It had been many years since Galen had established a new base after the Battle for the Frozen Throne.
First, he placed a Town Hall near the western mountains, then deployed two Barracks and two Arcane Sanctums around it, along with two Gryphon Aviaries. A Shipyard was built on the coast, and finally, a ring of Watch Towers was erected to facilitate the later construction of walls using gathered boulders. Thus, a small base was completed.
Watching the peasants working diligently, Galen felt a rare sense of satisfaction.
Next, he planned to excavate the artifact at the foot of the mountain. He directly teleported a team of five thousand peasants to serve as the main excavation force. However, before setting off, Galen also transferred one thousand Vrykul from the Dragonflayer clan from Howling Fjord to serve as security for the excavation team.
He remembered that this area near the foothills was not safe, and the sands concealed many dangers.
As Galen had anticipated, the excavation team unearthed a giant statue from the sand after only half a day of work.
These statues were over ten meters tall, adorned with jeweled crowns, jeweled capes, golden bracers, and golden boots, and wore white robes over bronze-colored skin.
Considering the gaudy style of these Titan constructs, Galen speculated that they were likely lesser Titan constructs, used to guard the Sun Obelisk, Moon Obelisk, and Star Obelisk.
However, they might have been blasted to the foot of the mountain by the power of the Engine of Origin during the Thunder King's invasion, then buried by the sand, and subsequently corrupted by the power of C'Thun from across the mountains, causing their minds to become chaotic.
Therefore, after being unearthed, they became extremely violent, attempting to attack Galen's excavation team.
Fortunately, the Dragonflayer Vrykul were there, and they swarmed forward to subdue the lesser guardians, disabling their ability to move.
Repeating this process, after a week of excavation, the stronghold was filled with dozens of gaudy lesser guardians, each missing arms and legs, waiting to be sent back to Ulduar for recycling.
Three more days passed, and the excavation team finally unearthed some clues: a stone door resembling an underground tomb. Just as Galen was about to act as a grave robber, a massive change occurred in the east!
It was the movement of the Titan guardians opening the Vault of Archavon in the Cradle of the Ancients. It seemed the Platinum Discs were in hand!
Galen pondered for a moment and handed over the task of excavating the artifact to the Vrykul. He needed to rendezvous with Algalon and the others.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
The Halls of Origination, or the Temple of Origination, is primarily a giant pyramid located in the southeast of Uldum. In addition to the main pyramid, it also includes a huge plaza that extends to the eastern coast.
This building, which looks like a pharaoh's tomb, is not as simple as it appears on the surface.
It is one of the few places on Azeroth that contains a massive amount of Titan energy.
Even more noteworthy is its purpose: to re-originate the world.
As long as the correct command is given, the world would be blasted back to the primordial era, and all life on the surface, including humans, elves, trolls, wild demigods, dragonflights, Titan constructs, and Old Gods, would be wiped out.
Its power is comparable to several asteroids colliding with Earth.
However, using the Engine of Origin to destroy the world is not that simple.
First of all, this is only the storage location of the "bomb"; its remote control is located in Ulduar.
However, the guardians of Ulduar do not have the authority to control this remote control and must send a signal to invite the Titan-established observer, Algalon, who was painfully defeated by Galen in Ulduar.
Now that he has regained control of the Halls of Origination, Galen has essentially gathered all the procedures to re-originate Azeroth.
Tsk tsk, I can blow up my old home, which is a pleasant surprise…
This Titan ruin is not unguarded like the Gate of Eternal Return; at least a legion of Tol'vir warriors is stationed here.
With the arrival of Algalon, the local Tol'vir garrison opened the passage, and Galen followed them up the golden steps.
At the top of the steps, four tall giant statues stood side by side, from left to right, with the appearance of a hawk-headed, ram-headed, dog-headed Anubisath, and on the far right, a guardian figure similar to Freya's female body.
"Algalon, Mimiron, do you recognize them?"
Galen knew that these four guardians were the strongest combat forces in the Halls of Origination and the last line of defense for the halls.
"No, we don't know who they are. In fact, Mimiron and I only participated in the manufacture of the Engine of Origin; its placement was supervised by Highkeeper Ra!"
According to the original plan, the Titan city of Ulduar in the north was the responsibility of Odyn, while the south was the responsibility of Ra. These two guardians were personally created by Aman'Thul, the Father of the Gods, and possessed the highest authority among all guardians.
Galen nodded in understanding. For this confidential work of placing a bomb in one's own home, the fewer people who know, the better.
Algalon and the others only knew that the plan to reshape Azeroth required summoning the observer but did not know the specific implementation process.
During the conversation, they arrived at the gate of the pyramid. Algalon raised the shimmering Platinum Disc in his hand, and after a flash of light, the golden streamer protecting the stone door disappeared.
The Earth King stepped forward, pushed his hands against the stone door, and the door opened.
After Algalon, Freya, Mimiron, Aragorn, and Galen entered, the Tol'vir guards who followed behind consciously guarded the stone door just now.
"Actually, with Tyr's authority, he should be able to enter here without the Platinum Disc."
Mimiron groped around on the wall: "With the energy reserves of the Engine of Origin, the Titan facilities here should not have had their energy supply interrupted. The only explanation is that the Thunder King's invasion, as the Highlord said, caused the Tol'vir to operate in violation of the regulations, resulting in the temporary shutdown of the Engine of Origin."
"Oh, found it!"
Relying on the light of the Ashbringer on his body, Galen saw Mimiron insert his finger into a port on the wall, and then his eyes turned blood red.
"Done!"
As the King of Creation's voice fell, he seemed to activate a certain device, causing the lighting devices on the walls to light up in turn, and the entire interior of the hall became brightly lit.
"Wow."
Galen exclaimed because he discovered that the lighting facilities were actually gemstone the size of human heads, and the surrounding walls were piled with golden sand, which almost blinded Galen.
Galen had plundered so many places, but even the homelands of the frost trolls and forest trolls were not as extravagant as the Halls of Origination!
"This place looks richer than Ulduar."
"… …"
The Earth King and the others remained silent, obviously not understanding the Highlord's emphasis on money.
At this moment, the ground trembled, and a team of Tol'vir rushed out from inside the temple. Their bodies were the colors of obsidian, sapphire, and emerald, and they wore golden eagle masks on their heads!
These were the original Tol'vir, unaffected by the Curse of Flesh due to the protection of the Halls of Origination!
"Halt!"
With a resounding Titan speech, this group of Tol'vir guards stopped their charge ten steps away from Galen and the others!
A Tol'vir wearing a ram-headed mask stepped out from the crowd. His appearance was very similar to the Obsidian Destroyer Moam, not only possessing a body taller than other Tol'vir, but also shimmering with the luster of obsidian, and sporting a pair of wings on his back!
A demigod-level Holy Light construct?
Galen sensed the powerful Holy Light energy within this Tol'vir general, a very pure Holy Light, filled with the power of order.
However, his strength should be weaker than his own, probably at the early stage of a demigod.
This tall Tol'vir general came before Galen and the others, his cat-like forelimbs respectfully kneeling down. Immediately afterwards, the Tol'vir soldiers behind him also followed their general in kneeling.
"Respected King of Earth, King of Life, King of Order, King of Creation, I am Anhur, guardian of the temple, welcome!"
Obviously, this Holy Light Tol'vir had advanced programming, capable of recognizing Titan creations with higher authority in addition to guarding the temple.
"Anhur, take us to see the keepers of this temple."
Archaedas had already guessed from the statues outside the pyramid and Galen's words that this temple possessed four keepers, and from the energy overflowing in the air, he could basically guess that they were guardians using the energies of life, destruction, light, and arcane.
However, it was certain that the authority of these four keepers could not compare to the nine guardians personally established by the Titans, at most they were Titan creations like the four stone guardians of the Vault of Archavon in Wintergrasp.
In Galen's understanding, the nine guardians personally imbued with energy by the Titans were the direct descendants, while the remaining guardians, including Alanna, Helya, and Archavon, were the illegitimate children.
"As you wish, guardians!"
Anhur stood up, and the Tol'vir warriors behind him parted a path. Galen and the others followed behind Anhur, passing through the group of Tol'vir warriors, directly towards the depths of the temple.
Soon, they arrived at a Titan-tech elevator. As the elevator ascended, the temple guardian Anhur introduced:
"Guardians, the hall we just passed was the Hall of Prophecy, guarded by me. This is the Creator's Stair, and we are heading to the Watchers' Throne on the upper level."
"I saw other areas on the floor just now."
Aragorn, who had been silent for a long time, rarely spoke.
"Respected Tyr."
Anhur looked down at Tyr.
Although he was a demigod-level Tol'vir guardian,he was only a construct with low intelligence, unable to understand why Tyr had become a flesh and blood being.
"The first floor also contains the Dome of Light, where the watcher Anraflat is responsible for maintaining the internal operation of the Halls of Origination. Once the facility is contaminated by foreign objects, Anraflat will gain access to the attack program, annihilating the invaders at all costs."
"However, a long, long time ago, a Mogu with guardian authority appeared here, demanding our surrender. We drove away that powerful opponent at the cost of destroying the land, but Anraflat also suffered backlash and was forcibly shut down."
Anhur's tone was full of regret. Apart from the few of them, none of the other warriors in the entire Halls of Origination were able to activate their companion.
"I will be responsible for repairing Anraflat after we have met the watchers!" Mimiron stated that this was his area of expertise.
"Thank you, King of Creation!"
The elevator began to ascend. Galen looked up, and the surrounding walls were covered with dense, transparent energy pillars, filled with mysterious blue Titan energy flowing through them like liquid, with many huge facilities arranged and operating.
"Click."
The elevator stopped steadily in the temple throne room. Four thrones of different shapes were distributed in the four directions of the elevator: the golden Throne of Light, the green Throne of Life, the purple Throne of Destruction, and the blue Throne of Magic.
Four huge giants sat upon the thrones. Their forms were exactly the same as the four statues that Galen and the others had seen outside the Halls of Origination.
They should be the keepers with the highest authority in the Halls of Origination: Lasha, the creation of the sun, Isis, the creation of magic, Amunai, the creation of life, and Setesh, the creation of destruction.
With the arrival of Galen and the others, the giants on the four thrones opened their eyes!
Galen felt that he was instantly locked on.
However, this feeling quickly disappeared.
"King of Order Tyr, King of Earth Archaedas, King of Life Freya, King of Creation Mimiron, Lasha welcomes you."
A deep voice echoed in the circular hall. The giant wearing a green goat mask stood up and stepped down from his throne. With his movement, the dryads and flowers in front of him immediately flashed to the sides, clearing a path for him.
"I didn't expect that you are still alive, Tyr!"
The giant with the eagle mask also came before them, but his gaze was fixed on Aragorn's human body.
"Just a little trick of transferring the soul core."
Aragorn said casually, but everyone knew the danger involved.
"Tens of thousands of years ago, we sensed the disappearance of Tyr's aura. We are pleased to see you again, brother."
The giant on the purple throne also walked over. This giant was a jackal with purple eyes, looking like a larger Anubisath, but the power of destruction on his body was much stronger than those Anubisath.
"It is a pity that Lei asked us to guard the Halls of Origination, we cannot leave. For ten thousand years, we have been worried about the situation in Ulduar."
The last female giant sitting on the blue throne also stood up, with a blue arcane storm surrounding her, a veritable magical demigod.
"Welcome, brothers."
The four watchers seemed to genuinely welcome Archaedas and the others: "Lei disappeared for too long, and Tyr's aura once dissipated. Later, a Titan creation with the power of a great guardian came to seize the Origin Forge, which made us eager to know the news from the outside world!"