Magitech

Although Drenden's tone was flippant, the reasoning was indeed correct. The identities of the Sky Council members, except for Archmage Antonidas, the Speaker, were strictly kept secret. Aside from Kirin Tor members, ordinary mages knew almost nothing about the Sky Council's specific composition. But taking on this position meant fulfilling its responsibilities.

For example—maintaining the order of magic, eliminating potential crises, and much more.

"Even if he doesn't join us, can he really avoid it?" Modera's eyebrows shot up as she glared at Drenden.

Of course, in this great era, every hero must shoulder the responsibility of saving the world, whether or not they hold that position.

After the meeting, Antonidas went to Khadgar's residence to contact him, while Aiden returned to his own station. But at this moment, a messenger from the Ashen Verdict brought news.

Prince Liam was contacting the Alliance, saying he had important information to report.

This messenger mentioned a key word—Ulduar!

—

Northrend was the base of the Silver Covenant and the Ashen Verdict. Since Prince Liam became High Commander, this multi-racial coalition had been fighting the Scourge.

After the Lich King Arthas joined Yogg-Saron, the Scourge's strength greatly increased, causing great trouble for the Silver Covenant. Liam had to command the army to retreat to the Drakkari Fortress line, using the Ice Troll's former defenses and walls to resist the Scourge's attacks.

The Drakkari Ice Troll tribe of Zul'Drak suffered a devastating blow more than a year ago when Archimonde arrived. Only a small number survived by sailing south to Zandalar Island for refuge.

After the Ice Trolls left, Zul'Drak became almost a ghost town. After the Silver Covenant regrouped, they turned it into an important defensive fortress.

At its peak, this force controlled Zul'Drak, Storm Peaks, Grizzly Hills, and Howling Fjord, almost half of Northrend's land. As their commander, Liam was certainly a great contributor.

After the War Against the Nightmare, Liam returned to the real world and continued to reorganize his forces, defending the fortress of Zul'Drak against the Scourge forces constantly attacking them from Icecrown Citadel and Angrathar the Wrathgate.

As the Nexus War began, the Scourge finally disappeared, and the undead minions all retreated to Icecrown Glacier, hiding behind high walls and fortresses to defend against the Alliance's attack.

But the Lich King never expected that these solid walls would not play any role. The expeditionary force completely destroyed the Scourge without losing a single soldier—who would have thought that the massive arcane energy gathered in the Focusing Iris would eventually pour down on them?

When the Frostborn dwarf scouts brought the news of the collapse of Icecrown Citadel to Drakkari Fortress, Liam couldn't believe it was true. However, subsequent intelligence proved it, the Scourge had indeed been completely destroyed!

The Scourge was the Silver Covenant's mortal enemy. As the news spread, the Tuskarr, Frostborn dwarves, Nerubians, Yaungol... all those races whose lives were threatened by the arrival of the Scourge could finally relax and enjoy the long-lost peace!

Liam was not someone who clung to power. As the various tribes of the Silver Covenant bid him farewell, he felt only blessings and reluctance in his heart. After all, they had fought side by side for a year, but now wasn't it time to enjoy peace?

As night fell, half of the people in the fortress had already left. Those who remained, besides the paladins of the Ashen Verdict around him, were also eager to return home.

Lord Herivel sighed all day. He believed that Liam could easily find some excuse to keep these battle-hardened warriors of all races, but he didn't. This old minister fully understood the prince's thoughts and had no legitimate reason to stop him.

"What good soldiers, really." Herivel sighed as he watched the warriors of various races constantly moving out of the camp.

Liam leaned on his sword and comforted his close aide, "Don't be like that, the warriors are fighting for survival. Now that the enemy has been eliminated, they should enjoy the peace they deserve, we should be happy about it. Isn't this the goal we have been striving for?"

"The reasoning is like this... alas, what should we do next, Your Highness? Should we go back?" Herivel asked tentatively. He was afraid that the prince still had some unresolved issues—after all, he had made some serious mistakes.

"Of course, we definitely have to go back." Liam smiled, showing his confidence, "I'm not someone who refuses to admit mistakes—at least not now." He joked humorously at himself, "We will continue to pursue the Holy Light, and our swords will still fight for justice—wherever we are."

"Of course, of course." Herivel nodded repeatedly. Seeing that the prince had no unresolved issues, he immediately felt relieved.

"Alright, go and rest, it's getting late."

Liam waved to the other party and left the city wall first. He returned to his bedroom, sat down, placed the sword across his knees, drew it out of its sheath, and then took a cloth to carefully wipe the blade.

It was his habit to wipe the blade every day before going to bed, and to use this time to reflect on himself and think about the future.

He saw his shadow through the reflection of the sword—compared to himself two years ago, he was almost a completely different person now. He no longer paid attention to his appearance, no longer demanded formalities, was informal, appeared very tolerant in the face of non-principled issues, and did not treat the people around him with prejudice because of differences in status.

This was simply not the performance of a young man in his early twenties, but more like a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties who was sophisticated in the ways of the world. Such open-mindedness was not even possessed by many middle-aged people.

But this was not innate. He had experienced so many hardships. He was once a crown prince of a country, and he had also fallen into the abyss and become a traitor despised by everyone. The extreme changes in identity made him understand that identity was actually just an appendage of personality. How could a mean person be loved even if he was born noble? How could a noble person not be respected because of his humble status?

He recalled everything that had happened from the time the Scourge descended on Gilneas until now, in order to warn himself not to forget the past, learn from the lessons, and thoroughly correct his mistakes.

Liam also recalled the scene of obtaining this Guardian of Order sword, the ordinary figure, but exuding an aura more terrifying than a dragon's, the cloaked man.

"Tyr—Guardian of Order." He had already guessed the other party's identity. Because of that silver prosthetic limb.

"Liam." Just as the prince was thinking of the other party, that familiar voice sounded in his ear once again.

"Tyr! Is that you?" Liam suddenly stood up and looked around.

"Look." Tyr said concisely.

Then a virtual scene appeared before Liam's eyes. The perspective was in the high altitude of Northrend, and then it was quickly pulled into the Storm Peaks in the north. Further in, Liam saw a magnificent group of buildings on the top of the mountains.

"Ulduar, the prison of the Old God Yogg-Saron." Tyr's voice sounded, introducing the place like a narration.

Then the camera continued to zoom in, entering the main hall.

Liam saw the huge mechanical devices and weapons being built in large quantities inside, as well as the manic giants, twisted Faceless Ones... and a huge monster with countless terrifying mouthparts suddenly emerging from the depths of the darkness.

"Yogg-Saron, the Thousand-Mouth, the evil Old God, is breaking free."

"Stop it, quickly."

"Beware of Loken."

The picture disappeared after Tyr's last words. Liam suddenly woke up and looked around. Where was the illusion or Tyr? He was still sitting at the table, and he hadn't even gotten up, because the Guardian of Order sword was on his knees.

This was a warning from Tyr, and Liam certainly wouldn't take it lightly. Recalling the powerful war weapons and mechanical puppets in the temple of Ulduar, as well as the terrifying Old God Yogg-Saron, Liam immediately became nervous. He knew that he and the paladins of the Ashen Verdict around him could not solve the Ulduar crisis at all, and he didn't even know where to start!

He must inform the Alliance!

Immediately!

—

Even without Liam's messenger coming to report, the expeditionary force's next target would be Ulduar. The previous battle plan originally included the Nexus War, the elimination of the Scourge, and the resolution of the Ulduar threat. Now that the first two things had been successfully resolved, only the Ulduar crisis remained to be resolved. It was natural for it to become the next target of attack.

Aiden had been thinking about what strategy to use to attack Ulduar.

According to the original history, the famous explorer Brann Bronzebeard, escorted by players, gradually uncovered the truth of Ulduar. From the Halls of Stone to the Halls of Lightning, they killed the corrupted guardian Loken, then stormed into Ulduar, restoring the controlled guardians to their senses, and ultimately defeated Yogg-Saron, who was about to break free, resealing him. Finally, they defeated Algalon the Observer, who descended upon Azeroth, terminating the code for reshaping the world.

This was the original game storyline, and also the "model" script that Aiden had once seen from the web-like timeline. If things went according to this, everything would be almost by the book.

But in this world, that's not necessarily the case—as a "free script," anything can happen here. Especially with history already unrecognizable and no longer a reliable reference, relying on history is tantamount to courting death!

Thinking of his special identity and the omnipresent Old Gods, Aiden slowly formulated a completely new plan in his mind.

However, this plan couldn't be spoken aloud—who knows if the Old Gods might be listening?

The last time he was able to kill Blackmore, the agent of the Infinite Dragonflight, in Galakrond's Rest was because he hid so well that he completely deceived all prying eyes, allowing him to achieve success. Therefore, he now assumes that every step of his plan that is openly displayed will be detected by the Old Gods.

So, the real plan must be carried out in secret!

In any case, on the surface, the elite forces of Azeroth are already advancing towards the Storm Peaks. In four or five days at most, they will reach their destination.

—

After Malfurion returned to Mount Hyjal, he immediately began to deploy the operation to return to Silithus, and ordered the druids of the Cenarion Circle to try to communicate with the elemental plane of earth, or rather, to find Therazane the Stonemother. He himself went to Silithus to scout the situation of the Old God C'Thun there.

What he had seen and heard in recent days had made this Archdruid realize the horror of the Old Gods. He had to go personally to ensure the return operation was foolproof to the greatest extent.

"Malfurion, you don't know, that earthquake before—it was truly terrifying, it almost reminded me of the cataclysm when the Well of Eternity exploded!" Tyrande's tense expression finally relaxed when she saw Malfurion return.

Although he had only participated in the Nexus War for a few days, every step of the Northrend operation plan was full of danger, and any mistake could lead to unimaginable disasters.

Tyrande was afraid that she would wake up to some unacceptable news. The terrible earthquake from Silithus made her extremely terrified, thinking that some disaster had occurred.

Fortunately, the result was much better than she had imagined—seeing Malfurion return safely, she was truly relieved.

The strong earthquake caused by C'Thun's dying struggle spread throughout Kalimdor. Mount Hyjal was far away and had the smallest impact. In comparison, Theramore not only sensed the strong earthquake but also a tsunami—the waves, several meters high, almost submerged Theramore. Fortunately, their city had high and thick walls, and spellcasters helped to resist, so they did not suffer serious losses.

The same was true for the City of Justice. Even now, there were still undried water stains on the messy streets of the new city—thanks to the good drainage system, most of the seawater was drained in time after the tsunami struck, and everyone had received early warnings in advance, so they did not suffer too much loss.

However, the actual losses brought by this tsunami made many people frown.

After migrating to Kalimdor, humans began cultivating on this wild land, but after the tsunami, most of the crops had been washed away, and the rest, soaked in seawater, could hardly be said to have any yield.

Food crisis—if a suitable food source cannot be found, it will definitely break out. If it causes widespread famine, the losses may be more serious than the previous disasters, and it will be easier to provoke conflicts and friction.

Upon receiving the loss reports, the lords and magistrates of various places were immediately filled with worry.

"What to do?"

This question plagued almost everyone.

In comparison, Rebecca, the magistrate of Los Angeles, quickly made a decision.

"Summon the authoritative magisters of agriculture (Magisters: refers to spellcasters engaged in specific magical work, equivalent to professors, engineers, and similar titles), and have them come to the parliament hall at 2:00 PM for a meeting."

"Arrange for me to meet with the ethereal merchant Turalman at 3:00 PM to discuss the purchase of food supplies."

"Issue bidding notices to Hextech, Zaun Tech, and Piltover Tech companies, with the condition of formulating feasible plans to improve food species and increase production based on the ecological environment of Kalimdor. Tell them that we will purchase a large amount of related equipment and materials!"

Rebecca quickly arranged the three matters. The secretary stopped writing and waited for the next instruction.

The strong female magistrate tapped her forehead and thought for a moment, then added, "Consult with the druids of the night elves and tauren to see if they have any methods to improve agricultural production and increase food production—please be sure to explain the difficulties we are encountering clearly, understand?"

"Understood, Magistrate!" The secretary replied with a straight face, then she asked, "Anything else?"

"Nothing else, go and arrange it!"

Rebecca had been in Azeroth for three years, and such a long time was enough for her to become familiar with the differences between the two different worlds.

In Azeroth, people's research on magic and energy is very deep and has its own complete system, but casting spells is only the unique right of spellcasters, and ordinary people have not enjoyed any convenience that magic brings to their lives.

The farming methods of farmers are still primitive, and the production methods of ordinary industry are also very extensive.

Perhaps the gnomes of Gnomeregan are somewhat different—but their society is relatively closed, and gnomish technology only plays a role in arming, rather than massively changing people's livelihoods.

In comparison, Valoran is very different.

The change of magical power to Runeterra has long been deeply rooted in people's hearts. People's lives have been completely integrated with magic. For example, "Rune Essence," a magical item that can enhance some of the user's abilities, has almost become a circulating currency. Not only warriors and summoners use it, but ordinary people with slightly better economic conditions also use the power of runes to strengthen themselves.

This is just a small microcosm of Valoran's society. In fact, the use of magical power is far more than that.

For example, Piltover, which Rebecca governs, widely uses technology, but magic is not neglected—on the contrary, in Piltover, magic is equivalent to Earth's oil, providing the energy and fuel to drive technological products.

Everywhere in this city are effectively utilized magical energy nodes. It takes into account the impact of magic on the city when planning, and extracts magical energy to drive everything in the city—lighting, factories, vehicles, energy... everything is like that.

If Piltover only represents technology and automation, then other city-states are not far behind.

For example, Noxus and Demacia, which have been enemies for generations, their technological level is certainly not as good as Piltover, but all their production cannot be separated from magical power. The machinery and tools used by farmers to cultivate the land, the seeds and fertilizers sown, the pesticides used to control insects, the harvesting machines... all of these are related to magic.

Aiden had not seen Valoran's true ecological environment. If he had seen it, he would have exclaimed that on this land soaked in magic, people's production level in agriculture was completely no less than that of modern Earth. Even in some aspects, it surpassed Earth—because they would use magical magic to ripen plants, shortening the growth cycle of food that originally took months to mature by several times, or even dozens of times!

Of course, if invested regardless of cost, this cycle can still be shortened. However, generally, no one is so eager for quick success.

In any case, the food crisis brought about by this tsunami and earthquake forced the magistrates of the Valoran Federation to bring Valoran's magic technology to Azeroth in advance. Only in this way can they survive the possible famine and disaster.

No matter which world, technology is the primary productive force!