These past few days, aside from basic biological needs and cooking three meals a day for Wayne and the rest of the staff, Chen Stormstout did only two things: practice, and more practice.
The difference was in the methods. One was in Street Fighter V, practicing combat techniques and "Qi" circulation methods with Guile. The other was his morning and evening training sessions by Mirror Lake, outside the net cafe. For a Monk, meditation is a daily requirement that he never abandoned even during his days of wandering.
After a period of time, he found that not only had he mastered all of Guile's physical strikes, but he could even freely use the "Sonic Boom"—gathering Qi at his wrists and swinging them forward to launch concentric circles of energy.
It is important to note that this wasn't happening within an illusion created by Wayne, where one only needs a mental thought to summon game abilities; this was the real world.
This undoubtedly allowed Chen to find a new path of cultivation.
To this end, he even pulled Li Li along to train with him. He had her try to comprehend Chun-Li's Qi circulation methods in the game, attempting to strike with "Kikoken" and "Kikosho" out of thin air.
However, Li Li clearly hadn't reached that level of mastery yet. After trying time and again, she always ended up reverting to the old Monk path of "Chi Burst."
While those two focused on personal strength, Marlin had recently taken to playing games with a pen and paper. After researching and recording the magic from Harry Potter and Heroes of Might and Magic III, he joined the College of Winterhold in The Elder Scrolls V. While doing quests, he recorded the incantations, essentials, and even the casting times for every new spell, noting the different effects produced by varying lengths of chanting.
He claimed he wanted to compile a "Complete Encyclopedia of Game Magic," decipher the formats of the incantations, and then use them to evolve magic in the real world—creating more powerful spells just as his daughter Amy had invented "Arcane Blast."
Of course, besides the "Power Gamers," there were also the "Plot Gamers." These people both used games to improve themselves and immersed themselves in the storylines.
Arator and Shadowbreaker belonged to this category. They pushed the main plot of Skyrim alongside Wayne, attempting to find connections between the game and reality—especially connections to recent events.
Then there was another group: the "Versus Gamers." Before leaving, McBride had instructed Rainier and the Westbrook quartet to study the units and buildings in Age of Empires II as much as possible. They were to accumulate achievement points and use the "Workshop" to reskin the corresponding units into Horde specifications.
Although he wasn't their direct superior, they didn't dare ignore the Marshal's words. Moreover, they were military officers; while individual combat was important, tactical formation was where true skill was shown.
The four of them, along with Commander Rainier who appeared punctually at the cafe during the day, actually spent several days combining unique units from various civilizations. Based on what they had seen and heard, they created a basic "Horde" race.
The Viking "Berserker" corresponded to the Orc Grunt—an infantryman with an axe and shield, boasting decent offense and defense, perfect for mass charges and absorbing fire.
The Mayan "Hul'che Thrower" corresponded to the Troll Headhunter; they could throw two spears in a short time, very similar to the massive increase in attack speed when a Troll enters a Berserk state.
The Huns' "Tarkan," who excelled at destroying buildings, corresponded to the Wolf Rider. The Incan "Kamayuk," a powerful warrior with a polearm who could even topple cavalry, was labeled as a Tauren.
In short, except for the "Forsaken" units which they hadn't seen yet, any Horde unit they had encountered that moved on the ground was added to the roster.
Then came the map drawing. This was a built-in feature of the game and didn't require the Workshop. Consequently, even though none of them had personally visited those battlefields, they accurately recreated a custom "Arathi Basin" map based on military tactical charts.
But problems followed...
The group started a match, with Rainier playing the "Red Team" symbolizing the Horde, controlling the custom race they had designed. The others took turns facing this "Horde" with any civilization of their choice.
However, facing a "Horde" composed entirely of elite unique units from various races, no matter how they fought, they always ended in a crushing defeat.
A few matches were truly close. But by relying on a simulated "Witch Doctor"—a modified Monk with group healing capabilities—the Horde side always recaptured the Blacksmith in the center of the basin. Having seized the core strategic location, they drove the "Alliance" side back to the Farm.
For a time, "Flattening Arathi and capturing Rainier alive" became the daily goal of their research.
However, just as the net cafe was bustling and Wayne was using his accumulated income to add more seats, the officers in the cafe received orders on the same day: "Return to camp and post immediately; enter emergency combat readiness."
The same went for members of the House of Nobles like Shadowbreaker.
The only exception was SI:7, who dispatched four senior agents to join Corinne at the net cafe. Ostensibly they were playing games, but in reality, they were there to protect Arator—and, of course, Tess, whose true identity they didn't even know.
Wayne was curious. More than half of the cafe's regulars had left, replaced by wealthy adventurers. These newcomers mentioned that all passes were being strictly inspected, and anyone without legal documentation was temporarily barred from entering Elwynn Forest and Dun Morogh.
Chen wanted to go out and scout what was happening, but Wayne refused, citing that Chen's appearance was too conspicuous.
Ultimately, it was Dughan, patrolling by the cafe, who revealed a few things, though he didn't know much himself.
It turned out that the "Blood Elves" in the far north of the Eastern Kingdoms, who had been isolated for many years, were rumored to be sending an envoy to Orgrimmar to discuss joining the Horde.
If this happened, the Horde's influence on the Eastern Kingdoms continent would be greatly strengthened. If they chose to march south now—at a time when the King of Stormwind was on an expedition, leaving the forces depleted and the city governed by two Kings with unclear command—the only force capable of facing them would be the army of Ironforge.
Wayne naturally didn't take these matters seriously. The Blood Elves joining the Horde was inevitable; he was still waiting for the day when beautiful Blood Elf ladies would become customers of his cafe.
However, the next part was the rumor Dughan had heard.
"I heard someone say—you must not tell anyone..." Dughan whispered.
"The Horde detected a massive naval force from our side suddenly heading toward Theramore without warning. They believe this is a preemptive strike."
"Their Warchief has already issued orders to assemble those snarling, bloodthirsty beasts under his command, preparing to lay siege to Theramore and take down our... two Kings in one go."
"No wonder those elves who have been hiding in Quel'Thalas for years are making moves to join the Horde. If they succeed at Theramore, and then Undercity and Silvermoon City launch their armies together, we'll be in serious trouble!"
"Tell me, doesn't that make sense?"
Wayne looked at him with an expression of being stuck between laughter and tears. He thought to himself that it was no wonder this old fellow had worked most of his life only to remain a small-town constable. This level of judgment was simply absurd.
He replied, "After all that talk, do you want some stinky tofu? 20 silver a portion."
The moment Dughan heard the words "stinky tofu," the rich aroma immediately triggered salivation in his mouth. He nodded vigorously. "Add more of that brine. I've found that the smellier it is, the better it tastes."
"Hah that's what she said!"
Wayne thought to himself: If I were Jacky Cheung, I'd definitely tell you, 'Go eat shit'...