I have one more World of Warcraft Necromancer than you

Chapter 258 The Mysterious Town

Lorraine did not enter the barn; he could hear the people inside whispering and plotting loudly.

"A young woman and an injured knight... could it be Mr. Marcus?"

Lorraine realized who the bandits were holding captive. Perhaps someone they knew. Taking hostages and selling them into slavery was common in the human kingdoms; Lorraine had a sixth sense... Mr. Marcus had been carrying a wounded, mysterious figure as he fled by the lake, but Lorraine hadn't seen the person clearly...

Mr. Marcus, covered in blood and covered in wounds, took the initiative to talk to him, and only then did he barely recognize him as his former benefactor.

"Surely a tough guy like him wouldn't be captured by bandits?"

Lorraine muttered to herself...

"Did Marcus fall for a woman?"

......

Lorraine gripped her wand, trying to gauge how many people were in the barn. She needed to investigate the cellar; if Marcus was indeed in trouble, this was a good opportunity to repay a favor.

There were almost no sentries outside the barn, and the situation inside was unknown.

The Duke's voice was hoarse, as if he were speaking while pinching his neck, or perhaps his vocal cords were injured...

"Two hostages offering themselves up is a rare occurrence. But these are extraordinary times, and we need to relocate. We don't have time to waste on them... Get rid of the burdens immediately, take everything you can, and assemble outside Stromgarde. The Blackwater Fleet promised to wait three days, and they'll be back in Booty Bay after that. By then, it'll be too late to leave!"

He has a huge scar on his neck, encircling his entire neck, which looks like his head was almost chopped off... It's amazing that he's not only alive and well but can also speak.

His subordinate inadvertently noticed the scar beneath the Duke's collar, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.

Rumor has it that a powerful human sorceress has joined the organization; her evil magic is even capable of bringing the dead back to life... The Grand Duke plans to move his bandits to the Arathi Highlands, while his elite troops will sail to rendezvous with their allies...

The Grand Duke located the Blackwater pirates in Treasure Bay and rented three large ships from them to transport his men to a nearby island...

The Blackwater Pirates' Blackwater Fleet dispatched two large ships, the 'Soul of the Silverpine' and the 'Virgin,' which are hidden in a bay near Stromgarde, ready to pick up the people at any time. Another ship, the 'Black Pearl,' went to nearby Redemption Isle...

The Syndicate members had heard of the ghost-infested island, but they couldn't understand what the Grand Duke intended to do on that terrifying island, or what ritual the human sorceress was planning to perform, requiring them to capture sacrificial offerings...

The men and women in the cellar might as well be used as sacrificial offerings.

Oridon considered doing it this way, then turned and whispered something to the Duke...

......

Lorraine vaguely heard the name Atonement Isle...

Then there was a moment of silence in the barn, and then no more noise.

Lorraine had wanted to hear more information, but suddenly the barn went silent. Anxious, he rushed in, ready to kill or capture someone for questioning.

Lorraine was dumbfounded when he turned into the barn. There were dilapidated wooden crates everywhere and several bundles of hay scattered on one side. It didn't look like anyone had ever lived there... There wasn't even a single animal, let alone a person.

Looking up, sunlight streamed in, revealing cracks in the roof, clearly indicating years of neglect...

This is an abandoned barn!

After examining it carefully, searching through every corner, Lorraine scratched his head in frustration. "Strange, did I just hallucinate?"

"ghost?"

"That's impossible! I clearly heard two people talking... and they were talking so loudly. Where did they go..."

......

Lorraine, prepared for battle, found nothing. He searched the barn without finding any trace of the enemy. The teacher reasoned that if the people from before weren't ghosts, and could vanish instantly—which couldn't be teleportation magic—then there was only one possibility: there was a secret passage inside...

After searching for more than ten minutes, the master and apprentice found nothing.

Just now, the master and apprentice not only heard the detailed conversation inside, but the master also sensed two living people.

Now that they've disappeared, it's highly likely they escaped through a secret passage.

I can't find the entrance!

To protect themselves, the bandits must have dug secret tunnels...

Not knowing the entrance to the secret passage, there was nothing that could be done... Lorraine could only reluctantly emerge from the barn and continue her investigation with a puzzled look!

"Have they discovered us?"

"I've discovered you might... I've discovered I can't..."

The teacher teased.

The apprentice nodded. Currently, only Lady Aegwynn and Master Merlin could detect the teacher's presence... It seemed that no one else had noticed the teacher's existence... Aegwynn and Master Merlin were magicians from thousands of years ago... Having survived to this day, they were no longer ordinary mortals; they were legendary demigods... Naturally, they were extraordinary.

Are there such talented people among this group of bandits?

Lorraine didn't believe it. If the Syndicate truly possessed such capabilities, they wouldn't have lost their country and become bandits. If they had that kind of strength, they would have already stormed Stormwind or Dalaran... instead of hiding at the foot of the mountains, making a living by plundering...

They're actually pretty good tools...

Just now, Lorraine heard the names of Atonement Island, the mysterious female sorceress, and the Blackwater bandits...

There must be other secrets hidden here.

During the discussion, Lorraine searched several more seemingly intact houses. They were fully furnished and contained all the necessary items, clearly indicating that someone lived there. Strangely, she didn't encounter anyone in any of the rooms...

However, the sentry near the house used the Mirror of Truth to spot several stealthy sentries.

Do these sentries never go home during the day?

They work during the day and only go home to sleep at night, robbing people in black clothes during the day...and only returning to these houses at night...Lorraine suddenly had this idea. He felt it made sense, yet it didn't.

In short, there was an eerie atmosphere throughout the entire Dren Manor.

In broad daylight, it was eerily quiet, almost no one was working... Apart from the sentries patrolling the outskirts of town, there was no one alive on the farm! The cows, however, grazed freely on the hillside...

I wonder if it escaped from the cowshed...

"Arrest two of them and interrogate them!"

"Correct!"

Lorraine didn't want to waste time, especially if the man and woman in the cellar were indeed Marcus, whom he knew. If the duke's "dispose of them" meant kill them, then he had to find them quickly...

"Where is the cellar? Where is the cellar?!"

Lorraine fiercely questioned the dying Syndicate Sentinel in the common language of humans, but after seeing his appearance, the Sentinel cried out in terror, "Undead, undead!" Then he danced wildly, falling into endless fear until he died completely.

Lorraine caught several low-health enemies before discovering the clue.

These sentries wandering around seemed to be out of their minds, or rather, they lacked normal human thinking and acted solely on instinct.

Through the Mirror of Truth, he observed that many bandits were indeed lurking there, but they all wandered aimlessly along fixed routes. Despite their mortal bodies, they were like ghosts...

The results of interrogating several people in succession were the same.

"I get it, they're the living dead! They appear to be alive, but their souls have actually been extracted..."

The teacher, as if speaking after the fact, pointed out the key point.

Lorraine suddenly realized that he had also noticed.

These guys are mentally unstable; unlike the Forgotten, they are flesh and blood but without gods.

The Forgotten Ones possess a soul and consciousness, yet have lost their original physical vitality, their lives teetering on the brink of decay... barely sustaining their frail bodies in another form of energy... seemingly immortal, but in reality, they are in a twisted state of neither life nor death, suffering immense torment...

Only those with strong willpower can be considered truly forgotten; they maintain their actions through reason and conviction...

The Syndicate assassins at Dren Manor are the opposite; they are all skin and bones, their souls seemingly ripped out.

All that's left is an empty shell...

This seems to be some kind of evil magic...

Those who are proficient in such arts can only have one profession.

That's another natural nemesis of mages: warlocks! A special type of mage who manipulates souls and is proficient in demonic power...

To distinguish themselves from ordinary mortals, experts with knowledge of demons and mastery of soul power call themselves warlocks...

The first powerful demon warlock skilled in fel magic to appear on Azeroth was Gul'dan, Ner'zhul's apprentice and leader of the Shadow Council of the Shadowmoon Clan!

......