Make Azeroth breathtaking

A dry wind, carrying the scent of death, swept across the dusty landscape of the western wilderness. Carrion birds screeched incessantly, searching for anything edible on the ground. An old scarecrow stood silently in the fields, telling everyone of its unfulfilled duty. In the distance, houses that appeared intact but whose doors and windows were broken and mangled further confirmed the fact that this town had been abandoned.

"Moon Creek Town, I remember three years ago or even earlier, the baron here blew up the mine shafts and announced the abandonment of the town, citing that the gold mines in Moon Creek Town had been exhausted."

Marshal Windsor, fully armed, stroked his chin. Although he was a high-ranking military officer, he still needed to understand the dismantling of strategically important towns within the Stormwind Kingdom.

"That's right, but the gold mine in Moon Creek Town hasn't been completely mined out yet..."

Logos took a step forward, stepping over the collapsed fence of Moonbrook Town and onto the town's narrow path, overgrown with weeds but still barely discernible, heading straight towards a spot on the edge of Moonbrook Town.

About ten minutes later, Logos stopped, looked up at the huge, long-abandoned granary in front of him, and frowned as he examined it closely.

"Is it here?"

"Here."

Logos nodded after receiving Tannis's affirmative answer and continued to stand motionless at the door. Five minutes later, Tannis's voice rang out again.

"There's nothing unusual at the entrance, you can go in."

"it is good."

Logos didn't say much. He hung something around Windsor's neck, then instructed Windsor to stay close to him and not to be too surprised by anything he saw. He then led the way into the granary.

As soon as Bu entered the granary, Windsor noticed something was wrong. Normally, the interior of such long-abandoned buildings would have a strong musty smell, but this warehouse... didn't have that smell!

With this question in mind, he followed Logos through the darkness of the warehouse, where his outline was barely visible. They bypassed piles of unrecognizable objects, ascended several old but surprisingly usable staircases, and finally reached a platform. In the far corner of the platform, something was faintly glowing.

"arrive."

Logos pointed to the glowing ground in the distance, and Windsor saw clearly what the glowing thing was at that moment—it was a square well!

"This is?"

"This is the passage to the mines, Windsor. The gold mines of Moonbrook haven't been completely exhausted. We don't even know if it was the Lord of Moonbrook himself, Defias, or one of Black Dragon's men who informed the Stormwind Kingdom's council of this."

"In other words, Defias's funds..."

Marshal Windsor's face turned pale instantly.

"Yes, Defias are actually very rich, extremely rich, as evidenced by their ability to cross the Endless Sea to Ratchet to purchase equipment—an adventure that could bankrupt some less wealthy nobles."

After saying that, Logos looked at Tannis.

"Activate the disguise, Tennys the Great Tinker."

——————————————Death Mine————————————————————

Beneath Moonbrook, the original Moonbrook mines have been transformed into a massive fortress labyrinth lurking beneath the mountains thanks to the ingenious construction by the Defias Brotherhood. Hundreds of corridors, large and small, connect rooms of varying sizes, some used as dormitories, some as warehouses, and some as training grounds. But the most important place... is none other than the area closest to the ocean.

Beneath the massive rock dome, Van Cleef stood atop a relatively intact rock. His weathered face no longer bore the youthful vigor of 16 years ago when the Dark Portal was established, and his standard leather armor was also marked by the passage of time. But what remained unchanged were his hawk-like eyes.

"Stormwind..."

Looking at the unfinished ship before him, VanCleef clenched and unclenched his fists in anguish. Stormwind, now standing tall in Elwynn Forest, was undoubtedly the Stonemasons' Guild's greatest achievement, the culmination of VanCleef's hard work! But this city, overflowing with the sweat of the Stonemasons' craftsmen, was also overflowing with the blood of his brothers!

"The Council of Nobles..."

Van Cleef uttered the second word that enraged him. After raising the banner of rebellion, he gradually learned some of the facts, one of the most shocking of which was that the King and Queen were completely unaware of what had happened to their side, and that the fact that his brothers were owed wages was orchestrated by the Council of Nobles. Ironically, some of his brothers had even thrown stones at the Queen, nearly killing her.

"The Royal Family of Vryon..."

Van Cleef uttered the third word. In fact, after learning the truth, he once wanted to remove the Stormwind royal family from the revenge list, but he quickly realized that this was a pipe dream. Even if the royal family was unaware, they were still the most obvious targets of revenge. The Defias's vengeful flames, which had gone out of control, would not be satisfied until they had buried the entire population of Stormwind.

Just as he was feeling dejected, his instincts as a soldier trained in the Seventh Army made him suddenly sense that something was wrong. Without hesitation, he drew his twin swords, jumped off the rock, used them to cover most of his body, and then peered outside.

"Your intuition is quite sharp, Van Cleef."

Logosh deactivated his disguise generator, revealing his true form. He was quite certain that even the weakest member of his group, Windsor, hadn't made any unusual moves; the only explanation was that Van Cleef's intuition was sharp enough.

"brother......."

Van Cleef had barely spoken when he saw several drones with the Ratchet symbol light up taking off into the sky, which silenced him. Having been to Ratchet before, he knew very well that this meant the arrival of Tennys the Great Tinker, the little princess of Ratchet who loved to wander around!

"Tannis, the great tinkerer, what brings you to visit me?"

Completely oblivious to how Tannis discovered his well-hidden underground fortress, Van Cleef emerged from behind the rocks, staring at the strange squad before him. For some reason, he felt that the person wearing the wolf mask, the one who spoke first, looked somewhat familiar.

"The small reason I came here is because you guys actually wanted to use Ratchet City's materials to make counterfeit and shoddy products to cheat people... Of course, I might still have come even without that reason, after all, I took on a super troublesome commission."

As she said this, Tanys gestured to Logos, who then extended his left hand, removed his mask, and revealed a face that Van Cleef had seen countless times in his dreams.

"Long time no see, Van Cleef."

28. There's only one answer left!

"King Varian?"

The moment VanCleef saw the face beneath Logos's mask, he instinctively called out his name. But he immediately realized that he was no longer the guild master of the stonemasons' guild who knelt before the king to present blueprints and then stood beside him explaining the city's planning to Stormwind. Here stood the leader of the Defias gang—VanCleef!

"I can see that you have a lot to say to me, but the words you most want to say are in those two knives in your hands."

Logosh spoke calmly, drawing his two-handed sword from his back.

"Aren't you the same, Varian?!"

Van Cleef regulated his breathing, shifted his feet slightly, and naturally gripped two exquisite barbs provided by the venture capital firm. His eyes were fixed on Logos's body, ready to launch an attack or defend at any moment.

"I do have a lot to say to you, but what I want to say most is not to be expressed through this sword. However, judging from your expression, you won't listen to anything else until you hear the sword's lament first."

"That's right!!!"

With a roar from VanCleef, seizing a fleeting opening in Logosh's movement, he concentrated all his strength in his legs, unleashing astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance to Logosh, slipping into the inner circle of Logosh's greatsword's attack range. He took a deep breath, his left hand gripping the hilt of his scimitar in reverse, striking towards Logosh's temple, while his right hand, like a venomous snake, stabbed towards Logosh's waist! Clearly, if this deadly combo landed, even if Logosh managed to avoid being killed, he would suffer severe injuries!

However, the next moment, just before Van Cleef's knife pierced his body, Logos's knee struck Van Cleef's abdomen with tremendous force—as if his knee had been waiting for Van Cleef to crash into him. The excruciating pain, combined with the nausea caused by the attack on his stomach, made his waist almost bend into a shrimp shape, and the trajectory of his hands' attacks immediately became chaotic.

"clang!"

Van Cleef struck Logos's shoulder armor with the hilt of his sword with his left hand, producing a crisp echo. His right hand slid the blade across Logos's greatsword, letting it slip from his grasp and spinning deeply into a piece of sandstone. Before Van Cleef could straighten up, Logos grabbed his shoulders, and with a twist, Van Cleef's shoulders dislocated instantly.

"Ugh... Ahhhhhh!!"

The excruciating pain from the dislocated shoulder, coupled with the agony in his abdomen, caused even a tough guy like Van Cleef to let out a miserable roar. Only then did the high-ranking members of the Brotherhood, who realized that their leader had been taken over, rush to the scene, but they were all blocked outside the defensive line by Tennys's mechanical forces.

"Damn it! Ratchet! This is breaking the rules!!!"

Steiner rushed to the scene and started yelling at Tennys.

"You've also broken the rules of Ratchet City—Stenny, I remember Ratchet City informed your venture capital firm a long time ago that regarding Ratchet City's patented products, whether you buy blueprints to obtain production rights or buy parts to earn processing fees, it's all allowed. But—trying to use Ratchet City's products to make counterfeit goods and slander Ratchet City is unforgivable."

Tanis's cold words made Stein take a step back.

“Tannis the Great Tinker, I don’t know what you mean.”

"Ha—you think Ratchet City's products are just about superficial anti-counterfeiting measures?"

Ignoring the distraught Steinie, Tanis crossed her arms and watched with interest as Logosh and Van Cleef confronted each other—a pair of people she could never have met in the fragments of her memory.

————————————Strange dividing line————————————————————

"I give up, arrest me now."

After getting used to the pain, Van Cleef gritted his teeth and forced the words out of his throat. He knew very well that although on the surface it seemed that Logos and his five men were in danger deep in the lion's den, the truth was that the entire Defias of the Deadmines was surrounded by these five men.

"If I wanted to arrest you, I wouldn't need to go to such lengths. According to the laws of Stormwind Kingdom, there would be no problem in sentencing you and your key officers to behead first and then try them."

Logos used both hands to forcefully put Van Cleef's shoulders back in place.

"So you came to me to persuade me to give up the resistance? Dream on! The Defias Brotherhood and those nobles of Stormwind are irreconcilable! It's either them or us!"

Even if I cut off your head right now, you'll still stick to this view?

“That’s right! If I can’t even get justice for my dead brothers, then I’m not qualified to be the leader of the Brotherhood!”

"Blood for blood?"

"That's right!"

"Then, will the Defias Brotherhood repay the blood debts of the civilians killed by your Defias people in Elwynn Forest, Westfall, and even inside Stormwind? Since you have the right to demand repayment of your blood debts from the nobles, then those innocent civilians also have the right to demand repayment of their blood debts from you."

This question turned Van Cleef pale. He desperately wanted to answer Logos before him, that any sacrifice was justified in achieving his goals—a belief he had always held. But now he realized that if he did so, what difference would there be between him and the nobles who had ruined the stonemasons' guild?

“I have no right to judge you, VanCleef, nor do I have the right to judge those former members of the Stonemasons' Guild in the Defias Brotherhood. Because of my inaction, you have fallen into the abyss of revenge. What right do I have? The people of Stormwind Kingdom who have suffered because of you are the ones who are qualified to judge you. However, you and I are qualified to judge a group of people, namely the nobles in the Stormwind Kingdom's Council of Nobles, the nobles who caused all of this. Your trial can be postponed, but their trial is urgent.”

After saying this, Logos stood up straight and looked down at the astonished Van Cleef.

"I, Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind, will reclaim my Stormwind from those nobles, prevent the tragedy of the Stonemasons' Guild from ever happening again, and allow the people of Stormwind to live in peace and prosperity. You, the Defias Brotherhood, are you coming?"

"Hehe... Hahahaha... Hahahahahaha!!!"

After a few seconds of silence, Van Cleef laughed. The laughter started softly, then gradually grew louder, until finally, his laughter echoed throughout the entire cave.

"Are you going to destroy Stormwind, Your Majesty?"

"If Stormwind was rebuilt with blood and tears, it would be better to destroy it."

"So... there's only one answer left!"

Having received Logos's answer, Van Cleef had no further questions. He stood up, stretched his shoulders, and knelt before Logos.

"The Defias Brotherhood will pledge its allegiance to you, King Varian!!"

29. Showdown

"His Majesty."

Looking at Logos, who was standing on the rock where Van Cleef had just stood, gazing at the unfinished warship and seemingly lost in thought, Marshal Windsor walked over to him and spoke in a low voice.

“I know you’re confused, Windsor.”

Logos spoke leisurely.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I don't understand..."

"Last year, although Westfall was also invaded by the Defias, judging from the taxes collected, their incursions were quite limited. After all, they were dealing with the kingdom itself, and the Stonemasons' Brotherhood alone couldn't accomplish anything. If Van Cleef isn't stupid, he will definitely use various means to win over those dissatisfied with Stormwind Kingdom—rather than driving them to the brink."

After saying this, Logos looked at Windsor, who still had a somewhat puzzled expression, and let out a breath.

“Windsor, ever since the farmers in the Westfall started improving their farms like those in the Redridge Mountains, crop yields have generally increased. This has made it possible for farmhands who were previously barely surviving to have enough to eat, and it’s very difficult to get people who are well-fed to do certain things.”

"Then, if the Defias Brotherhood wants to grow, it can't let them have enough to eat."