"Don't be stupid, garrison resources!"
Vanessa said fiercely, "Commanders get a fixed amount of garrison resources every day. A single unit goes for about ten gold on the market right now. That's over a thousand gold a day without lifting a finger. What could make more money than that?"
"Holy crap, there's a lot going on here. Commander, did you buy your garrison resources too?"
Shockfist's corpse had sold for a considerable amount of gold, and Vanessa herself was a wealthy woman who didn't lack money. The Defias Brotherhood had plenty of assets.
"You underestimate me. How could I encourage such a wicked practice?" Vanessa smiled smugly. "I just secretly reported a few fools who didn't know better, and SI:7 confiscated their garrison resources to make an example of them. SI:7 also took a liking to my land and wanted to build a warehouse here. What's wrong with me using some confiscated garrison resources?"
"Nothing!" Robbie hastily waved his hands, deciding never to ask about it again.
The methods of the privileged really were beyond ordinary people's understanding.
Because the garrison was far larger than permitted, it would take a month to complete, even with the help of magic and a gnome engineering crew.
So Robbie and the others could only go and complete their quests first.
At present, the greatest threat to Lunarfall came from the pale Orcs at the harbor. Many of the expedition's ships had been sunk, and a large amount of garrison resources had been lost. It was estimated that completely clearing the harbor of the pale Orc threat would take at least half a month.
There was also a hefty bounty for killing the leader of the Pale Orcs, Norn Bloodseeker.
Vanessa left Hogger to guard the camp (mainly because he had too many enemies) and led Robbie and Delvar Ironfist to the harbor.
The Pale Orcs weren't very intelligent and weren't good at fighting as a group. The fighting at the harbor mostly involved searching and clearing them out, so it wasn't very dangerous for adventurers like Robbie and the others.
Over the past few days, Robby's study of runes had deepened his understanding of the Holy Light. He had become more adept at casting and had mastered three skills: Crusader Strike, Divine Shield, and Hammer of Justice.
Under the circumstances, clearing the harbor was an unchallenging, rather leisurely battle.
"Damn it, I was one of the first champions to storm Orgrimmar." A human Warrior cut down a pale Orc, spat, and cursed, "And now I'm risking my life for someone else. I can't stomach it."
"All right, give it a rest. Back during the Dragon Soul, I even fought Deathwing himself."
The gnome mage beside him calmly fired a Frostbolt and pointed ahead. "See that elf hunter with the raven over there? Yeah, the most colorful one. He took part in the first attempts to clear Molten Core. He's the most senior adventurer here, and he still became a follower just like you and me. Have you heard him complain?"
The elf hunter was the one who had bought Grandma Raven at auction. His name was Sori Beast Tamer. He looked composed, his skills were practiced, and his movements were precise. He was unhurried and unmistakably a veteran adventurer.
Sori Beast Tamer's teammate was a white-haired female elf Druid. Their coordination was seamless, and they understood each other so well that it was a wonder to behold.
Suddenly, a gnome Warrior shouted:
"Someone found a rare giant fish near the wreck! A Warlock is offering underwater breathing, and a raid group is already forming! Everyone, come on over! We'll get started once we have enough people!"
"A rare elite?" Vanessa's eyes immediately lit up. "Let's go too."
"Wait." Robbie hurriedly stopped the commander and stared at the hunter with the raven. "Let's see what happens first."
"Huh?" Vanessa looked puzzled. "Is something wrong?"
Robbie explained in a low voice, "Back when I was swindling and cheating my way around Azeroth... oh, no, adventuring, a senior adventurer told me in private that if I wanted to live longer as an adventurer, I only needed to watch adventurers from the long-lived races, like elves and dwarves. Whatever they did, I should follow suit. If they didn't move, I had better stay put too. They've been adventuring for thousands of years and have an incredible amount of experience."
Apparently having finished his quota of quests for the day, the elf hunter called back his raven, carefully cleaned and groomed its feathers, and gave it some food. Then he and the white-haired female elf Druid mounted up and returned to the garrison to turn in their quests.
"There really is something strange about this. We'd better stay away too." Robbie turned to look at Vanessa and saw that she was staring blankly into space.
"Commander, what's wrong? Don't tell me you've been captivated by my dashing bearing."
"To hell with your dashing bearing." Vanessa gave Robbie a light kick. "I know that female elf Druid. Her name is Yuli. She was in the vanguard of the assault on the Dark Portal. I saw her corpse with my own eyes."
"Are you sure you didn't mistake her for someone else?" Robbie was startled.
"I'm absolutely sure." Vanessa's eyes shifted, and she ordered, "Follow them."
Vanessa's mount was a black military warhorse. Robbie's horse was rented; once the garrison was finished, he could pick any Talbuk tamed at the stables. Delvar Ironfist had a mount exclusive to Acherus: The Ebon Hold.
"We have to get around in front of them." Vanessa looked at Robbie again!
"We're all going the same speed... all right, I get it. Behold the Paladin's speedster aura."
"You can do that too? Wasn't it lost a long time ago?" Vanessa was somewhat surprised.
"I think some good traditions ought to be preserved."
The three soon caught up with the two elves and rode in front of them, blocking their path.
Vanessa shouted sternly, "Stop! This is a robbery! Hand over your equipment and gold!"
"No, no, Commander, that's the wrong line." Robbie hurriedly stopped her, then waved at the two elves. "Also, you don't have to be so cooperative."
Sori Beast Tamer had already taken out his purse. He didn't look surprised at all.
"Sorry, old habits." Vanessa patted her forehead and regained her dignified expression. "The first time makes you strangers, the second makes you friends, right? Sori Beast Tamer, not bad. You know what to do."
Robbie found it a little strange. "What, Commander, you know them?"
"They came to the Deadmines together." Vanessa pointed at the two of them.
"What?"
"That white-haired Druid, your name's Yuli, right? I remember you. Tell me, where did you get your facial markings done, where did you dye your hair, and where do you get your skin treatments? You still remember my methods, don't you? Come clean, and I'll spare you a beating..."
"Commander, you got your lines wrong again."
"Did I?" Vanessa said as if it had just dawned on her. "There's one other little question. Didn't you die at the Dark Portal?"
Sori Beast Tamer's expression changed. He stepped forward and stood in front of Deyuli:
"We can hand over our money and our equipment, but that's the one thing we won't tell you, even if you beat us to death."
"Is that so? It seems the memories I left you with back then weren't painful enough." Vanessa sneered. Black flames flickered faintly in her eyes. How frightening.
Yuli was at a loss and seemed inclined to fight. Sori Beast Tamer went pale with fright, but his expression was fiercely stubborn. He looked ready to face death with righteous resolve, seemingly unconcerned about whether he lived or died.
"Commander, let me handle this!" Seeing the situation worsening, Robbie hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
There was an art to asking questions. Often, there was no need to ask directly; a roundabout approach would do.
"Actually, I just wanted to ask why you two didn't join the group going after the rare giant fish."
Sori Beast Tamer glanced at Robbie and said with great maturity, "Young human, there's something you don't know. Most Alliance adventurers who come to Draenor these days are people and guilds that ninja loot, swindle others out of gold and equipment, or sell leveling and carry services. They're notorious. Most adventurers with real ability who care about their reputations are still in Azeroth. At a time like this, it's best to be careful when joining a group."
Robbie asked mildly, "In that case, with your reputations and experience, why did you two come to Draenor?"
Sori Beast Tamer glanced at Deyuli and said affectionately, "Because only here can we be together."
Vanessa wanted to ask something else, but Robbie discreetly signaled to her and shook his head, letting the two elves leave.
"Why did you stop me?" Vanessa complained with a pout.
Robbie hurriedly explained, "They've said everything they were going to say. I doubt we'd get anything more by asking. Even Hogger couldn't do it. Elves are tough to crack. By the way, you said they'd been to the Deadmines. What happened back then?"
Speaking of the past, Vanessa became rather pleased with herself. "It's a long story. At the time, I planned to return to Stormwind City and train as a Priest. For a little girl like me, being the leader of the Defias Brotherhood and going around fighting and killing was hardly appropriate..."
So you do know you're a little girl! Robbie mocked inwardly.
"The best way to retire after achieving success was to make the outside world think I was dead. Then nobody would bother me. So I went to the People's Militia and ordered them to issue the quest for the new Deadmines..."
He had just heard something very troubling. Why could the leader of the Defias give orders to the People's Militia?
Recalling her clever scheme from back then, Vanessa grew more and more excited. "Sori Beast Tamer and Elf Deyuli were among the parties that came to the Deadmines. As soon as they entered the dungeon, I knocked them out, and then they entered a nightmare..."
"Wait, did you say a nightmare?"
"It was nothing special!" Vanessa tilted her head. "I used some drugs and dark magic to make them hallucinate. They thought they'd successfully slaughtered their way through the Deadmines, collected their loot, and happily gone back to turn in the quest. Unfortunately, Elf Deyuli was clever and soon realized she was in a dream. I had no choice but to rob them of everything, draw turtles on their faces, and let them go. Adventurers care a lot about saving face, so they didn't tell anyone they'd failed. That's why nobody knew."
Druids were connected to the Emerald Dream and could easily distinguish illusion from reality.
"I see." Robbie nodded. "Judging by how those two reacted, we can be fairly certain that Elf Deyuli never went to your Deadmines, so she isn't the one who died at the Dark Portal either. Could they be twins..."
"You're thinking too simply." Vanessa sneered. "All right, that's enough analysis..."