Jiang Jie amused and exasperated.
I was completely disoriented by the hundreds of Dwarves and didn't pay attention to my direction. I ended up running east towards Loch, covering more than ten kilometers in ten minutes. That speed was incredible; it was like I was running for my life.
No, that's them running for their lives!
"Alright, let's change direction and head south." Jiang Jie looked towards the plains to the south and the mountains further away.
Brann had only parted ways with the Dwarves musketeers an hour ago; clearly, his target was neither in the north nor overseas, but rather in the south or west.
The entire Loch Modan is Dwarves territory, home to over ten thousand Ironforge Dwarves; there's certainly nothing here that could attract Brann.
If you go south, then there's only one place that could attract Brann.
"So, you went to Uldaman?" Jiang Jie blinked, chuckling as he faced the gentle yet slightly cool east wind.
Once the direction is determined, things become much easier.
Jiang Jie roughly knew the location of Uldaman, so he headed south.
Of course, finding Brann in such a vast wilderness is difficult, after all, Loch Modan isn't entirely open plains; there are groves and hills that obstruct the view. The road to Uldaman is even more densely forested, and Grizzlepaw Ridge are home to numerous black bears and spiders, making it difficult to find someone. Therefore, Jiang Jie chose an easier method:
Since Brann is going to Uldaman, let's go directly to Uldaman and meet up with him.
They were still far from Uldaman, having to cross the entire Loch Modan, a full three hundred kilometers. Even with Jiang Jie and the Pandaren's speed and stamina, they could only travel less than one hundred kilometers a day.
Three days later, they finally left the dense forests of Grizzlepaw Ridge and saw the light of day again.
Just across a valley lies another world.
This is Badlands.
Few people know what the original landscape of the Badlands was like, but since the Cataclysm more than two hundred years ago, it has become the environment it is today.
The Dwarves are a remarkable race. The original Dwarves left the Sleeping Lands and built the kingdom of Ironforge. But after the death of " High King Modimus," a terrible war broke out between the three most powerful clans: the Bronzebeard, the Dark Iron, and the Wildhammer —the so-called " War of the Three Hammers."
Ultimately, the most powerful Bronzebeard tribe defeated the Dark Iron Clan and Wildhammer Clan, becoming the masters of Ironforge.
The Wildhammer Clan built a city in the eastern mountains of the Wetlands that rivaled Ironforge: Grim Batol.
The Dark Iron Clan migrated to the Redridge Mountains and built another equally magnificent underground city: Shadowforge City.
Many years later, the Dark Iron Clan secretly formed a large army. The King of Dark Iron, " Emperor Thaurissan," personally led the army to attack Ironforge, while his queen, " The Sorceress Modgud," led another army to attack Grim Batol.
Emperor Thaurissan ultimately failed to breach Ironforge, suffering heavy losses. Meanwhile Modgud, aided by the Blade of the Black Empire, nearly conquered Grim Batol, but was abandoned by the Blade of the Black Empire at the crucial moment and subsequently killed by the Wildhammer Dwarves.
Ironforge still stands, but Grim Batol has been transformed into a cursed city by dark magic.
The Wildhammer Clan was forced to abandon Grim Batol and migrate to what is now Hinterlands, where they befriended the local gryphons, vigorously developed Shaman culture, built Aerie Peak, established the Wildhammer Gryphon Rider, and gradually distanced themselves from the Dwarves in Ironforge.
Of course, before that, the Wildhammer Dwarves, together with the Bronzebeard Dwarves, were hunting down the Dark Iron Dwarves all the way to Shadowforge City.
With the Dark Iron Clan on the verge of Devastation, Emperor Thaurissan finally decided to take a gamble.
He was the most powerful Legendary mage among all Dwarves. In his Resentment and rage, he used an incredibly powerful spell to break through the barrier between Azeroth and the Fire Elemental Plane, reaching the long-imprisoned Fire Elemental Lords, Ragnaros the Firelord.
Ragnaros had long wanted to return to Azeroth, and now he had the opportunity.
Emperor Thaurissan's magic was not enough to fully summon Ragnaros to this world, but it at least summoned a portion of his power, or rather, an avatar of the Firelord carrying a portion of his power.
Ragnaros had no interest in paying attention to the one who had summoned him.
Countless years of imprisonment filled him with hatred for the world, so he killed Emperor Thaurissan immediately. Then, before the torn barrier could heal, he summoned the power of the Fire Elemental Plane and ripped apart the Redridge Mountains.
A powerful force shook the earth, causing a roaring volcano to rise from the ruins, forming Blackrock Spire, a volcano that connects the Searing Gorge to the north and the Burning Steppes to the south.
In fact, it was the raging flames and lava that changed the landscape over a thousand miles, creating the Burning Steppes, the Searing Gorge, and the Badlands.
Because of its relatively long distance, the Badlands was not significantly affected.
Unlike the Burning Steppes and the Searing Gorge, where temperatures remain above 40 degrees Celsius year-round, and some areas even have large amounts of flowing lava that make the temperature unbearable even for the Bronzebeard Dwarves, most areas maintain a normal to slightly higher temperature. Although there is no winter, there are still spring and summer.
However, the landscape here has been completely destroyed, so much so that more than two hundred years have passed and there is hardly a tree to be seen, not even a blade of grass.
Separated by a valley, one side is forested, the other desolate.
Jiang Jie quickly arrived at a hillside several tens of meters high.
Looking into the distance.
Soon, a few kilometers away, he saw the ruins of an ancient building, and also some people busily working...
Dwarves?
"Let's go take a look!"
The group of one person and four pandas approached silently, trying their best to avoid the Dwarves ' sight. Fortunately, the Dwarves were all busy with their own affairs and had no scouts, so they did not notice them.
"Dark skin, dark beard, teeth... are white. Black people have white teeth? So they're not Bronzebeard Dwarves, they're Dark Iron Dwarves." Jiang Jie frowned.
The Dark Iron Dwarves, roasted by flames and fed on lava ash every day, have turned as black as coal dust in just over two hundred years. Their former brown skin has completely disappeared, and even their reddish-brown beards and hair have turned black. This is probably related to the rule of the Firelord.
It's not surprising that the Dark Iron Dwarves found this place.
Ironforge is thousands of kilometers away from here, and Blackrock Spire is about the same distance, but the Badlands has a settlement of Dark Iron Dwarves, but not of Bronzebeard Dwarves, so the Dark Iron Dwarves can move faster.
However, it seems that the Dark Iron Dwarves have only just cleared out the ruins and created a cave, and haven't really explored it much yet.
Of course, Jiang Jie knew very well that even in a few more years, these Dark Iron Dwarves would not be able to penetrate deep into Uldaman. Although this lost city had long been silent, it still had its own defensive forces, and there was also an ancient, savage creature that occupied the depths of the underground.
" Brann... hasn't he arrived yet?"
Jiang Jie frowned, looked around, and quickly noticed something amiss.
He found a gorilla.
This is a gorilla that stands almost two and a half meters tall, hiding under a huge rock not far away to cool off.
There are no gorillas in the Badlands; this is an outsider. As far as Jiang Jie knows, Brann has a pet named " Glibb," which is a gorilla.
" Brann... is already here?" Jiang Jie blinked. "Then, where are you?"
Looking around but unable to find it, Jiang Jie could only turn to the great AI, Xiao Feng, for help.
"Hmph! Remembering your older sister now?" The haughty AI, though clearly unhappy, still had to obey its master's two fundamental laws. It quickly activated the game pod's scanning function and located its target. "There it is!"
Jiang Jie held a high-powered telescope and looked into the distance, where he spotted a " Dark Iron Dwarves ".
It did indeed look no different from other Dark Iron Dwarves, but the game pod's scan easily revealed its disguise.
That guy somehow used some kind of dye to blacken himself up, disguising himself as Dark Iron Dwarves!
He acted like a "I am Dark Iron Dwarves," carrying a backpack, a pickaxe in one hand and a musket in the other, tapping and looking around here and there, and swaggered through the entire outdoor excavation site into the cave!
" Brann... you're really talented."
Jiang Jie sighed and tossed the invisibility potion he had bought from his master, Rhonin, to a few Pandaren before entering Stealth mode.