Mission Plan (Are you really unwilling to give me collections and recommendations? *cries*)

On the forest path leading to Stormwind City, three figures walked: Xiao Hen, Walsay, and the middle-aged man named Sunir.

Their pace wasn't fast, mainly because Walsay and Sunir were slow, but with the two guiding the way, Xiao Hen was spared the trouble of detours.

Treading on the muddy forest trail, Xiao Hen frowned, lost in thought.

Regarding the two quests, the main quest was to obtain the Dragon Crystal from Boulder Breach. Xiao Hen was certain that the Dragon Crystal wouldn't just be sitting there waiting for him to grab it—there would definitely be a Giant Dragon guarding it, waiting for him to kill it. If he went now, needless to say, he'd die. Even with six Rocket Projectiles, it wouldn't help; he didn't think those six could successfully take down that Giant Dragon.

Since he couldn't directly tackle the main quest, he'd first find a way to complete the side quest. After all, the quest had a one-year time limit, so there was still plenty of time.

The side quest: destroy the Dark Portal.

Relatively speaking, this quest was more urgent. Every moment delayed, Gul'dan could teleport more Orc clans over, increasing the Orcs' combat power. The alliance of humans and other races couldn't match the Orcs in a direct confrontation. Xiao Hen had just killed an Orc hunting squad himself, so he knew all too well how terrifying Orc combat power was.

It was no exaggeration to say that one Orc could take on ten human soldiers. Only Knight-level human elites could go toe-to-toe with Orc warriors, and Chieftain-level Orcs could only be resisted by Heroic Figures among humans or the alliance. As for the Orc shaman Gul'dan, he was a boss-level figure; for now, only the human guardian Medivh could oppose him.

"What a pity." Xiao Hen shook his head with a bitter smile.

What a pity that because of his arrival, Medivh had ultimately failed to resist the invasion of Fel Energy. Without Medivh closing the portal, the Orc army would invade smoothly, and he figured he'd have even less chance to complete the quest.

"Shuttle, why did Medivh succumb to Fel Energy because of my arrival?" Xiao Hen asked resentfully. In the original story, though Medivh was also invaded by Fel Energy, he retained a shred of sanity and cut off the Dark Portal's transmission at the critical moment, completely severing the Orcs' reinforcements—a key factor in the human alliance's victory.

"The Shuttle's repair requires this world's Elemental Power, and Medivh's main aid against Fel Energy was Elemental Power. Because the Shuttle absorbed too much Elemental Power, the balance between Elemental Power and Fel Energy tilted." The Shuttle said calmly.

Xiao Hen's eyes widened. "And you say it's because of me? How is that my fault? You're the real culprit, aren't you?"

He raised his left hand, looking at the mechanical patterns on the back of it, and sighed.

He had no choice but to think about completing the side quest first, then figure out the main quest. The Shuttle wouldn't assign him impossible tasks. Clearly, this main quest wasn't something he could finish alone—he'd have to gather the world's strong to slay the dragon together.

Complete the side quest first, use the merit of destroying the Dark Portal to rally various strong fighters to go dragon-slaying—that was Xiao Hen's plan.

"Sir, don't you think we should take a rest?" Walsay panted as he came up to Xiao Hen.

Xiao Hen looked up at the two. The forest path was hard to traverse, and they were just ordinary people, not as fit as Xiao Hen. After walking for so long, they were exhausted. Walsay and Sunir were drenched in sweat, gasping for breath.

"Alright, find a place to rest." Xiao Hen nodded.

They found an open spot to rest, but Xiao Hen was still lost in his own thoughts when he heard both their stomachs growling.

Seeing Xiao Hen look over, the two immediately grew embarrassed. Sunir stood up and said, "Sir, I'll go find some food in the forest."

Walsay chimed in, "I know a wild fruit in the woods that tastes great."

"Forget it, no need to go through the trouble." Searching for food would waste energy and time. Xiao Hen didn't want them to do that. His Storage Space was stocked with plenty of food and drink—enough to last a year, since he'd bought supplies for that long.

"Then?" The two were taken aback, scratching their heads, unsure what Xiao Hen meant.

"I've brought some food with me. No need to look for any." Xiao Hen said, waving his hand to produce a table and three stools. Then he started pulling out food: packaged roast duck, glossy bread, savory sausages, some cooked beef, and braised pork trotters.

"This... this..." The two were stunned. They already knew Xiao Hen had a legendary magical item like a Storage Space—after all, the terrifying magical gear he'd used to kill the Orcs couldn't have appeared out of thin air. But the food he was now bringing out was something they'd never seen before.

"Come on, eat up. Once we're done, we'll get moving early." These were just part of his supplies. Xiao Hen began unwrapping the packaging, taking out each item. Instantly, a mouthwatering aroma wafted out, nearly driving the two crazy. Already starving, they couldn't help drooling.

"Eat!" Xiao Hen was a bit hungry himself. He pulled out a dagger, sliced the beef into pieces, then took out chopsticks and thoughtfully tossed two forks to the two—they wouldn't know how to use chopsticks.

Eating the seasoned beef piece by piece, Xiao Hen looked up to see the two hadn't touched the forks at all, grabbing the food with their hands. Walsay was devouring a roast duck, grease smeared all over his mouth, while Sunir had picked up a sausage and sandwiched it between two pieces of bread, eating it like that—pretty clever.

Tears welled up in Sunir's eyes. The bread he'd eaten before was always the dark kind; white bread was only for nobles. The food he was eating now—really, he'd never had anything like it in his life.

Buttered bread with a sausage inside, bursting with meaty flavor—it was pure bliss. After finishing the bread, Sunir saw Walsay gnawing on a whole roast duck, which looked delicious, so he quickly grabbed a glossy braised pork trotter from the table. One bite—the taste was rich but not greasy, full of meaty goodness. It was amazing.

Walsay ate bite after bite, finishing the fragrant, tasty roast duck. His stomach was already pretty full, but seeing so much good food still on the table, he couldn't help picking up a fork and stabbing a piece of seasoned beef. The flavor conquered him again—it was just too good.

The two wolfed down all the food Xiao Hen had laid out like starving ghosts, then patted their bellies, nearly fainting from happiness.

Xiao Hen waved his hand, putting away the table and the trash. After resting a bit, the three set off again on their journey to Stormwind City.