Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1148 1130. Armor Harvest
"Thank you, Lan."

Bard walked out of the Lonely Mountain with the agreement signed in black and white with the dwarves of the Lonely Mountain and large quantities of gold. At the gate, which was still in a mess, the human archer said goodbye to Lan with his son.

"You have helped us a lot, the people of Changhu Town, my family. If you still have time to stay here, please come and take a look."

"Who knows? Maybe?"

Lan smiled and shook his hand, and as Baines looked flattered, he extended his hand to him as well.

"Live a good life with your people, Lord Lord of River Valley City."

"Don't make fun of me." Bud's face showed expectations for the future, but also a little lack of confidence in himself.

The fact that Dale was conquered by Smaug, his ancestor, has always been a knot in his heart.

“I don’t know how far I can go, but I’ll just try my best.”

Lan gave this a kind smile.

"If someone like you is determined to give it your all, what is there that you can't do?"

Bard walked out of Lonely Mountain with Barn and the gold that symbolized the future hope of the people in the valley.

On the other hand, when Lann proposed to use Smaug's scales to make a set of armor, the dwarves of Lonely Mountain gave their full support.

For example, Bofur, the master engineer in the Restoration Expedition, actively participated in it with a feeling of gratitude.

It was Bofur who controlled the Lonely Mountain bell that broke open the city gate without affecting any of the nearby dwarf warriors.

This outstanding dwarf engineer actually doesn't know much about drawing, measuring and the like, but he is almost gifted and can instinctively get accurate data.

"We can indeed strip Smaug's scales and hide."

Led by Bofur, a team of dwarven engineers were brought out from Lonely Mountain and arrived at the ruins of Lake Town.

The town had been turned into a ruin by the battle between Smaug and Lann, and the lake washed away the wooden fragments of houses.

The dwarf engineering team had to row in, as there was no way for them to walk.

And Smaug's huge corpse lay on the cornerstone of Lake-town, the huge rock in the lake.

When Bofur returned to the shore, he took off his boots and poured out the cold water that had accumulated in the boat while sitting on the boat. He shivered and handed Lan a large piece of dragon scale.

He let out a long breath after drinking the strong liquor in the water bag.

This dragon scale is roughly kite-shaped, like the knights' kite-shaped shields, except that each scale is half the size of a person.

Lan took Smaug's dragon scale. This dragon scale was not removed after being destroyed, but was pulled off like scraping fish scales.

Boffo also proved this.

"We don't have the right tools, so we can't move this dragon scale. It was torn off in one piece. But if we process it carefully, it will only take some effort."

The dwarves were unable to deal with Smaug before, but that doesn't mean they don't have the ability to hurt the dragon's scales. The black arrow is a representative of this ability.

Many of the processing methods in the hands of the dwarves have more destructive power than weapons, but Smaug not only has indestructible scales, he is also a ferocious living creature. Many of the destructive methods used by the dwarves in engineering and forging are useless against him.

When Smaug raided the Lonely Mountain, the dwarf warriors were even mixed with the civilians and did not even have time to gather, not to mention the engineering methods that were not suitable for the battlefield environment at all.

Now Smaug has become a pile of dead meat, unable to run or resist. Of course, there is no need to worry about time and energy. Just process it slowly and you can grind it into a shape.

"How much can we get off using this method?"

Lan En asked, holding the dragon scale that was half the size of a person in one hand.

"The dragon is dead now. We can skin it clean if we want." Bofur scratched his head through his fur hat.

"Why don't you just say what you want to say? What's the point of just scratching your head?"

Seeing Bofur scratching his head for about half a minute, Lan raised an eyebrow at him.

So the master engineer simply stopped wasting time. In fact, from a dwarf's point of view, the half minute he just spent was considered "sissy".

"I wanted to ask you what kind of armor you were going to make with Smaug's dragon scales and hide."

"That's definitely not what you wanted to say."

"Well, okay. But let me make it clear that this doesn't mean I'm against helping you. It doesn't mean I don't have confidence in our craftsmanship."

At this point, Bofur finally opened up completely.

The dwarf engineer stroked his precious beard.

"I saw your scattered nail pieces before. The craftsmanship is pretty good, but the style is not the same as ours. The functions are too fancy, you know?"

"But I also know that the quality of armor depends on the combat environment of the user and the enemy they are targeting. Maybe this function that seems fancy to us is what you need."

From what Lan En had seen so far, the armor in this world was basically solid and strong, with a few artistic carvings in various ethnic styles at best.

In terms of functionality, advanced armor might have defensive measures against the [Ghost World], but Lan En had never seen it with his own eyes.

But that's basically it.

Compared to the various benefits brought by the Demon Hunter suit, as well as the function of returning chaos magic and reconstructing the [Quen's Sign], the armor style of this world is indeed extremely simple.

Although the level of esotericism is beyond doubt, the breadth of the technology is not suitable for a warrior like Lan En who may encounter evil spirits at any time. "If that's the case, Lan En. Then I think your armor is not suitable for us to make."

"We can help you peel off Smaug's dragon scales and dragon skin, and help you polish them and turn them into easy-to-assemble components. But the overall design of the armor... You really need to think carefully about it."

"Of course, if you think our casting style is suitable, we can start work immediately."

Bofur's attitude was sincere, and Lan also knew him. He was the first dwarf to make friends with Bilbo.

Such a person cannot possibly have a bad heart, and is even unlikely to play tricks.

"In that case, I will consider it carefully. Thank you for the reminder, Bofur."

Lan En nodded obediently. He knew his own limitations. The dwarf engineering master had already pointed out the problems. What could he have to refute?
This made Bofur's last bit of pressure disappear. He shouted a slogan, and wanted to lead his engineering team to the ruins of Changhu Town again to peel off more dragon skins and scales and bring them back to Lonely Mountain for polishing.

It took nearly a week to deal with the traces of the battlefield before Lonely Mountain.

During this period, many dwarves who were stranded outside received the news that Lonely Mountain had been recaptured and began to move back with their families.

The pursuit of the scattered orcs never stopped, which meant that the gate of the Lonely Mountain never had the chance to be properly repaired. It was always covered with rubble after being knocked open by the golden bell.

It took Bofur and his engineering team three full days to peel off the dragon's skin.

But Smaug was too big. When he spread his wings, he could almost cover one-fifth of the sky over Lake Town.

If its skin and scales were peeled off and spread out, they would probably cover half the area of ​​Changhu Town.

With such a large skin, Lan En couldn't take it all away even if he emptied his alchemical skin bag.

So in the end, the witcher simply asked Bofur to polish the dragon scales and dragon skins into components suitable for assembly, filled his own alchemical leather bag, and put several thick bundles on the Qilin's body, which was enough.

During this period, Fluff Ball also stripped Zhao Geluin.

The calico cat was very happy because it realized that after following Lann on his adventure, it had rarely done the job of a follower cat, which was to strip materials.

Moreover, as a predatory tribe in the Miasma Valley, it really likes to take spoils from its prey; it can even be considered a racial habit.

So the fluff ball actually meowed and worked very hard.

The pair of plundering knives, which looked like sharp sun wheels when put together, kept swinging, and soon they took off the pale blue wolf skin of Zhaoglune along the incision left by Lan En in the battle.

And there were those claws on its body that had not yet been roasted crispy by the holy light of the Sword of the Lady of the Lake.

Being able to serve as a minion at the boundary between the underworld and the material world was something the fluffy ball found very impressive.

We can decide where it can be used in the future, but it’s definitely a good idea to take it off and collect it.

Unfortunately, Lan's alchemical leather bag and the Qilin's back were full, so Flannel Ball could only hold the rope and carry the fur roll of Zhaoglune on his back, while wrapping the minions in the fur roll.

Thorin also urged Lan to quickly take his reward from him, which was what he had agreed to: half of the profits from his adventure to restore his country.

But Lan En’s headache now is where to put the money?
So from the treasure trove that seemed like a mountain of gold and silver, Lan En just casually picked up two small boxes, emptied them a few times to fill them up, and hung them on both sides of the Qilin's abdomen like the stirrups of a saddle.

Just as a token of my appreciation, let Thorin stop worrying about it.

But even so, the witcher felt that the money he had embezzled from the public account of his own knights should have been recovered more than twice.

This made Lan En, who was not used to owing money, even the money of his own knights, feel relieved.

At this point, Qilin, the fluff ball, and Lan En himself were basically full.

But even so, Lan En is almost the most "burdensome" person in the team that is about to set off again.

Gandalf was alone, and the old wizard didn't care about gold at all.

He was outside the gates of Lonely Mountain, riding a cow-colored horse, with a pipe in his mouth and a wand in his hand.

Next to him was a hobbit riding a pony.

"Master Baggins." Lan En, who had just left the dwarves who were seeing him off, rode awkwardly on Kirin's crowded horse and walked up to the two of them and said.

"How come you, as a direct participant in the adventure, have a smaller box than me, a halfway helper? How about I give you some more?"

"No! No no no! You are so kind, Lan."

Bilbo, who was feeding apples to the pony, said quickly.

But in fact, Lan En just felt that the horse was too crowded.
But for him, this gold is indeed the least valuable thing.

"But I would rather give you my gold. My pony is tired, it's too much trouble for him to carry, and I can't bear to think of the disgusting quarrels and intrigues I might encounter on my way home with so much property."

gold.

The gold that people were willing to sacrifice everything for just a few days ago, the gold that caused rivers of blood to flow.

But a few days later, the two men who had the undoubted right to the gold felt only annoyance about it.

Gandalf blew out a perfect smoke ring and said with a mysterious smile.

"I won't tell you about Lann, but my dear Bilbo..."

"You'd better take the gold we buried in the troll cave we met here. You will need it."

(End of this chapter)