The Great Thief

The location of the houses was great, and the prices weren’t too high. The two buildings shared a small garden and also included a tower. This European-style structure only costed seven hundred gold coins, which was about sixty-thousand dollars in real life.

That wouldn’t even be enough to afford a house in the middle-class section of town in real life.

If Lu Li’s memories served him correctly, in about another two or three months, the housing prices in this area would rise greatly. This little town would become the dream town of many adventurers.

”The two towers here are Mage towers. There are some alchemy-related magic circles within, and a few higher-tier Mages used to live here,” the salesperson explained as he took Lu Li and Water Fairy to look around.

”What about the Mages who use to live here?” Lu Li asked.

”They died on the battlefield fighting against the Scourge Army. They were two great Mages – a man and a woman. They loved each other, even though they didn’t live together since they researched magic separately, but...” the salesperson answered, then paused, pointed at the soft bridge between the two Mage towers and continued, ”They built a bridge between the two towers and shared time together there each day before the sunrise…”

Lu Li felt touched, even though he wasn’t quite certain why.

”Hmmm.”

Water Fairy covered her mouth and coughed dryly. She felt too shy to ask about the rest of the story, but still wanted to know the rest of it.

Later, the two answered to the Alliance’s call and headed to the frontlines to defend against the Scourge Army.

It was a dangerous place, overrun with Undead creatures, while Prince Arthas manically slaughtered all the civilians that he had once sworn to protect. The two never returned, but they left the house to the town before they departed, as if they knew that they were walking to their end.

”If they knew they couldn’t return, I wonder if they would still miss each other like that,” the salesperson sighed.

Water Fairy’s eyes watered; she was visibly touched by the story.

”This is just a story – a story from a game.”

Lu Li found it hard to understand why a tough girl like Water Fairy would become emotional over something like this and comforted her clumsily.

”You...” Water Fairy glared at Lu Li and turned to leave.

Although she was angry at Lu Li, she still paid for the two houses, including Lu Li’s house, because Lu Li didn’t have that many gold coins on him right now.

After they finished the registration, they went to see the mayor. The Blackrock Invasion Plan had already been translated.

”The Blackrock army is gathering. These damned Tauren – the plans say that the Tauren and the Gnolls have gathered at the East. It seems like the Blackrock General Gath’Ilzogg plans to destroy Lakeshire with his troops and head straight for Stormwind City next,” Magistrate Solomon said angrily.

”The key is to solve the issue,” Lu Li reminded him; there was no use in throwing a tantrum. It was hard to tell where this bald man had inherited his rage from.

”Right. We need to get rid of them. Bring Colonel Troteman over.”

A sentry received the command and left, shortly bringing back another bald man. It was strange how there were so many bald NPCs in the Alliance.

Colonel Troteman rushed over in a hurry, still stained in dried blood. He was gasping for air as he asked, ”Sir, what brings you to call me? There are many Murlocs to the West of the town that have killed many civilians. I was just commanding soldiers to take care of them.”

”Take a look at this,” Magistrate Soloman said as his expression grew darker.

As expected, Colonel Troteman couldn’t provide any useful help either; they only had around a hundred guards in the town. This time, the Murlocs had invaded in great numbers, which already placed them at a significant disadvantage.

”I can find someone to help,” Lu Li offered quietly.

”Right, we can find help. Have you heard of John J. Keeshan? I was his commander in all three wars. Let me tell you this – the man has killed more Tauren than anyone else. If anyone can stop these Blackrock Tauren from invading, it has to be John J. Keeshan. We must get his help. Once the army passes through Elwynn, Lakeshire will be no more,” Colonel Troteman recommended after Lu Li’s reminder.

”Can you talk about this person in more detail, Colonel?” It seemed like they couldn’t call any other players for this quest, but Lu Li didn’t mind.

”Hmph, you guys talk. I’m off.” It seemed like Magistrate Soloman wasn’t a fan of Keeshan as he walked off grumpily.

John J. Keeshan was born in Lakeshire and was a normal soldier in the twelfth army of the Stormwind Kingdom. During the first, second and third wars against the Tauren, he had completed 248 quests. Countless Tauren had died at his hands, and he became famous as a civilian hero within the Stormwind Kingdom.

Unfortunately, in one of his quests, he was held captive by a Blackrock soldier. During the five years that he was held captive, he was tortured endlessly.

However, Keeshan never gave in.

Eventually, he managed to escape from the prison, and through much turmoil, finally returned home.

The civilians of the Redridge Mountains should have welcomed and cheered for him, but his father despised him. He blamed him and gave him the nickname ’Tauren Baby Killer’.

”These civilians of Lakeshire are all parasites bred by the peaceful environment,” Lu Li chuckled.

Compared to other places in Azeroth, the people here lived quite peacefully. They had never experienced suffering and even held some pathetic sympathy towards the Blackrock Tauren.

They had no clue that other races couldn’t have the same heart as they did.

”Keeshan’s personality was one of the reasons why he couldn’t get along with everyone else too,” Colonel Troteman tried to explain.

”He was a Warrior who walked out from a mountain of corpses and blood. Do you expect him to be the same as the average person?” Lu Li couldn’t agree with Colonel Troteman.

”Young man, perhaps you’re right…” Colonel Troteman began, not wanting to argue with Lu Li.

”You will probably get along with him; maybe you can convince him to help.”

”Where is he?” Lu Li asked.

Not long into the future, the guilds would be able to set up their own fortresses. These would require some defenses, and besides guild players, they could also hire some special NPCs.

Elite soldiers like Keeshan, who didn’t entirely belong to the gaming system, were the favorite type that players liked to recruit.