Bilbo's eye twitched as he watched the endless stream of Goblins charge forward, only to be swept by a greatsword and cut in two. He didn't know how long this scene had lasted.
Half an hour? Or a few minutes?
Bilbo didn't know. Inside the vast cave, beyond the reach of the torchlight, everything was pitch black, making him lose track of time.
Then he turned to look at the other side. If Arthur used the ultimate beauty of violence to destroy the bodies of those Goblins and reap their lives, then this lady with a prosthetic arm, named Millison, was the embodiment of elegance.
She was like a dancer moving with her sword. Bilbo had previously worried if her use of a prosthetic arm would be inconvenient, and if this expedition would be as difficult for her as it was for him.
After all, Bilbo felt that Millison's physique was very slender compared to Arthur and the others, and she had lost an arm, making her a standard disabled person.
Therefore, Bilbo would thoughtfully add a little extra to Millison's portion at every meal.
Eating more helps one grow, though Bilbo didn't know if her arm could ever be healed.
However, seeing Millison's dazzling swordplay now, he realized his previous worries were completely unnecessary.
Undoubtedly, he was the one in the expedition who needed the most care.
Bilbo Baggins suddenly realized this fact.
Arthur shouted to Bilbo, "Don't just stand there, Bilbo. Keep going. Gandalf and the others are waiting for us."
Bilbo nodded quickly, following closely behind Arthur.
Soon they arrived at the bottom of the deep valley, where Goblin corpses, having fallen from above, were scattered everywhere, almost covering the entire valley floor.
Bilbo nervously looked up. On the path they had taken, many Goblins were still continuously rushing towards them.
"I don't think I'll ever forget this sight," Bilbo said, then lifted his feet and followed Arthur with his head down.
The greatsword in Arthur's hand had been replaced with a longsword, as the path at the bottom of the valley was somewhat narrow and not suitable for swinging a greatsword, which could easily get stuck in rock crevices.
Although with Arthur's strength, those rock crevices would likely be directly destroyed, it would still waste a lot of his energy.
Arthur noticed a spot where sunlight was shining in and immediately called out to Bilbo and Millison: "Look over there! There's sunlight, and fresh air blowing in. That must be the exit Gandalf mentioned. Let's go!"
The Goblins shrieked and swarmed forward. Arthur noticed that the passage leading to the exit was a narrow path, only wide enough for one person to pass at a time.
Of course, this referred to humans of normal height like Arthur, not hobbits, dwarves, or Goblins.
Arthur's eyes darted around. He turned back, grabbed Bilbo, who was following behind him, lifted him, and gently tossed him into the narrow passage.
Then he said to Millison, "You take Bilbo out first. I'll figure out a way to block these Goblins here."
Millison nodded quickly, passed Arthur, and entered the narrow passage.
Bilbo didn't react, being thrown to the ground by Arthur, landing among several mushroom-like plants almost as large as himself.
The soft flesh of the fungi didn't injure Bilbo, allowing him to quickly get up.
"Hmm? What's this?"
As Bilbo stood up from the fungi, he saw a golden ring on the ground. He instinctively picked it up. Just as he was about to examine it, he heard Millison's call.
"Let's go… Watch out, Bilbo!" Millison came to Bilbo's side and suddenly shouted urgently.
An orc Goblin, who had sprung out from some unknown corner, lunged at Bilbo with flailing limbs, startling Bilbo with a shiver.
"Bang—"
Millison braced her hands against the wall, moving in front of Bilbo, and with a flying kick, sent the pouncing orc flying back.
Bilbo watched this scene, still shaken. The orc's foul breath had already wafted into his nose.
He was sure that without Millison's help, the orc would have bitten off his nose.
It was terrifying. These Goblins had completely turned into irrational madmen after their king died.
Just as Bilbo's heart was pounding, the orc didn't seem to have died, which slightly surprised Millison.
After all, the force of her kick was definitely enough to kill an orc, and the Goblin corpses left on their way here could attest to the power of that kick.
"Thief, thief, give me my precious back…" Bilbo noticed that the orc seemed to be saying something.
Millison's kick, though it didn't kill him, had almost knocked him out.
It was only due to his obsession with something that he hadn't completely lost consciousness.
Bilbo then picked up a fist-sized stone from the ground and threw it at the orc, hitting its forehead with uncanny accuracy.
The orc kicked its legs, and whether it was dead or alive, it made no more sound.
Seeing this, Millison kicked the orc aside and led Bilbo forward, running closer and closer to the sunlight at the cave entrance.
As Bilbo passed the orc, he tilted his head and glanced at it, which caused doubt to arise in his heart.
Was this creature really a Goblin, or rather, an orc? From its face, it looked more like a hobbit who hadn't seen light in a long time…
However, this thought, as soon as it was born in Bilbo's mind, was immediately denied by him.
How could that be? Don't scare yourself, Bilbo, there's no hobbit who doesn't like basking in the sun.
The "precious" he mentioned, was it the golden ring I picked up? Should I give it back?
Bilbo reached into his clothing pocket, his fingers touching the cold metal ring, hesitating whether to take it out and throw it onto the orc's body to return it.
Since he was willing to risk his life to get it back, it must be very important to him, right?
Just as Bilbo was about to pull the ring out of his pocket and throw it back, a sudden explosion made him shiver and put it back.
"What happened?" He looked behind him. The explosion came from Arthur's location.
Arthur ran out from the smoke. His Blaidd, the Half-Wolf armor, which had been stained with Goblin's black blood, was now covered in dust.
Arthur saw Bilbo standing dazed and quickly shouted, "Don't just stand there, Bilbo. I just threw some fire flasks at the entrance of the narrow passage, but I misjudged the power. I almost collapsed the cave entrance, and I'm not sure if it will affect here. While those Goblins are temporarily blocked by the flames and rocks, let's get out."
Bilbo seemed to have forgotten the ring he had picked up in his pocket. Without even looking at the unconscious humanoid creature that looked like an orc, he quickly nodded and ran out.
Millison had already arrived outside. Her relaxed voice came from the cave entrance: "It's safe outside. Sir Bernal, Gandalf, and Thorin are all here, waiting for us."
Approximately ten minutes ago, in the deep pool of the Goblin Underground Kingdom.
"Gollum—Gollum!"
A pale, hunched figure, starving today, was crawling by the pond, coughing, waiting to see if he could catch a plump fish to fill his stomach.
His name was "Gollum" because he often made a "gollum, gollum" coughing sound, causing all creatures who saw him to call him that.
As for his real name, it had long been forgotten in the erosion of time.
He even forgot whether the creatures who called him "Gollum" were humans or something else.
"Whether it's sweet fish meat or that greasy fish oil, anything will do, as long as it can fill us up, anything at all."
His stomach rumbled with hunger, a faint prayer.
Then his expression suddenly turned fierce, and his tone seemed to change to another person: "Oh, come on! We need to be proactive, pick up a stone, sneak up and smash a Goblin to death, and then we'll have a week's worth of food."
Then his expression became timid, and his tone returned to how it was before: "But, but, those Goblins are so fierce, and their meat is stinky and gamey, not delicious at all."
"You're just afraid you can't beat them! And don't we have our precious? Put it on! Those stupid, filthy Goblins won't even notice us."
"Yes, yes, we still have our precious."
Just as Gollum pulled out a golden ring from his tattered, filthy pocket, whose original color and material were indistinguishable, and was admiring it with a dazed look, a sudden clamor came from above his head.
Then came many dull thuds of heavy objects falling.
Gollum immediately raised his head alertly, put the ring back into the badly worn pocket on his shorts, then tiptoed like a gray wolf preparing to hunt in the dark, moving on all fours to the source of the sound.
Then Gollum froze; what fell down were not stones or an occasional Goblin that slipped and fell to become his extra meal, but whole swaths of Goblins falling down and smashing into scattered corpses.
Sometimes, a large section of a drawbridge or other wooden debris would also fall down with them.
"Is, is this a feast?" Gollum muttered to himself, shrinking back.
Then his expression turned fierce again: "Shut up! No matter what's happening up there, first grab two fresh corpses and take them back; they'll last us a long time."
The fierce expression disappeared, Gollum nodded, and just as he was about to emerge from his hiding place, he heard a rush of footsteps.
So he shrank back again, hiding behind a rock, leaning against it, and looking with the corner of his eye towards where the sound came from.
"Keep running, don't stop, our good lads! We're almost at the exit!" An elderly gray-robed man held up a long sword, followed by a large group of dwarves and two male humans.
He held his breath, lowering his presence to the minimum; the dwarves who passed this rock did not notice that there was still a living humanoid creature secretly staring at them from behind.
Soon, these people left, but Gollum still waited for half a minute before peeking out.
After confirming that these people had gone far, he revealed a pure, happy smile, picked up a stone in his hand, grinned, and pounced on a Goblin who was only severely injured but still alive, smashing it down.
"One, two, strip the clothes, remove the bones, drain the blood ~"
Gollum hummed a little eating song, adapted from who knows what tune, while dragging two Goblins towards the narrow passage.
As he swayed his body, the golden ring he had put in his pocket somehow began to slip out little by little.
"Bilbo, run, don't look back."
A clear male voice came, making Gollum snap his head up again.
He immediately realized that another group of people had been left behind and had not come out; he hesitated, looked at the Goblin corpses he was dragging, then let go and dodged into the narrow passage leading outside.
Just as Gollum scurried past the few fungi, the ring in his shorts pocket finally shook out, rolled onto the ground, and slid into the flesh of those few leaves, lying stably on the ground.
When Gollum hid, he habitually reached for his back pocket, and then his eyes suddenly widened.
No, it's gone?
Where did it go!?
He showed a pitiful and helpless anxious expression, lying on the ground, looking left and right.
Did it fall out when he was moving the corpses just now?
Gollum was anxious to peek out, but a young hobbit was suddenly thrown into the narrow passage.
To Gollum's incredible shock, he saw that hobbit pick up a golden ring and put it into his pocket when he stood up.
That's mine!! You thief! Robber! Liar! Pickpocket!
That's my, our precious!!!
Gollum's shocked expression quickly became distorted and twisted; his face, which was originally recognizable, now looked no different from those ugly orcs.
But from his perspective, a beautiful human female swordswoman kicked him flying, and then he fell into a semi-comatose state.
"Rob, robber, give me back my precious…"
Then Gollum felt his forehead hit by a stone and completely fainted.
Time comes to the present.
As Arthur, Millison, and Bilbo rushed out of the cave entrance, a huge sound echoed from within again, followed by the dusty, turbid air from the cave rolling out, leaving the area near the entrance in chaos.
Gandalf's relieved voice came: "Arthur, Millison, and our dear Bilbo, everyone is here now."
Then Gandalf's brow furrowed slightly; he noticed that Bilbo, upon hearing his name called, did not smile happily as usual, but instead looked back into the cave every few steps, while his hand was constantly in his jacket pocket, fumbling for something.
However, Thorin's actions drew Gandalf's attention away.
This dwarf took a few quick steps, rushed up and embraced Arthur, then said to the three of them with concern and care: "I thought you wouldn't make it out. If you had died here because of me, I would lead the Dwarven army to flatten this place after the expedition to Lonely Mountain is over."
After Bilbo heard Thorin's words, he took his hand out of his pocket, wiped his nose, and said somewhat awkwardly: "Thorin, um, I, um, thank you very much for pushing me to safety from the cave entrance, thank you."
Thorin shook his head, said nothing, but instead asked curiously: "So how exactly was that door opened? When I fell, I noticed that the Goblins on both rock walls were very shocked."
Bernal, Millison, and Igon, upon hearing Thorin's words, subconsciously looked at Arthur.
Oh, crap.
Arthur's expression changed, but fortunately, the Blaidd, the Half-Wolf's faceplate covered his expression.
He immediately cleared his throat lightly and said with equal concern: "Let's rest here for a bit, Thorin. You must all be exhausted today, so don't travel any further for the rest of the day; let's set off tomorrow."