Chapter 9: You Are Our Last Hope

Old Wang had absolutely no idea what to say.

Just two lines, nothing more.

Such a shoddy attribute panel, such a worthless system...

Norgannon, the dozens of games I co-developed with the dwarves back in the day—it seems you never played any of them!

“This is just the initial interface,” the young lady’s explanation sounded feeble and hesitant, “The Heart of Azeroth actually has many functions, including blessings from all the Titans, which are very powerful. But you have to store enough blood to unlock them. Right now, you…”

Old Wang was weary.

Yes, I’m poor right now, I haven’t even collected the first drop of blood, you don’t need to remind me…

I’m just afraid that if I create too many good things, the blood I exchange won’t fit!

Old Wang stared at the spherical space beneath his feet. “So small—how much of your blood can it hold? One drop or a tenth of a drop?”

The young lady smiled. “Don’t worry. Norgannon granted it the ability to automatically expand; as long as you fill it with blood, it will grow. It could even hold all the blood from my entire body.”

Fill it with blood and it gets bigger?

So the material of this spherical space is…corpus cavernosum?

“How many rings need to be activated for me to travel across worlds?” Old Wang asked the question he cared about most.

“You’re too weak right now, not even a ten-thousandth of your peak state. The energy intensity isn’t high. Five rings are enough.” The young lady spoke honestly, not hiding anything.

The emphasis was on “you’re too weak,” and she really stressed it.

“So few?” Old Wang was actually quite happy.

If that’s the case, it won’t take long for me to get home.

How much Azeroth blood does five rings consume per second?

Can’t calculate, but it’s not much!

“Yes, but there are a few issues.” The young lady blinked.

“Go ahead.” If there were no problems, that would be the biggest problem. Old Wang was long used to this.

“First, something went wrong last time you crossed over. Aman’Thul and Norgannon are recalculating, and that takes time.”

So I’m just a test subject… Old Wang pressed his lips. “Continue.”

“Second, there was interference from an unknown entity last time. This time, eliminating that interference will be ten, even a hundred times more difficult.”

I bet it’s the Blade Queen… Old Wang scratched his head. “Continue.”

“Third, it doesn’t cost much for you to cross over, but the Heart of Azeroth can’t go with you, so you wouldn’t be able to return. And as the supreme artifact, it must open the highest level of space-time channel to cross over.”

Once again, you’re telling me in a roundabout way that I’m too weak and worthless… Old Wang rubbed his temples. “Continue.”

“That’s all for now.” The young lady blinked again. “I’ll tell you more when I remember.”

That’s already a lot…

Old Wang spread his hands. “So?”

The young lady became serious for the second time, stretched out a finger and pressed it against Old Wang’s forehead. “So, work hard, Wang!”

Squashed—his head was squashed!

Then he was pressed right into his body.

And then his whole body was flattened.

“Sorry, I didn’t expect you couldn’t even handle a single finger.” The young lady hurriedly withdrew her finger.

That’s the third time you’ve mocked my weakness… Old Wang quickly recovered.

Luckily, this was just his soul—if it were his real body, he would’ve been turned into minced meat.

Suddenly, Old Wang sensed a powerful repulsion—the Heart of Azeroth was ejecting him.

“The true energy you provided is too little. The total energy doesn’t even equal 0.01 micrograms of my blood, so you can only stay for this brief moment.”

The young lady waved her small hand. “Goodbye!”

“Goodbye.” Old Wang vanished.

The young lady suddenly let out a sigh; her ethereal body began to fade, her whispered words slowly dissipating.

“The physical universe is being twisted and eroded by the Void.”

“We still cannot deal with the Void Lords.”

“Argus—who knows when it will fully recover. Sargeras—who knows when he’ll be purified. I don’t even know when I’ll grow up…”

“We need you, Wang…”

“Norgannon listened to your stories and believes that your tales of Pangu and Gaia are actually Titans from another universe. Helping you return home is a plea for help.”

“Unexpectedly, you crossed into this universe, a universe full of infinite possibilities. I sensed the presence of similar beings.”

“Wang, keep going.”

“Perhaps… you are our last hope!”

…

…

The battered truck.

On the passenger seat, Old Wang opened his eyes.

He glanced down at the dim, lifeless Heart of Azeroth and sighed. “The young lady was hiding something.”

Though she was born countless billions of years ago, she’d always been in a daze, suffering endless hardships—Miss Azeroth was very much like a child—

Yes, she is a child; she’s only truly awakened for a few years.

In ten years of World of Warcraft, Old Wang replaced Magni the Diamond Man in his third year, becoming the young lady’s spokesperson. He often kept her company, telling stories and singing nursery rhymes. Her world view and personality were essentially shaped by Old Wang. In front of him, her little secrets could never be hidden; he saw through them at a glance.

“Aman’Thul and Norgannon schemed against me…no, it’s not really scheming—it's a win-win.”

He wanted to go home; the Pantheon helped him.

There was an agenda, but it wasn’t a bad thing—it benefited him.

What equivalent exchange?

Doesn’t exist.

There’s no exchange list, no clear rate of how many pounds of gold trade for how many grams of Azeroth blood—it’s all up to the Pantheon.

Saved Azeroth, saved several Titans—how great are those merits? There’s no standard to measure it.

Enough Azeroth blood to fill Yunlong Lake is indeed a lot, but for a planetary lifeform, it’s nothing. Even if the young lady gave him more, it wouldn’t matter much, wouldn’t affect her.

Clearly, those Titans didn’t really want him to leave the Marvel Universe.

Because Marvel has things they want.

Technology, magic, artifacts like the Infinity Stones, and probably other things—their purpose must be to combat the Void Lords, the Pantheon’s only enemy now.

“World of Warcraft is my second home. Marvel Universe is my third…Work hard, young man!”

Old Wang turned his head, looking at Skye, who was driving. “Take a break, I’ll drive!”

Skye jerked in fright and stalled the engine.

“Please spare my car!” Skye gritted her teeth.

“I’ll take good care of it…There’s something important to do.”

Old Wang shuffled his seat, pushing Skye out, started the engine. “Help me check Robbie’s address…No, check where he works.”

“…Why are you checking on him?” Skye, unable to resist Old Wang, reluctantly moved to the back seat and opened her laptop. She suddenly noticed the car turning around and was stunned. “What are you doing? Aren’t we heading back to New York?”

Old Wang turned the wheel. “We’re not going back. Isn’t your car almost scrap? Robbie’s a mechanic, right? Let him fix your car. We helped him today; he shouldn’t charge us, right?”

“Stingy.” Skye didn’t believe it at all. She searched for information while asking, “Be honest!”

Old Wang floored the accelerator. “I’m curious about the Ghost Rider…And I want to ask if he knows any way to make money.”

“You really should earn some cash—you owe me three hundred…five hundred…a thousand…seven thousand four hundred and twenty-six dollars! Pay up! Wait, what’s a mechanic got for money-making? You’re not telling the truth!”

Skye snorted and asked, “Where are we staying tonight?”

Old Wang replied without hesitation, “Get a hotel room.”

Skye’s heart ached instantly. “It’s expensive—two rooms will cost at least…”

Old Wang frowned. “Thrift is a Chinese traditional virtue. You’re half Chinese yourself, learn to save…One room is enough—a king bed is cheaper.”

Skye took a deep breath, fists clenched.

Knowing she couldn’t win a fight, she forced herself to hold back, biting down hard, and spat out a single word.

“Wang!”