Make Azeroth breathtaking

"The first piece of bad news is that my robot detected infrared heat signatures from at least one hundred humanoid creatures. Note that it is at least."

"Okay, that means we're facing over a hundred Iron-ranked jerks. That's really the worst news imaginable. And what's the second piece of bad news?"

"The second piece of bad news is that we're not just facing Dark Iron Dwarves, but also Stonejaw Monsters. I think that's what they're called, right? I scanned their models inside."

"Wait a minute? Among the more than one hundred heat source reactions you mentioned, the Stonejaw Monster was included?"

Brian's face turned pale instantly.

"Yes, and what's even more interesting is that they seem to have reached a consensus with the Dark Iron Dwarves and are staying together very peacefully. Well, that's all the information I've gathered."

"This is really bad."

Although he said things were going badly, Brian's expression remained relaxed.

"Do you have a good idea, Brian?"

"Hmm, I don't believe that the Stonejaw Monster really reached a secret agreement with the Black Iron Waste. It must be because of the ruins that they dare not make any rash moves."

As he said this, Brian pulled out a shotgun and cocked it with a click.

"Therefore, the first step of my plan is to find a way to completely disrupt the entrance to the ruins!"

40. The Advancing Explorers' Association

In the passage behind the massive stone gate of Uldaman, four Dark Iron dwarves were leaning against the wall, listlessly resting, their weapons in hand. These four dwarves had been assigned guard duty by their leader, Gargan Firehammer, but they clearly didn't think anything would venture into this remote valley.

"ha......."

A Dark Iron dwarf, whose eyelids were already drooping, yawned widely and began to miss the taste of the ale he had drunk that morning. Because he had been assigned to guard duty, he was only given half the normal amount of ale, which made him very unhappy.

'Captain Gargan is overthinking things. Why would anyone come to a place like the Wasteland? I think he just wants to cut back on my beer supply!'

The Dark Iron dwarf was so indignant that he was somewhat dazed and didn't notice that a seemingly ordinary rock had changed position about twice in ten minutes. By the time he realized something was wrong, Finley, who had emerged from the rock's disguise, had already sprayed a spray in his face with a smile, quickly putting him into a deep sleep.

"I've got it sorted, guys. How about you?"

"The one I'm in charge of is done too."

In the shadows of the cave, Elise Starseeker's slender figure rose from the ground. She had easily stealthed into her cheetah form and crept behind the Dark Iron dwarf she was in charge of, before delivering a vicious blow to the back of his head.

"That's about it. I reckon this poor guy's going to wet his pants."

Having shed his disguise, Renault kicked the Black Iron Dwarf, who was lying motionless on the ground after being electrocuted by his own high-voltage electricity, and playfully shrugged.

"Looks like you guys are all very talented."

Brian answered in a muffled voice, while simultaneously removing the camouflage net covering his body. In front of him stood a Black Iron dwarf who had been knocked unconscious, his eyes rolled back, his hands hanging limply at his sides, foaming at the mouth as he leaned against the rock wall as if he had been thoroughly humiliated.

"Brian, your Sap isn't up to par. A good thief's Sap is always just right."

Reno walked up to the Dark Iron dwarf who had been nearly killed by Brian's blow, and patted the unfortunate fellow's face with great pity, causing a spurt of white foam to come out of his mouth.

"He'll probably be an idiot for the rest of his life, Brian."

“You underestimated the toughness of these Black Iron bastards’ heads, Renault. Now, we need to continue our stealth in. You take Finley, and Iris and I will go one in front and one behind. Keep quiet.”

"no problem."

Reno dragged Finley to his side and activated the camouflage device. As the optical camouflage spread, the figures of the man and the fishman disappeared into the dim cave.

"Alright, Ellis, let's go."

Seeing that Reno and Finley had completed their disguises, Brian took a deep breath and draped the camouflage net over himself once more. Ellis also transformed into her cheetah form and silently crept into the depths of the cave with the rest of the explorer team.

——————————————Bottom of the Cave——————————————————————

"You bunch of good-for-nothings! Pigs! It's been so many days, and you still haven't cracked the secret of this door!!!"

Deep within the cave, the torches and bonfires lit by the Dark Iron dwarves illuminated the area as bright as day. Various scaffolding pieces leaned haphazardly against the pitted and uneven cave walls they had dug. Some curious cave dwellers—or stone-jawed monsters—climbed up and down these things, seemingly studying what they were.

At the very front of this excavation site, a simple yet magnificent gate, bearing the marks of time, lies quietly embedded in the rock, its secrets locked away. Beside the gate, some objects, cleaned of dust, resembling control panels or inscriptions, silently emerge from the soil, as if trying to tell a story. Before these objects, some Dark Iron Dwarf scholars, dressed in robes and holding various magical artifacts or books, are desperately trying to decipher their secrets.

“Lord Gargann, these characters are unlike any language system known in Azeroth, and it’s even hard to say if they are writing at all. We have done our best.”

A scholar wiped the sweat from his brow and explained to Gargann, who narrowed his fiery red eyes and suddenly drew his musket, pointing it at the scholar's head.

"Knowing nothing—is this the answer of you scholars who claim to have inherited the ancient knowledge of the dwarves from the Seven Sages?"

"These things are not found in the knowledge of the Seven Sages, Lord Gagarn!"

Although his head was pointed at by a musket, the dwarf's stubbornness made the scholar temporarily ignore the threat to his life.

"So, how much longer will it take you to open the door? I just want an answer!"

"I cannot give you this answer, Lord Gagarn, because even the Seven Sages do not know the answer to the unknown."

“You should understand that if this door is truly what we imagine, then what lies behind it will surely help us defeat those damned, filthy compatriots who should have been at our feet. Darkhearth City desperately needs good news!”

As he spoke, Gagarn raised his musket again—but that was all the threat he could make. As an officer of the Eredar Dragonlance, although he held a high rank, he could not kill a Seven Sages Scholar at will.

"I know, Lord Gagarn, please wait patiently for our good news."

This scholar of the Seven Sages said this, but it seemed that this 'patience' would take a long time.

———————————————Outside the excavation site———————————————————

"The stone is above... How long have they been digging here?"

Brian, still disguised, lay on a rock, carefully examining the excavation site. But the more he looked, the more alarmed he became. Clearly, such an excavation project could not be completed in a day or two!

"It seems your 'compatriots' got the information here at least six months earlier than you."

Renault's tone was slightly gloating.

“Those stone-jawed monsters did not show the aggression they should have, which is abnormal.”

Ellis, a professional druid, examined the stone-jawed monsters for a long time but found nothing unusual about them.

Are those stone tablets the important ones?

Finley pointed to the stone tablets being studied in the distance.

"Hmm, hmm, I believe those things are related to the gate—clearly, these black iron slag haven't found their secret, we need to find a way to get closer... I've got it!"

41. The wide-open door

"Splash, splash, splash..."

On a piece of scaffolding, a caveman was idly picking at the stone on the cave wall with its chisel-like hands, killing time. Beside it, several other cavemen were sitting or lying down, all looking completely idle. Below the scaffolding, several Black Iron Dwarves were moving tools. Everything looked so... harmonious?

However, this strange harmony was soon broken by a series of creaking sounds. Under the watchful eyes of most of the Black Iron Dwarves present, the scaffolding on which several cave dwellers were climbing began to sway. As it swayed, stones and clods of earth on the rock wall fell to the ground in a drizzle, kicking up clouds of dust. Clearly, there were signs that a cave-in was about to occur.

"What's going on?! What happened?!"

Upon hearing the strange noise, Gargan rushed to the scene and pinned a Dark Iron dwarf who had just run out of the collapsed area against the cave wall, shouting at him.

"Perhaps the cavemen accidentally broke the retaining tenon, or maybe they destroyed some of the main support rods while climbing up and down... or maybe two screws fell off..."

The Dark Iron dwarf worker, pinned against the wall by Gargann, was still in shock and gave incoherent answers. However, Gargann probably figured out what he was trying to say.

Before Gagarn could comment on the matter, another crashing sound reached his ears. He turned around and saw that another section of scaffolding was collapsing downwards, carrying the cave dwellers with it, faster than dominoes.

"I (* & (*…… &!!! Everyone! Get those cavemen off our scaffolding! Stop them from destroying our stuff!!"

Although he knew very well that his actions would inevitably disrupt the strange peace that was taking place between the Dark Iron Dwarves and the Cave Dwellers, which was inexplicably not fighting, Gargan couldn't care less. The condition of the two collapsed scaffolding sections was not important and would not affect the strength of the entire excavation hall. However, if those Cave Dwellers had a brain fart and destroyed the scaffolding in the main support area, his group would be buried underground and turned into bones!

Hearing his captain's roar, the Erlu Dragon Gunner on guard duty inside the cave raised his musket without hesitation, aimed at the cave dwellers hopping on the scaffolding, and pulled the trigger. In the blink of an eye, several cave dwellers fell headfirst off the scaffolding, thrashed a few times on the ground, and then fell silent.

"Roar!! Roar roar!!! Roar roar roar!!!"

The instant the caveman was shot, a giant caveman let out a deafening roar. The remaining cavemen, shaking off their initial dejection, leaped down from their resting place and charged at the Black Iron dwarves who were already on high alert. In less than five minutes, the Black Iron dwarves' forces clashed with the caveman legion. Shouts, howls, screams, and roars echoed through the cave walls.

“…You’re really something, Brian.”

Seeing the two forces locked in a fierce battle, Renault patted Brian on the shoulder, his tone full of admiration.

"You flatter me. After all, these hot-tempered guys are no match for our Bronzebeard dwarves when it comes to digging skills. They're a whole half the size of Ironforge. Come on, everyone, let's go see what those idiots have been trying to figure out for so long."

Maintaining his disguise, Brian casually belittled the Dark Iron dwarves before stealthily making his way along the cave wall toward the door. Reno, Ellis, and Finley followed closely behind him, afraid of making any noise that might attract the attention of the cave dwellers or Dark Iron dwarves who were locked in a fierce battle in the distance.

However, it turned out that when the Dark Iron Dwarves and the Cave Dwellers, a race with such a fiery temper, really started fighting, they wouldn't pay attention to what was happening elsewhere. About fifteen minutes later, the explorer team approached the stone slabs or platforms that were half-buried in the ground, and casually knocked out the Dark Iron Dwarf scholars who were still studying these things, as well as the few guards.

"Uh-huh....."

While his companions bound and gagged the Black Iron dwarves to prevent them from calling for help, Brian began to study the things in front of him with great interest. He soon discovered the first thing: some symbols on the stone slab were exactly the same as those on the stone platform. Then, he discovered several discs on the stone platform that could be turned.

"Hmm...it seems the stone slab and the stone plate are indeed related...Let me think, how about this?"

As Brian pondered this, he casually flicked the stone disc twice—nothing happened except for the dull clicking sound of the disc being turned.

"Still like this?"

After thinking for a moment about the arrangement of the symbols on the slate, Brian tried another arrangement, but still nothing happened.

"Perhaps that's the case?"

Brian, thinking that spinning just one stone disc might not be very useful, stretched out his hands and randomly selected two stone discs to spin. When the stone discs spun to a certain position, a slight 'clunking' sound came from the doorway.

"efficient?"

Brian looked excitedly toward the door, but the answer disappointed him—the door remained tightly shut, as if the sound he had just heard was an illusion.

"I just don't believe it!!!"

Enraged, Brian did something that surprised Reno and the others. The dwarf explorer threw off his camouflage net, jumped onto the stone platform, and started spinning three stone discs simultaneously with his hands and feet. The clicking sound was incessant, and Gargann, who was in the distance, also noticed the unusual activity at the gate.

"Bronzebeard Dwarf!! How dare you come here!! Kill him!!"

Although still fighting the cavemen, the Dark Iron dwarves, who had gained the upper hand, were now able to divide their forces. At Gargann's command, several Eredar Dragonlancers grabbed their lances and ran toward the gate, ready to kill Brian, who was dancing wildly on the stone platform.

However....

"Sorry, this road is closed."

Renault's somewhat flippant voice rang out, and several autonomous machine guns had already been placed on the ground. As the barrage of bullets was unleashed, the Black Iron dwarves who were running over were suppressed outside the line of fire and dared not advance.

"Brian! I'm running low on bullets! Can you hurry up?!"

Although he had temporarily stopped the Dark Iron dwarves, Reno knew that his armor could only hold out for a few minutes at most. He turned around and shouted a reminder to Brian, who was still frantically spinning the wheel.