Chapter 704

Zoltan's residence is on the second floor of the Lava Citadel.

The journey from the fourth floor to the second floor was not short. Along the way, Ren and the Ultramarines became the focus of the dwarves. After finally arriving at Zoltan's house, closing the door and blocking the eyes of the neighbors, Zoltan breathed a sigh of relief.

Ren looked around. Zoltan's residence was very spacious, more than enough for the dwarves to live in, but after twenty-four Ultramarines poured in, it seemed a bit crowded.

"You wait outside." Ren ordered.

He followed Zoltan into the house. The layout of the room was similar to that of the Basil Hotel in Longshande. It was simple and durable. Only Zoltan lived in Nuo Da’s house. On the left and right were the alchemy room and the mechanical workshop, which were well tidied up. clean.

This reminded Renn of the days spent at the Basil Hotel a few years ago, and he suddenly felt nostalgic.

"Come and sit."

Zoltan greeted with a smile.

There was actually a counter in the room, similar in style to the Basil Hotel, and tall wooden wine barrels were erected on the wall behind the counter.

The All-Seeing Eye penetrated the cask and found it full of liquor.

"You made these wines yourself?" Ren asked in surprise.

"Of course." Zoltan opened the valve of the barrel, quickly poured out two glasses of wine, pushed one of the glasses in front of Ren, and said with a smile: "This is the purest lava castle stout, made with the best beer Brewed from rye, try it."

Ren smiled knowingly.

On the first day at the Roller Hotel, I bought a glass of beer from Zoltan for a copper risotto, and asked him if it was real wine, only to get a dry laugh.

The two raised their wine glasses, touched each other lightly, and then took a big gulp.

After a few grunts, the wine glass in Ren's hand bottomed out. He put down his glass, let out a comfortable belch, and exclaimed, "It's indeed the best dark beer in the world, much better than the fake beer you sold me back then."

"Hahaha……"

Zoltan laughed so hard that the foam on his beard flew away, and asked happily, "Another glass?"

"No need." Ren shook his head, now is not the time to drink freely.

Seeing his serious face, the dwarf also put down his glass.

Ren took the initiative to tell the contents of the discussion with the three dwarf kings just now. These are the contents that only the top of the dwarf kingdom knows. Zoltan has just arrived in the legend, and his status in the clan is not high enough. If it is not because he is a friend with Ren, he is not even qualified to participate in this matter.

However, Zoltan as a dwarf must know more than outsiders, and perhaps useful information can be obtained from him.

That's why Ren didn't make a decision immediately.

"Zoltan," Ren observed the dwarf's emotional changes, and said softly, "We are friends, and we will not make things difficult for you, let alone ask you to betray the Kingdom of Lava Fortress. If you can't say something, you can keep it silence."

Zoltan nodded, then shook his head again.

"I didn't have access to the kingdom's top secrets, so there is nothing to be taboo about. If you are afraid that I will leak the secrets, His Majesty Magna will not allow you to contact me in private." The dwarf shook his head, and the fiery red cockscomb hairstyle on his head swayed from side to side. It seemed a little funny, "I'm still considering the conditions proposed by the three kings."

"What result did you expect?" Ren asked.

"Not yet." Zoltan shrugged his shoulders 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 way, it will be difficult to take it back later.

What if the elves want it too? What if the elves and dwarves clashed and fought in their own city, breaking the law?

It can be foreseen that the residents of Gotham City in the future will inevitably be dominated by humans. How will humans view the privileges of dwarves? The seeds of racial division have been planted from the beginning, and the city is bound to be unable to go far. So nip it in the bud in the first place.

All in all, Gotham City does not allow such an awesome thing as extraterritoriality!

The whole city can only have one voice, one will.

That's my voice, my voice!

"I knew that you wouldn't agree with your personality." 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?" Ren's eyes flashed.

Zoltan did not immediately explain, but instead asked: "Ren, what is the strongest feeling you have on the way from the king's palace to my house?"

Ren thought for a while and replied: "Crowded."

Large numbers of dwarves make Lava Castle very crowded.

The underground fortress is generally divided into ten floors, and the top five floors are residential areas. Each floor is composed of multiple huge caves, and they are constantly being excavated to expand, but they are still not enough. Every cave, every street, every stone formation was inhabited by dwarves.

Especially on the third and second floors, the population density is so high that it reminds Ren of the train stations in first-tier cities in his previous life.

When he and the Ultramarines passed by, the surrounding dwarves blocked the street.

If King Magna hadn't sent an escort to open the way, he might have only walked halfway by now, and he might even be blocked.

Rennes had heard about this situation from Bremet before.

I saw with my own eyes today that the number of dwarves that the fortress can bear has reached its limit. The lifespan of ordinary dwarves reaches four hundred years, which intensifies the pressure of the population explosion. If they cannot expand abroad and obtain territorial resources, terrible disasters will happen sooner or later.

"You really saw it."

Zoltan sighed, with a sad face, and said solemnly: "The population of Lava Castle has exceeded 600,000, surpassing the peak period of the third era, and it is growing every year."

"Since more than a hundred years ago, many newly born clansmen have not received training and lacked weapons and equipment. No matter how many such clansmen without combat effectiveness are of no use, they will be a drag instead."

"The most frightening thing is that in a few years, there may not even be enough food to eat."

"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 growth rate of the population. There are too many clansmen who need to be fed."

"The situation of Zhigaoshan and Dufeng is similar."

"Several His Majesties once proposed to move some of the clansmen to Mithril Palace and Nine Peaks Valley, but the area of ​​the two underground fortresses was originally relatively small, far inferior to the three kingdoms, and they could not accept many clansmen. Moreover, the two kings Also wary, unwilling to accept too many people..."

"If there is no solution, the three major dwarf kingdoms are likely to collapse."

"This is the most troublesome problem for the three kings at present, but the life of the clansmen is too comfortable, there is no crisis, and they keep giving birth to children, alas..."

Zoltan looked worried, and downed half a glass of dark beer in one gulp.

He was about to continue talking, but seeing Ren's hesitant expression, he asked, "What do you want to say?"

You need a family planning policy.

Ren answered in his heart, but didn't say it out loud.

Family planning obviously doesn't work among dwarves. Dwarf kings don't have such courage and determination, and they don't have such a strong ability to implement it. Considering that the people's resistance may threaten their own kingship, kings will never adopt it.

Moreover, the crisis of the dwarves 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 overpopulation is actually very simple. This is what the ancestors did, that is, to get out of the fortress, obtain more territories, and support more tribesmen. .”

"But this is not the third era. At that time, the dragons and giants declined, and most of the old continent was a barren land."

"Today, humans are the masters of the Old Continent."

Ren said in his heart that sure enough, he guessed it right, and said, "So the three kings are going to open up a new continent?"

"It's not pioneering, it's recovering." Zoltan corrected: "Half of the New World originally belonged to the dwarves, from the west coast to the foot of the Chekros Mountains, all belonged to the dwarves' territory."

"hehe……"

Ren smiled noncommittally, you should tell Abyss about this.

"This is not what I said, but the original words of some dwarves. They have never left the underground fortress all their lives, immersed in the splendor of their ancestors. They don't know much about the outside world, and they are already divorced from reality." Zoltan hurriedly told This idea disassociates.

"Even if the western part of the New World belongs to the dwarves, but Shield Island is on the east coast, so it has nothing to do with the dwarves?" Ren pointed out a key loophole.

Zoltan smiled wryly, unable to answer.

"The three dwarf kings also have this idea?" Ren asked again.

"Probably not." Zoltan's tone was not sure. "I have more contact with His Majesty Magna. He is a wise and wise king, and he is also very pragmatic. You can rest assured about this. But the other two kings, I can't guarantee it."

Ren already understood it very well.

In order to solve the population crisis, the three kings set their sights on the New World. Maybe they had ideas in the first place, but their intentions were more than enough. Their plan to build a city on Shield Island gave them an opportunity.

If the New World can be "recovered", not only the population crisis will be resolved, but also the glory of the ancestors will be revived.

But with the dwarves' own strength, they definitely couldn't do it.

All the dwarves in the mountains of the world add up to less than three million, and there are just a few million people. Wanting to conquer the new continent is like shaking a tree with a mayfly.

Even Ren himself only wants to build a city for the time being.

How to open up the new continent in the future, he has no specific plan, but no matter what, he will not ask for the support of the empire. Without the backing of the entire Orienth Empire, Gotham City's power is at most limited to the Shield Island and Abraken areas, and it is impossible to expand its territory to a large extent.

The dwarf king's intentions are obvious, using Gotham City as a springboard to gain a firm foothold in the New World, and then step by step to start the plan to "recover" the New World.

Of course, it is better to directly own a part of the ruling power of Gotham City.

Ren, of course, would not let the dwarf do what he wanted.

He would never allow the dwarves to turn their backs on customers. He invested countless funds and strength to build the city, and in the end it was cheaper for the dwarves. Moreover, he has greater ambitions for the New World. If he agrees to the conditions of the dwarves, he will cultivate a powerful opponent for himself.

Ren thought for a while, and drew a bottom line in his heart.

Then he asked, "What about the King of the Hill?"

"I guess the leader appointed by the three kings is Kerstakin," Zoltan replied, "Krstakin was originally one of the most powerful warriors among the dwarves, and he is also a very skilled talisman. Lord Wen, his status is no less than that of a king."

"Two years ago, Costa King Kong was promoted to King of the Hill, and his promotion has something to do with us."

There was a look of surprise on Ren's face.

He had never heard of the name of the king of the hill, how could he have anything to do with it?

Zoltan lowered his voice and explained: "Four years ago, we entered Ironbeard Fortress together and got back the rune knowledge of the third era. I shared it with the rune craftsmen in the clan. Starkin got it too. Inspired by this rune knowledge, he refined his forging skills, broke through in the creation of an epic battleaxe, and was promoted to King of the Hill."

"It's such a coincidence!" Ren felt a sense of fate.

A king of the hill and a rune lord, his status among the dwarves was equal to that of a king. How could Thorgrim hate him so much for such a powerful figure?

He even did not hesitate to send Kerstagin to the New World.

Any rune lord is the most precious wealth for the dwarves, and they will never let the rune lord take risks easily, and they can send other kings of the hill.

"Kerstakin is not liked by the king?" Ren asked directly.

"Yes." Zoltan's face was a bit strange, "Lord Kestakin lived in the High Mountain Kingdom and 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 your surname to Tiexu."

Iron Beard Clan!

Ren was taken aback. This is the greatest clan in the history of the dwarves. It has given birth to many high kings and forged the treasure of the clan, Thor's Hammer, but it is now close to dying. Zoltan said before that there are only a few dozen members of the Ironbeard clan left, attached to the Copper Ring clan in Lava Citadel.

Dwarves place great emphasis on the continuation of their bloodlines and cannot change their surnames randomly.

Ren asked strangely: "Why can Kerstakin change his surname?"

"Because the blood of the Ironbeard clan flows through him." Zoltan sighed: "He inherited the Ironbeard clan's book of hatred, which records the ancestors of the past 10,000 years. His grandmother came from Ironbeard clan."

The dwarf's book of hatred is equivalent to a genealogy, and Kerstakin can take it out, which is enough to prove his identity.

However, his move obviously had other meanings.

The Ironbeard clan ruled the High Mountain Kingdom in the third era, for a total of 5,400 years, and ruled the entire dwarf clan for more than half of the era. If it did not decline, it could be called the greatest clan of the dwarves, the royal family among the royal families.

Kerstagen intends to revive the Ironbeard clan. In the eyes of the current King of the Highest Mountain, Thorgreen, it is a remnant of the previous dynasty, a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh.