"How many people do we have left to use?" Magni asked in a low voice, looking at the temporarily constructed model of Gnomeregan.
"At most eight thousand people—this is the limit our current logistics can supply. Any more, and it might just be sending soldiers without logistical support to their deaths for nothing."
Muradin had rushed back to Ironforge overnight. He spoke a number that was not particularly optimistic.
The officers and logistics officials of Ironforge also looked serious. In fact, Ironforge had more troops that could be mobilized, and even the lightly wounded could join the battle.
However, these officers understood that with insufficient logistical supplies, the severe cold of Dun Morogh alone could claim the lives of the soldiers.
The logistical pressure on Ironforge was not entirely from the war with the Burning Legion; to their east and south, the Black Iron Dwarves had recently become active.
This forced Ironforge to both deal with the harassment from the Black Iron Dwarves and allocate manpower to support Gnomeregan.
Eight thousand people was already a considerable number, and due to the tight logistics, these eight thousand were all absolute elites of Ironforge.
It was possible for them to determine the outcome of a battle, but what Magni needed now was not a victory, but to help the Gnomes escape their predicament.
According to the message from the messenger Stonehearth, the situation in Gnomeregan was absolutely as bad as it could get, because Tinker Town outside Gnomeregan was almost completely filled with refugees.
The number was so large that perhaps more than half of Gnomeregan's residents had been evacuated, while the Gnomes' leader, High Tinker Mekkatorque, was still bravely resisting in the city with his soldiers.
The invasion of the trogg had paralyzed a considerable portion of Gnomeregan's facilities, making it difficult to contact High Tinker Mekkatorque inside the city.
So, Ironforge only knew the situation was bad, but to what extent, no one knew.
Even the Gnomes who escaped Gnomeregan were unclear about the current situation, but they described one point almost identically.
That was that the number of trogg was "overwhelming" and "endless."
The Gnomes had been fighting the trogg for some time, and the number of trogg had not only not decreased but was constantly increasing.
From a few tunnels at first, it turned into hundreds of passages later; they jumped out from every corner of the city, attacking the citizens.
Due to the complex terrain of Gnomeregan, some people were able to escape by relying on advanced facilities, but a portion remained trapped in the city, defending themselves with sturdy buildings and fortifications.
Only a few of them were soldiers, and most were ordinary civilians. If these people could not be contacted quickly, a large number of civilians would be killed once their defenses were breached.
The Dwarves were anxious, but they also knew that Gnomeregan would be a fierce street battle and a war of attrition, where they would engage in close combat with the enemy inside the city.
This meant heavy casualties, so they had to act cautiously and make good use of every bit of strength they had.
"King Magni!"
A familiar voice echoed in the fortress of the Ironforge military district. Magni looked in the direction of the voice and indeed saw Arthas in full military attire.
"You're finally here! How many people can Lordaeron send? We are severely short-handed now!"
Muradin rushed to Arthas's side, eagerly asking about the number of reinforcements.
"Three thousand people. This is the limit for transporting personnel and supplies by teleportation spell. Any more, and I'd have to send the army to Dalaran to find a more stable magical node." Arthas shook his head; the number of people he ultimately brought was not very large.
This was not a one-time teleportation. Ironforge needed continuous logistical supplies, so the single amount that the portal could accommodate would be much smaller. Even these three thousand people would need to pass through in batches along with supplies.
"Three thousand people…" Muradin's originally somewhat expectant expression suddenly froze. "This number is far from enough. We need to save an entire city, and the number of enemies who can conquer it is probably tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands!"
"I know, Muradin, so I've sent another part of the force from Lake Lordamere to Dalaran in a hurry. However, it will probably take a week or even longer for them to get here."
This news greatly disappointed Magni and the others, but they also knew that wanting large-scale troops to be airlifted in quickly was just a fantasy.
In fact, Lordaeron being able to bring three thousand people and more supplies was already much better than their worst-case scenario.
"Then we can gather a force of about ten thousand people. Although it is a formidable force, it is still too few compared to the hundreds of thousands or even more residents of Gnomeregan…"
Magni clutched his beard, his expression still solemn.
To his surprise, Arthas disagreed. "King Magni, what if I told you that these people are already completely sufficient?"
"Hmm? What devious idea do you have now?!" Muradin's eyes immediately widened when he heard this.
Magni also expressed his willingness to listen. "If it's a feasible method, please tell us. Ironforge will meet all requirements as much as possible."
"This is not difficult, King Magni. Our force of ten thousand people is already enough to stabilize the situation for the Gnomes. Although it's certainly not enough to retake the city with them alone, the root of the problem is not actually in Gnomeregan."
Arthas asked, "I'd like to ask, have the Black Iron Dwarves been more active recently in the Badlands and Searing Gorge?"
The Dwarves were all startled. An officer subconsciously said, "How do you know? Could this also be the work of those Black Iron scoundrels?"
Many Dwarves also immediately thought of this possibility. They instantly became indignant, stating that if it was indeed the Black Iron Dwarves' trick, they would certainly make the Black Iron Dwarves feel Ironforge's wrath.
However, Magni waved his hand and loudly said, "Quiet down, listen to Arthas finish."
Magni knew this certainly had nothing to do with the Black Iron Dwarves, otherwise, given their grievances with the Ironforge Bronzebeard Clan, if they could control such monsters, their first target would definitely be the Dwarves of Ironforge.
With such a sudden attack capability, even Ironforge could be instantly paralyzed, with no need to go attack the Gnomes' city.
The noisy sounds immediately subsided. They stared at Arthas, hoping to get an accurate answer from him.
However, Arthas's reply surprised most of the Dwarves except Magni. "This is not the power of the Black Iron Dwarves, but it is somewhat related to them. I wonder if you still remember the archaeological discovery in the Badlands."
"The Badlands? You mean that ancient ruin that was recently discovered…" Magni was also surprised by this answer, and then he suddenly remembered something—
It was a mysterious ancient city. The initial discovery confirmed that this city predated any civilization known to the Dwarves, and even the Elves' empire came much later in the city's history.
Moreover, a call from their bloodline convinced the Dwarves that this city must be related to their origin and the mysterious "Creators."
Such a discovery greatly excited the Dwarves. They accelerated the excavation progress, but after they opened the gate of the underground palace that had been sealed for countless years, mysterious monsters had been harassing the excavation team.
Later, to avoid greater losses, the Dwarves had to retreat from the underground palace, preparing to wait for Ironforge's support to arrive before further exploration.
But coincidentally, at this time, a Legion of Black Iron Dwarves emerged from the Searing Gorge. They caused heavy losses to the archaeological team, and many people either became prisoners of the Black Iron Dwarves or died in battle.
The remaining archaeologists also got lost in the Gobi Desert of the Badlands, losing contact with Ironforge.
This was the last message from that side. At first, Ironforge just thought the Black Iron Dwarves were, as usual, deliberately causing trouble because they were at odds with them.
But Arthas's words seemed to push everything into a perplexing mystery.
And Arthas had already thought of a reason before coming here, enough for Magni to trust him.
"Brann and I found some ancient documents in the ancient Elven ruins in Kalimdor. They described an ancient ruin located in what is now the Eastern Kingdoms. Its name is 'Uldaman.'
That was an underground palace built by the oldest Guardians of this planet to preserve the secrets and treasures of the Creators, but the masters of this palace had long been asleep for untold tens of thousands of years, and some dark and twisted creatures also fell into slumber with them under their power.
These monsters, called trogg, are precisely the monsters invading Gnomeregan!"
"'Uldaman'…" Magni repeated the name several times. A sense of awe from the depths of his soul suddenly arose. "The name of that underground city is Uldaman, which means that our and the Black Iron Dwarves' excavations awakened the monsters sealed in this city?!"
This sounded very incredible, but Magni immediately realized that the time they began formal excavation of the underground palace and the time the Black Iron Dwarves attacked the archaeological team was precisely when the Gnomes' contact gradually decreased.
In other words, it was indeed at that time that the Gnomes were attacked, and these two seemingly unrelated events thus connected.
Moreover, this also explained a doubt that had bothered Magni: Dwarves and Gnomes had lived in the peaks of Kaz Modan for thousands of years. During this long time, their caves had penetrated every part of the mountains, yet they had never discovered any creatures similar to trogg.
And after Uldaman was opened, these underground monsters poured out like a tide. It was probably the opening of Uldaman that awakened these monsters that had originally been sleeping deep underground.
As for why they invaded the Gnomes' city, that is unknown—perhaps it was because the noise from the Gnomes' mechanical city penetrated the ground, making the trogg, originally in the dark rock layers, like insects seeing a bright lamp in the darkness.
"Do you mean… Uldaman has the solution to all problems?" Magni's expression was serious. He realized that the method Arthas spoke of was to go to Uldaman to seek the answer to this mystery.
But the risk was still too high. If there was no solution there, and Ironforge were to split up at this time, it was very likely that both sides would suffer losses.
Arthas, however, said calmly, "I am certain that the answer to all problems lies in Uldaman, but I cannot be sure of the time it will take to find it. Therefore, we cannot gamble with the army. These ten thousand people must still be deployed for the rescue of Gnomeregan.
I will personally lead a small team to Uldaman, bypass the Black Iron Dwarves' watch, and enter this palace."
"This is a complete adventure, my boy," Magni sighed, "But we no longer have a better option. Gnomeregan could fall at any moment. At that time, the Gnomes will not only suffer heavy casualties, but these trogg will also completely surge onto the surface, and the entire Dun Morogh will be restless.
So… I will go with you. This is not just about the lives of our allies, but also about the future of all Dun Morogh."
"Your Majesty!" The surrounding Dwarves were suddenly startled, unable to believe Magni's words. "You cannot take this risk. We have elite adventure teams and archaeologists who can accompany Prince Arthas into Uldaman."
"No, I know very well that I must go with Arthas," Magni's eyes were somewhat distant, his gaze seemingly penetrating Ironforge and entering the peaks of Kaz Modan. "A voice seems to be saying that there I can find the true answers to some mysteries."
Arthas was not surprised by Magni's behavior. He knew very well that Magni, as the King of Ironforge, was also one of the few Dwarves most deeply connected to the earth in the present day.
He could hear the call of the mountains and the earth, just as the Tauren could feel the voice of the earth mother. This was a talent given to them by their race.
And only those with the purest bloodline and the strongest power could receive sufficiently accurate and clear messages.
It seemed that Magni, at this moment, had already heard something.
Magni raised his head, looked down at Muradin, and pointed forward with his hand, "Muradin, I appoint you as the Regent of Ironforge, the supreme commander of the allied forces. While I am away, the fate of Dun Morogh is entrusted to you."
"Magni, let me go with Arthas instead. I can't do your job, and I have experience adventuring with him!" Muradin disagreed with his brother's command.
"Hmph, you and that rascal Brann are always messing around outside, spending more time out there than in Ironforge. This time, it's your turn to stay in Dun Morogh and command the army to fight!"
Magni leaped down from the high platform, placed a hand on Muradin's shoulder, and with a strict yet gentle gaze, he whispered to his brother, "And, if I don't return, you will be the new King of Ironforge."
"I…" Muradin stood frozen for a moment, even forgetting to stop his own brother from leaving the war fortress with Arthas.
Before leaving, Magni raised his clenched fist to his brother and the soldiers of Ironforge, shouting loudly: "For the King of the Mountain! For Ironforge!"
The king was met with a thunderous roar, like a landslide and a tsunami.
"For the King of the Mountain! For Ironforge!"