They were unmistakably authentic dwarves, their appearance was not far off from Li De’s expectations.

The only difference was that these dwarves were even more robust than he had imagined. Though short in stature, Li De had no doubt about the tremendous power within their bodies.

He casually checked their stats.

Anakin Brutehammer

Title: Dwarven Prince (Prince of the Brutehammer Clan, destined to inherit the clan. Intimidation effect against dwarves +500%)

Level: 12

Age: 64

Description: Son of the Brutehammer Clan patriarch, a kind-hearted prince.

Valen Brutehammer

Title: Master Smith (A master smith with rich experience. Forging success rate +50%, weapon quality +80%, can forge special weapons.)

Level: 14

Age: 324

Description: The Brutehammer Clan’s master smith, the most likely candidate to advance to a legendary smith.

Since Li De had also advanced to Level 14, he could see their stats clearly.

Though their attributes were simple, they still surprised Li De.

He hadn’t expected one to be a dwarven prince, and the other to be a master smith. Even more shocking, the system described the latter as the most likely to become a legendary smith.

That was unbelievable.

Becoming a legendary smith meant being able to attempt forging Divine Artifacts, utterly game-breaking.

Even as a master smith now, he was already incredibly powerful. With enough materials, he could forge weapons fit for use by legends.

From their stat panels alone, these two clearly held high status in the dwarven clan.

He hadn't expected to reel in such a big catch this time.

Standing up, Li De offered a warm smile.

“Honored guests of the Brutehammer Clan, I am Iro, President of the Dark Pact. I Welcome your arrival.”

Though the two dwarves remained wary inside, they still showed proper respect on the surface.

Valen pounded his fist against his chest and said solemnly.

“Valen Brutehammer.”

Anakin mimicked the motion and gave his full name as well.

“Anakin Brutehammer.”

“Lord Iro, please tell us your intentions. I don’t think anyone prefers dealing with friends in the manner of prisoners,” Valen spoke first, not waiting for Li De to respond.

Interesting dwarf, Li De thought, looking deeply at Valen.

He gestured for them to sit down but didn’t reply immediately.

After he sat, he picked up a white porcelain teacup with carved patterns and took a slow sip of warm red tea.

Seeing the two dwarves remain still didn’t bother him. He stared at them calmly and said slowly. “Lord Valen. I believe… we can cooperate.”

Then he leaned back against the soft fabric of the chair, placed his right hand on the table, and gently tapped his fingers.

He spoke, word by word, “I need the mithril vein.”

The two dwarves' faces changed slightly at those words. They exchanged glances. Anakin, trying to suppress his anger, said,

“Damn human merchants. I knew these greedy bastards couldn’t be trusted.”

Valen’s expression darkened as well. “Lord Iro, how do you know the dwarves have a mithril vein?

Though we’ve been mining for decades, we’ve only sold a few shipments of ore in all that time. I want to know, who betrayed us?”

At the same time, a bit of hope stirred within him, that perhaps this was all the other party knew.

Li De smiled faintly. This old dwarf was clever, no doubt.

He didn’t bother playing games and directly tore through Valen’s pretense. “No need to test me, Lord Valen.

Your dwarven companion and the human merchant are already in my hands.

The dwarven clan was conquered by the Beastmen. You wanted to use a complete mithril vein to gain the Crimson Mage Tower’s help to drive out the Beastmen.

Trust me, I know everything.”

Those words completely shattered Valen’s hopes, and rage toward his clansmen flared in his heart.

That damn fool, how could he have been so careless as to get captured while talking business?!

“No, you damn thief, robber!! The mithril vein belongs to the dwarves! You’ll get nothing!!”

Anakin exploded with rage. He had initially believed they’d been betrayed by humans, but finding out the truth had been uncovered by the enemy enraged him even more.

“No, Lord Valen. Your goal in working with the Crimson Mage Tower was to rescue your people. Work with me, I can rescue them just the same.”

Li De’s gaze was piercing and oppressive.

Now was the moment to negotiate.

But Valen was not someone who would so easily trust a vampire. He firmly shook his head.

“No, Lord Iro. The dwarves do not need to cooperate with outsiders.”

A cold smile crept onto Li De’s lips. “Then what are you doing in Green City? Sightseeing?

Lord Valen, you should feel fortunate to be offered this chance. All I want is the mithril vein. I have no interest in your other treasures.”

“We don’t need it. The dwarves can choose our own partners. Lord Iro, I don’t believe there’s any opportunity for cooperation between us.”

Valen didn’t back down in the slightest. While the dwarves had been captured by the Beastmen, the Beastmen only wanted to enslave them to forge equipment.

They would surely suffer in the short term, but the clan’s survival was not yet in immediate jeopardy.

The mithril vein, however, was their only bargaining chip. If they couldn’t find a suitable partner, they’d rather die than hand it over.

And vampires had a notoriously foul reputation in Glory. There was no way they could trust Li De.

Giving up information about the vein to a vampire might plunge the entire dwarven clan into an even worse crisis, and that was a risk Valen was unwilling to take.

At first, Li De hadn’t realized that their resistance stemmed from the fact that he was a vampire. By the time he did, it was already too late.

“Valen, you dwarves have no other choice but me.”

“Lord Iro, if there are no choices, then we choose none.”

“Believe me, the Dark Pact and the dwarves can work together.”

“Lord Iro, you expect dwarves to trust a vampire? Hahaha…”

“This Prince Anakin must be quite important to your clan.”

“Lord Iro, if you threaten a dwarf with death, it only proves you don’t understand us. To a dwarf, death is glory.”

“…”

Over the course of a Sun-hour, Li De had his first real experience of dwarven stubbornness.

These guys were like stones in a latrine, filthy and immovable.

No matter how much reasoning or intimidation he used, the dwarves refused to reveal the clan’s location, let alone anything about the mithril vein.

The two dwarves completely ignored his proposal for cooperation. There wasn’t a shred of trust in their eyes.

In the end, their sheer obstinacy made even Li De lose his temper. He ordered them both taken away and placed under guard.

“These damn dwarves… their brains must’ve been donated to pigs,” Li De muttered furiously after they were gone.

It was infuriating, arguing with these dwarves was harder than reasoning with actual pigs.

Seeing Li De suffer such a rare setback, Betty spoke with amused curiosity. “Didn’t think you’d run into a problem even you couldn’t solve. How interesting.”

Li De shot a glare at the Northern Valkyrie. He had truly been infuriated by the dwarves just now. No matter how logically he reasoned or how much he threatened them, those muscle-headed dwarves simply wouldn’t budge. It was always the same two words: not possible.

All his carefully laid plans had collapsed.

He’d known that seizing the mithril vein would be full of obstacles, but he hadn’t expected the very first hurdle to trip him up.

He couldn’t earn the dwarves’ trust.

And that was a huge headache.

Even worse, besides these dwarves, Laurent also had no idea where the clan was located.

According to the Dark Pact’s intel, only these three dwarves had come to Green City this time. If all three stayed silent, he had no leads left.

Damn it, it was like he had set out to slay a dragon, only to find out he didn’t even know where the dragon was.