Bloody Battle at the Docks

After some discussion, everyone agreed that dusk was the best time to act. For one, the dock would be at dinner time, making the defenses slightly lax. For another, the rain had just stopped, and heading out early in the morning would leave them covered in mud, which was hardly ideal.

After lunch, as the sky darkened, they geared up, sharpened their weapons, and followed a guard from the Makrolen Family toward Jerod's Dock.

The journey wasn't far; within half an hour, the dock came into view.

Though night had fallen, they could still faintly make out a few Defias members in leather vests patrolling near the dock. It seemed the enemy was taking this seriously.

"What do we do? It looks like we can't avoid alerting them," Li Shaolin asked Tommy beside him.

Tommy raised a hand, signaling the group to stop. "Let's wait and see. Too bad we don't have a rogue."

So everyone crouched in the grass, quietly biding their time.

After only a short while, Li Shaolin's legs began to feel numb. Just as he was about to stand and shift his position, his senses tightened—someone was watching him. He quickly looked up, but saw no one. It seemed empty.

No, that grass was still faintly rustling.

Alarmed but keeping his composure, he casually cast Detection toward the grass.

A faint light flickered, and a white name appeared: Shock, Rogue, Level 10.

Good, it was just another professional. What Li Shaolin had been worried about was running into that knife-wielding kid who appeared out of nowhere in the dark.

He didn't know what this guy was skulking around for, but he wasn't with the Defias Brotherhood. If the guy had hostile intent, the name would have shown up red.

He casually pulled out the Book of the Dead, flipped open a page, and tapped his finger. The Clay Golem materialized. He made a shushing gesture to the others, picked up a small pebble from the ground, and tossed it lightly. At the same time, the Clay Golem melted into soft mud and flowed forward.

The golem itself was made of earth and could switch between hard mud and soft mud forms. In hard mud form, its punches were immensely powerful, crushing flesh and bone. In soft mud form, it moved silently and could bear heavy loads—like when Li Shaolin had fled from Skinner's house and had it turn into soft mud to catch him.

"Thud." The pebble hit the rogue, and a figure was revealed.

Startled, the rogue tried to flee, but the golem was already close, slowing his movement. If he struggled too hard, he'd alert the patrol.

Li Shaolin gestured for him to come over, signaling no ill intent.

The rogue hesitated, then walked over quietly, though his dagger was still gripped tightly.

"Hello, I'm Tommy from the Stonemason Family. And you are?" Tommy and the others had noticed him too, but since the rogue was clearly a professional, they stayed cautious without being hostile.

"Hello, I'm Shock, a level 10 rogue. I'm here at Jerod's Dock on orders from SI:7 in Stormwind City," Shock replied with a nod, eyeing Li Shaolin with some surprise, as if wondering how he'd been spotted.

Li Shaolin nodded to Tommy, confirming the rogue was telling the truth.

So Tommy explained their purpose here.

The rogue thought for a moment, then said, "According to SI:7 intelligence, these Defias members are transporting large quantities of contraband from here to Westfall and Redridge Mountains, causing significant economic losses to the kingdom. My mission is to find the dock master's shipping schedule." He paused. "They seem to have a high-level rogue stationed here. Three of us took this mission, but the other two were killed the moment they entered the master's room. I was lucky—I was on lookout outside and barely escaped. I've been waiting here for a day now, and I still don't know what to do."

"A high-level rogue?"

Shock nodded. "Yes, likely an expert personally dispatched by VanCleef. I'm not sure why he's here. Oh, and the dock master is a goblin."

At that, Li Shaolin suddenly recalled the events in the mine. That masked kid had casually killed a rogue, hadn't he? The one wearing a silk mask. And then the Golden Golem had killed another. Could they have been sent from Jerod's Dock to scout?

Thinking this over, he quickly asked, "When did you enter the dock? And was there anything unusual last night or today?"

Shock thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, last night two people left the dock in the rain. We entered early yesterday morning."

So that was it. VanCleef must have sent those rogues to help with something, and the dock master, wanting to know about Fargodeep Mine, had dispatched two to investigate.

Li Shaolin thought about pulling out the Red Silk Mask to ask about it, but decided against it. If word somehow got back to the Defias Brotherhood that he'd killed two of their high-ranking members, he'd be in serious trouble.

After more discussion, with Shock on their side, the intelligence problem was solved. According to him, the dock currently had about ten Defias dockworkers, two personal bodyguards for the Goblin Overseer, and two or three of those mysterious high-level rogues. The rest were hired locals, nothing to worry about.

The Defias dockworkers were about as strong as farm guards, matching the number of people they'd brought. They were the ones patrolling outside in small groups. The two bodyguards, however, were a problem—not something ordinary guards could handle. According to Shock, they were likely on par with level 9 human warriors.

"Alright, let's take out those three patrolling outside first," Tommy said, drawing his greatsword, eager to act.

"Fine." With no other options, Li Shaolin agreed. After all, these Defias workers patrolled in shifts day and night without rest.

The three patrolling workers made a round and gradually drew closer.

Shock leaped into Stealth, while Tommy raised his greatsword, ready to charge. Li Shaolin's hand glowed white as Bone Fang coalesced, dancing at his fingertips.

"Thump!" One patrol worker was knocked out by Shock's sap. At the same time, Tommy grunted and leaped out, his greatsword slashing down!

"Whoosh!" An arrow from one of their guards struck another worker. Caught off guard, he couldn't parry Tommy's blade and was cut down on the spot. Then, a figure emerged from the darkness, a dagger flashing as it sliced into a third worker's spine. With a single stroke, blood gushed, and the man collapsed. For a level 10 rogue like Shock, killing farm guards was trivial.

Two were down, but the one hit by the arrow let out a dying shout, alerting the rest of the dock.

Tommy swung horizontally, cutting down the sapped worker, then pointed his greatsword forward with a shout. The others surged ahead.

The wooden door of the dock's lodging burst open, and several Defias dockworkers poured out, all wearing identical red coarse linen masks, soft armor, and short swords.

Tommy's greatsword whirled as he led the charge, while Shock vanished again, presumably back into Stealth. Only Li Shaolin remained in the rear.

He quickly called the Clay Golem over for protection and cast Bone Shield on himself before locking onto targets and picking them off one by one.

With the front line shielding him, he didn't have to worry about close combat. In no time, three had fallen to his magic.

The dock descended into chaos. The civilians living there fled in panic at the sight of the fight, shouting and screaming.

Li Shaolin was enjoying the carnage when a ripple of energy appeared beside him. A dagger materialized, slashing down at him!

"Clang!" The dagger struck the Bone Shield, shattering one layer as a figure emerged—his face covered by a Red Silk Mask!

The man showed no panic. He stabbed again without hesitation, and before Li Shaolin could react, "Clang!" another Bone Shield shattered!

Seeing Li Shaolin under attack, Tommy forced his opponent back with a swing and rushed over. His greatsword cut through the air, striking like lightning.

The thief's figure flickered, as if abandoning Li Shaolin, the dagger turning to strike Tommy.

"Come on, then!" Tommy exhaled and braced himself to parry. With his greatsword against a short blade, he naturally held the advantage and wasn't afraid.

But unexpectedly, the dagger brushed against the greatsword like a dragonfly skimming water, then veered back toward Li Shaolin!

Crack! The last Bone Shield shattered!

What a move—that feint was beautifully executed. Li Shaolin, grazed by the strike, broke out in a cold sweat on his forehead, silently cursing the danger.

Whether it was because the thief's level was too high or something else, the Clay Golem's slow effect barely hindered him. He raised his dagger again and thrust at Li Shaolin!

Ssshh! Two spinning Bone Fangs flew across, but the thief's dagger knocked them aside, sending them clattering to the ground!

Wind stirred, and a white light flashed.

With his life in danger, there was no time to hesitate. He flipped open the Book of the Dead, and the Skeleton General had already stepped in front of him.

A flicker of surprise seemed to cross the thief's eyes, unsure how this figure had appeared. Meanwhile, Tommy circled around, ready to launch a pincer attack.

A cyan glow flared on the thief's body—there it was, activating his evasion again. Tommy, too far beneath him in level, was instantly ignored. The thief hooked his right hand slightly, dodging the Skeleton General's Bone Blade, while a green light flashed in his left hand as another dagger slid out, slashing toward the Skeleton General's neck.

To his surprise, the Skeleton General didn't dodge or evade, its Bone Blade still sweeping horizontally! At the same time, Li Shaolin's incantation rang out, and the Venomous Dagger was cast onto it!