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"Let's take this route."

Arthas took out a map and drew an arc on it with his finger.

"Take the trails in the Alterac Mountains? Although it would save more than half the time compared to the main road, the trail ends at Lake Keldaron, which our warhorses can't cross, and we can't swim to Andorhal in our gear."

One of the centurions, Farrek, raised his own question.

"I know Miss Tennys has promised to resolve this issue for us."

As he spoke, Arthas looked at Tannis, who, understanding his meaning, snapped her fingers, and a small off-road vehicle with a goblin-style design was projected down by her mechanical assistant.

"Is this magic?"

"No, Centurion Farrell, it is the power of engineering."

Tennys jumped onto the motorcycle and started the engine.

"Prince Arthas has already paid me my commission; I will use the speedboats of Ratchet to take you across the lake."

——————————————The dividing line of the journey————————————————————————

"Miss Tanis, this is Jaina Proudmoore, Princess of Kul Tiras, the beloved disciple of Archmage Antonidas, and one of the most talented spellcasters in history. Jaina, this is Miss Tanis, the adopted daughter of Gazlowe, Baron of Ratchet, and one of the founders of the Tinkering profession."

Arthas took Jaina's hand and enthusiastically introduced them to each other, then noticed that neither of them looked at him like a stranger.

"Do you know?"

"We've known each other for a long time. In this world, no matter how strong a person or force is, if they want to do business at sea with the human kings, they can't bypass the maritime gates of the seven human kingdoms, including the sea kingdom of Kul Tiras. And one of Kul Tiras's most important sources of income is—protection fees!"

Tanis spread her hands, looking helpless.

“That’s called a security tax, Miss Tanis. Making a living on the high seas is a very risky business. If it weren’t for our Kul Tiran fleet driving out pirates and eliminating sea monsters, you merchants might not have been able to cross the Endless Sea so smoothly.”

Jaina smiled as she looked at Tanyas.

"Yes, yes, so this is the reason why you shut me down when I sincerely wrote to you back then, begging you to lower the protection fee?"

"There's nothing we can do. Kul Tiras isn't rich, but the goblins have a lot of money to their name."

To Arthas's bewildered gaze, the two, whom he thought had nothing to do with each other, began a joyful bickering. The argument revolved around the fact that they were completely unsuitable for the roles of Archmage candidate and Great Tinker. He tried to interject a few times, but he sadly discovered that when it came to business matters, he really had nothing to say.

So poor Arthas could only sit in the tent with an awkward but polite smile, watching the two women's war escalate until Farion came to report.

“Your Highness, we have scouted the road ahead and found a medium-sized ogre camp on our inevitable route.”

"Immediately send people to scout out the layout of their camp. We cannot allow such monsters to roam the lands of Lordaeron."

"Leave the reconnaissance to me. My reconnaissance drones are far more efficient and stealthy than your soldiers."

Tanys's voice rang in Arthas's ears. Only then did Arthas realize that Tanys and Jaina had stopped arguing sometime earlier. Jaina was creating mana crystals, while Tanys was using a mechanical assistant to launch one light, paper airplane-like object after another.

"Have your soldiers drive the ogres together as much as they can; we don't have much time to waste on these big guys."

This is Jaina, who has completed the creation of the mana crystal and is beginning to emanate a chilling aura.

"I will have my soldiers cooperate with you, Miss Tanis. How long will it take your drone to complete the reconnaissance?"

Tanis held up one finger.

"A quarter of an hour."

——————————————Fifteen minutes later————————————————————

"Those bastards!! How dare they!!!"

When Tannis's drone relayed the reconnaissance results back to the mechanical assistant's screen, an enraged Arthas punched the ground, creating a crater.

Because the scene presented on the screen was completely beyond Arthas's imagination!

There are ogres, that's for sure, because the camp is ogres' territory.

The presence of human remains was to be expected, as the name "ogre" itself suggests that this despicable monster would not hesitate to consume humans.

However, there were actually humans in the ogre camp! And judging from their behavior, these humans were completely free, even armed with weapons! Moreover, the ogres showed no desire to attack these humans; clearly, these humans had already joined forces with the ogres!

"Back then, the Kingdom of Alterac allowed orcs to pass through its territory in order to protect itself. It's possible that some humans, for the sake of survival or other reasons, defected to the ogres. So, this kind of thing is not surprising at all."

Tanis printed out a map of the camp and gave it to Arthas.

"No matter what their reasons are, I will smash those guys' heads one by one."

After saying this, Arthas shouldered his warhammer and walked out of the tent, leaving Tannis and Jaina behind.

After a long pause, Tennys finally spoke.

"Has Prince Arthas always been this straightforward?"

"Yes, that's the kind of person he is—he says what he thinks and does what he thinks."

“Jaina, if I may be so bold, Prince Arthas’s personality is suited to be a general charging into battle, or a paladin who hates evil, but he is not suited to be king….”

8. Easily annihilated

Buck-toothed Bieber, clutching his rusty sword, leaned against a rock, yawning incessantly. Lately, their banditry business had been so bad that the ogres were nearly starving.

In order to avoid being eaten as a snack by cannibals that might go berserk due to hunger, Bieber voluntarily took on the guard duty that he used to consider a chore. Although the cold wind blowing down from the Alterac Mountains was a bit biting, at least he had no worries about the future, right?

"Ha~~"

Bieber yawned again, starting to miss the campfire and cheap liquor at the camp. Just as he was considering whether to find a small cave to take a nap, a strange, pale blue thing that seemed to be made entirely of water appeared in his field of vision.

Before he could figure out what this strange thing was, a stream of icy blue water violently washed over him. In the blink of an eye, Bieber felt a chill spread throughout his body.

"Hehehe... Mage... Mage?"

The moment the chill spread throughout his body, Bieber knew what kind of being he was facing. Undoubtedly, only a spellcaster could have caused such an effect!

However, before he could send a warning to the camp using his rudimentary alarm device, two rather strange-looking little creatures landed beside him.

"Crackling and popping!"

Under the electric shock, Bieber's vision went black and he lost consciousness.

When he awoke again, he found himself bound hand and foot. A handsome man with golden hair, wearing silver armor and holding a warhammer, stood before him, his eyes burning with rage.

Instinctively, Bieber started wailing.

"Master, spare me! Master, spare me!"

"How long have you been stationed here with those cannibals? How many people have you killed? How many villages have you burned? Tell me!"

Arthas placed his warhammer on Bieber's head. Its weight made Bieber have no doubt that if the hammer struck, his head would be turned into a puddle of unrecognizable material.

"I...our leader got involved with those...ogres...six months ago...I haven't killed anyone...I...I was only responsible for guarding the camp...I haven't killed anyone!"

Knowing that his life was hanging by a thread, Bieber cried uncontrollably.

"How did you relay the message after you located the target?"

Tennyson's voice reached Bieber's ears, giving him a glimmer of hope for survival.

"I know...I...I'll lure them out for you, sir!"

————————————A few minutes later——————————————————

At his post, Bieber pulled a rope from a crack in the rocks. Behind him, Prince Arthas, wielding a warhammer wreathed in holy light, looked at him with the eyes of a dead man.

"My lord...you...will spare my life, won't you...?"

Bieber gripped the rope with both hands, his body trembling violently.

"Stop talking nonsense, pull."

Arthas raised his warhammer as if to strike it, and Bieber, who felt he heard the laughter of death, no longer hesitated and pulled hard on the bell that signified 'prey'. A moment later, a clock in a distant ogre camp rang.

"Humans...prey...eat meat!"

As the clock struck, the two ogres who had been lazily lounging in the camp instantly became excited. They grabbed their weapons, swayed their large bellies, and charged out of the camp first. Behind them, the human bandits who had joined forces with these ogres also brandished their weapons and roared as they ran out of the camp.

And then, that was the end of it for them.

The rabble had barely stepped out of the camp and onto the path when Tannis's pursuers suddenly emerged from the cracks in the surrounding rocks. A series of explosions sent the bandits behind them sprawling. Then, Arthas's elite troops, blessed with the Holy Light and lying in ambush nearby, followed up and pounced on the panicked bandits.

"Roar!!! Humans!!! Food!!!"

The two ogres roared, trying to retaliate, but as soon as they raised their weapons, two water elementals shot them with icy water arrows. Then, Jaina's blizzard descended from the sky, and the cold frost carved bloody marks on their bodies. Realizing that their enemies were too strong, the ogres did not hesitate to abandon their weapons and catch up with the human bandits who had been reduced to a complete mess.

Pursued by the water elementals and human forces, the bandits scrambled towards their graveyard.

Finally, with a splash, the ogres and human bandits all tumbled into the newly dug pit—the pit wasn't deep, only up to their thighs. Normally, these bandits could easily climb out with a little time. But now, looking at the menacing soldiers around them, Arthas carrying Bieber in his left hand and a warhammer wreathed in holy light in his right, Jaina whose hands were already gathering water elementals, ready to channel magic at any moment, and Tanis with her ominously-looking mechanical form floating beside her, the bandits, except for the ogres, chose to obey, lying motionless on the ground.

Looking at the group of wicked and heinous bandits before him, Arthas felt his anger had reached its peak. He took a big step forward, slammed Bieber to the ground, and raised his warhammer high.

"As citizens of Lordaeron, you have dared to collude with ogres! Your crimes are unforgivable! In the name of Crown Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron, I sentence you to death, to be carried out immediately!"

Before Bieber, who had been thrown to the ground by Arthas, could even react after saying this, his head was smashed like a watermelon by Arthas's warhammer. The other bandits didn't even have time to beg for mercy before their heads were all severed from their bodies.

"Roar! Humans...you...!"

Just as the ogre opened its mouth to roar, a silvery-white object leaped into its mouth, and in the blink of an eye, its head turned to dust in a violent explosion.

After the ogre successfully lost its head, the life of another ogre also came to an end. Jaina's Frostbolt precisely pierced its skull, turning its brain into a pile of ice shards, which then melted away.

"Alright, bury these guys' bodies in the ditch and let's keep going."

Arthas wiped the blood off his warhammer and spoke.

9. Nighttime Conversations

That night.

The dry wood crackled and popped in the campfire, sending up a few sparks. In the tent beside the fire, Tanis sat on the recliner of her motorcycle, using her mechanical assistant to continue digging into the blueprints of the Mechanical Heart's signature weapon—the G0 Warlord—in her memory, attempting to recreate it using Azeroth's science and technology.

However, this matter is not simple. Unlike other relatively common Celestial technologies or weapons, the G0 Warlord can be considered one of the pinnacles of Celestial technology. First, the technology that rapidly deploys using G-series machinery as its warp core is difficult to replicate without precision machine tools. Second, if the Warlord is to avoid being a weapon that can only be used once per battle, as in the game, a hyperspace function system is also necessary. Then, the design space becomes problematic...

In short, no matter what Tannis did, the design was always a little off.

Just as Tennys was furiously revising the design drawings, Jaina quietly lifted the tent flap, walked over to her side, and sat down on the carpet next to Tennys' motorcycle, staring blankly at Tennys who was struggling with the drawings.

“Miss Jaina, I remember that sleep at night is very important for you spellcasters, right? If you don’t get enough rest, it will affect your spellcasting efficiency the next day.”