Wayne noticed that the team of seven was being led by Tess. Having seen her brilliant chain of stealth and ambush maneuvers against that fat pig Bowles from his bedside in the middle of the night, he knew better than to treat this girl as a simple twelve-year-old.
Born into royalty as a princess, her perspective was far broader than that of commoners. Moreover, the unique environment of Gilneas—plagued by internal strife and external threats—seemed to have forged in her a level of resilience and mental maturity that far surpassed her peers.
Wayne had realized this long ago from the thick calluses on her hands.
In his previous life, when playing Warcraft, the "Butterfly Effect" was a well-known concept. In this world after his crossing, Tess's unexpected "intrusion" had already disrupted the original flow of causality. Wayne wanted to see to what extent his actions could change the events that were supposedly predestined to happen in the future.
But for now, he had to deal with these seven players.
While he commanded Galthran's skeleton army to hack through neutral mobs, constantly raising new Skeleton Soldiers, he spotted a brown-clad Barbarian hero named "Shiva" charging toward him from the west, leading Goblins from a Stronghold.
Wayne looked closer; it was Verdan's scouting party. Although Verdan was playing as Castle, this Barbarian was likely a random hero hired from the tavern.
Wayne quickly sent Straker and his fourteen Walking Dead to block the path. On one hand, he wanted to use Straker to test Verdan's behavior; on the other, he wanted to hide Galthran's tracks to prevent his main force's strength from being exposed too early.
As the two forces clashed, Wayne chuckled inwardly.
The female Barbarian Shiva had brought only a single Goblin. She opened the fight by casting Magic Arrow at a stack of Walking Dead.
From Dughan's perspective, the screens belonging to the other six players were all focused on Verdan's battle.
Shiva fired four Magic Arrows, exhausting her entire pool of 20 Mana. Six of Straker's Walking Dead fell before they could even reach the Goblin...
Since Straker had been busy clearing the wilderness since his first day out of the tavern, his spellbook only contained Haste; he didn't know a single offensive spell.
Although the lone Goblin was eventually cut down by the Walking Dead and Shiva "betrayed" Verdan (retreating), the battle was highly praised by his six teammates.
They immediately began their analysis.
Hudson: "I checked the Thieves' Guild earlier. Wayne's strongest unit right now is the Tier 2 Walking Dead, and he only has one city."
Hicks: "Verdan only brought one unit and managed to kill six of his troops just with magic. He only has eight left. If we send more heroes to harass him like this, can't we drive him back?"
Jyssetta: "I agree. If we all send heroes to scout, Wayne won't be able to intercept everyone. Once one of us finds his main town, it'll be easy from there."
Amy: "True, but I suggest bringing three or four units instead of just one. Put them in separate stacks. That way, even if Wayne uses magic, our scouts won't be defeated in a single turn."
Tess: "Good. Everyone recruit another hero who knows magic. The boss told me that heroes with the Logistics skill can travel further each turn. If you see them in the tavern, prioritize them as scouts."
Verdan: "I agree with everything... but you'll feel the atmosphere later. When I was fighting those Walking Dead up close, I felt incredibly uneasy. It was creepy... and I could smell a stench of rot..."
Since the others were only spectating, they hadn't felt the sensory details of the battlefield. At Verdan's mention of it, the group, previously immersed in tactical analysis, suddenly felt a chill.
Dughan, listening through the screens, frowned.
The Walking Dead he saw on the screen reminded him of things he had seen six months ago while passing through Duskwood, south of Elwynn Forest.
That place had once been full of life and human residents, just like Elwynn. But after the unexplained explosion at Karazhan, the forest was invaded by an unknown energy. Day and night became indistinguishable, shrouded in a perpetual twilight—hence the name "Duskwood."
The survivors buried their loved ones in Raven Hill to the northwest. It had become a massive cemetery, but the peace didn't last long.
After the Scourge invaded the continent, more and more gravekeepers reported that corpses were bursting out of their coffins in the catacombs and graves of Raven Hill, attacking anyone nearby.
Those zombies were devoid of emotion, their souls seemingly hollowed out. They craved blood and raw meat. At the sight of any living creature, they would chase them madly, either biting them to death or watching them flee in terror.
Before King Varian's disappearance, Dughan had received orders to lead his troops alongside allies to purge the zombies. He had personally organized small scouting parties to survey the terrain. It was then that he had seen those terrifying undead with his own eyes.
However, after the King went missing, the Regent ordered all troops to withdraw. Consequently, Dughan never actually engaged them in battle.
He never expected to see these dark existences that made his skin crawl once again in Wayne's net cafe.
There was one difference from the zombies of Raven Hill, though—the Walking Dead on the screen were incredibly slow. So slow that despite their protruding guts and exposed intestines, Dughan felt that even a Goldshire guard, let alone a Royal Guard, could win a one-on-one fight by utilizing superior speed.
In reality, no one could possibly lose to such a sluggish creature...
At that moment, Wayne sneezed three times in a row. Although he couldn't hear Dughan's thoughts, he was certain that the seven players were taking turns mocking his "Brother Qiang" after that battle...
The game continued. By the Sunday of the second week, Wayne captured another Necropolis town to the northwest. On the following Monday—the start of the third week—he successfully recruited his desired hero from the tavern: the Necromancer Vidomina.
Wayne had hoped for her since day one. Although he was delayed three weeks by Straker, getting her now wasn't too late.
Vidomina's specialty was Necromancy. She could convert more undead after battle than ordinary heroes, and she started with Intermediate Necromancy.
Supported by the Capitol in his main town, Wayne had unlocked every unit except the Tier 7 Bone Dragon.
But not having Bone Dragons didn't hinder Wayne's combat power. Veteran players knew that the Bone Dragon (and its upgrade, the Ghost Dragon) was a disgrace among Tier 7 units, barely worthy of the title.
For the same gold cost, the Tier 6 Dread Knights—commonly known as "Black Knights"—surpassed Ghost Dragons in every aspect.
To save money for recruitment and rapid development of his second city, Wayne temporarily skipped building the "Dragon Vault."
Aside from saving gold, there was another reason: Tess's and Amy's heroes had entered his explored territory, following Verdan's lead.
These two were "smarter" than Verdan. Not only were they searching for his main town, but they were also constantly recapturing the mines Wayne had seized.
Wayne hadn't expected them to evolve from basic scouting to harassment so quickly under Tess's leadership.
However, they were still too slow. Wayne's opening build was complete.
By now, Galthran—who already had Expert Necromancy—had 371 Skeletons in his ranks. Wayne split them into three groups and added four Dread Knights to the army to increase damage output and, more importantly, boost the army's initial speed.
As for his newly hired main hero, Vidomina, her force centered on two units: 25 Vampire Lords (upgraded from those recruited in town and at an external "Estate") and 16 Power Lichs (Tier 5 ranged units). He took 3 Walking Dead from Straker and split them into three stacks to act as meat shields around the 16 Power Lichs.
The phase of hiding his strength was over. His next goal was for Vidomina to continue exploring and leveling up, utilizing her specialty to further expand the Skeleton army.
Meanwhile, Galthran led the Skeleton Legion straight toward the 5 o'clock position. While clearing neutral mobs without losses and converting more undead along the way, Wayne prepared to take Verdan's main town as the first sacrifice of this war.
Wayne didn't expect to run into Verdan's primary hero, the Knight Valeska, after only two days of marching.
Lots of Halberdiers, many Marksmen, many Griffins, several Crusaders.
Looking at Valeska's estimated troop numbers, Wayne glanced at Galthran's spellbook and couldn't help but smile.
In his mind, he could almost hear the words spoken by the man on the Frozen Throne during a raid:
"Witness it! I shall turn them from carcasses into warriors of the Scourge. Azeroth shall fall into chaos and ruin at their hands."
"And you! You shall be the first corpse!"