Make Azeroth breathtaking

Second, the Naralex overturned.

The Howling Cave.

According to the fragments of Tannis's awakened memories, the area with the most concentrated underground water in the Barrens is a huge cave next to the largest and best-quality Sweetwater Oasis in the Barrens. Due to the cave's special geological structure, when strong winds blow, a mournful cry, like that of some kind of creature, comes out from inside. Therefore, this cave is named Howling Cave.

Back then, the place where Tannis wiped out the murlocs was actually inside a side cave in Wailing Caverns. Afterwards, Tannis once wanted to develop this water-rich cave, but she discovered that as long as she went slightly deeper into the cave, her mechanical assistant would receive a wave of unknown origin, and some people with weak willpower would also experience very slight hallucinations. Therefore, for safety reasons, she had to regretfully abandon the idea.

"...That's it."

Tanis described her findings to Naralex, adding a few pieces of information gleaned from fragments of memory. She then silently observed the expression on the face of the druid mentor before her. Deep down, she hoped Naralex would succeed; after all, an improved environment in the Barrens would be beneficial to her. However, she also knew that what could cause this druid, already qualified to be a mentor, to fail and turn his strongest disciples into mentally twisted monsters, was highly likely related to some forgotten entity hidden deep within the history of Azeroth.

"is that so......"

Naralex frowned in thought. He knew very well that Tanis had no reason to lie about something so crucial to the future of the entire Barrens, and as a major contributor to the Battle of Hyjal, she had no reason to deceive him on such matters—after all, the Archdruid's assessment of Tanis was that, aside from her first reaction to anything she saw being whether she could drag it down to sell for money, Tanis was surprisingly respectful of nature.

"Yes, so if you really want to go to that cave, I suggest you be careful. After all, there are far too many secrets hidden in Azeroth that we don't know about."

"I will be vigilant, thank you."

After much deliberation, Naralex made a decision: resolving the issues in the Barrens was not only his dream, but also an attempt by the night elves to reintegrate into the world. He could not give up so hastily.

"Alright, if anything unexpected happens, you can come to Ratchet for help."

"Ah."

Naralex, having obtained the map, left with his apprentices. Tanis sighed and continued to grapple with her financial matters.

——————————————More than half a month later————————————————————

"Miss Tanis! A night elf in the lounge wants to see you! She says it's urgent!"

While Tennyson was struggling with a blueprint, the sound of a bolt exploding came from outside the door.

"...Nalarex really messed things up..."

Upon hearing the Night Elf's name, Tanis, having essentially confirmed her purpose, sighed, put away the blueprints, and strode down the stairs. There she saw a druid named Scarlet Leaf sitting anxiously in the reception room.

Through Fei Ye's description, Tannis gradually understood the ins and outs of the matter.

After receiving Tannis's warning, Naralex did not lead his students into the Wailing Caverns in a grand manner. Instead, he carefully investigated the area around the caverns. As a result, they discovered that the creatures around the Wailing Caverns were much larger and more ferocious than their own kind. This, in turn, corroborated Tannis's statement that there was an unknown energy source deep within the Wailing Caverns.

In order to find the source of the energy, Naralex performed a druidic divination, which revealed that something was brewing deep within the Wailing Caverns. To find the source of this trouble, Naralex instructed his apprentices to stay in the shallows of the cave and not to go down until they received his signal. Then, he ventured alone into the depths of the Wailing Caverns.

As a result, less than three days after he entered the depths of the Wailing Caverns, the strange energy permeating the caverns suddenly and inexplicably began to strengthen. The animals living in the Wailing Caverns, which were already stronger than ordinary creatures, rioted under the influence of the energy and attacked the druids. The druids tried to drive these creatures away, but they found that the chilling power could actually linger on the forces of nature, causing their nature spells to be distorted in an unknown way.

Despite their deep concern for their mentor's safety, the apprentices disagreed, as Naralex had instructed them not to enter the cave before receiving his signal. Serfendis and the other apprentices argued that waiting for their mentor's signal was impossible and they must descend immediately to rescue him. The other apprentices, however, believed that all signs indicated their mentor's safety, and that they, as apprentices, were unlikely to fight a force that even their mentor struggled against; they insisted on finding reinforcements first.

Neither side could convince the other, so they had no choice but to part ways. Serfendis led several people who were willing to follow him into the depths of the Wailing Caverns, while the other druids set up camp at the entrance to monitor the movements of the creatures that had shown signs of mutation, while sending people to various places to seek help.

"Have you druids come to any conclusions about the nature of that ability?"

Knowing she had no choice but to deal with this, Tannis rubbed her temples, frantically racking her brains for a solution.

"That power seems to be some kind of spiritual force, but its source seems to be related to the forces of nature. It can silently distort the minds of normal creatures and cause their bodies to mutate."

"So, its power begins in the mind?"

"I think...right?"

Hiyo gave a somewhat uncertain answer.

"Forget it, whether it works on the mind or not, since we know it can affect the mind of living beings, we need to prepare something. Luckily, the Tinkerers' Guild has some research in this area..."

Tannis muttered to herself as she picked up the phone, dialed a number, and the call was answered a few seconds later.

"Hello? Is this Overspark? It's me, Tennys. How's your blueprint for that thing I gave you that can block mental intrusion to some extent coming along?"

III. Meeting and Preparation

The Interference Transmitter is a mechanical device originally designed to counter mental magic. After the Tyrant King Bakal forbade the use of magic in the heavens, the Mechanical God of War realized that he had to find a way to deal with the mental mages under Bakal's command. Thus, the Interference Transmitter was born. This small and exquisite device can periodically generate frequency waves that simulate mental magic according to a set wavelength, weakening or canceling external mental interference, thereby protecting the wearer's mind from interference.

After the Dragon War, the jamming transmitter lost its battlefield and gradually became a blueprint forgotten in history. It was not until the Battle of Rost that this piece of equipment was brought back to light and successfully helped adventurers resist the mental invasion from the Eighth Apostle.

However, many clues suggest that the jamming transmitter is not a purely scientific invention, but rather a product of the fusion of science and magic—the best evidence being that the Second Apostle, Heder, knew its manufacturing method. This legendary mage, who stirred up trouble in the Demon Realm, the Celestial Realm, and the continent of Arad, was also a member of the Seven Mechanical War Gods…

This made Tannis's restoration project extremely difficult, since neither she nor Gazlowe knew much about magic, a situation that only improved after some dwarves joined the Tinkerers' Guild she led.

However, dwarfism is common knowledge...

"Tell me the truth, Overspark, master craftsman, what functions did you add to the jamming transmitter?"

Tannis's brow twitched slightly as she looked at the jamming transmitter sample in front of her, which clearly contained something new.

"Ah, we felt it was a waste to use such an interesting design only for defense, so we added a switch to it, allowing the generated mental interference waves to be projected externally, thereby controlling the target's mind..."

"...Don't you know that everyone's mental wavelength is different? To control it, you either need to use powerful magic to force your way in, or you need to precisely lock onto the other person's mental wavelength?"

"Ah, we know, so we installed an overload device on it. This allows the transmitter to increase the intensity of the generated waves by more than three times, whether in attack or defense. Of course, the overload lasts for a maximum of ten seconds, after which..."

"Leave it to fate?"

"Ah, that's right, that's a good word... You know, these things always involve a bit of luck. The worst that can happen is you get controlled by the opponent for ten or so seconds, which isn't a big deal..."

Tanis's lips twitched.

"Master Craftsman Overspark, I admire your pioneering spirit, but since this operation cannot afford to fail, could you please produce a batch of jamming transmitters without offensive capabilities first?"

—————————————Entrance to the Howling Cave——————————————-

"No......."

Seeing the chaotic scene before her, Fei Ye's legs gave way and she knelt on the ground. The shattered fence, the scattered pieces of cloth, the dark red bloodstains that had congealed on the yellow earth before being buried by the mud and sand, and the scattered arrow shafts all indicated that the camp had been attacked.

"These crude weapons are centaur-style; have those guys multiplied again?"

Bao Shuan plucked a very rough arrow shaft from the tree, examined it for a moment, and came to a conclusion.

“That’s not surprising. After helping the Tauren migrate, we didn’t have any ‘deal’ with the Centaurs for several years.”

Tannis jumped off the motorcycle and looked at Fei Ye.

“Crimson Leaf Druid, based on my understanding of centaurs, it would take at least a medium-sized tribe to wipe out your companions. But clearly, judging from the hoofprints on the ground, only a small group attacked your companions. Could you look around for any runes or anything specific to you druids?”

——————————————Above the Wailing Caverns————————————————

"Hey......"

This was the third time Erbru had sighed; the female druid apprentice had been in low spirits since the battle a few days earlier.

"Erburu, stay calm. Don't let that distortion corrupt your mind. Judging by the time, Fei Ye should be back soon. She will bring good news."

As Arien, Nararex's best childhood friend, checked the healing of his wounds, he gave her a low warning.

“Arian, what I’m worried about isn’t whether Scarlet Leaf can find reinforcements, but Corbrain. He’s been deep in the cave for days and nothing has improved—it’s even gotten worse. Look at those beasts, they’ve even climbed to the vicinity of the cave entrance, and Corbrain and the others haven’t been able to send out a single message to warn us!”

The tauren druid Narpak's words made Arien's expression not very good either. In fact, almost everyone present realized one thing: that Kobrain and the druids who entered the cave were likely in trouble!

"Anyway, we must remain calm now... Thank God! Hiyo! You're back!"

Arien was overjoyed to see the crimson leaves climbing up the vines.

"Are you all alright? What happened at the camp?"

After finding the coded message left by her companions and successfully reuniting with them, Fei Ye breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering that none of them had been injured.

"It's alright, as for what happened..."

Arien sighed and pointed to the side.

"Take your time."

——————————————As described by Arian————————————————————

"You were attacked by centaurs not long ago. The bloody smell during the battle attracted the mutated creatures from the Howling Cave. When you saw that things were not going well, you chose to abandon the camp and retreat. The centaurs were all dragged into the cave by those mutated creatures?"

Tanis sat cross-legged on the grass mat, rhythmically tapping the stones on the ground with her fingers.

"Yes, this is enough to show that those mutated creatures have begun to head towards the entrance of the Howling Cave. The reason they haven't chosen to leave the cave yet may be because they can't adapt to the outside air or sunlight, but once they adapt..."

Arien didn't finish his sentence, but everyone knew that once those mutated creatures poured out of the Wailing Caverns, let alone restoring the ecology of the Barrens, it would be a miracle if the existing ecology of the Barrens didn't become unbalanced!

"So, we're running out of time..."

Tannis let out a breath and took out the box containing the jamming transmitter.

“The strongest of you, go in with my men. We must get everything sorted out before things get out of control.”

IV. Entering the Wailing Cavern

"........"

"........"

"........"

Upon entering the Howling Caverns, Tannis fell into a mysterious silence, and the expressions of the others were no better, all looking as if they had seen their ancestors.

After a long while, Tennys broke the silence.

"What is the most important part of the Naralex Druids' plan to restore Wailing Caverns?"

Although she already had a general idea of ​​the answer deep down, Tennys still wanted to be sure.

"The most crucial part of the mentor's plan is to enter the Emerald Dream, 'project' the most primitive appearance of the Barren Lands, and then use these projections to gradually influence the real world, aiming to slowly restore the Barren Lands' original ecology..."

"Okay, so is this situation normal or abnormal?"

As Tennys spoke, she patted a leaf... well, theoretically, it's impossible for a broad-leaved tree to live in the dim light of a cave.

Feiye shook her head in confusion.

"Of course it's abnormal. The only possible reason for this is that the projection of the Emerald Dream affected the real world without any buffering, causing the real world to be forcibly distorted by the power of the Emerald Dream and become exactly the same as the original appearance in the dream."

"But that kind of thing doesn't exist in the Emerald Dream, does it?"

Tannis pulled a flare from her waist and threw it forward. The intensely burning flare instantly illuminated the dim cave, revealing several limp, wriggling creatures that looked like piles of mud.

At this moment, Fei Ye and Arien's expressions instantly turned extremely ugly. How could they not recognize the famous slime monster?