The centaurs had what he wanted too, magical beast hides, and eventually, the various mineral veins and rare materials within the Dwarven Hills. The former he could get immediately, the latter he planned to seize in the future.
Using the Dwarven Hills as Dawn City's future export outlet for various goods was a sudden shift in Li De's thinking.
Not every conflict needed to be resolved through war. War was merely a means, if there were better ways, war could be postponed indefinitely.
Moreover, centaurs were so poor that even their armor was made from bones. Fighting them wouldn't bring any benefits, it would be a waste of effort, not to mention utterly pointless.
Li De was helpless in this regard. While the Dwarven Hills contained wealth, the centaur tribes were far too impoverished. Aside from magical beast hides hidden who-knows-where, nothing else there attracted him.
Under Sam's command, before long, a full two thousand humans were brought out of the caves near the shimmering riverbank by the centaurs.
With their wrists bound, the crowd was herded like lambs by the centaurs to the open space in front of the city ruins.
These human captives looked at the tall, muscular centaurs around them with a mix of fear and anger, but no one dared resist. Most of the resistance forces among them had already been crushed by the centaurs.
The captives were mostly dressed in luxurious cotton clothing, their faces healthy and rosy, clearly pampered elites. Compared to the sallow-faced commoners of Glory, their status was obvious at a glance.
"City Lord Kachar, these two thousand humans are a token of the Ironhoof Tribe's respect for you.
I swear to the Centaur God, as long as the armor is delivered, all these humans will be gifted to you."
Sam pounded his chest and made the vow with great conviction.
In truth, these humans were of no use to the centaurs. All their valuables had already been plundered. Sam had even planned to slaughter them all when leaving the valley.
Now, being able to trade a useless group like this for hundreds of Rare grade armor sets had him in an excellent mood, not to mention that this mysterious City Lord was also gifting him a custom-made Perfect grade armor.
It was simply perfect. Praise the Centaur God.
Li De turned to look at the crowd, whose faces were filled with sorrow and helpless rage, and gave a faint nod.
Twists and turns aside, he had finally achieved his goal.
As for the armor, with several hundred dwarves working together, forging six hundred sets in three days was hardly a challenge. With dwarven forging skills, as long as materials were sufficient, one dwarf could produce a sturdy Rare ★ armor set in two days.
It was precisely because of the dwarves' formidable production capacity that Li De wanted to open an additional trade route. Previously, he hadn't dared to let the dwarves operate at full force, having to divert some to mining and construction.
Of course, part of the reason was also to prevent them from gathering too densely. But in the end, the dwarves had yet to unleash their full potential.
At this point, the matter in Risel City could be considered tentatively resolved. The next step was to complete the first trade with the centaur tribe.
---
"City Lord Kachar, where is Dawn City located? Would you like us to help transport these humans?"
After arranging the other matters, Sam returned to Li De's side and asked with curiosity.
He was still quite intrigued by this city he had never heard of.
After all, throughout the entire southern region of the Nolan Empire, there had been no news of any city possessing a powerful Bone Dragon.
Li De gave the Level 15 centaur a slightly amused look. Dawn City was completely isolated from the outside world. If knowing just the name was enough to find out its location, that would be a dream.
Glory had no prophecy magic like in fantasy films. Even the gods might not be able to use such power. In the legends of Glory, only the Creator had mastered prophecy magic.
And if one reached the level of the Creator, who would be so bored as to use prophecy magic for something like this?
Just as Li De was about to speak, he suddenly seemed to sense something. He looked to the far end of the sky and smiled calmly.
"No need. I believe… my people have arrived."
Arrived??
Sam was briefly stunned, then immediately turned to look at the distant sky.
What was that??
Countless tiny black dots slowly emerged from afar, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived above the valley.
The sunlight was completely blotted out by those terrifying lifeforms in the sky. Massive shadows swept across the ground.
Bats!!
Gigantic bats!!
Each had a wingspan of ten Blades. The barbed spikes growing from their wings were as sharp as knights' lances. Beneath their hairless gray skin, bulging muscles rippled with power. The scythe-like talons on their massive legs looked like they could tear through city walls with ease.
Their gaping, fang-filled mouths let out piercing, shrill screeches.
Where had these horrifying monsters come from??
Sam turned his head in panic, looking at the calm expression on Li De's face, his heart overwhelmed by shock.
"City Lord Kachar, are these bats your enslaved creatures??"
Li De looked up at the Whispering Bats, their flapping wings casting a dark veil over the entire sky, their screeches ringing in the air, and nodded slightly.
His tone carried a trace of amusement.
"Patriarch Sam, you should feel honored. You've made the right choice.
Dawn City will become a friend of the Ironhoof Tribe.
I believe our friendship will be… unforgettable."
Honored?
No. All he felt was lingering dread. Sam looked up at the sky full of Whispering Bats with a somewhat pale face.
If he had truly refused the other party's request, then once these creatures, more terrifying than demons, arrived on the battlefield, not a single member of the Ironhoof Tribe would have survived.
At this moment, the centaur Patriarch felt a strange sense of relief for his decision. Thankfully, he had chosen the right side.
Just how spectacular was the sight of over a thousand Whispering Bats with ten Blade wingspans flying in formation? One only had to look at the panicked Ironhoof Tribe below to understand.
Especially the centaur archers. They had used up all their arrows on Witherbone. Now, all they could do was draw their longswords, faces grim and helpless.
But there was nothing anyone could do, there were simply too many of these monstrous beasts.
At that moment, a tall figure riding a Whispering Bat slowly emerged from the swarm in the sky.
Stanley.