The surprises were not over yet.
"A Tauren escorted me to meet up with Khadgar and the others. On the way, we ran into a group of Iron Horde Orcs. I charged in and took a few down with my hooves. Then I looked back, and guess what?"
Yrel took a sip of water and said with regret, "The Tauren escorting me was dead. There was a deep axe wound in his neck, and blood had spilled all over the ground."
"Dead!"
The fiftieth member of the raid on the Dark Portal had actually died.
Neither Vanessa nor Robbie had expected that outcome. The fiftieth member of the raid on the Dark Portal was a player in World of Warcraft, after all. How could a player die so easily?
Yrel tilted her head and continued, "I was pretty stunned when I saw the Tauren was dead. I didn't expect him to be so weak. I didn't know the way and had no idea what to do when a female Orc wearing a Glorious set came running over. She was out of breath and said Khadgar had sent her to meet me."
Vanessa thought for a long moment, then turned to Robbie. "Kiana? Was there a female Orc in a Glorious set on the full list of Dark Portal raiders Moonshadow provided?"
"No, definitely not," Robbie said with certainty.
A female Orc in a Glorious set was an immortal classic among World of Warcraft transmogs. It blinded everyone in the front row, shattered all their preconceptions, and utterly outclassed every other transmog. Wherever it went, no grass grew and neither man nor beast survived. It was an outrageously shocking combination capable of inflicting severe mental contamination on teammates and opponents alike.
"Could she have been someone from the Iron Horde in disguise?" Vanessa asked skeptically.
"I think that no matter how inhuman the Iron Horde is, they wouldn't develop a weapon of mass destruction that couldn't tell friend from foe," Robbie offered as a more plausible analysis.
Yrel shrank back and said with lingering fear, "It certainly was destructive. It scared me half to death, anyway. The female Orc told me that she and the Tauren were originally one and the same. I didn't understand what she meant."
Originally one and the same? Robbie was confused. Vanessa nodded, seeming to understand something.
"What happened next?" Robbie asked.
"The female Orc looked so shocking that every Iron Horde Orc we ran into started vomiting uncontrollably. Some had their limbs twitching and foamed at the mouth. Some even went so far as to gouge out their own eyes. The journey went especially smoothly, but then we came across a mirror halfway there. The female Orc took one look at her reflection and was shocked to death by her own appearance."
"You can do that?" Robbie was thoroughly impressed.
"Then a male Dwarf wearing overalls and a bellyband showed up. He also said Khadgar had sent him to meet me, and that he was originally one and the same as the Tauren and the female Orc."
Yrel smiled bitterly and said helplessly:
"No one would believe this if I told them, but after that I ran into Night Elves, Gnomes, Goblins... every race in the Alliance and the Horde was represented. Aside from the female Orc in the Glorious set, all of them were incredibly weak. They died as soon as they ran into the Iron Horde. I practically dragged a trail of corpses all the way to Khadgar."
Vanessa listened intently, her beautiful eyes blinking and a smile on her lips. Clearly, she already had an answer in mind.
Yrel continued, "Once we met Khadgar, that person was shrouded in a dark illusion, so I couldn't see their true appearance. They received special attention all the way until we boarded a ship and came to Shadowmoon Valley."
"When we arrived in Shadowmoon Valley, that person looked like a human man. Khadgar introduced him to the Prophet, saying he was the only hope of saving the Draenei and defeating the Iron Horde. The Prophet had foreseen that the fate of the Draenei was shrouded in mist, and that this person might be the key to turning things around, so the Prophet believed him. The Prophet personally chose the site for the garrison, Maraad helped plant the flag, and he also helped kill the Lunarfall Ravens. Finally, I stepped in and asked the man to kill Shockfist, the stone giant threatening Lunarfall Camp."
"That was a test, right?" Robbie interjected.
Considering how powerful the stone giant Shockfist was, an elite team had to be assembled.
That required immense popularity and influence, as well as exceptional team coordination, all essential qualities for a campaign against the Iron Horde.
Yrel nodded. "He boasted that he'd already earned the title of the Exalted back when he fought Illidan in Outland. I didn't really know what that meant, but it sounded impressive. Yet when we asked him to organize commanders and adventurers to take on Shockfist, he kept making excuses and saying there was no hurry. Instead, he built the garrison first."
"What happened after that?" Vanessa asked.
"One day, he suddenly came running over and said he'd killed Shockfist. Maraad and I went to look, and sure enough, Shockfist was dead. But Maraad thought something was fishy. Although someone had taken the corpse apart and only scraps remained, Maraad still concluded that Shockfist had killed himself rather than endure humiliation, and that the man had lied. He'd failed the test, so we had to try another way. We asked him to kill the Pale Orcs' leader, Norn Bloodseeker."
At that point, Yrel sighed and said with some disappointment:
"He got angry and said we weren't sincere and were deliberately making things difficult for him. Then he simply disappeared. Afterward, I heard someone had brought Norn Bloodseeker's head in for a reward. I thought he'd done it, so I followed the Prophet's orders and planned to take him around Shadowmoon Valley, introduce him to the Prophet and my sister Samara, and arrange the next step. But I couldn't find him anywhere, and the garrison had even changed hands."
"Who took over the garrison?" Robbie asked with interest.
"A human Warlock named Luobo'an," Yrel replied.
Luobo'an? What a coincidence.
Vanessa noticed Robbie's unusual expression and asked, "You know him?"
"He's a childhood friend from Lakeshire."
Having finally gotten everything off her chest, Yrel relaxed her brow and said to Vanessa:
"Luckily, you can tell when someone's lying, so you can believe me. Otherwise, I wouldn't even know who to tell. I've been living off others in Lunarfall mainly to gather information."
"Partly, I hoped to find him. After all, the Prophet gave me that task. But I also had another idea: if I really couldn't find him, I'd just find a powerful, more reliable commander to impersonate him. I met him more often than anyone else, so I'm familiar with his expressions and mannerisms. He kept changing his race, gender, and class, so I doubt even the Prophet can be sure what he's like."
Yrel, you've got nerve. You even dare to deceive the Prophet.
Vanessa pondered briefly, then pointed at Robbie. "What do you think of having him impersonate that person?"
Yrel paused. "They're very similar in how sleazy they are. He could pass for the real thing."
What kind of thing is that to say? Robbie was a little displeased.
"But it still won't work," Yrel said worriedly:
"I discreetly asked around about that person's history. He's known as a veteran adventurer, has collected a huge number of toys, pets, and mounts, and has a very high achievement score. Besides, Robbie isn't a commander."
"As for achievements, those can be faked. For the toys and mounts, we can say he sold them because he needed money. And proof that he's a commander can be provided anytime. Passing a fake off as the real thing is what our Brotherhood does best."
Treating it all as a minor matter, Vanessa quickly made arrangements. "Tomorrow, Robbie and I will take you back to Embaari Village to meet the Prophet and your sister Samara."
With the matter settled, Yrel went back to enjoy her chief's suite.
"Who is that person?" Only Robbie and Vanessa remained in the archaeology hall.
Vanessa answered calmly, "Test subject No. 335."
"Test subject No. 335? What's that?"
Robbie remembered that when he had passed through the Dark Portal, the three mysterious balls of light had said that Med'an, the son of the Astral Mage, was test subject No. 709.
"The Bronze Dragonflight took in many strange things from the endless flow of time and established the Bronze Dragonflight Asylum. Later, the Infinite Dragonflight split off from the Bronze Dragonflight, and each side took control of some of its authority. Test subject No. 335 is an undying soul from an unknown world, held by the Bronze Dragonflight. He has some ability to foresee the future, but he's very weak. He can inhabit the bodies of most races on the Azeroth Continent, so the Bronze Dragonflight prepared countless bodies for him to use."
"Then what is test subject No. 709?" Robbie asked.
Vanessa gave Robbie a surprised glance, but didn't ask any further questions. She simply answered:
"Test subject No. 709 is a savior template created by Medivh, the Astral Mage. He was made using Burning Legion technology, combining the bloodlines of humans, Orcs, Draenei, and the Dark Titan. He occasionally goes berserk and becomes uncontrollable. His purpose is to maintain the course of the time flow on the Azeroth Continent."
Vanessa smiled faintly. "In other words, the savior Med'an."
Even for a level-one Alliance garrison, this place was far too desolate and run-down.
Robbie had been ordered to visit Luobo'an's garrison and gather information. When he arrived, he found the place overgrown with weeds and in complete disarray.
There was no telling how long it had been since the dilapidated wooden fence had been repaired. Some gaps were big enough for a bear to squeeze through, and the gate stood ajar. There was only one wooden building inside the garrison; everything else was tents.
After receiving Robbie's advice, Luobo'an, the favorite youngest son of Mayor Solomon of Lakeshire, had seen the light. In for a penny, in for a pound, he had dismissed all the garrison's Followers. To save money, he had even done away with the guards, keeping only the female Druid who could turn into a rabbit and was highly accomplished in alchemy.
He had also gone to Stormshield and hired a Pandaren who could brew alcohol to watch the gate. Too lazy even to do quests each day, he bought herbs and processed them in the garrison, selling the finished potions. Along with the alcohol the Pandaren brewed from time to time, it brought in a tidy income, and he lived quite comfortably.
Luobo'an had been in a good mood lately, and his complexion was much better than before.
"Robbie, my old friend, you're here! Old Chen, bring the drinks."
Luobo'an greeted him warmly.
"Why is the drinking glass raised? For whom does the fat grow? The craving for drink cannot be shaken; even when drunk, the heart is troubled. Fine drinks coming up." A chubby Pandaren rolled twice in succession and arrived in front of Robbie without spilling a drop from the two cups in his hands.
Robbie's heart trembled. This is an expert.
As the saying went, traveling ten thousand miles was better than reading ten thousand books. Without ever having seen a true expert, one would fail to recognize one even if he were right beside them, just like Luobo'an.
Robbie observed him discreetly. This was a somewhat older Pandaren with a thick black beard and a wine gourd hanging from a bamboo pole.
An invisible current of true qi surrounded him. Robbie estimated that his strength was greater than that of the Draenei vindicator Maraad.
A Pandaren who could brew alcohol and possessed formidable strength.
Could he be the Pandaren hero from World of Warcraft, Chen Stormstout?