Rendaen decided to make this tributary the main target and immediately wanted to mobilize troops to garrison it.
Unas shook his head. "Go check on my soldiers. The air here is bad; they can't stay here any longer."
A small number of human soldiers are already coughing quite badly. Natasha, as a Priest, simply cannot take care of so many people. If they continue to stay, poisoning and casualties are inevitable. Dwarves have much stronger resistance, but if they stay here for too long, they will definitely feel dizzy and lightheaded, and it is unknown how many will still be in combat condition.
"Humans are so fragile!" Rendaen muttered, "Let's retreat first."
Only a few strong Dwarves were left to scout, while the rest of the group retreated, leaving the problem of air pollution looming over Rendaen.
Due to the obstruction of magma, only those with fireproof barriers can pass through the U-shaped passage, and the spellcasting intervals of mages mean that only small groups of soldiers can pass through at a time.
If a force is not prepared and ambushed in the tributaries beforehand, and instead only moves there little by little when the battle begins, it is easy to miss the opportunity.
Before a perfect solution could be found, good news swept away Rendaen's worries: the vanguard of the Water Elementals had arrived at the Backdoor Fortress, and with them came another force of Dark Iron Dwarves — the Thorium Brotherhood.
The Thorium Brotherhood was also composed of a group of Dark Iron Dwarves who had defected from Thaurissan, but its members were all the top blacksmiths of the Dark Iron Clan, and their combat strength was not very strong.
They left Blackrock Depths because they didn't want their talents to be wasted on mass-producing ordinary, standard weapons. In pursuit of the highest level of blacksmithing, they fled to the deep mountains north of Searing Gorge, where they established a free trade guild for weapons creation and declared neutrality, refusing to participate in any conflicts.
However, Thaurissan had no intention of letting them go, and the attacks continued. In order to defend themselves, the blacksmiths had to hire some mercenaries and adventurers to protect themselves.
Upon hearing the news from his subordinates, Rendaen laughed loudly, "These cowardly fence-sitters have actually been swayed by the Water Elemental Duke! This is no small feat. I have a plan!"
The Dwarf lords were inspired by Torbjorn's water pumps. They simply built a tight steel pipe, inserted it into the passage, and then used the water pumps to extract the magma from the pipe, thus creating a passage for rapid marching.
Torbjorn's Arsenal is fully stocked with all kinds of ores and tools. The Thorium Brotherhood's highly skilled blacksmiths will surely be able to forge the U-shaped pipes that meet the requirements. Their arrival couldn't be more timely.
Rendaen rushed up to meet with the Thorium Brotherhood and the Water Elemental's messenger. The messenger was overjoyed to learn about the secret passage and immediately went down to the Black Furnace to observe the passage.
Perhaps to suit the Dwarves ' perception, the leader of the Water Elemental vanguard transformed into a deep blue humanoid water mass. Of course, he couldn't cross the lava passage; the environment on the other side of the lava river would greatly weaken the Water Elementals ' abilities and even harm them.
But the messenger said that Duke Hydraxis has a Boiling Water Corps under his command, composed entirely of Boiling Water Elemental, which are not afraid of heat at all and are a powerful weapon against Fire Elemental. This army can be stationed at the tributary after it arrives.
Orphest, the foreman of the Thorium Brotherhood, not only brought his mercenaries to help in the battle, but also provided a high-temperature solvent that could greatly accelerate the melting and penetration of the Dead Gate.
He is currently leading the blacksmiths in the Smelting Room to discuss the creation of U-shaped iron pipes. Of course, it's impossible to simply make a pipe and stuff it in; instead, they must make it section by section, then place it into the channel and assemble it. With their skill level, maintaining airtightness is not a problem. The most difficult part is the initial measurement of the channel, which will take a lot of time.
Erigor had a few acquaintances in the Thorium Brotherhood who had crafted the Judgement Armor for him. Unas asked them if he could order another set. Orphest didn't expect to run into Erigor, his old customer, while fighting a war. He readily agreed, but the price doubled. He demanded 5,000 Gold Coins as a deposit, and there was no set delivery time.
Erigor's complete set of armor only cost five thousand Gold Coins, but the old foreman complained, saying that things were not what they used to be, that the price of Lightforging Iron had recently skyrocketed, workers' wages had also increased, and now the war had cost a lot of money. In short, he gave a bunch of reasons, and the price of ten thousand Gold Coins was already the biggest discount he could offer to his old customer.
When it comes to bargaining, Unas and Erigor are no match for Orphest, who was elected as the president of the merchant guild. They had no choice but to obediently hand over the money. Fortunately, Unas still had 20,000 to 30,000 Gold Coins on him, all of which were Todd's ill-gotten gains, so he didn't feel bad about spending them.
All that's left is to wait. The Water Elemental army, the Dead Gate, and the pipes here will all be in place before the final attack can begin. But Unas, who can't stay still, wants to go back and take a look.
By this time, Marshal Windsor already knew the ins and outs of Unas's group. Hearing that Unas wanted to return to Lordaeron, he also wanted to go with them to see if their story was true.
Since the preparations would take a long time anyway, and no one objected, Unas and the Marshal once again passed through the U-shaped passage, mingled from the tributary into the main stream of the lava river, and swam Flamewaker Island while sandwiched among the Fire Elemental creatures.
They easily eliminated the few kittens on the island, and the two passed through the Spatial Rift, successfully returning to the underground cave beneath the Crystal Mine Cave in the Venomspider Gorge.
The sudden appearance of the two startled the guards on duty in the cave. After they realized that it was the Warden returning, their shock was quickly followed by joyful cheers.
Although Unas was known as the executioner, he only killed enemies. Among his young soldiers, the decisive and ruthless Warden was still very popular.
The situation inside the underground cavern hasn't changed much, except that the Fire Crystals that didn't explode on the stone walls have all been dug up. What used to be bright red and translucent is now somewhat dim, illuminated only by a few braziers.
Although the Crimson Diamond was taken away by Unas and not put to use, the remaining batch of Fire Crystals in this large cave should greatly improve the Blood Elves who are Mana Addiction. Among the guards in the cave is an unfamiliar Blood Elf mage.
The two were teleported into the Canyon, and only now, amidst the surprised and delighted crowd, did Windsor fully believe Unas's words.
Nightmoon was also stationed outside. When the female Elf saw the long-lost Warden, she couldn't contain her emotions and rushed over, almost hugging Unas. But in the end, the two only shook hands tightly.
"Nightmoon, without your help, I could not have returned. Thank you so much." Hearing that a place can only be called home when someone is waiting for you, and seeing the female elf's genuine Elf, Unas felt a sense of returning home.
"It's thanks to everyone's combined efforts," Nightmoon finally calmed down. "Where are the others? And who is this?"
"This is Marshal Windsor of Kingdom of Stormwind. As for the others, they will have to wait a while longer..."