The Secret of the Dead's Resurrection (Part Two)

That evening, news sent shockwaves through the Fallen Moon lands.

The main members of the group that had besieged the rare giant fish came from a guild called the Ninth Divine Realm, a circle of roughly a dozen friends and relatives.

Short of people, they had recruited another seven or eight independent adventurers and agreed on how to divide the loot.

Everything had gone smoothly at first, but just as the rare giant fish was about to die, their Underwater Breathing buffs ran out. To their surprise, the Ninth Divine Realm's Warlock jacked up the price on the spot, demanding a thousand gold for another cast.

Naturally, the independent adventurers refused, but they were already deep underwater and had no time to swim to the surface.

Several adventurers had no choice but to pay, then abandoned their share of the loot and left quickly. A few others didn't have enough money and drowned on the lakebed. The rare fish naturally became the Ninth Divine Realm's loot.

Adventurers in the Fallen Moon lands harshly condemned the Ninth Divine Realm's actions, but its members refused to take any of it to heart. They first argued that they had broken no rules: casting Underwater Breathing was not an obligation, and refusing to do so did not violate adventurers' regulations. At most, they had acted unethically.

After coming under a barrage of criticism, the Ninth Divine Realm even proclaimed in public, "How many people organizing raids these days don't skim gold and equipment? If you got cheated, you were stupid. You can't blame anyone else. If you're so capable, go cheat someone yourself!"

The swindlers acted as though they were in the right and gloated, while the people they had cheated were treated as fools and mocked. The conduct of adventurers left much to be desired.

The Ninth Divine Realm's members had ruined their reputations, but they had at least gained the loot. Then again, adventuring was a profession that operated on the fringes of the law, and adventurers would do anything for money. Most guilds had a shady history.

The one who suffered most was the Gnome Warrior who had called for people to join the group, a fellow named Silent Kinndy. He was not a member of the Ninth Divine Realm and had also paid a thousand gold, yet the other adventurers held him in such contempt that he didn't dare leave the garrison.

The authorities never gave an explanation, but the incident caused an extremely negative reaction in Lunarfall Camp. Adventurers looked at one another differently, and there was no trust left between them.

A few days later, the Ninth Divine Realm got its comeuppance.

The Ninth Divine Realm had learned the whereabouts of the Pale Orc leader, Norn Bloodseeker, but word had leaked out beforehand, and they had found themselves besieged by hundreds of Pale Orcs. Only the Gnome Warlock who had jacked up the price of Underwater Breathing escaped through a teleportation array.

The Gnome Warlock fled back to the Fallen Moon lands in a sorry state and accused Silent Kinndy, the Gnome Warrior who had given them the information, of colluding with the Pale Orcs and selling out the adventurers.

This was far more serious than jacking up the price of Underwater Breathing. It had crossed the line for adventurers.

"Silent Kinndy was framed," Sori Beast Tamer said quietly to Robbie in the tavern. "Ever since that incident, Kinndy has been drinking himself into a stupor here and hasn't set foot outside. He couldn't possibly have been in contact with Norn Bloodseeker."

Robbie also thought Kinndy had been framed. If a Warrior came over claiming to know where some boss was, most people wouldn't believe him, and even if they did, they would check first. Stealth classes were the best at gathering information.

"Poor guy," Robbie said sympathetically.

"Silent Kinndy is my friend," Sori Beast Tamer said. "He saved my life back in Scholomance. I want to help him."

"How?" Robbie shrugged. "Unless you capture Norn Bloodseeker and question him for the truth, are you planning to organize a team to attack the Pale Orcs' lair? That would be very difficult under the circumstances."

"No, no!" Sori Beast Tamer said quietly. "We only need to kill Norn Bloodseeker, then have Kinndy turn in his head. That will clear his name. Norn Bloodseeker himself is very weak. All it would take is a powerful member of a Stealth class to assassinate him easily."

Where could they find a powerful stealth specialist? Robbie glanced at the elf Deyuli. Druids were a Stealth class too.

Yuli said regretfully, "I've been there. I'm not quite strong enough."

"All right, I understand. I'll speak to the commander, but..."

Yuli and Sori Beast Tamer exchanged glances, and Yuli said resolutely, "Once it's done, we promise to tell you the truth."

Robbie didn't think Vanessa would agree. It was too dangerous.

"I'll go!" Vanessa said casually after hearing him out.

"No, Commander, I think we should give this more thought."

Vanessa smiled faintly. "Could a Pale Orcs camp be more dangerous than Ravenholdt Manor?"

It sounded like he had just heard something extraordinary.

"Besides, I came to Northrend in disguise to investigate a secret. Yuli might be an important lead."

Commander Vanessa led Robbie and Delvar Ironfist to the vicinity of the secret Pale Orcs camp, guided by Yuli and Sori Beast Tamer. Yuli described the route to take in Stealth in detail, while Vanessa listened absentmindedly.

"I need to change clothes."

Robbie stood guard at the front of the tent, while Delvar guarded the back.

There was a gap in the tent flap. Robbie went over to close it properly and inadvertently glanced inside.

A pair of snow-white...

Damn, she'd kill him.

Five minutes later, Vanessa grabbed Robbie by the back of his collar and yanked him into the tent.

"Why haven't you changed yet?" Vanessa was still dressed as a Priest, with a face mask covering her face.

Vanessa said nothing and pointed at the Pale Orc head on the ground.

"You... you've already finished the mission!"

It was astonishing.

"It was nothing!" Vanessa looked unconcerned. "I used Stealth and Sprint, cast a speed-boosting shield, entered the camp, used mind control to find out who was behind it, then garroted him, cut off his head, and stealthed back. I even had time to put on a face mask. Five minutes was more than enough."

The commander was so powerful. She truly deserved her status as a legendary Rogue leader.

Well, actually, it was nothing much when he thought about it.

Whether it was a Rogue who could cast a speed-boosting shield or a Priest who could turn invisible, either was a terrifying class.

Mastery of a single class could make someone an elite adventurer.

Only by cultivating multiple classes could someone become a boss with abundant assets and numerous subordinates, ruling over a territory.

"I have a task for you now," Vanessa said seriously. "I'll stay here with my face mask on and stall for time. Go back to Lunarfall Camp immediately and find the messenger who colluded with the Pale Orcs. Capture him and wait at the camp for word from me."

"Is that person important?" Robbie asked.

"Very important, and you've definitely heard of him."

"What's his name?"

"Stalvan Mistmantle!"

Robby had grown up in Lakeshire and heard the legend of Stalvan of Darkshire from a very young age.

It was the story of a perverted older man with a thing for little girls. Stalvan had been hired as a tutor by a noble family and fallen for their daughter, Tiroya. Before he could confess, she had let him down gently, and he had gone mad and murdered the entire family, causing a tragedy.

Hadn't the guy turned Undead and then been killed by adventurers? How had he ended up in Draenor too?

Adventurers who came to Draenor fell into three categories.

The first were winners in life: people with power, influence, gold, girls, and garrisons of their own, who became commanders.

Next came followers, who helped commanders with missions and had a reliable livelihood. Sori Beast Tamer belonged to this category.

Then there were the major guilds and independent adventurers. The wealthy among them stayed at garrison inns, while those short on money pitched tents near a garrison or on the edge of Lunarfall Camp. Some simply lived in caves. Quite a few adventurers lived in Shockfist's cave.

Stalvan belonged to the third category. His tent stood beneath a cliff, only a few hundred meters from the nearest garrison.

Before he even entered the tent, Robbie sensed an aura of death.

It was an intuition unique to Paladins. When it was especially keen, they could hear the desolate sigh of a soul leaving its body.

Robbie crept into the tent and saw a young man lying facedown on the ground, no longer breathing. It was probably Stalvan.

The body was still warm. The killer couldn't have gone far.

Suddenly, Robbie sensed a terrifying murderous aura, along with... a strong, pungent body odor.

A Rogue! The thought had barely occurred to him when he was stunned.

Cheap Shot, Garrote...

Something was wrong.

After coming to this world, Robbie had learned that it wasn't a game. A Rogue wielding daggers was at a serious disadvantage against a knight clad in a full set of fine-quality plate armor, like a tin can. Of course, if the Rogue wanted to run, the knight couldn't catch up either.

But this Rogue's attacks carried powerful shadow damage, easily piercing the thick plate armor. His fine-quality set couldn't withstand them.

Waves of dizziness washed over him.

Robbie hurriedly activated Divine Shield and threw out a Fist of Justice.

The attacker was a female Orc with green skin and her hair tied in two ponytails.

Fist of Justice lasted less than half a second.

Damn, is this the Orcs' stun resistance? That's way too overpowered.

Robbie realized he was no match for the female Orc Rogue. Besides, this was Lunarfall, and the nearest garrison was only a few hundred meters away. It wasn't worth risking his life against her.

For a Paladin, this was called a righteous retreat.

Robbie took long strides toward the nearest garrison.

He had run a few dozen meters when the female Orc Rogue caught up and stabbed fiercely with a dagger.

Divine Shield blocked the attack once more.

"Oh? A Discipline Paladin."

Only a Discipline Paladin's skills had no cooldown.

The female Orc Rogue looked somewhat surprised and uncertain. Immediately afterward, the dagger in her left hand stabbed toward him.

Ambush, and it pierced straight through Divine Shield.

Heavens, since when could Rogues ignore a Paladin's Divine Shield?

A wave of intense pain struck. Robbie clutched his chest and dropped to one knee.

Blood dripped onto the ground, staining it crimson.

The gap in their strength was far too great. He couldn't fight back at all.

I thought things would change when I came to this world. Why am I still so powerless?

Painful memories of Earth resurfaced. Robbie refused to accept it, and a fierce yearning for power welled up inside him.

A dagger glinting coldly pressed against Robbie's neck...

Am I going to die?!

Just then, Vanessa's voice suddenly rang out:

"Garona, if you kill my follower, you're dead."