Boar, oh boar, why are you so ugly?

"How could it happen that fast? Did you think you were buying candy?" Sylvanas rolled her eyes at him. "Still, that idea of yours is pretty good. Can those dire wolves really prey on murlocs?"

"That's what I heard, but it should be true!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"If they can prey on murlocs, they can kill trolls. How many more can you get?" Sylvanas asked.

"What for?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked.

"Look how nervous you are. I was only asking," Sylvanas said.

"Don't get any ideas about them. I'm counting on them to keep my Shalandis Isle stable," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"Without my help, you wouldn't even have a fief, and here you are calling it your Shalandis Isle," Sylvanas said.

"You have a point. But don't tell me you want to form a battle wolf unit too?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked cautiously.

"Why not? Six hundred dire wolves in exchange for Shalandis Isle. That sounds like an easy deal," Sylvanas said with a smile.

"That's not a good idea. If you take them all, what am I supposed to use to suppress the murlocs?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said. "Let's leave them on Shalandis Isle for a while first."

"What? Don't you trust me?" Sylvanas asked, looking at him.

"Of course I do!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk smiled. "If I can't trust you, who can I trust?"

"Then why all the pointless chatter?" Sylvanas said, a little displeased.

"No, you've got me all wrong!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk protested. "I'm thinking of you! Five hundred wolves, not five hundred chickens. People could die if they aren't managed properly. Right now, we only have thirty trinkets. What good would taking the wolves do? How would you tame them? These are adult wolves, not little pups, lady! Besides, feeding them would cost quite a bit. Isn't it better to leave them on the island eating murlocs?"

Sylvanas thought it over. Keeping five hundred disobedient wolves really would require a sizable place, and it had to be secure. Feeding them would cost a lot too. "All right, we'll leave them there for a while. But whenever I need them, I'll go and take them."

"Are you really that set on using dire wolves as battle pets?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked.

"What if I wanted wild bears or lynxes? Do you have that many to give me?" Sylvanas asked.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk shook his head. "Why do you always pick the ones that are hard to find? There's already a whole herd of boars. You don't want them? If I go buy bears now, won't I be left with three hundred adult boars?"

"They're too ugly! I don't want them!" Sylvanas said.

...Looks, huh? Looks and I just don't get along. I've already become a handsome High Elf, so why are looks still making life difficult for me? Boar, oh boar, why are you so ugly? Couldn't you be a little better-looking?

He thought for a moment, then said, "If you insist on using dire wolves as battle pets, I have an idea. It might be difficult, though. I'm afraid you won't be able to pull it off."

"Just tell me your idea. How do you know I can't do it?" Sylvanas said.

"I heard the Vilebranch trolls in the Hinterlands have beast tamers like the ones in Zul'Aman, except they raise dire wolves instead of lynxes. The dire wolves their ordinary beast tamers raise are about the same size as forest dire wolves, but their priests also keep a kind called the vilebranch giant wolf. They're huge, about the size of worgs. You couldn't ask for better battle pets!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"Dire wolves can grow that big? Where?" Sylvanas found a map of the Hinterlands and spread it out.

"Here!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk tapped a spot in the northeastern corner of the Hinterlands map. He remembered finding them there: enormous elite dire wolves.

"Jintha'Alor? That's one of the trolls' oldest cities." Sylvanas shook her head. "I really can't do that. Troll priests are always heavily protected. If, as you say, even their ordinary beast tamers only raise the smaller dire wolves, and only the priests have vilebranch giant wolves, there probably aren't many of them."

"It might still be possible. For example, we could secretly capture some people from the Vilebranch tribe, then make them trade vilebranch giant wolves for the prisoners. That might work. Just ten. We only need ten males," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"What good would ten do?" Sylvanas frowned. "Going so far and taking all that trouble isn't worth it."

"Don't dismiss it! If you can get ten, we can breed our own," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said, thinking of crossbreeding.

According to the principle of hybrid vigor, offspring produced by mating vilebranch giant wolves with forest dire wolves would likely be larger than forest dire wolves and only a little smaller than vilebranch giant wolves, very close to the latter in size. As someone from the modern world, he naturally understood the importance of good breeding stock.

"Even breeding them ourselves would be useless. How long would it take to turn ten into six hundred?" Sylvanas said.

"Purebreds would be difficult, of course, but we want crossbreeds! We just need to mate vilebranch giant wolves with forest dire wolves. I've already ordered four hundred female forest dire wolves. With enough food, one litter a year shouldn't be a problem. Each female usually has two to four pups per litter, so that would give us eight hundred to over a thousand a year. By my estimate, their offspring would probably be about as big as vilebranch giant wolves. They might be a little smaller, but they'd definitely be much bigger than forest dire wolves," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"Can you really do that?" Sylvanas asked, her eyes widening in disbelief. "You aren't lying to me, are you?"

"What would I gain from lying to you? It's not as if you're paying me," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"How could one male mate with forty females? That's impossible." Sylvanas shook her head.

"Yes, that's a problem," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said with a nod.

He thought for a moment. "We'll have to use artificial insemination. By the way, Sylvanas, does your Windrunner family have an apothecary? I'll need his help when the time comes."

"An apothecary? Yes! Would an apothecary be any use for this?" Sylvanas asked in puzzlement.

"He might be. Lend me one when the time comes," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"All right, we'll discuss it then!" Sylvanas said.

"With an apothecary, this shouldn't be too difficult," Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

"Can you really solve it?" Sylvanas remained skeptical.

"I really can!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said.

Diluting the semen with saline should work, he thought. But what would happen if I added some minor or major healing potions? I'll have to experiment. Who knows? Maybe something powerful will come out of it.

I'll have to find a piece of pure, transparent crystal to make a microscope and take a look first. But no sooner had the idea of a microscope occurred to him than he rejected it. He still understood a little of the basic principle, but he had forgotten everything more advanced that his teachers had taught him. There was nothing he could do, so he gave up on it.

"Then it's settled. I'll find a way to get ten vilebranch giant wolves, and you

give me six hundred large dire wolves," Sylvanas said.

"Then, about Shalandis Isle?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk hurriedly asked.

"I'll help you get it," Sylvanas said.

"Thank you for your gift, Your Majesty!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said with a grin.

"Are you asking for a beating?" Sylvanas snapped.

"Ah! Let's talk about how to determine the battle pets' tactical movements instead. That'll be important for their future training." Yu Lin Bloodhawk was hardly that foolish; he changed the subject quickly.

Sylvanas glared fiercely at him without saying a word. But as Yu Lin Bloodhawk earnestly explained everything in detail, she gradually forgot the title that had just angered her.

Their discussion grew louder and louder, with occasional minor arguments. In the end, however, they settled everything.

Sylvanas agreed to help find an arena and handle the troll prisoners. She also suggested finding several more Memory Crystals to record the fights, making it easier to extract the tactical movements afterward.

Once he understood what Memory Crystals did, Yu Lin Bloodhawk was overjoyed. Weren't these the Azeroth version of video cameras? He wheedled and pestered Sylvanas to set aside a few more for him.

Instead, Sylvanas unexpectedly smacked him on the head and scolded him. "Idiot! Why not apply directly to the Military Department? Why ask me? Remember to set aside a few extra for me."

Realization dawned across Yu Lin Bloodhawk's face. Of course! He belonged to an organization now. He was no longer someone with no backing. How had he forgotten that he could submit a request to his organization? He then spoke with Sylvanas for a while longer about battle pet armor and training.

Sylvanas told him he could draw a concept sketch of the equipment, attach his requirements, and submit it to the Military Department's logistics office. The blacksmiths, relevant arcanists, and designers there would help complete it. The only thing he needed to watch out for was making his requirements as clear as possible. If he couldn't draw, a written list of requirements would do.

After Sylvanas left, Yu Lin Bloodhawk sat in his office and thought for a while. He felt there was no immediate rush to draw the armor. What really left him torn was whether he should replace all the boars with wild bears.

In the end, he decided to write a report for the Military Department first and let those bigwigs figure it out. Since he still didn't know the Military Department's position on replacing them, he would first talk to his temporary subordinates and cancel the personnel assignments for the boar battle pets. They could make the final decision once the Military Department had decided. With that, he headed for the meeting room, wondering whether they were still arguing.

From a distance, Yu Lin Bloodhawk heard the arguing in the meeting room. He gave a helpless, wry smile. High Elves still weren't willing to give boars a fair chance!

When he entered the meeting room, everyone saw that he had returned, and the arguing gradually subsided.

"Ahem." He deliberately cleared his throat twice, then said, "I heard your arguments too. How about this? I'll submit a report to the Military Department and see what they think. If they're also against using boars as battle pets, I'll replace them with wild bears. But in that case, you may have to wait several more months before you can get your battle pets."

The moment he finished speaking, a thunderous cheer erupted in the meeting room.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk shook his head with a wry smile. "For now, discuss who will train lynxes and who will train wild bears. Once you've chosen, each person must feed and care for their beast personally. No handing the job off to someone else. That will be a great help in building a bond with the beasts more quickly. Those who have received magical trinkets should find ways to complete the soul ritual with their beasts as soon as possible, so they can pass the trinkets on to the next person."

Everyone agreed enthusiastically. Canceling the boar battle pets was the good news they had most wanted to hear that day. Only moments earlier, they had been locked in a heated argument over it.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk rose to leave. "All right, enough talk from me. You can discuss the rest. Just give me the list when you're done!" With that, he left and returned to his office to write the report.