"Zandalar?"
Jaina, who had repeated Arthas's question, closed the romance novel in her hand, leaned back against the soft chair, and began to ponder.
She quickly recalled some information about these Trolls from her memory, "They rarely interact with the main continent, but Kul Tiras's fleet sometimes encounters their ships on the open sea. But if you really want me to tell you more… Besides the Troll peddlers who occasionally appear at smuggling ports near Boralus, I haven't seen many proper Zandalar Trolls."
After Jaina finished speaking, she looked at Arthas curiously, "Why are you suddenly asking about such trivial knowledge?"
"If nothing unexpected happens, we might soon have to deal with the Zandalar Trolls," Arthas replied. "So I thought I could learn about these isolated Trolls beforehand."
After Arthas described his experiences in the elemental plane to Jaina, she couldn't help but sit up straight and said seriously, "You mean there's an Ancient God right under the Zandalar Trolls' noses?"
"To be precise, it's on their former territory—now it should be occupied by a group of savage Troll subspecies, and the deity these Trolls worship is an Ancient God."
"Uh… haven't those Zandalar Trolls realized the great disaster that's about to befall them after all these years?"
Even for a relatively unfamiliar civilization, Jaina couldn't help but mourn for them for a short while. Although they didn't know much about the Zandalar Trolls, the elves and Dragons had detailed records of the tragic Ancient War of the Shifting Sands. Many of those who experienced that war are still alive today.
Moreover, they had only recently defeated C'Thun. Jaina still vividly remembered the tragedy that occurred in Silithus, which clearly showed the threat of the Old Gods.
Arthas sighed and leaned back in his chair, "Even if mortal races have long lifespans, they are always limited, because the period when the Old Gods were active was long before all existing intelligent life. Even for the most ancient Dragons, that was an era almost like a legend."
No matter how prosperous the Zandalar Trolls were in ancient times, it was just the tip of the iceberg compared to the long history of the planet Azeroth, and they also had the common flaw of all prosperous civilizations—arrogance.
The Titan facilities left on Zandalar's territory far exceeded the Trolls' understanding at the time. The earliest Troll sages regarded these massive facilities as "miracles" and built prosperous city-states relying on them. Troll civilization gradually took root on Azeroth.
Unfortunately, good times don't last. The limitations within the Troll Empire eventually led to their division. After losing the external pressure from the Nerubian, the Troll Empire, which had once expanded to its extreme, finally met its end.
Internal conflicts and civil wars plagued the empire, with several Troll tribes rising up and declaring independence. However, Zandalar, which was the leader of all tribes at the time, turned a blind eye to the empire's internal strife. The leaders of the Zandalar tribe believed that as long as the core area of the empire, which was Zuldazar where the Zandalar tribe lived, remained stable, then everything was fine.
Zandalar Empire's civilization therefore almost stagnated, while almost all other Troll tribes fell into a strange cycle from savagery to civilization and then back to savagery.
However, relying on the Titan facilities, the Zandalar Trolls did indeed remain prosperous for a very long time, but this also made them increasingly arrogant. They stubbornly believed that as long as they protected Zuldazar, Zandalar would endure forever.
Coupled with their alliance with many loa, the Zandalar Trolls remained in this "prosperity," but ignored the changing times. Even ten thousand years later, they still operate under the same ancient rules from ten thousand years ago. No one among them truly discovered the actual purpose of the Titan facilities at the heart of those city-states—the seals that restricted the blood god G'huun deep within Uldir.
"So, the Zandalar Trolls consider the seals left by the Titans as symbols of their civilization, and even allowed the other two seals outside Zuldazar to stop functioning?"
After hearing the history of the Zandalar Trolls, Jaina immediately felt her molars begin to ache. From her perspective, these Zandalar Trolls were truly contradictory to the extreme. They were one of the oldest and longest-lasting civilizations on the entire continent, yet they didn't even understand the true crisis of their own civilization, and just lived in peace and contentment for tens of thousands of years?
"I've recently been studying some ancient elven history… The process of these ancient civilizations going from prosperity to destruction is truly—identical."
Jaina recalled the knowledge from the books and sincerely exclaimed, "I hope that we humans, and the other members of the Alliance, do not follow in their footsteps."
"Weakness is never an obstacle to survival; arrogance is," Arthas said helplessly. "Zandalar can act as if nothing happened and watch the Blood Troll grow stronger, but we cannot turn a blind eye. Otherwise, whether G'huun or N'Zoth consumes the essence of the other, it will be a catastrophe for all of Azeroth."
Xal'atath had hinted very clearly that if there really was another Ancient God in this world, he would undoubtedly become a thorn in N'Zoth's side. The relationship between the Old Gods was far from harmonious, especially now that N'Zoth had an opportunity to dominate and monopolize the treasure land of Azeroth. He could not allow the potentially existing G'huun to continue to exist.
Moreover, N'Zoth is currently severely injured and desperately needs the essence of another Ancient God to heal his wounds and gain more power to fight Arthas. He has almost certainly decided to fight G'huun to the death.
"So, Zandalar is very likely to become the battlefield for our decisive battle with the Old Gods."
Arthas laid out the plan: "The Dragonflights's vanguard, led by Malygos, has already gone ahead to establish a stronghold near the Zandalar Islands. The rest of the Dragonflights members will gather at the stronghold after thoroughly clearing the remaining nightmares from the Emerald Dream."
"What do we need to do?"
The "we" Jaina mentioned clearly referred to the mortal races other than the Dragons. The survival of all mortal civilizations was closely tied to this battle. No leader of the Alliance would agree to them sitting back and waiting for the dust to settle.
"After gathering enough information and preparing, I will personally select a group of elites to land on Nazmir and eradicate the Ancient God's last tentacles."
Arthas unfolded the map and marked a large red X on the northeast side of the Zandalar Islands, where the Titan facility Uldir is located, with a quill.
-------
A small boat, covered with special camouflage and almost integrated with the environment, slowly moved through the swamps of Nazmir. Brann, sitting at the bow, reached out to swat away a bloodfly that landed on him, but was then besieged by more strange insects.
The old dwarf scratched his head and complained, "Oh, good heavens, the environment here is absolutely terrible."
The large black and white figure sitting with Brann agreed wholeheartedly. He untied a gourd full of fine wine from his belt and took a gulp, hoping to use the power of alcohol to help him overcome the harsh environment here. "Gods above… even the Krasarang Wilds are a hundred times better than this place—Lili, don't run off, if you get lost here, I'll have nowhere to find you!"
"Got it, Chen Shu!" Lili hugged her Zen staff, vigilantly surveying her surroundings.
Although she was mischievous, she knew right from wrong. The eerie feeling the Nazmir swamp gave her far surpassed all the areas she had traveled through. After entering the inland from the bay along the swamp's waterways, she even felt as if she was being spied on by something in the shadows.
However, Lili didn't forget to sneak a glance at the two people sitting at the stern, who had remained silent the entire time. Their figures were extremely burly and tall, even sturdier than her Chen Shu, yet they were completely covered by linen cloaks, making their faces indistinguishable.
Lili poked Chen Shu with the end of her Zen staff and whispered, "Chen Shu, who exactly are they?"
Chen Shu also replied in a low voice, "I've told you several times already, I don't know either."
Lili pouted, leaned against Chen Shu, and started to act spoiled, "Alright, I guess I have asked many times."
Chen Shu could only smile helplessly at his niece's reaction. He extended his bear paw and patted Brann's shoulder, "How much longer until we arrive?"
Brann took out a map, spread it on the boat's seat, and used a compass to measure for a long time, finally coming to a conclusion, "I don't know."
Brann's answer almost made Chen Shu fall off the boat on the spot. Fortunately, as a Monk, his balance was far beyond ordinary people, and he managed to stabilize the boat with his weight. "We've been sailing along the river for several hours, and we still haven't seen the stronghold. Could it be that we entered the wrong waterway?"
Chen Shu's concern was indeed not impossible, because the waterways of the Nazmir swamp are extremely complex. The crisscrossing rivers and the extremely similar rainforest environment make it easy for people to lose their sense of direction.
Moreover, just as Lili could perceive, Chen Shu could also sense the oppressive atmosphere in this eerie swamp. It was not a mere illusion caused by the gloomy environment, but actual dark power at work in the swamp.
Brann shook his head, "Although this map is surprisingly bad, the intel I got said to just follow the main river. We haven't entered any other tributaries along the way, so we shouldn't have taken the wrong path."
However, Brann also found it a bit strange. Although they were moving very slowly for concealment, that outpost shouldn't be far from the coast. Why hadn't they arrived yet after so long?
Just as Brann lowered his head, preparing to continue his research, Lili gasped softly, "Careful, there's something in the water!"
Chen Shu immediately put down his wine gourd and vigilantly looked at the strange ripple on the water's surface that Lili had discovered.
A huge object suddenly leaped from under the water, stirring up large waves on the once calm river. The bamboo staff in Chen Shu's hand was almost about to smash down on the thing's head, but he stopped just before striking.
"Don't provoke it! It's a Nazmir Giant Frog!"
Brann quickly stopped Chen Shu, "These creatures aren't very aggressive, but if we provoke it first, we might all end up soaked—Lili, push us out of this water. We must have accidentally entered this big guy's territory. As long as we leave quickly, we'll be fine!"
"Okay, Uncle Brann!"
Lili responded, condensing a ball of emerald green True Qi in her palm. She swung her palm towards the water outside the boat, and the spreading True Qi acted like a new motor for the small boat, making the entire vessel zip away from the Giant Frog's territory.
Seeing that the large green frog had no intention of chasing them, Lili also breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close! Good thing Chen Shu you didn't make a move, otherwise if that guy flipped the boat, we'd all be soaked."
"That guy certainly looked terrifying, I thought it was some kind of water monster!" Chen Shu chuckled, plopped back down onto his seat, and wiped away the water that had splashed onto his face.
However, that wipe almost made Chen Shu vomit. He gagged, then quickly used True Qi to flick the dirty water off his hands and face. "Why does the water here smell so bad?! Ugh—I feel like I'm going to throw up all the wine I just drank."
Lili rolled her eyes at her uncle, "Who told you to drink while driving the boat?"
Brann handed Chen Shu a handkerchief that looked like a rag, "Take this and wipe yourself. Nazmir is home to a large number of Blood Trolls. According to their customs, it's likely that every river we're on has piles of corpses and bones, plus the humus formed from the death of native creatures, so the water here is bound to have a bit of a smell."
It would have been better if Brann hadn't given the explanation; his explanation made Chen Shu's face turn green. "I feel like some water splashed into my mouth just now—ugh—"
For the first time, Chen Shu felt disgusted by his rich imagination, because as he retched while holding onto the boat's side, he felt as if he saw countless corpses floating in the river—uh, wait, it didn't seem to be an illusion?
He quickly raised his bear head, narrowly avoiding a grim-faced corpse drifting downstream.
Brann frowned, looking at the dozens of corpses floating downstream ahead. "They are Blood Troll corpses."
Chen Shu looked with a green face at the mutilated bodies floating on the river. Most of these Trolls were male, with pale, shriveled skin, covered only by simple cloth and animal hides over their lower bodies. They had some peculiar red tattoos on them. He tried to cover Lili's eyes with his hand, but the little one pushed his hand away with some displeasure.
"I'm not a child anymore, Chen Shu! Don't forget how I dealt with those Yaungol!" Lili mumbled, but seeing the floating corpses firsthand still made her slightly uncomfortable.
It wasn't the discomfort of seeing corpses, but rather that these Blood Trolls themselves gave her an inexplicable sense of eeriness, completely contrary to the rugged yet elegant Trolls she had seen before. Compared to normal Trolls, these Blood Trolls were like deranged beasts, showing not even a trace of civilization or rationality.
And soon, they would know how these corpses came to be, because Brann had already seen the Dragon Outpost, shining with Arcane radiance.
"We've arrived! It seems we've come at a bad time; a group of Blood Trolls has attacked our Dragon allies' stronghold!"
"Kalecgos, there are some strangers outside the barrier."
A Dragonman Warrior spotted Brann and the others docking their small boat outside the Dragon Outpost. After confirming there were no Blood Troll threats in the vicinity, he immediately reported the situation to Kalecgos.
"Go bring them in; they are from the Alliance."
Kalecgos had actually noticed Brann and the others earlier, but he was busy repairing the barrier that had just been damaged by the Blood Troll, with no time to personally lead them into the outpost. The arrival of the Dragonman Warrior helped him solve this problem.
With the clearance given, Brann finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally, I can rest my feet. Thank you, big guy."
He familiarly patted the Azure Dragonman's calf, and under the bewildered gaze of the Dragonman, he led the uncle and nephew behind him, as well as two cloaked big figures, into the temporary outpost set up by the Dragons.
As soon as they entered the barrier, they noticed several injured Dragonmen and Dragon Beasts around them, indicating that the recent defense against the Blood Troll attack had not left the Dragons unscathed.
"Excuse me, I must repair this magic barrier as soon as possible, otherwise it might attract more unnecessary attention."
Kalecgos, finally freed up, approached Brann and explained the situation to him. "I actually noticed you all very early on, but the outpost was under attack just now, and I couldn't spare extra hands to welcome you."
"No worries, but why doesn't the Dragonflights send more people to guard?" Brann was a bit confused. If this outpost was important, then heavy troops should be dispatched to guard it.
Kalecgos did not answer directly, but instead gave a rather startling hint: "None of you are ordinary people; you should have felt that invisible gaze as soon as you entered the swamp, right?"
"So I wasn't the only one who felt that way." Lili realized belatedly. She had thought that creepy feeling was just her own psychological effect.
Kalecgos explained, "This place has undoubtedly been controlled by an extremely powerful dark presence; no outsider can escape its eyes—the outpost where we are currently residing was personally built by Malygos, but even so, it can only accommodate a small number of people here to maintain the teleportation facility, so that it can be activated immediately when needed."
He then looked at the Blood Troll corpses being magically cleared by the Dragonman Guards and said helplessly, "But even if we avoid the gaze of that dark god, he can still order these Blood Troll to attack the outpost. Fortunately, the magic barrier set up by Malygos is reliable enough to timely detect those Blood Troll hiding in the surroundings, otherwise we would have already been surrounded by a Blood Troll army."
Thanks to the outpost's detection capabilities, they could discover the Blood Troll scouts in advance. The group of Blood Troll that just charged the outpost were a suicide squad driven over to cover the escape of their scouts.
Fortunately, Kalecgos noticed this in time and quickly dealt with the Blood Troll scouts who were preparing to flee, otherwise they would soon be in big trouble.
"But this can't go on forever; the outpost's location will be exposed sooner or later, so we must unlock Uldir's defenses before the Blood Troll and the Evil God's servants surround us."
Kalecgos looked at Brann; he knew the dwarf in front of him was dispatched to carry out this task. "I'll leave it to you, Mr. Brann."
"I will do my best."
Shedding his usual carefree demeanor, Brann made a very serious promise. He was well aware of the heavy burden on his shoulders. Arthas had instructed him before his departure that all the Titan Guardians had dispersed to ensure the safety of important Titan facilities like the Origin Engine and the Nalak Engine. Therefore, Brann was likely the person who understood the structure of Titan facilities best, apart from these Guardians.
Moreover, Brann's presence was not conspicuous. With the Guardian Dragons providing cover for them in Nazmir, he could evade G'huun's notice and find a way to enter Uldir's core area.
For this, Arthas had specifically assigned him two bodyguards, the two faceless big figures following behind Brann.
Brann's decisiveness moved Kalecgos. He told Brann all the information he knew as detailed as possible, hoping to provide him with some help. "Uldir's main building area is completely surrounded by Blood Troll settlements; countless trolls live there, please be extremely careful. Those trolls possess a very evil and powerful Blood Magic, and even we Dragons can be affected by that magic."
"Also... you must be very careful of that corrupted colossal Titan construct. He has been completely enslaved by dark magic. A Blue Dragonflight warrior underestimated his danger and has already sacrificed himself on the Uldir front."
After delivering his final warning, Kalecgos mournfully grieved for his fallen comrade. It was the information gained from his sacrifice that allowed them to learn of the construct's danger.
However, just as Kalecgos fell into sorrow, he seemed to sense a hint of danger. He vigilantly raised his head, but the aura came and went even faster, disappearing without a trace in an instant.
The blue-haired half-elf took a deep breath, attributing her perception to the pressure from this eerie swamp. "Excuse me, I must leave. I need to monitor the barrier's normal operation. I will have someone take you to the Dragonman in charge of the portal."
Lili watched Kalecgos's retreating back and muttered softly, "He seems a bit tired, doesn't he?"
"Monitoring this level of magic barrier information is a mentally and physically exhausting job, and he also has to guard against harassment from the surrounding Blood Troll. It's normal for even Dragons to be worn out," Brann casually explained, then led his people to the portal, following the guiding Dragonman.
Lili wanted to follow, but Brann stopped her. She looked at Brann in surprise, seemingly not understanding why he did that.
"Alright, little girl, what comes next is too dangerous. Although I agreed to bring you on this adventure, I don't want to implicate you."
"But—" Lili wanted to argue a bit more, but seeing Brann's serious gaze, her hand holding the staff dropped. "Alright, Uncle Brann, I'll agree to this for now—but you also have to promise me one thing."
"What is it, little girl?" Brann chuckled twice, as cheerful as ever.
"Next time, you have to take me on adventures to other places."
Lili said this with utmost seriousness, making Brann pause slightly. Then the old dwarf pressed the brim of his explorer's hat and laughed loudly, "Of course, child, who do you think I am? I am Brann Bronzebeard, the greatest adventurer in this world!"
Brann wanted to say something more, but Lili interrupted him first, "Alright, Uncle, I'm just asking you not to sneak off midway next time. When you talk like that, you're just like the old general in the opera troupe on Wandering Isle; it always feels like something bad is about to happen."
-------
"Are you really letting Brann go into Uldir alone?"
On the shores of Nazmir, the Alliance fleet had established a temporary base, but their main force had no intention of entering the swamp, only sending Brann and a few others to Dragon's Roost, so Jaina asked Arthas with concern.
"There won't be any danger. Rather, I've already sent the most suitable person to complete this mission."
Arthas certainly wouldn't send Brann to his death. The Uldir facility had been almost completely crippled by G'huun, with most areas and facilities likely out of order. It had essentially become a demonic lair, and coupled with the Blood Troll's fanatical worship of G'huun, the outer areas of this Titan facility had become virtually forbidden territory. But this was only dangerous for mortals.
As long as they didn't delve deep into Uldir's interior, reaching the truly corrupted areas by G'huun, the two individuals accompanying Brann could fully protect him.
Before the decisive battle with N'Zoth, Arthas wanted to first understand the situation inside Uldir. It was best not to waste too much effort on this Titan facility, as there was still a fully unrestrained dark god lurking in the shadows, eyeing them covetously.
Thus, G'huun became the perfect bait. A wounded N'Zoth craved the blood and souls of his kin, and G'huun, this embodiment of corruption shaped by the Titans, was his only target. If he could devour G'huun, N'Zoth could not only heal his injuries but also gain power far beyond what he had before.
However, G'huun himself would certainly not sit idly by. He had been imprisoned by the Titans since his birth, and his endless desire for corruption made him yearn to escape his cage and infect everything on Azeroth with a dark, depraved plague. So, when he sensed a threat approaching, he would surely resist like a madman.
Therefore, sending only Brann was also to reduce the risk of alerting the enemy. After all, eliminating G'huun was not difficult; he was, after all, just an evil god trapped in a cage, unable to escape. N'Zoth, on the other hand, had already escaped his prison and was hiding in the dark corners of the world. Arthas would not confuse priorities.
"It's best to ensure Brann's safety, although that old fellow often gets into trouble himself." Jaina felt a headache just thinking of this "famous" explorer.
When you are with Brann and encounter danger, Brann is a very reliable companion, but if you are with him and don't encounter danger, Brann himself might be the biggest threat to your survival.
"The survival rate of old Brann's expedition team—uh, it's indeed a bit pessimistic."
Arthas rarely looked so helpless. There was no helping it; Brann was like he was cursed. His companions often encountered fatal dangers, while he himself would be perfectly fine in the end. Even Brann himself seemed to realize this, so most of the time, when undertaking highly risky expeditions, Brann often chose to go alone.
But setting that aside, Brann's extensive experience exploring Titan facilities was enough to support him in this reconnaissance.
The discussion about Brann ended there. Jaina turned her attention to the ancient ruins not far from their camp. When she first landed on Nazmir's coast and saw the ruins there, even the young Archmage showed a rare expression of surprise. "Is that one of the seals connected to Uldir? It's truly magnificent."
"After all, it's a complex of buildings left over from the Titan era. Even if completely abandoned, one can still glimpse its former glory."
As the closest seal to Uldir, this place had long ago been deliberately damaged by G'huun. It was precisely because this seal, named Nazwatha, was damaged that the Nazmir swamp completely transformed into a place dominated by dark will.
Even the loa dared not venture into the core of the swamp, and many loa shrines were abandoned due to G'huun's interference, eventually being overgrown with weeds and vines, turning into ruins.
The most ridiculous thing was that the heart of the Zandalar Empire was adjacent to Nazmir, and the Blood Troll could attack Zandalar to the south at any time under the guidance of their god. However, King Rastakhan, who was currently ruling Zandalar, did not take the threat of the Blood Troll seriously at all, considering them merely uncultured barbarians.
Arthas led Jaina away from the camp for a while, venturing deep into the abandoned Nazwatha seal. However, they were not greeted by friendly Titan constructs, but by a group of hideous ancient specters.
Arthas raised his hand and cast Holy Flames, burning these ghosts and skeletons to ash. Jaina, seizing the opportunity, used Arcane Hand to extract some ashes from the remains of the undead and quickly conducted a test.
"It's not necromancy. These undead were awakened by a much darker power."
Jaina quickly responded, which was exactly what Arthas had thought. "It seems we'd best not proceed further. The ones occupying this ruin should be G'huun's minions."
Although he and Jaina could easily eradicate the Old God's minions entrenched there, doing so would be meaningless. After all, Nazwatha had been completely crippled by G'huun for many years, and the core seal had long been corrupted beyond recognition. Even if all the monsters here were eliminated, it would be impossible to restore the seal's function.
Arthas thought this, but soon a circling raven brought him a different answer.
"Arthas, you can try to eliminate the Faceless One inside. I want to see if I can restore the function of this seal."
Odin's voice came from the raven's mouth. He was one of the few Guardians not burdened with guarding other Titan facilities, so he had kept his gaze on Nazmir.
Arthas raised his hand and caught Odin's raven. He stared at one of the raven's eyes, which glowed with a golden light, and asked, "How confident are you?"
"Uncertain. Even I know very little about Uldir. The Titans deleted most of the information about this facility, but it is Titan technology, after all. I think it should not be too different from other facilities."
Odin's answer was somewhat ambiguous, and Arthas wasn't surprised. After all, Uldir could be considered one of the Titans' dark histories. As a facility specifically designed to research and imprison Old Gods, the research projects conducted there were too extreme even for the Titan Guardians. Those Titans, regarded as "gods," possessed not only divine benevolence but also divine cold rationality.
Many living Loa became test subjects for biological experiments in this facility, dying after suffering painful experiments, their souls and bodies not even properly handled, becoming puppets of the evil will within.
"Since you have an idea, we can certainly try." Arthas looked at Jaina, who immediately understood, and the light of teleportation magic had already risen in her hand.
"I will also send my champions to assist you."
As Jaina's teleportation incantation drew to a close, dozens of blue lights shot up from the open ground of Nazwatha, and fifty fully armed Paladins of the Silver Hand were teleported there by her.
The person leading this Silver Hand Knights was none other than Highlord Mograine, known as "Ashbringer." After arriving via teleportation, his heavy plate-armored boots sank directly into the soft sand of the Nazwatha coast.
"His Majesty the King, we have answered your summons."
Mograine hammered his right hand on the armor of his left chest, emitting a dull thud, and with this simple gesture, he announced the arrival of the Silver Hand. Arthas nodded slightly; fifty elite Paladins were enough to clear out this abandoned demonic lair.
After the spell ended, Jaina also nodded with slight satisfaction and said to Arthas, "The teleportation channel is very clear. If needed, we can send more people at any time."
"It's enough. G'huun is still trapped within Uldir's seal, after all, and his tentacles cannot extend too far. I can feel that there is nothing particularly dangerous in this ruin."
Upon receiving Arthas's command, Mograine immediately led the Paladins to launch an assault on the main structure of Nazwatha.
As one of the birthplaces of Troll civilization, Nazwatha's pyramid shape was emulated by many later Troll civilizations. Whether it was the Amani forest trolls around Tirisfal or the Gurubashi jungle trolls in southern Stranglethorn Vale, almost all had similarly shaped buildings.
As an experienced Lordaeron general, Mograine naturally had no lack of experience dealing with trolls. He had personally led teams to conquer several troll tribes that threatened the Eastweald. Therefore, he was very familiar with pyramid structures like Nazwatha. Even though Nazwatha's structure was far more complex than typical troll pyramids, with the main structure unchanged, Mograine quickly found the passage to the top of the tower.
The bottom area of the entire pyramid was almost completely saturated with dark power, and a large number of the dead could not rest in such an environment, turning into undead creatures enslaved by G'huun.
The Paladins of the Silver Hand showed no mercy against these undead. Greatswords and warhammers, blessed by the Holy Light, became tools for purifying evil, almost effortlessly sweeping away the undead creatures entrenched in the lower parts of Nazwatha.
The Ashbringer in Mograine's hand burned with seemingly unquenchable holy flames, leading the charge and clearing a path through the dark passages of Nazwatha. The skeletons of the undead were easily ignited and incinerated by the flames, turning into a sky full of white ash.
Mograine, accustomed to such scenes, was about to brush away the white dust lingering in the passage when he suddenly felt a strange sense of danger. He quickly raised his hand to stop two Paladins who wanted to push forward, "Wait, something's not right."
They had already entered the main pyramid of Nazwatha for some distance. Sunlight could no longer penetrate this narrow passage, and the Paladins relied on the light of torches and the Holy Light to see the direction the passage extended.
Mograine took a burning torch from a nearby knight. He extended the torch forward, and by the light of the burning flame, he saw the things almost mixed with the remnants of the undead, as well as the scene deeper in the passage—
Pale white substances covered the stone walls inside the passage. These fungus-like coverings were undulating like living creatures, as if breathing evenly.
Upon seeing this sight, Mograine almost instinctively activated Holy Light protection and cast several cleansing spells on himself. He stopped the knights behind him and retreated more than ten meters before halting, "Be careful, there are contaminants present!"
The well-trained knights immediately adopted the most appropriate countermeasure. They invoked Holy Light to protect their bodies and used the cleansing ability of the Holy Light to ensure they did not breathe in contaminated air.
This disturbance from the front also attracted Arthas's attention from behind. He walked to the front of the team and witnessed the white fungal mat that Mograine had seen covering every corner deep within the passage. These white fungi connected to form a horrifying biological colony, and the bones scattered throughout the passage indicated that these fungi were by no means harmless.
"It's a type of corrupted spore," Mograine told Arthas, "but the outer passage has collapsed. To reach the core area of the upper structure, this should be the only way."
The Nazwatha pyramid originally should have had external stairs directly to the top, but because it was located by the sea, it had been severely eroded and weathered by the sea breeze, almost completely turning into a slope. Coupled with the obstacles formed by the collapse of the building's top, they had no choice but to enter the interior of Nazwatha's structure from the bottom.
"No matter."
Arthas snapped his fingers, and brilliant golden flames ignited in response. He flicked his fingertips at the corrupted spores attached to the wall, and golden flames shot out, igniting the white corrupted substance.
The holy flame was originally just a tiny flicker, but it quickly spread along the network of mycelia, burning all the white filamentous fungi and rapidly spreading deeper into the passage along the fungal veins, purifying one by one the stubborn afflictions spread by G'huun.
"Jaina, please cool down the passage."
Jaina placed her right hand on the stone bricks of the wall, and a blue Arcane glow flashed in her eyes. Ice-blue light spread from her fingertips, along the passage that had already been burned by the holy flame, thoroughly freezing any possibly remaining contaminants. "It should be fine now."
With the help of Arthas and Jaina, Mograine immediately led the knights forward. This time, they did not encounter any more obstacles.
As the passage reached its end, they finally saw the sunlight coming from the end, as well as the sounds of battle from outside the passage exit.
"For Odin! Haha!"
A roar like metal clashing came, and a pitch-black body rolled down from the stairs. Mograine, quick-witted, leveled the greatsword in his hand, cutting the monstrous flesh that fell down the passage in half.
However, as soon as he engaged, Mograine realized that this Faceless One had already died before he cut it down; what rolled down was merely a corpse.
The figure outside the passage, so tall that he almost blocked half the exit, heard the commotion, glanced into the passage, and laughed, "Child, hurry up, if you're any slower, you'll miss this revelry."
After saying this, the demigiant took up his weapon and rejoined the battle, "Taste the Valarjar's axe, monster!"
Mograine leaped out onto the passage's stairs and found the entire platform filled with Vrykul fighting Faceless One monsters. On the higher central platform, a golden angel with wings on his back particularly caught Mograine's eye. That angel was wielding a spear, battling a towering K'thir.
He immediately made a judgment, "Silver Hand, follow my lead, purify these evil creatures!"
K'thir raised his pincers, blocking the light spears hurled by Ayr one by one. The sharp Holy Spears could only leave slight dents on his hard shell.
Ayr also noticed that this K'thir's defense was astonishing, so he consistently employed long-range tactics to wear him down. As it turned out, Ayr's tactics were extremely effective. This monster, whose size was far inferior to those infamous Faceless One generals, had difficulty posing a threat to Ayr in the sky.
"You'd best not land on the ground, Titan's lackey, or I'll tear off your wings and let the vilest flesh-beasts devour you piece by piece."
Although Ayr's attacks seemed harmless, they greatly annoyed the K'thir, who could only move on the ground. He opened his crab-claw-like pincers, and surging dark energy condensed into highly destructive death rays, carving two purplish-black cracks in the sky.
As Odin's chief Valkyrie, Ayr snorted coldly, easily dodging the first deadly ray. She then swung the spear in her hand, deflecting the other purplish-black ray. The Void energy beam was split by Ayr's spear, breaking into countless tiny beams that quickly dissipated.
The K'thir named Grand King Jaxxis was furious when he found his attacks once again dodged and blocked by Ayr, and he began to continuously unleash energy cannons at the Valkyrie in the sky.
Ayr constantly relied on her agile movements to dodge Jaxxis's rays. However, while dodging, she frowned slightly and wondered, "Is this filthy beast's internal energy limitless?"
The purplish-black Void rays almost dyed half the sky a gloomy purple. Although Ayr didn't believe such attacks could harm her, a stalemate like this would not help the situation.
As long as Jaxxis was not dead, the Void portals located throughout Nazwatha would not disappear, and this K'thir's evil master could send in more troops at any time to intervene in this battle.
Just as Ayr was about to risk landing to quickly decide the outcome with Jaxxis, she suddenly noticed a human figure appear on a platform not far behind Jaxxis.
The greatsword he held was particularly eye-catching, its wide, cleaver-like blade glinting with a cold light.
Mograine had silently circled behind Jaxxis. His smaller stature compared to the Vrykul and Faceless Ones allowed him to completely avoid Jaxxis's attention. The monstrous beast was fully focused on trying to strike down Ayr, who was darting and weaving in the sky.
Ayr, on the other hand, keenly noticed Mograine's presence. She quickly made a judgment and prepared to cooperate with this seemingly capable mortal.
Facing the incoming death rays, she no longer chose the more energy-saving and safer dodging method. Instead, she performed a spear flourish in mid-air, shattering Jaxxis's magic into fireworks through a head-on collision.
The Valkyrie contemptuously pointed her spear tip at Jaxxis on the ground and sneered, "Is this all you've got? You and your master are just stinking rats in the gutter!"
Jaxxis was enraged. He roared, "Titan's lackey, minion of the false god, I will show you the great power of my master!"
"The great power you speak of, is it being trapped in a Titan's cage, butchered like an experimental subject?"
Ayr accurately struck Jaxxis's sore spot. The enraged Jaxxis waved his giant claws, intending to unleash all the power G'huun had bestowed upon him onto this slippery enemy. It was this intense focus that made him completely ignore the threat from behind.
Terrifying Void energy erupted from the K'thir's giant claws, heading straight for Ayr in the sky, but this immense power missed its mark, veering downwards and tearing an ancient building in half.
Only then did Jaxxis belatedly notice the searing pain from his legs. He looked down and found that the joints of the carapace at the back of his knees had been severed, and the flesh inside was almost completely torn apart by the Holy Light blade. Foul bodily fluids splattered everywhere. Without the support of his tough muscles and carapace, Jaxxis's legs could no longer support such a massive body, and his upper torso was toppling over.
"No!" Jaxxis roared furiously.
His body uncontrollably fell, and because he had already moved to the edge of the platform to better attack Ayr, his heavy, unbalanced body plummeted downwards.
The K'thir frantically gripped the edge of the platform with his giant claws, attempting to climb back up. However, two streaking lights, cutting across the sky, fell and struck Jaxxis's face.
Ayr remained in the posture of having thrown her spear, and nodded to Mograine on the platform.
While Jaxxis was dizzy from Ayr's thrown spear, Mograine precisely plunged Ashbringer into a seam in his sturdy carapace. The Holy Light-infused blade easily tore through Jaxxis's proud armor. The moment the blade pierced through his body, the overwhelmed giant claws could no longer support Jaxxis and ripped away from his body.
Jaxxis made intimate contact with the ground below the high platform, but the K'thir's tenacious vitality kept him conscious. After recovering from his dizziness, he struggled to get up from the rubble, but what greeted him was a runic greatsword radiating endless chill.
His thoughts were frozen at that moment, and Jaxxis's colossal body almost instantly turned into an ice sculpture.
Jaina hurled several Arcane barrages, which exploded on the ice sculpture, completely pulverizing this K'thir.
"Flawless cooperation."
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Ayr slowly descended from the sky at this point. She commented, "If not for Arthas and the others, I don't know how long I would have had to battle this K'thir."
She gazed at Jaxxis, who had become a pile of ice shards, and felt no pride in her accomplishment. Instead, she was quite puzzled, "This K'thir's strength is quite weak. It seems the evil god imprisoned in Uldir must be far weaker than the other Old Gods."
Truly powerful K'thir are monsters that even the Guardians find troublesome, such as the evil behemoth that perished with Tyr. These deformed monsters, existing as generals in the Old God's army, possess terrifying power capable of collapsing mountains and evaporating rivers with a mere wave of their hand.
"G'huun also has such a servant. That is a giant beast called the Dismantler. The serpent Loa Sethraliss, even with all her might, only managed to seal him away at the cost of her physical body being destroyed."
As Arthas explained, the surrounding Void portals also began to dissipate one by one due to Jaxxis's death. The seemingly endless Faceless Ones finally stopped appearing and were quickly annihilated by the Paladins and Valarjar.
"I know that serpent Loa. Even among the Loa, she is an extremely powerful being."
The Dismantler described by Arthas fit Ayr's understanding of K'thir, whereas the monster they had just killed was, at most, a slightly stronger Faceless One with the appearance of a K'thir.
However, this also indirectly showed that G'huun's power was not yet sufficient to create terrifying armies like the other Old Gods. The strength and number of his creations were extremely limited, making him "weak" compared to other Old Gods.
Ayr saluted Arthas, "I will temporarily lead the Valarjar to be stationed here. Odin has instructed us to follow your commands."
Proud Valkyrie generally do not bow to mortals, but Ayr could sense Arthas's essence, which was even nobler than that of the Guardians, so she had no qualms.
"First, let's try to repair the seals here. If we succeed, we might be able to try and restore some of Uldir's functions. That would make dealing with both G'huun and N'Zoth much easier."
Arthas had not forgotten their purpose in coming here. As long as they could repair the seals, even if they couldn't fully restore Nazwatha's functions, it would give them more leeway when facing the Old Gods.
"This place is a complete mess… even worse than I imagined."
Odin's raven landed on Arthas's shoulder, covering its eyes with a wing in a surprisingly human-like gesture. "The basic structure is completely corroded by fungal hyphae, and most of the circuits are blocked or broken. And looking at the extent of these spores, I guess the energy system has either leaked dry or been used as nutrients by these things."
"So, it's beyond repair?"
Arthas looked at the core where the sealing slab was located, which had almost completely transformed into a spore-infested breeding ground. He didn't hold much hope for its ability to restore the seal's function.
"I didn't say it couldn't be repaired."
Odin's voice came from the raven. He paused, then continued, "But repairing it would be more trouble than building a new one."
"Building a new one? Can you still guarantee the seal's effectiveness then?" Arthas asked with some curiosity.
"Don't underestimate the technology left behind by the Titans. Most Titan facilities are surprisingly modular. As long as there are suitable components for replacement, restoring this seal to eighty percent… fifty percent of its effectiveness isn't a problem."
Arthas rolled his eyes at the raven on his shoulder. "I don't see you having much confidence either, do you?"
Odin seemed a little exasperated. "Just tell me if you want to fix it or not! Replicating Golden Age Titan technology is no simple matter!"
Facing this suddenly temperamental old man, Arthas could only adhere to the basic principle of respecting the elderly and caring for the young. "I didn't say not to fix it; it's just that if the cost of repair outweighs the benefits a new seal could provide, then it definitely needs consideration."
"You don't need to worry about that."
The raven twisted its neck. Odin took a breath and explained, "Titan research facilities of this caliber generally retain extremely high redundancy. Otherwise, G'huun should have already escaped the containment facility, and Zandalar would have long ceased to exist."
He directed his Storm Rune Carvers to carry a large amount of equipment into the sealing hall while having Ael lead the Valarjar to clear the fungal hyphae from the hall with holy flames.
"Lord Odin, the equipment has been installed." Ael respectfully reported to the raven.
After Ael had thoroughly burned away the hyphae in the hall, the Runemasters had almost finished connecting the equipment brought down from the Skyhold to the sealing hall's main system. Through this equipment, Odin, from within the Skyhold, could monitor the status of the Nazwatha facility in real time.
"Hmm… It's pretty much as I guessed. Most of the main facilities here are in a state of complete destruction, and the sealing core was violently destroyed—although this evil god is a weak defective product, he seems to understand Titan technology better. To prevent Nazwatha from being repaired, he had his servants leave behind a large amount of corrupting spores, almost completely eliminating the possibility of the facility being repaired."
Odin's initial analysis of Nazwatha was almost identical to his initial observations. However, soon, more discoveries made Odin frown slightly. "Uldir… and its three surrounding sub-structures seem to be incompatible with other Titan facilities on Azeroth. The differences in their main systems are greater than I imagined."
"It seems the Titans never wanted this laboratory to be known to the world from the beginning. Unfortunately, even they couldn't fully foresee the future's direction."
Arthas was not surprised by this. The Titans' experiment in Uldir could be said to have ended in failure, and furthermore, the things within Uldir were extremely dangerous for the Guardians. It was not surprising that they built this structure with a different logic and system.
Odin made no comment on Arthas's assessment, simply continuing to silently retrieve information about Nazwatha. After some time, this Guardian finally took some concrete action.
"Remove the sealing disk in the center of the hall. We need to begin the repair work."
Two Valarjar Runemasters jointly lifted the heavy stone disk from the device in the center of the hall. The moment the massive disk was moved, the entire building hummed.
Even though it had been violently destroyed and subjected to countless years of erosion, the disk still retained a large number of complex and precise patterns, making its extraordinary nature evident at a glance. Jaina, in particular, had been holding a torch and observing the patterns on its surface ever since the disk was disassembled and set aside.
After the disk was removed, the even more complex internal pipes and circuits were exposed one by one. Several Valarjar went up and, in what appeared to be a very rough manner, directly dismantled the decayed pipes. They quickly connected them to the circuits on the equipment they brought, then thoroughly linked them using rune magic specifically for carving and construction.
"How long will this take?" Arthas asked.
"Soon."
-----------------
"Faster!"
Brann yelled, pressing himself against a boulder on the edge of the cliff. The open ground beyond the rock was already littered with spears and arrows.
He and his two bodyguards had "successfully" infiltrated the heartland of the Blood Trolls, which these savage natives called "The Dark Heart," where Uldir was located. Brann had seen the structure on top of this massive building from a distance; the colossal construct that was originally meant to protect Uldir was now corrupted by dark, bloody magic, sprawled on the platform at Uldir's summit.
It was surrounded by countless Blood Trolls, most of whom were scrawny male Trolls. They used the most primitive methods to carry wooden barrels full of blood, continuously pouring them into the blood pool on the platform.
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Several Troll Witches manipulating Blood Magic, using the power of this vile pool, continuously deepened the corruption on the construct. The stench emanating from the blood was so strong that Brann could smell it even from far away.
It was precisely the foul odor pervading the air that made Brann feel dizzy and nauseous. He even heard some ineffable whispers in his ears at one point.
Just as Brann was about to be overwhelmed by this sickening sensation, the massive Titan facility suddenly emitted a strange tremor. This disturbance interrupted the ritual on the platform, and the construct, which had originally been irredeemably corrupted, briefly regained consciousness and began to use lethal weapons against the Trolls.
The whispers also receded at the same time, but Brann hadn't even had a chance to catch his breath because Uldir's sudden reaction had heightened the Blood Trolls' vigilance, and they discovered the three "stowaways."
So Brann was chased all over the place by a group of Blood Trolls. Although the two bodyguards Arthas had assigned him were indeed quite capable, preventing him from getting even a scratch under the Blood Trolls' barrage, they were eventually forced to the edge of a cliff.
Now, a bottomless abyss lay beneath their feet. Brann glanced down, swallowed, and said, "Alright, lads, now tell old Brann, you can fly, right?"
The two cloaked men remained silent. A blue light flickered beneath one man's cloak, but the other quickly pressed down on his hand.
"Alright, alright, I knew it. Then we only have one way to go—I'll count three, two—Ah!"
Brann was still counting down when he suddenly felt a blur before his eyes. When he came to, the solid ground was no longer beneath his feet, and he screamed as he tumbled down the cliff.
"This idiot…" After retracting the hand that pushed Brann off the cliff, one of the silent big men finally spoke, and then jumped down after him.
Just as he was about to make intimate contact with the ground, Brann activated his bloodline power at the fastest speed he had ever achieved, transforming his flesh and blood body into hard rock in an instant.
With a 'splat', the heavy stone statue Brann had become sank directly into the mud at the bottom of the cliff.
"Ptooey, ptooey!"
Brann struggled to his feet, spitting out the mud he had eaten, and wiped his face with both hands a few times, finally getting rid of the mud and regaining his vision.
"Whew... My goodness, that must be at least a hundred meters high!"
Brann looked up at the sky with lingering fear; the dim bottom of the cliff made it even harder for the already scarce sunlight in the depths of the rainforest to penetrate, and coupled with the hundred-meter height difference, the Blood Trolls above became almost rustling black silhouettes.
Aside from seeing a group of shadows wriggling at the edge of the cliff, Brann couldn't see anything clearly.
It was fortunate that Nazmir's abundant rainfall had covered the bottom of the cliff with a layer of soft mud, otherwise, even if Brann had used his stone statue form, he would have been crippled if not dead.
Brann didn't dare to think about how much filth was mixed in the mud at the bottom, after all, he had personally seen some Blood Trolls throw dismembered limbs and refuse into the rift valley—or rather, below the surface, because Uldir itself was an underground facility.
The main body of the building was actually mostly below sea level, but for some unknown reason, the surrounding land and rocks had been excavated, exposing its main structure, and its location had become a giant pit.
After laboriously pulling his legs out of the mud, Brann quickly climbed onto a relatively solid patch of ground and began rinsing his mouth with clean water; he didn't want to taste the mud near Uldir after reverting from his stone statue form.
After a while, he suddenly recalled that he seemed to have been pushed down by someone...
"Dwarf, have you rested enough?"
A majestic and deep questioning voice came, startling Brann. He quickly looked in the direction of the voice, only to find a tall Mogu standing in the mud not far away.
Compared to Brann's disheveled state, this Mogu had directly dried a large amount of mud with lightning before landing, forming solid ground sufficient for him to stand on.
But even so, his mighty body still left clear footprints on the ground. Brann stared at the Mogu in front of him in a daze, and it took him a while to connect him with the cloaked follower from before.
"You... you were sent by Arthas—uh, wait, why do you look a bit familiar?"
Brann was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the Mogu. After racking his brains for a while, the explorer let out a gasp, "Loken? You are the first emperor of the Mogu!"
The figure in front of him began to overlap with the portrait Brann had seen at the Seat of Knowledge. Aside from the lack of luxurious decorations on his body, the appearance of this blue Mogu was identical to Loken.
"Hmph, since you know who I am, why don't you quickly come and apologize?"
Loken snorted coldly. Along the way, he had already had enough of the three living treasures—two big, one small—especially this dwarf. Even the two Pandaren descendants who had usurped the Mogu Empire hadn't angered Loken this much.
It was like an emperor seeing a tomb raider destined to rob his tomb after his death; Loken found Brann utterly displeasing no matter how he looked at him.
If Arthas hadn't ordered him to protect Brann's safety, he would have long since struck this talkative dwarf dead with a bolt of lightning. Just now, on the cliff, he almost couldn't resist the urge to directly bring down divine thunder and strike Brann and those lowly Blood Trolls into ashes.
However, Brann completely ignored Loken, instead muttering to himself in a daze, "Did that fellow Arthas... also dig up Loken's imperial tomb? Oh dear... I knew that getting used to that dark necromantic power would eventually—"
"Dwarf, are you listening to me?!"
For the first time, Loken was provoked to anger by a mortal. He roared, his voice like rolling thunder, displaying his full might.
Brann, however, snapped back to attention because of the shout, but he completely disregarded Loken's threat. Instead, he calmly picked his ear, "Please be a little quieter, old Brann's eardrums are hurting from your shouting."
"You—!"
Loken was furious. He clenched his large hand, and a brilliant white electric light burst forth in his palm, but soon another large hand pressed down on his wrist, extinguishing the lightning in Loken's hand.
"Alright, calm down, both of you."
Loken also removed his disguise at this point. Both he and Loken had shrunk their bodies to be about the same height as a Vrykul. It wasn't that they couldn't be smaller, but Loken was more accustomed to this height, and at the height of a Vrykul, it was also easier to operate Titan facilities, as their build was similar to the original Iron Vrykul.
However, he hadn't expected Brann to provoke Loken to such an extent with just a few words. Although he knew Loken couldn't harm Brann's life, if the fellow truly got angry and became uncooperative in their future work, it would be difficult, so he stepped in as a mediator.
"We are here to explore Uldir. In front of the sacred facilities of the Titans, it's best to maintain some reverence."
Loken looked at the golden building not far in front of them. Although this ancient facility had been weathered by time and no longer possessed its former glory, and even its exterior seemed to have oxidized and faded, he could still feel a familiar aura from this building.
This was indeed a hall built by the Titans, and it was a facility that even he, as a Great Guardian, was very unfamiliar with.
"Sacred? I can't see this filthy temple having anything to do with that word. The evil within is practically overflowing." Loken retorted to Loken with a dark expression.
"Hold on a moment. Although I don't know where Arthas dug you up from, I think the gentleman next to you is right. As archaeologists, we must maintain reverence for these precious relics."
Brann directly sided with Loken, and Loken also looked at Brann with a gratified gaze: Although this Earthen descendant was a bit peculiar, he was quite good at speaking.
However, to prevent Loken from continuing to argue with Brann, Loken directly changed the subject, "Let's not talk about these things for now. That strange disturbance that exposed us just now should be someone trying to restart Uldir's main system."
As a Titan Guardian, Loken could perceive much more information than Brann and Loken, but this also brought up a new problem.
"Restart? Who would be doing such a thing? I guess it's certainly not that evil god in here; he shouldn't be insane enough to reinforce his own cage." Brann grumbled, wanting to figure out who was controlling Uldir's system.
"It's a bit like the work of one of my brothers... but I'm not sure. However, this is a good thing for us."
After speaking, Loken waved his large hand, pointing in one direction, "I just observed it; that should be one of Uldir's entrances. Originally, it was closed, but the system restart just now restored some functions to many of its facilities. We should be able to enter the building from there."
Loken's iron fist roughly plunged into the metal panel, followed by a flash of electricity, as pure thunderous power poured into the depleted circuits.
With energy support, the steel gate blocking the three individuals finally stirred, slowly beginning to rise.
Loken retracted his arm, his thick forearm kneading and tearing the twisted steel like putty; the sharp metal breaks couldn't even leave a scratch on his skin.
"The system already showed signs of restarting, but the energy supply still can't keep up?" Loken stared at the slowly opening metal gate, somewhat worried. "The damage to this facility must be much more severe than I initially expected—it's truly a miracle that the Evil God didn't escape its prison."
"A miracle? I think it's a miracle that those pig-headed Zandalar Trolls are still alive today," Loken scoffed disdainfully at his former allies. "Leaving such a facility unguarded for tens of thousands of years, not even understanding its purpose, and letting a bunch of crude barbarians occupy it. I don't know how they can shamelessly claim their civilization is eternal."
Loken even began to regret why he had established an alliance with Zandalar back then. If he had known that there was such a legacy of the Gods on the land of Zandalar, he would have long since marched north and claimed these things for himself. Perhaps he wouldn't have had to travel thousands of miles to Uldum to find the Origin Engine, only to end up defeated and dead.
But Loken had no regrets at all; he never regretted any of his decisions, even betraying his master Loken and seizing power from him, Loken would not repent for it.
After entering the facility, Loken quickly found an operating console that should have been connected to the facility's main system based on his experience. However, after a series of operations, the Great Guardian's movements became hesitant. "The system logic of this building is somewhat different from common Titan facilities..."
Loken glanced at the information and parameters on the panel, also frowning. "The logic of this thing is quite different from the Titan facilities in Pandaria."
Loken tried several times but found that he could never activate this sub-console, and even several lines of error code appeared. "Things are not looking good. If we can't pass the verification, I'm afraid we'll have to use forceful means to open the passage behind us."
"Let me take a look!"
Brann darted to the console, and Loken moved aside for him, allowing him to see the information on the console.
After staring at the buttons for a while, Brann patted his forehead. "Oh, I think I understand."
"You found the pattern?" Loken was overjoyed. "It seems the wisdom left by the Titans has always been passed down in the bloodline of his creations."
"Pattern? Well, you could say that. Old Brann has touched at least eighty, if not a hundred, Titan-tech creations. I can understand the operation logic of this thing at a glance—ah, wait for me two minutes... (muttering quietly) What is this button for?"
Watching Brann start operating the console, the heart Loken had just put down couldn't help but rise again: did he really figure it out?
Loken simply sat aside, closing his eyes to rest. However, he hadn't been quiet for long before an unpleasant voice sounded in his ear.
"What's the situation inside Uldir?"
"A nearly scrapped facility—you should know better than I do."
Loken answered Arthas's question in his mind, also expressing his dissatisfaction. "Also, if I see this dwarf again after this, I'll turn him into a cinder."
Arthas ignored his complaints. "Are there any signs of N'Zoth appearing?"
"None found yet."
It was Loken who answered this question; he also sensed Arthas's will and began to communicate with him. "Did you restart the Uldir facility?"
"Yes—Odin is trying to connect a new seal to Uldir to replace the scrapped Nazwatha. Once completed, some of the previously defunct energy supplies should also resume."
"That's good news, but our situation here has hit a bottleneck," Loken glanced at Brann, who was still tinkering with the console, and gave a less optimistic estimate. "Next, we might need to use forceful means to open the gates sealing off other areas."
"Not highly recommended. Uldir should have completed its final isolation measures before it became incapacitated, but after such a long time, most of the dangerous entities in those isolation chambers have already escaped containment."
Arthas's meaning was very direct, and Loken, of course, understood. "So, if we break open the gates of the sealed passages, we are very likely to directly encounter the dangerous samples sealed within?"
"Or automated defenses that haven't completely failed yet—you should know the dangers of these things better than I do."
Arthas's suggestion immediately sent Loken into deep thought: indeed, without ascertaining the safety of each area, rashly destroying the isolation doors could make the already damaged seal even more fragile, further increasing the possibility of containment breaches.
Moreover, those automated defense devices were also very dangerous, and Loken did not want to experience those powerful destructive weapons.
"Warning: Security authentication failed—beep—danger—large amount of contaminants detected, pro-, pro-, pro-cessing—"
The sudden mechanical prompt startled Loken from his contemplation. He looked at Brann in surprise. "What happened?"
Brann also looked bewildered. "I just pressed this button, which should be for confirmation, but why did it skip authentication and go straight to authentication failed? I was hoping you could try to pass the verification!"
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"If we make too much noise, we'll just have to evacuate." Loken sighed helplessly.
Brann was also speechless—he had clearly followed the procedure, so why did a problem suddenly arise? However, he was the one who had been tinkering with the console, so it was indeed difficult for him to escape blame now that a problem had occurred.
"Wait a moment, this time it's not the dwarf's fault."
Loken and Brann both looked at Loken after his single sentence. He pointed to the ventilation opening in the cabin they were in, from which strange, crimson mist was continuously pouring out.
The Mogu Emperor continued coldly, "The door connected to that panel has long been contaminated. Of course, the security authentication couldn't pass. The dwarf's operations just now should have indeed opened the door, but the excessive contamination directly caused the disinfection system, which lacked energy supply, to crash."
While they were talking, the red mist twisted and condensed into chilling red and yellow grotesque patterns. The red mist floating in the air was like oil slicks polluting water, wriggling and churning in the dim light.
Loken flicked his finger, shooting out a bolt of electricity that dispersed a cloud of corrupted mist, but very quickly, the mist re-coalesced, even faster than before. These mist-condensed gas masses seemed to possess their own intelligence, and after being attacked by Loken, they felt provoked, and the result was that they drew out a large amount of sickly white spores from the ventilation ducts.
With the spores as a physical attachment, a large amount of mist also found its core and gathered frantically. The outline of a huge, semi-physical, red and white deformed monster became clearly visible in the blink of an eye.
However, Loken would not give it a chance to solidify further. The scorching white lightning was like divine power, its bright electric light even illuminating the entire dim hall, disintegrating the unclean monster on the spot.
However, the monster's demise did not stop the mist and spores from continuing to escape from the ventilation ducts. Loken realized that the quantity of this substance was probably beyond their imagination, and it was simply unrealistic to clean it up in a short time.
Brann also returned to the console at this moment, and this time he didn't mess up. "I found the emergency switch. I can manually open the sealed door with this."
"But where do we go? These things are pouring out of the room on the other side." Loken thought opening the isolation door at this point was probably not a good idea.
"No, this door doesn't connect to a specific isolation room, but to a versatile transfer station."
Loken had already read the map from the console screen. He quickly etched the data into his mind, then said to Brann, "Open the isolation door. We need to go to the disinfection room next door. After restarting the energy system there, we can completely eliminate this corruption."