"What do you mean by that? Although I'm a neutral hero, my heart is actually with the Alliance," Chen Stormstout said as though it were only natural.
"Your heart is with the Alliance?" Robbie couldn't help sneering. "Back then, you helped the Horde build Orgrimmar, and you killed Admiral Daelin Proudmoore with the Horde elder Rexxar and the Troll Witch Doctor Rokhan. Was that because your heart was with the Alliance too?"
"Wasn't I doing it for peace between the Alliance and the Horde?" Chen Stormstout forced a faint smile. "I made an outstanding contribution to peace in Azeroth."
"Peace? What a fine word." Robbie's sarcasm grew even sharper.
"When Garrosh Hellscream became Warchief of the Horde and used the Focusing Iris to blow up Theramore, why did you, the great messenger of peace, run back to Pandaria to enjoy the scenery? Why didn't you come out and uphold the peace?"
"Can't you watch what you say? Why do you keep bringing up my faults?" Chen Stormstout muttered unhappily. "Talk peace with Orcs? You'd have to have had your head stepped on by a Kodo!"
"So you know you can't talk peace with Orcs?" Robbie sneered again.
"Hey! I've put up with you long enough, and now you're pushing your luck!" Chen Stormstout flew into a rage. He pulled out his wine gourd and took a fierce swig, his eyes bloodshot.
Chen Stormstout took his opening stance. Even facing a hero who had been famous for years, Robbie didn't back down. He drew the Cursed Torch from his back. A place like Lunarfall wasn't safe, so he always carried his weapon.
"True wisdom lies within your heart, and in the choices you make. When faced with overwhelming darkness, can you make the right choice? Listen to the voice in your heart and find the truth!" Chen Stormstout narrowed his eyes and inexplicably recited a long passage.
"Are we fighting or not?" Robbie frowned.
Chen Stormstout smiled faintly, dropped his stance, and waved a hand.
"I'm a hero of Azeroth, a great Pandaren Monk. Why would I stoop to arguing with a junior like you? Anyway, are you going to Maraad's reconciliation banquet or not? Give me a definite answer."
Since Chen Stormstout wasn't fighting, Robbie naturally wouldn't attack either. After thinking it over, he said, "If Maraad is truly sincere, how about he comes to my garrison and I play host?"
"Good, that's more like it." Chen Stormstout patted the dust off his clothes. "I'll go tell Maraad right away, and we can arrange a time. It's best if you're willing to pay. That'll save Maraad some money too. He donates all his wages to the Exodar orphanage... Young man, next time it's my treat."
Pandaren always said, "Next time it's my treat," so you would never get a meal out of them.
That evening, after Robbie had eaten dinner, Vanessa called him over for a private talk.
"Test subject No. 335 must still be in the Alliance," Vanessa said with absolute certainty, her eyes sparkling.
"Did Yrel tell you that?"
Vanessa shook her head and looked back with a smile. "Yrel doesn't know much. I guessed it. There's a Legendary ring on Draenor called the Spellbound Runic Band. Khadgar knows a clue to the ring, and he's already decided it will go to test subject No. 335."
The orange ring from World of Warcraft version 0 actually existed in this world.
Vanessa's expression turned serious. "To obtain the Legendary ring, he has to stay in the Alliance. Actually, the Alliance and the Horde have a secret agreement: the Legendary ring goes to the Alliance, and the Legendary Follower Garona goes to the Horde. Garona is Med'an's mother, so there was no choice."
"There are three hundred Alliance commanders. He won't be easy to find!" Robbie said worriedly.
Vanessa's eyes shone, and she was brimming with confidence. "I have a way. Getting the Legendary ring isn't easy. There are many difficult steps that require help from a powerful healer. As long as I become the strongest healer in Lunarfall, that person will definitely need my help. He won't escape the palm of my hand."
"That's a good plan."
Robbie silently grumbled, Commander, why did you abandon the promising path of a rogue?
"When I'm working as a healer, you have to come along too," Vanessa said.
"Wait, Commander, even close partners aren't obligated to run dungeons together... Fine, I understand." Robbie sighed. It was easy to get aboard a pirate ship, but hard to get off.
Vanessa's expression darkened, and she suddenly said viciously:
"That little hussy Yrel really doesn't give me any face. I wanted to hire her as a Follower, but no matter how generous the terms I offered, she wouldn't agree."
"That's only natural. She's Prophet Velen's disciple, with a bright future ahead of her," Robbie replied. In the near future, Yrel would become the Draenei archbishop.
"I have an idea!" Vanessa stared at Robbie with a smile. "I'll secretly slip her some drugs, and you sleep with her. As the saying goes, love grows with time in bed..."
Robbie was shocked and hurriedly waved his hands. "Wait, Commander, absolutely not."
Vanessa put on a stern face. "What, you won't even obey my orders now?"
"No, Commander, it's not a question of orders."
"Tch, you think I don't know what you're thinking? You say no and make every excuse, but deep down you're secretly thrilled. In the end, you'll reluctantly accept, putting up just enough resistance for appearances. Just admit it. That little hussy Yrel is pretty and has a great figure. You and he are both Paladins, so you might have a mixed-blood child with exceptional talent."
"No, no, Commander, I really don't have those kinds of thoughts about her."
"Don't tell me you don't like women?" Vanessa asked with a teasing smile.
"How could that be? I have the beautiful-woman enthusiast talent."
Vanessa looked at him suspiciously. "All right, give me a proper reason and I'll let you off. Don't give me any talk about morality. I'm the leader of the Brotherhood, and I don't buy that."
Robbie felt his brain had never worked so well as it raced:
"Since ancient times, cross-racial romances have never ended well. The human mage Rhonin married the High Elf Vereesa, and he died young in Theramore. The Elven Prince Kael'thas had a secret crush on the human mage Jaina, and he was brutally killed twice. Jaina took Malygos, the Aspect of the Blue, as her lover, and Theramore exploded along with their romance. The human Paladin Tirion Fordring and the Orc Eitrigg... Ignore that one. Pretend I never said it."
"That makes some sense." Vanessa looked thoughtful and nodded.
"Especially that last example with Tirion Fordring. It was the most convincing and successfully persuaded me. So you're determined to marry a human woman?"
"That's a must."
"I'll remember that." Vanessa became much more cheerful.
Now it was Robbie's turn to ask a question.
"Commander, even if you're looking for clues to the 'Wealth' Tablet in Stormwind City, there's no need to keep hounding Experiment 335, is there? There should be other clues, right?"
Vanessa's gaze was full of wisdom as she smiled. "The Wealth Tablet is secondary. The Bronze Dragonflight sent test subject No. 335 to Draenor because this person knows some prophecies. I have a feeling those prophecies will be very useful for our great undertaking..."
Prophecies?
A thought occurred to Robbie. As it happens, I know some 'prophecies' too.
Early the next morning, the weather was clear and cloudless, and the scenery of Shadowmoon Valley was beautiful.
Commander Vanessa took Robbie and Delvar Ironfist along to escort Yrel back to Embaari Village.
To let Yrel gain face before her fellow villagers and show off the glory of her "triumphant return," Robbie and Delvar Ironfist both wore their best armor and had even taken special care to maintain their weapons.
Puzzlingly, Yrel, who was leading the way, didn't follow the main road. Instead, she twisted and turned along narrow paths, deliberately making the journey longer.
Yrel explained that this was "a hero's treatment," showing the Draenei the Alliance's friendship to promote bilateral relations and improve mutual understanding.
Robbie thought the explanation made little sense. Yrel had to be scheming, and sure enough, she soon revealed her real purpose.
That little hussy turned out to be a complete little money grubber. With free guards at her side, she recklessly rushed over whenever she saw minerals or herbs, regardless of whether any monsters were guarding them.
To keep her safe, Robbie and Ironfist were run off their feet.
After dealing with a furious Treant, Robbie and Ironfist sat down beneath a tree to rest. Yrel, who was happily mining True Iron Ore, suddenly pricked up her long ears.
"Someone's calling for help."
Following the sound, they found a large tree lying on the ground in a clearing among the woods.
The cries for help were coming from underneath it, and two feet in long boots could be seen sticking out.
Someone had managed to get completely pinned beneath a large tree. What an extraordinarily difficult feat.
Vanessa looked straight ahead and said to Robbie, "It's getting late. Let's get moving."
For once, Yrel showed a warm heart and hurriedly called out:
"Over here, over here! Someone's trapped under a tree. Come help!"
"Was there a sound? How come I didn't hear it?" Vanessa turned to ask Robbie, "Did you hear anything?"
Robbie quickly shook his head. "No. Ironfist, you didn't hear anything either, did you?"
After spending so much time with members of the Brotherhood, Ironfist had learned to be shrewd too, and he shook his head as well.
"Yrel, you were hearing things. Let's go."
Yrel walked around the fallen tree, lamenting that people's hearts were not what they used to be. She wasn't willing to meddle on her own, and left with Robbie and the other two.
"That's outrageous," Vanessa complained to Robbie in a low voice. "A Whiteboard scoundrel actually pretending to be a member of the Barov Family."
The Barov Family had originally been a super-rich great family on the Azeroth Continent. It owned vast estates, and its wealth could even rival that of the Alterac Royal Family.
During the war against the Orcs, the Barov Family had made outstanding contributions. After the war ended, King Terenas stripped the family of most of its estates because it had been implicated in the Alterac Royal Family's betrayal, causing serious resentment within the Barov Family.
A story had long circulated in Lunarfall that two brothers from the Barov Family, Weldon Barov and Alex Barov, had entered Draenor and were waiting to be hired.
They were the Barov Family's last heirs, and anyone who could hire one of them would have a very good chance of inheriting a vast Wealth.
Although most of the Barov Family's lands were in the hands of the Undead Scourge and the Forsaken, what would the future hold? Would humans retake Lordaeron? Would the Barov Family rise again? Who could possibly foresee it?
Robbie simply couldn't understand why the two brothers liked to get themselves pinned under trees, or why so many adventurers had rushed to imitate them.