"What are you worried about?"

Albert stopped abruptly and looked at the other person in the room. Dineen still bent over and wrote on the map, rummaging through the messy notes next to him, as if he hadn't said the same thing.

He didn't know how to answer for a while, and the other party didn't ask. It wasn't until he wrote the last stroke that Dineen looked up and continued the previous topic.

"Are you worried that Thrall will be recognized by the guards, or will he not be able to motivate the other orcs?"

“…… Both. ”

"Fool yourself." Dinen snorted, "Do you think Thrall is that stupid?" ”

Albert has long been accustomed to picking and cherrying through his partner's remarks and then listening only to the central meaning: "But you can't guarantee that there will be no accidents at all. ”

"Even if there is, that's Sal's own business. And you just have to trust him. If a person is stupid and doesn't even know what he can do......"

Speaking of which, Dineen looked like he wanted to give a sneer, but suddenly he froze. He stared at Albert for a long time, then sighed deeply: "...... You can't let him go either. ”

Albert took ten seconds to consider whether or not to punch him. But considering that Dineh, who had drunk the wine, might not have taken it lightly, he still selectively lost his memory for a while.

Dineen didn't know anything about his inner struggle. He beckoned perfunctorily: "Okay, come and see this." ”

Albert glanced at it. He had never seen such a distribution of terrain, but a few scribbled place names had helped him recognize the map of the Hillsbrad Hills. It is full of circles and straight lines, and there are notes written on the side. He leaned in to take a closer look, and found that Dinen had marked the location of the orc detention center and the local defense force camp in detail, and even had a rough guess of the number of people.

"How do you know that?" Albert said confusedly.

"Man, you should know that the material consumption in the military control zone is in accordance with the standard, right?" Dinin held his face and said unhappily, "The supplies for the nearby orc detention center were basically purchased and allocated by this nearest town. Once you have this data, it's not hard to deduce the approximate scale. It's the same with other places. Talk to the farmer and you'll know everything – I guess Blackmore doesn't know what the scope of the military secrecy regulations is. It's strange that he is said to be an excellent general in the orc war. ”

"Talking to the farmer also needs to drink?" Albert raised an eyebrow.

"Who would stand in their field and talk to a stranger with nothing to do?" Dinen pressed her face to her arm, looking like she was about to slide under the table, "But alcohol always has the unexpected effect." And drinking in a tavern is perfectly normal. ”

"Does the so-called 'unexpected' also include your current state?"

"Of course not." Dineen put his hands on his hands and sat himself back in his chair, then began to repeat the process of sliding down, "This is expected. ”

"You're going to get yourself drunk?"

"I just remembered a sentence." Dinen lazily said, "'How can you tell if something is done right?'" When you feel like you're doing the right thing, whether you're sober or drunk, you're doing a great job. ’”

Albert realized that he was still conflicting about his plan: "And what is your conclusion?" ”

"I don't know." Dineh sighed, "First of all, I'm not drunk, it's too time-consuming to do this. So I tried to think in this state, but it turned out to be, 'How the fuck do I know if I'm going to slap myself twice or jump into the ocean?' ”

"But I don't think the two results are any different – why whip yourself twice if you think you're doing the right thing?"

Dinen sneered at him, "In order to calm down a little bit when I make this decision next time." ”

Albert thought seriously for a moment: "... I still don't think it's any different. Apparently Dineen still thinks what he did was wrong.

"Oh, then whatever." Dineen lay down, burying her face in her arms, looking like she didn't want to speak anymore.

Albert looked at him incredulously. He had never seen Dineen hesitate like that. In the past, his partner always made quick decisions and simply got to work, and it was impossible for ten cows to pull him back. He knew what he wanted, and he knew how to achieve it, and he never doubted or worried. But now, he is still completing his plan step by step, but purely in obedience to the dictates of reason, and his emotions are still mired in deep contradictions.

"Don't do that, mate." He said involuntarily.

Dineen looked at him with one eye full of doubts.

"I feel...... Very unsettling. Albert said slowly, "Are we really doing the right thing?" I'm not sure about that, I can only trust your judgment. But if you do the same...... Overwhelmed, were we wrong from the start? ”

Dineen sat up sharply, so fast that Albert was startled. He stared at his partner, and said in a powerful and clear voice, "Which eye of yours saw that I was overwhelmed?" ”

"Then you are ......"

"Hungry." Dinen said unquestioningly, "So we'll go downstairs to dinner now." There were grilled quail and sage, I smelled it. ”

A dog's nose can't smell the type of grilled fish, right? Albert couldn't help but laugh. But he didn't pierce it, but followed Dinein's words: "Then we's-"

"Boom!"

Without warning, thunder interrupted him. The two of them looked out the window at the same time, the night sky was clear and cloudless, and the stars were shining brightly, without the slightest sign of rain. But then, the thunder sounded again, one after the other. But soon, the dense sound stopped, and the night was quiet again, as if nothing had happened.

"It's Sal."

Dineen stared in that direction and said affirmatively. Albert looked back in surprise and found that his eyes were clear and calm, completely different from the laziness just now.

"Looks like he escaped... So we go now? He asked.

"Oh no, it doesn't matter." Di Ning still said calmly, "Eating first is the most important thing." ”

- Albert is now starting to think that his partner may indeed be hungry.

***

An hour later, Thrall met his friends at the edge of the forest.

After greeting each other, he didn't immediately talk about business, but sniffled and looked at Dineh suspiciously: "Have you drunk, man?" ”

"But you probably haven't drunk it, how do you smell it?" Dineen sniffed herself. They jogged all the way through the forest, and the wind and leaves should have carried away the smell from him.

"Blackmore was a heavy drinker and would beat me up whenever he drank too much. So I was very impressed with the taste of sake. Sal was honest about why.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but it's not like there's no solution." Dinen shrugged his shoulders and began to look around, "Can you hear me talking from the top of the tree?" ”

Sal looked at Albert in amazement: "Did he really drink too much?" ”

"Nope." The paladin grimaced and said, "I'm hungry." ”

Thrall watched as he pressed Dineen down on a rock and sat down and fed him a piece of cheese, and the latter was playing with him with a happy face, and began to wonder if he had drunk too much.

Of course it's just a joke, he's sober, and so are his friends. Dinen chewed on a sausage and handed the map to Thrall, briefly explaining his plans for the rest of the matter before he studied it himself, while the orc talked about what had happened to him in the detention center.

Awakening the spirit of the orcs is the most time-consuming act. Thrall did his best to inspire them and tell the story of his ancestors to those who would listen. Many people have long forgotten this. Gul'dan and the Shadow Council have done everything they can to erase the ancient and noble traditions of the orcs, and to this day, there are still some elders who spit on the life they once had, and many more who are indifferent to it.

But slowly, they finally changed. Some were moved by the sight he described, and the desire for glory made them fight again. Some people just think it's better to run away than stay, but Sal doesn't care. He did his best to convey his passion and devotion to everyone, and he was relieved when a spark of hope once again lit in their eyes.

Compared to the amount of effort he had spent on his compatriots, it was so much easier for them to escape, and the human guards could not have imagined that the lambs that were usually slaughtered would suddenly revolt. The orcs were armed with stones and sticks, and even more with their bare hands, and Thrall frightened the soldiers with lightning and fire, and the orcs who had witnessed the shaman's power followed him with confidence. Even Sal himself did not expect that freedom would come so easily. But that's just the way it is. Time has worn away not only the belligerence of the orcs, but also the wariness of the humans.

"I've never seen them so excited." "When we stood in the moonlight, with no guards, no walls, no shackles, just the forest and our own people, all arms raised, every voice roaring—when they lost their freedom, they were so accustomed to it that they did not desire it." But when you are free, no one wants to lose it anymore. ”

"I think I have to thank you, Dineh." Sal didn't notice that the person he thanked was almost choked to death by this sentence and a piece of apple, but instead immersed himself in his emotions, "I never thought of this. I narrowly thought that the Frostwolf Clan was all my responsibility. But now, when I see the orcs who had been languishing and would only sit in a daze in the muddy water, stand shoulder to shoulder, I realize that this is what I should do—I must free them. ”

Dineh snorted, looking not happy at all: "No thanks. ”

Albert helplessly spread his hands and reminded, "Let's talk about what to do next." ”

"Yes." "I'm sorry, I'm so happy. And what about your plans, Dining? ”

"Are you sure they'll be able to carry out your demands now after they've dispersed into small groups? Until the answer is 'yes', I'm basically doing voluntary labor. "But since we'll see each other less and less often, I'll leave it up to you to decide when to act." ”

Naturally, it is impossible for an orc to walk into an inn in a certain town and ask, "Hey, has anything strange happened here lately?" For example, an infectious disease of unknown origin? "So most of the intelligence gathering process is still in the hands of Dinein. But the orcs can do something else - like keep an eye on the graveyards everywhere.

The hills of Hillsbrad don't have the kind of cities that are particularly crowded, and the people are spread out in smaller, isolated villages. Disappearances for no reason are easy to find. It's impossible for the Cursed Sect to have too many living people to experiment, so fresh corpses are not bad. In view of this, it is not excluded that they will use special means to obtain the desired resources. Maybe the orcs will find some clues.

"Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered." Dineen frowned at Albert, "Do you remember what we talked about before we went to Dunhold?" ”

Albert remembers everything that happened during that time vividly. He thought about it for a moment and said, "You mean they celebrated Children's Week?" ”

“…… Did you remember Children's Week? ”

"Of course not." Albert quickly clarified, "Do you think there is a problem with the frequency of the game?" ”

"Yes." Dinen cupped his forehead in thought.

The cost of a gladiatorial fight is not small. Blackmore can hold the game at will, on the one hand, he has a ready-made venue and connections, and on the other hand, he can use Saar's ability to make a lot of money in the game, which is a sure deal. But what about the others? Gladiators are not turnips, they are planted everywhere in the field. Cultivating a gladiator was a time-consuming and labor-intensive affair, and even nobles could not have squandered it for entertainment.

So what gives them assurance?

"—I think we've got a new direction, guys."