Chapter 74 Bargaining

Gang Shedoer looked at Saruman somewhat timidly and presented a box. He clearly didn't think much of this thing's ability to impress his lord.

After receiving the box, Saruman's eyes gleamed. He touched the surface of the box with his fingers and said with a puzzled expression:

"Why is the residual aura on this... so familiar to me?"

Saruman slowly closed his eyes. His fingers traced the surface of the box, and it could be clearly seen that although the back of Saruman's hand looked wrinkled, the palm side was smooth and delicate like a baby's. Then, a series of intoxicated and mad sounds came from Saruman's mouth:

"Ah, wait, such a familiar dark aura, such unwilling anger and roar... it's very similar to the feeling of that guy called Dor! But why is his origin related to this box?"

Saruman immediately opened the box slowly—seemingly to guard against possible magical traps—but then his eyebrows furrowed, because the box was actually empty!

This feeling made Saruman quite uncomfortable, as if a child saw a candy they liked very much, eagerly unwrapped the outer wrapper with anticipation, only to find a stone inside.

"What's going on?"

Saruman spoke these four words in a steady tone, completely without revealing his emotions, but Gang Shedoer, who knew his personality well, immediately prostrated himself on the ground and trembled:

"Lord! The thing in this box looks very ordinary, but, after I got it, many strange things happened around me, I really... I really didn't dare to bring it directly! In order to avoid disturbing you, I only dared to present this box that has been stained with its aura first."

Saruman said strangely:

"Strange things will happen??? That's interesting, I'm getting more and more interested in this matter, quickly have someone bring that thing over! No, you lead me over there immediately!"

"Yes, Lord." Gang Shedoer said in fear. He hurriedly took a few steps back, and then led Saruman out of the magic tower.

Just as the two arrived at Gang Shedoer's carriage, they saw a guard lying dead on the spot, his eyes wide open. There was a terrifying wound between his throat, looking as if someone had stabbed it with a red-hot knife.

And the surrounding area was also in chaos. A tall horse ridden by a sheriff broke free from its restraints. Some of the skin on its body was torn, and bulging muscles and blood vessels were exposed directly. Its eyes were as ferocious as those of a hungry beast, and its mouth was chewing on one of its dead master's hands, crunching and splattering blood and flesh.

Saruman didn't care about these scenes at all. He strode into the carriage and immediately felt a strong dark aura. At this moment, Saruman suddenly tilted his head, because the band he used to tie his hair had transformed into a mottled and bizarre two-headed snake, and the tongue it spat out was black and forked, and it was hissing and biting over. Saruman pointed his finger, and the band immediately turned into black gas and floated away.

"Able to assimilate and infect all objects around it with dark essence..." Saruman said with a hint of admiration, "Gang Shedoer, I must praise you, you have given me a great surprise, where is the fragment? Where did you put it?"

Gang Shedoer said in astonishment:

"I just put the new box containing the fragment in the drawer of the carriage, and then ordered the guards to keep their eyes wide open and pay attention to anything strange."

At this time, a guard ran over in horror and said loudly:

"Lord, just now our horse went crazy and started attacking Casey, and the beast skin padded in the carriage suddenly wrapped around Sheer's neck strangely..."

"Shut your mouth! You only need to tell me now, where did the box I gave you go!" Gang Shedoer said fiercely.

"In the chaos, a strange-looking Aodeng person took the opportunity to jump onto the carriage, reached into the drawer, we cut off one of his hands, but he used the other hand to open the drawer and grabbed the box, swallowing the box into his stomach before we cut off this hand, and then ran away." The guard said in horror.

"You did a really beautiful job, sir!" Gang Shedoer said furiously. "Immediately notify the whole city to be on alert and close the city gates!"

"No need for such trouble." At this time, Saruman suddenly said unhurriedly, he stretched out his palm and pressed it forward, releasing a "detect evil" spell, and suddenly, the route that the Aodeng person escaped was like being dipped in ink, and it appeared very clearly in front of everyone.

"I want to see that box in ten minutes, or your heads—of course, remember to wash the box clean."

Saruman's iron fist and order built in Isengard showed its power, and his will was carried out five minutes later.

The armor fragment of the Ringwraith Dor was placed in front of Saruman wetly, because this thing had just been taken out of the unfortunate Aodeng person's stomach, so no matter how it was washed, it still had a foul smell.

"This fragment... really didn't disappoint me! Hmm, Gang Shedoer, you stupid fellow, it seems that it has been suppressed by a powerful force of nature before, so it can only accumulate energy non-stop. When it was handed over to you, the natural force that suppressed it disappeared, and the accumulated dark power began to erupt, causing so much chaos, this is really a perfect metal, a perfect gift!"

"Um, Lord." Gang Shedoer hesitated.

Saruman said impatiently:

"What else do you have, look at the city, isn't it chaotic enough? What are you still doing here? Hurry up and calm the citizens down."

Gang Shedoer boldly looked at Saruman's face:

"In fact, all of your reactions have been guessed by that person... so I boldly want to bring you one of his words."

"That person??" Saruman said in astonishment.

"It's that gem merchant, the original owner of this fragment." Gang Shedoer said boldly.

Saruman pondered for a moment and said:

"What else does he have to say?"

Gang Shedoer mysteriously said:

"He said that he has something more that will move you—um, for this sentence, he will pay me an extra two thousand platinum coins—if there is nothing else, then I will take my leave."

A gleam of light appeared in Saruman's slender eyes:

"This person is really interesting, well then, you go and tell him that based on the surprise he gave me today, then I decided to give him a chance, half an hour later, I will meet him on the magic tower. I have already received a very good gift today, I hope he can continue to surprise me."

Under Saruman's instructions, Gang Shedoer's efficiency was still quite high, so Fang Senyan and his party quickly arrived in Saruman's reception room.

Of course, for safety reasons, Fang Senyan did not bring Wu Ge, because it was difficult to say whether Wu Ge's disguise would be seen through by Saruman, and the disguise of the Ring of Air, Vilya, was not omnipotent. Once exposed, the consequences would be dire!

At this time, there was only about an hour left to complete the task. Fang Senyan believed that since Saruman cared so much about the armor fragment of the Ringwraith, then the elven illusion bone crystals they had obtained would be even more attractive to Saruman.

Even if Saruman turned hostile, at least the three of them could last for an hour with the great temptation of the elven illusion bone crystals, right? When the task failed, they would naturally return to the space, and the three of them would at most suffer some torture.

As for the kind of situation where they would immediately draw their swords and fight at the slightest disagreement, that was the behavior pattern of the Uruk-Hai Lutz, and it was absolutely impossible to apply it to Saruman, this old monster who had lived for thousands of years. His way of thinking must be to first consider, "What benefits will killing them bring me..."

After the three entered Orthanc, they did not notice any special changes—or rather, Saruman was unwilling to let them see any special changes, and then, led by a waiter, they entered Saruman's magic laboratory and saw this "traitor."

Fang Senyan was even more surprised to find that the layout here seemed very familiar, looking very similar to the internal layout of the crude mage tower in the orc city in the Misty Mountains back then. This tall, majestic, and burly powerful wizard glanced at them and said very plainly:

"I heard you have something to see me about?"

Fang Senyan stood up, smiled, and said:

"My name is Sailor, I am a believer of the Supreme God. There is a saying among us that there are no eternal friends and enemies, only eternal interests. By some coincidences, we obtained some things in Middle-earth that are said to be very precious and mysterious, and then my friend told me: the gray dwarves on the outskirts of Angmar might be interested in these things, but, the price offered by those guys really can't satisfy me, so, seeking a higher and better price for these goods is the main purpose of our coming to Isengard."

"Hmm, so you are a believer of the Supreme God." Saruman nodded slightly, and then said gently: "Then please sit down. I must first thank you for handing over that armor fragment full of dark aura and evil to me, this is a wise decision."