Inside the Brass Palace, the fire dwarves played brass instruments, and the officers and soldiers of the empire drank heartily.

"Your Majesty, Cassius, may you win!"

"Great Red Dragon!"

"Invincible!"

It seemed that there was a warm atmosphere everywhere, filled with the fragrance of fine wine and the aroma of charred barbecued meat. The fire dwarves and imperial soldiers sang and danced, celebrating the defeat of their common enemy, the fire giants.

The fire dwarf noble Sharin was beside Cassius, raised his glass, and whispered:

"Your Majesty Cassius, you destroyed half of the Iron City and killed the Emir of the Fire Giant. Your strength truly amazes me."

"only."

Sharin hesitated for a moment, smiled bitterly, and then continued: "You have done too well. I am afraid that it will attract the attention of the Fire Giant Sultan."

Cassius also raised his glass, took a sip, and responded with a smile: "Sir Shalin, I am not afraid of him."

"No one can defeat me unless the Great Sultan does it himself."

"That Prince of Holy Flame is still wandering the land. The Great Sultan will not risk being killed to become my enemy for a mere emir."

“Now that you mention it, I’ll just say it.”

Cassius put down his wine glass and looked down at the fire dwarf with his pale golden pupils. His eyes were full of meaning. "The ones who are really in danger are you and your brass fortress."

Shalin's pupils shrank sharply, and the flames above his head became a little weaker.

"The emir sent by the Fire Giant Sultan is dead. This has damaged his dignity, but he has no way to retaliate against me."

"So, who will be the outlet for the Sultan's anger?"

"what do you mean"

Shalin's hand holding the scepter trembled slightly, and his tone was hesitant.

"The Brass Fortress."

Cassius' tone was particularly certain.

"You know, the Empire's army has stationed in the Brass Fortress, and we have also fought together against the army sent by the Fire Giants."

"The Empire can evacuate the Elemental Plane of Fire at any time, but you can't. The Brass Fortress can't escape, and the Fire Dwarves can't leave their homes."

"Sir Shalin, I just can't bear to see the fire dwarves being enslaved, so I came here to remind you."

"It's a pity that I didn't kill all those fire giants at that time, otherwise the news would not have reached the ears of the Great Sultan."

Cassius looked into the eyes of the fire dwarf, shook his head gently, and sighed with a "sad" expression.

With his charisma and silver tongue, every word he said seemed so credible.

"This this"

Sharin's brass body trembled slightly. He seemed to see the future scene of the fortress being breached and the fire dwarves being enslaved and whipped.

In fact, Shalin had already vaguely guessed this possibility, but when he heard the other party say it himself, he still felt frightened.

In fact, on the Elemental Plane of Fire, the number of efreet dwarves enslaved by efreet far exceeds the number of free efreet dwarves.

But Cassius asked a seemingly irrelevant question.

"Lord Sharin, how many fire dwarves were there in the Brass Fortress a thousand years ago?"

Shalin was a little confused, but after thinking for a moment, he answered truthfully: "About 4,000."

The casting process limits the population growth rate, so fire dwarves are quite rare, and there are quite a lot of them here.

Cassius continued to ask:

"So what now? How many fire dwarves are there in the Brass Fortress now?"

"Three thousand seven hundred and forty-one."

Shalin answered without thinking.

Cassius pretended to be puzzled and asked: "You fire dwarves have a long lifespan. Haven't you had any new population born in the past thousand years?" "Of course, but..."

Sharin looked bitter and continued, "The fire giants send raiders every once in a while to kidnap my people."

Cassius stated the cruel truth in a calm tone: "So, Lord Sharin."

"The only reason the efreet allow the Brass Citadel to exist is so you can provide them with efreet slaves."

Sharin couldn't help but retort: ​​"The fire giants once tried to enslave our entire tribe, but they failed!"

"Because after you were enslaved, you were no longer willing to create new population, right?"

Cassius took a sip of wine and continued, "They gave up the slavery plan because they wanted a steady supply of slaves."

He chuckled.

"Sir Shalin, do you know that there is a plant called leek in the material world? Human farmers harvest leek every time it grows, so they can have a continuous supply of food."

The fire dwarf noble's beard kept trembling. He didn't want to believe it from the bottom of his heart, but what the other party said was extremely close to reality.

"And now."

"Do you think they will allow the Brass Fortress to stand in the face of the Grand Sultan's wrath?"

Cassius' voice was like a bolt of lightning, and every word struck Sharin's heart and broke down his psychological defenses.

Shalin was silent for a long time before he spoke hesitantly.

"Then your Majesty Cassius, what should we do?"

A barely perceptible smile suddenly appeared on Cassius' face, he knew that his goal had been achieved.

As long as the fire dwarf nobles are convinced, everything else will fall into place.

"The Burning Empire."

Cassius just said the name casually.

"what do you mean"

The fire dwarf lowered his head in thought, looking hesitant, but he finally raised his head and clenched his teeth.
Sharin looked at Cassius nervously and said carefully: "If that's the case, then I can only thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty Cassius."

"Please allow me to refuse. The Fire Dwarves will not become anyone's followers or slaves. This was the case thousands of years ago, and it will remain the case thousands of years from now."

At the end of his words, the flames above his head were flickering and trembling, but his tone was quite firm.

Fire dwarves are always stubborn, and few can change their decisions.

"Snapped!"

"Be bold!"

Upon hearing this, Serkan, the half-red dragon who had been listening nearby, slammed the table and stood up, cursing loudly.

"Your Majesty has granted the Fire Dwarves such a precious opportunity, but you don't even know how to cherish it!"

"How dare you refuse His Majesty Cassius! You are making an enemy of us!"

Suddenly, all the imperial officers and soldiers in the hall stood up, pointed their rifles at the fire dwarves with hostility on their faces.

"What do you want to do?"

"The Fire Dwarves will never be slaves!"

The expressions of the fire dwarves also became angry. They picked up the copper hammers and iron shields on the ground and confronted the imperial soldiers.

The air in the hall seemed to be filled with gunpowder. In such a situation, even the slightest spark would lead to an explosion.

But Cassius waved his hands and ordered calmly, "What are you doing? Put down your guns."

Upon hearing the emperor's order, the empire's officers and soldiers quickly put down their guns.

He patted the fire dwarf nobleman on the shoulder nonchalantly and said with a smile: "Sir Shalin, I think you have misunderstood."

"What I mean is that our Burning Embers Empire can become a staunch ally of the Fire Dwarf City-State." (End of this chapter)