Make Azeroth breathtaking

Seeing Varian jump down from the black dragon princess's head, Anduin, with tears of excitement streaming down his face, ignored the pain in his body and ran towards him with a big smile. But before he could run a few steps, he kicked something and almost lost his footing.

"Watch your step, child."

Just when Anduin thought he was about to fall flat on his face, he landed on a pair of strong arms. Anduin looked up and saw his father, who was wearing half a wolf mask, smiling at him.

"Father! Father! Wow!!!!"

Anduin buried his head in his father's chest as if afraid he would disappear. At that moment, Varian also noticed something that almost made Anduin trip over. It was something he knew all too well—the hilt of the greatsword that had accompanied him through countless life-and-death situations, even though it had only been three months.

"I'm sorry, my comrade."

Varian apologized softly, and at the same time, he gripped the hilt of his sword, which was severely deformed from being scorched by dragonfire, and pulled his former comrade-in-arms from Onyxia's throat. Just as he had expected, his comrade-in-arms was unrecognizable after being scorched by dragonfire and soaked in dragon blood.

"It wasn't completely burned by the dragon fire, nor was it torn to pieces by the dragon blood?"

As Varian was mourning his fallen comrades, Iggy, clutching a dragon egg, emerged from beside him, staring in astonishment at the remains of the two-handed sword Varian had once wielded.

"Are there any records of this kind of situation among the elves?"

"Yes, that's the forging method for a legendary sword, the most crucial step in a sword we believe could never be forged by mortals. If you have time, bring it to Ratchet. Perhaps we can find some methods in historical documents to revive your sword in a more magnificent form... If successful, it will receive a new name..."

Ichi paused for a moment, then said the name of the sword.

"Quel'Serra".

37. The Dark Iron Dwarves Arrive in Ratchet

With the death of the Black Dragon Princess, the main control of the Stormwind Kingdom officially returned to the hands of the Wrynn family once again, and its power was firmly in the hands of Varian. The first decision this king made after slaying the dragon was to hold a formal meeting with Thrall's new Horde, and invited representatives from various forces such as Ratchet, Thunder Bluff, and Theramore to attend.

However, Tannis did not attend this meeting, which could potentially determine whether the Alliance and the Horde would fight or make peace for quite some time to come. The reason was simply that she had too many important research projects on her hands right now.

First, naturally, is the use of black iron. The more detailed properties of this peculiar metal have been gradually mastered through analysis by various professions, and its processing methods have also been slowly explored. Currently, repairmen are trying to use black iron parts to replace some areas of equipment that are exposed to high temperatures in order to improve their durability.

Second, Quel'Serra.

Although both the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas and the Night Elves have found some clues about this sword in historical documents, the problem is how to forge the sword blank into the shape of a sword. At present, no one has any clue. The metal, which was burned by Onyxia's dragonfire and then quenched by Onyxia's dragon blood, exhibited a series of unexpected properties, so that conventional methods could not process it.

Finally, there's the dragon egg that Iggy brought back...

Well, dragon eggs aren't really rare for someone like Tennys. You have to understand that dragons and giant dragons are strictly speaking two different kinds of creatures. Even if the former fights to the death, their limit is only that of a beast with intelligence, while the latter are born standing at the pinnacle of power.

Then, the dragon egg that Iggy brought back was examined by the mages of Quel'Thalas and it was discovered that it was an egg that could give birth to a giant dragon, and that its biological activity was extremely high, and it could hatch at any time.

These three events immersed Tannis in the laboratory, where she worked day and night with a group of tinkerers, sorcerers, and mages on various research projects. It wasn't until Varian sent someone to inform her to attend the banquet following the signing of the agreement that she realized she had been in the Tinker Tower for almost half a month.

"You are...Tannis the Great Tinker?"

Looking at the woman in front of him, wearing engineering glasses, with messy hair, and dressed in clean but smelly white work clothes that reeked of machine oil, metal, and some strange chemicals, with a scarf stuffed with various small tools hanging on her back, and a look of exhaustion that she couldn't hide, Anduin almost couldn't connect Tannis with the spirited woman he had seen a few times before.

"Ah, Prince Anduin, hello..."

Tennys answered listlessly, her enthusiasm dampened by the fact that none of the three key research projects were progressing well.

"This is an invitation; your father invites you to a banquet tonight."

"Thank you. Please convey my greetings to His Majesty Varian. By the way, may I ask why the banquet is being held in Ratchet? Although Ratchet did contribute to this, wouldn't it have been better to hold it on Archmage Jaina's Isle of Theramore?"

Tennys asked questions as she unwrapped the invitations.

That's because..."

Anduin hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to tell the truth, since Tannis was indeed in the know in some ways.

"An envoy has been sent from Darkforge City."

"Hmm? Dark Iron Dwarves?"

Tennyson paused for a moment.

"Yes, if it weren't on your territory, I suspect they would have already made contact with the Bronzebeard dwarf ambassador..."

When Anduin said this, he was clearly distressed. For some reason, he was not naturally inclined to solve problems with violence.

"It seems Darkforge City is unwilling to wait any longer."

You mean...?

Anduin's expression changed slightly as he thought of a certain being entrenched beneath Blackrock Mountain.

"Yes, if the avatar of that being born before the dawn of time has already entered its active cycle, then Dark Furnace City is essentially living on a countdown to the end..."

Recalling fragments of her memories about that guy who could find a place in late-game control decks for a long time and was even kicked into the Hall of Fame, Tannis realized that she couldn't stay peacefully in the lab anymore.

——————————————Ratchet, Embassy District——————————————————

In the wide plaza outside the Ironforge embassy, ​​several bronzebeard dwarves stood with their arms crossed, confronting several dark iron dwarves. Both sides had a burning rage in their eyes, wishing they could stuff the other into a forge and beat him until he was charred. Both sides also wished they could grab a nearby railing or other iron object and smash the other's head open.

However, they dared not. In Ratchet, although diplomats enjoyed a certain degree of diplomatic immunity, it did not extend to complete immunity. If they did commit a crime, the officials of Ratchet would recognize them, but the patrol robots of Ratchet would not.

The two remained locked in a standoff until Tannis's motorcycle, trailing a beautiful tail, came to a stop in front of the Ironforge embassy.

"Welcome to Ratchet, guests of Darkforge. However, could you please refrain from confronting the Ironforge ambassador on the roadside...?"

Tannis rubbed her temples as she got off the motorcycle. After eating some alchemically synthesized concentrated food, she felt much better than before.

“Tannis the Great Tinker, they are slandering our King.”

One of the Dark Iron dwarves grumbled in dissatisfaction, while the Bronzebeard dwarf on the other side also shouted loudly.

"Tannis the Great Tinker! They've kidnapped and are holding our princess hostage!!"

"...We will provide you with a clear answer regarding this matter during the informal discussions at the banquet tonight. Your visit to Ratchet City is presumably not for this reason."

"Wait! Tannis the Great Tinker? Are you planning to persuade Stormwind, Orgrimmar, and even Quel'Thalas to cooperate with these Dark Iron scoundrels?"

The Ironforge ambassador understood the underlying meaning in Tannis's words, which instantly intensified his tone.

"Once you in Ironforge know their purpose, you will cooperate with them, because..."

Tanis paused for a moment, then uttered words that filled the Bronzebeard dwarves present with terror.

"The thing deep within Blackrock Mountain should be awakening soon."

38. A Minor Incident at the Dinner

As the curtain of night gradually rises and the moon climbs into the sky, taking the place of the sun, in this late spring and early summer, the residents of Ratchet, who have been busy all day, are more willing to go out in the twilight than stay at home, and enjoy life in the various beer stalls, bars, or dance halls of Ratchet.

"Wow!"

Standing on the second floor of the banquet hall, Prince Anduin, with some cream cake crumbs still on his lips, looked at the myriad lights of Ratchet in the distance and uttered a sigh full of surprise and curiosity.

"Not bad, right?"

Tanis stood beside Anduin, her voice slightly smug. She had already retrieved the 'theoretical' image of Ratchet from the fragments of her memory—good heavens, wasn't it just an ordinary dock with some supporting facilities?

"It's spectacular; I've never seen anything like it in Stormwind."

Anduin, who was leaving Stormwind for the first time since birth, stared wide-eyed, wanting to take in the splendor of Ratchet. Seeing his child's slightly uncouth behavior, Varian felt a little helpless.

After watching for about five minutes, Anduin finally lowered his hand from the railing.

"Father, will Stormwind become this prosperous in the future? Will the people of the Stormwind Kingdom—and not just the people of Stormwind—be able to enjoy such a comfortable life?"

This question made Varian pause slightly. Having read the books written by Tannis in the Ratchet Library, he knew very well what a complex ideology underpinned the prosperity of Ratchet—even Tannis humbly told him that what she wrote was only scratching the surface of those ideologies.

But in the end, Varian nodded heavily.

"Yes, child, we can do it."

"Father! I knew you could do it!"

Upon receiving Varian's affirmative answer, Anduin cheered, embraced his half-squatting father, gently kissed him on the cheek, and skipped back to the banquet hall—he still had so much to taste.

Watching his child's departing figure, Varian's expression gradually turned bitter, a change that Tannis noticed.

"Lack of confidence? This is not the Ghost Wolf I know, but King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind."

"I'm confident I can govern Stormwind well, but I'm not confident that when I pass the crown to Anduin, he'll see the Stormwind he dreamed of—he's been kind and thoughtful since childhood, and sometimes I feel like I, as his father, am no match for him."

"Just take it one step at a time. Ratchet has gradually become what it is today. You know, according to my father, when he found me, Ratchet was just a small port. As long as you can use various means to gradually unleash the productivity of your Stormwind Kingdom, your kingdom's potential is much greater than that of Ratchet."

"Liberating productive forces?"

Varian frowned slightly; he vaguely remembered seeing this word mentioned in a book in the Ratchet library.

"Well, actually, your reforms to the Stormwind Kingdom Council and the redefinition of the Stormwind City nobility system have already taken a small step towards unleashing your nation's productivity—but you need to seriously unleash the suppressed productivity of your country... um..."

Tanis abruptly stopped talking, making Varys feel itchy and eager.

"How can this be done?"

“That’s not something that can be resolved in a year or two, King Varian, and…”

Tannis's tone became serious, and Varian felt it was the first time he had ever heard Tannis speak with such seriousness.

"If things really get to that point, you have to be prepared to shatter all traditions and make sacrifices you can't even imagine."

——————————————Back to the banquet dividing line————————————————————

After subtly instilling in Varian the idea that it might be useless, or it might become the fuse for something in the future, Tanyas and Varian returned to the table. They dragged Jaina to find the Dark Iron Dwarf delegation leader and the Ironforge ambassador to Ratchet, who were still locked in a tense standoff. Judging from the amount of wine in front of them, it was clear that the two dwarves had not reached an agreement.

"It seems that you haven't been able to reach an agreement yet."

Varian boldly found a seat, and Jaina and Tennys also casually chose two chairs to sit down.

"We will not sign any agreement with the despicable Thaurissan of Darkforge until he returns our princess!!!"

The Ironforge ambassador slammed his fist on the table, furious.

"I'll remind you one more time! Bronzebeard!! Queen Moira has officially married His Majesty Thaurissan!!"

"You Dark Iron dwarves must have used some evil witchcraft to control poor Princess Moira! You know, you Dark Iron dwarves have always done this!"

"Our Emperor is incredibly charming; he doesn't need magic to prove his charisma!!"

Watching the two dwarves' argument gradually veer into pointless chaos, Tanis, who had almost understood why they had talked for so long without getting anywhere, sighed. Just as she was about to speak, Varian slammed his two-in-one greatsword onto the table, the huge impact even causing all the wine glasses on the table to fall over.

"Darkforge! The main reason you came to ask for help is because Ragnaros is about to awaken, right? Therefore, you can allow Moira to return to Ironforge to visit her family while retaining her status as Queen of Darkforge, right?"

"Yes!"