Chapter 375: The Battle of the Five Armies
[Of course, you know very well that the current situation doesn't support you venturing to Azeroth for exploration.]
[Although your control over the Kingdom of Erebor is strong, there is a human city called Dale in the valley below the mountain. To the west lies Mirkwood, home to powerful neighbors—the Wood Elves. Their leader, Thranduil, King of the Woodland Realm, is not only the sole Elven king remaining by the end of the Third Age but also an exceptionally formidable one.]
[The Wood Elves have long maintained trade relations with humans through the Forest River, yet because the Sindar King Thingol was slain by Dwarves—and the Sindar realm of Doriath was likewise destroyed by them—the Sindar-dominated Wood Elves harbor deep hatred toward Dwarves. Their relations have remained tense, and they have rejected your trade proposals more than once.]
[You, however, feel there's no need to be too concerned about the Elves' attitude, since conquering them is something that will happen sooner or later according to your plans.]
[From February 2775 to April 2781, the Kingdom of Erebor continued to prosper. With the invention of the generator and the laying of electrical wires, the kingdom now had electricity. Thanks to the efforts of goblin and gnome scientists, inventions like electric lights and telegraphs soon followed. Erebor underwent a strange technological leap, skipping over 2,300 years of normal progress—advancing straight from the steam age to the electrical age.]
[By late April 2781, under your direction, television and cameras were invented one after another. The entire kingdom now displayed a bizarre coexistence of science and theology—you even personally witnessed General Bix watching with great enthusiasm as bikini-clad dwarf girls appeared on the television screen.]
[The prosperity of Erebor naturally drew the attention of its neighbors. Be it Dale or the Wood Elves, large numbers of humans and elves poured into Erebor and Iron Hills, never to return. Judging from the increasing number of elven troops along Mirkwood's border, the humans of Dale and Thranduil likely intended to declare war on you first.]
[In addition, the Misty Mountain Orcs and the Gundabad Orcs led by the destroyer Azog seemed to have their eyes on the wealthy Erebor as well. It was said their combined numbers reached the hundreds of thousands—and they even had Durin's Bane, the Balrog that once annihilated a Dwarven kingdom, fighting alongside them. A great war was clearly inevitable.]
[Many Dwarves, of course, supported you taking the initiative to strike. After all, it was that very Durin's Bane that destroyed Moria centuries ago, forcing their ancestors to flee and settle here.]
[In the world of Azeroth, your progress over these six years had also been remarkable. Your reputation now rivaled that of the High King of the Mountains. Through financial influence, the Yellow Turban Faith had not only become the primary religion of the Dwarven Kingdom but had also infiltrated Ironforge's three great clans. Even Prince Madoran Bronzebeard was now a believer of the Three Pure Ones.]
[Just as your divination technique foretold, by the end of November 2781, Modimus Anvilmar, High King of all the Dwarves of Azeroth, finally passed away. Before his heir could ascend the throne, the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and Dark Iron clans plunged into civil war.]
[In the end, it was you who laughed last. After more than a decade of accumulation, your prestige among the Azerothian Dwarves had reached unimaginable heights. When you rode the great dragon Smaug through the portal and flew above Ironforge, its 141-meter-long body immediately crushed most resistance through sheer terror.]
[Through a combination of military might, religious influence, and economic power, you dismantled the opposition of the three clans—not easily, but effectively—and finally ascended the throne in Ironforge's royal hall. Thus, a vast Dwarven kingdom spanning two worlds was born.]
[Soon after, you soothed the three clans with a well-timed policy of conciliation. Ultimately, only the Dark Iron clan chose to leave Ironforge, while the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer clans—who had more contact with you—wisely chose to continue serving under your rule.]
[By April 2782, after Ironforge had likewise achieved a certain level of development, you convened with Madoran Bronzebeard, Khardros Wildhammer, Briviv Stonefist, Bix, and other high-ranking officials to carry out major reforms. The Kingdom of Erebor was renamed the Kingdom of Pineapple, and the Yellow Turban Faith was renamed the Mechanic Dao. You also made the decision to unify the written language—Mandarin would be the official language of the Kingdom of Pineapple, and all citizens were required to learn it.]
[With vast power in your hands, you began to nurture your own unique ambition—to one day become the ultimate being, the true King of Kings, ruling both the secular and the divine.]
[Under the triple weight of your authority, wealth, and religious dominance, the reforms stirred little resistance. Dwarves of both worlds naturally accepted the changes and quietly began studying. Some even took it a step further and adopted foreign surnames in anticipation of the future.]
[From April 2782 to May 2785, the Kingdom of Pineapple developed at an astonishing pace, surpassing all nations of both Middle-earth and Azeroth in both economy and technology. Ironforge too had entered the electrical age. In Iron Hills and Ironforge alike, the streets were now filled not with horses and carriages but with cars, bicycles, and motorcycles. Rotorcrafts even flew overhead. After you invented the internal combustion engine, clever gnomes quickly applied it to transportation—thus the motorcycle and automobile were born.]
[In Iron Hills, you even encountered a Maia—Saruman the traveler from the world of The Lord of the Rings—who revealed his true identity to you and asked to serve under your command. You certainly knew who he was: Saruman, the wizard equal in rank to Gandalf, and a future villain. Yet you still chose to accept him, intrigued as you were by the Maiar and the Valar behind them.]
[Once again, your casual actions have altered the course of history. Under normal circumstances, Saruman would have wandered to Gondor, become a servant of its rulers, and received the key to Orthanc from Steward Beren to govern it. But by joining you first, his destined fall was averted, changing his fate entirely.]
[In addition, you founded an organization in Ironforge known as the "Explorer's League." Funded generously by you and led by the great archaeologist Tomli Megillas, countless Dwarven archaeologists set out for the Badlands and the distant Storm Peaks, seeking treasures left behind by the Titans. They compiled the histories, characters, and cultures of Azeroth into the largest library in the world.]
[In July 2785, after years of silence, your enemies finally launched an assault on the Lonely Mountain. Humans, Elves, Misty Mountain Orcs, Gundabad Orcs, and your own Dwarves of the Kingdom of Pineapple clashed near Erebor in the largest-scale war ever seen in Middle-earth's history—a conflict later known as the Battle of the Five Armies.]