Upon hearing Luke's words, everyone immediately fell silent.
Gandalf's expression was very serious.
"Luke, this is a very serious accusation!"
"Moreover, the accused is the most prestigious White Wizard in Middle-earth, and the leader of the White Council. Do you have evidence to prove Saruman's collusion with Sauron?"
Although Elrond and Galadriel did not speak, their expressions were also very serious.
They knew Luke would not make groundless accusations, but they were also unwilling to believe that Saruman would fall.
In their opinion, although Saruman was somewhat arrogant and stubborn, he had been the leader against the dark forces for thousands of years.
If he truly succumbed to darkness, it would be a huge blow to the side of justice.
Evidence? Luke naturally had it.
He raised his wand to his temple and slowly drew out a memory thread.
"Lady Galadriel, pardon the trouble!"
Galadriel nodded, understanding Luke's meaning, and led everyone to her private garden.
In a corner of the garden, water flowed from a fountain on a hillside, forming a small stream that flowed into a silver basin placed on a pedestal carved into the shape of tree branches.
The silver basin was wide and shallow, with a silver pitcher placed beside it.
This was the Mirror of Galadriel, which could reveal visions of the past, present, and future.
Galadriel picked up the silver pitcher, filled it with stream water, and then slowly poured it into the silver basin.
The surface of the water in the silver basin rippled, turning into an illusory water mirror, as if countless illusions were emerging within it.
Having done all this, Galadriel stepped aside and gestured for Luke to continue.
Luke came before the silver basin and shook the silver thread wrapped around the tip of his wand into the basin.
As soon as the silver thread fell into the basin, it quickly dispersed and merged with the water.
Illusory images immediately emerged from the water mirror.
Everyone couldn't help but gather around, their eyes fixed on the images within.
They saw images of Saruman communicating with the Dark Lord Sauron using a Palantír, Gandalf discovering Saruman's betrayal after arriving at Isengard but being trapped in the high tower by Saruman, and Saruman creating Orc variants that were not afraid of sunlight.
These images were very fragmented, but without exception, they all indicated the fact of Saruman's descent into darkness.
Seeing these images, everyone was very shocked and disbelieving.
Gandalf's expression was very serious and solemn, his gaze fixed on the content in the images, trying to gain more information from them.
Elrond also looked at the images, quickly reacted, and looked at Luke in surprise:
"These are scenes that haven't happened yet, are they future images you saw? Did you foresee them?"
The others also looked at Luke in surprise.
Luke nodded and then shook his head: "It's not really a prophecy, more like a premonition, after all, prophecies are unchangeable."
In fact, some of these images were indeed seen during previous prophecies.
But a larger portion were false memories created by Luke based on the known plot.
He was not someone who didn't hold grudges; Saruman's repeated denigration as a 'third-rate sorcerer' earlier gave him an opportune moment to expose his true colors.
Moreover, he was not afraid of Gandalf and the others' suspicion.
After all, these were all things Saruman would do in the future; he hadn't slandered him in the slightest.
Therefore, Luke was full of confidence and felt no guilt.
Galadriel, Elrond, and the others fell silent upon seeing this.
They finally accepted the fact that their former ally might have betrayed them.
"How should we deal with Saruman's fall?" Gandalf asked.
Elrond shook his head: "We don't have real, conclusive evidence for this matter right now, so we can't immediately confront Saruman. To prevent him from becoming vigilant and defensive, we can only investigate secretly and slowly gather evidence."
The truth was, Saruman's identity and power were extraordinary; he was not only the chief of the Wizards but also the leader of the White Council.
Any rash action could easily cause instability in the entire situation of Middle-earth.
"And the matter of the one ring also needs to be kept from him, to avoid more unforeseen circumstances," Elrond said.
Galadriel and Gandalf both nodded in agreement.
Now that they knew Saruman had ulterior motives, it was naturally impossible to let him know about the appearance of the one ring.
"Then who will temporarily keep the one ring?" Celeborn asked.
Since they couldn't destroy the one ring for now, they needed a safe storage plan to prevent any mishaps before the one ring could be taken to Mount Doom for destruction.
The question of who would keep the one ring again put everyone in a difficult position.
The one ring had the power to tempt and corrupt hearts, and no matter who was entrusted with its safekeeping, it was difficult to guarantee that they would not be influenced by its power.
Especially those with stronger power, the harder it was to resist the one ring's allure.
If powerful individuals like Gandalf or Galadriel were influenced or even corrupted and fell, it would truly be a disaster.
Therefore, for safety, the one ring could not be entrusted to powerful individuals.
Considering this, it seemed that the choice for guarding the one ring once again fell back to Bilbo.
"I believe that since fate allowed Bilbo to encounter the one ring, he can continue to keep it until a decision is made to destroy this ring," Celeborn suggested.
"Among all of us, only Bilbo is least affected by the one ring's influence, making him the safest choice for its safekeeping."
There was one more thing Celeborn didn't say, which was that Bilbo posed the least threat; even if he were influenced by the one ring, it wouldn't cause too much harm.
Gandalf shook his head in disagreement: "The one ring has little influence on hobbits, but that doesn't mean it has none. We cannot gamble with Bilbo's safety and bet that the one ring will not harm him."
Elrond also agreed with Gandalf.
Galadriel had not interjected into the discussion until everyone sought her opinion, at which point she turned her head to Luke: "Luke, what is your opinion?"
Hearing this, Gandalf and the others also looked at him.
Although Luke was somewhat surprised that Galadriel would ask him, he still said:
"I know of a candidate; in his hands, the one ring is no different from an ordinary ring, and with the one ring in his hands, there's no need to worry about anyone taking it, not even Sauron himself!"
Hearing Luke's words, everyone was very surprised. Was there such a person in Middle-earth?
"Who are you talking about?" Elrond asked in surprise.
Luke smiled and replied: "It's Tom Bombadil, who lives in the Old Forest."
Elrond was stunned upon hearing this, then suddenly realized.
He nodded: "If it's Bombadil, then he is indeed a good candidate."
Galadriel and Celeborn also recalled this person.
However, in Sindarin, Bombadil has another name: Iarwain Ben-adar, meaning "Oldest and Fatherless." Tom Bombadil is very ancient, having existed since the Elves awoke at Cuiviénen.
He even lived with the Elves for a period of time.
Therefore, some ancient Elves had heard of his name.
Tom's identity is mysterious, but his power is undeniable.
So Galadriel and Celeborn did not object to the proposal of entrusting the one ring to Tom Bombadil for safekeeping.
Only Gandalf was somewhat uneasy:
"Bombadil's nature is like the clouds in the sky; he simply doesn't understand the importance of this. If you give him this ring, he's very likely to quickly forget about it, or even throw it away.
Such matters don't exist in his mind. I think he's an unreliable guardian."
Hearing this, Elrond also hesitated.
"Actually, there's no need to worry too much. Although Tom is somewhat unreliable, his wife Goldberry is a meticulous lady. As long as the importance of the matter is explained to Lady Goldberry, there's no need to worry about Tom being careless and losing the one ring," Luke added.
Luke had lived with Tom and Goldberry for a period and knew that while Tom was a bit eccentric, Goldberry was very careful and gentle.
Tom and Goldberry had helped Luke, so it felt a bit unfair for Luke to trouble them with this matter.
But only by entrusting the one ring to Tom for safekeeping would there be no need to worry about the one ring corrupting people, and no need to worry about Sauron being able to take the one ring from Tom's hands.
Of course, all of this still required seeking Tom and Goldberry's opinions.
If they didn't want to take on this trouble, then they would just find another way.
So Luke told them his thoughts.
This time, Gandalf also did not object, as he would be very happy for someone to guard this dangerous item if its safety could be guaranteed.
Furthermore, if Bombadil could permanently keep the one ring from Sauron, there would be no need to risk going to Mount Doom to destroy the one ring.
After all, once the one ring was destroyed, the three Elven Rings would lose their power.
Gandalf didn't care whether the Ring of Fire was lost or not.
But without the protection of the power of the Elven Rings, Lórien and Rivendell would gradually decline.
Just as Luke's prophecy foretold: the Age of Elves would end, and the Age of Men would come.
Gandalf and the Elves all knew that day would come and were prepared for it, but they still hoped that day could arrive a little later.
Since the destination of the one ring had been decided, everyone no longer hesitated and decided that after leaving Lórien this time, they would take the one ring to visit Tom Bombadil.
And given that no one dared to touch the one ring, it was decided that Bilbo would temporarily continue to keep it.
Bilbo hadn't expected the one ring to return to his hands; although it was only for a period, he was still somewhat happy.
However, to prevent the one ring from continuing to corrupt Bilbo, Galadriel took out an exquisite small box inscribed with Elvish runes and locked the one ring inside.
This exquisite small box was made during Sauron's powerful period to prevent Sauron from discovering the three Elven Rings, and it had shielding capabilities.
As long as the one ring was placed inside, its influence on Bilbo would be minimized.
Seeing this, Luke also decided to contribute and spoke of the plan he had already thought of:
"I have a Fidelius Charm here that can hide the secret of the one ring deep within the soul. As long as the Secret-Keeper doesn't speak, no one can reveal information about the ring, not even with Legilimency.
Most importantly, even if outsiders know about the one ring, even if it is placed right in front of them, they simply cannot see or touch it."
"This way, the safety of the one ring can be guaranteed to the greatest extent, preventing anyone other than us from knowing about the one ring."
Upon hearing the effects of the Fidelius Charm, everyone's eyes immediately lit up.