Chapter 1 The Winter Wheat

Though the winter wheat from the Palano Plains was noticeably small and yellow in appearance, compared to the plump wheat from other places, it was like the difference between a snot-nosed, undeveloped girl and a voluptuous, sensual young woman on the verge of overflowing with moisture.

Of course, this only referred to its appearance.

It couldn't be denied that the common people called this winter wheat "Palano Gold" for a reason. After mixing it with water in a ratio of seven parts water to three parts wheat and boiling it in a large pot, then simmering it over low heat for an hour, the resulting wheat porridge was golden, thick, and the rice broth on top seemed to have a layer of oil, though it wasn't greasy.

Fang Senyan held the bowl of millet porridge, blowing on it slowly as he drank. The rice broth mixed with the properly cooked grains gave a slight rebound feeling to his teeth as he chewed. As the scalding rice broth slid down his throat, a pleasant feeling of satisfaction spread throughout his body, chasing away the fatigue.

Fang Senyan wasn't sitting alone. Next to him were Bai Xiwen, Skull, Jakes, and other key members. Across from these contractors sat a figure seemingly steeped in darkness. This figure wore a deformed bronze-colored metal mask without any openings for the mouth or nose. It had an absurdly large mouth, composed almost entirely of interlocking sharp teeth with a bronze sheen.

This was a being naturally capable of communicating with the Dark Lord Sauron. When Sauron needed to issue complex or long-term orders, he would dispatch this kind of dark messenger.

In understandable terms, the dark messenger was like someone naturally able to be possessed by the Huang Daxian. In the movie, the one who took out Frodo's mithril shirt outside the gates of Mordor to demoralize the Fellowship was a dark messenger. His voice was also gloomy and magnetic, with a faint metallic clang. His movements, however, always brought to mind the comical image of leeches and other soft-bodied creatures.

"Yes, that bastard Gandalf is up to his tricks again, using powers he shouldn't be using." The dark messenger stated succinctly, "And that is why I am here. I am relieved to see that you haven't rashly attacked. Otherwise, those Knights of the Ancient Kings, who should have rotted away long ago, would have inflicted heavy casualties on you."

"Knights of the Ancient Kings?" Reef frowned. "What are those things?"

The dark messenger pointed outside.

"Do you see those five statues surrounding the White Tree? Those are the Knights of the Ancient Kings. The tombs of the Gondorian kings are behind them. Ever since Isildur said, 'I do not need a tomb, nor do I need to wait for decay in eternal slumber,' the Gondorian kings have been cremated and enshrined in the tombs. Inside the tombs, loyal and powerful knights were buried alive to guard them. Their heroic spirits patrol the tombs."

"To put it bluntly, Gandalf heard the angry cries of the spirits in the tombs, so he used the blood of Boromir, a direct descendant of the Gondorian Steward, to allow the most powerful spirits in the tombs to be temporarily reborn in five corpses. Their power is endless, they feel no pain, and they are proficient in ancient combat techniques lost thousands of years ago. Their lives are shared with the White Tree... To be direct, they are terrifying, bloody meat grinders. It is almost impossible for anyone, or any creature, to avoid them and reach the entrance of the White Tower."

Hearing the dark messenger's words, Bai Xiwen sighed and placed Andúril on his lap helplessly.

"Any good news, sir?"

"Yes," the dark messenger said unhurriedly. "I should have arrived here yesterday morning to witness your magnificent battle to capture the sixth level of Minas Tirith. The reason for my delay is... I carried the Dark Lord's will and found the elite Uruk-hai force sent by Saruman, and then fought a head-on battle with Alvin's elves on the plains."

Hearing this news, Fang Senyan and the others breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the Noah C Space wasn't completely useless. Having the two reinforcements fight head-on seemed fair, but considering that one side was all warriors and the other was all elves, and the battlefield was a plain, it meant that the fearless and fast-running Uruk-hai could quickly reach the elves...

"Then why did you come alone?" Jakes tried hard not to look at the understated but majestic weapon in Bai Xiwen's hand and said sullenly, "Although we are better off than Gandalf and his people, we still lack manpower the most."

"Gandalf and his people will have no reinforcements, so the elite Uruk-hai also paid a great price. The least injured among them also lost an eye, so they probably won't have enough time to come and contribute their strength." The dark messenger explained unhurriedly.

"The second piece of good news is that Gandalf's injuries worsened again after creating the five Knights of the Ancient Kings, so you don't have to consider his existence in the battle."

"Is there a third piece of good news?" Zi didn't like this strange fellow, so she asked impolitely.

The dark messenger nodded.

"I will be stationed here as the representative of Lord Sauron, so the previous little episodes will end here (he gave Fang Senyan a meaningful look). The mysterious deaths of the Umbar pirates will cease to affect them, and your combat power will increase to a certain extent. More importantly, I have brought a dark magic amplification device. As long as it is not destroyed, the Dark Spring Hall will not be restricted by the 1,000 believers. This means that you can send everyone, including me, to be slaughtered by those five meat grinders without any worries."

"Are they really that powerful?" Ronnie, whose strength had greatly increased and whose confidence had also soared, asked doubtfully, "Will such perverted monsters appear?"

The dark messenger shrugged.

"If that's the case, then I don't mind you trying it out and talking to me about this topic again. Of course, the premise is that you can come back alive."

The proud Ronnie didn't say anything. It wasn't that he suddenly became cultured, but the only person who could control him shook his head slightly. Fang Senyan looked at the dark messenger. He had a feeling that this guy could be trusted. So, after everyone else had left, he found the guy and said:

"It seems that I have become a thorn in the side of the light side. They should have used a lot of shameless curses on me. Although these curses didn't work under the protection of Lord Sauron, there are always one or two that succeed, such as my armor."

Fang Senyan showed the dark messenger his Bloody Brigadier General Armor. The attributes of this powerful piece of equipment clearly showed the words "Slightly Damaged" and "Can Only Be Repaired to 90%." The price paid for this was that the Bloody Brigadier General Armor's Attribute C: Curse Aura and Divine Punishment Aura were both grayed out and failed to take effect.

The dark messenger actually stuck out his lizard-like tongue and licked the armor.

"Hmm, I didn't taste the dirty aura of the Light God's power on it, but the Dark God Sauron is omnipotent. As long as you provide some key things, it is not impossible to repair it."

"Key things?"

"To be precise, Legolas's headband containing Elven love, a seed of the White Tree containing the sad fate of the Gondorian royal family (carried by Faramir), and the uncoagulated blood of a hobbit with pure and lucky energy." The dark messenger said.

"You will get them," Fang Senyan said lightly. "Then I will go with my companions to test the combat power of the Knights of the Ancient Kings. After I come back, we will talk about how to deal with these guys. Don't worry, I will definitely be able to come back alive."

*

The entire Holy Spring Square was the only place that could receive sunlight. The White Tree and the heroic spirits of the Gondorian kings dispelled Sauron's dark divine power, so the sunlight made the white stones smoother and cleaner, and the grass was lush. Orcs and trolls would have their combat power drop sharply in the sunlight, which meant that only the Umbar pirates could be used as the main combat force.

The five Knights of the Ancient Kings were covered in sharp-edged armor. Seeing them, one couldn't help but think of extremely sharp weapons. The most prominent feature of these tall, slender fellows, who were generally over two meters tall, was the bird wing-like decoration on their helmets. They were arranged in a pentagon shape, guarding the White Tree in the center, and scattered around them were some extremely tragic corpses. It seemed they were the unfortunate victims from before.

Whether contractors or plot characters had already tried it, when these five guys were stiff at this time, a layer of protective cover would appear around their bodies, which could not be broken. Only when someone approached to activate them would they seem to revive from this stiff petrified state. Of course, the person who activated them would be hunted madly by these monsters.

Reef, holding the legendary shield, walked into the field with Fang Senyan, and Ronnie and Aziz were also ready. They didn't expect to win in one battle, but at least they needed to collect some data before they could take any offensive. To put it bluntly, these five Knights of the Ancient Kings were actually the last line of defense. If they were broken, the people in the White Tower would almost have their remaining fighting confidence and will destroyed, and victory would be just around the corner.

The light of the legendary shield slightly protected Reef's whole body, and he stepped onto the grass. Immediately, one of the five Knights of the Ancient Kings moved!