Draenor's Expedition
Within the Water Elemental Temple of Yarvis City--
"It's a pity you've fallen out with Neptulon," said the deep-sea elemental named Mentos.
Xiao Yu was slightly taken aback. The other party used "Your Excellency" instead of "My Lord," which sounded rather disrespectful. Moreover, Mentos, at first glance, seemed like nothing special, but upon closer inspection, Mentos sounded like the name of a type of candy.
(Could this guy be a gamer?) A sudden thought struck Xiao Yu.
At this moment, only Xiao Yu and the deep-sea elemental in front of him were in the Water Elemental temple, so Xiao Yu did not continue to pretend.
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Are you a being of the Elemental Will?"
Mentos (Elder of the Deep Sea Elements): "My Lord is indeed wise. This time, besides bringing Neptulon's message, I also bring the goodwill of the Elemental Will. If my Lord is willing to join our Elemental Will, we will help you expand your influence in the Prime Material Plane. The Path of Whirlpools will reopen, and countless reinforcements from the Water Elemental Plane will continuously come to help your Lord. Moreover—"
Before he could finish speaking, Xiao Yu interrupted him.
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "3 million."
Mentos (Elder of the Deep Sea Elements): "What?"
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Give me 3 million, and I'll join the Elemental Will and help you get into the top three strongest bosses. I won't take control, and I won't share the prize money. But you have to give me 3 million, and right now."
Mentos (Elder of the Deep Sea Elements): "I'm afraid I can't make that decision. Forgive my bluntness, but it's unlikely that anyone would agree to the Lord's request. The prerequisite for dividing the spoils is to obtain the grand prize. Asking for money before even getting the grand prize is hard for anyone to accept."
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "With me here, getting into the top three is a piece of cake. 3 million isn't much. If you don't have the money, then leave. We'll see who has the best skills then."
Mentos (Elder of the Deep Sea Elements): "Lord, your actions are rather unreasonable. Perhaps we can compensate you in other ways."
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "No other choice, 3 million, or I'll know to apologize."
Mentos (Elder of the Deep Sea Elements): "So you're saying there's no room for negotiation? Doesn't Your Excellency fear angering the Elemental Will?"
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Hmph, I don't even consider Neptulon threat, let alone your Elemental Will."
Mentos (Elder of the Deep Sea Elements): "Lord's domineering attitude towards Neptulon is indeed admirable, but we are not Neptulon, and our methods are not limited to the game world."
After saying that, Mentos left.
Watching Mentos's departing figure, Xiao Yu sneered inwardly. Threatening me? Hmph, do you think I wouldn't guess what tricks you'd use? It's just exposing my identity on the forum, isn't it?
In fact, Xiao Yu had already considered this point. His identity as a player could not be hidden forever; it would be exposed as soon as he participated in the competition. That's why he deliberately revealed his identity when recruiting in Hydra City.
To his surprise, the news didn't spread. This was probably due to the unique nature of the game "Sky World," where players were highly segmented. Besides Sky World main forum, there were many smaller forums, each with its own sub-forums. For example, players specializing in the Water Elemental type usually gathered on the [Tap Water Forum] and rarely paid attention to other forums, only occasionally checking the main forum.
Players from other forums also don't pay attention to the Tap Water Forum.
As a result, the fact that he was a player had already spread to a small circle on the Tap Water Forum, but few people knew about it on the main forums. Moreover, even if the news had spread, it was difficult to determine its authenticity. All sorts of strange and unusual messages appeared on the forums every day. Some even said that King Varian Wrynn of the Alliance and Warchief Thrall of the Horde were actually impersonated by players, but whether they were credible was a matter of opinion.
Xiao Yu ignored Mentos's threat, even if it meant his identity was exposed. However, he sensed the urgency of the situation. Although he and the Elemental Will followed the same elemental path, they would not become allies but rather natural enemies. As the saying goes, those in the same boat are enemies. They were in the same boat, and their future hostility was almost inevitable unless one side subdued the other.
(It seems that attacking Silvermoon City and seizing the last Seed of Elements needs to be put on the agenda.) Xiao Yu thought to himself.
However, there is still one thing to take care of, which is how to get to Draenor. After all, once you become Chaos Elemental, you must go to the Throne of the Elements to start the ritual of becoming the Elemental King.
He had previously used the Magic Mirror of True Knowledge to find a portal to Draenor, a massive portal in the Blasted Lands known locally as the Dark Portal. However, this Dark Portal had been closed several years ago, so how to open it now was a problem.
To open this Dark Portal, one must possess immense power and understand Dark Portal principles. The Dark Portal is opened using Fel, a power that not just anyone can control.
Fortunately, he already had a plan; he could have someone else help him with this problem.
A Water Elemental guardian walked in.
Water Elemental Guardian: "Lord Azathoth, the person you requested has been brought to you."
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Let them in."
Soon, a group of adventurers walked in from outside; it was the Moonlight Travel Group.
Looking at the group of adventurers before him, some familiar and some unfamiliar, Xiao Yu felt a pang of emotion. Back then Water Falls Without a Trace and Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats were just low-level players in their teens; now they were high-level players in their fifties.
The Bear of Fury, Teddy, had grown even larger, looking like a tank. It followed behind the Night Elf hunter, Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats, looking like a well-behaved child. It was hard to understand how this guy had become a pet; he even seemed quite content.
However, his own transformation was even greater, from a Goblin to Water Elemental Lord —something the opposing side probably couldn't even imagine.
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "Welcome to the Elemental Temple, adventurers from afar. I've recently heard many tales of your deeds, and I must say, they deeply impress me. It turns out that among greedy adventurers, there are also true heroes like you who ask for nothing in return."
Starting by showering them with compliments is the best way to deal with RPG fans. Sure enough, these adventurers all said polite things like, "You're too kind, Lord, it's what we should do," but they couldn't hide the smug look on their faces.
The Water Falls Without a Trace, smiled slightly and said, "My lord, I didn't expect you to be so polite. I thought you would say something like, 'You lowly ants are honored to be summoned by Lord Azathoth; why don't you kneel down and express your gratitude?'"
The way Water Falls Without a Trace mimicked Azathoth's tone when reciting lines in the dungeon was so perfect that Xiao Yu was speechless. The lines were indeed quite similar to his own in the dungeon.
However, he had already given an explanation for this.
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "I apologize for showing you another side of me. However, when faced with greedy adventurers and the treacherous Alliance and Horde, sometimes I must display my authority to deter those hidden threats. In this cruel world where the strong prey on the weak, I must protect my people. To protect my people, I must possess immense and terrifying power, or at least appear terrifying. I hope you can understand."
The moment the people are involved, the reason immediately becomes more noble. Especially these days, the NPCs under Xiao Yu's command have been subtly promoting to them how benevolent, wise, and loving Azathoth. This rhetoric has actually been accepted, at least by most people. Only Water Falls Without a Trace still has an indignant expression.
"My lord, what brings you to our presence?" asked the leader of the Moonlight Travel Group, a Night Elf Druid named Baoyue Liuguang, very politely.
Azathoth (Water Elemental Lord): "There's something I want to ask of you all. I once swore to defeat Ragnaros, but with my current strength, I'm clearly no match for him. To defeat him, I must gain much greater power, which is why I came to the Prime Material Plane. Recently, I learned that there's an extremely powerful artifact in Draenor that might be able to help me. However, the Dark Portal to Draenor has been closed, so I hope you can help me find a way to open Dark Portal. If you can accomplish this task, I will reward you handsomely."
System notification: The legendary story quest [The Draenor's Expedition] has been triggered. Help the Water Elemental Lord Azathoth find a way to open the Dark Portal. This is a story quest, and your actions will be recorded in the Firmament Chronicle.
Note: This is a team task, and the rewards will be shared by the team.
"Holy crap, it's a legendary mission!"
"This is awesome!"
The adventurers below began to murmur amongst themselves. Although, theoretically, adventurers are not a group of people who exist in the game's storyline, they are occasionally recorded in the Firmament Chronicle. Of course, they are usually recorded as 'a group of adventurers,' but for RPG players who seek to experience alternative lives and adventures, this is enough.
Moreover, a legendary quest means that the reward will be a legendary item. Not to mention, this is the significance of this quest for RPG fans, because it is a story quest, a story quest that can truly change the game world.
"It is a great honor, Lord. We will do our best to complete this task." Baoyue Liuguang Guang said solemnly. Under his leadership, the members of the Moonlight Travel Group accepted the mission without hesitation.
Watching the departing figures of the group, Xiao Yu smiled slightly. He naturally wouldn't place all his hopes on the Moonlight Travel Group, but they were indeed the team he had the most faith in. He was very much looking forward to seeing if they could find a way to open the Dark Portal. Nevertheless, he still had two alternative plans.
"Bring in the Glory Soul and the people of the Heavenly Kingdom Dynasty," Azathoth said to his Water Elemental Lord guards.
He doesn't need to pretend with these two guilds; he can just issue the quests directly. After all, it's a legendary quest, so he won't have trouble finding people to take it.
For Glory War Soul and Heavenly Kingdom Dynasty are both game guilds that prioritize profit. Storylines are meaningless to them, but the legendary quest rewards are something they can't refuse.
Of course, Xiao Yu wasn't worried about not being able to pay out the rewards for issuing so many legendary quests. After all, only the adventurer team that completed the quest could receive the reward, and he could still afford to give them a legendary item.
His next task was to deploy the Elemental Legion to attack Silvermoon City.