The Great Thief

”Colonel Troteman might be strong, but he’s busy with the Murlocs now. The real threats are the Blackrock Tauren and Gnolls who have formed an army to the East of the town. They plan to invade Lakeshire… The civilians of Lakeshire need your help,” Lu Li explained.

He thought that Keeshan would have been more concerned, but he only shook his head.

”Help them? The people that would rather spit at me than smile at me?!”

It seemed to be the nature of people to easily forget those who had once protected them.

”...” Lu Li was left speechless.

He returned helplessly with Water Fairy to Colonel Troteman, who was Keeshan’s old boss. Perhaps he would have a way for Keeshan to return to his old self.

”He’s not willing to help; that’s completely understandable,” Colonel Troteman said as he disemboweled a Murloc with a powerful strike.

However, there were too many Murlocs pouring to fend them all off; the only thing he could do now was to guard the town.

”Are there any other ways? I have many friends…”

Lu Li had countless subordinates and so did Water Fairy. As long as these Blackrock Tauren and Gnolls weren’t over level 50, they had nothing to fear.

”If you and Keeshan are going to defend Lakeshire, we’re going to need to find his old battalion. The last I heard of ’em - Messner, Jorgensen, Krakauer and Danforth – they were captured by the Blackrock orcs. Search Alther’s Mill, which is east of here, for any clues,” Colonel Troteman blabbered on, ignoring Lu Li’s suggestion. It seemed like they really wouldn’t be allowed to find other sources of help for this quest.

This was how stubborn the NPCs in the game were; something like this would rarely occur in real life.

”We’ll definitely rescue Keeshan’s old battalion. Colonel, we’ll be on our way now,” Lu Li said as he waved his hand helplessly and dragged Water Fairy with him.

”This feels like an old movie called First Blood,” Water Fairy commented.

”I didn’t think you were the type to watch old films,” Lu Li said in surprise.

”It’s an old film from a few hundred years ago. My dad likes them; he thinks that all the movies with CGI actors are uninteresting. He has a room full of old film CDs,” Water Fairy explained, leading the topic into her family.

”I really like old films too. I’ve seen some.”

”I really don’t understand people like you. Perhaps you’d get along with my dad.”

Alther’s Mill was a fair distance off to the east of Lakeshire, but fortunately, they both had mounts, which saved them quite some time.

When they arrived, the Blackrock Tauren were changing guards. The entire camp was in a mess, so they blended in well. Lu Li went in first with Water Fairy following behind.

Water Fairy discovered that Lu Li was a bit of a Machismo. When the two of them were together, he always took the initiative to walk ahead.

If they ran into a monster that they needed to kill, he would act first. All Water Fairy really had to do was to follow behind.

Although Water Fairy was a famous beauty, this was the first time she had been so protected in her life.

”Focus. You take the left; I”ll take the right. We’ll use Sap together and kill the one in the middle first. That one is an elite,” Lu Li instructed.

”Alright,” Water Fairy agreed, making an OK signal.

Lu Li’s judgement was correct; this was the entrance to a dungeon. As he lifted the circular lid, a stench wafted out that sent Water Fairy reeling backwards.

”Wait out here; I’ll go in alone. If monsters come, alert me.”

Water Fairy nodded in agreement; it was quite difficult for her to bear the smell.

Perhaps the Blackrock Tauren didn’t like these rotten dungeons either. There were no guards – just some NPCs who had been locked away here. When they saw Lu Li, their dead eyes immediately lit up as they smashed the bars and called for help.

Lu Li wasn’t in a rush to help them, although he knew that saving these people would give him some reputation. He stood on the open walkway in front of them and yelled, ”I’m here to find a few people – Messner, Jorgensen, Krakauer and Danforth. Does anyone know them?”

The dungeon went quite for a while, then someone asked, ”I’m Messner. Why do you look for us?”

”I’m here to rescue you,” Lu Li said as he walked to the dungeon door and opened the lock. His unlock skill was already level 4, so these little doors were nothing to him.

”And us, and us...” Besides the four that Lu Li was looking for, there were dozens of others who were locked away.

They were from all different kinds of races; there were even two Trolls. It seemed like these Blackrock Tauren were quite strong, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to capture so many prisoners.

Water Fairy picked up the four that they were looking for and helped them hide from the Blackrock Tauren patrols. Then, Lu Li opened the gates one by one.

The captives escaped in a rush.

These people were so rude – none of them even said thanks to him. Lu Li rubbed his nose and all the guilt that he felt disappeared into thin air.

He had let all of the captives out so that they would cause a noticeable distraction.

”Alright, let’s run!” Lu Li shouted as he returned to Water Fairy’s side.

”No, we must get our equipment back,” Messner said in a panic; they were all wearing underwear.

”We’ll buy some on the way back.”

Water Fairy thought that there wasn’t a need for such hassle on anything that could be solved by money.

”That’s our equipment; we must get it back. I know where it is; come with us.”

The Thief, Krakauer, led ahead. He had no equipment, but he could still use some basic skills.

Lu Li quickly followed from behind. If any fights were to occur, he and Water Fairy could step out immediately.

These people were the key to changing Keeshan’s mind and were of great importance, so it would be a real pain if they died.

Fortunately, the criminals that Lu Li had released before helped them out. The entire camp was a mess, no one even noticed that they had snuck into the storage.

Lu Li’s favorite place was always the storage room.

However, the locks for the storage room were much more secure than the ones used for the dungeons. Lu Li couldn’t open any of them. At this point, Krakauer made himself useful.

It was hard to tell what level this NPC Thief was. He took out a strange item, used Unlock, and with a few picks, the door to the storage opened up.