"Long time no see, Bilbo, how are you?"
As Bilbo, with his pack on his back, was about to leave Hobbiton, the wizard's familiar voice came from behind him.
"Oh, Gandalf. I'm so happy to see you again!" Bilbo turned around and saw the wizard in white robes, excitedly stepping forward to give him a big hug.
Like the wizard, Bilbo also regarded Gandalf as family, and an elder at that.
"I'm glad to see you too. So, are you sure you're alright?" Gandalf patted the Hobbit's back, calming him down, and then asked the same question again.
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. But compared to you, I'm already old. Unlike you, you're still the same as sixty years ago. Time seems to have stopped for you..." Bilbo said playfully with a smile.
He was right; sixty years had already covered his face with wrinkles.
The wizard, dressed in white robes, looked even more energetic than before, with an added sacred aura about him.
"People will all grow old one day, what are you afraid of?" Unlike the playful Hobbit, Gandalf's expression was very serious as he spoke.
He seemed to have detected traces of dark power eroding Bilbo.
The One Ring has the power to bewitch people. Once used, one's mind will gradually become lost, thereby amplifying the obsession in their heart.
Bilbo's departure this time seemed carefree, but from his teasing words to the wizard, it was not difficult to see his resistance to aging.
Bilbo looked at the wizard's gaze, subtly directed at his pocket, and his expression also became serious. He seemed to have guessed the other party's purpose in waiting for him here.
"Is it because of it?" Bilbo pulled the special ring from his pocket and said casually, "This ring has been with me for sixty years, do you want it?"
However, the One Ring had a spirit. When Bilbo entertained the thought of abandoning it, his heart inexplicably became agitated.
Subsequently, his expression gradually turned sinister.
"Relax, Bilbo, don't be controlled by your desires." Noticing the Hobbit's abnormal state, Gandalf immediately spoke to soothe him.
At the same time, magic power gathered on his staff, ready to deal with any bad situation that might arise.
"I know this ring shouldn't belong to me, and I'm already content to have had it for sixty years." The worst-case scenario did not happen. A white light suddenly emanated from Bilbo, causing his expression to become peaceful.
Sixty years ago, Mike had bestowed a Guardian Power upon Bilbo. This energy could not only help him resist a fatal threat once but also help him maintain his true self, preventing him from being too severely corrupted by the One Ring's power.
It was the Guardian Power that had just taken effect.
"Now it's yours. You can do whatever you want with it." Using his last shred of sanity, Bilbo handed the One Ring in his hand to the wizard.
Having possessed the One Ring for sixty years, how could Bilbo not know that the One Ring in his hand was strange?
But at this moment, with the blessing of Guardian Power, he finally used reason to overcome desire.
On Gandalf's side, after instinctively catching the One Ring, many undesirable thoughts suddenly appeared in his mind.
As soon as these bad thoughts appeared, they tempted him like demons.
Time seemed to pass in an instant and yet like ten thousand years. The wizard, relying on his strong will, finally threw the One Ring onto the ground.
At this moment, he was drenched in sweat, and his gaze towards the One Ring was filled with dread and a hint of fear.
It was only then that the wizard realized how much determination Bilbo had used to hand over the ring.
On the other side, Bilbo, who had handed over the One Ring, did not look at Gandalf's reaction at all, turning and walking out of the Shire.
From his hurried steps, it was clear that he was also very wary of the One Ring's power.
He was afraid that if he stayed for a moment longer, he would be unable to resist wanting to repossess that magical ring.
"This really gives me a difficult problem." By the time Gandalf calmed down and looked up, Bilbo's figure had already disappeared.
In other words, the hot potato that was the One Ring had completely fallen to the wizard.
After agonizing for a while, Gandalf finally took out an envelope, carefully put the One Ring inside, and then walked towards Bag End.
Trouble had already appeared, and the wizard naturally would not choose to stand by.
However, before that, Gandalf still needed to verify whether the One Ring in his hand was truly the One Ring.
Meanwhile, in the tree house at Bag End, Frodo explored the entire house after his uncle left.
"So our family is this rich!" Looking at the several boxes of gold filling the warehouse, Frodo couldn't help but exclaim.
As a collateral branch of the Baggins Family, Frodo's family was actually quite wealthy, after all, they were a family that could afford servants.
However, compared to the wealth in Bag End, Frodo's family was undoubtedly "poor."
"With all this money, I should be able to live a very happy life without doing anything..." The Hobbit's love for comfort made Frodo, who had suddenly become rich, think of lying flat.
Thus, when Gandalf entered, he saw Frodo foolishly examining Lonely Mountain gold coins and gems.
"Gandalf, you haven't left yet?" Seeing a familiar face, Frodo happily shared, "You'd never guess how much treasure my uncle has hidden in his house. There's no one richer than him in all of Hobbiton."
"Those are Lonely Mountain gold coins..." Gandalf looked at the gold coins in Frodo's hand with surprise, then shook his head and said, "You carry on, don't mind me."
The wizard, preoccupied with his thoughts, had no time to pay attention to anything else at the moment.
Going to the living room, he found a candle and lit it, then solemnly took out the envelope containing the One Ring from his Pregnant.
The One Ring, forged by Sauron, was smooth and unadorned on its surface, but when cast into fire or worn, the inside and outside of the ring would reveal text written in the Black Speech.
The wizard wanted to use fire to verify the authenticity of the One Ring in his hand.
He carefully used tweezers to take out the One Ring from the envelope, then gently heated it over the candle.
As the flame encircled the One Ring, a circle of text slowly appeared on the golden surface of the ring.
"How amazing! What does it say on the ring??" Just as the wizard was fully concentrated, a question suddenly came from his ear.
It turned out that after studying the Lonely Mountain gold coins for a while, Frodo found it boring, so he wanted to see what the mysterious wizard was doing.
His sudden interruption startled Gandalf, and with a shake of his hand, the One Ring dropped to the ground.
It rolled quite a distance...
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Frodo noticed the surprised expression on the wizard's face and realized he had made a mistake.
To make amends, he quickly bent down to pick up the rolling ring from the ground, then nervously handed it to the wizard as an atonement.
"You're actually fine..." Gandalf, who had already confirmed the ring was indeed the One Ring, dared not touch it with his bare hands.
And seeing Frodo, who was holding the One Ring with his bare hands with little reaction, the wizard's face showed a complex expression.
"What a magical ring, it's not hot at all." Just as the wizard was momentarily lost in thought, Frodo curiously examined the ring in his hand. "By the way, what exactly is written on this?"
"One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." Gandalf, having made a decision, explained the Black Speech text on the One Ring to Frodo.
It is known that the One Ring amplifies people's desires, and only those with pure and kind hearts can resist its bewitchment.
To destroy the One Ring, such an unbewitched person is needed to take it to Mount Doom and cast it into the lava.
Clearly, Frodo was the candidate who met these conditions.
"The One Ring, is that the name of this ring?" Frodo, still in the dark, asked again curiously.
"Yes, and no. There are twenty Rings of Power in total, and the one in your hand is the One Ring that controls all of them..." Gandalf, having decided that Frodo was the Ring-bearer, patiently explained the origin of the One Ring to him.
Essentially, a dark ambitious individual named Sauron forged twenty Rings of Power with magical abilities in the Second Age using Mount Doom. Nine of these were given to the nine human kings of the time.
Six were given to the six Dwarf clans, and the remaining three were given to the three Elf clans.
However, to everyone's surprise, Sauron secretly forged one last ring, the One Ring, which could control the power of all the other Rings of Power.
This most powerful One Ring was kept by Sauron himself, becoming his tool for invading Middle-earth.
"So, this ring is very dangerous then. You should quickly put it away..." Frodo, upon hearing the origin of the One Ring, his first reaction was to quickly "get rid of" it.
"Yes, the One Ring has the power to bewitch people. Anyone who possesses it, other than Sauron, will encounter misfortune." Gandalf picked up the envelope from the table, motioning for Frodo to put the One Ring inside. "And only the pure of heart can resist this temptation..."
"Frodo, can I trust you?"
The wizard held up the envelope, looking seriously at the Hobbit before him.
"W-well, I guess so. As long as I can do it!" Perhaps the adventurous bloodline of the Baggins Family played a role. Even though Frodo knew the One Ring was dangerous, he still responded to the wizard.
"Very good. For the peace of Middle-earth and to prevent Sauron, from returning, we need to send the One Ring to the place where it was forged to be destroyed..." Gandalf stared into Frodo's eyes, handed him the envelope, and continued, "And you're the best person to complete this task."
"Can I really do it?" The scene described by the wizard and the serious expression on his face all spoke of the gravity of the situation, making Frodo feel a little unconfident.
"You're not fighting alone; many people will help you later..." Realizing his tone was too grave, Gandalf smiled and comforted Frodo.
...
At the same time, a colorful butterfly flew over Long Lake Town and into the Lonely Mountain Great Hall.
Mike reached out to catch the butterfly and brought it to his ear...