Vanessa VanCleef

The one who had arrived was Rick—the Rick who had abandoned Shawn and run when faced with the Domesticated Sow.

He looked to be in terrible shape. He had lost a lot of weight, and his entire body was covered in wounds. His eyes were filled with exhaustion, helplessness, confusion, and... hatred.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was that he had brought along a little girl who wasn't even ten. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her small mouth was sealed with a strip of white cloth, clearly to keep her from screaming or escaping.

Though the girl was young, still at an age of innocence and carefree joy, her eyes revealed a maturity beyond her years. It left Shawn somewhat surprised.

"Listen, Rick, after you abandoned me that day, did you realize you'd done something wrong and feel so guilty that you wounded yourself all over, then kidnapped a little girl to apologize to me? Are you hoping I'll forgive you and stop Princess from mounting you?"

Shawn tugged on the reins. The Domesticated Sow let out a lioness's roar, making Rick shudder. The little girl, tied up beside him, wasn't scared in the slightest. Her eyes only revealed defiance and resentment.

Rick glanced at the Domesticated Sow and confirmed that the beast was only trying to scare him, not actually trying to mount him. He relaxed his backside and gave a bitter smile. "Shawn, I know you're a mage, and that you and Lord Gryan wiped out the Kobolds and Murlocs. You're powerful, so... so I came to join you!"

How self-righteous and matter-of-fact he sounded. The reasoning seemed perfectly natural: Shawn was powerful, so Rick had come to pledge himself to him.

Shawn wondered if something was wrong with his ears. He couldn't believe he'd just heard that.

Had Rick really said that?

Could he really trust anything a repeat thief said?

Shawn sized Rick up with deep suspicion and asked in an equally doubtful tone, "Rick, do you think I'll believe you? Do I look like an idiot?"

Rick had clearly anticipated Shawn's reaction. He plopped down on the ground and pointed at the little girl beside him. "That's why I brought her here—to earn your trust. Sigh!"

Shawn froze for a moment, then took a closer look at the girl.

The little girl wore a simple cloth dress. Her skin was unusually pale, as if she'd spent years in a place untouched by sunlight. She also seemed to be in poor health, perhaps malnourished.

From her appearance alone, she looked no different from an ordinary little girl. She was rather pretty, though she hadn't grown into her looks yet. Most importantly...

Shawn looked at Rick and said with complete seriousness, "Rick, I'm not a lolicon."

Rick looked utterly bewildered. "What does 'lolicon' mean? Never mind, that's not important. Shawn, she's Vanessa—Vanessa VanCleef, Edwin VanCleef's daughter. Someone in Westfall will recognize her. You only need to ask around to confirm who she is. I brought her out here, so you should believe me now and hear what I've been through these past few days, right?"

Shawn froze.

What?

Vanessa VanCleef?

This little girl was Vanessa?

Holy crap!

Holy crap, holy crap!

Shawn hurriedly used Eye of Insight on the girl.

"Name: Vanessa VanCleef, daughter of Edwin VanCleef."

"Attributes: Strength 3, Agility 5, Stamina 4, Intelligence 9, Spirit 10."

"Class: None."

"Skills: None."

"Equipment: None."

No class, no skills, no equipment—a girl with nothing at all.

But the question was, was she really Vanessa VanCleef?

Shawn took a deep breath, then let it out. All he felt was shock and... excitement.

In the original history, Edwin VanCleef was eventually assassinated by men sent by Gryan Stoutmantle. The Defias Brotherhood then scattered and split into smaller groups.

Vanessa had witnessed her father's death with her own eyes. The once-innocent little girl became a young avenger who kept her hatred buried deep inside.

Later, she came to Saldean Farm, where Old Saldean adopted her. She took a new name: "Hope Saldean."

What a wonderful name!

Old Saldean must have wanted to tell Vanessa that as long as she was alive, there was still hope. She shouldn't despair of life, because there was hope for the future. Shawn even suspected that Old Saldean had already recognized Vanessa and learned about her background back then.

He adopted her out of kindness, and because he had hope for her.

In his eyes, she was simply a homeless little girl. Nothing more.

And yet...

"Hope? Was that what I was supposed to feel when I watched you lackeys of the nobility cut off my father's head? To me, hope is nothing but a cruel joke in this cold world. Hope doesn't exist. Only Vanessa does."

Yes, Vanessa had kept her hatred buried in her heart all along.

She quietly built up her strength, contacted her father's old followers, spread word of Stormwind City's misdeeds among the wanderers, and gathered support. Then, one day five years later, she raised the Defias Brotherhood's flag once more, rescued Ripsnarl, seized Deadmines, and continued building the Dreadnaught!

Meanwhile, Gryan Stoutmantle led his People's Militia into Stormwind City's ranks and marched to war in Northrend.

Gryan Stoutmantle was a selfless man. He didn't want old grudges to make him abandon his principles as a Paladin. Everything he did was to protect the people.

But Vanessa didn't care about any of that.

She believed Gryan had made the wrong choice.

"Once someone accepts Stormwind City's offer of amnesty, he has betrayed his people."

Perhaps Vanessa had once been torn and confused, caught between her hatred and the kindness Old Saldean had shown in raising her, unsure which path to take. Maybe Gryan's acceptance of amnesty had ended her last doubts and finally sent her down that road of no return.

As a Rogue, Vanessa might not have been as powerful as her father. But as an avenger and the leader of the Defias Brotherhood, she was far more cunning than he had been.

She gathered the refugees from Stormwind City;

She hired the powerful ogre mage Glubtok;

She hired Helix Gearbreaker, a Goblin engineer from the Bilgewater Cartel;

She ordered her engineers to improve and refine the Reaper 5000;

She rescued General Ripsnarl;

She also pushed Cookie into the spotlight, making him the Dreadnaught's public-facing captain.

Even when Deadmines was eventually breached once again, she used her brilliant schemes and Dream Poison to manipulate everyone in the palm of her hand. She slipped away like a cicada shedding its shell, burned the Dreadnaught, and vanished without a trace.