Make Azeroth breathtaking

Having just joined the core work of Ratchet and being too young, Gazlowe only assigned her some less important bills to summarize and compare. However, Tennys discovered that these seemingly unimportant bills involved an astonishing number of items, and were extremely detailed!

"It's strange, isn't it? Many things can be mentioned in a single sentence."

Gazlowe's voice rang in Tennys's ears. He held the bill that Tennys had compared with her, and his expression was satisfied.

"Ah."

"This is the way of life for us goblins. When it comes to money, everything must be clear and transparent, otherwise, our families will be destroyed."

Gazlowe shook his head whenever he recalled anything unpleasant.

“You are my adopted daughter. Although you are not a goblin, it is undeniable that you have been branded with the Hot Sands Group. Adapting to the goblin lifestyle will not do you any harm.”

"But these are too..."

Tanis looked at Gazlowe with teary eyes.

"No, no, no, you did a great job. I really didn't expect you to be able to finish your work during working hours without making any mistakes!"

To be honest, Gazlowe grinned wickedly and placed another stack of documents in front of Tannis.

"Go for it, my daughter!"

—————————Three months later————————

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the Ratchet's leadership, both shipping routes have stabilized and begun to generate stable revenue. As the Alliance suffered repeated defeats under the Horde's suppression, they lost too much land and had to buy smuggled goods from the goblins at high prices to maintain their fighting strength.

Of course, most transactions were on IOUs, but Gazlowe wasn't worried about the Alliance defaulting on their debts. The badges on the IOUs were the family crests of Anduin Lothar, the current Supreme Marshal of the Alliance, who was the most legitimate bloodline of the Kingdom of Arathor!

However, Tennys had a different opinion on this matter.

“Father, I think… it would be best to sell these IOUs to other goblins at a lower price while they still have some value, and exchange them for real money.”

"Um, daughter, you probably don't know that the transfer fee for this kind of thing is only 50% to 70% of its actual value, do you?"

Although he wasn't very goblin-like, Gazlowe didn't like losing money he had earned. Seeing his daughter's worried face, he patiently explained.

"That's right. The Alliance is currently suffering defeat after defeat, and some human kingdoms have even betrayed them. However, they haven't been fundamentally damaged and still possess the ability to retaliate. The Horde, on the other hand, is stretched too thin, lacks manpower, and is unable to control the occupied territories, leaving them with no rear base. The Horde's only option now is to fight relentlessly, win continuously, and sustain itself through war."

As he spoke, Gazlowe made a rather rude gesture.

"Therefore, although the Horde may seem powerful now, if they suffer even one defeat—the smallest one—they are highly likely to collapse and be relentlessly pursued by the Alliance."

"No, it's... the seals on the white slips are Sir Lothar's seal, not the Alliance's seal. This is a big problem!"

"I wouldn't accept the seal of the Alliance. After the war, the Alliance will inevitably disintegrate again, and then the seal will be less than scrap metal."

"But what about Lothar's seal? You know, although Sir Lothar is the Grand Marshal of the Alliance, he often leads the charge into battle. He has no children. If Sir Lothar dies in battle, will his seal still be valid? Will the rest of the Alliance really pay for this shoddy stuff?"

"........"

Gazlowe was stunned. He realized that he had fallen into the misconception that the marshal would not die easily! However, he was reluctant to cash out all the IOUs he had at a low price.

After hesitating for a long time, Gazlowe finally gritted his teeth.

"Okay, I'll sell half."

IV. Ratchet's 'Debt'

After learning from underground sources that Gazlowe intended to sell some of his 'unidentified' IOUs bearing the Lothar family seal, many goblins eager to make a quick buck came to Ratchet to negotiate with Gazlowe in person. Although these guys were all sneakily concealing their identities, their concealment was of no use to Gazlowe.

"Rusty water, hot sand, emerging venture capital firms, and a bunch of small, scattered companies—all want a piece of the pie... Now they're all laughing at me for being a coward, aren't they?"

Gazlowe looked at the list of guests and once again doubted his decision. He knew very well that the visitors were all well-known speculators among the goblins, and these guys always had a sharp eye!

"So, Dad, what reason do we need to get rid of them?"

Tanis, who was struggling with a bunch of numbers, looked up. She hadn't expected Gazlowe to be so decisive! For a goblin, such decisiveness was almost tantamount to cowardice!

"No, Tennys."

Gazlowe picked up his suitcase and pushed open the door.

"If we don't sell, Ratchet's reputation in the underground market will be ruined. Besides, I need some cash right now to proceed with the second phase of Ratchet's development. Ratchet is too small right now... Hmm... Since I've already made this choice, I might as well go all out and auction off a certain number of IOUs every month..."

Without waiting for Tannis's reply, Gazlowe had already left the office.

————————————————Time flies————————————————————

After Gazlowe made the important decision to 'sell a moderate amount of IOUs each month,' goblin caravans flocked to Ratchet to do business. They boosted the city's prosperity and brought in more trade taxes. A portion of these taxes, along with the real money from selling IOUs, was invested in the reconstruction of Ratchet, allowing it to maintain a high rate of expansion. After doing the math, Gazlowe was surprised to find that selling IOUs hadn't cost him much. If he factored in the extra taxes, the soaring inn fees, and the sales revenue from Barrens specialties, he actually seemed to have made a profit.

Nevertheless, Gazlowe still paid a high price to purchase a real-time intelligence line on the war situation in the Eastern Kingdoms, and kept abreast of the latest developments while building his Ratchet.

Thus, during the first half of the sixth year of the Dark Portal, he was completely stunned by a series of 'accidents' that occurred on the battlefield of the Eastern Kingdoms, and his mentality fluctuated wildly because of these dramatic wars—more extreme than the tracks of a goblin roller coaster.

First, Orgrim, who had been dominating the Alliance, became arrogant or something else. After allying with the forest trolls, he launched a series of split-force operations, inflicting heavy blows on the Wildhammer dwarves and the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas. It is said that Silvermoon City was almost breached by the Horde's forces.

'The Horde is actually that strong? Did those Rustwater bastards make the right bet? Should I cut my losses?'

The Horde's attack thoroughly enraged the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas and Ark's Nest. The high elves and wildhammer dwarves officially joined the Alliance, bringing with them a large number of spellcasters and air units. These two strategically important units drastically slowed the Horde's advance. Had the King of Alterac not been cowardly enough to open the main road to the Horde, Gazlowe doubted that, with the right tactics, the Horde might have been crippled at the foot of Alterac's natural defenses.

'Are humans usually afraid of death? Wait... it seems I might make that choice too... as long as they don't take my money.....'

Thanks to the Alterac Kingdom's leniency, the Horde's forces advanced unimpeded to the walls of Lordaeron, surrounding it completely. It was clear to everyone that, barring a miracle, the fall of Lordaeron was only a matter of time.

'In some ways, selling the IOUs was the right choice...at least I should still have some assets left after the liquidation...'

As a result, something unexpected happened to everyone who was following the war.

Internal strife has erupted within the Horde! The Warchief has ordered a priority pursuit of the traitor Gul'dan! The Horde has suffered heavy losses! A gap has appeared in the siege of Lordaeron!

Naturally, Marshal Lothar seized this opportunity and launched a preemptive attack that decimated the entire Horde.

Just as Gazlowe had predicted, the Horde's war pattern meant they simply couldn't afford to lose. It took the Horde nearly two years from the start of the war to conquering Stormwind, sweeping across the lands of the Eastern Kingdoms, and finally reaching the capital of Lordaeron. Yet, they were routed back to Blackrock Spire in less than four months!

"Well, as expected, our Prince of Hot Sands is even more wise and powerful... But the tribe's collapse is too fast... Those idiots in Rustwater probably won't be able to stop the damage. From now on, they can't walk with their heads held high in front of us in Hot Sands."

Due to the dramatic changes in the war, the value of IOUs bearing the mark of Marshal Lothar's family rose again. As a result, Gazlowe secretly reduced the number of IOUs he sold and planned to buy back some of them.

However, just as he bought back some IOUs, a message that almost made him want to bang his head against a wall was delivered to Ratchet at breakneck speed.

The message was very short.

"Grand Marshal Anduin Lothar of the Alliance has fallen after a duel with Warchief Orgrim of the Horde!"

"My God! That guy Lothar is really dead!"

Upon learning this news, Gazlowe quickly cut off all buyback plans and contacted his salesman on the Alliance side to confirm whether the slips he had with Sir Lothar's seal were still valid. Unsurprisingly, he received a lot of ambiguous answers, and some people couldn't even meet the person who had previously contacted him.

It's quite obvious that the Alliance's current financial backers are preparing to default on their debts... The money was owed by Lothar. If Lothar were alive, they might still fear his military might, but now that Lothar is dead, what do these debts have to do with them?

Despite Gazlowe's best efforts to sell a few more IOUs, the news still swept through Ratchet like a whirlwind, and in an instant, the port of Ratchet was overflowing with goblins—lining up to jump into the sea.

"Those bastards in the Alliance! How dare they renege on the Hot Sands Group's money!!!"

Gazlowe held a wrench and viciously pounded on a piece of cast iron in front of him, again and again, venting his inner rage.

"Marshal Lothar's team consists of honorable soldiers; they should acknowledge these bills."

Tannis spoke cautiously; it was the first time she had ever seen Gazlowe so angry.

“No, daughter… investments must be made with a long-term perspective. Marshal Lothar’s confidants are all true, honorable knights. While I might be able to recoup some losses from those knights, what then? We would lose the entire league’s market because of this move—it would be a losing proposition…”

Gazlowe put down the wrench, his voice weary.

"But are we just going to let it go like this?"

"This is the only way for now... Ha... Alliance..."

As he spoke, Gazlowe raised his head and looked out the window at Ratchet, a city still bustling with activity.

"Yes, the third phase of the expansion project will have to be put on hold for now."

V. The Thieves of Ratchet

The end of the war had a greater impact on the goblins than many had imagined.

On one hand, the Horde suffered a crushing defeat, causing a massive backlog of bills for the Rustwater Consortium to turn into bad debts, leading to a collapse of its cash flow. Many goblins went bankrupt in the blink of an eye, saddled with huge debts. In order to survive, the remaining goblins of the Rustwater Consortium launched a frenzied infighting, dedicating a large number of air routes to the Hot Sands.

However, things weren't much better for the Gadgetzan. Although the Alliance's covert tactics proved highly effective, and taking over the Rustwater Consortium's shipping routes made them the consortium with the most shipping routes in all of Azeroth, the death of Lothar forced them to accept a mountain of bad debts. Fortunately, the Alliance promised the Gadgetzan Consortium a series of orders—paid in cash—to support their post-war reconstruction efforts, which silenced many goblins who wanted to take advantage of the situation.

Of course, Ratchet didn't fall into the economic crisis that most goblins faced, thanks to Gazlowe's action of converting over 60% of the IOUs into real money before his death in the Battle of Lothar. However... Ratchet now also has to face a problem that's not insignificant.

"The entire city of Ratchet is deserted..."

Standing on the terrace of his villa, Gazlowe held a glass of apple juice, watching the Ratchet city quieter under the slowly setting sun, his tone tinged with a sense of melancholy.

After the war ended, many humans who had sought refuge in the Eastern Kingdoms used their hard-earned money to buy expensive tickets and board ships in Booty Bay to return home. This caused a precipitous drop in the number of cheap laborers available to Ratchet. The goblins who had come to speculate also packed up and left this sorrowful place. Combined, in less than a week, Ratchet's population had dwindled by more than half. A series of services closed down, and construction came to a standstill.

However, this sadness lasted only a moment in his heart. As a goblin, he keenly realized the business opportunities after the war—the human kingdoms of the Eastern Kingdoms were in dire need of rebuilding and needed a large amount of raw materials. If the nobles returned home and wanted to resume their luxurious lifestyle, they would definitely buy a lot of 'stylish' items! Although the Barren Lands were relatively lacking in building materials, they were teeming with wild beasts—including many rare albino or magical beasts—making it possible to have an abundance of stylish local products!

'Anyway... the next step is to figure out how to develop the resources around Ratchet... the remaining manpower should be enough... because with fewer people, the money in the bank is sufficient...'

With this thought in mind, Gazlowe, who had been working hard for more than half a year, fell asleep.

----------------the next day--------------------

Gazlowe sat in his office chair, slowly tapping his palm with a pen. In front of him knelt two goblin employees, their brows slick with sweat.

"Gentlemen, I paid you a high price and equipped you with the best weapons we have here—even goblin rocket launchers—and this is how you repay me..."

As he spoke, Gazlowe picked up a piece of paper and 'gently' pasted it onto the face of a goblin.

"You kept saying you wouldn't let a single penny of my money go to waste, and now, my money really won't go to waste... because it's all gone!!"

At this point, Gazlowe almost wanted to pull out his gun and kill the two goblins in front of him, but his less greedy nature compared to normal goblins allowed him to suppress his anger.

"Boss...it really isn't our fault...really...we didn't see a thief at all! We didn't drink last night, and we didn't slack off; we were just diligently guarding the gate!"

A goblin desperately tried to explain, still completely baffled as to who had robbed Ratchet's bank—the amount of gold coins stored there was no small sum; it would take several carts to haul them away! Moreover, they hadn't seen anyone suspicious last night! Most strangely, the vault door was intact, and there was nothing suspicious inside! Yet, the money had simply vanished!

"Alright, stop trying to explain yourself. It's pointless."

A little impatient, Gazlowe tapped the table and held up three fingers.

"Seven days... Based on the number of people working for me in Ratchet, my savings can barely last seven days. After seven days, it will be difficult for me to pay those still working for Ratchet. So, I'm giving you an ultimatum: if you can't find a single clue in three days, you know the rules of the goblins..."

"Yes...yes!!!"

Gazlowe's sinister words sent the two goblins scrambling out of his office. Watching their retreating figures, Gazlowe snorted coldly.