Chapter 1876: Chapter 1269: Dark Portal Anomaly
It’s not surprising to Duanmu Huai that the Kingdom of Stormwind would send people.
However, the scale of this envoy was beyond Duanmu Huai’s expectations. It included not only humans but also dwarves, gnomes, and night elves.
And their appetite was no small matter, as they immediately requested a thousand knight mechs!
You’re playing this big?
Upon hearing the request, not only was Ann shocked, but even the instigator, Duanmu Huai, was dumbfounded. He had thought the other party might purchase knight mechs, but to buy a thousand at once?
Are you sprinting from the medieval era into the age of mechanical civilization?
The envoy led by Duke Berval Fortagen was actually quite frustrated. Originally, he and King Varian planned to buy ten mechs first, and then gradually increase as things went smoothly.
But plans couldn’t keep up with changes. Just when Varian was organizing the envoy to head to Tirisfal Glades to negotiate with the Tribunal, urgent information was sent from the Watch Fortress in the Cursed Land—the Dark Portal has been activated!
This is a big deal now.
The disaster brought by the Dark Portal is a nightmare unimaginable for all civilized races in Azeroth, especially for the human kingdom, which suffered initially. Now that the Dark Portal has activated again, it triggered a PTSD response in Varian, and other races didn’t fare much better. They sent representatives to Stormwind to discuss how to handle the Dark Portal and dispatched troops to the front lines to block it to prevent any further incidents.
But incidents still came.
In fact, there’s a history about the Dark Portal—after the Second Orc War, the Alliance dispatched an expeditionary force through the Dark Portal intending to eradicate the threat of the orcs. Ultimately, this expedition abandoned the opportunity to return to the Continent of Azeroth, closed the Dark Portal, and remained on that shattered land as the gatekeepers for Azeroth, guarding the world from the other side.
And because of this, no one expected the Dark Portal to open again!
After the Dark Portal opened, invaders naturally attempted to break through, but what surprised everyone was that this time, the invaders were not the expected orcs but the demons of the Burning Legion!
Now the night elves couldn’t sit still, their Burning Legion PTSD flaring up, they sat up startled in their deathbed and rushed over to discuss hastily.
Although all sides reacted promptly, the first wave of demon attacks was repelled, with the latter retreating back into the Dark Portal. But everyone knew this was just a reconnaissance squad, and the Alliance had also sent a reconnaissance squad into the Dark Portal. After surviving near death experiences, they brought back intelligence with great effort. According to the lone survivors of this reconnaissance squad, the demons of the Burning Legion are furiously building troops on the other side of the Dark Portal, preparing to invade Azeroth once their forces are gathered. Meanwhile, although the Azeroth expeditionary force still exists, they are showing signs of struggle under the fierce demon attacks.
Under these circumstances, the Alliance naturally took immediate action, devising their combat plan.
The plan is simple: under no circumstances should the Demon Legion enter Azeroth. If they must fight, they need to keep the battlefield on the other side of the Dark Portal.
Blowing up the Dark Portal is useless; they can rebuild it again, which is not a big deal. Therefore, the final decision was to organize an expeditionary force, hopefully to resolve this issue once and for all.
Given the decision, combat power was naturally required. Thus, Varian, thinking for the greater good, gritted his teeth and brought out the “Lumber-Jack Mech”.
It’s undeniable that this mech did attract interest from other races.
Except for the night elves who weren’t very interested in such steel creations, the dwarves and gnomes showed a strong interest in these powerful mech weapons.
Especially the gnomes, due to their physical weakness and unlike dwarves with front-line combat prowess, relying on machines was almost their only option. Therefore, in the view of the gnomes, the Tribunal’s “Lumber-Jack Mech” was tailor-made for them. With these mechs, even the fragile gnomes could confront demons head-on at the front line!
Finally, several parties negotiated and decided to pool their money to make a group purchase, contributing funds and efforts accordingly.
The gnomes especially craved these mechanical constructs, partly due to their long-standing wish to reclaim their main city, Gnomeregan.
This main city, seized by enemies, has always been a sore spot for the gnomes. However, both sides are evenly matched, and taking back Gnomeregan in the short term seemed nearly impossible. But with these mechs, liberating Gnomeregan wouldn’t be a problem at all. Even Mekkatorque, the chief engineer, stated that with these mechs, he is confident of leading the gnomes to reclaim Gnomeregan in the shortest time possible.
For the Tribunal, merely a thousand knight mechs posed no issue, but discussions on payment methods led to quite lengthy negotiations. To the Tribunal, Azeroth’s gold coins were meaningless, and the idea of exchanging land for mechs was also vetoed by Ann, as the Tribunal generally steers clear of ruling matters. As for ordinary minerals, the Tribunal didn’t need them either.
Finally, an agreement was reached, where the Alliance could exchange rare herbs, minerals, or magical items for the mechs, the specific quantities to be determined after assessing their value.
However, the thousand mechs could be delivered in advance; the Alliance just needs to cover the payment later.
What? You think you can renege on debt?
You shouldn’t think the Tribunal is some sort of benevolent organization.
Just like many villains lament, if they don’t follow the Demon King’s orders, the Demon King will slaughter their entire family, hence they are forced to assist him.
On the flip side, if the Demon King would kill your whole family, would the Tribunal not do the same?
The Tribunal certainly isn’t like those foolish groups from the Church of the Holy Light. Should the Alliance dare to default on payments, they shouldn’t blame the Tribunal for coming to collect themselves.
During the negotiation, Duke Vutagen once again met Duanmu Huai, to which he was not surprised. Duke Vutagen tentatively proposed that the Tribunal join the Alliance in battle. He hadn’t had much hope, merely posing the question casually, but Duanmu Huai’s response was unexpected — he agreed without hesitation.
“The Tribunal’s goal is to guard humans and eliminate all threats to them. Demons are our common enemy, so the Tribunal will join.”
Not only that, Duanmu Huai also brought Duke Vutagen a new plan.
“So, in the end, you all want to completely destroy the Demon base on the other side of the Dark Portal, right?”
“That’s indeed correct.”
“In that case, the Tribunal has a way.”
“Huh?”
Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, Duke Vutagen was taken aback.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Ha ha, you’ll know when the time comes.”
Duanmu Huai didn’t answer immediately, simply keeping it mysterious.
Due to their stance, the Tribunal had good relations with the representatives of humans, dwarves, and gnomes, but the Night Elves hit a brick wall with them. The Night Elf representative even directly questioned whether the Tribunal was involved with what happened in Silithus and demanded to know why they did it.
However, Duanmu Huai couldn’t care less about these long-eared ones.
“It’s not your place, you stupid idiots, to comment on or interfere with what the Tribunal does!”
With just one sentence, he left the Night Elf envoy livid, who stormed off in a huff. The other racial representatives watched in astonishment; after all, the Night Elves had always regarded themselves as the Guardians of Azeroth, and coupled with their long lifespans, other races generally gave them some respect.
It was rare to see someone like Duanmu Huai directly confront them and not take the Night Elves seriously.
Of course, the spectators just watched the spectacle and no one foolishly stepped in to mediate.
Compared to these local Azerothian races, another member of the envoy surprised Duanmu Huai quite a bit.
The reason was simple: they still owed him for their warship’s repair fees.
“What are you Draenei doing here?”
Looking at the Draenei envoy before him, Duanmu Huai was puzzled. He knew that the unlucky Draenei, who had crashed their ship, were starting their new lives on a nearby island called Azuremyst Isle. Given the proximity, it wasn’t surprising that the Draenei would connect with the Alliance. What surprised Duanmu Huai was that they were joining this expedition?
Did you Draenei just crash down from the sky and barely settle in, already thinking about going to war? Is your martial spirit that robust?
“Hello, Great Judge, the situation is a bit different from what you think…”
The Draenei envoy, having met Duanmu Huai before, could tell from his expression that Duanmu had misunderstood, and quickly began explaining.
It turns out, the reason the Draenei joined this expedition was simple. The other side of the Dark Portal, known as Outland, is their second homeland!
Duanmu Huai had previously heard from Prophet Velen that the Draenei were originally natives of a planet. That planet was attacked by Demons known as the Burning Legion. Most of their people pledged allegiance to the Burning Legion, while Prophet Velen led the remaining citizens in escaping aboard a starship to Outland.
Later, the Burning Legion pursued them to Outland and enslaved the Orcs. Then… well, a disaster struck, tearing Outland apart, forcing Velen to lead his followers in escaping the shattered world.
Only to be crashed down by Duanmu Huai’s warship.
Understanding the connection, the Draenei’s participation in this expedition became clear.
If the Dark Portal’s other side wasn’t their former home, the Draenei probably wouldn’t care.
But it happens to be their second home, and even many of their people remain there!
For the sake of their people, the Draenei joined the Expeditionary Force without hesitation. The Alliance welcomed the Draenei, appreciating that having a local guide was far better than stumbling blindly.
It’s easy for the Tribunal to produce a thousand mecha, but the Alliance needs time to train and equip them. Therefore, Duanmu Huai decisively stated that the Tribunal would enter the Dark Portal first with a group to clear the Demon Army blocking the entrance. The Alliance could wait to enter afterward.
As for what happens next, that will be decided once they are inside!