Chapter 75: The One Ring

"Wasn't your crystal ball already broken? How can you still see anything?" Balin asked suspiciously. "Exactly, it would be more reliable if we all split up and searched separately," Dwalin added with a grunt. Kael ignored the dwarves, holding the Palantír and concentrating on finding Bilbo's location. This time, Bilbo's figure finally appeared in the crystal ball. "Bilbo, it's Bilbo! He's looking for an exit!" The dwarves excitedly gathered around, pressing their heads close to the crystal ball, staring intently at Bilbo in the image. "Looks like your crystal ball is working again," Balin observed with relief. Kael glanced at the image and walked directly to the left. "Follow me. Let's reunite with Bilbo first, then leave this place." Gandalf followed closely behind Kael, and the other dwarves also caught up. Guided by the Palantír, the group wound their way through the passages and finally saw Bilbo in the distance, trying to find an exit. "Bilbo!" the dwarf Bombur shouted loudly. Bilbo in the distance heard the voice, quickly turned around, showed a delighted expression, and waved his hands happily. "I'm here!" When the two groups met, the dwarves all happily gave Bilbo a hug. "You're incredibly lucky, falling from such a height and being perfectly fine! If Kael hadn't said you were okay, we would have been worried sick!" Balin said with genuine relief. "How did you know I was here?" Bilbo asked curiously while basking in their joy. "Did you forget? Kael has the Palantír, that thing can find people, so naturally it could see you here." "But that thing works on and off—there was a period when we couldn't see you at all. We don't know what went wrong." Hearing this, Bilbo's expression became somewhat unnatural. One hand unconsciously reached into his pocket to feel around, then he looked tentatively at Kael, meeting a pair of eyes that held deeper meaning. He immediately nervously withdrew his gaze, his eyes having nowhere to rest. Gandalf also noticed Bilbo's abnormality and exchanged a glance with Kael. Unlike the dwarves who suspected the Palantír was broken, both Gandalf and Kael knew that Palantíri were made of the hardest material and couldn't possibly be damaged. So the fact that the Palantír couldn't see Bilbo earlier wasn't due to the Palantír itself, but because something extraordinary had happened on Bilbo's end that concealed him from the Palantír's sight. Although Gandalf was somewhat curious, he had no intention of getting to the bottom of Bilbo's adventure. As for Kael, he had long known about Bilbo's situation. So both tacitly chose not to inquire. This made Bilbo breathe a sigh of relief while also feeling somewhat ashamed and uneasy. "Kael, I just encountered..." Bilbo hesitated. But before he could continue, Gandalf sternly looked toward the shadows across from them. "Who's there!" "Reducto!" A spell shot from Kael's hand, directly targeting that shadow. Under the brilliant light of the spell, a hunched creature with pale skin and bulging eyes was exposed to everyone's view. The spell directly hit the stone in front of it, instantly shattering the rock and blasting the creature away. Was that Gollum? The Ring's previous owner? Kael realized. But before he could continue attacking, Gollum looked at Kael with terror and fear, then cast a resentful glance at Bilbo before immediately turning and escaping into the rocky caves. "What was that thing? It didn't look like a Goblin," the dwarves said in surprise and confusion. "Bilbo, did you see this creature earlier?" "Uh, yes." Bilbo nodded somewhat hesitantly. "He said his name was Gollum, and he feeds on the Goblin corpses that fall down. His mind isn't quite right—he often talks to himself. I used riddle games to buy time and finally found a chance to escape." "Bah, it was actually a talking monster. Too bad the magic didn't kill it just now and let it escape," the dwarves said regretfully. "Alright, never mind that. We need to find an exit and leave this place," Gandalf interrupted, then looked at Kael. "Kael, please lead the way for us." Kael glanced at the crystal ball in his hand and nodded. "Let's go. We'll leave here first." Guided by the crystal ball, everyone successfully found an exit and came to the other side of the Misty Mountains. "Finally out!" the dwarves cheered. Kael put the crystal ball back in his pouch and took out a money bag, handing it to Bilbo. "This is a money bag I've enchanted. It has two cubic meters of space inside, already containing some treasure obtained from the Goblin caves, with some space left over. You can put your excess belongings in there to make things easier." Bilbo took the money bag, opened it, and saw the considerable space inside filled with brilliant gold, silver, and jewels. He was very surprised and moved. "Thank you, Kael!" Then, after struggling and hesitating for a while, he looked at the distance of the others and said quietly to Kael, "Kael, actually I found something at the bottom of the cave..." Kael stopped him from continuing, shaking his head slightly, his eyes deepening with amusement. "I'm glad you're willing to tell me, but this is your opportunity, Bilbo. You don't need to tell me." Bilbo hadn't expected Kael to say this, and the last trace of hesitation in his heart disappeared. "I understand, Kael. I'll only tell you." "I found a ring at the bottom of the cave. The ring seems to have magic power. When I put it on, it's like entering another world—others can't see me, as if I've become invisible." Kael nodded. He had known all this long ago, but seeing his excited friend, he still warned, "Bilbo, don't wear this thing often unless absolutely necessary, or it will bring you unpredictable consequences." Although hobbits had naturally high resistance to the Ring, it wasn't without effect. After the War of the Ring ended, Bilbo was invited to go to Valinor to spend his twilight years, not only because he was a Ring-bearer, but also because prolonged contact with the Ring had left indelible damage. This damage wasn't physical, but affected the mind and soul. Only by going to Valinor could Bilbo possibly be healed and find peace in his old age. To give Bilbo a clearer understanding, he revealed, "Bilbo, you must be careful with that ring. You've seen Gollum, but you don't know he was originally a hobbit too. But after possessing that ring, he was gradually changed and became what he is now." Bilbo was stunned by this news. He couldn't believe it. "Kael, you're saying Gollum is a hobbit? How is that possible?" "But that's the truth." Bilbo became restless. He wanted to choose not to believe it, but thinking of Gollum's similar size to himself, and how his speech patterns and thinking were similar to hobbits, he had to believe it even if he didn't want to. Not to mention that the ring was also full of temptation for him, making him develop possessive selfishness, and sometimes even dark thoughts of wanting to eliminate everyone who knew about the ring. He was startled by such thoughts himself. Thinking of this, he felt the ring in his pocket become very hot to handle. He wanted to throw it away immediately, but was also deeply attracted to it and couldn't bear to discard it. His consciousness seemed split into two people—one rational, one obsessed—constantly arguing and pulling against each other. "Kael, what should I do?" Bilbo asked Kael for help, full of confusion. "Don't be nervous or worried. I'm only saying this to keep you vigilant, so you won't be seduced and obsessed by it," Kael comforted. "You just need to stay rational and not overuse it. In the short term, it won't cause you too much harm." After finishing their conversation, everyone continued their journey. But soon, several wolf howls in the distance made everyone's faces change. "Wargs!" In the distance, on the hillside below, thousands of well-equipped Orcs riding giant wolves were rapidly moving toward them. "Take defensive positions!" Gandalf shouted loudly. (End of Chapter) *** [Check Out My Patreon For More Chapters On All Of My Fanfics!!] [www. [email protected]/meowthtl] [+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter] [Thank You For Your Support!]