"I want to take part in this operation too," VanCleef said. "After all, this is our first ambush against soldiers loyal to Stormwind City."
"No, Guildmaster, there are more important things for you to worry about right now." Felix did not want VanCleef involved in the operation. After all, who knew how many traitors or spies were around him?
There were only so many named members of the Defias Brotherhood in the game, but now the Stonemasons' Guild had gathered over a thousand people on the broad plains of Westfall. Felix had no idea which of them might be SI:7 agents.
But there was one good thing about being a transmigrator-he knew which people definitely were not SI:7 agents.
"Guildmaster, you should find a way to gather information about the Gold Coast Quarry now. This quarry is also constantly feeding the nobles of Stormwind City, and as far as I know, it belongs to Earl Ridgewell, not directly to the Kingdom of Stormwind."
"Oh, what difference does that make?" VanCleef did not think there was any difference between the quarry belonging to an earl or directly to the king. To him, they were all enemies of the Brotherhood.
"It's simple. This is a question of which targets we strike first. If it belongs to an earl, Varian won't move against us, but if it belongs directly to the king, Stormwind City's army will come and wipe us out. Guildmaster VanCleef, do you think the Brotherhood can withstand an army's encirclement and suppression right now?"
VanCleef's expression instantly turned extremely ugly. Of course he knew the answer: the Defias would collapse at the first blow.
Although its finances had become very strained, Stormwind City's military was still extremely powerful. As long as Varian wished, he could send Bolvar, Windsor, Marcus Jonathan, and others at any time to lead several armies into Westfall and wipe out the Defias Brotherhood, whose foundations were still shaky. Then VanCleef, Felix, and the others would have no choice but to keep fleeing in panic or surrender without a fight.
Felix began to speak with easy confidence. "Since Varian Wrynn can move to destroy us whenever he wishes, and we killed his queen, why hasn't he taken any action against us yet?"
"We didn't kill his wife!" VanCleef clearly refused to accept such slander. He shouted, "Queen Tiffin and Countess Katrana were the only good people among Stormwind City's high and mighty! How could our brothers possibly have attacked the queen? This must be a plot by those nobles. They murdered the queen!"
"Does that matter?" Felix shrugged. "Varian has already returned to Stormwind City from the Redridge Mountains with his army. How do you think those nobles will describe this to him? As far as Varian is concerned, we killed his wife. There's no doubt about that."
"So why hasn't Stormwind City's army come to wipe us out, root and branch? Don't give me self-deceiving nonsense like 'Varian is so consumed by grief that he can't recover or handle affairs of state properly, so he hasn't attacked us.' We both know perfectly well that Varian Wrynn isn't that kind of incompetent ruler."
"Then what do you think the reason is?" VanCleef was bewildered. He was skilled at construction and barehanded assassination, but he clearly had not spent any points in his talent tree on "analyzing the situation." This was also an important reason why Big Van's rebellion had failed to succeed after nine years.
In the original history of Warcraft, throughout the nine years from the Stonemasons' Guild rebellion in year 16 after the opening of the Dark Portal to year 25, Stormwind City had maintained a hands-off policy of appeasement toward the Defias Brotherhood in Westfall, without conducting any military operations to eliminate them.
One reason the royal army had not come was Katrana's mental influence, but that was not the most important one.
Marcus Jonathan's behavior had already demonstrated that the Black Dragon Princess could exploit human emotions to exert brief mental control for a time, but she could not control a person for long.
If she could control people's minds over the long term, she would not have been defeated later.
So the more important reason was-
"The Kingdom of Stormwind is actually facing troubles both at home and abroad right now. Varian can't spare the attention to strike at us."
VanCleef looked puzzled. "Troubles at home and abroad? Felix, we went there together those days. Look at Wishock, sitting with his legs crossed and dining on delicacies, or that high-and-mighty Lescovar, ordering everyone around. Did they look like they had a lot of trouble?"
"Don't rush, Guildmaster." Felix also wore a helpless expression as he faced this brawny warrior. "Let me walk you through it."
"First, the internal troubles. Within Stormwind City, Katrana, Bolvar, Wishock, Ridgewell, Gregor Lescovar, and that whole crowd are scheming against one another, fighting for power and profit. None of them will come out on top anytime soon, and their arguments and infighting will seriously hamper the Kingdom of Stormwind's efficiency. In addition, the corrupt Council of Nobles has also been a tremendous drain on the Kingdom of Stormwind's finances. Although Varian is richer than us right now, he's still very poor."
"Outside Stormwind City, there are gnolls and murlocs all across the kingdom, Blackrock Orcs and Dark Iron Dwarves in the Burning Steppes, undead creatures in Duskwood, and the Bloodsail and Blackwater Raiders in Stranglethorn Vale. Every one of them is a grave threat to Varian. How could he spare the attention to strike at us?"
"Next, the external threats. Within the Alliance, I imagine you've already noticed that King Terenas has always had the political ambition of establishing the Kingdom of Lordaeron's absolute supremacy."
"Huh?" VanCleef raised his head in disbelief. In any case, he really had not noticed any ambitions on Terenas's part.
"Terenas has always wanted to establish House Menethil's absolute rule over the entire Alliance. He has suppressed Gilneas, backed Stromgarde into a corner, and cleverly won over the magical kingdom of Dalaran and Kul Tiras, which has the strongest navy."
Though Terenas's "clever methods" of winning over Kul Tiras were a bit hard on his son's kidneys, Felix silently snarked.
"Lordaeron's own army is already the strongest, and it also has the support of the Silver Hand, a religious armed order partly subordinate to the royal family. Under those circumstances, if he gives an order, who in the Alliance would dare disobey?"
"To oppose Lordaeron is to oppose the Alliance and the Holy Light, which makes you liable to face the punishment of a 'holy war.' So the northern Alliance, headed by Lordaeron, is also an external threat to Stormwind City."
International relations were complicated. Lordaeron could help Stormwind City quell the threat of the orcs, and it could also help Stormwind City suppress rebels. But when the orcs and rebels were not overt threats, the relationship between the two was one of naked competition.
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