Orgrim trusted Zuluhed, believing that having hundreds of red dragon knights would be enough to firmly suppress Gul'dan and his Stormreaver clan, so he set off with the main force without worry.
After Orgrim's main force had departed, Gul'dan turned to Cho'gall and said, "Is everything ready?"
Cho'gall was a natural-born two-headed ogre, whose talent was unmatched by those of his kind who were transformed later by Stormwind's magic. Gul'dan was very confident in his ability to handle matters.
Cho'gall's two heads spoke in unison, "Ready! Gul'dan!"
Gul'dan grinned, finally free of Orgrim. He had spent the better part of a year pretending to be a warlock utterly loyal to the Horde, deceiving Orgrim's senses, making him believe that he coveted the Warchief's power, and then using the wrong methods to guard against him. In the end, Gul'dan successfully lulled Orgrim into complacency!
He really wanted to laugh out loud. Orgrim thought of himself as the wise man among the dark-skinned orcs, but in the end, wasn't he still deceived by him? Gul'dan almost thought that Orgrim would insist on him setting off with the rest of the Horde's forces, but the elves' resistance gave him the perfect excuse to stay behind.
"Assemble the troops!" Gul'dan was in high spirits, already impatient to begin the journey to the Tomb of Sargeras! "We'll go to the Wetlands to get the ships! We'll set off while Zul'dare is preoccupied with the humans and high elves!"
"If he finds out we're gone, what if he sends his dragons to chase us?" Cho'gall knew he was strong, proficient in both melee combat and ranged spell attacks, but he was still somewhat wary of those flying behemoths.
"Heh, you overestimate Zul'dare. He's just a timid old dog. Back then, he didn't give up the path of the shaman, which appeared to outsiders as him being a respectable hero who upheld tradition."
Gul'dan smiled contemptuously, "Until I discovered that he was stealing warlock knowledge, I knew that he was afraid of the harm that fel energy would do to his body. Cautious and hesitant, he can't accomplish great things. He's nothing but a skeleton in a grave!"
The Horde Warchief's adjutant, chieftain of the Dragonmaw clan, one of the top figures among the orcs, was just a skeleton in a grave in Gul'dan's eyes, which left Cho'gall ashamed.
"I'd bet that he'll only send a messenger to catch up with Orgrim, and then wait for new orders before taking the next step!" Gul'dan said confidently, "By the time his messenger makes a round trip, we'll have already escaped their tracking range, and Orgrim's main target is still the human capital, so he won't be able to bother with me. At most, he'll just send a clan to hunt me down!"
At this moment, Gul'dan was thrilled. Being able to deceive Orgrim while also plotting against this wise man filled Gul'dan with a sense of accomplishment.
"I'll personally supervise the soldiers' assembly." As an ogre personally cultivated by Gul'dan since childhood, Cho'gall's two brains combined were exceptionally intelligent. Having no more doubts in his heart, he focused on doing his job well.
"Go then!" Gul'dan closed his eyes, enjoying this long-lost sense of satisfaction.
Three years ago, Durotan underestimated Gul'dan's depravity and was assassinated halfway by traitors and Shadow Council assassins. This time, Orgrim also misjudged Gul'dan's loyalty to the Horde, and Orgrim would soon pay a great price for his mistake.
"Galen!"
Sylvanas and Alleria Windrunner came together to find Galen, who was training.
"How is it? Any news from the orcs?"
Galen wiped the fine beads of sweat from his forehead. The weather in June was already starting to get hot. Ever since Gul'dan destroyed the high elves' great barrier, the natural phenomenon of the changing seasons had begun to appear in the lands of Quel'Thalas, no longer like before, where it was spring all year round with a pleasant climate.
"Just as you predicted, this morning a large force of orcs quietly entered the mountains and disappeared!"
As soon as Sylvanas received the scouts' report, she hurried over with her sister, admiring Galen's ability to predict things like a god even more.
"Is there any progress on the matter of finding the runestone fragments?" Galen wasn't surprised that Orgrim was secretly maneuvering, as he had expected. Moreover, once Orgrim left, Gul'dan probably wouldn't stay for long either. He had already planned to raid the territory of the Vilebranch tribe as soon as these two heavyweights of the Horde left!
Lothar was responsible for resisting the main force of the Horde. He had already made plans for this war, winning as many battles as possible but never being the first to step forward, annexing land, recruiting refugees to strengthen Stromgarde, and following behind a big shot like Lothar to take advantage. Lothar would handle the problems, and he would get a share of the benefits.
He had been coveting the Storm Altar for a long time. There weren't many treasures that could enhance individual strength, and even if he used his excess spirits to enhance the strength of his subordinates, it wouldn't be enough. What if this Storm Altar also worked on Omar and the others?
"In the central area of Zeb'Tela, we discovered a building array composed of runestone fragments. We paid for it with an entire squad of scouts!"
Alleria's tone was somewhat reproachful, because Sylvanas had actually carried out one of Galen's requests, and she felt that the sacrifice of a dozen excellent rangers wasn't worth it.
"I assure you, Alleria, their sacrifice will not be in vain. I will demonstrate the effect of this Storm Altar after we obtain it." Galen assured them, feeling even more grateful to Sylvanas.
"Storm Altar?"
"That's right. The array that Gul'dan built with your runestone fragments is called the Storm Altar." Galen briefly described it, then stopped explaining.
"Tonight, we raid the Vilebranch territory. Call up Kurdran; I need their griffons to help us restrain those dragons!"
"Shouldn't we communicate with the Sunstrider Isle?" Sylvanas felt that this was a major operation and that the troops on the other front lines needed to be notified.
"I will ask Kael'thas to send troops; I need him to help me restrain the trolls of Zul'Aman!" Galen wasn't stupid. The strength of the Vilebranch tribe was second only to the Amani tribe of Zul'Aman and the Revantusk tribe of Jintha'Alor. Raiding them had a high chance of success, but with Zul'jin involved, there wouldn't be enough troops!
Seeing that Galen had finalized the plan, Sylvanas and Alleria said nothing more. As the supreme commander of the high elf army, Kael'thas's agreement meant that there would be no other problems with the Farstriders sending troops.
After the Windrunner sisters left, Galen urgently contacted Lothar and told him the news that the main force of the orcs had left Quel'Thalas.
With this information, Turalyon could analyze that Orgrim's next target was likely Lordaeron City. With Lothar's wisdom and rich combat experience, he had already reached the correct conclusion.
Lothar issued new orders to Galen, hoping that Galen and Turalyon could pursue Orgrim's main force and quickly reinforce Lordaeron!
With the order from the big boss, it was as if they had free rein in the lands of Lordaeron. Galen said that there was no problem!