"The Tomb of Sargeras! I'm coming! Soon, I will claim its power!"
Gul'dan laughed maniacally. His connection with Medivh had given him a glimpse of the tomb, where the physical body of the dark titan Sargeras's avatar was sealed.
Long ago, the human Guardian Aegwynn had slain Sargeras's avatar. Fearing the immense energy within the corpse, she took it to the ruins of Suramar in the Broken Isles.
Aegwynn modified a portion of the abandoned city, renaming it the Tomb of Sargeras, and sank it beneath the waves.
"Humans fear this power, but it is a gift to me. With it, I will make Kil'jaeden pay for his arrogance! I will become their master!"
Gul'dan still resented the demons controlling his destiny. He was, after all, an ambitious individual.
However, Gul'dan failed to realize that power comes at a cost. Demons could easily enter Azeroth, so why hadn't they claimed this power for themselves?
Everything was proceeding according to the demons' plan.
Kil'jaeden intended to use the Orcs to drain Azeroth's life force. The Horde had nearly conquered the Eastern Kingdoms, and Gul'dan's betrayal, which led to their defeat, was also a betrayal of Kil'jaeden.
The Deceiver would not let Gul'dan go unpunished. Kil'jaeden would likely strike when Gul'dan believed power was within his grasp.
"Gul'dan! We're being followed!"
Gul'dan's ogre subordinates detected another fleet.
Through the rising steam, Gul'dan saw a large fleet, several times larger than his own dozen ships—nearly a hundred warships.
They were using sails. Gul'dan didn't recognize the red sails, but he knew that Orcish ships relied on oars, while humans used sails.
Not Orgrim's pursuers, but the human navy? Is that the entire human fleet?
"Damn it! This leaves me no time to explore the island!" Gul'dan said irritably. He was obsessed with obtaining the power and had no interest in anything else.
"Leave them to me, Gul'dan. I'll hold them off," Cho'gall sneered.
Cho'gall seemed to have his own agenda, which Gul'dan noticed. But he wasn't concerned. With enough power, he wouldn't fear betrayal.
"Very well. I'll leave this to you. Let's go!" Gul'dan nodded, leading the warlocks of the Twilight's Hammer clan to the island, leaving the Twilight's Hammer Orcs behind.
On the flagship Black Pearl of the Bloodsail Fleet, Naga Sea Witch Zasj, under Galen's command, observed the island through engineering binoculars. She considered the island more dangerous than the Orcs.
Zasj, now the leader of the Bloodsail Buccaneers, had severed ties with the Spinebreaker naga and commanded the pirate fleet.
Another Naga Sea Witch led the naga in conquering other clans to bolster Galen's forces. The naga clans near Hillsbrad Foothills, Arathi Highlands, Dustwallow Marsh, and the Swamp of Sorrows had been subjugated, and Sashja had integrated many into the Spinebreaker clan.
"Those Orcs are cunning, hiding all this time. If the master hadn't told us they were heading for the Broken Isles, we might have lost them!"
Zasj said in broken Common, lowering her binoculars.
"Captain, is it possible they simply don't know where they're going?" Ana Bloodfang, a troll who had joined the Bloodsail Buccaneers on the Stranglethorn Vale coastline, suggested.
"Silence, Ana. Are you questioning my tracking skills?" Eliza, a human pirate captain who had surrendered when the Bloodsail Fleet annexed a small group of pirates, retorted.
These two were the best among the pirates and had been promoted by Galen to become Zola's deputies.
"Enough. The Orcs have spotted us. Prepare to attack."
"Heh heh heh! My twin blades are eager for a fight!" Zasj's eyes gleamed with bloodlust.
"Captain, can I eat them after the battle?" Ana asked. She had joined the notorious pirates because she refused to abandon cannibalism. But she found this pirate fleet rather... unusual.
This force, the Bloodsail Buccaneers, doesn't even engage in piracy. At best, it's a maritime adventure group!
The pirates had even corrected her cannibalistic habits, something the Darkspear tribe had failed to do!
"No, eating humanoids will earn you a whipping from the master. Besides, those Orcs and Ogres smell worse than an unwashed troll. Stick to fish! Ha!" Zasj laughed, her serpentine hair writhing.
"Men! Target the Orcish ships! Destroy them!"
"Fire!"
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
A barrage of cannon fire shattered the first row of Orcish ships. Cho'gall, who had confidently planned to cover their retreat, immediately changed his expression and fled with the remaining ogres.
"Hmph! Not a single one can fight!"
Daelin Proudmoore had taken the Kul Tiran fleet to fight the Orcs. After the fall of Stormwind City, their naval forces had retreated north. The goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel had only recently established themselves in Stranglethorn Vale, and their naval power was still developing. The Bloodsail Buccaneers were unchallenged in the South Seas.
"Notify the vanguard, prepare to land immediately!" Zola ordered, then sensed a disturbance in the air.
A flash of white light appeared, and Galen, wearing a captain's hat, long boots, and wielding a rapier and short gun, materialized on the Black Pearl.
He looked at the dark clouds and the ominous light, accompanied by lightning and thunder, and exclaimed, "Goodness gracious, is someone summoning Shenron nearby?"