55: Dwarf: Are you tall goblins?

In the canyon, the thick smoke from the super explosion had not yet fully dissipated, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of saltpeter and the acrid stench of melted metal.

The hundred-meter bronze gate, symbolizing dwarven honor and stubbornness, had now become a huge, irregular hole with molten iron flowing at its edges, as if a massive invisible beast had taken a huge bite out of it.

In front of the hole, two groups with starkly different styles were engaged in a historic first standoff.

On one side were the dwarven guards who had just rushed out from underground.

They were generally less than one and a half meters tall, but each wore exaggeratedly heavy Steam-powered Exoskeleton Armor. These suits were made of brass and steel, with power cores like boilers constantly emitting white steam from their backs. Countless pipes and gears were exposed, exuding a rugged yet precise industrial aesthetic. Their weapons were varied: giant wrenches taller than a person, steam rifles with barrels wide enough to fit a fist, and the Captain of the Guard at the front even carried a buzzing Chainsaw Battle-axe on his shoulder.

Their iconic, elaborately braided beards were adorned with gears and screws as decorations, and their angry eyes glared from under heavy helmets like flames dancing in a furnace.

On the other side was the Player Expeditionary Force led by Li Qiang (Also a Ruthless Person).

Their style appeared much more 'shabby' and 'chaotic'.

A group of 'tall people' averaging over 1.8 meters in height wore makeshift 'armor' pieced together from various monster hides and scrap metal, holding modified weapons of all shapes. Their mounts behind them were even more bizarre: a Harley Motorcycle adorned with skulls, a bathtub fitted with four wheels, and even a 'Walking Tractor' modified from a troll skeleton. These vehicles' exhaust pipes spewed a strange mix of black smoke and blue magical halos.

Facing the dwarves' heavy armor and fury, which would intimidate any normal army, the players' reactions completely defied the dwarves' expectations.

No fear, no retreat.

Only... fanaticism and greed, as if they had discovered a new continent.

"Holy crap! Look at that armor! Steampunk style! So cool!"

"Is that an exoskeleton? Power armor? Did the game finally add mechs?"

"Their Rank is question marks! They're elite mobs! Definitely elite mobs!"

"Look at that Dwarf's health bar! So thick! How much loot would that drop!"

The Guild Channel had already exploded. The players' eyes were like a pack of wolves starved for three days, fixed on every piece of armor and every screw on the dwarves, as if they weren't enemies but moving, walking Treasure Troves.

"Which blind bastard blew up my gate?!"

The leading dwarven Captain of the Guard, Balin Bronzebeard, roared again in his booming voice. Pointing at the hole still dripping molten iron, his beard trembled with anger. "According to the laws of Black Iron City, damaging public property means you'll pay with your hides!"

Li Qiang jumped off his 'tyrant no. 1', completely ignoring the threat.

He took a few steps forward, putting on what he thought was his friendliest smile, though others saw it as utterly sleazy.

"This... dwarven brother, don't be so angry." He rubbed his hands together. "Let me introduce ourselves. We're merchants from the surface, passing through, and we want to discuss a big deal with you!"

"Merchants?"

Balin Bronzebeard narrowed his small eyes, deeply set in his helmet, suspiciously sizing up Li Qiang.

Tall and thin, wearing tattered chainmail scavenged from who-knows-where, holding a strangely shaped hammer, with his companions behind him even more bizarre, riding a bunch of scrap metal spewing black smoke.

And they had just blown open their gate with explosives.

This behavior pattern... this chaotic equipment... this greedy look... In Balin Bronzebeard's mind, instantly sprang the race dwarves hated most and were most familiar with.

"Merchants? I don't think so." Ba Lin snorted contemptuously. "You long-legged skinny poles look more like... mutated tall Goblins!"

Goblins were the most notorious creatures in the underground world. They were greedy, cunning, loved to steal and cause trouble, and always traveled in groups, annoying like locusts.

To the dwarves, these people's behavior, aside from being taller, was exactly like Goblins!

"Tall Goblins?"

Li Qiang was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage: "You're the Goblin! Your whole family are Goblins! I'm a purebred human!"

"Human?" Ba Lin grew even more disdainful. "The surface human merchants I've seen wore silk, sprayed perfume, and spoke softly. They're nothing like you barbarians reeking of engine oil and roasted meat!"

Seeing this 'cross-server chat' heading toward racial discrimination, Li Qiang took a deep breath and decided to show his 'business sincerity'.

He pulled out a freshly roasted, sizzling lizard leg from his backpack and offered it.

"Brother, don't misunderstand. We really are here for business. Look, this is our local specialty, surface-flavored roasted lizard. Want a taste?"

In Li Qiang's view, no conflict couldn't be resolved with a barbecue. If one didn't work, then two.

However, this move, in Balin Bronzebeard's eyes, was a blatant provocation and insult.

Only Goblins would bring out such dirty, messy food before negotiations!

"Take your filthy thing away!"

Ba Lin slapped the roasted lizard leg away. The steam core on his back roared, its pressure instantly spiking.

"It seems you tall Goblins don't understand dwarven rules!"

"Today, I'll use my battle-axe to 'discuss' with you the business of compensating for the gate!"

Ba Lin raised his Chainsaw Battle-axe. The saw teeth on the axe began to spin at high speed, emitting a piercing roar.

Just as tensions were high and a battle was about to erupt.

An untimely voice, filled with tech-nerd fanaticism, rang out from the back of the player Ranks.

"Primitive! So primitive!"

Wang Wei (Luban No. 7) pushed up his goggles, welded with eight layers of lenses, completely ignoring the conversation between the two sides. His entire focus was captivated by the dwarves' Steam-Powered Exoskeletons.

Like the most critical quality inspector, he pointed out flaws in the dwarves' technology.

"Your piston linkage structure is a disaster! Energy loss is at least over thirty percent! And that pressure valve, you're actually using the most basic spring reset design? Ridiculous! In high-temperature, high-pressure environments, metal fatigue will reduce its lifespan to less than a hundred hours!"

Wang Wei's voice grew louder, filled with disdain for 'heretical technology'.

"And you! Yes, you! What's with the rifling on your rifle? Is that rifling? That's a twist! No wonder the bullets spin out of control! Can its effective range exceed fifty meters? Garbage! Utterly garbage design!"

If being called 'tall Goblins' only made the dwarves angry.

Then Wang Wei's words were the cruelest trampling on the deepest part of their Souls!

Dwarves were a race of craftsmen, with an almost obsessive pride and honor in their creations.

Now, this skinny pole from who-knows-where dared to belittle their proud technology to worthlessness right in front of them!

This was worse than killing them!

"You... what did you say?!"

In Ba Lin's guard, a Dwarven Engineer responsible for weapon maintenance turned beet red with anger. He pointed at Wang Wei, his finger trembling.

"You heretic who only plays with magical light pollution! Do you understand pure, powerful mechanical aesthetics?! Steam is the greatest power in the world!"

"Pah!" Wang Wei retorted without backing down, "Steam? That's an outdated, backward energy source that was phased out centuries ago! Inefficient, heavily polluting, and prone to explosions! Only muscle-brained fools would cling to such an antique! Demonic Energy drives are the future! Clean! Efficient! The energy density is a hundred times that of your pile of scrap metal!"

"Heretic! Burn him!"

"Fool! Your Demonic Energy converter doesn't even have a heat sink—you'll blow yourself sky-high sooner or later!"

Two 'Chief Engineers' from the pinnacles of different tech trees engaged in an academic debate filled with technical jargon and personal insults, shouting at the top of their lungs across dozens of meters in front of everyone.

The scene was extremely heated for a moment.

"Enough!"

Balin Bronzebeard finally couldn't take it anymore. He felt that if he let these people keep talking, his blood pressure would skyrocket.

He stomped his foot violently, causing his Steam-Powered Exoskeleton to emit a loud noise and the ground to tremble.

"Since words won't work!"

"Then fight!"

He roared and charged toward Li Qiang like a fired cannonball.

"Lads! Give these impolite tall Goblins a vivid physics lesson! Show them the hospitality of Black Iron City!"

"Ura!!!"

The Dwarf Guard behind him roared in unison, activating their weapons one after another.

Combat erupted instantly!

Li Qiang looked at the charging Dwarf, not alarmed but delighted, a bloodthirsty smile spreading across his face.

"Finally, they're making a move! I thought we'd have to listen to you argue all day!"

He twisted the motorcycle's throttle violently, not retreating but advancing, charging straight at Ba Lin!

"Brothers! It's go time! Kill the men, and the women... wait, there don't seem to be any women! Then strip the men bare and loot their gear!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The engines of over a thousand Magic-guided Motorcycles roared simultaneously, like an out-of-control torrent of steel, crashing head-on into the dwarves' steam army!

This was the first direct confrontation between Magitek Punk and Steampunk!

"Clang!"

Ba Lin's Chainsaw Battle-axe and Li Qiang's power hammer collided mid-air, sending a shower of dazzling sparks flying. The immense force made both of them step back simultaneously.

Li Qiang felt his arm go numb—this Dwarf's strength was actually greater than his, a reinforced player's!

Meanwhile, Ba Lin was even more shocked. His 'Fury' Mark III exoskeleton allowed him to easily lift an adult Land Dragon, yet this lanky 'Goblin' could withstand his blow head-on?

However, the battlefield gave them little time to think.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

From behind the Dwarf Ranks, over a dozen Riflemen fired simultaneously. Their thick barrels spewed fist-sized, solid iron pellets.

Those things hitting the players' Modified Motorcycles were like being struck by a battering ram. A 'Luxury Convertible' made from a sofa was blown to pieces on the spot, its player screaming as he was sent flying.

"Suppressive fire! Don't let them get close!" Ba Lin bellowed.

"Suppress this!"

From the player Ranks, dozens of heavy-firepower motorcycles equipped with Demonic Energy Gatling Guns had already locked onto their targets.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—!

A metal storm composed of explosive fireballs instantly blanketed the dwarves' rifle positions.

Although the dwarves' armor was thick, under this unreasonable saturation bombardment, they were blasted back repeatedly. Several dwarves had their beards singed, emitting a charred stench.

"Melee group! Go! Tear open their formation!"

Retired Soldier King's calm voice rang out in the channel.

Dozens of the most headstrong Berserker players howled as they flanked from the sides.

A Dwarf warrior was about to raise his large wrench when a player slid in with a tackle, grabbing his leg. Immediately, seven or eight players piled on like a human pyramid, forcibly pinning the Dwarf, clad in hundreds of kilograms of heavy armor, to the ground.

"Dismantle! Quick, dismantle! Rip that boiler off his back for me!"

"Where's the wrench? Who brought a wrench? These screws are hex-headed!"

The pinned Dwarf let out a roar of humiliation and fury. He had fought countless battles in his life but had never seen such shameless tactics!

The battlefield descended into utter chaos.

A player tried to pour sand into a Dwarf's exoskeleton joints, only to be kicked flying over a dozen meters away.

A Dwarf engineer was about to replace the energy core of his weapon when he looked up to find a player holding a giant magnet, trying to suck away all the spare parts hanging from his waist.

Wang Wei, meanwhile, was locked in a standoff with that Dwarf engineer. Neither would back down, hiding behind cover and throwing their latest 'high-tech' bombs at each other.

"Taste my 'Goblin Skull High-Frequency Oscillation Grenade'!"

"Witness the power of our 'Black Iron City Honorably Produced No. 3 High-Pressure Steam Grenade'!"

Boom! Boom!

Explosions echoed one after another, with parts and blueprints blown skyward at their feet.

This scene was less like a war and more like a large-scale, violent, and unpredictable interworld tech exchange.

Both sides went back and forth, locked in a fierce struggle.

The dwarves excelled in individual strength, superior equipment, and astonishing defense.

The players excelled in numbers, fearlessness, and tactics that emphasized 'no bottom line.'

Both sides realized they couldn't gain the upper hand over the other.

Just as the battle reached a stalemate and both sides were truly enraged...

Woo—Woo—!!!

A long, deep, horn blast, like the awakening of an ancient behemoth, suddenly echoed from deep within the blasted-open hole.

Immediately, the ground began to shake violently.

It was a tremor a hundred times more terrifying than the earlier explosions, as if a moving mountain were slowly emerging from the depths of the earth.

The chaotic battlefield fell eerily silent for a moment.

All players and dwarves instinctively stopped their actions, looking toward the deep darkness with shock and uncertainty.

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

Heavy, rhythmic footsteps approached from afar. Each step seemed to land on everyone's hearts.

An enormous black silhouette slowly squeezed out from the dark tunnel.

It stood over ten meters tall, with six thick, battering ram-like mechanical legs. Its body was a steel fortress composed of countless rivets, gears, and thick armor plates. At its top was a massive Steam Cannon with a terrifyingly large caliber, glowing with a dangerous red light.

Two huge, searchlight-like red mono-eyes slowly scanned the entire battlefield, finally locking onto the players' Ranks.

It was a... war machine that walked upon the earth, purely constructed of steel and steam!

Balin Bronzebeard looked at the giant mech, a cruel yet proud smile spreading across his face.

Wiping the grease from his face, he grinned at the stunned players.

"Tall Goblins, didn't you want to discuss business and see the Treasure Trove?"

"Come, let me introduce you."

"This is our City Defense Officer of Black Iron City. We all like to call it—the 'Grumbling Gurgle'!"

The massive steam mech seemed to respond to his words, emitting a deafening horn roar as its cannon began charging slowly.

Faced with this god-like war machine, the players felt not a trace of fear but instead... collectively fell into an extreme, frenzied excitement!

Their eyes shone with a light hotter than lava!

"Holy... shit..."

"What... what is that? A Gundam? It's a Gundam, right?!"

"BOSS! This is definitely the final version boss!"

"Steal it! We have to steal it!!"

Li Qiang stared fixedly at the slowly approaching steel behemoth. He threw away his power hammer, grabbed the communicator beside him, and with all his might, let out a hysterical roar in the Guild Channel.

"Brothers! Forget these dwarves!!"

"See that big guy?! That's our ultimate target this time!"

"All units, assemble! Prepare to... steal the Gundam!!!"