Gandalf saw this scene and couldn't help but ask, "Luke, are you sure? You want to make this your territory?"
Thorin, who was beside him, also looked up at Luke.
People with strength in Middle-earth would establish their own strongholds or territories. It was surprising to Thorin that powerful Wizards like Gandalf and Luke still didn't have their own spheres of influence.
Luke shook his head, "It's not really a territory, just a stronghold, a place where I can always return to rest my feet."
"Then you must be mentally prepared. Once the news of Amon Sûl Tower's reappearance spreads throughout the wilderness, many factions will turn their attention to you, some with good intentions, others with malice. At the same time, many people will seek refuge and protection from you. These are all things you will have to face in the future."
Gandalf earnestly reminded Luke.
Hearing Gandalf's words, Luke frowned.
He hadn't expected that merely establishing a stronghold would cause so much trouble, making him regret making the decision so quickly.
However, he was unwilling to give up this place.
So, he could only take things as they came.
Bilbo and the Dwarves, who had been touring the tower, finally returned. The Dwarves slumped onto the sofa, panting, and exclaimed, "Sixty floors, a full sixty floors! It's exhausting!"
"Yes, climbing such a tall building is more tiring than making me chop down 60 Orcs!"
"Seriously, they should build an elevator here, otherwise, climbing all these floors will literally kill us from exhaustion!"
The Dwarves commented, one after another.
Bilbo was also panting, but he looked somewhat excited. He came to Luke and shared enthusiastically, "Luke, we climbed all the way to the top of the tower! The top is so high, it feels like I can touch the clouds, and I can also see the main road down the mountain and even farther!"
"Oh, right, we also saw a huge stone platform at the top of the tower. There's a depression in the center of the platform. Balin said that's where the Palantír used to be placed…"
Hearing the Dwarves and Bilbo, Luke was also a little astonished.
This tower actually had sixty floors. If he really had to climb the stone stairs floor by floor, he would genuinely be exhausted.
If he was truly going to live here, he would have to consider installing an elevator.
Thinking this, Luke began to consult the Dwarves. After all, when he was in the Blue Mountains, he had seen the Dwarves' very complex elevators and pulley systems that could go straight down a thousand meters underground, which were no worse than the elevators of his previous life.
And the Dwarves did not disappoint Luke, directly stating it was a small problem. After the Lonely Mountain quest was finished, they could completely help design and build an automatic ascending and descending staircase for the tower.
However, Luke also had another plan. He intended to open a fireplace on each floor and then connect each floor's fireplace together to form a localized Floo Network.
This way, he could directly use the fireplace to go to whichever floor he wanted.
The only drawback was that it consumed a bit of Floo Powder.
Late at night, the full moon shone brightly.
Luke ascended to the thousand-foot-high tower top for the first time.
This was a semi-enclosed observatory. Standing on the observatory, to the east was the boundless Lone Lands, to the south were the Midgewater Marshes and the East-West Road, to the west were the Chetwood and Bree Town, and to the north were rolling hills.
The strong wind howled around him, and the clouds were level with the tower. Looking up at the sky, the stars and the moon seemed within reach.
In the center of the observatory was a massive stone platform with a depression in its center, which was once used to house a Palantír.
The Palantír was a treasure crafted by Elven artisans. It allowed the user to see distant objects, unimpeded by terrain or buildings, and could even show past events.
After the destruction of the Númenórean Empire, Elendil brought 7 Palantíri to Middle-earth. He left 3 of them in the Kingdom of Arnor and gave the other 4 to his sons who ruled in the south, for transmitting information and strengthening communication.
The three Palantíri of the Kingdom of Arnor were placed in three important locations within the kingdom, one of which was Amon Sûl Tower on Weather Top.
It was not until the fall of the Kingdom of Arnor that these Palantíri were scattered and lost.
One of them fell into the hands of the Dark Lord Sauron, and another into the hands of the White Wizard Saruman. Through the Palantíri they possessed, they observed the situation throughout Middle-earth, effectively winning battles from afar.
"If I have the chance, I'd really like to get a Palantír to study." Luke looked at the empty depression in the stone table, filled with curiosity about the Palantír.
After admiring the tower top, Luke began his official work.
He took out a bag of full moonstone and placed it on the stone platform, allowing it to be illuminated by the moonlight.
Here, the moonlight seemed even brighter, shining on the full moonstone and refracting an even more brilliant glow, illuminating the entire tower top.
The full moonstone absorbed the moonlight, becoming even brighter and more dazzling, emitting a faint blue silver light, as if it were the essence condensed from moonlight.
When the moon was at its fullest at midnight, Luke took out snake fangs, spider silk, and full moonstone, mixed them in a certain proportion into a crucible, and carved power and creation runes at the bottom of the crucible with his wand. Then, he ignited the mixture in the crucible with magic flames, continuously burning it.
Under the scorching of the flames, the snake fangs and spider silk were burned to ashes, and the dazzling full moonstone shattered into countless tiny particles, losing its brilliant luster.
When it was sufficiently burned, Luke withdrew the flames and ground the mixed particles of snake fangs, spider silk, and full moonstone into powder with a mortar.
Only a sparkling silvery-gray powder remained in the mortar, and this was Floo Powder.
Having successfully made Floo Powder, Luke wanted to test its performance.
Conveniently, there was a beacon fire at the top of the tower, which looked similar to a fireplace. Luke simply cast a spell to connect it to the fireplace downstairs.
Waving his hand to ignite the beacon fire, Luke grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and sprinkled it into the flames, which instantly turned green.
Looking at the burning flames, Luke tried to reach his hand through and was not burned by the fire; instead, he felt a coolness.
Seeing this, Luke no longer hesitated and stepped into the flames.
The next second, feeling a dizzying sensation, Luke appeared in the fireplace on the first floor.
"Cough, cough, cough…" Luke's eyes were somewhat obscured by the soot.
The effect of this Floo Powder was very good, the only downside was too much soot, leaving him covered in ash after teleportation.
"It seems you have successfully made Floo Powder?" Gandalf, with his blue eyes twinkling, sat smilingly on the sofa in front of the fireplace, smoking his pipe.
He seemed to have known that Luke would succeed tonight and had specifically waited there.
Luke pulled out the bottle containing Floo Powder from his Pregnant, smiling as he invited, "Gandalf, interested in a long trip?"
Gandalf's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he stood up impatiently, "More than eager!"
"The Prancing Pony!"
"The Prancing Pony!"
Two flashes of green fire passed one after another, and the first-floor living room was now empty and quiet.