Make Azeroth breathtaking

"......"

Zeratul slowly opened his eyes, pulling his consciousness out of deep meditation. He was now about 80% recovered—not at his peak, but he felt it was enough. Moreover...

Thinking of what had happened not long ago, Zeratul looked at Marad, who was walking towards him, with a slightly thoughtful gaze. Just now, after discovering that one of his clones was in an abnormal and difficult battle, Zeratul decisively used his equipment to check the clone's condition and found that the thing it was fighting was actually a 'hybrid'. So, without hesitation, he projected his consciousness over and engaged in a fierce battle with those hybrids. To Zeratul's surprise, the player who called him was really not very effective in RTS. Less than half an hour after he projected his consciousness, the entire force was wiped out, and his main body was protectively removed from the instance. Left with no other choice, Zeratul had to fight alone.

Just when Zeratul thought he might be defeated in this dungeon, several World of Warcraft players inexplicably entered this Commander-focused dungeon and discovered Zeratul in the midst of a fierce battle. Realizing they couldn't handle the fight alone, they promptly called for reinforcements. Perhaps because they were all Draenei players, the character who came to support them was Marad. Upon receiving the feedback, Marad herself decisively projected her consciousness and joined Zeratul in battle. Despite it being their first time fighting together, a strange synergy emerged between them, as if their races were mirror images from different worlds.

"It's back to normal?"

"Eighty percent, that's enough. How many strongholds are left?"

Zeratul channeled his psionic energy, extended his blade, and gently grazed the nearby rock. Silently, a thin crack appeared on the rock, seemingly undamaged.

"Two, one medium and one small."

Seeing Zeratul's actions, Marad nodded slightly, pressed a few times on his waist, and released a hovercar with a streamlined appearance.

"Walk."

76. Sargeras' Counterattack

The sky was slightly gloomy.

The wind carried the lingering smell of ionized, burnt air.

The land appeared jagged and uneven after being bombarded by high-energy weapons, highly corrosive liquids, and all sorts of random spells.

Players who hop and skip around, dressed in outlandish costumes, happily playing with all sorts of new gadgets.

Patrolling NPCs.

There were also mountains of things on the ground that were impossible to tell if they were demons, Zerg, or something else... They looked like a hodgepodge of monsters.

“Varian, things are going too smoothly, so smoothly that I feel something is not right at all.”

Garrosh stood with one foot on a massive creature he had just killed with a single axe blow to the forehead. The creature resembled a pit lord and possessed several of the pit lord's signature abilities, but its blood wasn't fel-infused; instead, it was a corrosive liquid capable of subtly eroding energy fields. Its wings had also transformed into some kind of spore-spraying device. Garrosh muttered to himself in the communication channel. Although he was quite satisfied with the exhilarating battle, the Grand Warlord of the Orcish Horde and Paladin Lord of the Silver Hand keenly sensed a problem beneath that satisfaction.

"Something's definitely not right."

Varian picked up the monster he had chopped in two with his Salamani, glanced at it, and, confirming that it could not be resurrected, casually tossed it onto the pile of corpses 'awaiting incineration'. Leaning on his Salamani, he looked into the distance, where even the light that his power armor helmet could not completely filter revealed the fact that fighting was still taking place in that area.

"Although we seem to have unlimited manpower, unlimited supplies, and unlimited trial-and-error costs, the other side also has them—and that's the strange thing is, they haven't used these methods to test us at all."

"I don't think they couldn't have thought of it."

"I don't think so either, but we can't figure out why they would do that."

After saying this, Varian gently spun his sword and put it back into its scabbard.

"However, we also have a clear choice—to keep fighting until they are defeated—or until their plot is exposed before they are defeated!"

——————————————The dividing line of Death Star Fortress————————————————

"The progress is too fast."

In fact, apart from the warriors fighting on the front lines, the other leaders of the Allied Forces—including Jim Raynor from the other two worlds and the mage mentor Isendra—had similar feelings. As warriors who had fought against Amon and Diablo respectively, they knew very well what their old adversaries were like. Even knowing that the "them" in this world were not the real them, but rather fragments of will left behind due to the world connection and the 'information' stored in this world, they did not believe that their opponents would be so easy to deal with.

"The Earth side is analyzing the data flow in the current chaotic area, trying to find the data coordinates of the three of them and then pass them on to us. In this way, we might be able to determine what they are thinking. But before that, we still have to keep putting pressure on them. When everything is uncertain, the simplest way is to attack."

Tanis watched the battle unfold on the screen, wanting to say something happy but unable to feel any joy. Although her research as a master tinkerer was often extremely radical, she was not someone who was used to aggressive warfare without intelligence.

"Indeed, now we have no choice but to attack. So, would you like some coffee?"

"No need, for now... Iggy, Iggy?"

Suddenly, in Tannis's view, Iggy, who had been standing next to her, disappeared like a phantom, and one by one, the other people in the hall also vanished without a trace. In less than ten seconds, the hall became almost empty.

"Nobody here?"

Tannis quickly raised her wrist, preparing to contact everyone using the dedicated NPC world channel. The result, however, stunned her for almost a second. Although the player channel was still bustling with activity, the NPC world chat channel was completely silent. Realizing that things might be far beyond her expectations, Tannis quickly switched to the player channel and, unsurprisingly, saw a whole bunch of messages.

"King Wa has disappeared. Does anyone have a pig?"

"Little Hou is gone too! I just accepted the mission! Was he banished back?"

Didn't they say there were still three days left?

"It's hard to say... but I don't think it's like they were banished back. The person who was guiding me through the quest just now was Anduin from our World of Warcraft world, and he's gone now. Could they have been sent back to Stormwind?"

"I asked the players in Stormwind what the situation was... No, there are no Anduin."

"This is not good."

Knowing there was a serious problem, Tannis muttered to herself and activated her teleportation device without hesitation. She flew to the control panel of the Death Star fortress, turned on a projection device, and her image immediately appeared on the front-line communication equipment.

"Tannis the Great Tinkerer?"

"Tannis is still here! That NPC must have been killed in some accident!"

"Sargeras wouldn't have deleted them all, would he?"

"Use your brain! If everything was deleted, why would Tannis the Great Tinker be left?"

Looking at the bustling world channel, Tennys took a deep breath and spoke.

"Quiet, players. The enemy has made their move. I need your help. Now, except for those players who are following the 'NPCs' on quests and staying at the front to secure the coordinates, everyone else, please return to the Death Star Fortress."

—————————————Varian's dividing line————————————————————

Stormwind?

Varian looked at the familiar scenery outside the window, his brows furrowing slightly. He remembered clearly that just a moment ago he was leading a group of players and his elite Stormwind Wolves in a charge to kill a group of mixed demons. How did he end up back in Stormwind City in the blink of an eye? And judging from the situation, this Stormwind City was still before it had been modernized by Ratchet!

"Mirror space, or a time copy?"

Thinking this, Varian raised his hand, wanting to check his current situation through his portable communication device, but his wrist was empty. He tapped lightly in front of him to try to open the World of Warcraft game panel, but nothing happened. After thinking for a moment, Varian picked up the small knife on the table next to him and gently cut the skin on the back of his hand. Then, he felt pain and saw the blood flowing.

'Exiled? But this world isn't my world....'

Just as Varian was wondering where he was, someone gently knocked on the door of his bedroom.

"Your Majesty, the stonemasons' guild members are at the palace gates again demanding an explanation. The Queen has gone to appease them. Would you like to go with them?"

"Your Majesty...the Stonemasons' Guild, this is bad!"

In an instant, long-forgotten memories resurfaced in Varian's mind. He instinctively stood up, preparing to use his warrior skills to quickly reach the door. However, he stumbled and nearly fell.

"This body is too weak! What's wrong?"

————————————World of Warcraft dividing line————————————————————

"......"

Tanis crossed her arms and looked at the screen in front of her, on which was the face of an uninvited guest—Sargeras, the Destroyer of Worlds.

"What have you done, Sargeras? You've come to me to show off, haven't you?"

Looking at the enemy on the screen, Tannis's tone was icy.

"This is not about showing off, but about telling you the truth of despair."

Sargeras gently stretched out his hand and traced the outline of Azeroth.

"With the help of the 'adventurers,' I collected a great deal of 'vanished' time, and then, together with Amon and Diablo, forged it into our realm—"

“Most of them are not ‘screenwriters’.”

Tanis raised an eyebrow, pointing out the problem with Sargeras's words.

“But, like the writers, they can sense the ‘spark.’ After Amon and Diablo arrived, I realized that I could use them, and then use the mirror image, to forever lock the consciousness of you troublesome guys into a terrible ending—even though the players are strong, without you, they are actually not worth mentioning.”

"We troublesome guys... should I thank you for letting me go?"

Tanis's words were laced with sarcasm, to which Sargeras responded with a thunderous echo.

"It's not that I'm letting you off the hook, but you only have one timeline, and I can't find a worse ending for you to experience deeply..."

With a low laugh, Sargeras's face vanished, and Tannis let out a breath.

"Well, things are indeed... terrible."

————————————Garrosh's dividing line————————————————————

Garrosh sat cross-legged on the grass, stunned, staring at the tall, imposing orc standing before him. The orc wore a tattered black robe, held a bowl of strange liquid, and had skin that had turned dark green, his eyes gleaming red. Although the appearance differed slightly from his memory, he knew this was his father, Grom Hellscream, one of the legendary chieftains of the orcish tribe—but he was long dead, dead everywhere!

"Garrosh, drink this blessing, and you will instantly grow into a mighty warrior. The Warsong Gulch will follow the great Mannoroth to slaughter all enemies who dare to stand in the Legion's way—pure blood is meaningless."

Before Garrosh could figure out the situation, Grom, who was standing in front of him, spoke up.

"?"

“I have killed your mother, who claimed that drinking this blessing was a curse. Furthermore, do not expect Grandmother Gaiaan to save you; she has been imprisoned by me, and I will sacrifice her to the Great Legion tomorrow.”

"???"

If what Garrosh heard earlier surprised him, what he heard now enraged the entire orc race. In some ways, he respected his grandmother Gaiaan no less than he respected his father, master, or Thrall. The words spoken by this man who seemed to be his father had crossed his bottom line!

"What the hell have you become, my father?!"

Forcing himself to calm his anger, Garrosh roared, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he froze, realizing that his voice had become very childlike, as if he were a little kid!

No, not just as if, I am a child right now! My body has actually transformed into my childhood self!

“It seems that Grandmother Gaiaan said too many things she shouldn’t have said. You actually regard this perfect body as a curse.”

Seemingly regretting his earlier words, Grom strode up to Garrosh, reaching out to pry open Garrosh's mouth and force down what Garrosh already recognized as the substance. Garrosh struggled fiercely, unwilling to swallow it, but he was simply too weak in his current state...

Just as Garrosh was in despair, a large door suddenly opened inside the tent, and several characters dressed in strange costumes jumped out.

"Let go of that little rascal!"

————————————Strange dividing line————————————————————

"Buzz—Buzz—"

Amidst a soft hum, hundreds of doors, resembling dungeons, opened at the locations where the various NPCs had disappeared. Players formed teams and filed in. Tanis stood in the Death Star fortress, her brow slightly furrowed, maintaining contact with experts on Earth. Minutes earlier, after Tanis informed Earth of the intelligence Sargeras had 'sent,' the Earth experts, now with a research direction, successfully pinpointed the data flow of the missing individuals, discovering that it collectively pointed to the depths of a vast, unknown ocean of data.

After observing this area, the experts were astonished to discover that deep within the ocean of data, there were several replicas of regions such as 'Azeroth,' 'Draenor,' and 'Argus,' and even a Sanctuary, a region resembling K'har, and what appeared to be Aiur! Clearly, these areas are the 'timeline fragments' that Sargeras mentioned!

After careful discussion, Tannis and the experts on Earth decided to first send a group of players over to assess the situation.

Then, using the intelligence they had, both sides established some unstable portals. They arranged for military players to enter first—after all, that area was severely isolated from World of Warcraft, and Tannis couldn't guarantee that players who went there wouldn't be able to return normally if anything happened to them.

To her surprise, even after learning of the risks, a significant number of players still expressed their willingness to take the risk to save the 'NPCs.' Their reasoning was twofold: first, if they failed, the entire electronic civilization of Earth would perish, rendering the characters worthless; second...