Inside Blackrock Spire, along the circular corridor, a group of people stealthily Stealth under the cover of magic, avoiding the patrolling Blackrock Orcs and Ogres, and slowly Stealth downwards along the thick iron chains.
This is the entrance hall of Blackrock Spire, the dividing line between the Blackrock Orcs territory and the Dark Iron Dwarves territory:
The entire Blackrock Spire above was occupied by the Blackrock Orcs and their masters— the Black Dragonflight.
Further down, the entire Blackrock Depths is occupied by the Dark Iron Dwarves and their masters—fire elementals.
The two major forces are locked in a power struggle, with roughly equal strength.
Ragnaros the Firelord, is clearly more terrifying than Nefarian, the Lord of Blackrock and the Black Dragon Prince. However, Ragnaros has been in a deep slumber since he was summoned to this world hundreds of years ago, and the number of fire elementals summoned to this world is obviously less than that of the Black Dragonflight.
The result was a draw, with neither side able to defeat the other.
This standoff lasted for more than a decade.
Even today.
Because of the standoff between the two sides, this huge entrance hall ended up not being under the jurisdiction of either side.
Over time, both sides developed a tacit understanding:
There are no guards in the entrance hall, so anyone can enter or leave Blackrock Spire or the Blackfathom Deeps without hindrance.
Yes, that was before.
With the armies of Stormwind City and Ironforge pressing in, the Black Dragonflight was on high alert and decisively seized the entrance hall.
Thick iron chains, slanted downwards, form the only entrance from the main hall to the Blackrock Depths below.
Below them was a drop of hundreds of meters in the air, and below that was rolling lava. If someone lost their footing and fell, very few would survive.
However, these uninvited guests were clearly not among them.
The young humans moved with light steps, the stout Pandaren traversed the terrain with ease, and the only slightly challenging Dwarves musketeers, were clearly also handled with ease.
They quickly reached the bottom.
A wave of heat hit me; the temperature was clearly much higher than outside.
50 degrees?
60 degrees?
Still 70 degrees?
The young humans and Pandaren weren't sweating at all, except for the Dwarves musketeer, who wiped his brow and cursed, "Damn this weather! Damn this lava! Nicholas, why didn't you send Jaina over? Or even Anveena! Can't you get some ice? Or a bit of cool air? This Dwarves is dying of heat!"
Jiang Jie chuckled and shook his head, " Jaina has more important things to do. The thousands of warriors in Stormwind Camp are counting on her and her mage corps to beat the heat! As for Anveena... she's currently staring wide-eyed at Xal'atath, unable to speak. Brann, just bear with it."
" Xal'atath! Nicholas, I solemnly warn you, be careful of that guy! The Old Gods are no joke, just thinking about them is terrifying!"
Brann shivered in perfect unison, then looked at the Pandaren: " Old Chen, don't you know about elements too? Can you get me some cold wind?"
"It will break the concealment."
Old Chen lightly touched the ground with his toes, leaping more than ten meters to the lowest platform. He then turned around, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Hurry up, I want to drink the Dark Bitter Wine and the Light Sparkling Wine!"
"Darkness's bitter wine! Light's sparkling liquor!"
Brann's eyes lit up, and he strode onto the platform. " Old Chen, does Coren Stout really buy into your scheme?"
"Those two kinds of liquor were recipes that he and I developed together! If he doesn't give me face, I'll smash his bar!"
Old Chen looked at Jiang Jie: " Nicholas sent me here for this very reason, didn't he?"
Jiang Jie chuckled and nodded.
He made a special trip to Thunder Bluff to bring Old Chen out of the Tauren's vat of liquor, all for Coren Stout.
The Dark Iron Dwarves are a more powerful force than the Wildhammer Dwarves, numbering over 50,000.
The ancient hatred has been over for hundreds of years. There is actually not much hatred between the Bronzebeard Dwarves and the Dark Iron Dwarves now, because they have no common ground.
King Magni sent Ironforge's elite troops to attack Blackrock Spire because of his only daughter, Princess Moira Thaurissan.
It's said they were captured by the Dark Iron Dwarves. But Jiang Jie knows that's not the case.
Princess Moira Thaurissan fell in love with Dagran Thaurissan, the " King of Dark Iron," which is why she chose to stay in Blackrock Depths, and...
She also appears to be pregnant with Thaurissan's child.
That's interesting.
Dealing with the Black Dragonflight would be quite difficult with just the armies of Stormwind City and Ironforge, but it would be much easier if they could get help from the Dark Iron Dwarves.
To persuade Emperor Thaurissan, Princess Moira Thaurissan's help would likely be necessary.
To persuade Princess Moira Thaurissan, Jiang Jie, a stranger, wouldn't suffice, so Brann would have to be brought along, rather than the ill-tempered King Magni.
Brann is Moira's uncle, and they have a good relationship. He is confident he can persuade Princess Moira Thaurissan.
Brann's own abilities are average, so bringing him along would be like bringing a burden.
Leading Brann through the intricate and crowded Blackrock Depths to find Princess Moira Thaurissan and Emperor Thaurissan will be no easy task, so it's essential to find someone familiar with the terrain of Blackrock Depths to help.
Old Chen is Pandaren, not hostile to the Dark Iron Dwarves. In fact, because of Coren Stout, he has a fairly good relationship with the Dark Iron Dwarves and is a regular at the Grim Guzzler, having visited several times. He is fairly familiar with the first half of Blackrock Depths.
But he didn't understand the latter part, the more important and heavily guarded part of Blackrock Depths.
As the owner of the Grim Guzzler, Coren Stout is a man of considerable status and naturally has a good understanding of Blackrock Depths.
That's why we had to bring Old Chen along.
"Alright, stop chatting, let's go inside."
Jiang Jie smiled and looked at Old Chen: " The Grim Guzzler should be deep in Blackrock Depths, right? Shouldn't we walk there? You must have a better way, right?"
"Certainly!"
Old Chen pulled out his gourd, took a sip, and said smugly, "Come with me! The Grim Guzzler welcomes guests from all directions. I've seen humans, Dwarves, Tauren, and Orcs there! Emperor Thaurissan won't let anyone wander around his territory; everywhere else is off-limits, except for the Grim Guzzler!"
Jiang Jie shrugged and followed Old Chen along the winding mine tunnel to an abandoned mine shaft, where they saw a huge drill-like object guarded by several Dark Iron Dwarves.
Seeing Old Chen arrive, several Dark Iron Dwarves laughed and walked over. One of them gave Old Chen a bear hug, but unfortunately, he could only hug Old Chen's big belly. Then, in an exaggerated tone, he shouted, "Look who's here! The Legendary of the Pandaren: Chen Stormstout! Haha, that's not important. The most important thing is that you're the boss's friend! And you've brought two new friends?"
"Is Coren alright, he's not drunk? I need to talk to him."
Old Chen familiarly pulled out a few gold coins and stuffed them into the Dark Iron Dwarves's hand. "Do us a favor, take us to the Grim Guzzler!"
"The boss just used his 'Direbrew's Dire Brew 2.0' to stab a liquor thief! Old Chen, he lost to you in a drinking contest last time, so he specially got a giant, Direbrew's Dire Brew! Hehe, you're in big trouble this time!"
The Dark Iron Dwarves glanced at Jiang Jie and Brann, surprisingly showing no hostility towards the humans and the Bronzebeard Dwarves: "Three people, not enough for one trip... Oh well, war's here, we haven't had any customers for a month, so I'll give you a free trip this time, for the sake of the gold coins!"
The Dark Iron Dwarves were clearly somewhat reluctant.
It seems he's not in a good mood after not having any customers or making any money for so long.
Looking at the enormous, telescope-like device, Jiang Jie laughed.
This thing is Dark Iron Drill, a powerful tool used by the Dark Iron Dwarves for prospecting.
Dark Iron Dwarves can mine to depths of hundreds or even thousands of meters, and it's said that in some places they've dug to depths of several thousand meters. Of course, they can't rely solely on brute force; they also rely on this thing.
It turned out that the guys at the Grim Guzzler used it to transport customers. How interesting.
This thing has a lot of internal space; someone like Jiang Jie could fit 10 people in it without feeling cramped.
It's often said that Gnomes and Goblin are the technological leaders among the native races of Azeroth, but in reality, Dwarves sometimes come up with some amazing technologies, and this is one of them.
With a rumbling sound, the Dark Iron drilling machine burrowed into the ground.
Five minutes later, they arrived at the Grim Guzzler.
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