The Gathering Storm

Kalimdor Continent, Orgrimmar.

The Goblins of Kezan, who had joined the Horde alongside the Bilgewater Cartel, were furious at this moment. An undercurrent was brewing and surging among them.

Before Kezan's volcano erupted, Trade Prince Gallywix had jacked up prices and desperately squeezed his fellow Goblins, making a fortune from the disaster. Thus, aside from the minority who had barely scraped together enough for passage, most Goblins had been forced to sign permanent indenture contracts with the Bilgewater Cartel to save their lives.

The fleet was in Gallywix's hands. What could they do? Any Goblin on Kezan would have done the same.

But Goblins were shrewd. At first, they had all endured it, playing good little workers and obedient slaves for a while. They had planned to protest and resist gradually after reaching a Horde city, abolishing those unequal contracts that squeezed them dry.

Unlike the Bilgewater Cartel's direct employees, those employees received extremely high pay and benefits, with no indenture contracts binding them.

Do not think Goblins were merely heartless landlords who knew how to exploit others. Just look at the combat strength of Goblin mercenaries. Great Goblins like Gallywix and Blackrock were generous with benefits for their own employees.

Factional opposition and factional glory were all bullshit. Goblin mercenaries who fought for gold could unleash terrifying combat power at any moment.

Oh, of course, with the support of all kinds of high-tech weapons.

You wanted Goblins to charge in with cold weapons and hack people apart? Sorry, our insurance policy did not cover that, so we would not go. We fought strictly according to the contract, taking only insured jobs. Boss, look, it was all listed in the package—a one-stop service.

Back to the matter at hand: as peripheral personnel in this great syndicate system, they had signed