"I have not failed in my mission, Commander." Singed handed Aiden a record.
Aiden took it and said in surprise, "He confessed so quickly?"
"Yes, I only scared him a little." Singed showed a malicious smile.
"It seems he was quite frightened." Aiden found the information he needed in the confession, as well as many new discoveries.
Jorach Ravenholdt confessed to a secret treasure location that no one knew about, which contained most of his life's wealth and treasures. And in order to save his life, he was willing to become Aiden's subordinate and let the Assassin's League serve him.
This proposal was obviously worthwhile. Aiden considered it carefully. He was not a butcher and did not intend to kill all the captured assassins. Otherwise, he would have ordered the attackers to directly use deadly gas. Then, the troops would only need to guard the entrances and wait to go in and collect the bodies. But just imprisoning them would be a waste of his own food. If he could bring the Assassin's League under his control, he would have another well-informed intelligence agency—though the Assassin's League would probably no longer take on dirty jobs like assassinations and kidnappings in the future. Thieves are such good scouts and intelligence officers, they must be utilized!
Jorach's cooperation saved him a lot of talking.
Then he carefully looked at the information of the employer who wanted to buy his life:
This person was a mage apprentice from Tarren Mill named Sevand. He studied under Archmage Harkula of Dalaran. Attached were Sevand and Harkula's personal profiles.
Aiden carefully pondered these two names. They must be connected to Kel'Thuzad, and they were still in his territory, so Kel'Thuzad must also be nearby.
Harkula… After a while, he finally remembered the name—wasn't this the lich who was resurrected in the Horde questline and summoned a sea of skeletons to slaughter Southshore?
Thinking of this, Aiden recalled the relationship between the two. Harkula was a lich with obvious delusions of grandeur and unrealistic ambitions. He was a friend of Kel'Thuzad and secretly studied forbidden necromancy. He longed for eternal life and fantasized that one day he could inherit the position of the Lich King.
But he was discovered by the Southshore militia during the ritual of transforming into a lich and was beheaded. Later, he was resurrected by his apprentice, presumably this Sevand, and finally, during the Cataclysm, Southshore was slaughtered. After the Forsaken moved in, Hercula became the leader of this place, successfully taking the first step on his path to becoming the Lich King.
"In that case, Kel'Thuzad ordered Harkula to assassinate me. It seems we have to pay a visit to this archmage."
Before that, however, Aiden planned to go to Dalaran first.
Dalaran was east of Hillsbrad Foothills, and there was a road leading directly there from Durnholde. It only took three or four hours on horseback. Aiden brought Lux, Singed, and a group of summoners to the magical kingdom early in the morning. They should be able to arrive there around noon.
Now was the time to fulfill his promise. These people would establish a Rune Workshop in Dalaran, and Lux would serve as Valoran's representative, officially establishing diplomatic relations with Dalaran. It could be expected that the relationship between the two cities would become closer in the future.
"Welcome, my friend!" Antonidas walked up with a hearty laugh and embraced Aiden. "I have been looking forward to your visit to Dalaran for a long time."
Aiden said, "I have kept you waiting, Archmage Antonidas!"
"No, no, I am very happy that you can come to Dalaran." Antonidas turned to Kayle beside him. "Good afternoon, Ms. Kayle!"
"Good day, Archmage." Kayle responded politely.
Aiden introduced Lux to the Archmage, "Archmage, this is Lux, the jewel of the Crownguard family from the Demacian city-state of Valoran. She will be our plenipotentiary representative in Dalaran!"
"Hello, Archmage!" Lux behaved impeccably in front of people, her etiquette was almost as perfect as a textbook.
Antonidas carefully looked at this little girl. She looked dazzling and full of vitality, exuding the aura of sunshine and youth. In his perception, this little girl was like a small sun, shining brightly. No wonder she was called the 'Lady of Luminosity'.
"What a once-in-a-century genius!" Antonidas exclaimed, "You are the mage with the best aptitude I have ever seen!"
Jaina, who was beside him, teased good-naturedly, "Teacher, you used to describe me like that too."
"Hahaha," Antonidas laughed, "You are all rare geniuses, I can't be wrong."
Jaina pursed her lips and smiled, then greeted Aiden, "Hello, Commander of Valoran!"
"You seem much more cheerful, Miss Proudmoore." Aiden responded. Before, when the encirclement and suppression of Scholomance failed, Jaina was incredibly depressed, and she blamed herself for the failure of the operation.
"Don't people grow from mistakes?" Jaina mocked herself.
Archmage Ansirem led the summoners brought by Aiden to the Ruins Plaza in the center of the city. Since Aiden said last time that he would help build a Rune Workshop in Dalaran, they had chosen the best location here and vacated it. In the future, it would become Valoran's embassy and a place for cultural exchange between the two sides.
Aiden went to the Kirin Tor Council room with Antonidas, and he had a lot of things to discuss with the archmages.
This time the meeting place was not the secret room from last time, but the conference room of Violet Citadel. All the Kirin Tor councilors from last time were present, and even Archmage Drenden, who was responsible for cracking the plague in Stratholme, had made a special trip.
"I have several important matters to discuss with you. Let's start with the most important thing at hand. Let's talk about the plague virus first." Aiden started, "I believe everyone knows that, thanks to the unremitting efforts of the alchemy laboratory, they have successfully cracked most of the plague. Now the problem that plagues us is how to neutralize the rejection reaction of holy water to the antidote, or to find a substitute that can break the influence of necromancy."
"Yes, I have been thinking about it these days, but many ideas have been rejected. Some of them can achieve the effect, but the cost is too great, completely impractical or universal." Drendan shook his head and sighed, "Does Lord Singed have any new ideas?" During the time they worked together, this crazy alchemist left them with too deep an impression. There was no way, he had never seen a second person in his life who could use his own body to test toxicity, not to mention that Singed's professional knowledge was indeed unmatched. Many times, he had to work very hard to keep up with the other party's ideas. It must be admitted that this person was an alchemy genius. Most of the credit for cracking the virus goes to Singed.
Singed shook his head and said, "No, no, I haven't found a feasible solution either. But my commander has some clues."
"Oh?" Everyone turned their attention to Aiden, especially Drendan.
Aiden coughed and said, "I have an idea, but it needs to be confirmed by Lord Krasus."
"What is it?" Everyone was a little puzzled. Krasus had hardly participated in the cracking of the plague. After working together for so many years, they really didn't know that Krasus had this talent?
Krasus himself was also more puzzled: "What needs to be confirmed?"
Aiden said, "I know that you have a very deep understanding of dragon knowledge. I want to know, can the life essence of the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza become a substitute for holy water?"
Krasus was visibly shocked. He now had no doubt that this Aiden completely knew his true identity. Why did he have such a deep understanding of dragon knowledge? Because he himself was a dragon. A red dragon. And Aiden asked him because he was the Red Dragon Queen's mate… uh, one of them.
After Singed came back to report the difficulties they encountered, Aiden had been thinking about what could neutralize or replace holy water to eliminate the influence of necromancy. Then he thought of the Red Dragon.
The Red Dragon Queen was a Life-Binder granted divine power by the Titans. Their life essence was the most perfect thing to restrain the plague.
Moreover, the Red Dragon's flames did have the effect of purifying the plague. Aiden recalled that when the Northern Expeditionary Army was attacked by the new upgraded version of the plague thrown by the betrayers of the Forsaken Royal Apothecary Society at the Wrathgate, the Red Dragon later breathed dragon breath to purify the plague. Duke Bolvar Fordragon, with a firm will, even healed the plague on his body in the dragon breath. Of course, he was also roasted to medium rare…
Krasus obviously understood this point as well. Although he had not participated in cracking the plague, he clearly knew its principles. Thinking about it this way, the Red Dragon's life essence was indeed a perfect substitute. It would not conflict with the antidote, and when necessary, it could also neutralize holy water, or even completely replace the role of holy water.
He hesitated and nodded, "I think… it should be possible."
After receiving his answer, everyone in the room was immediately overjoyed. For the first time, they saw the hope of completely defeating the plague.
"But the question is—how to get it?"
Obviously, to the dragons, humans were too humble and insignificant. The Red Dragon clan had always strived to maintain a neutral position in racial disputes. They had always kept themselves out of the way and did not interfere in the disputes of other races. Besides, life essence was not something that could be given just because it was asked for. It would definitely weaken the Red Dragon's power.
Aiden said, "I know that Queen Alexstrasza is a very wise and righteous… uh, dragon. Besides, we haven't completely dealt with her, have we?"
As soon as he mentioned this, everyone immediately understood what he meant.