On the fourth day, Corinne arrived in a hurry.
Following their usual contact method, she and Wayne entered the game world to speak privately.
Corinne brought the latest firsthand news: "The Master asked me to tell you that the strike team escorted the target to a safe point within Elwynn Forest yesterday. They couldn't use magical letters in that wilderness, so it wasn't until they met with the backup team that a mage teleported back ahead of them to inform SI:7."
Wayne asked quickly, "Which path are they taking? Did they encounter any trouble?"
Corinne wore a confident expression. "They didn't detour through Lakeshire this time. Although the Master believes no one in Stormwind Keep besides Bolvar knows about this operation, they still took an unexpected route just to be safe."
"We have a safe house at the junction of the southern Burning Steppes and Elwynn Forest. They took that path."
Though Corinne spoke vaguely without naming the exact spot, Wayne knew it immediately. Back in his days of playing the game online, he would often fly over that area on a gryphon from northern maps back to Stormwind. He remembered seeing a squad of Dwarven mountaineers fighting a small black dragon on another part of the mountain.
He had even climbed up there himself once; his guild had held an event at that very spot.
At the time, he had wondered why there were tents, basic supplies, and a constantly burning campfire in such a remote, inaccessible place. As it turned out, it was an SI:7 lookout post. Those people really were everywhere.
Corinne continued, "They will rest there briefly, then descend the southern slope using rope ladders to enter Stormwind directly."
"The Master wanted me to confirm with you one last time: are you certain everything will proceed according to our plan?"
"Yes."
Wayne nodded firmly, though his internal thoughts were more complex. He had already deployed every resource he could mobilize to change one of the fundamental threads of history on this very day.
Corinne asked again, "The Master still hopes you will be there."
Wayne shook his head. "I understand his thinking, but that is impossible."
To this day, Wayne had not told them that the black dragon Onyxia they had fought together was actually Lady Katrana Prestor, who had long since returned to Stormwind Keep to continue her schemes. However, he had already told Mathias Shaw that if he appeared in Stormwind now, Katrana's eyes and ears would immediately notify her. That cunning Duchess would instantly go into hiding, and everything they planned for today would fall apart.
He told Corinne to return quickly and tell Mathias to believe, no matter what, that success was only one step away.
Corinne exited the game and left the cafe immediately. Breaking his usual routine, Wayne sat at the bar counter today, personally greeting new customers.
The atmosphere in the net cafe was also unusual.
Aside from a dozen familiar faces like Arator, Chen, Old Marlin, Amy, and the Westbrook quartet, almost everyone else was a new player. Shadowbreaker, Andromath, McBride, Sandal, and Verdan—who had been coming every day and even staying overnight—were all absent.
Wayne claimed he was helping Raymond and Tess guide the new players in paying, logging on, and choosing games or movies. He was busy, which seemed reasonable enough.
In reality, however, Wayne's gaze drifted toward Chromie, who was sitting by the wall. Chromie, in turn, had not ceased her observation of Wayne over the past few days. But the optimistic smile she usually wore had vanished, replaced by a trace of doubt.
By noon, the doubt in Chromie's heart reached a tipping point. She stood up to leave.
Wayne called out to her. "Lady, why leave halfway through your session?"
Chromie narrowed her eyes into thin lines, regaining her usual smile. "Can I say I'm going out for lunch?"
Wayne shrugged. "Tsk, tsk. A figure like you shouldn't tell lies."
Chromie only replied with a nod, but her feet didn't stop as she walked outside. Wayne followed her and called out again, "How about we talk?"
Chromie hesitated briefly, raised her eyebrows, and then walked toward the nearby orchard. There wasn't a single customer in the orchard today.
"Long story short, what exactly have you done?" Chromie asked point-blank.
Wayne looked bewildered. "What do you mean 'what have I done'? I eat, sleep, and play games in my cafe every day. What else could I do?"
Holding a staff longer than herself in her left hand, Chromie reached out with her petite right hand and made a phantom swipe in front of her. A golden line, visible only to the two of them, appeared out of thin air.
Most parts of this line were steady, with energy-wave-like attachments flowing slowly from left to right.
"Every person in this world has their own timeline," Chromie explained. "The span from the start of this line to its end is called the time stream. When the time streams of every individual converge, they form the time stream of the entire world."
"Under normal circumstances, no one—not even an Ancient Dragon—can exist independently of time and environment. It's just that people with greater influence have a greater ability to change the world, and thus their time streams are more capable of altering the direction of the world's time stream."
"You can think of it as a thick rope twisted together from countless thin threads."
"Therefore, for ordinary people who cannot influence the world, even if they do something to change their own timeline, they are pushed back to their predetermined positions by the sheer force of the world's temporal torrent because their power is too small."
"It's like what most people experience: despite their desire for peace and their hatred for displacement, they are powerless to stop the invasions of orcs, the Scourge, or even demons."
"All of this is the predetermined fate of this world."
"That is why you see this line swaying slightly but never changing direction."
"But for those with massive influence—such as Thrall, Warchief of the Horde, or Varian, High King of the Alliance—figures who can affect the fate of countless people with a single thought... if they are influenced by something that shouldn't happen and do something that completely deviates from the original timeline, they could truly pull the entire world's timeline in a new direction."
As she spoke, Chromie pointed to a segment of the timeline that was vibrating up and down. "This is the timeline of this world in recent days. Today, you can clearly see that the amplitude of this segment isn't very large. But this segment—the timeline we are about to enter—is vibrating violently!"
"Of course, I cannot show you the actual time stream; this golden line is just a visual demonstration that mortals can understand. But I discovered earlier that the origin point causing this recent violent vibration is you."
"I can also tell you that I have reviewed your entire past. Your personal time stream before January 24th of this year was so insignificant it was more trivial than many ordinary people. But after that day, it suddenly began to shine with intense brilliance."
"Ancient Dragons do not easily interfere in the world's affairs. But on that day—the day you took an axe and brought Onyxia to the brink of death—your time stream shone so brightly it eclipsed everyone else on this earth."
"That is why I appeared at that time."
Wayne had a moment of realization. Half of it was faked, because he knew his actions had indeed altered the "original plot" of the world, but the other half was real, as he now understood how these Bronze Dragons fulfilled their draconic duties.
He asked, "So, your appearance these past few days is because you saw something else, and it's related to me?"
Chromie nodded. "I think we can be more direct. After all, even Bronze Dragons have times when they are in a hurry."