Gandalf, Galadriel, and Celeborn had intended to send the one ring to Mount Doom for destruction.
However, Mordor was now surrounded by Sauron, making it difficult to penetrate from either the sky or the ground.
Furthermore, they were concerned about a potential connection between the one ring and Sauron, fearing that he might sense it if they got too close.
"I think we need to contact Elrond. He understands the one ring better than we do and might offer a different perspective," Gandalf said.
Then he looked at Luke: "Luke, would you mind connecting the Floo Network here?"
Luke nodded.
"Lord Celeborn, Lady Galadriel, may I borrow your fireplace?"
Galadriel smiled and nodded.
"Elrond has praised your magic to me before. Let us witness its wonder."
"This way, when Arwen wishes to visit Rivendell in the future, she won't have to cross the Misty Mountains."
As she spoke, a flicker of sadness passed through Galadriel's eyes.
Her daughter, Celebrían, had been captured and tortured by Orcs on her way to Lórien to see them, ultimately having to journey across the sea to Valinor for healing.
This became an eternal sorrow for Galadriel and Celeborn.
For this reason, Elrond had specifically entrusted Arwen to their care and upbringing, to ease their grief over their daughter's absence.
Having obtained the consent of Galadriel and Celeborn, Luke continuously cast spells on the fireplace, connecting it to the fireplace in Rivendell.
Then, he sprinkled a handful of Floo Powder and plunged into the green flames, disappearing from sight.
Aside from Gandalf and Bilbo, who were accustomed to it, everyone else looked surprised.
Arwen's eyes sparkled as she watched Luke vanish into the fireplace.
Due to her mother Celebrían's past ordeal, her grandparents and father were uneasy about her traveling thousands of miles and crossing the dangerous Misty Mountains to Rivendell, so she had lived in Lórien since childhood.
Basically, her father Elrond and her two elder brothers, Elrohir and Elladan, would come to Lórien to see her.
Now, with this miraculous teleportation magic, it would be very simple for her to visit Rivendell whenever she wished; she could even travel frequently between the two places, accompanying both her grandparents and her father.
At the same time, she also grew curious about this young Wizard, Luke.
She knew that her grandmother Galadriel had once entrusted this Wizard to craft a magic wand for her, and it was said that this wand was also created by this young Wizard, possessing the ability to allow magical races to cast magic with ease.
Such groundbreaking innovation earned the praise and admiration of even her grandmother Galadriel, who held the most esteemed position among Elves in Middle-earth.
For this, she had also gifted the Elessar emerald, which she had treasured for many years.
Now, there was even this magic that could transport people thousands of miles.
Luke was very different from the other Middle-earth Wizards in her impression, and his magic was even more extraordinary.
She was now even more eager for her own magic wand.
She wondered what kind of magic wand Luke would make for her.
Not long after, green flames lit up in the fireplace again.
Elrond emerged from the fireplace first.
Luke followed close behind.
"Father!" Arwen's eyes lit up, and she gracefully hurried forward.
"Arwen." Elrond lovingly reached out and stroked his daughter's hair, then bowed to Celeborn and Galadriel in greeting.
"Lord Celeborn."
"Lady Galadriel."
As fellow lords, Elrond's status was comparable to Celeborn's.
However, the two in front of him were his in-laws, and Elrond showed respectful deference.
With Elrond's arrival, everyone's attention once again turned to the one ring.
Elrond looked at the ring before him, his expression very complex.
"During the War of the Last Alliance, I was the herald of High King Gil-galad. Sauron, wielding the one ring, was invincible.
Even Gil-galad and Elendil together were no match for Sauron.
That battle was extremely brutal; Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor, and Elendil, the King of Gondor and Arnor, both fell in battle.
The Sword Narsil was shattered by Sauron's foot.
Just as we faced despair, it was Isildur, son of Elendil, who seized the opportunity to use the shards of Narsil to cut off Sauron's finger, which bore the one ring, causing him to lose his power and his physical form to dissipate. The Last Alliance ultimately achieved a costly victory."
"I tried to persuade Isildur to throw the one ring into Mount Doom, to utterly destroy it and eliminate any chance of Sauron's resurgence."
Elrond sighed.
"But Isildur was corrupted by the ring's power and refused my advice. Afterwards, he was ambushed and killed by Orcs near the Gladden Fields, and the ring he carried with him went missing."
"I had hoped the ring, having fallen into the river, would be carried by the Anduin River into the sea. I never expected it to reappear today!"
Elrond then expressed surprise that Bilbo had possessed the one ring for so long without being corrupted.
"Perhaps this is the wonder of fate; fate created the wondrous race of hobbits, small yet inherently simple,
loving life, without too many desires or ambitions, so much so that the power of the one ring has little effect on them.
And now fate has caused a Hobbit to find the one ring once more."
Elrond looked at Bilbo, a smile on his face, his eyes filled with hope.
"I believe fate has given us a sign; the one ring reappearing in the world, and being brought before us, already seals Sauron's doom."
Subsequently, Elrond and Gandalf and the others once again discussed methods for destroying the one ring.
Elrond agreed with the suggestion of casting the one ring into Mount Doom.
"However, now is not the opportune moment," Elrond stated.
"After the last battle of Dol Guldur, I sent word to the Regent of the Kingdom of Gondor in the South, warning him. Gondor quickly dispatched people to scout deep into Mordor, but the results were not satisfactory."
"Sauron is now extremely cautious. The entire region of Mordor is monitored by giant bats, and on the ground there are Orcs, Trolls, corrupted Men, corrupted beasts, and even descendants of the Giant Spiders, Ungoliant. It can be said that it is guarded layer by layer, with formidable defenses."
"To penetrate deep into Mordor and reach Mount Doom is almost as difficult as ascending to heaven."
"Then do you have any strategy, Lord Elrond?" Gandalf asked.
"Given the current situation, Sauron will not appear voluntarily; he will even hide in his Mordor lair to regain strength, unless an allied army attacks Mordor, forcing him to show himself, thereby creating an opportunity to secretly enter Mount Doom and destroy the one ring."
Upon saying this, Elrond shook his head. "But now the northern Kingdom of Arnor has fallen, and the southern Kingdom of Gondor has long been without a king, only a regent; while the Kingdom of Rohan is fragmented.
Unless there is a king of sufficient prestige who can gather all Men, and unite with the Elven forces, to once again form an alliance of Men and Elves, only then might it be possible to breach Mordor and force Sauron to appear."
But such a figure had only appeared once, and that was Elendil, King of Gondor and Arnor.
Thinking this, Elrond thought of Aragorn, who now lived in Rivendell.
Aragorn was a direct descendant of Isildur, son of Elendil, and the heir to the royal house of Arnor in the North. The royal house of Gondor in the South no longer existed.
Aragorn was the most suitable heir to the Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor.
Once Aragorn became King of Gondor and Arnor, the Kingdom of Rohan would also have to pledge allegiance to the King of Gondor, according to their oath.
This would allow the forces of the Human Kingdoms to be integrated, forming a strong resistance against Mordor.
However, Aragorn was only ten years old at the moment and could not bear such a responsibility.
"Secondly, after Sauron regains a certain amount of strength, he will inevitably expand outwards. At that time, we can intercept the dark forces,
thereby attracting Sauron's attention, and then have a small team quietly carry the one ring into Mount Doom to complete the mission of destroying it."
After hearing this, Gandalf and the others nodded, agreeing with Elrond's suggestion.
"But the problem is, who will take the one ring to Mount Doom? The one ring has the power to corrupt hearts, and we dare not touch it. Who then can undertake such a long journey with the ring and ensure they will not be influenced by it?"
Hearing Gandalf's words, everyone's gaze involuntarily fell upon Bilbo.
Bilbo, seeing their gazes, quickly waved his hands frantically.
"No, not me!"
He had just experienced the perilous journey of the Lonely Mountain expedition, and his heart could not endure another, even more dangerous mission.
Seeing his strong resistance, everyone withdrew their gazes.
The matter of escorting the ring to Mount Doom was not urgent for now, and there was no need to decide immediately who would go.
Since the one ring could not be destroyed at present, everyone began discussing how to handle it, and who should be entrusted with its safekeeping.
"The matter of the one ring concerns the safety of Middle-earth. Should we inform Saruman?" Elrond said.
After all, as the leader of the White Council, not calling him during the last battle of Dol Guldur had already greatly angered Saruman, creating a rift between them.
If he were not informed about the one ring this time, Saruman might become completely disaffected, which would not be conducive to the unity of the White Council.
Hearing Elrond's words, Gandalf was silent for a moment, then nodded: "The matter of Dol Guldur was urgent last time, and there wasn't time to inform him. But this time, the matter of the one ring must indeed be explained to him, otherwise, I fear we will lose an ally."
The others also expressed agreement.
"If you don't want Sauron to know about the one ring, I'm afraid I don't advise you to tell Saruman about it," Luke suddenly interjected.
Everyone was drawn to his words, their expressions varied.
"Luke, what do you mean?" Gandalf frowned and looked at him in surprise, "Why would Sauron know if we tell Saruman?"
Elrond, Galadriel, and the others also looked at him with confusion.
Facing everyone's gaze, Luke's expression was calm.
"You all should know that I possess a Palantír, and these stones can communicate with each other. During the Battle of Five Armies, Sauron tried to influence me through the stone, but I repelled him with Eärendil's Light, gifted by Lady Galadriel."
"But what you don't know is that Saruman also possesses a Palantír, and he is likely currently conversing heatedly with Sauron using that stone. If you tell him about the one ring, Sauron will likely know the very next second!"