The first night of formal construction passed peacefully. Wayne had even arranged for the Lion's Pride Inn to deliver snacks and late-night meals to the construction site to reward the five paladins and two Dwarven hunters.
He returned the stack of flyers to Raymond, but Raymond expressed that once Wayne was ready, he would introduce this miraculous net cafe to other races on the distant continent at the Darkmoon Faire camp. Collaboration was possible in the future, though the time wasn't right yet. The two exchanged magic mail addresses—the Azerothian equivalent of WeChat—and though each letter cost a bit of gold to send, it was no issue for two wealthy men.
Business at the net cafe remained brisk. Players like Arator, Oneria, and Winston—despite this being only their second visit—had already mastered the methods learned from Wayne's streams to awaken the "Little Lady" (Serana) and acquire the artifact, Dawnbreaker.
However, Shadowbreak didn't show up at the net cafe today. Wayne found it odd; the Duke had drunk quite a bit last night and slept in a private room on the inn's third floor, promising to watch the stream today to study skill point allocation for two-handed weapons. Yet, he was nowhere to be found.
Finally, as night fell, what Wayne had been dreading finally happened.
Corrine received a secret report from her colleagues: a massive explosion had occurred deep within the Deadmines. The tremors were so violent they reached the northern waters of Stranglethorn Vale. Partial collapses in the underground tunnels were likely, and the fate of the agent squad and the two Pandaren remained unknown.
Furthermore, none of the rebel leaders—including First Mate Mr. Smite, Foreman Rhahk'Zor, Gilnid the Smelter, and the leader VanCleef—were found among the rebels who fled the mines.
Corrine immediately stopped her game and left the cafe. With things reaching this stage, she had to return to active duty.
Scarcely had she left when a worker sent by Barons ran to the cafe in a panic, interrupting Wayne's thoughts and urging him to go to the site immediately.
Wayne ordered Tess not to set foot outside the cafe, then rushed to the site by carriage. Catherine, the female paladin leading the five-man squad, informed Wayne that they had received a message via Royal Gryphon Rider. The Archbishop had ordered them to return to the Cathedral of Light immediately for an urgent mission.
After wishing Wayne luck, she and her team cast their Hearthstones and vanished.
Although the hundred or so workers didn't hear the full conversation, they could see from Wayne and Barons' expressions that things were grim. Most of them were refugees from Westfall and knew the Defias Brotherhood was preparing a "final move" to seek revenge on Stormwind, though low-level members like them didn't know the specifics.
To make matters worse, the remaining two Dwarven riflemen spotted trouble through their telescopes.
On the western shore of Mirror Lake, at the Mirror Lake Orchard, there had previously been only a few Defias scouts. But over twenty men had arrived today, and more were joining under the cover of night. To avoid Stormwind's patrols, they arrived in teams of two or three, wearing the signature dark clothing of the Defias rebels, gathering from the west and south.
If the five armored paladins were still here, they—along with the two high-level hunters—could have used the terrain and simple fortifications made from construction materials to easily repel thirty rebels. After all, the rebels' training and equipment were not in the same league. But now, with only the two of them, it was impossible to hold off so many enemies.
Their advice was firm: if they wanted to avoid the senseless slaughter of the civilian craftsmen, there were only two choices: call for reinforcements immediately or organize an evacuation.
Barons and Wayne conferred and sent a worker to find a nearby guard patrol to report the intelligence. But it was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water. Duhan's current location was unknown, and even if he came, the few guards in Goldshire were needed to hold the town entrances. Their combat strength was barely superior to the rebels.
Reinforcements from Northshire or Westbrook wouldn't arrive in time, and as for the Stormwind army—even if they could be reached, they couldn't be mobilized. If they were willing to send troops, they would have done so long ago.
The situation was clear: someone had cut the ground out from under them. If the perpetrators behind the scenes hadn't lacked influence in Ironforge, they probably would have ordered the two riflemen to withdraw as well.
However, evacuation was not an option Wayne or Barons would consider.
In the plan Wayne discussed with Mathias, recruiting veteran craftsmen willing to return was a crucial step. It would weaken Defias morale, increase the success rate of the decapitation strike, and force the mastermind behind the original riots into the open.
They hadn't expected Chen and Li Li to accidentally stumble into a fight with the Defias, moving the raid up significantly and triggering the enemy's retaliatory plan early. If they evacuated now, the money would be wasted, and it would spread panic throughout Goldshire, potentially causing the rebels to hunt them down mid-retreat.
Ideas flashed through Wayne's mind. He told Barons to keep the site under control and rushed back to the cafe by carriage.
Inside, he told Liria to stay even after the cafe closed to look after Tess. He then grabbed a handful of coins from the safe, went to his room, and dove into the cellar. The sound of the vending machine eating coins and spitting out goods echoed continuously. Wayne also took two potions from his room and walked out to board the carriage, only to be startled by someone calling out to him.
"Kid, what are you doing?"
Wayne hadn't noticed someone standing outside the door, staring at him. He nearly jumped out of his skin. It was Winston—the man whose vocabulary consisted mostly of "..." or "Get lost."
"I..." Wayne didn't know how to explain, instinctively hiding the package he had just bought from the machine.
Winston's eyes always looked half-closed, as if he hadn't slept, but right now they seemed to be looking at Wayne with disdain. "Stay in the cafe and don't move, or go to the site and manage your people."
Without another word, Winston walked toward the west of town—not toward the cafe or the inn.
Wayne realized something and called out, "Are you going there alone...?"
"None of your business," Winston replied.
"Wait!" Wayne stopped him. He pulled out two spheres and a potion from his bag. While demonstrating how to use them, he shoved them into Winston's hands.
"This—drink it when you're close. Only one sip at a time. This way, even if you break stealth, you'll still terrify them."
"These—if there are too many people and you're surrounded, pull this and throw it into the crowd. Remember to cover your own eyes first."
Winston looked at the items in his hand and then at Wayne. Realizing Wayne wasn't joking, he said nothing, stuffed the items into his pocket, and turned to leave.
"Mr. Winston!" Wayne called out again. Winston slowed his pace.
"Stay safe!"
Winston didn't respond and disappeared into the night within a few steps.