Though small, the Mini Kobold was a chatterbox, prattling nonstop along the way.
"You humans are clever and capable, good with your hands, skilled at learning from experience, and know how to do business. Too bad you have one flaw: you care too much about saving face."
The Mini Kobold hopped along at the front, leading the way and chattering as he went. "Take that mage Medivh, for example. He summoned the Orcs to Azeroth. It wasn't entirely his fault, but for that act alone, hanging him eighty or a hundred times wouldn't have been too much. Too bad the dumbass refuses to admit he was wrong. He goes around preaching that the Orcs are Azeroth's hope and Thrall is its savior. What he's really telling everyone is: Look, it's a good thing I summoned the Orcs, or Azeroth would have been destroyed."
"Oh," Robbie said, deciding not to lower himself to the Mini Kobold's level. There was no need to take a Kobold's words seriously; they were just for amusement.
The Mini Kobold's eyes darted around, and he continued, "At the Battle of Mount Hyjal, Thrall's performance was a complete disappointment to Medivh. The Night Elves were forced to unleash Nordrassil's wrath, which was meant for Sargeras. All of Azeroth paid a huge price to save Medivh's face, leaving that charlatan too embarrassed to show himself. Humans are utterly hypocritical. To salvage what little face he had left, Medivh banished Thrall and groomed Garrosh Hellscream. Too bad Thrall was already strong enough to stand on his own. He easily ousted Garrosh and installed his puppet Vol'jin as Warchief. Medivh still refused to give up. Heedless of the suffering it would cause, he opened the Dark Portal again and brought in the Iron Horde, determined to prove his theory that the Orcs would save the world even if it killed him..."
"Wait." Robbie couldn't listen anymore and interrupted the Mini Kobold. "You're saying Medivh brought in the Iron Horde? Don't make wild guesses without evidence."
"Evidence! Heh heh, isn't it obvious?" The Mini Kobold grinned. "Do you think the Dark Portal is that easy to open? Especially this time, when it spanned a full thirty-five years. It was far more than ten times as difficult as last time. What mage besides Medivh could pull that off? Gul'dan couldn't have done it alone."
"Not necessarily!" Robbie disagreed. "Gul'dan had technical support from the Burning Legion."
"The Burning Legion could certainly do it." The Mini Kobold shook his head as he argued back. "But the Burning Legion and the Iron Horde aren't on the same side. Besides, if the Burning Legion wanted to attack Azeroth, why would it have to attack the one thirty-five years in the future?"
"Well!" Robbie was at a loss for words.
"Heh heh, young man, you need to use your brain more when things happen. Learn to look beneath the surface." The Mini Kobold sounded more and more like a lecturing elder. "For example, one of Dalaran's duties is to monitor magical fluctuations in Azeroth. When the Dark Portal opened for the second time, any mage with a bit of skill could have detected the change in magical energy. Why didn't Dalaran issue a warning, leading to the fall of Nethergarde Keep?"
"I don't know!" Robbie answered honestly.
"Because Nethergarde Keep belonged to the Alliance!" The Mini Kobold sighed. "Rhonin was a great man all his life, upright and honorable. Too bad he believed that stupid red dragon's so-called prophecy and handed Dalaran over to that bitch. History will prove it was a catastrophic mistake, a stain Rhonin will never wash away. My mother said pretty women are liars."
Robbie didn't believe the Kobold's nonsense, but the mention of Dalaran and the Dark Portal stirred something in his mind. He was just a little short of remembering.
Something seemed to have happened in front of the Dark Portal. He seemed to have clashed with an Orc and beaten the fellow's face to a pulp.
"Look, the Dark Portal."
Robbie looked up at the towering Dark Portal in the distance. Suddenly, inspiration struck, and the door to his memories opened.
These were Robbie Capor's memories.
After a grueling battle, two hundred Alliance Cannon Fodder Troops had successfully driven back the Iron Horde's vanguard and taken control of the Dark Portal.
It had been an exceptionally brutal battle, and many warriors had given their lives.
Afterward, the cannon fodder had argued with Khadgar, Thrall, Maraad, and the others over crossing the Dark Portal.
Alliance adventurers had never feared death, even if they had to serve as cannon fodder.
But they feared dying without knowing why, used by people with ulterior motives.
Though the cannon fodder were weak and insignificant, there were some among them with extensive knowledge. They had harshly pointed out that storming the Dark Portal was absurd and ridiculous, and whoever had devised the plan was either an idiot or had an ulterior motive.
There were three reasons.
First, the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands was not indestructible. If they destroyed the Azeroth side of the Dark Portal, the Iron Horde would never be able to get through, and there would be no need to risk so much by charging into Draenor.
Second, even if they didn't want to destroy the Dark Portal, they only needed to apply some Magic Interference to leave the Iron Horde completely helpless. A giant magical transportation array like the Dark Portal was like a precisely operated instrument: even the slightest discrepancy was unacceptable, and a little interference would ruin the whole effort.
Finally, even if they gave ground again and neither destroyed the Dark Portal nor used magical interference, they could use the simplest method: build a high wall to block the Dark Portal. Every member of the Iron Horde who crossed it would be lost in the spatial rift and suffocate to death.
Unable to cross the Dark Portal, the Iron Horde would soon suffer low morale and inevitable internal strife, eventually falling apart from infighting. That was the best strategy.
The leaders, Khadgar, Thrall, Maraad, and the others, were no fools and understood all this. They must have had their own objectives but were unwilling to make them public, so further argument would lead nowhere. In the end, Khadgar proposed settling the matter the Orcish way: each side would draw lots to select a representative, and a duel would decide the outcome. They would do as the winner said.
The proposal was extremely unfair, but the other side held the upper hand, and the Cannon Fodder Troops had no choice but to agree.
The lots selected Robbie Capor to represent the Cannon Fodder Troops. His opponent was the great savior, the Orc Thrall.
The strength of adventurers on the continent of Azeroth was divided into seven realms, from lowest to highest: grayfoot, whiteboard, excellent, Elite, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic.
Grayfoot referred to farmers, fishermen, peddlers, and laborers who had never trained but were in good health.
Whiteboard referred to adventurers whose strength, ability to withstand blows, and physique had improved significantly through systematic training. For example, guards who could only swing weapons and couldn't use skills were generally at the whiteboard realm.
Those at the excellent realm and above had to be professionals, and their standing depended primarily on their mastery of professional skills.
Thrall possessed the Durotan family's excellent bloodline and had studied under the great Drek'Thar. He was a renowned Orc shaman, and with the legendary weapon Doomhammer, his strength was roughly at the peak of Epic, close to Legendary.
Robbie Capor was a warlock with terrible talent who had barely qualified as a beginner. His strength lay somewhere between whiteboard and excellent.
This should have been a duel between two opponents of vastly different strength, with an outcome that was never in doubt.
Yet, unexpectedly, before everyone's eyes, Robbie Capor had easily beaten Thrall's face to a pulp with skillful hand-to-hand combat and exquisite footwork.
Just as Thrall was beaten to within an inch of his life, Maraad had intervened. Claiming that "the savior cannot lose to a nobody," he had sneak-attacked Robbie Capor from behind...
By the time Robbie Capor woke up, he was already in an Iron Horde prison.
Damn it.
The vivid memories filled Robbie with rage.
Robbie Capor couldn't possibly have defeated Thrall. Clearly, that had only been a stand-in.
An Orc who looked remarkably like Thrall but was weak had taken Thrall's place in the plan to storm the Dark Portal.
What were those people trying to do, and what sinister plan did the real Thrall have?
Remembering the past, Robbie's expression shifted, and anger burned inside him.
"What's wrong?" the Mini Kobold asked, noticing something was amiss.
"Nothing." Robbie forced down his anger and casually asked, "What do you think of Thrall the savior?"
The Mini Kobold snapped his fingers and said smugly, "You've come to the right person. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Gagg. Since I often burn candles to study late into the night, people know me as Big Candle. I'm a mage and a veteran scholar, author of academic papers including The Thick Black Theory of Thrall, The Truth About Mount Hyjal Revealed, and How the Orcs Rose to Power. I'm an authority on the study of Thrall's life."
An expert! Hearing this, Robbie was immediately filled with respect and hurried to ask for guidance.
Big Candle Gagg grew even more pleased with himself. The Shrinking Potion was gradually wearing off, and his body was considerably larger than before:
"In my view, Thrall's greatest skill is using outside forces to his advantage. He's good at presenting personal grudges as a matter of saving the world. Anyone who opposes Thrall opposes Azeroth, and Thrall's enemies are Azeroth's enemies. Garrosh Hellscream was single-mindedly devoted to revitalizing the Horde and advocated peaceful coexistence with the Alliance so they could stand together against the Burning Legion. Because his political views clashed with Thrall's, and because he still had a romantic connection with Agna, Thrall schemed in secret and used the Alliance and the Horde to drive him from the position of Warchief. Deathwing was a Dragon Aspect who believed the Orcs were the source of all Azeroth's suffering. He gathered his forces and planned to wipe out the Orcs, but met a tragic end and was even slandered as The Destroyer. Arthas had a blood feud with Thrall and sought countless opportunities to kill him, but ended up dying inexplicably at the Frozen Throne. Back at Mount Hyjal, Illidan stabbed Thrall and nearly killed him. Afterward, Illidan fell at the Black Temple."
Robbie was sorely disappointed. What was all this? It was completely at odds with known history, nothing but fabrications. Unable to resist, he argued, "I completely disagree with your views. How could Garrosh have wanted peaceful coexistence with the Alliance? He personally destroyed Theramore."
Big Candle Gagg glared and shouted, "What do you know, rookie? Jaina is Thrall's lackey. Northwatch Hold, the Alliance fortress that never gets repaired, is jokingly called Orgrimmar's meat warehouse. Jaina fed half the humans in Kul Tiras to the Orcs. When Theramore was destroyed by the Focusing Iris, the Alliance was delighted. King Varian almost set off fireworks to celebrate."
Robbie rubbed his forehead, feeling certain that something was wrong with the Kobold's mind. He was completely unhinged, delusional, and reading far too much into everything. "Fine, let's not discuss Garrosh. But I've never heard that Illidan took part in the Battle of Mount Hyjal."
Big Candle Gagg looked at him with utter contempt. "You look like a smart human, so why can't you use your brain? The Battle of Mount Hyjal was led by the elves. Illidan loved being where the action was, so how could he not have taken part? The fall of Lordaeron and the Battle of Mount Hyjal are known as the two great mysteries of modern history. They're shrouded in secrecy, and many things about them remain unclear. To protect the elves' honor and maintain the false peace between the Alliance and the Horde, the official account is nothing but nonsense, full of holes and untrustworthy. According to my research, after the battle, the elves' higher-ups called Malfurion Stormrage a stupid deer, and his popularity plummeted. Tyrande was completely disappointed in him, and the two separated, their marriage existing in name only. Illidan went far away to Outland, and Fandral Staghelm betrayed his teacher, all because of what happened at Mount Hyjal."
Robbie felt a deep sense of helplessness. This glib-tongued Kobold's worldview was twisted. Everything he said was incomprehensible nonsense.
Fortunately, the Dark Portal wasn't far away, and this pointless argument could finally end.
But Big Candle Gagg refused to give up and dropped another bombshell.