Make Azeroth breathtaking

Tannis pressed a red button in her palm, and the goblin mines were detonated almost instantly. The slumbering kobold king was immediately engulfed by smoke, dirt, flames, and dust, leaving only a faint red outline.

"Fire!!"

At Tannis's command, all the goblins except for the bolt-action goblin did not hesitate to pick up their latest goblin rapid-fire guns, aim at the red outline in the smoke, and pull the trigger. The two high goblins also raised their shields, watching the dissipating smoke warily.

"Roar!"

Amidst the symphony of gunfire, the Kobold King's roar echoed clearly through the smoke, high-pitched and malevolent, sending chills down one's spine. Then, a fireball the size of an adult's fist shot out of the smoke, hurtling straight at Tannis!

The two goblins, who were prepared, raised their shields and stepped forward together. The fireball struck the shields, sending sparks flying everywhere.

"The pursuers!"

Tannis's mechanical assistant opened a small teleportation portal, and several already-fired Pursuers jumped out of the portal, rushing towards the kobold king, who was covered in wounds and looked utterly wretched, amidst the grinding of gears.

"Splash!!"

To the astonishment of the goblins, the kobold king unfurled a pair of enormous, jet-black bat wings. Scales spread across his suddenly bulging, muscular body like dye in water, covering his entire body in a few breaths and suppressing the bleeding from most of his wounds. Red flames swirled around his single horn, making him resemble an enormous candle.

Then, this creature, which looked nothing like a kobold except for its face, took a deep breath.

"Breath attack!!! Conceal!"

Tani instantly realized what the kobold king was up to and rolled away without hesitation, hiding behind a rock. The other goblins scrambled to find places to hide as well. The two great goblins were too slow and had no choice but to take the hit once again.

Dark flames spewed from the kobold king's mouth, engulfing everything in front of him. The pursuers that charged toward him melted under the intense heat, turning into piles of unrecognizable metal slag. The magical equipment on the two goblins who chose to withstand the attack let out mournful cries of unbearable strain, with obvious cracks spreading across it.

"Shadowflame?"

Tanis couldn't help but utter a word, though she herself didn't know why she knew the name of that breath.

"Clang!"

The two goblins lay motionless on the ground. Clearly, the Shadowflame had not only burned their magical equipment but also rendered them completely incapable of fighting.

However, the kobold king's offensive was not over yet. As the flames on its horns burned fiercely, balls of fire also rose from its hands.

"Package Fireball! Switch to special ammunition for suppressive fire!"

With a scream, Baoxuan raised his gun and pulled the trigger with all his might. The bullet, marked with a skull symbol, whistled out of the magazine and headed for its target.

Boom!!!

The explosion engulfed the kobold king's head in flames, and shrapnel cut bloody streaks into its scales. Although the bullet did not cause the kobold king serious damage, it forced him to stop casting a group fireball.

"Fire! Fire! Don't let that bastard get any rest!"

The goblins quickly reloaded, desperately bracing the butts of their guns, and fired bullet after bullet at the kobold king who was trying to charge forward and engage them in close combat. Amidst the clanging and clattering of metal, the kobold king's scales shattered one after another, revealing the dark skin beneath.

"Roar......"

After several attempts to launch a charge were thwarted by the goblins with ammunition, grenades, or worse, the kobold king took another deep breath, his muscles bulging abnormally, pushing open some of his already cracked scales.

"G-3! Hunt!!!"

Tannis's voice echoed through the mine, and dozens of strangely shaped flying machines simultaneously removed their disguises and fired silver locking beams at the kobold king.

"Gah!!!"

Upon realizing he was surrounded without his knowledge, the kobold king abandoned his plan to breathe shadowfire and grabbed a rock, intending to knock down the G3 predator from the sky. However, before he could even raise his arm, excruciating pain caused his body to stiffen—in the previous battle, the G3 predator had already locked onto multiple openings all over his body, and the silver beam of light was just the final blow.

"Hooray!!!"

Although it appears to be impervious to high temperatures, the Kobold King is still a living being. The temperature generated by the G3 Predator focusing on a single point is conservatively estimated at two thousand degrees, exceeding the heat tolerance limit of most living beings, including magical beasts.

In excruciating pain, the kobold king began spraying bullets wildly, hurling fireballs, and flapping its wings frantically, hoping to knock these creatures down. However, the G3 predators circled around it like a ring, skillfully dodging most of the attacks. Not to mention, the goblins relentlessly used their weapons to restrain it, preventing it from concentrating.

Finally, amidst the smell of burning flesh, the kobold king's shoulders, abdomen, arms, and spine were burned through by G3's focused rays, and his internal organs suffered irreversible damage.

"Awoo..."

With his final wails, the kobold king collapsed to the ground, losing his life.

"it's over?"

Bao Shuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and sat down heavily on the ground. He wanted to light a cigarette, but his hands were trembling so much that he couldn't lift them.

"...It seems to be..."

Tanis retrieved the burned and barely usable G3 hunters, arranged for the rescue of the still-breathing goblin, and fell into deep thought as she looked at the kobold king who was already dead.

'Why does this guy possess the power of a dragon? Is the appearance of such a thing here a coincidence, or is it deliberately orchestrated by someone... or something worse?'

VI. The Visiting Dwarfs

"..."

In her own bed, Tanya tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Defeating the mutated kobold king brought Tannis unimaginable wealth: the value of the dragonized kobold king himself, the mountains of ore ingots piled up in the cave, and 80 percent of the mine's profits for the next few decades—before taxes.

Yes, no sooner had Tannis stepped out of the mine than the Viscount arrived at her door with the tax collectors from the Stormwind Kingdom. Faced with Tannis's furious glare, the Viscount responded with an awkward but polite smile.

However, Tanis also knew that it was impossible for an outsider like herself to mine strategic resources like ore on Stormwind's territory without paying taxes, especially since the mine was located in Elwynn Forest, the heart of Stormwind.

So, Tanis had no choice but to accept the fact that she had to hand over at least 60 percent of the ore profits she obtained from the mines each month, consisting of medium-quality raw ore—if she wanted to maintain and expand the trade routes in Stormwind Kingdom, then following the rules was only natural.

However, besides the heavy taxes she had to pay, there was another, even more impactful thing that kept Tannis awake at night.

The two goblins burned by the shadow flames died despite all efforts to save them. Even though they drank the best healing potion Tannis had, and even though they had priests from the Church of the Holy Light invited, they could not save their bodies, which were riddled with holes by the power of shadow.

This was the first time Tannis had witnessed a familiar intelligent being die before her eyes. The death was so simple, so simple that it was over before she could even react. Even though Tannis had prepared herself to witness such a thing, she still felt a little breathless when it happened.

Finally, after tossing and turning for countless hours, Tennys fell into a deep sleep.

——————————Strange dividing line————

After an unknown amount of time, Tannis vaguely heard a loud voice.

"Beard above! Is this how you Ratchet City treat your guests?"

"Sir, please keep quiet. Miss Tanya is still resting."

"When I visited yesterday, you arranged for me to come today, but today you're telling me your owner is still sleeping?"

“I’m sorry, I can’t disturb Miss Tanis. She’s very tired and needs to rest.”

Just as the dwarf was about to continue arguing with Bolton, Tannis's listless voice reached their ears.

"Burning throttle, stop making noise, I'm awake..."

“Ah, ah, you’re Tanis? How old are you? No, that’s not what I meant. I think by human standards, you should be helping with housework right now, instead of traveling back and forth between the two continents like this.”

The dwarf who looked up and saw Tanis realized he had disturbed a child's sleep and became somewhat incoherent.

“Mr. Dwarf, I grew up in Ratchet. For goblin families, these are just household chores.”

After tidying her clothes slightly, Tanis went downstairs and sat down in front of the visiting dwarf.

"Excuse me, how should I address you?"

"My name is Inkfirebeard, and I have come to visit at the request of the Stormwind Kingdom's tax department."

As he spoke, the dwarf took out a document and placed it on the table.

"Mine production survey? Wasn't it already agreed that I'd get 60% of the profits?"

Tanis picked up the document and glanced at it briefly, understanding what the Stormwind Kingdom's tax department had entrusted to the dwarves.

"Your Hot Sands Consortium possesses superior technology in both mining and smelting compared to the Stormwind Kingdom. The Stormwind Kingdom's leadership is well aware of this. Furthermore, Viscount Matilda's mines have undergone significant changes due to at least three years of kobold mining... Clearly, using past data is no longer feasible."

The dwarf, having said this, carefully put away the authorization document.

"May I go to the mine now, Miss Tennys?"

————————————Mine Tunnel————————————————————

Tanis, her face expressionless, stayed close to the dwarf with the fiery red beard. Behind her, Bolt watched the dwarf's every move warily.

However, the dwarf didn't do anything too outrageous. First, he tapped and examined the smelted ore ingots at the entrance to assess their quality. Then, he went to the ore storage area, took a magnifying glass, and carefully examined a cartload of ore that had just been delivered from the mine. He took a sample with him and, after obtaining the latest mine map from Tannis, carefully compared it with the actual road he saw before him to confirm that Tannis hadn't tampered with the map.

Seeing the dwarf touching this and that, still looking unsatisfied, Bao Shuan finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Mr. Firebeard, you wouldn't be trying to steal our Scorched Sands Consortium's mining and smelting techniques, would you? I've already surveyed the market, and right now, the ore ingots we smelt in Stormwind are of the best quality."

"Bear the beard! Your skills aren't even worthy of carrying Ironforge's shoes! Once our Ironforge ingots arrive in Stormwind, I guarantee your mine will only be able to make a living selling ore!"

Firebeard was so angry at Bolt's words that he glared and puffed out his beard. If this weren't the Storm Kingdom, he probably would have already invited Bolt to "have a match".

"Scorching canyons, burning plains, black rock mountains."

The place name Tannis gave made Firebeard pause for a moment.

"Ah, that's right, young lady. Currently, if Ironforge wants to transport goods to Stormwind, they either use gryphons, which is costly and allows for limited transport, or they risk traversing the three regions you mentioned, which allows for large-scale transport but is also risky. Therefore, Ironforge and the Kingdom of Stormwind have never had a stable trade route. However, in the future, this situation will improve. A very stable trade route will be established between Stormwind and Ironforge. At that time, the Kingdom of Stormwind and the Ironforge dwarves will become the best allies."

"Plus dwarfs?"

Tanis blurted out a sentence out of the blue.

Upon hearing this, Firebeard gave Tannis a deep look, a slight smile appearing on his lips.

“That’s natural. We dwarves and gnomes are traditional allies….”

"It seems that what's going to be built between Ironforge and Stormwind is some kind of engineering feat?"

Tanis jumped in front of Firebeard and flashed her sweetest smile.

"If you really want to build some kind of engineering feat to connect the two places, could you let the Hot Sands Consortium participate in the construction? The reliability of dwarf engineering... well... it really lacks."

VII. Varian's Troubles

Anyone familiar with the engineering field knows that the mainstream engineering disciplines in the world are divided into two main branches: goblin engineering and gnome engineering. Goblin engineering excels in explosives, while gnome engineering is renowned for its various types of equipment.

Of course... well... neither of these is very reliable. There are numerous reports of goblin engineering explosives sending users flying into the air, and it is commonplace for gnome engineering devices to malfunction and cause users permanent misfortune.

However, this does not prevent both sides from believing that their engineering is the best and, incidentally, from wantonly trampling their opponents into the ground. Therefore, gnomes and goblins have always hated each other—and their opponents' engineering as well.

“Miss Tanis, although the main tunnel was dug by Ironforge, we don’t have much say in the construction of the underground mine tunnels. If you want to participate in the construction, you’ll either have to convince Gnomeregan or Stormwind.”

Inkfire stroked his beard and spoke to Tanis in a leisurely manner.