The arrival of the Scourge was so sudden that even when Dar'khan fled with Brox, Aiden had a premonition that this day would come. But he never imagined that the history of this world would be so unrecognizable under his influence.
The plague did not break out in the Plaguelands and Stratholme. Naxxramas arrived on the continent of Lordaeron ahead of schedule, while Gilneas, which had originally closed its borders, suffered in its place.
He was in a state of utter confusion. All of this was almost entirely a butterfly effect caused by his actions. Thinking carefully, he had to admire the Scourge's planners. Gilneas was definitely a breeding ground for the Scourge: a large population, isolated, with natural barriers. The entire Azeroth couldn't find a better place!
Aiden sensed the teleport beacon of Los Angeles, teleported back to his room with Kayle, and asked Kayle to inform all the heroes to come to a meeting.
All the heroes under his command, except for Lux, who was in Dalaran, and those who crossed the sea with Plank, had arrived.
"War has come," Aiden began in a heavy tone. "The plague has broken out, and our troops must reach the battlefield as soon as possible!"
The atmosphere in the conference room was a bit heavy. Seven heroes, plus Jaina, all surrounded the table with serious expressions.
Jaina was the first to ask, "Where is it?"
"Gilneas."
Hearing this answer, Jaina felt that she should be worried, but deep down, she felt a little fortunate: the plague had not broken out in Lordaeron, nor in Dalaran or Kul Tiras. This should be the most acceptable outcome for her.
Aiden asked, "Does anyone have anything to say?"
Quinn was the first to speak: "We lack heroes who specialize in leading troops in battle. Now our total number of troops exceeds ten thousand. This large-scale battle requires professional commanders. Generals or marshals!"
"Then everyone can make a recommendation, and I will summon them later." Aiden had also thought of this. He planned to summon Garen, the Might of Demacia, and all his Dauntless Vanguard, as well as Darius, the Hand of Noxus, and his troops.
"I recommend Garen. He has extensive combat experience!" As a Demacian soldier, Quinn naturally recommended this famous Demacian general.
Aiden nodded.
Singed immediately recommended Darius, the Hand of Noxus, who had a close relationship with him:
"I think that against an army like the Scourge, the Noxian troops would be more suited to such opponents. So I recommend Darius!"
These two candidates were about what Aiden expected, so he wasn't surprised.
Heimerdinger, the Great Inventor, raised his head, "War isn't just about having a general to command the troops. We also need strategists to formulate military plans. I recommend Swain, the Master Tactician. That guy's schemes are well-known in Valoran!"
The other heroes also deeply agreed. Aiden's eyes lit up. He had forgotten that Swain was a "peerless strategist," whose strategies were definitely superior to those of generals like Garen and Darius who charged into battle.
"Garen, Darius, Swain, Alright, these three candidates are confirmed. Does anyone have anything else to add?" Aiden was full of confidence. He definitely had enough energy to summon these three heroes and their troops. Even though his previous actions to summon Plank, Alistar, Fizz, and Hecarim had almost completely exhausted his energy, the outbreak of the Scourge, this act of completely changing history, had brought him a lot of energy.
Now that the war had broken out, it was a good time to transform the energy into the combat power of the Valoran Allied Forces!
The others added some minor details.
After hearing that Gilneas had built a magnificent fortress, Jinx nervously suggested, "Commander, my Hextech bombs are specifically designed to counter such fortifications. Just dig a hole under the wall, then stuff in enough explosives—BOOM! That section of the wall will definitely be blown to the sky!" His short hands gestured an explosion, and with that furry face, he looked incredibly comical.
But this suggestion was indeed feasible—when the Alliance army needed to enter Gilneas, this would definitely be a good method!
After the general direction was set, Aiden looked at the Great Inventor and asked, "Heimerdinger, how is the improvement of the arcane communicator going? Now is the time we need it!"
Heimerdinger propped up his head and replied, "There's still a little bit of a gap from what you asked for, Commander, but it can indeed be put into use. The current problem is that each resonance crystal tower needs more than three communicators to be responsible for switching. If this process cannot be intelligently automated, training professional personnel will become a big problem!"
Intelligent automation—this is the specialty of gnomish technology. The gnomes were still fighting the Stone Goliaths on the front lines of the Barrens, and he had no chance to contact them.
Aiden asked, "I remember Blitzcrank is an intelligent robot, isn't he? His creator is Viktor, the Machine Herald. Could he bring some help to mechanical intelligence? Also, the scientist Ziggs, his protective robots also seem a bit useful."
Heimerdinger said, "Their Zaun technology and our Hextech technology have some differences. Whether or not it can produce results will only be known after cooperation."
Aiden nodded to show his understanding. He planned to summon Viktor anyway, as he had energy points to spare.
He turned to the Gem Knight and asked, "Taric, how is your field hospital construction going?"
Taric calmly replied, "Thanks to your support, it now has basic functions and can be put into use at any time."
As the name suggests, the field hospital is a battlefield rescue institution. Aiden hoped that Taric could use his healing abilities to establish a medic organization to rescue the wounded on the battlefield in a timely manner.
Then he looked at the Alchemist: "Singed, how is 'that' project going?"
Singed spread his hands and said, "Not so fast, Commander. This requires me to cooperate with people like Karthus who have studied that aspect. Now that he's not here, my research has basically stagnated."
The 'that' project in Aiden's mouth was an idea of his. Historically, the Royal Apothecary Society of the Forsaken had created a plague that could simultaneously affect the living and the undead. After the research was successful, some traitors in the Undercity released these plagues on the Alliance and Horde expeditionary forces and Arthas's Scourge legions fighting in front of the Wrathgate.
This plague almost killed all the mobile targets present. The elite troops of the Alliance and Horde were wiped out, and even the undead summoned by Arthas fell to the ground. Even Arthas was seriously injured by this plague. Bolvar Fordragon relied on his powerful strength to hold on for a while longer. The red dragon who arrived later sprayed flames to clear the plague from his body and also baked him medium-rare. In the end, he was enslaved by Arthas.
Aiden was inspired by this scene: Since they could research this plague, could they research a plague that only affected the Scourge?
—He wasn't crazy enough to replicate the plague created by those guys from the Royal Apothecary Society that poisoned both the living and the dead. So his instructions to Singed were to independently research poisons that could only kill Scourge undead.
Speaking of plagues, Aiden couldn't help but wonder: Rhonin, Vereesa, and Krasus have been gone for so long. Now that Naxxramas has flown to Lordaeron, they should be back too. Did something happen?
The group of people he was talking about had indeed run into trouble—
The death knight Broxigar, riding an ice dragon, colluding with Sapphiron, who had just been transformed into an undead dragon, completely achieved his goal of intercepting the actions of Rhonin and others.
In that fierce battle, Rhonin's spell knocked Sapphiron into the sea, but before that, Sapphiron's claw, before being attacked by the spell, scratched the left wing of the red dragon Korialstrasz, preventing him from flying steadily.
Broxigar seized this opportunity and critically injured Korialstrasz's ribs with an axe. Although Saurfang's counterattack also left a wound on his brother's shoulder, it would recover in a short time for a death knight.
Broxigar, riding the ice dragon Sindragosa, laughed loudly at his brother Saurfang: "How is it, my brother! I am stronger than you. You are not my opponent!"
Saurfang responded angrily: "Broxigar, you won't be proud for long!"
Saurfang and Rhonin clung tightly to Korialstrasz's dragon scales. Blood spurted out from the red dragon's ribs, making it almost impossible to maintain flight. He roared in pain, took a deep breath, and spewed out a mouthful of dragon breath.
Broxigar ordered his ice dragon to avoid it, but this angry dragon breath still caused some damage to Sindragosa and Broxigar.
Even more dangerous, Rhonin took advantage of the dragon breath to block Broxigar's line of sight and cast another spell. A surge of arcane energy passed through the fire curtain and struck Broxigar, blasting a large hole in his chest. Black blood splattered everywhere with rotten flesh.
Broxigar let out a furious roar. He looked angrily at the red dragon swaying in the air and shouted loudly, "You can't kill me! Go feed the fish in the sea!"
The orc death knight let out a victorious roar. He ordered Sindragosa to fly back. That mage was still a threat, but the red dragon had already been severely injured. In this vast sea, only death awaited them!
The figures of Broxigar and Sindragosa gradually disappeared into the sky. Korialstrasz could no longer hold on. He was somewhat frantic from the torment of pain. After the final threat disappeared, he carried Rhonin and Broxigar and plunged headlong into the sea.
"Krasus, quickly transform into human form! Krasus, did you hear me? Transform into human form! Hurry!" Rhonin shouted anxiously.
Broxigar was right. On this sea, he and Saurfang couldn't save a full-grown dragon weighing more than ten tons. If they couldn't find land or passing ships, they wouldn't even be able to protect themselves.
In the moment before falling into the sea, Korialstrasz finally transformed into human form before passing out.
Rhonin took out a magic flying carpet, carrying Saurfang and the seriously injured and unconscious Krasus. Looking at the boundless sea around him, his heart rose with helplessness and despair: Where was their way out?