After spending nearly an hour memorizing the map, Unas arrived at the former Troll settlement, where the large, empty cave in the center served as the guard's training ground.
The soldiers, each holding a long spear and a round shield, crouched in a horse stance, forming a wedge formation, chanting slogans as they practiced thrusting techniques, looking quite professional.
Instructor Luther approached to greet them and said, "Thanks to you, sir, we have these iron spears. I plan to train you all to be spearmen. Once you form a formation, your defensive capabilities will be extremely strong."
"Very good, from now on our defense will be in your hands," Unas encouraged. "We have so few people but occupy five mining areas, there will definitely be a lot of envious people, so we must intensify our training and let everyone know that we are not to be trifled with."
"Yes, I will definitely train these guys well!"
The new victories and new weapons boosted morale; looking at them was like seeing hope.
Unas observed the soldiers' training for a while and was about to return when Sentinels under Bas brought new news: the passage to the Central District had been opened, and the mine owners were releasing slaves again.
He immediately gathered Hart and several other young men who were good swimmers, and they rushed to the hot spring pool in the Central District.
Unlike trading days, slave owners did not have a fixed time for throwing people down; they would release people whenever they had accumulated a sufficient number of slaves.
"I didn't expect them to release people again so quickly. They usually only do it once a week," Hart said curiously. "Could it be that another war broke out, and the Dark Iron Dwarves won?"
Only victory could bring in a large number of prisoners of war to be enslaved. The young man secretly prayed that Stormwind City would not suffer another defeat.
Before even reaching their destination, Unas sensed something amiss; this familiar feeling was...
He quickly sped up, leaving the people behind him behind. The further he ran, the clearer his senses became. When he reached the steaming hot spring pool and saw the scene before him, he could no longer contain his excitement and let out a wolf-like howl.
The hot spring pool was surrounded by Gnolls soaked to the bone, clearly just thrown down from the passage. Among them were two gnoll leaders with a strong spiritual connection to Unas —they were the Gnoll leaders he had controlled with Fel magic.
In other words, all the Gnolls here are prisoners from the Venomspider Gorge outpost. They will become slaves of the Dark Iron Dwarves, and the fact that they were thrown into the Black Furnace by sheer coincidence suggests that the outpost's men must have already discovered the Warden's location.
Unas strode forward, wanting to get to the bottom of things, but several Orcs blocked his way. "These Gnolls were rescued by us first; they should be under our Orcs jurisdiction. Humans, get out of our way!"
"They were all my men before, and they'll be the same here," Unas said, his gaze sweeping past the Orcs to the dozen or so Gnolls lying listlessly on the ground. "Don't you agree? Huobi, Huote!"
The two Gnoll had been called out scrambled over, bowing and scraping, saying, "Yes, yes, Master Unas."
Several Orcs immediately protested, lunging forward to attack. Unas, too lazy to move, simply put his hands behind his back and unleashed Divine Storm, knocking them all to the ground. This show of bravado was quite intimidating, drawing everyone's attention. Unas loudly proclaimed, "All the Gnolls today are mine! Anyone who objects can try!"
For a moment, no one dared to cause trouble. Bas, who was waiting there, ran over and said, "I didn't pay attention because I saw that all those that fell were Gnolls. I didn't expect them to be the master's subordinates as well."
"They're not my subordinates, they're just my prisoners."
Just then, a scream was heard from above, and another Gnoll fell. Without Unas's instruction, Bas's men jumped into the pool to rescue him.
One Gnoll after another fell down, their numbers increasing. Unas mentally estimated that there were only about fifty Gnolls left in the stronghold. Would they all come down this time?
He was right. After fifty-six Gnolls, an Orcs came down instead. Unas felt a jolt in his heart. This Orcs was one of the seventeen Orcs Warriors he controlled in the stronghold.
"Hart, this Orcs is one of my men too, bring him up."
Meanwhile, Hart and his men arrived. They had been rescuing so many Gnolls with Bas's men and were already exhausted. They thought they could finally rest, but they didn't expect to have to continue.
"Hurry! The Blackrock Orcs are going into the water to snatch people!" Unas urged. "Two people go down, don't let that Orcs succeed."
Hart and a young man jumped into the water quickly; one went to stop the Blackrock Orcs, and the other caught the Orcs Warrior had fallen.
This caused another commotion among the Blackrock Orcs on the shore. The few who had been beaten down earlier had already run back to fetch reinforcements, and now more than thirty Orcs had gathered by the hot spring, charging over menacingly.
The one-eyed leader brandished a battle axe and roared, "Humans! Don't push your luck! You can have the Gnolls, but the Orcs are ours!"
"I'm sorry, but this Orcs is also one of my men, and he's not from the Blackrock Clan." Unas also took out his twin hammers, clashing them together to create a deafening metallic clang that intimidated the Orcs before him.
"I am Gelasi of the Thunderlord Clan! Blackrock scum, get out of my way!" The Orcs Warrior, who had just been pulled ashore, got up and walked to Unas's side, shouting at the Orcs opposite him.
The one-eyed Orcs gripped his battle axe tightly, his single eye glowing red with rage. Orcs would not tolerate such an insult, and a bloody battle was inevitable!
Suddenly another Orcs fell down from the passage. Unas glanced at him, but there was no mental connection, and he wasn't one of the laborers from the stronghold. He looked like a Blackrock Orcs.
"That's one of yours," Unas, pointing his Silver Hammer at the center of the hot spring. "Aren't you going to save him? He might drown."
The one-eyed Orcs roared, finding a way out, and took it. But before turning to leave, he made sure to utter a harsh threat. "I won't let you get away with this!"
Unas chuckled, refraining from further provocation. He was eager to understand the situation and had no time for entanglement with the Orcs.
After waiting a while longer by the pool, they met two more humans. Once the passage was closed, Unas led the group back to the humans' territory.
With so many Gnolls suddenly appearing, it was a good opportunity to settle them in the Troll's quarters. Unas returned to the White Cave with the Orcs Gelasi and two Gnoll to ask them what had happened.
The three men wolfed down the food Unas had distributed and finally began to explain everything that had happened after his disappearance.
First and foremost, of course, was the news of victory. Unas had lost consciousness after his life-or-death struggle with Lucifron and had been unaware of the battle situation on the island, worrying about Angela and the Copperhammer Brothers' defeat. Only now, with the news of victory, could he finally relax.