On the ground floor of the Brass Fortress closest to the ground, the shouts of the throne room guards rang out from the large military camp that had just experienced a bloody battle. This made the brass dwarf soldiers who were resting with their weapons stand up immediately.
.
They stood on a battlefield filled with the burnt corpses of kobolds. Looking back amid the disgusting smell, they saw a four-wheeled vehicle filled with boxes being pushed over.
The guards of the Supreme Lord, dressed in golden armor, held halberds and carried muskets to protect the vehicle. It walked on the uneven ground that had been bombed, constantly colliding and making tinkling sounds.
Just like the most wonderful sound of coin collision, every tired brass dwarf felt a joy from the bottom of his heart.
Because that car contained exactly the wealth they desired.
"boom"
At the entrance to the military camp that was fought over repeatedly by dwarves and jackals an hour ago, boxes one after another were lifted down and thrown to the ground.
The royal accountant holding the account book wore a luxurious monocle, bent down to open the lock of the box, and then opened it under the gaze of the gathered soldiers. The next moment, the yellow light illuminated the eyes of these soldiers.
Eye.
A sufficient amount of dwarven gold coins were piled in the box, and there were also a few gems that looked very valuable at first glance.
The beautiful, unpolished shape makes every dwarf warrior's heart intoxicated.
Such a gem can buy many things in the Brass Fortress, shops in the trading area, luxurious and practical weapons, or take a share in a mineral company that makes a lot of money to get a steady stream of profits, or even more directly!
Buy enough wine to make a dwarf drunk to death, or several female slaves to enjoy themselves.
In the Brass Fortress, as long as you have money, you can buy everything you want.
The brass dwarves of the past were not like this.
They are stubborn, fierce and honor-oriented. Every alien warrior who fought alongside the dwarves during several black disasters would praise their courage and strength, but it is unknown when the brass dwarves changed.
While they liked good weapons, they also began to pursue the pursuit of decorating their armor with expensive things. While they were warlike, they learned to use all beautiful things to satisfy their desires between battles. Under the stubborn tradition, they began to enjoy their own weapons.
Huge wealth created by hands.
This is actually not a bad thing. The prevalence of consumerism can indeed drive individual enthusiasm to a certain extent, but everything has a degree. Once it is exceeded, no matter how good things are, they will turn bad.
In the past, the dwarves in this fortress could still be decorated in the name of the Earth Mother.
But now, every Brass Dwarf knows that Gaia has given up on them, otherwise the Skaven would not have been able to dig through the ground so easily and rush into their fortress to carry out the massacre.
This cruel reality once caused many dwarves to collapse, but after collapse, life must continue.
What's more, without the strict constraints of Mother Gaia, many things that could only be done in secret before can now finally be done on the table.
Well, many dwarves suddenly discovered during the battles in the past few days that actually the absence of rules and commandments is not necessarily a bad thing.
Look, those drinks with magic mushrooms in the newly opened tavern in the trade area are really exciting.
Those romantic venues that were once not allowed to appear in dwarf cities can finally be opened for business. As long as you have money in your pocket, those female slaves or male slaves tamed by the shadow elves can always let you enjoy ascending to heaven after a tiring battle.
of happiness.
The Temple of Gaia occupies the best location in the Brass Fortress. In the past, there were religious restrictions that prevented merchants from trying to go there. But now that Mother Gaia has abandoned them, there is no need to retain the prime location.
So last night, while the battle on the front line was going on, the Temple of Gaia was demolished by the mineral company that had seized the site and transformed into a fully functional casino for soldiers and hard-core warriors to have fun.
The link that has the greatest impact on the war now is also full of a kind of "pragmatism" stripped of faith.
In the past, when the supreme lord asked the soldiers to fight, he could still prostitute them for free in the name of faith, but that’s no longer possible! He simply said that fighting is not impossible! After all, when you become a soldier, you have to fight, but before starting the fight, you must first talk to the supreme lord.
The lord has agreed on the price.
This is fighting at the risk of death. If the price is cheap, wouldn't it mean that the man's life is too cheap?
"Team No. 117, come forward!"
Lord Hadran's best royal accountant was flipping through the battlefield records, holding a special arithmetic orb in his hand to calculate the price, and said to the dwarf commando captain who came forward holding a battle helmet:
"You have retaken the military camp as promised. As we agreed before, the basic price for winning the battle is 50,000 gold coins and a box of gems. Each kobold will get 1 gold coin, and each jackal will get 3 gold coins, plus yours.
loss.
An additional 1,000 gold will be paid for the casualty of a brother.
The total calculated in this way is 85,471 gold coins. Come on, take a look, is the calculation correct?"
"no problem."
The dwarf captain waved his hand generously and said:
"Before you came, the most intelligent member of our team had already calculated it. It's pretty close."
"Okay, then the deal is settled."
The royal accountant is also very satisfied with the current settlement model.
In the past, when fighting, the priests were always asked to hold a mourning ceremony, which was troublesome, required extra money, and took up time and manpower costs. What a good model for soldiers to fight, and the lord to provide money.
This is how dwarves who value efficiency should work.
The captain of the big-headed soldier laughed and grabbed a handful of gold coins from the box at his feet and threw them behind him. His brothers who fought bloody battles also laughed. It seemed that the pain of the death of his companions was washed away by this visible benefit.
A lot.
Look at these wonderful gadgets, they are so comforting.
The accountant saw the scene of the dwarf soldiers of the 117th Commando dividing gold coins, and for some reason, he felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
Wealth should be used effectively like this!
Only the money that is transferred is money, and the things that were piled up in the vault and gathering dust in the past are just a bunch of numbers.
Well, look at the sincere smiles on the faces of these brave men, it’s as if the entire Brass Fortress has come to life. The life before was so hypocritical, but now this is the truly wonderful reality.
Money is priceless and can buy everything in the world!
Those invisible and intangible beliefs will be gone if they are gone. Anyway, when they worshiped Mother Earth, it was not obvious how much Gaia loved them.
Day after day, they found the most wonderful gems and wealth under the earth, and regarded them as the most perfect tributes to the Mother Goddess. They used the most luxurious treasures in the world to create statues for the Mother Goddess, and they spent large sums of money on them.
Spend your free money in the cause of maintaining your faith, but it is extremely difficult to obtain abundance.
This is obviously a deal!
If we give you money, you should send us blessings!
A god who doesn't even abide by the spirit of the contract, a god who abandons an entire tribe because of a trivial matter, a god who favors the other two races but becomes increasingly alienated from himself.
whispering sound.
Perhaps Gaia completely gave up on the brass dwarves a few days ago, but the long-standing trend of more and more members of the tribe choosing to become unfaithful iron-hearted warriors represents another meaning.
The dissatisfaction of the Mother Goddess with the Brass Dwarves and the dissatisfaction of the Brass Dwarfs with the Mother Goddess fermented at the same time.
Since both parties are tired of looking at each other, what else can we do?
You, Gaia, are just sitting back and watching the Ratmen raid our city. This relationship that we have managed to maintain is over. That's it. From now on, we will be on the same road, each going his own way!
The brass dwarves who control the wealth can live well without faith. In the words of some halfling scholars, the market economy always has wonderful power, and the invisible hand will never let businessmen who dare to fight and fight lose money.
And back.
This great power to create wealth with both hands is much more trustworthy than any willful gods.
The smile on the face of the royal accountant grew wider and wider. He was obviously a supporter of this argument that had suddenly emerged in the Brass Fortress in recent days, but then the dwarf captain's words made the accountant stop laughing.
"We captured the military camp! This is something that none of the three previous teams have done. Our 117 Commando Team has proven our strength, so we demand better rewards."
The dwarf commando captain grabbed a piece of dried meat and chewed it while playing with the gem in his other hand.
He stared at the ugly accountant and said:
"We demand the same treatment as the Iron Heart warriors! Don't fool us. I asked someone to find out. The reward they get for one dispatch is several times that of ours. This is not fair, my dear Accountant."
"The fighting capabilities of both of you are not on the same level at all."
The accountant argued rationally:
"While you were taking over this military camp, Iron Heart Warriors took down three positions in the same time, and suffered less losses than you. Don't fool me, don't think I don't know. You were able to take down the military camp so quickly.
Because you are brave enough, and because those tough blood-scarred jackals suddenly withdrew from the battlefield.
You just got a bargain."
"Pooh!"
The captain was unhappy and cursed:
“So how can we raise prices?”
"Simple!"
The accountant clapped his hands and said:
"The Supreme Lord has issued a reward. Whichever team can rush underground and seize a rat tunnel within ten days, whoever can get a warehouse of gold! We clearly mark the price and don't play with lies. If you can do it,
, I will adjust your rating to the same standard as the Iron Heart Warrior.
But you better hurry up, because several groups of Iron Heart warriors have also accepted this bounty."
"No problem, I will recruit more veterans right now. As long as I have money, I can talk about anything."
The captain of Commando 117 grinned like a ferocious beast eager for food. He bared his teeth and said:
"If we do it, you have to pay the bill with something that has a better value! There are a lot of gold coins in the city these days, and the price of sleeping with that slut selling liquor has gone up so damn much. I don't understand this.
But I know there is one thing that everyone wants
You know what I'm talking about."
"Burning gold ore?"
The accountant sneered and said:
"Every soldier in this fortress wants to use burning gold as payment. Of course, I can understand your concerns, but the depreciation of gold coins is just a technical problem, and we will solve it soon. If you want burning gold as a reward, you can
Not impossible
But you have to show your worth!
Those burning gold are the treasures of the Supreme Lord, and he will only give them to the bravest warriors.
Are you qualified?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
The captain of the commando team was full of confidence. He ate the dried meat in one bite and shouted back to his brothers:
"Bring the money you earned with your lives, guys, we will rent a tavern in the trade area tonight and give you the best wine, the best food, and the most slutty bitches! Tomorrow morning, we will start a new journey
of war.
You have all heard that this time the Supreme Lord will pay with burning gold, hoping to get rich overnight, ha, here is the opportunity!"
"Great!"
The soldiers who had received their rewards cheered and raised their weapons, and their morale was extremely high.
At the same time, in the throne room that had been cleaned, Supreme Lord Hadran Earthhammer looked at the battle report sent by his most trusted general Bannock Earthforce. He couldn't believe it for a moment.
own eyes.
The ancient of dwarves exclaimed:
"After losing the protection of Gaia, our warriors not only did not sink, but instead exploded with more fierce fighting power? After the Bloodscar clan inexplicably withdrew from the battlefield, it only took them half a day to take back the entire first floor?
And the only thing we paid for this was"
"Only five vaults, my lord."
General Bannock was once a sincere priest of Gaia, but now there is no sign of faith on his body. He leaned on his battle ax and reported to his lord in a loud voice:
“I have talked with the three largest mineral companies and some medium-sized companies, and they are all willing to spend money to support our great ‘war to protect the country’ at this critical moment!
In addition to your lord's treasury, you now have a full one hundred and sixty-seven treasury as your support, but with all due respect, lord, we can actually have more funds to encourage the soldiers to fight bravely."
The general looked around, approached the lord, and whispered:
"The Great Treasury of the Temple of Gaia
There is a collection of wealth that the brass dwarves have dedicated to for hundreds of years. My lord, the priests guarding there committed suicide last night. As long as you give an order, the money can be sent to the lord's treasury immediately or used to pay for the army."
"this"
Lord Hadran was quite hesitant. After a few seconds, he shook his head and said:
"No! That's the Mother Goddess' money!
Although the Mother Goddess gave up on us, I think there must be some misunderstanding. Don’t touch the treasure house. It represents the reverence of our Brass Dwarfs for the Mother Goddess. As long as we survive this battle, I believe we will always have a way to fight with the Mother Goddess.
Get back in touch.”
"Well, if that's your will."
General Bannock shrugged, patted his breastplate and said:
"I will send the most trustworthy people to guard it for you, but with all due respect, Your Majesty, the current situation does not allow you to hesitate for too long.
Once the soldiers retake the Rat Man Tunnel, we will go to war. At that time, you will need more gold to buy the loyalty of the soldiers and citizens. Of course, you have enough gold in your hand."
"Bannock, my most trusted general."
The Supreme Lord was uneasy. He held the Gaia artifact war hammer in his hand that no longer responded. He whispered:
"General Ranger and General Songhai accused us of being blinded by burning gold before leaving. I thought about it, maybe we should make some changes, I mean, throw away those burning gold."
"Are you crazy? Those foreigners don't understand the traditions of our brass dwarves at all!"
Bannock was shocked and dissuaded:
"At a time when Gaia has abandoned us, these fuel gold are the most important strategic materials whether used for defense or offense. The fuel gold itself is harmless. We have spent hundreds of years verifying this.
That is the wealth that the earth has given us, Lord!
You can't be confused!
Now that the Mother Goddess has abandoned us, we can only defend our homeland and our people in this dark moment by holding on to the burning gold.
Isn't this your duty?
And once the news of your destruction of burning gold spreads, IMHO, the entire city that has just stabilized will also be in chaos. The courage that the people have now to protect their property should be used properly by you.
Oh, right!
One more important thing, my lord, after those aliens left our city, the damn warp illusions and consciousness attacks disappeared."
General Bannock said in a deep voice:
"Now I am very suspicious that the cultists are hiding among those foreigners with ulterior motives. It is those guys who have brought disaster to us! Maybe the Brass Fortress is just implicated, my lord. After all, we just want to grow old with our hands.
Is there anything wrong with making money honestly?
my lord
No, my lord!
Our fortress has eliminated the last elements of restlessness, and our city is impregnable. As long as the tunnels are recaptured, we can stay here for ten thousand years!
Don’t worry about jackals, as long as you have enough fuel, as long as you have enough gold.”
