Go!

After the news of Liam's betrayal reached Lordaeron, as Aiden had predicted, the Alliance immediately ordered all troops within Gilneas to retreat at once.

Taking advantage of this opportunity when people's hearts were unsettled, the Scourge army entrenched in Gilneas launched its largest offensive since the start of the war.

The undead army spread across the mountains and plains, attacking and disrupting the Alliance's retreat everywhere, causing considerable losses to the Alliance.

However, thanks to Aiden's prior notice, the vast majority of people were able to retreat intact.

The city of Dalaran in the sky was overcrowded, gathering more than two hundred thousand Gilnean survivors and no less than fifty thousand troops.

The number of outsiders even exceeded its original inhabitants.

After it officially left Gilneas, the land west of the Greymane Wall had completely become a paradise for the undead, a forbidden zone for the living.

Gilneas actually only had Fendel Village left as its territory.

After it was full, the other survivors were scattered and resettled in Lordaeron, Dalaran, and Los Angeles.

Especially Los Angeles, where a large number of buildings had been built before the new year, enough to house one hundred thousand people, but currently half of the rooms were still empty.

Aiden decisively extended a helping hand, accepting fifty thousand Gilnean refugees and providing them with living security and even job opportunities.

The outer city of Los Angeles was still under construction, and accepting refugees was definitely a win-win move.

His generous behavior won the gratitude of the Gilnean people, and naturally brought higher prestige to the Valoran Federation.

The retreat operation took a total of one week, and Aiden left in advance.

Firstly, the Alliance meeting was about to be held, and secondly, Sylvanas led a force of eight thousand high elves to Lordaeron, officially representing Silvermoon City in supporting the Alliance's fight against the Scourge!

He saw the heroic high elf ranger in Lordaeron.

She still looked so beautiful and proud, but she still maintained the proper etiquette and respect.

She now knew that this young man who had previously been an envoy to Quel'Thalas possessed a status completely equal to that of the High Elf King.

"Greetings, Your Excellency!" Sylvanas took the lead in saluting, her etiquette was impeccable.

Aiden nodded and directly said, "I have something to ask you, something very important."

He briefly talked about Naxxramas and the Scourge's actions, and concluded: "The High Elves' Sunwell is a powerful source of magic.

Its abundant energy is enough to summon the leader of the Burning Legion from the Twisting Nether.

After the magic of the Book of Medivh disappeared, this is the most likely means I can think of to summon Archimonde.

I am very worried and feel I must remind you.

Since Kael'thas is now in charge of government affairs, you must convey this message to him and make him fully vigilant about this, Alright?"

This was a major event concerning the life and death of the High Elves, and Sylvanas did not dare to slack off.

Although she doubted how the Scourge could possibly have the ability to break through the magical barriers surrounding Silvermoon City, she did not blindly question it.

The words that the Valoran Head of State had said to her last time were still fresh in her mind:

"I'm sorry, I can't save them," "Sylvanas, if that time really comes, I hope you can endure humiliation and bear the burden, and think of its survival."

In the two days since arriving in Lordaeron, she had heard many stories about this young man from another world.

He seemed to really know some future events, so his words must be taken seriously.

"I will go and deliver the message immediately!" Sylvanas immediately bid farewell, fearing that if she was a little late, Silvermoon City would suffer from the Scourge.

She knew that nearly twenty days had passed since Naxxramas last appeared, and if its target was Silvermoon City, even if it hadn't flown there yet, it wouldn't be far away.

"Thank you!" The ranger general's voice came from the wind.

—

The Alliance was holding its second conference.

The representative of Silvermoon City changed from Danath Trollbane to Sylvanas, and the banner also added the official logo of Silvermoon City to the "Silver Covenant", representing the official participation of the High Elves in the war; Danath Trollbane did not come, this time it was his uncle, the old King Thoras Trollbane; Ironforge also sent a higher-level envoy—Magni Bronzebeard's brother, Lordaeron's old friend Muradin Bronzebeard; the gnomes also officially sent troops, Aiden did not expect that the person who came was "High Tinker" Mekgineer Thermaplugg, who was ambitious in history to become the King of Gnomes and betrayed Gnomeregan!

The crazed attacks of the stone elementals have been effectively contained under the joint efforts of the dwarven and gnome forces, so they were able to free up troops to support the Alliance.

Highlord Alexandros Mograine also naturally brought the completed artifact "Ashbringer" back to Lordaeron, waiting for the opportunity to prove its power.

At the same time, Aiden finally met Varian Wrynn, the legendary King of Stormwind.

He had not yet experienced amnesia and personality split, and had not undergone the blood training of the arena, so naturally there was no domineering scar on his nose and face.

The current him did not have the intimidating aura and domineering personality of the future.

Perhaps because King Terenas was present, Varian rarely spoke, and when he did, he always offered his own views based on Terenas's foundation.

He seemed very low-key and peaceful.

Aiden understood him quite well.

After the Kingdom of Azeroth was destroyed, the fallen prince Varian shared a fatherly love with Arthas in the Lordaeron court.

He deeply admired King Terenas in his heart, and his position naturally firmly stood on the side of Lordaeron.

By now, Aiden had been discussing—or rather, "arguing"—with the Lordaeron court and other kings and representatives for two days.

Unlike the last time when they worked together to fight the Scourge, this time, due to the changing situation, different voices appeared in the Alliance.

Aiden advocated immediately forming a Northern Expeditionary Force to launch a decapitation operation to eliminate the Lich King before Prince Liam found Frostmourne and fused with the Lich King.

Previous situations had shown that they had always been in the Scourge's trap.

The combination of Naxxramas and the Dreadlords had kept them busy dealing with it.

The Alliance could no longer follow the opponent's rhythm, otherwise the result would only be worse!

However, others believed that this plan was too risky: Naxxramas might be floating over a certain city, ready to drop a large number of Scourge troops at any time, or quietly spread the plague.

If troops were still transferred for a distant expedition at this time, it would inevitably be more difficult to defend against Naxxramas's surprise attack.

Although Dalaran could fight Naxxramas in the air, who knew where the Scourge's target was?

The entire Gilneas almost collapsed in just three days, and in three days Dalaran couldn't even fly from Southshore to Lordaeron City.

Still others argued that the undead of Gilneas should be wiped out first, as they were right behind Lordaeron, a thorn in their side. If they weren't dealt with, who knew when hundreds of thousands of Scourge soldiers would cross the Greymane Wall and attack them?

On the third day, seeing that it was another pointless day, Aiden finally gave up on persuading his allies. However, just after the meeting adjourned, a piece of great news invigorated everyone—the alchemical laboratory had announced that the plague antidote had been successfully created!

The representatives, who had just been arguing with each other due to differing opinions, immediately beamed with joy. The plague was like a sword hanging over their heads, ready to fall at any moment. Now that they had a means of defense, they finally didn't have to be so timid!

Aiden also breathed a sigh of relief. With the antidote, he was even more confident in implementing his plan.

—

"Acting alone?" Antonidas asked, startled by his words. "Are you planning to withdraw from the Alliance?"

"No, I'm not withdrawing from the Alliance. I have no such intention," Aiden shook his head, explaining, "Ever since the Scourge appeared, I've felt constrained. The Scourge has been setting traps for us, making us act step by step according to their plans—like the Gilneas plague, Liam's betrayal, and even this conference—think about it, under normal circumstances, what outcome would this conference achieve?"

"Perhaps they might adopt a defensive strategy, or use the method you proposed last time, blowing up the Greymane Wall to eliminate the threat of Gilneas," Antonidas replied.

"But they definitely won't form a Northern Expedition army, right?" Aiden looked at him. "If I were the mastermind behind the Scourge, that's the response I would want the Alliance to make—doesn't that prove that they are afraid of our Northern Expedition?"

"But it's too dangerous, you are, after all, the ruler of a nation…" Antonidas grasped his hand, wanting to persuade him further.

"So what?" Aiden smiled, patting Antonidas's thin hand. "Don't worry, I won't be in danger."

Antonidas was silent for a moment, then asked, "How can I help you?"

Aiden thought for a moment and replied, "There probably isn't anything needed. If you really want to do something, could you help me check if the floating magic arrays of Los Angeles need any improvements?"

—

Aiden's plan was to form an elite squad to go to Northrend and, while the Scourge was scheming against the Alliance, destroy their lair! This was a very risky move because Northrend was the Scourge's base of operations. To carry out such a mission, either a large Northern Expedition army was needed to use brute force, or they had to take the enemy by surprise and strike straight at the heart, like a decapitation strike in war.

Since the former was impossible to achieve, Aiden had no choice but to choose the latter.

He left Swain in Lordaeron as his plenipotentiary to continue the meeting, then returned to Los Angeles and gathered all the heroes he could, including Lux, who had been in Dalaran.

When he revealed his plan, all the heroes expressed their willingness to go.

Aiden said, "I only need a small number of people. Darius, Garen, only one of you can go."

"I'll go!" Garen immediately shouted.

"I should go! You should stay and guard the home! I'm sure you'll do better than me in that aspect!" Darius mocked.

"You went last time, it's my turn this time!" Garen retorted, unwilling to be outdone.

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting, Aiden quickly called a halt: "Alright, then Garen will go! Darius, you don't need to be discouraged, there might be more battles for the troops remaining in the Alliance to fight."

Then he looked at Quinn: "Have you fully recovered, Quinn?"

"Of course, Valor and I are ready to fight at any time!" she replied with utmost confidence, and Valor also let out a clear cry of agreement.

"Very good," Aiden nodded. He remembered the scene of Quinn saving him selflessly in the Andorhal ambush, and a thought arose in his mind: he hoped she wouldn't be so foolish again.

"Vayne, you're coming with us too."

The Night Hunter nodded, not surprised.

"Braum, now is the perfect time for you to show your abilities!" He then called out the name of the Heart of the Freljord.

Braum let out a hearty laugh: "I will protect everyone!"

Aiden's gaze then swept over the others. Heimerdinger, the Revered Inventor, Ziggs, the Hexplosives Expert, and Viktor, the Machine Herald, all had their own matters to attend to, and he didn't plan to bring them along. Singed was the same; concocting the plague antidote and developing potions to deal with the undead were his most important tasks.

Taric, the Gem Knight, also needed to remain here to deal with any wars that might break out at any time. Corki's plane couldn't get supplies and maintenance in Northrend, so he was naturally excluded.

He finally looked at Lux. The Lady of Luminosity was eager to try, raising her hand high and shouting, "Me too, me too! I want to go!"

"You should stay!" Aiden said. He felt that bringing one of the Garen and Lux siblings was enough. If something went wrong with the mission, their Crownguard family would be in danger.

"Why! I'm very powerful!" Lux protested.

Aiden gave Garen a look, signaling him to persuade his sister, but Garen instead said, "Commander, you should bring her! Her abilities can help us avoid a lot of trouble."

"Then… alright!" Aiden could only nod. However, he remembered that Lux had the ability to make their group invisible, which would be very useful for a small force to infiltrate. He thought to himself that he was really confused; he should have thought of this earlier, and he should have brought Lux even if he didn't bring Garen.

"Yay!" Lux waved her little fist excitedly.

As for Kayle—she was automatically included.

So the final list was: Garen, Quinn, Vayne, Kayle, Braum, Lux, and Aiden.

Then they still needed a hero to sail the ship—after summoning Gangplank, the remaining hero with the "Captain" attribute was only one—"the Bounty Hunter" Miss Fortune Sarah!

It seemed that this most curvaceous female hero was destined to appear! Aiden sighed in his heart. Last time, he was hit hard by the failure of the Broken Ridge battle, and reluctantly gave up summoning the eye-pleasing beauty hero Miss Fortune and chose the rough-footed man Gangplank, and he regretted it for a while.

Now it seems that what's meant to come will always come!