My queen is rebelling!

Groein's words caused Isabella to frown slightly, a hint of anger rising between her brows.

Considering Koen was beside her, she didn't want to lose her temper in front of him, but her tone was still stern:

"Didn't you swear last time that the chieftain of the 'Smelting Tribe' was your relative, and that you had almost reached an agreement and would soon be able to convince him?

Why is there no hope now?

Does that mean all the money, real estate, and land deeds I gave you in the early stages have gone down the drain?"

Hearing the name "Smelting Tribe," Koen's eyebrows twitched slightly, memories stirring in his mind.

This "Smelting Tribe" has quite a reputation; they are descendants of the bloodline of the [God of Smelting], Ornn, and the forging techniques passed down in their tribe can be traced back to the age of the gods.

The various weapons and armor forged by their tribe have always been highly sought after in the human continent.

In Koen's view, the "Smelting Tribe" is definitely the best choice for crafting the "Star Guardian Armor!"

Koen was speechless for a moment, thinking, 'You took my woman's money and didn't get things done, I should be the one holding you accountable, and you expect me to plead for you?'

However, thinking that he still needed to understand the situation of the "Smelting Tribe," he gently touched Isabella's arm.

Isabella gave Koen a subtle glare, her tone softening as she said:

"Alright, consider those expenses a failed investment. Now tell me, what exactly happened?"

Groein glanced at Koen gratefully, breathed a sigh of relief, and quickly said:

"Things were almost settled before, but suddenly there was an unexpected situation.

I went to the Grand Alliance meeting just now for this matter."

Groein paused here, seemingly hesitating whether to tell the human race the important secrets of the dwarves.

However, seeing Isabella's cold face, he quickly opened his mouth and said:

"The old chieftain of the 'Smelting Tribe,' who is also my distant cousin, failed to break through to the ninth rank some time ago and unfortunately passed away.

Now the entire 'Smelting Tribe' has fallen into great turmoil, and all eligible heirs, including the elders and priests, are forming factions and fighting for power.

Our dwarf tribes intermarry very frequently, and the value of the 'Smelting Tribe' is what it is, so there are several large tribes supporting heirs in the 'Smelting Tribe,' wanting to take advantage of the old chieftain's fall to completely control the 'Smelting Tribe.'

This chieftain succession dispute will not be quelled in a short time.

Even if things stabilize in the end and the 'Smelting Tribe' elects a new chieftain, I am not sure what his attitude will be towards the human world.

Whether the new chieftain is willing to cooperate with humans behind the back of the Grand Alliance."

Hearing this news, a look of astonishment appeared on Koen's face.

Isabella was also slightly shaken, not expecting such a big change to have occurred in the dwarf tribe in just a few months.

Without the "Smelting Tribe," this would definitely be a significant blow to the establishment of cross-racial trade routes, at least the scale would be much smaller than before.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but frown slightly.

Koen gently rubbed Isabella's slightly furrowed brows, smiled gently, and turned to Groein, saying:

"Chieftain Firehammer, do we 'Firehammer Tribe' have a supported target among the several heirs of the 'Smelting Tribe'?"

Groein was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded:

"The old chieftain's third son has a marriage relationship with our 'Firehammer Tribe.' When I discussed participating in cross-racial trade with the old chieftain, this third son was responsible for the liaison."

Koen's eyes lit up and he said:

"Then let's support this third son to take the throne!"

Isabella's heart trembled slightly, and she couldn't help but hold Koen's hand.

A bitter smile appeared on Groein's face:

"It's not that I don't want to do this, but his third son has no advantage in the tribe. Relying on the support of my tribe alone is impossible."

Koen's eyes flickered with a thoughtful light, and he suddenly asked:

"Why is the competition so fierce?

Didn't their old chieftain leave any will before he died?"

A solemn look appeared on Groein's face, and he said:

"There is a will, and it is because there is a will that the current situation has arisen. All the heirs are gearing up, waiting to inherit the position of chieftain."

It seems that the key to the problem lies in this will. Koen waited for the other party's follow-up.

Groein said:

"The will he left did not point to a specific person, but listed three conditions.

As long as these three conditions are met, one can inherit the position of chieftain.

Moreover, this will has been blessed by the divine power of the [God of Smelting] and has been filed with the Elder Council of the Grand Alliance.

No one can violate the decision.

The three conditions are:

First, obtain the approval of at least two tiers of the three tiers within the tribe;

Second, obtain the approval of the inherited artifact 'Smelting Hammer';

Third, secure orders worth three million gold coins."

Looking at them one by one, the first condition is to obtain the approval of at least two tiers of the three tiers within the tribe.

The so-called three tiers are a reference to the organizational structure within the dwarf tribe.

The dwarf tribe is divided according to level and status as follows:

The highest level, which is the concentration of power, is the chieftain.

The chieftain has the highest ruling power and has absolute decision-making power over major matters such as the development direction, military actions, and resource allocation of the entire tribe.

Below the chieftain is a council of elders, mostly composed of experienced and respected dwarves, who provide advice and decision support to the chieftain, and have an important influence on the decision-making of some important matters. They are generally relatives or staff of the chieftain.

The main body of the tribe is composed of three tiers, namely the warrior tier, the craftsman tier, and the commoner tier.

These are the so-called three tiers.

The warrior tier is responsible for protecting the safety of the tribe, participating in battles, and performing some military tasks. They have all undergone layers of selection, rigorous military training, and possess powerful combat abilities and courage.

Most are transcendents, and this tier is controlled by a general appointed by the chieftain.

The craftsman tier, taking the "Smelting Tribe" as an example, their craftsmen are extremely skilled in forging, building, and other skills, mainly creating weapons and armor for the tribe, which plays a key role in the tribe's material foundation and economic development.

Their leader is an organization called the "Craftsmen's Union."

The commoner tier is the most numerous and basic tier in the entire tribe. Including dwarves engaged in ordinary production activities such as agriculture, animal husbandry, and commerce.

They provide food, supplies, and basic living security for the tribe and are the most basic component of the tribe.

The priests in the tribe manage and represent them. One priest is produced by every thousand dwarves voting, and these priests produced by voting jointly elect a high priest to be responsible for the management and division of labor of the priests.

The first condition of the old chieftain's will, obtaining the support of two of the three tiers, means that the support of two of the general, the chairman of the Craftsmen's Union, and the high priest must be obtained.

The second condition is to obtain the approval of the inherited artifact 'Smelting Hammer'.

This condition is a test of the inheritor's own temperament and talent.

The "Smelting Hammer" was left behind by the ancestor of the "Smelting Tribe," the God of Smelting, Ornn.

It was originally a genuine artifact, but later, as time passed and later generations used it too many times, the "Smelting Hammer" suffered great damage.

Especially more than fifty years ago, the emperor of the Western Regions Empire personally led an expedition and used troops against the dwarves.

Under the pressure of the Grand Alliance, the "Smelting Tribe" had to take out the "Smelting Hammer" to fight the enemy.

In the end, it was broken by three legends and one saint working together, directly falling into an ordinary gold-level magic weapon.

From then on, the symbolic meaning of the "Smelting Hammer" became greater than its practical significance.

Fortunately, there is still a trace of spirituality remaining in it, which can be used to test the character and ability of the inheritor. Each generation of chieftains must pass the approval of the "Smelting Hammer" before they can inherit the throne.

As for the third condition, securing orders worth three million gold coins.

This condition is a painstaking effort left by the old chieftain for the increasingly declining "Smelting Tribe."

The current "Smelting Tribe" is precarious within the Grand Alliance, with extremely huge financial pressure and difficult to maintain, and is on the verge of falling out of the top ten tribe sequence.

If it weren't for this, the old chieftain would not have listened to Groein Firehammer's suggestion and considered cooperating with humans.

Logically speaking, with the top forging level of the "Smelting Tribe," they should be very high in the Grand Alliance.

But the fact is quite the opposite.

Due to the dwarves' years of war, the demand for weapons and equipment in various tribes is very large, and the "Smelting Tribe" alone cannot supply enough.

Therefore, at the beginning of the establishment of the Grand Alliance, in order to solve this trouble, the chieftain of the "Smelting Tribe," who was then the chief elder of the Grand Alliance, very generously sent craftsman teachers to various tribes of the alliance.

He unreservedly taught the superb forging skills to various dwarf tribes, and also made the dwarf race a well-known forging race on the continent.

As time passed, almost every dwarf tribe had its own forging talents, and the demand for the "Smelting Tribe" was not so great.

In addition, only ordinary weapons are needed for marching and fighting. The high-precision route of the "Smelting Tribe" gradually became unpopular, and the orders they could receive became less and less, resulting in the situation within the tribe becoming worse day by day.

The other tribes took the opportunity to kick them when they were down, or coerced or lured away many excellent craftsmen from the "Smelting Tribe." If this continues, the "Smelting Tribe" will really become history of the dwarves.

The chieftains of the past dynasties have also made efforts, but each time they have been prevaricated by the Grand Alliance's sentence "Everyone is a member of the dwarf family, we must take care of the overall situation and focus on the overall situation."

A very interesting fact is that when someone wants you to take care of the overall situation, you are usually not in this overall situation.

The "Smelting Tribe" is facing this desperate situation, which can be called the other-world version of the apprentice starving the master.

Therefore, the old chieftain's last condition can almost be called a conspiracy.

He deliberately did not designate a clear heir, knowing that after his death, many foreign tribes would intervene in the heir dispute, trying to control the "Smelting Tribe."

The final condition he set was to tell them plainly that if they wanted to control the "Forging Tribe," they could, but first, they had to show sincerity with three million gold coins!

He believed that with the injection of these three million funds, the "Forging Tribe" would definitely take a big breath, which was also the last bit of strength he, as an ordinary chieftain, could contribute to his tribe.

As for whether the "Forging Tribe" would become an appendage of other tribes or fall under the control of others after obtaining these three million gold coins, that was beyond his control.

Each generation has its own mission, and with his ability, he could only do this much.

The rest could only be entrusted to the "God of Forging" who was watching all of this in the dark, hoping that the ancestors would not sit idly by and watch their descendants become vassals of others!

After Groin Firehammer's explanation, plus some reasoning by Cohen based on the game plot of his previous life, he roughly came to the above conclusion.

Cohen took a light breath and said calmly:

"If it's just these three conditions, then we're not without a chance.

First, tell me, among the current competing heirs, which ones are the most promising, which tribes are supporting them behind the scenes, and what advantages does each have."

Groin's eyes widened to the extreme. If the other party wasn't the lover of the Golden Winged Woman, his fiery temper would have been unable to suppress itself from erupting.

What did he mean by "just these three conditions"?

Why would the dignified Golden Winged Woman take a fancy to this kind of man who was full of boastful words?

The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ is ⊥ at ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥ ⊥ book ⊥ ⊥ bar ⊥ ⊥ first ⊥ hair!

However, what shocked Groin even more was that Isabella, who was beside him, didn't feel surprised at all after hearing Cohen's words, but instead looked as if it was a matter of course, and whispered:

"If there's any risk, then forget it.

If we don't have the 'Forging Tribe,' we can cooperate with other tribes. There's no need to force it because of me."

Cohen smiled faintly and said:

"It's not a big problem. Besides, I also need this 'Forging Tribe' to do some things for me."

Only then did Isabella stop insisting, turning her head to look at Groin and saying:

"Then please tell us, Chieftain, about the situation of these heirs?"

Groin felt that his brain was not working properly, but after all, the other party was the noble "Golden Winged Woman," holding the lifeline of whether his tribe could rise, and he couldn't afford to offend her.

He had no choice but to suppress all his emotions and said in a deep voice:

"Currently, there are three people with the greatest hope of succeeding to the throne.

One of them is the eldest son of the old chieftain, Rockheart Orne, who also has the highest voice.

Because he also has another identity, he is the nephew of the 'Forging Tribe's' general, so at least he has already achieved half of the first condition, 'Obtain the support of two tiers among the three tiers.'

Behind this person is the 'Barbarian Hammer Tribe' secretly supporting him.

The chieftain of the 'Barbarian Hammer Tribe' currently serves as the chief elder of the Grand Alliance and is also the most powerful tribe among the entire dwarf race.

In addition, Rockheart Orne is married to the daughter of the 'Barbarian Hammer Tribe's' general."

"The second is the chief of the tribe's Elder Council, Elder Brook Steelaxe. This person has always been a confidant of the old chieftain and has a high reputation among the commoner class, and can get the support of the commoner class's high priest.

Behind him is the 'Darkforge Tribe.' The 'Darkforge Tribe' was previously separated from the 'Forging Tribe.'

In terms of bloodline, Elder Steelaxe is actually half a member of the 'Darkforge Tribe.'"

"Finally, there is the third son, Ironrock Orne, who also has the closest relationship with me.

To be honest, Ironrock can probably only satisfy the second of the old chieftain's three conditions.

Ironrock is the youngest of the three and often secretly goes to the human continent with the old chieftain, rarely staying in the tribe.

It is almost impossible to get the support of the three tiers.

So I said, if you want to support Ironrock to the throne, the difficulty is very high."

Cohen closed his eyes and went over the information of these three people in his mind.

The eldest son, Rockheart Orne, has the support of the general representing the "warrior class," and behind him is the "Barbarian Hammer Tribe."

Elder Brook Steelaxe has the support of the high priest representing the "commoner class," and behind him is the "Darkforge Tribe."

The third son, Ironrock Orne, has no support from the three tiers, and behind him is Groin's "Firehammer Tribe."

He slowly opened his eyes and said softly:

"That is to say, the most intense competition now is between the eldest son, Rockheart Orne, and Elder Brook Steelaxe, and the key for them to fight for is the support of the Craftsmen's Union, which represents the 'craftsman class,' right?"

Groin nodded and said:

"That's right. Now, the two sides are already doing everything they can to win the support of Tolkien Quenchfire, the chairman of the Craftsmen's Union.

Tolkien also knows his importance, so he has been waiting for the highest bidder from the two sides.

Also, the meeting in the Grand Alliance just now was for this matter.

For the sake of fairness, the Grand Alliance decided to send a supervisory team to supervise the change of chieftain of the 'Forging Tribe' this time to ensure that the old chieftain's will can be implemented."

Cohen's eyebrows twitched slightly. It seemed that the old chieftain also had connections in the upper echelons of the Grand Alliance. This so-called supervisory team should be a pre-arranged arrangement to ensure that his will could be smoothly implemented after his death.

Cohen breathed a sigh of relief, his eyes gleaming with confidence, and said solemnly:

"I know everything. Chieftain Firehammer, next, I need to trouble you with something: help me call that Third Young Master, Ironrock Orne, over. I have a few things to discuss with him."

Groin's lips moved, wanting to say something, but seeing Cohen's serious expression and looking at the Golden Winged Woman beside him, who also seemed to unconditionally trust Cohen.

The words in his mouth ultimately did not come out. He sighed and said:

"Alright, I will bring him over for the two of you to meet tomorrow."

… …

The conditions in the mine were simple. Although Balin Firehammer's wife had tried her best to tidy up, it was still a bit shabby. The room arranged for the two of them only had a bed and some relatively clean bedding.

Although Cohen and Isabella were transcendents, everything below the Saint was an ant. They still needed to rest to replenish their physical and mental strength.

Cohen originally thought that the pampered Miss Wenzer would definitely find this environment unbearable, but unexpectedly, he couldn't see any resistance in the other party's emotions.

Then, her words filled Cohen's heart with an unspeakable emotion:

"As long as I have the person I love by my side, external material conditions are not important to me."

Cohen tightened his arms around Isabella's jade body, hoping that his embrace could help her enter a peaceful dream.

… …

Cohen looked at the young dwarf in front of him.

He was stocky, not tall but full of strength, with thick, messy brown hair that stood up stubbornly like steel needles.

His face was wide, his skin was the color of bronze, and his deep brown eyes were like gems stuck in rock crevices, bright and piercing.

Ironrock Orne, the old chieftain's third son.

Ironrock had lived on the human continent since he was a child and knew a lot about human customs, so he clearly knew how unattainable the other party's identity was for him.

A Roland Duke of a human empire already made their dwarf tribe breathless, let alone a super force like the "Pale Wings" whose power spread throughout the entire human continent.

Especially after seeing Isabella, this feeling became even stronger.

Even if they were not the same race and there were differences in aesthetics, Isabella's goddess-like, unattainable temperament still made him lower his head involuntarily, not daring to look directly at her.

The originally firm gaze flickered with panic, his rough hands twisted the corners of his clothes uneasily, and his feet twisted unconsciously.

He had none of the demeanor of a tribe chieftain's son.

Heaven have mercy, Ironrock was usually scared out of his wits when he saw a city management officer managing public security on the human continent.

He was afraid of being locked in a small dark room for not having a legal residence permit, and if he couldn't come up with a bail, he would have to be repatriated.

Let alone facing Isabella, who was almost equal to the identity of an imperial princess.

Even when facing Cohen, who was wearing a mask, he was a little afraid.

Because he had already heard Groin Firehammer say that this mysterious man was the Golden Winged Woman's lover and that she listened to him.

Ironrock could only use their dwarf thinking to infer the relationship between Isabella and Cohen. The only way a woman could listen to a man was if the man's status was higher than the woman's.

Therefore, when Cohen greeted him, Ironrock's breathing became much more rapid, his chest heaving, his mouth slightly open, wanting to say something but unable to make a sound.

The originally skilled human common language had also become difficult to speak at this time. In the end, he could only tightly purse his lips, his whole person like a stone that had suddenly been moved to a strange place, full of unease and restraint.

Cohen chuckled lightly and switched to the dwarf language that the other party was familiar with, saying:

"Don't be nervous. We are the human merchants that Chieftain Firehammer spoke of who want to cooperate with your tribe."

Hearing the familiar language and gentle tone, Ironrock's nervous emotions eased a lot, and he finally opened his mouth and said:

"I… I know. You are great nobles, you are honorable guests."

Cohen's tone became exceptionally calm, his cadence unhurried, making it extremely comfortable to listen to:

"Young Master Ironrock is wrong. Here, there are only equal partners, no nobles, and no guests."

Cohen's voice calmed Ironrock's mentality a lot, and he spoke more fluently:

"I'm sorry, I no longer have the qualifications to cooperate with you.

My father has unfortunately fallen. The matters previously discussed with Uncle Groin can no longer be fulfilled.

Without my father's support, the 'Forging Tribe' will not listen to me."

Cohen smiled gently and said:

"It doesn't matter. I'm here to help you gain the qualifications to cooperate with me!"