The Dwarves’ Home
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Chlocolatte
Integrity? What integrity? Did they feed it to the dogs or something?
Seeing the Dwarves trembling and drooling, Ling Chen wanted to yell at them… Where the hell was your integrity?!
Even the Dwarf Chief, who was originally the calmest, and looked hundreds of years old, was trembling as he came in front of Ling Chen. His small body leaned forwards by 30 degrees, and the burning look in his eyes was like a 30 year old virgin looking at a naked goddess.
Just a few minutes ago, these Dwarves were so scared that they probably had wanted to kick him out. Now, even if Ling Chen wanted to leave, they would probably beg him not to.
Seeing the Dwarves’ reaction, Ling Chen couldn’t find any words to say. It was just a piece of Mysterious Red Sun Gold! Why were they overreacting so much?! You’re Dwarves! The incredibly intelligent, talented and proud Dwarves!
“Visitor from the outside world… no, most esteemed visitor, ah, no, no, no, our closest friend, let me once again welcome you here. Your appearance has caused this dark place to become filled with light. Please excuse my rudeness from before. Please come with me; I’ll immediately bring you to our holiest palace.”
As Dwarf Chief Dilo spoke, he turned and gestured with his arms, inviting Ling Chen in. All of the Dwarves hurriedly made way for Ling Chen, and stared at him intently. It was as if they were worried that if they blinked, Ling Chen would disappear.
“Well… thank you, Dwarf Chief Dilo,” Ling Chen was finally able to say something as he started walking. He had come here to find an orb… on the bright side, the Dwarves throwing away their integrity for a few rocks was beneficial to him.
“You are our Dwarf Clan’s closest friend; please don’t be so courteous with us,” Dilo said with a smile.
Ling Chen’s body stiffened. He simply couldn’t feel comfortable with Dilo acting so shamelessly.
Dilo lead the way, and a large crowd of Dwarves followed behind them. As they walked, more and more Dwarves joined the throng… at first, they had been scared upon hearing that a human had entered. However, once they heard that he had brought Rainbow Agate, a Spatial Stone and Mysterious Red Sun Gold, all of them nearly went crazy, and immediately went to follow him.
After passing through a long tunnel, they reached a large set of stone doors.
Every 10 metres or so, there would be two lights on the walls, so they were never walking in darkness. There were two large stone doors that were a green-white colour, and were tightly closed. Ling Chen and Dilo walked to the front, and when they were three meters away, the stone doors automatically opened.
Holy crap, automatic doors?!
“Friend, please enter!”
After Ling Chen walked in, the doors closed, and the room they were in started to rise. Ling Chen suddenly realised…
What the fudge? It’s an elevator!!
That’s right, an elevator!
Of course, this world probably didn’t use electricity, so the elevator probably wasn’t powered by electricity. Although the elevator rose quite slowly initially, he didn’t feel uncomfortable. As it continued to rise, it began to accelerate, and soon, Ling Chen couldn’t even tell that they were rising. Even the noise from the machinery was barely audible… it was pretty much the same as the best elevators he had taken in the real world.
Moreover, this elevator was incredibly large. Apart from himself and Dwarf Chief Dilo, there were 40 other Dwarves. From the looks of it, having another 40 to 50 Dwarves in here would be no problem at all. Ling Chen couldn’t help but wonder just what was powering such a massive elevator. And how did such small Dwarves create such a thing? It was simply incredible.
And furthermore, they had done it in such a hidden place.
After rising for a while, the ‘elevator’ stopped. Ling Chen roughly estimated how high up they were, and found that… they had risen by at least 300 metres!
Even in the real world, building an elevator that could rise by 300 metres was an incredible feat. Not only was it incredibly difficult to build, but designing it was difficult as well. Ling Chen simply couldn’t help but marvel at the Dwarves’ talents.
“Was this elevator created by your clan?” Ling Chen asked. As soon as he spoke, he felt like smacking himself… because to the Dwarves, it could seem like he was doubting their prowess in forging and engineering.
“Indeed,” Dilo did not seem offended at all, and instead smiled, “Our talents in forging and engineering are our treasure. Our capabilities far exceed what you have seen. If we weren’t stuck here… ai, let’s not talk about that. Welcome to our home.”
The doors of the elevator slowly opened… from Dilo’s sigh, Ling Chen could tell that the Dwarves didn’t seem to want to stay here. After all, although they were protected here, they were limited in what they could do.
After the stone doors opened, the scene that greeted Ling Chen’s eyes left him in a daze.
There was no need for lights, as it was incredibly bright outside. It was as if they had stepped into another world. A multitude of structures greeted Ling Chen’s eyes, and the scene continued as far as the eye could see… it was an incredibly large place, and was almost equivalent to a small city!
The Dwarf houses were a bit smaller than human houses, and the styles were completely different too. Ling Chen looked around, and couldn’t find any buildings or structures that were identical. Not only were they all beautiful, they were all meticulously constructed. Every single door and window had an air of elegance and beauty. Very soon, Ling Chen found that all of the structures here were made of stone… and only stone.
“This is our home. We’re at the top of the tallest mountain. Back then, our ancestors painstakingly spent a long time in making the top of the mountain flat, so we could live here. As such, the materials we use are limited, and we can only make crude houses like these ones. I’m sure they’re much inferior to what you humans have,” Dilo said embarrassedly.
So this was the top of the mountain next to the sleeping Mountain Giant! The Dwarves had been hiding here all along! They had the Mountain Giant guarding this region and the entrance was so well-concealed. No wonder they had never been found before.
Ling Chen shook his head, sincerely saying, “No, your houses are definitely much more beautiful than human houses. To be able to create such beautiful houses with only stone… only the Dwarf Clan could do such a thing.”
Hearing Ling Chen’s heartfelt praises, the Dwarves all revealed expressions of pride and satisfaction, and their impression of Ling Chen improved even more. Dwarves were quite proud, and liked to be praised. They liked to receive acknowledgement and validation from people who saw their works. Dilo chuckled and replied, “Friend, let’s go to the palace. However, keep in mind that there are many treasures left behind by our seniors. Those things are things that we worship. As such, unless we permit it, please do not touch anything. Apart from the things left behind by the ancestors, you can request to take away anything.”
“Alright, I definitely won’t touch anything,” Ling Chen nodded.
“Well then, welcome to our home.”
Ling Chen’s arrival caused a huge stir in the Dwarf Clan. The first Dwarves who had lived here had died long ago, but had left the command to never leave this place. As such, the Dwarves currently living there had never met any outsiders, so their shock was to be expected… however, when they heard that Ling Chen possessed a legendary Spatial Stone and Mysterious Red Sun Gold, they became 10 times more excited.
It could be said that the entire clan exploded into excitement.
While walking on the streets, crowds of Dwarves rushed over, following behind them, hoping that they would get to see the legendary Mysterious Red Sun Gold. Ling Chen could only sigh… the Dwarves’ obsession with high quality materials was simply incomprehensible.
In the end… there was a massive crowd of Dwarves, both male and female, following Ling Chen around. There were toddlers, there were elderly Dwarves with walking sticks… as well as pregnant women.
This could be said to be the most momentous day for the Dwarves in thousands of years. Even Dwarf Chief Dilo couldn’t gather this many Dwarves so quickly.
More and more Dwarves arrived, and countless burning gazes fell on Ling Chen’s body. Ling Chen started to feel quite awkward… and even considered throwing out the Mysterious Red Sun Gold. If he did so, it was possible that the heavens and earth would be shaken, and rivers of blood would flow…
“Chief Dilo, how many Dwarves are there in total?” Ling Chen asked in a soft voice.
This question caused Dwarf Chief Dilo to look a bit dejected, “Right now, there are less than 30,000 Dwarves. Over the past few hundred years, our numbers have been on the decline. Every year, many Dwarves starve to death… ai, they all starved to death.”
Ling Chen: “……”
Ling Chen turned around and looked at the crowd behind him. The Dwarves were not only short, but were incredibly skinny. Most of them were only skin and bones; only their heads were quite large. From a distance, they looked like a wave of dolls with big heads. While he silently thought, he remembered what Qi Yue had said previously, ‘Weird, the Dwarves are short, but they shouldn’t be so skinny and weak-looking. Rather, they should be muscular and well-built. Why do they look like this?’