The Great Thief

It wasn’t hard to trigger Laugh Into the Heavens’ quest. When killing the Bloodsail Buccaneers around the shores of Stranglethorn Vale, have you ever come across a half-buried bottle in the sands?

Perhaps some players had walked across it, but never bothered to pick up the bottle.

Although Laugh Into the Heavens seemed like a buff man and only thought about money, he was someone who was capable of discovering and seizing opportunities. After he opened the bottle, he found a slip inside.

Tales around drifting bottles could often be found in a variety of fairytales. They could be about treasure, a romantic love story, or perhaps a bored demon who lived within the bottle.

When Laugh Into the Heavens found the bottle, he was excited – he thought that he had had a chance to marry a princess.

It was indeed from a princess; the beautiful writing was very princess-like as well. However, it had nothing to do with love.

To anyone who can help me: Please, I desperately need help. A giant Skymane Gorilla has captured me and locked me on an island along the South shore. It thinks I’m cute and wants to keep me as a pet. How can a princess from the Kreego household be kept as someone’s pet, not to mention the pet of an ugly gorilla? I need a hero to save me, but I’m not sure where I am, so I can only describe what I see.

The night view from this location is unlike any other nights that I’ve seen in my life. The island is filled with thick forests of trees, but when the weather is good, I can see the shore in the Northwest direction. There were also a few ships that passed by and sailed towards the Southeast.

When Lu Li saw the slip, he felt a similar emotion towards Laugh Into the Heavens.

Any man with the slightest bit of sympathy probably wouldn’t leave the Gnome princess to be caged up by a gorilla on an island.

Yes, that’s right – she was a Gnome princess. Kreego was a prince in Ironforge and was also a powerful Gnome caster.

A caged princess had placed all her hopes inside this tiny little bottle. How could the players not go and save her?

Hence, Lu Li and Laugh Into the Heavens returned to Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale.

Booty Bay was a harbor city owned by the boss of the Blackwater pirates, Baron Revilgaz. It was a part of the Hot Sand group and their worst enemies were the Bloodsail Buccaneers.

Even though they were pirates, they were a neutral faction.

Along the north side of Booty Bay, Laugh Into the Heavens pointed at a section of the beach and said, ”This was where I found the bottle.”

”No one else found the bottle?” Lu Li investigated the area and didn’t see any other bottles.

”I haven’t heard of anyone else with the bottle. I only found it a few days ago while I was killing the crabs here. I like crab buns; the crabs here make good buns,” Laugh Into the Heavens explained as he gazed at the crabs along the beach with interest.

Lu Li quickly stopped him, ”Don’t worry about the crab buns. Have you tried to search for the island?”

”Of course I’ve tried, but the monsters in the sea are too dangerous. The sailors in Booty Bay refuse to change their course, so I haven’t found the island yet. Do you have a solution?” Laugh Into the Heavens asked as he spread his hands.

”She said she saw the shore and ships. Perhaps it was an illusion,” Lu Li guessed.

From the descriptions of the paper slip, he pictured a self-obsessed princess. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad for her to be a gorilla’s pet. She could probably only reach up to an average human’s waist in terms of height. The two might even look cute together.

”Maybe it’s because of the weather. The weather in Stranglethorn Vale is horrible and there’s mist everywhere.” It seemed like Laugh Into the Heavens didn’t like the environment. ”We need to set sail. Do you know anyone who could take us?’

”There’s no need for so much trouble. We only need to prepare two things.” Lu Li felt like he was taking advantage of Laugh Into the Heavens.

This quest had no level of difficulty at all.

”Which two things?” Laugh Into the Heavens had already tried many different solutions. He had even brought some mercenaries to steal a ship, but unfortunately, he didn’t succeed and lost EXP in the process.

”Head over to the Black Bear bar in Stormwind City and look for a guy with an eyepatch. He should be there drinking all the time,” Lu Li said.

”Doesn’t he ever pee?” Laugh Into the Heavens asked.

”Uhm…” Lu Li wasn’t sure how he should answer him; Laugh Into the Heavens had a strange way of thinking. Of course, a person who kept drinking would have to eventually head to the bathroom, but this was a game. Did anyone ever need to go to the bathroom?

Lu Li quickly stopped himself from his drifting thoughts. It was too dangerous for him to be around someone like Laugh Into the Heavens.

”A guy with an eyepatch, right? I’ll keep this in mind. If he goes to the toilet, I’ll just wait for him in the bar. What next? Are we taking him on an adventure after I find him?” Laugh Into the Heavens asked, trying his best to cover his silly personality.

”Buy a telescope from him. How can you set sail without a telescope?” Lu Li tried to remain patient.

”What about you? What are you doing?” Laugh Into the Heavens didn’t want to be the only one doing something.

”I’ve got to go and find a ship.” Dawn didn’t support technology creation yet, so players couldn’t build their own ship, even if they knew how to. Lu Li had multiple ways to find a ship – he could buy one, borrow one or even pick one up.

Speaking of picking up ships, Lu Li instantly remembered the worn-out ships that floated around in Feralas Dalmond Lake.

This was one of the few ways to obtain a ship with the least cost. These ships didn’t belong to anyone, so players could take them, fix them and use them for themselves.

After they dragged the ship away, they would refresh and players could then continue to collect them. The gaming company wasn’t impressed by this, so eventually, they turned those ships into a part of the scenery.

”Good luck.” Laugh Into the Heavens felt better; he could easily buy a telescope. The hardest part of this quest was finding a ship. He was happy that Lu Li had done so much for him for the cheap price of a rare material.

They both headed off to make preparations. Lu Li gave a heads up to Square Root 3 and asked him to steal a ship at night.

The ships weren’t just simple piles of wood – they were worth quite a lot.

As for Lu Li himself, who could catch the coattails of a top Thief?

Feralas was beautiful as usual. The reflections of the ships looked identical to reality, but underneath, it was an entirely different world.

Lu Li jumped under the surface and swam towards the ships.

None of these ships were in good condition. One of them was on the verge of falling apart – half of the hull was filled with water. The other ships were in slightly better condition, but none of them were seaworthy.

Lu Li had already cleared his bag, apart from his important items.

He picked a ship that looked to be in the best condition. The sail had already rotted away and the roof of the cabin was broken, but the majority of the structure was still fine.