In the end, Galen and the others still chose to explore the map the hard way.
Anyway, Galen knew that the upper level of Blackrock Spire was Black Dragon territory, while the Dark Iron dwarves were in the depths of Blackrock Mountain, so going down was the right direction.
The three of them cast invisibility spells and descended the mountain towards Blackrock Mountain.
Blackrock Mountain was simply too conspicuous. On a flat terrain, a volcano resembling a tall tower stood high. Galen and his party found the entrance to Blackrock Mountain on the south side of the mountain.
The cave at the entrance was extremely narrow and long. Unlike in the game, there were no obsidian stairs or gates, no dragonkin guards at the entrance, and no huge cave doors.
Presumably, the black dragons and Dark Iron dwarves were all huddled inside their respective territories. Galen didn't see a single creature nearby. After walking for a long time, the walls of the cave began to reflect a red light. Soon, the scene before them suddenly opened up.
Inside Blackrock Mountain, they had arrived.
This was an incredibly vast space, with lava churning at the bottom and a scorching heat rushing towards them. This was an active volcano shaped by the Fire Lord!
Inside this active volcano, a huge mountain was suspended in the air, connected by a large number of thick chains.
These chains evoked Galen's memories from his previous life. He didn't know how many corpses he had run over on these chains, how many times he had fought, or how many times he had gotten lost!
Galen remembered the route of Blackrock Depths in the game. It was to walk down along an iron chain, and at the end, turn into a door, where some Dark Iron dwarf jailers and laborers would gather at the entrance, and a fire elemental conqueror would wander nearby. After killing them and turning the corner, they would arrive at the entrance of the instance.
To verify his memory, Galen took the lead and went onto the chain, walking downwards.
Blackrock Depths was the location of the Dark Iron dwarves' Shadowforge City. The city built by Emperor Thaurissan I in the center of Burning Steppes had now become Thaurissan Ruins after the appearance of the Fire Lord. Shadowforge City was built by Emperor Thaurissan II, located in the Black Abyss below.
At the end of this chain was a smooth mountain wall. It wasn't this chain. Galen returned to the top and chose another one. This time, he chose correctly.
At the end of the chain, there were traces of artificial excavation, a tunnel entrance made of obsidian. After entering, it was another huge cave space. This time, it was no longer deserted. In the distance, a large number of Dark Iron guards were patrolling, and many Dark Iron dwarves were supervising a group of slaves collecting obsidian around the area.
Gandalf closed his eyes and sensed for a moment.
"Duke, there is a strong fire elemental aura on the left, there should be a powerful being! We must act carefully!" Gandalf conveyed his mental thoughts to Galen through the connection of the Origin Heart.
Galen was shocked and immediately guessed that it was Molten Core, the residence of the Fire Lord. He remembered that Shadowforge City was on the other side of Molten Core.
"Let's go along the edge to the right! Quietly enter the village, guns silent!" Galen winked at Gandalf, but unfortunately, everyone was invisible, and they could only determine the location of their teammates through the Origin Heart. Galen's expression was wasted.
After passing through this obsidian crushing field, Galen saw a magnificent city gate!
Blackrock Depths instance raid, here we come! Tanks and healers in position!
A new round of map exploration has begun.
The three of them went directly along the avenue. Galen remembered that this floor was called the Detention Block. Only by finding the exit of this floor could they enter the next floor, the map of Shadowforge City.
And the entrance from the Detention Block to the next floor was right in front.
Galen really intended to stealth all the way. This time, only the three of them were acting, going deep into the kingdom of the Dark Iron dwarves. A slight carelessness would lead to being besieged by tens of thousands of Dark Iron dwarf troops. Although they each had a return scroll, Aragorn and Galen both had Divine Shield, and Invulnerability Hearthstone was already in hand, and Gandalf could teleport the group, so they could fly away at any time.
There was no danger to life, at most it was a little exciting, charging in and out of the Dark Iron dwarf army seven times, staging an Azeroth version of the Battle of Changban.
But it wouldn't be so easy to come again next time. After all, they would be more vigilant, and it would be difficult to obtain dwarven hero souls.
Galen was a perfectionist, he was unwilling to casually choose a ninth level dwarf hero soul to summon a Mountain King.
Ignoring the Dark Iron dwarves here, Galen and the others went all the way forward along the Dark Iron Avenue.
Passing through a large metal gate, they entered the Dark Iron dwarves' city, Shadowforge City.
The entire way was paved with obsidian bricks and walls. The obsidian was inlaid into the mountain by the dwarves. This heat-resistant stone was conducive to strengthening the mountain. Galen occasionally saw lava flowing out from the gaps between the obsidian, pouring into the pools on both sides of the walls, with sparks splashing from the lava in the pools from time to time.
Bypassing a huge fire elemental guarding the gate, they came to a hall similar to a workshop. This should be the entrance to the main urban area.
The versatile Gandalf, unexpectedly, was also a lock-picking expert, using magic to open the door and directly enter the upper level.
This place was not as deserted as the upper level. The entrance was the residential area of the Dark Iron dwarf civilians. Ordinary dwarves came and went here, giving it a truly bustling feel.
It was easier to deal with ordinary dwarves. The creatures on the upper level were either fire elementals or fire sprites, or patrols of soldiers in groups, leading fire hounds, making it impossible to quietly grab a tongue to obtain information.
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Sneaking into a house at the end of a street, Gandalf directly used a spell to knock out a Dark Iron farmer inside, and then used magic to probe the memories in his mind.
To get to the Emperor's Seat where the Dark Iron King was located, they needed to pass through the residential area, go through the Arena to reach the East Barracks. This was only a third of the way. Afterwards, they had to pass through the West Barracks, the Dark Iron Tavern, the Casting Room, and the Lecture Room, before finally reaching the King's residence.
"This is too troublesome, Gandalf, search and see if there is a shortcut?" If they had to go all the way around, how long would it take? The day lilies would be cold.
They still had to pass through two barracks. After all, this was the real world, not the Blackrock Depths instance. They had to clear one boss after another. They weren't taking equipment or experience, they just needed to find the Dark Iron Emperor and take him down.
Moreover, a city couldn't only have one avenue, this planning was unreasonable, there must be other passages.
These dwarves must have other passages. Galen remembered that when he played the game, there was an engineering creation called the Dark Iron Drill, which was like an elevator, able to directly take people to the Dark Iron Tavern.
Sure enough, in the memory of this unlucky Dark Iron guy, there really was the memory of this drill. It was fast to ride this thing, but it cost a silver coin each time. As a commoner, he couldn't bear it. With this money, it would be enough for him and a barrel of Dark Iron beer.
You can't bear it, but I can, Galen was unwilling to walk an hour to the Dark Iron Tavern like this commoner.
His small eyes rolled, and the resourceful Galen had an idea.
The dwarves in the three nearby rooms were knocked unconscious and tied up together. Gandalf cast a spell to transform the three of them into the appearance of these three Dark Iron dwarves. They searched their residences and found more than fifty silver coins circulating among the Dark Iron dwarves.
Poor bastards!
Galen disdainfully put away the silver coins. Lately, looking at the 400,000 gold coins in his bag, he couldn't even look at this little money.
After hiding the three Dark Iron farmers, they went out according to the dwarves' memory, to find the Dark Iron Tavern express.