A Rollercoaster of Emotions

Josh found sleeping outdoors to be a truly miserable experience.

Especially when he kept wondering whether he had killed that damn Sauron, while holding a beautiful woman in his arms yet being unable to do anything.

Josh had now experienced this tangled, helpless feeling firsthand. He even wondered why he had not gone to Lake-town for the night and had instead come here to suffer.

After meditating through the night, Josh woke around noon the next day. Yet the dwarves still had not arrived.

After calculating the time, Josh did not pay it much mind. If they still did not arrive before sunset, he could not be bothered to wait any longer. He had previously been worried that the evil dragon would cause havoc, but after thinking all night, Josh suddenly realized something.

There were seven dwarf kingdoms in Middle-earth! Even without the treasure of the Lonely Mountain kingdom, Josh could simply take what he was owed from somewhere else! Why the hell was he still agonizing over it?

At most, the Arkenstone might suffer a little. But considering it was a dwarf family heirloom, Josh felt it would not be so easily melted by flames. If it really did melt, then the dwarves could only blame their own bad luck!

Taking out The One Ring again, Josh resumed studying it.

He wanted to understand why he had entered that strange spatial state. After all, ordinary people seemed to enter that space as well, but their bodies went in with them.

Smaug had experienced something like this before. Back then, Bilbo had worn The One Ring into the treasure vault to steal the Arkenstone, only to accidentally wake the sleeping Smaug.

After waking up, Smaug searched for a long time without finding anyone. Yet he claimed he could smell the thief, as well as the scent of The One Ring.

Heaven knew why Smaug spoke with a london accent. Even Bilbo did.

But after Josh truly arrived in this world, he discovered that its language was not actually like it was in the movies. Fortunately, he had Mental Link, or this would have been truly unbearable.

Putting such pointless matters aside, Josh did spend quite some time studying the ring.

But some things could not be solved merely because one was willing to spend time on them. At the very least, Josh had spent an entire afternoon researching it without gaining anything substantial.

Several times, Josh put the ring on again and entered that strange space. He even focused intensely, using his spiritual power to examine the flow of the ring’s magic and the changes within himself. Unfortunately, he still discovered nothing.

His only gain was probably memorizing the frequency of the space’s flow, as well as the changes to his soul and body within it.

Josh could only sigh helplessly. He had never intended to claim the ring for himself.

It was not because Josh possessed particularly noble character. Just think about it—during something as important as the Four Nations Invitation, he had dared to pull off something like that. One could easily imagine what kind of person he was.

He did not intend to seize the ring because he knew that it probably only produced such effects in this world.

Once he left this world, the ring would probably be no more than a decent ring with somewhat interesting magic. Things like that were everywhere on the Muya Continent.

Moreover, Josh suspected that the ring’s ability to let him enter that space was likely connected to the world’s hidden laws.

As for this world’s laws, Josh did not need to think about them for now.

Because Akathosh still had not appeared. Even when Josh called for him, the only response he received was a single faint word—"Fuck off." So Josh had no interest in pressing his warm face against a cold ass. If Akathosh wanted to study it, he could study it himself.

Time passed quickly. Before he knew it, the sun was slowly setting. When someone immersed himself in research, time always passed unusually fast—especially when Josh had his head resting on Natasha’s thighs.

But Josh no longer intended to study the ring, because he could already sense that the dwarves had come up.

Getting to his feet, Josh patted his backside, casually ran a hand over Natasha’s long legs, ignored the eye roll she gave him, and leisurely headed outside.

Sure enough, before long, Josh saw Thorin and the others approaching with all the dwarves, along with the human Bard and Bilbo.

That left Josh somewhat puzzled. He glanced at Kili, whose face was terrible and who clearly needed rest, then at Bard, who should not have been here at all, and shook his head.

It seemed that because of his appearance, the plot had become a complete mess. But Josh did not think much of it. He had long since sent who knew how many plots to hell or heaven. A few minor discrepancies were no big deal.

After taking another careful look at Thorin, Josh stroked his chin. Honestly, Thorin looked rather different from his father, Thrain.

The appearances of dwarves really were interesting. Going by Josh’s memories, Thorin’s father Thrain was the one who best fit his image of what a dwarf should look like.

Of course, the other dwarves were pretty similar. But two obvious exceptions had appeared in this dwarf company. One was Thorin, and the other was the barely conscious Kili. Those two were simply too handsome, completely distinct from the other dwarves.

Their looks suited human and elf aesthetics more. Josh even wondered whether their mother or father had been human or something, otherwise how could they have turned out like that?

Just think about it—if not for his outstanding appearance, Kili could never have hooked up with that female elf captain. Even after he died, she had wept for him.

But none of that was likely to happen now, because those two had never met from beginning to end. Naturally, Tauriel would not be drawn to a dwarf.

Suddenly, Josh wondered whether he had done a good deed or something. In his memories, that female elf captain had seemed to fascinate Legolas as well.

After thinking about it for a while without reaching any conclusion, Josh stroked his chin and said directly to Thorin, "You people are far too slow. I waited all day before you finally showed up?"

"My apologies, Your Majesty. Kili is injured, so we had no choice but to let him rest for the night. We even wanted him to rest in Lake-town for another day, but—"

"Kili has been poisoned. Just ask Gandalf to help you. All right, no need to talk about that. I have something to tell you, Thorin."

"Poisoned… All right. What is it, Your Majesty?"

Thorin’s attitude remained very good, which pleased Josh.

Though Thorin’s attitude toward other elves was exceptionally awful, he at least knew gratitude and possessed some self-awareness.

Nodding, Josh said directly, "Bilbo, thank you for providing the item. But I advise you to use it as little as possible, because it is very dangerous. Still, it was because of this item that I encountered something very interesting while researching it."

Thorin did not understand why Josh had suddenly brought up Bilbo. Didn’t he say he had something to tell me?

But Thorin continued listening honestly without interrupting. Josh directly returned the ring to Bilbo, but Bilbo seemed afraid to accept it.

"Um, Your Majesty. Since this thing is dangerous, I think it would be better if you kept it," Bilbo said. He was somewhat afraid to hold the ring. Though he did not know what it was, he had already felt some of the strange sensations it brought him.

"Don’t worry. Only if you keep it will you avoid being controlled by it. And rest assured, I have already sealed it with magic. I cannot say the same for others, but you definitely will not have any more problems."

"Is that so? All right, I understand, Your Majesty."

Bilbo hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he followed Josh’s advice and obediently put the ring into his pocket.

Josh nodded. He had indeed done something to the ring. At the very least, it would no longer affect The Hobbit. Well, for around sixty years.

"All right, now I can tell you about what happened earlier. To put it simply, your father and Gandalf are also heading this way."

"My father! Thrain? Good heavens! Is it really my father?" Thorin froze for a moment before bursting into wild joy.

"Yes. If Gandalf was not mistaken, then it is him. But they were unlucky. They encountered the freshly awakened Sauron, and he attacked your father."

"What! Damn it!" Thorin’s mood was now like a rollercoaster. His joy vanished in an instant, replaced by a face full of grief.

"Mm, but they were lucky as well. Because I was researching the thing Bilbo gave me, I happened to be in a gap between life and death and witnessed everything. So I stepped in and saved your father and the wizard, then told them to hurry here. As for Sauron, I just hope he wasn’t stabbed so full of holes that he leaked."

All the dwarves, along with Bard and Bilbo, stared blankly at Josh. They did not know what he meant by leaking, but they knew Thorin’s mood could not possibly be good right now.

That was indeed the case. Thorin truly wanted to curse out loud: Could you not just say everything at once, you bastard!

But he did not dare. The person before him was someone who had defeated Sauron! And he had done it alone!

In Middle-earth, no one dared joke about Sauron. He was terrifying and evil! Besides, Josh had said that Gandalf and Thrain were heading this way. This was something they only needed to ask about to confirm.

If Josh had been lying, he would forever bear the title of liar or deceiver throughout Middle-earth. At that point, he might not even be able to keep his position as Elf King.

Trustworthiness was extremely important in Middle-earth. Of course, it was important in every world!

Taking a deep breath, Thorin led all the dwarves in a deep bow toward Josh. Then Thorin said, "Thank you very much for what you have done. On behalf of all dwarves, and on behalf of my father, I offer you our gratitude. Thank you very much, Your Majesty Josh."

"No need to say that. I had a purpose in doing this. I do not act for free."

"Please name your terms, so long as they are not excessive."

"Rest assured, I have no interest in your Arkenstone. I am interested in other things, such as your gold and jewels."

"As you wish, Your Majesty."