Make Azeroth breathtaking

"Click click click..."

Amidst a sickeningly loud sound, the frozen radiation monster shattered into several pieces scattered on the ground, quickly melting into puddles of wriggling, slimy creatures that slowly converged towards the center. Clearly, if these puddles were to touch the monster again, it would reappear.

"One, two, three, four, one more time..."

With a soft "click," another freezing bomb exploded near the radiation monster. The cold air slowed down the movement of the smaller creatures that had split off from the monster, significantly delaying their re-fusion. At the same time, Mekkatorque's equipment was ready again.

"The third time!!"

The third wave of rays struck the slightly larger radiation monster at the very center of the split radiation monsters, and this time, it could no longer struggle.

37. The Battle of Gnomeregan – Dividing the Forces

"Taken it..."

Looking at the radiation monster lying motionless in a puddle, Mekkatorque, who was kneeling on the ground, instinctively tried to wipe the sweat from his face, but he immediately realized that he was wearing a thick radiation protection suit and couldn't touch his face at all.

"Um... are you sure you don't want to wait any longer, High Craftsman Mekkatorque? Although that thing is dead, the radiation intensity in that area is still extremely high, and your radiation suits can't completely block it."

“We don’t have time, Miss Tanis… From the moment we stepped through the gates of Gnomeregan, we never thought we’d make it back alive—we’re so grateful for your help; without it, we wouldn’t have been able to get here so quickly and smoothly.”

Mekkatorque's words made Tannis narrow her eyes slightly.

"High Tinker Mekkatorque, you mean I can choose to leave?"

“Yes, the journey ahead is more dangerous and deadly. You are from Ratchet, the second-in-command of Ratchet, and the Grand Tinker of the Tinkers Guild. You have no need to risk your life with us gnomes. I have already told Oversback everything we have been through. If you leave now, the gnomes will not see it as a breach of contract, but as the fulfillment of the contract.”

Looking at Mekkatorque's sincere face and determined eyes, Tanis sighed helplessly.

"Although you think this means the contract is complete, I don't think it's complete in my heart... Fine, I'll take a loss so you can pass through that area relatively safely."

———————————————— Half an hour later, in the Gear Hall ——————————————————

"Phew...phew...I'm exhausted..."

Tanis slumped down beside a massive, now-extinguished shaft, looking as if she had been burned to ashes, while Mekkatorque frantically used his instruments to measure the radiation levels on himself and the other dwarves, the results of which greatly surprised him.

"Everything is below the safety line! Miss Tanis, what was that green barrier you just created?"

"It's a mishmash of true qi... electromagnetism... and some elemental forces, all mixed together, then amplified by special tools under the user's control to create a force field shield... It has extremely poor versatility and places extremely high demands on the user... It's basically a failed product..."

Tanya chewed on an energy bar, recovering her strength.

"So, the loss you're talking about is... making use of waste?"

Tanis's answer prompted High Tinker Mekkatorque to blurt out a sentence.

"You can't be so harsh! Master Craftsman Mekkatorque! You're an engineer too! You can't possibly be unaware of the costs involved in creating a new engineering product! If I'm offering this for free, isn't that a loss?"

"Alright, I admit you lost money, Miss Tennys..."

Knowing it was pointless to argue with the people from Ratchet on this issue, Mekkatorque began to allocate his troops. Then he discovered that because they had lost nearly a third of their men since they set out, they could not spare even a few people for the most important assault team!

"This... damn it..."

Mekkatorque gripped his scalp tightly, pondering a solution.

"Master Craftsman, why didn't you send more people to seize the generator?"

Tennyson's words reached his ears.

"As you can see, Miss Tanis, we're running out of manpower..."

Mekkatork sounded a little frustrated. He knew all too well that, according to the direct plan, the team that was going to seize the generator had only a one in two chance of success, but he really had no choice!

"Let everyone else attack the power plant. The task of attacking the Artisan's Hall is enough for you and me, Mr. Mekkatorque."

Tannis flicked her wrist, pulled out two automatic pistols, and blew on the muzzles.

"...This is very dangerous, Miss Tanis. The enemy must have deployed a large force along the way."

“We have soldiers, but they may not be heavy—or rather, we might only see heavy troops after we enter the Craftsmen’s Hall and meet Thermaprag.”

"Why?"

Tanis lightly stomped her foot.

“Think about it, Great Craftsman. Even a key point like Gear Square wasn’t defended by Thermaprag. This is inconsistent with his previous behavior of frantically sending robots to intercept us.”

"You mean, Thermapulg has no military strength?"

Mekkatorque quickly understood what Tennys meant.

“You surely know the industrial production capacity of Gnomeregan, Mr. Mekkatorque. How much productivity do you think Thermapulg can restore in less than a month, with the help of his mechagnomes? Not to mention there’s a bunch of leper gnomes causing trouble!”

"But this is a gamble... We can't guarantee that Thermaprag hasn't reconstructed something from ancient technology, something that's waiting for us to walk into its trap."

"Many times you have to take a gamble, like the master craftsman Mekkatorque. Just like engineering, when creating the unknown, aren't we also gambling? Think about it, is it better to gamble on four 50% chances of failure, or just one 50% chance?"

After thinking for a few seconds, Mekkatorque nodded.

"Okay, go with your idea, let's take a gamble."

——————————————Hall of Craftsmen————————————————————

"Hehe....hehehehehehe..."

Looking at the scene displayed on the screen, Thermaprag let out a laugh that was hard to decipher.

Why are you laughing?

The suspended core has a low-lying opening.

"Because I'll soon have Mekkatorque... He actually came here only with that Tanis, to challenge me, Thermaprag... He really... overestimates himself..."

As he said this, Thermaprag walked to the wall and pressed a button. A wall that had been disguised in a very inconspicuous way slowly opened, revealing a huge robot in the warehouse behind it.

"Are you going to do it yourself?"

Looking at the enormous robot for which he had also provided technology, his tone remained calm and composed.

“That’s natural. After all… getting Mekkatorque to kneel before me sincerely is an extremely difficult thing… but there are many ways to force him to kneel…”

With that, Thermaprag jumped into the giant radish and turned on the switches one by one. With a metallic clanging sound, the giant robot's eyes lit up.

"Come on... my 'Great Craftsman'..."

38. The Battle of Gnomeregan - The Hall of Artisans

"Click, click, click."

Tannis and Mekkatorque's feet trod on the metal floor of Gnomeregan, their footsteps echoing through the hall. They remained silent the entire way.

Finally, Mekkatorque broke the silence.

"When I was appointed High Craftsman, I dreamed that I could make Gnomeregan more prosperous, and I also dreamed that I could make breakthroughs in engineering, but... I never imagined that one day I would have to lead my people away from this city, this mechanical capital soaked in the sweat, dreams, laughter, and achievements of our ancestors!"

"Master craftsman Mekkatorque, you will be able to return in the future."

"Yes...in the future...but that's a long, long time from now...maybe a year from now, maybe ten years...maybe a hundred years from now? Miss Tanis, I know Thermaprag. Our actions can only delay his invasion plans, but they can't hurt him at his core. He will be like a viper coiled up in Gnomeregan, waiting for the moment he can rise again."

When he said those words, Mekkatorque's expression was noticeably somber, and at that very moment, Thermaprag's voice rang out at just the right time.

“Aha! Look who’s here! Isn’t this my old friend, my old boss, my old buddy—the Gnomeregan High Tinker who abandoned the city and fled—Mekkatorque?”

"Thermaprag!! If it weren't for you, how could Gnomeregan have ended up in this state?"

Although he didn't know where Thermoplag was, that didn't stop Mekkatorque from asking questions sternly.

"Because of me? Isn't Gnomeregan what it is now because of you? High Tinker? Who approved the restoration plan? Who passed the command to activate the core? Yes! I was the one who proposed these plans, but in the end, what caused all of this was your own desire—the desire to surpass goblin engineering and force Miss Tannis standing beside you to bow down to our gnome engineering!"

"You...you!!!"

Mekkatorque wanted to refute, but he didn't know what to say. Thermaprag seemed to be arguing, but he couldn't say that what he said was wrong!

"Cough cough..."

Just as Mekkatorque's chest heaved violently, Tannis coughed softly a few times, attracting Thermaprag's attention.

“Miss Tanis, this is an internal matter of Gnomeregan and has nothing to do with your Ratchet. If you leave now, we can still be friends.”

Thermaprag's words made Tennys laugh.

“Thermaprag, there’s a question I want you to answer. Although you keep saying that Mr. Mekkatorque and his team made those decisions, surely it wasn’t them who made the decision to transform you into a mechanical dwarf?”

"I know the dwarfs' past glory, and I will reclaim it! Flesh and blood are a shackle, machines are immortal!"

A barely perceptible hint of fanaticism appeared in Thermaprag's tone.

"It must take quite a while to transform oneself from flesh and blood back into a machine, right?"

"That's natural."

"So, you knew about the 'dwarves' past' a long time ago and started modifying yourself? After that, you meticulously manipulated the Gnomeregan Craftsmen's Council to make decisions favorable to your plans, so you could control Gnomeregan, this mechanical city, and use it as your base? The Gnomeregan Craftsmen's Association has been completely used as a pawn by you! Thermapulg, I have no interest in being friends with a despicable person who would betray his friends, deceive his country, and even exploit his own people for his own desires!"

Tannis's words left Thermaprag momentarily speechless. Mekkatorque, who had calmed down a bit, also realized what was happening.

"Thermaprag! Everything... was part of your plan???"

"To be precise, 86.22% of the events were planned by me. The rest were all accidental events. For example, the majority of people would rather become lepers than reclaim the ancient glory of dwarves. For example, you actually risked infamy to cooperate with Ratchet and return to Gnomeregan in such a short time. For example, Miss Tannis actually managed to easily breach my first two lines of defense..."

"Alright...you can shut up now, Thermaprag...From this moment on, we are completely estranged. Only one of us will survive."

Mekkatorque stretched out his left hand and gently tightened the glove on his right hand, while Thermaprag sneered.

"Although you are filled with murderous intent towards me, I will not kill you, Mekkatorque. I will invite you to share in the glory of Gnomeregan. You will become my most trusted lieutenant, just as I stood beside you back then..."

"I—absolutely—will—never—be—like—you!"

The moment Mekkatorque roared those words, the lights around them suddenly dimmed, and Thermaprag's voice disappeared after a rustling sound.

"Some power plants have been shut down! We can't afford to waste any more time!"

As he spoke, Mekkatorque quickly deployed his mechanical chocobo, and Tannis also deployed her motorcycle. The two of them sped off forward.

——————————————Hall of Craftsmen——————————————————

Thermaprag sat inside the massive robot, calmly flipping through various switches to complete the final warm-up, while on the screen, a progress bar was slowly being filled.

'Warning, Alpha, Beta Power Plant is offline... Repair in progress... Main pipeline confirmed broken... Repair failed... Warning, enemy is approaching the first line of defense... Autonomous forces activated... Warning, insufficient energy, activation failed, enemy has passed the first line of defense, energy calculation in progress... Warning, Warning, energy has dropped to 50% of standard energy...'