An Outrageous Demand

Three days later, at the Silvermoon City Royal Palace—

Sylvanas, Lor'themar, Halduron, Rodman, the three Blood Elf leaders, and the Queen of Undercity sat facing each other in the palace's conference room, all in silence. Sylvanas looked around the palace with great interest, her eyes filled with a hint of nostalgia, as if reminiscing about the days when she was still an elven ranger.

Lor'themar's gaze was somewhat complicated. On one hand, Sylvanas was once a hero of the elves and worthy of respect; on the other hand, she was now Undead and hated by the elves. So, if you were to ask him what his feelings for Sylvanas were, he probably couldn't say for sure.

So, under normal circumstances, to avoid awkwardness, Lor'themar would try to avoid meeting Sylvanas alone, maintaining a polite yet distant relationship. But now he couldn't do that, because Sylvanas was not only an ally of the Blood Elf, but had also recently Blood Elf them. He couldn't bring himself to ask her to leave, but expressing his gratitude felt a bit awkward, so he could only remain silent.

There was another matter that made them so silent.

After repelling the Water Elemental's attack, this turmoil could be considered a narrow victory. Although Silvermoon City was damaged, they also killed a large number of Water Elemental. However, these Water Elemental turned into water after they died, so the exact number killed could not be confirmed.

However, the Blood Elf are a very proud race, and they cannot tolerate being humiliated like this, even if they are not ultimately defeated. Moreover, the Water Elemental seem to have suffered heavy casualties. Thus, in a fit of anger, Lor'themar dispatched the main fleet of the Blood Elf.

Sylvanas disagreed with this. Compared to the proud Blood Elf, having died once, she understood better that pride was insignificant in the face of profit. In her opinion, since the Water Elemental Legion had been defeated, they should investigate why they attacked Silvermoon City. If they were to pursue them, they should at least find out the enemy's exact strength, rather than rashly throwing away their trump cards.

However, since she was no longer an elf, after offering a few more words of advice, she did not insist on stopping her.

The result was that the Blood Elf fleet suffered heavy losses, and even the Blood Knights lord who commanded the fleet went missing, with no one knowing whether he was killed or captured.

While Lor'themar regretted his actions, his attitude towards Sylvanas also became increasingly complicated.

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "So, Lady Sylvanas, what advice do you have for what we should do next?"

Sylvanas (Queen of Undercity): "How dare you ask me that? As far as I know, you are the Queen of Silvermoon City." She said sarcastically.

When she had previously advised against pursuing them, Lor'themar had used the same response to leave her speechless; now she was simply returning the favor verbatim.

Just as the awkward silence began, a guard walked in from outside.

"Lord Lor'themar, the fleet's first mate Leah Bloodmoon, has returned."

Lor'themar remembered the name Leah Bloodmoon, the Blood Elf mage who had always been wandering the world. Her past was quite mysterious; it was said that she had done many things that were difficult to explain, and even conducted many mysterious experiments in an abandoned mage tower in the Eastern Plaguelands.

Logically speaking, such a mysterious figure shouldn't be easily recruited. However, the Blood Elf are too weak to be picky. In order to expand their strength and increase the number of heroes, Lor'themar didn't pay too much attention to these rumors. After a little investigation, he accepted Leah Bloodmoon's defection and made her the garrison mage captain of the Blood Elf fleet.

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "Let her in."

Soon, Leah Bloodmoon was brought in by several guards.

Leah Bloodmoon glanced at Lor'themar, her gaze lingering briefly on the Regent before settling on Sylvanas. It was the first time she had seen the Undercity Queen so closely. It was clear that she had been a great beauty in life, and even in death, aside from her bluish-gray skin, she was still beautiful. In a sense, death had given her a different kind of fatal charm.

However, Sylvanas was no mere ornament. Leah Bloodmoon could sense that while she was observing the other woman, Sylvanas was also scrutinizing her with the same critical gaze.

Sylvanas (Queen of Undercity): "You look a little different. That Azathoth, he actually let you come back?"

Lor'themar also realized the problem and looked at Leah Bloodmoon with a questioning gaze.

Leah Bloodmoon nodded. "Yes, Lord Lor'themar. It's because I swore Soul Oath to him, pledging allegiance, that he allowed me to leave."

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "What? You actually swore allegiance to our enemy? After all he's done, do you know what you've done? You're betraying your own people."

This is indeed a rather troublesome problem, but fortunately Xiao Yu had already prepared a statement for her before they arrived.

Leah Bloodmoon (Great Elementalist): "Please allow me to explain. I had no choice but to do this because Azathoth threatened me that if I didn't swear allegiance to him, he would—" Leah Bloodmoon paused, successfully arousing everyone's curiosity.

Rodman (The Archmage): "So what?"

Leah Bloodmoon (High Elementalist): "If I don't swear allegiance to him, he will strip Lady Liadrin naked and hang her on the walls of Stormwind City. He also said that if I don't swear allegiance to him, he will send all the male members of our captured people to the mines to work until they die, and sell the female members to slave traders."

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "Unforgivable, unforgivable!" The Regent clenched his fists in anger. As the leader of his people, if he could not protect them, it was easy to imagine how bad his reputation would be in the Horde's camp.

Leah Bloodmoon (High Elementalist): "So I had no choice but to agree to his demands and swear allegiance to him for a year. In return, he promised not to attack our people for the time being until the negotiations were completed."

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "I wronged you, Leah Bloodmoon. You sacrificed yourself for your people. I offer you my respect."

After Lor'themar finished speaking, Leah Bloodmoon suddenly heard a system notification.

System notification: Your reputation in Silvermoon City has increased by 1000 points, and you have reached Revered reputation in Silvermoon City.

Huh? Leah Bloodmoon was pleasantly surprised. A while ago, he spent so much money to boost his reputation with the Horde, but he only reached Friendly. He wanted to reach Revered, but he ran out of money halfway through. Unexpectedly, he managed to reach Revered by lying. She was just making up an excuse for herself.

(If I had known it would be this easy to gain reputation, I would have put on a little melodrama for these stupid NPCs earlier.) Leah Bloodmoon couldn't help but think.

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "So when will that Elemental Lords release our people?"

Leah Bloodmoon (High Elementalist): "I'm afraid we'll have to pay a price, Lord Lor'themar. I returned this time on his orders to come and make demands of you."

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "What does he want?"

Leah Bloodmoon (High Elementalist): "He wants some treasures from Silvermoon City's treasury; in fact, that's precisely why he led his elemental army to attack Silvermoon City."

Silvermoon City's Booty Bay holds countless treasures, as Blood Elf are the most skilled race in using magic. It was the Blood Elf who taught humans magic in the past. Since they are so skilled in using magic, their enchanting techniques for creating magical items are naturally very advanced. The magical items in Silvermoon City's royal palace are numerous and all of them are of the highest quality.

Leah Bloodmoon had been eyeing it for a long time. Before leaving, she had discussed it carefully with Xiao Yu. This time, they had captured so many prisoners, including several heroes, that they couldn't just exchange them for a Seed of Elements. Besides, that would easily arouse the Blood Elf' suspicion. So this time, Xiao Yu made an outrageous demand, asking for ten legendary items at once. Of course, he didn't think he could actually get ten legendary items. In fact, he would be satisfied with just Xiao Yu, provided that one of them was Seed of Elements.

Previously, Xiao Yu and Leah Bloodmoon had reached an agreement: if he could obtain five legendary items (including the Seed of Elements) this time, that would be enough; if he obtained more than that, Leah Bloodmoon could choose one as her reward.

Leah Bloodmoon (High Elementalist): "He demanded a ransom. First, he asked for a bottle of water from the Sunwell in exchange for Lady Liadrin, and then ten legendary items in exchange for the captured tribespeople and three other heroes."

As she spoke, Leah Bloodmoon handed over a list of ten legendary items, treasures held in the Silvermoon City treasury.

Lor'themar took the list and glanced at it, then immediately trembled with rage.

Lor'themar (Blood Elf Regent): "Thordaril the Fury of the Stars, Starfall Spear, Bulwark of Azzinoth, Infinity Blade, Cosmic Infuser, Seed of Elements —he's insane! He's utterly insane! We can't possibly have that many legendary items!"

Lor'themar cried out.

Actually, he was wrong. If they gritted their teeth, they could still produce ten legendary items. The problem was that doing so would mean the entire Silvermoon City would be on the verge of selling everything it owned, and its strength would be greatly weakened. After all, this world is one where strength reigns supreme, and legendary items often represent a part of that strength. For ordinary people, legendary items represent immense power, while for the most powerful beings, legendary items can also greatly enhance their strength.

Therefore, every legendary item can be considered a strategic resource, especially the original story items.