Orcs in the Redridge Mountains

The Dark Ranger Marla raised her head and saluted, saying, "Reporting in, madam."

She was accompanied by two companions, Calila and Cleya, both of whom were key members of the Dark Ranger.

Veronalara finally met the people she was waiting for and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Marla. I think you know why I came to find you."

The three Dark Ranger exchanged glances. "Yes, madam, we already know. Tatsel's fleet has been attacked, and you need us to investigate."

"That's good. But how do you plan to investigate?"

Cleya said, "We plan to ask Captain Harkel first to find out what happened before we go to the site to investigate."

Calila remained lost in thought.

Seeing that she seemed lost in thought, Veronalara asked, "Don't you have anything to share, Calila?"

"I thought we were going to find the Witherer. As long as he comes back, all problems will be solved."

Without a second thought, Veronalara immediately replied, "Don't always expect the Witherer to solve everything for us. We must learn to be independent of his power."

"But madam..."

"There's no time to look for the Witherer now. You didn't see what happened at the meeting. Tatsel has completely turned into a radical now. She hasn't done anything inflammatory yet, but I think she can't control her anger, especially after she complained about our other council members' rational handling of the Shadowfang and the Witherer incidents."

"You mean she might retaliate against the Alliance?" Marla realized the seriousness of the situation. She spread her hands, bowed deeply, and said, "We'll get on it right away, ma'am."

"Alright, you can go now."

"There are actually people investigating, Dark Ranger."

Harkel sat in the ship's command room, gazing out the window. The Witherer hadn't been hit and the damage wasn't severe; it could be repaired and ready for service again.

"Most people who encounter fierce battles at sea would choose to stay on land for a few days, but you seem to be special, Captain." Marla and one of her companions had found the Witherer on the dock an hour ago, but Harkel had not shown up. Just now, the captain returned from Tatsel's side.

She was surprised that Marla had come, and knew why she was there, but she didn't want to see them. She turned around, glaring at Marla arrogantly. "You want to know why? I can tell you, because I'm waiting for Commander Tatsel to give the order to attack the Alliance, and I'll be ready at any moment. The first shell to hit King Wrynn will come from my warship."

The Dark Ranger had no right to interfere in the Navy's actions; they were merely following orders to investigate.

"Then please tell us exactly where the Witherer was attacked, and we can help investigate..."

"Why investigate?" Harkel asked angrily. "The fact is the Alliance ambushed us, and the bodies I brought back are the best proof."

"Because this is a task assigned to us by Lady Veronalara," Calila said. She felt there was no need to continue confronting the captain, who only believed the truth before his eyes, and reasoning with her was a waste of time. "If you are still willing to accept the Forsaken rank system, then cooperate with our investigation."

Harkel shrugged indifferently. "I only obey Lord Tatsel's orders."

"So Lord Tatsel means he's refusing to cooperate with our work?" Calila asked sharply. "Then we'll have to go find the other crew members, those who are injured and can no longer stay on the Witherer. I think they'll have something to say."

Harkel stood up abruptly. "Excuse my bluntness, Dark Ranger, your actions are despicable. Those crew members barely made it back to Maraudon safely. Even if they need treatment and are no longer my crew, fine, they just went through a battle. Please don't let them relive that terrifying moment."

Marla felt a pang of guilt upon hearing this and wanted to apologize, but Calila preemptively took over the conversation, appearing more focused on the mission. "This is also an internal decision of the Dark Ranger. The Navy has no right to interfere. Unless you say so yourself, we have no choice."

Harkel glared at Calila. "Looks like you guys are more cunning than Belmont's men."

"If Commander Tatsel is still willing to trust Shadowblade, he can have Belmont send someone to take over our work."

The captain was speechless, only glaring fiercely at Calila. After a while, she shouted to the guards at the command room door, "Go and get my spoils, let them have a good look at them."

A moment later, two men entered the small room. They were both seasoned sailors, their gait steady. They were carrying a long, open wooden crate. Marla assumed it contained a corpse, but she smelled no decay.

The two sailors placed the box on the ground and left.

"See for yourselves," Harkel said, walking back to his chair. "This is the most compelling evidence."

Both Dark Ranger frowned upon seeing the contents of the box. Calila crouched down to examine it more closely.

"This is the Grand Marshal's Sword of the Alliance, and only high-ranking officers of the Alliance possess it."

"You say this is your spoils of war? Then you fought with the owner of this sword? And you even killed him."

Harkel glared at Calila, then looked at Marla. She made a pistol gesture with her hand and Marla. "You must be wondering why I didn't capture him alive. I'm sorry, I didn't give him that chance. Because if I had brought him back, the end result would have been the same: he would have been released. Fortunately, the laws established by Lord the Witherer don't stipulate that prisoners must be captured alive."

"Have you ever considered that capturing a high-ranking Alliance official could give us a diplomatic advantage?"

"All I can think of is the wreckage of the Shadowfang and the corpses of the Forsaken." Harkel's vehement words convinced Marla that Veronalara's fears were true. "I have said all I can. Now, I have patrol duties to perform. Please leave my ship immediately."

Marla stared at Harkel for a while, then sighed and said, "Very well, Captain, thank you for your cooperation. Let's go now."

"What a waste of time," Calila muttered under her breath and left.

Cleya had been pacing back and forth on the harbor deck. Seeing Marla and Kalila emerge, she went to greet them. Marla shook her head with a grave expression. Calila shrugged, as if to say they hadn't gained much.

"I only found out the location where they were attacked," Cleya said. The Dark Ranger trio didn't place all their hopes on Harkel. After all, she wasn't the only one involved in the battle.

"I found Harkel's first mate, a Goblins named Bolilake. I gave him a hundred gold coins, and he told me everything."

"Can you trust what Goblins say?" Calila asked skeptically.

Marla agreed with Cleya's approach. "The more money they have, the more truthful their words become."

"Then tell me the news you got in exchange for a hundred gold coins."

"The Witherer was able to prepare defenses in advance only after it collided with the wreckage of the Shadowfang. According to the description of the situation, there was indeed a ship that came very close to them at the time. However, the fog was too thick, and the observers could only see the Alliance's lion banner, not the outline of the ship."

"What kind of fog is this thick? We can't even see the shape of the ship."

"There is indeed something strange about this."

"That's not all the strange stuff," Cleya continued. "When the Alliance started their attack, they first fired a volley of arrows, then hit the Witherer with harpoons, and the Alliance soldiers launched a surprise attack by following the ropes attached to the harpoons."

Marla was very confused after hearing this. "What? How is this possible? Wasn't the Alliance affected by the fog? If their encounter with the Witherer was just an accident, then it would be impossible for them to organize an effective attack in such a short time."

"Don't forget there's a Shadowfang ahead of the Witherer. If the Alliance had planned this all along, how could they have known the Witherer was on its way after sinking the Shadowfang, and thus prepared a second ambush? The fact that Harkel didn't notice the Shadowfang was in distress means the two ships were quite far apart."

Marla struggled to piece together Calila and Cleya's analysis; the clues were somewhat jumbled, and something clearly amiss in certain areas. "Let's go check out the location of the battle first. Maybe we'll find something unexpected."

Oslo never dreamed that the most peaceful time of his life would be spent holding a fishing rod. But he had grown accustomed to this life, free from conflict and strife, detached from war, avoiding Bloodlust battles, and spared from wielding swords and spears or getting bloodied.

Years ago, Oslo was a foreman in Lakeshire. At that time, the world was threatened by Deathwing, and danger lurked everywhere around the Redridge Mountains. The kingdom was shrouded in darkness until later, the Kobolds were driven away, the Defias Brotherhood mysteriously disappeared after a period of turmoil, and the Blackrock Orc were defeated by the heroes of Company B. A Lakeshire with its azure skies, abundant prey, and idyllic life returned to Bailok's sights.

Oslo deeply admired Company B. To save Lakeshire, Company B was almost completely wiped out, and they were always regarded as heroes by the residents of Lakeshire. Their leader, Kishane, was the person Oslo admired most. At first, everyone thought Kishane was dead, but unexpectedly, he survived, even narrowly escaping from the jaws of a black dragon.

It sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. Kishane's story, or rather, he himself, is a legend. Oslo wholeheartedly agrees. So, whenever he has the chance in town, he tells the story of Company B and Kishane to the tourists who come to the area.

Sometimes people ask him why he's so passionate about heroic tales. Oslo simply replies with two words: "Regret!"

During his time as a foreman, he oversaw the construction of the Clearwater Lake Bridge. However, an accident occurred during construction, and a huge boulder pinned him to the ground. Had it not been for an adventurer who summoned a two-headed Ogre to help him move the boulder, he would likely have perished long ago.

However, although he was saved, his injuries left him with lasting effects. Oslo always harbored a dream of becoming a hero and making a name for himself on the battlefield as an Alliance soldier.

But that accident completely shattered that idea. Over time, whenever he felt uneasy, he would tell the story of Company B, as if he were one of its members.

Later, stories alone were no longer enough to calm Oslo's restless heart. He began to petition Mayor Solomon to turn Lakeshire into a tourist attraction, given the many heroic footsteps that had Lakeshire. However, Mayor Solomon opposed this, arguing that dangers still lurked Lakeshire.

Oslo was somewhat discouraged by the rejection and even resented Solomon, but it wasn't long before he realized that he was just seeking the thrill of being a hero, and he didn't need to find satisfaction by telling stories to tourists; he only needed to visit the places where Company B had fought.

He would go to Stillwater Lake Camp, where Company B first gathered. He would also go to Ripper Valley, once occupied by a large horde of Blackrock Orc, where Kishane and his companions not only rescued the humans captured by the Orcs but also wiped Orcs all out without firing a shot. Ripper Valley the ground by bombs, was the best proof of that. Of course, none of these places could compare to Company B's final battle, where Kishane and his comrades piloted a tank through the Orcs' defenses at Stonehold and engaged in a bloody battle with their Black Dragon master. In that battle, the Black Dragon vanished, the Orcs scattered and fled, and Lakeshire finally enjoyed true peace.

So it's not hard to imagine how surprised he was when he heard the voices of three Orcs coming from the ruins of the Stonehold.

You see, the Alliance has already swept through the entire area surrounding Redridge Mountains. And the Blackrock Orc' Blackrock Spire in Blackrock Spire on the Burning Steppes has been breached. They should have been wiped out long ago. Even if they've returned, why is there no trace of them? If Oslo hadn't come here today to reminisce about the heroes of the past, probably no one would know that Orcs still exist here!

How did they end up here?

Although it was quite perplexing, it wasn't Oslo's primary concern at the moment. The key issue was that Orcs had already taken to the Alliance territory.

Oslo discreetly unslung the hunting rifle from his back. He reminded himself not to alert them rashly. His task was to remain hidden and ascertain their intentions. At best, they were just a bunch of lost fools, oblivious to the fact that they had stumbled back into the place of their nightmares.