Unas's suggestion to take the risk was not opposed; the Night Elves had originally intended to act alone, and the Blue Dragon was confident that he could escape unscathed at any time.
"The problem now is where we should raid. We've already discussed this; the Purple-robed Person could be hiding in any of the three places, and no one can convince anyone else. So, we might as well start with the easier targets first."
"Where is it easy and where is it difficult?" Nightmoon asked at the opportune moment, like Warden's assistant.
"The most difficult place is, of course, the Mutant Spider's stronghold. A rash attack could easily lead to a trap from which you cannot escape. The other two places are about the same, but I have already found a way to deal with the small lake in the forest, and a unit is handling this matter."
What method?
"It's confidential for now; we need a few more days to prepare."
In recent days, Argent Dawn has been hunting extensively in the Swamp. One team accidentally discovered a small, foul-smelling black area in the northwest corner of the Swamp. A black liquid seeping from the ground has polluted the ecosystem here, making it impossible for any creature to inhabit the area.
Out of curiosity, Unas went over to take a look and immediately recognized that the viscous black liquid was Crude Oil, and a highly concentrated heavy oil at that. It was clearly an open-pit oil field.
Unfortunately, oil is not a valuable resource in Azeroth, and only Goblins and Gnomes might be interested in it.
When news of the lake in the forest arrived, Unas immediately remembered that oil could be used to force out the Seven-Headed Lizards that might be hiding at the bottom of the lake. So he sent a team to secretly collect oil, but they only managed to get a little over a hundred barrels, which was far from enough.
Huoye asked, "So, does the master mean to attack the Evil Woodland? But we haven't even found a specific target yet."
"I suppose the Druid masters have already found their targets?"
During the earlier debate about the location of the Purple-robed Person's lair, several Druids leaned towards the Evil Woodland, Unas to believe they must have made some discovery.
As expected, Master Oakleaf said, "I went there to check it out myself. Although it was only the outer area, almost all the trees within the Evil Woodland area have mutated. On the surface, they are just taller, but their souls have long been twisted, filled with madness and destruction."
"Your target is those trees?"
"Yes, we will try to cure them, and if that fails, we will do everything in our power to eliminate them!"
Actually, the Druids were in a hurry to deal with these trees for an even more important reason. Druids ' Nature Magic is greatly amplified in the Forest, but now the Nature Spirits are suppressed by the evil trees, which also affects the Druids ' spells, so they must be dealt with first.
Unas and the Night Elves reached an agreement; it all depended on whether the Blue Dragon agreed. Seeing everyone looking at her, Mati'gosa didn't hesitate long before declaring, "Alice and I don't care; we just want to find the dragon egg as quickly as possible."
"Where is Miss Alice? Let's bring her out. Now that the objective has been set, let's discuss the specific action plan together."
"She doesn't like crowded places, so I'm enough for her."
"That won't do! We need to work together as a team. Someone who can't even find a comrade isn't qualified to cooperate with me, even if she's a dragon!"
Mati'gosa frowned, feeling troubled, when a roar came and the Little Red Dragon flew out from Stone Cave on the mountainside.
With a resounding crash, it landed heavily on the mountaintop. The sand and gravel kicked up by its flapping wings forced everyone to squint. Alexstrasza's voice, accompanied by a wave of furious heat, boomed, "Humans, I've come!"
It turned out she had been eavesdropping the whole time, and the Paladin's words immediately provoked her to reveal her true colors.
Unas ignored the fierce glint in the other's eyes. "Can you transform into human form? The mountaintop isn't very big; it's already too crowded with you here."
The Little Red Dragon let out a disdainful growl, completely ignoring the human's suggestion.
"Alice hasn't learned the Shapeshifting Spell yet," the Blue Dragon explained to her.
The Little Red Dragon, however, showed no appreciation whatsoever, raising its spiky chin and declaring, "I have no desire to learn any Shapeshifting Spell. I am a dragon, the greatest race in the world. Why should I transform into such a weak little human?"
These words offended everyone present, and someone immediately retorted, "What 'greatest race'? They're nothing but winged lizards, vulgar beasts!"
"What did you say?!" the Little Red Dragon roared, its massive jaws agape, its teeth clashing as if it were about to tear the purple-skinned little man in front of it to shreds.
Silver Shadow did not back down. She pressed her hands tightly against the pair of long daggers at her waist, confident that she could blind the red behemoth directly.
Unas quickly intervened between the two, preventing an internal fight. If it weren't for the imminent threat and the need to utilize their power, he wouldn't have cared how these two tigresses fought to the death.
"Once the Purple-robed Person is dealt with, you can do whatever you want. Now, put away your anger; you are not our enemies!"
Oakleaf and Mati'gosa also tried to mediate, and the two tigresses finally gave up on fighting on the spot, though they still glared fiercely at each other.
There's really no room for negotiation on the action plan. We have a giant dragon that can quickly transport the team to the target location, and we can launch a surprise attack from any direction from the air, making it difficult for the enemy to defend against.
Since space on the dragon's back was limited, Unas had ordered his men to weave several large net bags out of sturdy hemp rope so they could be hung on the dragon's claws.
"Come on, let's test it out first. If there are no problems, we'll set off."
Nightmoon exclaimed in surprise, "Tonight?!"
"A surprise attack under the cover of night—even you didn't expect it, and the enemy certainly didn't either. Don't worry, I've arranged everything for the army."
Unas and the Druids climbed into the net bag, and the Blue Dragon carried them in a low-altitude flight to test its sturdiness. After confirming the net bag was secure, the two dragons and the Thunder Ravens took off again.
Hanging in the net bag is quite thrilling; any change in speed or elevation of the dragon will cause violent shaking.
The Blue Dragon flew carefully and steadily, but the Little Red Dragon wanted to vent its temper during the flight, so it deliberately performed some somersaults, making everyone under the Red Dragon's claws dizzy and disoriented, as if they were hanging on a fighter jet performing aerobatic maneuvers.
Due to the previous conflict between the Silver Shadow and the Red Dragon, the Watchers were all under the Blue Dragon, Unas and his group could only be transported by the Red Dragon.
Unas almost couldn't resist stabbing the Red Dragon with his weapon, but he managed to channel his anger into the enemy he was about to face.
With a bright moon and few stars, the two giant dragons flew at high speed in the shadows of the clouds, reaching the skies above the Evil Woodland two hours later.
In the latter half of the flight Red Dragon seemed to have had enough fun and became much calmer, giving the group a chance to catch their breath and adjust their bodies and minds to their best condition.
The group landed at the edge of the Evil Woodland, and the two dragons took to the skies again, ready to descend and support the battle at any moment.
The darkness provided the best cover, and the landing site had been scouted beforehand; the group's movements only startled a few night birds.
The Watchers and Perella immediately dispersed into the surrounding Forest, the Druids transformed into battle forms of giant bears or Nightsaber, and Oakleaf became a green Treant.
Unas, the Copperhammer Brothers, and two young human Warriors protected Huoye and the two Priests, buffed them, and followed behind the Druid.
After walking carefully for a while, the group stopped. Master Oakleaf pressed his hands, which had turned into wooden branches, onto a tall pine tree, closed his eyes, and entered a meditative state. He still wanted to try to cure these mutated trees first.
After waiting quietly for a short while, a sickening cracking sound of wood suddenly rang out. The trunk of the pine tree actually split open on its own, gushing out a spray of black liquid that drenched the Oakleaf that were almost within reach.
The old Druid let out a suppressed scream and collapsed backward. It all happened too fast; no one was able to stop it.
The wild Druids rushed forward to drag the Oakleaf back from the ground, while Huoye unleashed his Flame Burst at the same time.
The crimson flames instantly ignited the strange pine tree. Amidst the crackling sounds of burning, the tree snapped in two and collapsed to the ground; the intense heat of the magic was beyond its capacity to withstand.
A small point of light floated over and merged into Unas's body. This tree was actually considered "strange," although its experience was negligible.
Oakleaf fell into a coma, unable to maintain his Treant form, and quickly reverted to his original form. However, no trace of the black liquid could be found, as if it had been completely absorbed by his body.
The Druids cast various natural healing spells, Haikesi and Natasha also continuously released Holy Light to heal, but Oakleaf's face grew increasingly dark, and his breathing became weaker.
With a whoosh, three Watchers leaped back from all sides. Silver Shadow opened Oakleaf's eyeball and looked inside, exclaiming urgently, "He's been poisoned; he won't last much longer!"
"What's going on? We've tried communicating with these twisted trees discreetly before, and this has never happened before."
"Why did the black venom get absorbed by the master's body on its own?"
"What's the use of saying all this now? The key is to find a way to revive Master Oakleaf!"
The young Druids were at a loss and began to get anxious.
Unas stepped forward and cast several Cleanse, but the effect was minimal. It took more than ten casts of Cleanse spells to neutralize the venom of ordinary Blade Spiders, and it was useless against highly toxic poisons that could kill quickly.
Before the real battle even began, one of our key generals was ambushed. What an inauspicious start!
Perhaps the Druids were wandering around this woodland too frequently, and the Purple-robed Person discovered them, which is why they set a trap? Unas couldn't help but feel a little worried. The surprise attack might not have been unexpected at all; the enemy was prepared all along.
Silver Shadow sliced open Oakleaf's wrist artery with a single stroke, and foul-smelling black blood gushed out immediately. She took out a few pills and stuffed them into Oakleaf's mouth, then poured in a bottle of green liquid.
"Master Oakleaf's body has a strong resistance to toxins, and with my medicine, he won't die, but he'll likely be unconscious. It seems we have another reason to hunt down the Purple-robed Person."
"Shall we continue tonight's operation?" asked the young Druid Masa, the highest-ranking of the remaining four Druids.
"Of course, this unprecedented venom will continue to damage Oakleaf's body. Finding the Purple-robed Person sooner will also allow us to obtain the antidote sooner," Silver Shadow replied confidently.
Unas wasn't sure if the madman had the antidote, but the operation couldn't be abandoned halfway. He turned back and ordered Ashina to stay and take care of Oakleaf.
Nightmoon hesitated for a moment, but decided to stay as well. After all, Oakleaf was her partner, and the two had always had a good relationship. She couldn't bear to leave the old Druid in this dangerous Forest with only a young human Warrior by her side.
Now look what's happened! Three combatants have been lost at once. This is why some commanders would rather die than be wounded. On the battlefield, a wounded soldier often requires two or three healthy soldiers to care for him.
Fortunately, this Evil Woodland is devoid of life, and few wild beasts or Giant Spiders dare to approach, so it is relatively "safe".
The group continued onward, encountering strange trees that no one dared approach, which were burned away from a distance by Huoye. This time, no Druid dared to condemn him for destroying the environment.
After burning five or six trees, the group finally reached the truly Evil Woodland. According to the Druids, all the trees there were problematic, and even they dared not enter to investigate.
"Since there's a problem anyway, why not signal the Red Dragon to come down and breathe fire? The Huoye can add fuel to the fire, and burn it all down."
"No, our trafficked compatriots might be hidden there. If we burn them to death too, we'll regret it."
That's a problem. It seems we can only break in and search the place. If the Purple-robed Person's lair isn't here, we can just burn it down.
If a large fire cannot be lit, then a small fire will be used to clear a path. Fireballs are shot out from the Huoye, and the immobile trees can only be burned one by one, and soon a small gap is opened.
As soon as the team entered the gap, all the dozen or so surviving trees on both sides suddenly cracked and split open, releasing a torrential downpour of black venom.
Fortunately, they were far enough away and everyone was on guard. Before the black venom hit them, everyone either cast spells or took out protective coverings to protect themselves, and this time no one was splashed with the venom.
Unas wrapped himself tightly in the Iceweb Spider Silk cloak, only to find it completely unnecessary; the upgraded Sacred Shield was more than enough to block all the venom.
But the scattered venom seemed to be alive, swimming on the ground and gathering into a palm-sized ball before contaminating nearby targets.
Unas kicked a ball of venom crawling toward him, shattering it into pieces, only to watch as it tried to reassemble, albeit at a much slower pace.
Others followed suit, and after two minutes the black venom finally subsided. It seemed that this venom was like a parasitic aggregate that would die quickly once it could not find a host.
Once you understand how it works, there's nothing to be afraid of. Just wrap yourself up tightly. Oakleaf was caught off guard and fell into the trap.
The group continued forward and soon encountered a new type of mutated tree. These trees, covered in strange spots, were surprisingly not afraid of fire. The Fireballs from their Huoye could only cause minor explosive damage and were difficult to ignite.
Unas tried to fire a Flame Slash, but it had no effect. Just when everyone felt they were in a dilemma, a rustling sound suddenly came from all around, and countless thorny vines instantly surrounded them.
The Druids' magic to manipulate plants was useless here. A fierce battle ensued instantly. The vines seemed endless, and no matter how many were cut, more would appear. The thorns on the vines were also poisonous, causing those scratched to feel a tingling sensation in their wounds and dizziness. If this continued, further casualties were inevitable.