Tandred's proposal immediately attracted everyone's attention. In that instant, the atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became awkward.
"Destroy the Dark Portal while Archimonde is away"—the moment this idea was proposed, it stirred the hearts of many.
Although the division between the New Alliance and the Old Alliance had been resolved due to the Battle of Sador's Bridge and the Battle of South Gate, it was the result of the Old Alliance's compromise. Everyone still vividly remembered the unpleasant meeting in the Throne Room. They could not so quickly forget Aiden and the New Alliance's challenge to the old order.
Tandred stood up and continued to speak eloquently: "Without discussing what price we will pay, or whether we will succeed, in order to rescue His Excellency Aiden and those expeditionary forces, and without discussing whether such an action will make the war situation in our Azeroth more difficult, let's just talk about one point: the rescue operation is full of unknown risks, and whether it succeeds or not, it will not greatly affect the situation of the war. But if we do that—I mean, destroy the Dark Portal—I don't think anyone can deny that this is a golden opportunity—we can get rid of the Burning Legion's shadow, and even lead our troops and people back to the Eastern Kingdoms to rebuild our homes!"
More people began to waver, because what Tandred said sounded very reasonable.
He said loudly: "Perhaps those heroes trapped in Outland will be more dangerous, but I think it's worth it—their sacrifice will bring peace to more people!"
"Perhaps some people will think that this proposal is cold and ruthless, but if I were in that kind of environment, I would be willing to make this sacrifice!"
Tandred spoke passionately, and considering various factors, many people secretly agreed with this proposal. It was only a few days ago that they safely arrived in Kalimdor with the help of the New Alliance. Agreeing with Tandred's opinion at this meeting to discuss how to implement the rescue plan was obviously very selfish.
Even the thickest-skinned politicians would not immediately turn their backs.
Swain looked coldly at this young prince and asked in a deep voice, "Is this the opinion of Kul Tiras, or your personal opinion?"
Tandred looked at his father, Admiral Daelin, who was slightly lowering his eyebrows. He knew this was tacit approval. Tandred's mind raced, and he replied, "Although this is my personal proposal, I believe wise people will agree!"
"On the contrary," Swain stared at this smug prince, his tone full of undisguised mockery, "I think only fools would agree with such an opinion."
In an instant, many people's faces became gloomy and terrifying, and the temperature in the meeting room seemed to drop by a dozen degrees, turning from a hot summer day to the coldest winter. Many people who thought Tandred's method was feasible were secretly furious. Although they had not explicitly stated their position, they did agree that destroying the Dark Portal was a good idea.
"Are you insulting me? Cripple!" Tandred looked at the other party angrily, while the other party's calm eyes were also looking back at him, and the raven on Swain's shoulder, with its dark eyes, even revealed a dangerous light, making the young prince feel a chill down his spine.
Seeing that they were about to quarrel, Archmage Antonidas said, "Stop it, everyone!" He turned to Tandred and said, "Prince Tandred, your idea is very dangerous—we have tried to close the Dark Portal twice, but in the end, it was reopened."
He faced everyone: "Azeroth and Draenor, the fates of these two worlds have been linked together. Even if we close the portal, it will only have a temporary effect. If we do this, then we can only pray in our lifetime that the Burning Legion will not come up with another way to reopen it—and we don't know how long that will be. Perhaps it will be ten years, perhaps it will be a month, or perhaps Archimonde's army will be able to reactivate it immediately after clearing the threat in Outland."
"If we abandon a powerful ally today, what should we do when the Burning Legion returns?" Antonidas's question was thought-provoking.
The idea of closing the Dark Portal was too presumptuous, and this tempting proposal was eventually shelved. The meeting returned to the main topic—how to support Outland.
—
When Grandmother Geyah arrived at Mount Oshu'gun, M'uru's treatment of K'ure was nearing completion. This old orc shaman saw the most incomprehensible scene of her life inside the holy mountain—the ancestral spirits of the orcs were surrounding two glowing, strange creatures, appearing joyful and fanatical.
Moreover, some unfamiliar visitors had come to their holy land, a draenei, a human, and a winged person.
Grandmother Geyah almost regarded these outsiders as intruders, blasphemers, but the scene before her had nothing to do with these two words. For many years, the orcs had not come to worship Mount Oshu'gun again. The awakening of the ancestral spirits was obviously not moved by the sincerity of the orc shamans, but because of this group of people.
The shamans behind Grandmother Geyah saw outsiders and almost immediately wanted to rush up in anger, but she stopped them.
"Watch," Grandmother Geyah said.
Now, a gentle holy light had bloomed on K'ure again, but his body was still light purple. When Aiden felt that his holy power could no longer be absorbed by the other party, he knew that the treatment process was complete.
"Thank you," K'ure sent a telepathic message.
However, the others were not happy.
Because they could feel that K'ure was not healed. Although the shadow power on his body was suppressed, it did not disappear. He was walking towards the end of a light naaru's life, and almost irreversible changes were taking place on his body.
Prophet Velen's voice trembled: "I'm late, K'ure...I..." He almost choked. In his almost endless life, he only revealed undisguised vulnerability at this moment.
"This is a journey I must take."
"Don't be sad, my friend."
"Thank you."
M'uru said, "Let's leave here, perhaps A'dal will have a way."
"Don't comfort me, M'uru."
"I know what will happen."
"I am ready."
Aiden was also a little sad. This scene was like a farewell to life and death. He couldn't help but ask, "Since the end of a light naaru's life will turn into a dark naaru—will the end of a dark naaru's life turn back into a light naaru?"
"Almost impossible," M'uru replied. "All life has an end, my friend. The universe was born from darkness. When the energy of the dark naaru is exhausted, we will return to the source and become a part of the universe's energy."
This answer was expected. If the naaru could constantly transform between light and darkness, that would really be incredible.
But Aiden keenly noticed that the other party said "almost" impossible, which meant that there were still some special circumstances?
So Aiden asked, "Under what circumstances would such a thing happen?"
"..." M'uru fell into silence, and after a while, he said, "Some dark naaru are reborn by devouring souls. But this is a method that we firmly oppose."
As they talked, K'ure was saying goodbye to the ancestral spirits of the orcs. This spaceship had crashed, and after leaving today, he might never return here again.
The thoughts conveyed by K'ure plunged these souls into sadness and fear of being abandoned. For more than twenty years, they had been living in terror, losing K'ure's warmth. Once K'ure left, they would be forever plunged into darkness.
"Stop your actions!" Feeling the emotions of the ancestral spirits, Grandmother Geyah finally couldn't bear it anymore. She stepped forward and shouted, staring at Prophet Velen and questioning, "Draenei, is it you who are disturbing the souls in the holy mountain!"
At this time, Varok Saurfang also finally arrived here. He saw Grandmother Geyah and the orc shamans standing in opposition to another group of people, and among them was Aiden!
"I am welcoming the return of the naaru," Prophet Velen looked at these shamans, his tone filled with sadness, "Hundreds of years ago, we draenei descended to Draenor on the spaceship of this naaru beside me—K'ure. It crashed, K'ure was seriously injured, we escaped from the spaceship, and established a new home in this strange land. But when I prepared to come back to save him, I found that this spaceship had been worshiped by you orcs as a holy mountain. Because the holy light emitted by K'ure attracted some orc souls. For hundreds of years, I have been hoping to explain clearly, but I didn't expect this opportunity to be today."
Grandmother Geyah rebuked, "You are lying! It must be you who used evil spells to enslave the ancestral spirits, right!"
The shaman behind her immediately turned their spears towards Aiden and the others. Prophet Velen's words had almost overturned their long-held beliefs, and no Orc shaman priest could accept such slander!
Aiden said loudly, "Isn't it clear whether what Prophet Velen said is true if you communicate with the spirits of the ancestors?"
"But how do we know you haven't deceived the spirits of the ancestors?" Grandmother Geyah's eyes showed obvious distrust. Although she had not personally fought the draenei, she was very clear about the hatred between the orcs and the draenei. There was almost no basis of trust between the two.
Varok Saurfang couldn't help but whisper, "Grandmother Geyah, this is the Head of the Valoran Federation who sent us back. He shouldn't deceive us."
"How do you know he doesn't have ulterior motives!" When it came to faith, Grandmother Geyah became almost unreasonable. For any believer, matters of faith are almost impossible to resolve with reason. She raised her staff and knocked it towards Varok Saurfang's head, wanting to knock some sense into him. Although the orc warrior could dodge, he didn't dare to, so he could only grit his teeth and bear it, a bump swelling on his head from Grandmother Geyah's blows.
"I can find proof for what I said!" Aiden said, "Whether you try to communicate with the souls of the ancestors, or go and see the spaceships of other naaru with your own eyes, these can prove that I am right—you must admit, the orcs do not have the ability to build such a crystal-shaped spaceship, do they?"
Grandmother Geyah's reason told her that this human was right, but she didn't want reason to dominate her now—because believing such words would mean that her faith would be overturned, and it would also mean that from now on, they would forever lose the guidance of the souls of the ancestors.
"You cannot leave the Holy Mountain!" Grandmother Geyah shouted. The shamans beside her immediately stood ready, prepared to attack at any moment.
Just then, those souls surrounding K'ure suddenly rushed towards the shamans, letting out angry roars. These ancestral souls were rebuking them, and the shamans once again felt the ancestral souls moving away from them. Gaining and losing again, everything they had encountered in such a short period of time plunged the shamans into panic.
Even Grandmother Geyah was no exception. She stood there blankly, her ears filled with the accusations of the ancestral souls.
She heard her grandfather, the old shaman of the Frostwolf Clan who had passed away decades ago, scolding her, and her husband, who had also passed away many years ago, expressing disappointment at her current behavior. And there were more, the souls of those ancestors who had already passed away, many of whom she had only heard their names from her ancestors.
Grandmother Geyah fell into panic. Could the events of more than twenty years ago be staged again? Would they, these shamans, be abandoned by the ancestral souls again?
Varok Saurfang took the opportunity to come over and tell Aiden what had happened during this time.
"Most of the Mag'har orcs are unwilling to retreat?" Hearing this news, Aiden could only reply, "Then we can only pray that Archimonde will not attack this way."
Kayle suddenly said, "We have people approaching!"
Aiden also sensed the arrival, and he was very surprised. It was Malzahar!
He knew that Kog'Maw had entered Silvermoon City through the Burning Legion's portal last time. According to the information he sent back, the other heroes were still in the Twisting Nether. Now that Malzahar had come, and had appeared in Outland, Aiden felt that this might not be good news.
And when the Void Prophet found him, it also proved his guess.
"You mean Kil'jaeden sent the Burning Legion's demons to Netherstorm?" Aiden had an even bigger headache. The demons entering Outland from Azeroth were already troublesome enough, let alone the demon army in the Twisting Nether?
The situation was becoming more and more serious, and he felt a deep sense of worry. Perhaps this time would be the worst situation he had faced since his isekai. He saw the orc shamans still confronting them, and thought of Varok Saurfang saying that many Mag'har orcs were still unwilling to retreat, and he suddenly had a flash of inspiration, thinking of a solution.
"Listen to me!" Aiden spoke, attracting the attention of everyone present, "Grandmother Geyah, I think our disagreement now is that the departure of the naaru will leave the orcs' ancestral souls with nowhere to go, and they can only become wandering ghosts. I have a way to solve this problem!"
Grandmother Geyah shouted vigilantly, "Don't even think about making us abandon the ancestral souls! If such a thing were to happen, then we will prevent any of you from trying to leave the Holy Mountain, including that glowing thing!"
Aiden laughed and said, "To be honest, if we want to leave, you really can't stop us!"
He felt that mere words lacked sufficient persuasiveness, so he decided to show these orcs his power—he stopped time, and led Kayle, Prophet Velen, and the naaru through the shamans' encirclement without any hindrance.
When time resumed, Aiden and the others had already retreated outside. M'uru and K'ure were both beside him, and those ancestral souls followed, surrounding the naaru, reluctant to leave.
He saw Grandmother Geyah and the other shamans in shock and anger, because the scene before them was beyond their imagination. The shamans had just felt that other than their minds being able to function, they could do nothing else. And this group of people, and two naaru, had just walked past them like that.
If Aiden and the others had attacked at this time, these shamans would already be corpses on the ground.
"See? You can't stop us from leaving at all." Aiden stood at the entrance of the spaceship, now the orcs were further inside. "I think you should be able to listen to my opinion now, right?"
"Speak, what is your proposal?" Grandmother Geyah's words were almost squeezed out from between her teeth. Although she was unwilling, she had no choice now.
Aiden said, "Speaking of which, there is no irreconcilable hatred between the Mag'har orcs and the draenei—now the Burning Legion is descending on Outland on a large scale, and this place will soon become a cruel battlefield. Staying here is almost a dead end. I think that under the current circumstances, uniting and retreating is a better choice. K'ure will definitely return to the naaru's spaceship, this is unchangeable. If you want to remember your ancestors, you can also follow on board. This way, you can have a place to live, and you can continue to communicate with the souls of the ancestors. A win-win situation!"
—
After resolving the matter with the orcs, Aiden met the ethereals of the Consortium. One was the Ethereal Hunter Olosu, and the other was the ethereal merchant, Tulkrum, who had come with him.
"Are you the leader here?" Tulkrum, the merchant of the Consortium, looked at Aiden with great interest. After receiving a positive answer, he immediately pointed to the Oshu'gun Holy Mountain—that is, the wreckage of the naaru spaceship—and asked, "Then can you make the decision for this garbage? We are engaged in a garbage recycling business, and we can pay a reasonable price for these wrecks!"
"You're here to talk business?" Aiden stared at Tulkrum and asked. He had just heard from Malzahar that the Consortium's Stormspire base was under attack by the Burning Legion, and thought that the other party was here to talk about this matter. But it seemed that this interstellar merchant was clearly more interested in the naaru spaceship than anything else.
"Of course, there are also some other things to talk to you about by the way!" Tulkrum replied.
"I can indeed make the decision for these 'garbage' in your mouth." Aiden interrupted before the other party could almost immediately make an offer, "You don't need to fool me, I know very well what this is—this is the wreckage of the naaru spaceship after the naaru crash-landed, and many of the materials inside are of amazing value."
"Believe me, friend, our Consortium can afford the price!" Although he was exposed, Tulkrum was not embarrassed at all. When they landed here a few months ago, they discovered the wreckage of this naaru technology spaceship. In the vast universe, the technology of the naaru is more advanced than that of the ethereals, and they believe that they can definitely analyze some useful technology from the wreckage of this spaceship. Moreover, the materials of the spaceship wreckage alone are worth a great price.
However, the Consortium lacks everything, except money. Artifacts, gems, materials, they have everything!
"alright—I only want one thing—something that can cure a naaru that is transforming into a void god!" Aiden offered a price for the spaceship wreckage.