Light's Dawn of Azeroth

Chapter 599, Section 60: Kul Tiras, A Great War Is Imminent - Villagers Share Nuclear Fusion Technology with the Empire

The pace of the war suddenly accelerated at a certain moment.

Well, that's not entirely accurate. Since the time of the demon invasion, the Eastern Continent has been in a state of turmoil almost constantly. The series of wars, large and small, that followed have made it difficult for this land to have a truly peaceful time.

After all, war doesn't become any more beautiful just because your reasons for starting it are righteous.

But what can we do?

Already caught in the vortex of war, the inhabitants of the eastern continent had no choice but to grit their teeth and persevere until the victor emerged.

The good news is that the main body of the continent has been pacified, and the Church of Holy Light has cooperated with the officials appointed by Lothar to resettle the displaced people in various parts of the northern frontier. In particular, the good and cheap grains and various wines from Pandaria, as well as the tax exemption order personally issued by Emperor Lothar, have given those who were displaced hope again.

Anyone with eyes to see knows that liberating Kul Tiras was the last battle of the Sdomka Empire.

After this battle, there will be no other hidden dangers that could trigger war within the entire territory of the human empire, which means the arrival of long-term peace.

The bad news is that the cultists who have taken over Kul Tiras are apparently more powerful than the public thinks.

The harassment by the Kul Tiran navy, in particular, made a series of coastal towns, including Southshore, feel as if they had returned to the terrible wartime period.

Moreover, because these guys were cultists and were commanded by a "pirate duke," the Kul Tiras navy abandoned its former strict discipline and behaved quite cruelly in this battle.

When Southshore was attacked by the Void Nightmare for the third time, Lothar and his marshals and generals realized that they could no longer delay.

“Recently, there have been strange, widespread nightmares and curses in various places. We hardly need to speculate; it’s clearly the work of the Nightmare King, Savis!”
In the Battle of Lordaeron a few months ago, that guy used the same tactic, dragging most of the warriors of Silverpine Forest, Gilneas, and Hillsbrad Foothills into a nightmare in one fell swoop.

The Council of Six, after reviewing reports from wizards and priests across the land, concluded that the Nightmare King was weaving some kind of large-scale nightmare. If left unchecked, a nightmare contagion, difficult to eradicate, could erupt within the Empire in the near future.

At Menethil Harbor, on a ship bound for Tol Barad naval base, the disguised Archmage Antonidas handed a special map to Marshal Lothar, who was fully armed and preparing to march on Kul Tiras.

The latter took it, opened it, glanced at it, and frowned, saying:
"These dense red dots are spread all over the empire's territory, and there are even cases of nightmares breaking out in Quel'Thalas?"

"It may seem like an isolated incident, but don't forget that almost all of N'Zoth's minions can walk in dreams. That is due to the Thousand-Bearded Demon's evil control over the dreams of all beings."

Antonidas said very seriously:

"So in the most extreme case, every nightmare outbreak you see could become a portal for void creatures to directly invade the Empire's homeland."

They cunningly avoided a large-scale, coordinated attack, instead launching small-scale, dispersed assaults. This was to exhaust our resources and create panic; the void creatures' talent in this regard is well-known.

"So, what is your suggestion?"

Lothar had great respect for the old mage before him. Regardless of the overall image of the Kirin Tor, Lord Antonidas had indeed proven himself to be a good mage who cared for the people during the Northern Expedition.

More importantly, as a savior, Lothar has his own channels of information.

He knew that Antonidas was a "savior in training," recommended by both Khadgar and Rhonin. Perhaps this direct confrontation with N'Zoth was the archmage's "trial for advancement."

It's no wonder the old mage took the initiative to come and explain those potential threats to Lothar.

Marshal had assumed that Antonidas would suggest mobilizing church resources to purify those nodes, but he hadn't expected the old mage to be even more radical than he had imagined.

He said in a deep voice:

"My suggestion is that while you lead your warriors into Tiragarde Sound, Dalaran should send battle mages to join the Cenarion Circle's dreamwalkers in venturing deep into the Nightmarelands. We cannot allow Xavius ​​to roam freely while we merely patch things up behind him."

That would only keep us running around in circles. What we should be doing is dealing with the source of the nightmare's corruption all at once.

While we defeat the Nightmare King once again in our dreams, we must also deliver a fatal blow to the Naga's deep-sea empire capital!
Savives and his evil master are there.

After we have broken through the cultist defenses of Kul Tiras, you and we are destined to go there.

As for how to get there, you don't need to worry. We spellcasters will naturally provide complete strategies and plans. Moreover, this is a surprise attack. The number of Naga is terrifying. We cannot fight a long-term numerical war with them in the deep sea.

Only elite troops are needed, and the raid should be over as quickly as possible.

Losa pondered for a moment, then nodded and said:
"Then, I'll leave that to you all. However, Dalaran's floating islands will be involved in the main battle, just like the liberation of Stromgarde and Lordaeron. That's an important weapon for us."

"Yes, that's how it should be."

Antonidas stroked his beard and said seriously:

"I assure you that when your army enters Tiragarde Sound, Dalaran will be suspended above the battlefield, and the roar of arcane magic will secure a great victory for the Empire."

"While we spellcasters are single-mindedly pursuing truth, we also have a sense of national duty. When people shrouded in darkness need us, the Kirin Tor will never back down, nor will they hesitate to shed their blood."

"No, no, no, you misunderstand, Grand Master."

Lothar waved his hand and explained:
"This time, Dalaran doesn't need to risk charging into enemy lines on the front lines. After all, the interference of void energy on the mind is especially deadly to spellcasters. I don't need you to risk bombing the battlefield or Boralus Port."

I simply need your floating cities to serve as vehicles for a 'special forces' unit, as long as they can quickly enter the designated battlefield when ordered.

I've discussed this with the Eredar commanders, and I've participated in several raids by the Lightforged Chapter. I believe that serving as a strategic transport unit is the proper role for Dalaran, this floating city.

"Special forces?"

The archmage blinked; he had never heard of any "final battle unit" under the empire's command.

Lothar didn't explain further, but simply gestured for the archmage to follow him to "see the world."

Several hours later, Lothar presided over the departure ceremony at the Imperial fleet's home port.

He delivered a passionate speech, watching as Drake's fleet sailed away from the port and headed towards the Kul Tiras waters. They would shoulder a heavy responsibility: to seek a decisive battle with the Kul Tiras fleet in enemy waters, thereby ensuring the orderly progress of the subsequent land war.

However, Lothar himself did not board the fleet. In the fleet's home port of Tol Barad, a portal maintained by the Royal Archmages was ready, and the accompanying Archmage Antonidas was calculating the coordinates of the portal's landing point with some confusion.

He discovered that it was an unfamiliar location not found in the current spellcaster space coordinate manual, but he could calculate that it was not far from Kul Tiras.

Escorted by the Iron Horse Knights, the Marshal and the Archmage crossed the portal, but as soon as they landed, Antonidas sneezed several times, while Lothar beside him covered his nose in exasperation. The smell in this godforsaken place was just too overpowering.

The air here is filled with a strange, foul odor, the kind that comes from a mixture of industrial-age exhaust fumes and heavy metal pollutants—a stench that is hard for people in the magical world to imagine.

It's practically the same as some kind of vicious "stinky cloud technique".

The island is now covered in extremely severe smog. Although some forest cover can still be seen, the color of the trees and leaves is obviously wrong.

More importantly, the constant noise from the underground and surface dwarf factories, as well as the sounds of the "clockwork giants," "flying fighters," and "mechanical tarantula tanks," were giving the archmage a headache.

However, as a learned spellcaster, Antonidas also had some knowledge of engineering. He cast a silencing spell on himself and a special spell to purify the air around him before carefully observing the area he was in.

The island in front of us is not very large.

It's only about half the size of Tol Barad, but it's filled with dwarf-style buildings, almost exactly like the Gnomeregan Mechanical City that the Archmage visited.

But the dwarfs here do not use coal but instead extract oil from the ground for energy. Several oil refineries are located on the edge of the island, and they do not care about environmental damage, discharging wastewater into ditches that connect to the sea.

Further away, Antonidas saw a massive engineering "transporter" lifting a blue "Imperial mech" and placing it into a nearby "container".

"Isn't this the 'Goblin Mech' that appeared during the Battle of Lordaeron?"

The Grand Master raised his eyebrows and said:
"Why are goblin creations appearing in gnome territory? How did you convince the gnomes to use their technology to modify the goblin creations? The feud between these two small races is quite significant."

"Well, gnomes certainly won't touch goblin creations, but mechagnomes are very pragmatic."

Lothar gave a mysterious smile, made a "please" gesture, and boarded the mechanical spider vehicle with the archmage, which had a distinctly local gnome style.

This thing is made up of exquisite steel parts, with six sharp mechanical spider legs supporting it on the ground, and four exhaust pipes at the rear constantly emitting exhaust fumes, which looks very environmentally unfriendly.

The exposed gears, as they rotate, add a "punk" feel to this thing.

This thing even has a machine gun mount on its head. Of course, as a transport vehicle, it doesn't need to carry those insane gadgets like the mechanical gnomes.

The enormous mechanical spider roared as it carried the two distinguished guests through a heavily polluted parts factory and a waste heap. Antonidas noticed some shackled mechanical dwarf "bandits" working under the watchful eyes of human soldiers, cursing and swearing. The mechanical aircraft flying overhead from time to time gave the archmage the feeling of "stumbling into a mechanical world."

The art style of this godforsaken place really clashes with the magical world of Azeroth.

But Lothar was clearly not a first-timer here; he introduced the place to the archmage in the tone of a tour guide:

"This is the home of the Mechagnomes, who call it 'Mechagon.' The king here once created a terrifying bomb to destroy the Void Fiends of Kul Tiras, but was stopped by Gelbin Mekkatorque, the Gnome King, and the Council of Crafters."

I dispatched the Stonewall Brigade and MI7 to assist them.

There's not much to say about the raid itself.

Although mechanical dwarfs enjoy modifying themselves, they are still dwarfs and still not good at fighting.

With the help of an inside agent, Gerbin and his men first cut off the island's energy supply, shutting down most of the weapon systems. Then, General Blackmore personally led his team and stormed into King Mechagon's mechanical palace with almost no effort, capturing him alive.

After the maddened Mechagnome King was forcibly shut down and imprisoned in Gnomeregan, Mechagon Island was temporarily taken over by our ally, Prince Elazmin.

It didn't take me long to convince him and his outstanding craftsmen to modify this batch of goblin mechs for us.

After all, mechanical dwarves don't have the obsession with "dwarf engineering being the best in the world."

The marshal shrugged and muttered:

"The Mechagnomes aren't targeting anyone in particular. In their view, gnome engineering and goblin engineering are garbage, and only their 'Titan engineering' represents the greatest direction of technology."

To demonstrate the wisdom and power of the Mechagnomes to the world, and to express gratitude for the Empire's assistance in retaking Mechagon, Prince Erazmin personally redesigned these goblin mechs for us.

They replaced the old energy cores with Mechagon's unique high-density energy batteries, increasing the mechs' combat power by 30%!
They also fitted these 'slot machines' with a more robust Mechagon platinum shell, rewrote the fire control program for us, optimized the operating procedures, and agreed to allow us to use Mechagon's high-powered weapons.

But do you know what's the best part?

He jumped off the mechanical spider, stepped forward, patted the sharply defined leg armor of a blue-gold painted, over seven-meter-tall "Improved Tiger" mech, and asked the archmage a question.

Antonidas landed gracefully on the ground, then felt the rhythmic tremors of the earth with his staff, which was stuck in the ground. He stroked his beard and said:
"The underground factories of the mechanical gnomes are producing more mechs for you?"

"Yes! Your wisdom is indeed extraordinary."

Lothar clapped his hands and said to the Archmage:
"The mechanical gnomes' automated factories have a production capacity far exceeding that of the goblin factories, and their processing precision is incomparable to that of the goblin consortium's craftsmen."

In short, after paying some price, we obtained a production license from the Gadgetzan Consortium, and now the automated factory on Mechagon is producing these war machines for the Empire at a rate of thirty per day.

Currently, we have accumulated two hundred modified war mechs in the island's warehouse. It is estimated that when we launch the raid on Boralus, we will have three hundred and fifty mechs as true vanguards. This is the maximum number that Mechagon's resources can currently produce.

These are the 'special forces' that Dalaran needs to transport.

I have no way of finding a large enough ship to carry their weight.

Only floating cities like Dalaran can send them into battle all at once. As for how to participate in the battle, you might as well refer to the Lightforged Chapter's assault tactics.

Throw a teleportation beacon, then send the mechs in.

This tactic, combining engineered weaponry with a touch of whimsy, silenced the archmage. He calculated the success rate and feasibility, and after a moment, Antonidas nodded and said:
"We can try, but I noticed some strange glints on the surfaces of those mechs, like runes?"

"Oh, that's part of the 'Soul Soothing' ritual developed by the Lightforged priests. Don't worry, it's only activated when facing specific enemies."

Losa squinted and said:
"In addition, the Mechagnomes are also very interested in your city that can float in the sky. If you are willing to open up Dalaran's internal facilities for them to observe and learn from, these powerful little guys would be happy to rewire Dalaran's efficient underground power supply system."

Don't underestimate their expertise in this area, Grand Master.

The 'giant bomb' created by that mad dwarf king even made Saint Diakum exclaim that it was invincible. He confiscated the 'Origin Nuclear Bomb' and planned to use it on... cough cough, you didn't hear anything!
Forget what I just said, or Lightforged will be sent into Dalaran to investigate 'weapons of mass destruction'.

(End of this chapter)