, Hoodwig has already decided to make the trade no matter how much the cost is.

"I also have others in my inventory; would you like to see them?" Shin Jiao said as he takes out a single-shot gun that looks like a flintlock handgun.

It uses a mana battery or the mage's mana like the rifle staff but has a shorter range and lower firepower. However, this thing is already enough to fend off the enemy of the dwarves better than bows and arrows.

Then there are the enchanted armors, gears, and accessories that can truly make one feel dumbfounded.

When the Hoodwig saw these things, he was now truly dumbfounded. How could he not know the value of these things? As blacksmiths, the dwarves knew that weapons and artifacts are hard to make and even harder to enchant.

The reason for this is because enchantment could possibly weaken the material used in crafting an item. And for this reason, enchantments should not be stronger than the material.

For example, if a sword is enchanted with fire, it should not continuously burn as the heat would possibly melt the sword itself.

And most metal should not be enchanted with lightning as it would surely electrocute the bearer. This is common knowledge of the enchanters and the blacksmith and they already have a tacit understanding of these things.

Most dwarven crafted weapons and armors are sent to the elves for enchantment. But not everything can be enchanted, so enchanted items are truly rare and very expensive.

But right at this moment, in front of him, he is currently looking at more than 10 items that have enchantments on them.

After Shin Jiao explained the enchantments on each item, Hoodwig could not help but slump to his seat feeling a bit overwhelmed.

He suddenly remembers something and checked the office. He then heaves a sigh of relief upon discovering that no one is around.

He knew the danger these things pose. If one of these things would be sold to any of their enemies, then it could cause more headaches to them.

So he is already decided to go all out in purchasing these enchanted items.

"Name your price… I will everything." Hoodwig suddenly said with a determined look.

"Haha… Then we shall settle with some ores, then…"

The reply from the human struck Hoodwig. He did not expect that this human would want ores rather than mana stones or gold coins.

"You see, I am looking for different types of ores, that's why I came to your kingdom…" Shin Jiao began to explain the type of ores he wanted.

Upon hearing his explanation, the eyes of Hoodwig began to glow.

It is true what they say, 'those that others treasure are just junk to another,'.. And this phrase is showing the meaning of it right now.