That night, a post titled "Terrifying Hidden Faction" on the GNA forum instantly caught the attention of many players.
The poster was "Thunder in the Crotch."
"Today, while doing missions in Nagrand, I stumbled upon a new hidden faction, and this faction is terrifyingly explosive. To be honest, I first got a mission from an NPC named Illyasphiel, asking me to investigate Nagrand’s ecology (that girl is super cute). Frankly, this mission at first didn’t offer much reward; I had to kill lots of creatures, gather lots of stuff, it was a huge waste of time, and I only got some Gold Coins and experience without any equipment. But considering how unbelievably cute that girl was, I put up with it (dog head dog head). What I didn’t expect was, after completing the whole mission, on the last step, I actually got this!!"
At this point, Thunder in the Crotch specially posted a data screenshot of the "Valkyrie Rifle," along with its equipped appearance.
"This gun is unbelievably overpowering; it feels like I’m not playing an MMORPG, but a FPS! The operation feels almost the same as an FPS, and the damage is super high. I took down a wild BOSS with it in half a minute! Not only that, I also unlocked a new faction! I specifically checked, and everything inside is super cool, right?!"
To verify his words, Thunder in the Crotch also posted the screen of the faction store, showing items like "N7 Military Combat Armor," "Shadow Armor," "Star Alliance Energy Sword," "Banshee Ground Support Fighter"...
"This is definitely an unprecedented new faction! I haven’t seen any introduction from the official; is it a hidden faction? Anyway, I’ll keep grinding this faction; I have a feeling this faction will produce great stuff!"
After posting, Thunder in the Crotch went to farm Reputation, and this post immediately caused a stir in GNA.
Many players were dumbfounded after seeing this.
"I feel like I’m not playing the same game as the OP."
"Isn’t this interstellar warfare! Aren’t we playing a Magicland game?"
"Maybe it’s a pre-task for the next version? Remember? Some experts previously suspected Burning Legion were actually aliens from the universe. If that’s true, Azeroth’s current civilization level definitely can’t handle it."
"This equipment is just too much, who’d go to team instances with it! The gear dropped by BOSS isn’t even this good."
"For real? OP, you’re not messing with us, are you."
Of course, doubts arose soon, but immediately someone replied below.
"I also encountered it. In Hellfire, I met a girl called Little Hei, also super cute; she gave me those missions too, and after completing them, I got a sword!"
Saying this, the player named "Alfred" also posted a screenshot of his weapon, causing a sensation again.
"What the heck! What is this? ’Jet Assault Sword’ even comes with a charge Skill, which means that as a Mage I can charge with a sword too?"
"With this, who needs warriors? (laugh)"
"I found a little girl named Neflen in Zanga Marsh, who also issued similar missions! No more talking, I’m off to do missions!"
"Upstairs, don’t run! In the marsh too, asking for coordinates!!"
The power of players is infinite. Soon, through their analysis, they were surprised to find in every area of Outland there’s a member of the Azure Fleet — Illya in Nagrand, Little Hei in Hellfire Peninsula, Neflen in Zanga Marsh, Katori in Blade’s Edge Mountain, Atalanta in Shadowmoon Valley, and Iona in Void Storm.
The missions they gave were largely the same: gather materials from each area, then kill creatures for drops, offering the first task’s rewards, followed by a second task of collecting small creature and BOSS drops in five-person instances, and finally collection tasks in group instances.
Players weren’t surprised by these tasks, as most in-game tasks are like this, and they got used to it, accepting and directly doing them. Many took missions and went off immediately, while others idled on the forum chit-chatting.
"What do you think this Azure Fleet actually is?"
"It’s hard to say now, but it seems like a very badass force. Honestly, with this set of equipment, I feel I can flatten Dark City!"
"Hehe, then I’ll go flatten Stormwind City."
"Horde pig!"
"Alliance dog!"
The topic unsurprisingly started to derail, and then someone opened a new topic.
"By the way, doesn’t the Azure Fleet NPCs’ attractiveness seem too high? To be honest, I’ve always wondered if everyone on Azeroth looks ugly. Now looking at this Azure Fleet, I can confirm Azeroth’s people probably have genetic defects from birth!"
"Sigh, wonder what their race is, can I reroll a new character? I want to play as the Azure Fleet..."
The players went crazy for the generous task rewards, but Fang Zheng remained calmly on the warship. However, he wasn’t idle; the task items players collected were slowly gathering in his hands.
The tasks from Illya and others to collect materials weren’t merely to lure players; those drop items held significant meaning for him. Although on the surface those "XXX’s OOO" items seemed useless except for completing tasks, their code itself was the biggest treasure. Through this code, Fang Zheng could silently infiltrate those creatures, like a virus, infect their "surroundings" and then the creature itself, subsequently fully assimilating and controlling them.
Exactly, what Fang Zheng wanted was to seize control of this house from its very foundation. Starting with Outland, then the Continent of Azeroth...
Since I’m not allowed in, I’ll claim ownership of this house my way.
Of course, Fang Zheng also anticipated that this world wouldn’t let his plans succeed so easily.
But he already had countermeasures prepared.
Indeed, as expected by Fang Zheng, a few days later, this world’s "counterattack" arrived.
Another new day.
A Horde player, tired from grinding Reputation, planned to return to the main city for a rest. But as he used Hearthstone to teleport back to the Horde camp in Outland, intending to have a good rest, he suddenly received a unique PvP task.
[Task: Eliminate the Dissent]
[Task Information: We detected a group of mysterious strangers trying to damage this world. For the Horde’s future, we need the brave warriors of the Horde to unite and eliminate these foreign invaders]
The task information was simple enough, requiring players to go to a designated location and defeat a BOSS. However, the task rewards were quite generous, including Reputation bonuses for the Horde faction and even a special battlefield mount as a prize.
Now that’s something good!
Seeing the special mount, this player’s eyes lit up. He hurriedly accepted the task and cheerfully headed to the destination.
However, the closer he got to the coordinates, the more puzzled he became, because this place... hadn’t he been here before?
Sure enough, when this Horde player arrived at the designated location, he saw Katori issuing quests to players. Of course, the Horde player was also familiar with this "NPC," after all, he had been grinding reputation with the Azure Fleet. But now, the Horde player was shocked to find that the green letters indicating NPC over Katori’s head had turned red!?
So... she’s the BOSS that needs to be killed for this quest?
Are you kidding me!
Seeing this, the Horde player was completely dumbfounded.
I’ve been painstakingly grinding Azure Fleet reputation, and now you’re asking me to attack her, what the heck is that about?
If I kill her, doesn’t that mean my Azure Fleet reputation will turn hostile?
What a joke!
For a moment, the Horde player wanted to outright abandon the quest, but then he thought it over... would it be a waste if he just gave up like this? If that’s the case... maybe he should just try it?
Thinking this, the Horde player immediately went into stealth, then sneaked behind Katori, and suddenly rushed forward with a throat cut!
But what he didn’t expect was that at the moment he hit Katori, she vanished like an illusion!
At the same time, a bunch of system notifications appeared in front of the player.
[You attacked a member of the Azure Fleet]
[You have shown hostility towards the Azure Fleet]
[Your reputation with the Azure Fleet has dropped to Cold]
What’s going on?!
Seeing this, the player was completely stupefied, and other players began to gather around.
"Where’s the NPC? Where’s the NPC I turn in my quest to?"
"This guy, this guy just attacked the NPC!"
"Damn it, you had the nerve to attack the NPC, now I can’t turn in my quest?"
"Let’s beat him up!!"
The dumbfounded player was directly sent back to the graveyard, but then the other players discovered something even more terrifying.
There was no respawn!
Usually, when they killed an NPC, it would respawn after a while. But this time, after waiting two, three, four hours, there was still no respawn. Some players even wondered if Katori had randomly respawned somewhere else, and they scoured the whole map, but in the end, they had to conclude.
The NPC had completely disappeared!
This made the players explode.
And when they went to the forums to discuss this incident, they found out they were not the only unlucky ones.
In fact, both Alliance and Horde players triggered the task to kill Azure Fleet members. Of course, not every player was willing to accept it. Some players, out of caution, did not want their hard-earned reputation to go to waste, so they chose to refuse. Some players simply couldn’t stand bullying a little girl just because beauty is justice, and others wanted to see what others would do before making their own decision.
Of course, there were also those like the Horde player earlier, who were captivated by the reward, accepted the quest to kill, only to find the target vanished upon contact.
In the end, players were surprised to find that all the Azure Fleet NPCs on Outland had disappeared.
At this, they couldn’t hold back.
"Damn it, damn it! What kind of BS quest is this? Which idiot issued this? Screw their entire family, I painstakingly reached Reverence, okay!!"
"Whose itchy hands were that reckless to attack NPCs! Now we can’t do the quest?"
Some players had wild ideas.
"Could it be a studio? After all, with these equipments, we wouldn’t need to run team instances, and they wouldn’t make any money."
"Does your studio have the power to issue quests directly in-game...?"
While all players were discussing endlessly, unsure of what to do, suddenly a new post appeared on the forum.
"Quick, return to the city! The Azure Fleet has issued a new mission!"
Seeing this post, players hurriedly chose to return to the city, and immediately discovered an additional letter in their mailbox, which triggered a new quest upon opening.
[Quest: Vanguard]
[Quest Details: The Azure Fleet, committed to the principles of peace and friendship, roams the universe, but this doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye to threats and provocations. Head to Nagrand and assist the Azure Fleet in establishing a vanguard stronghold]
A vanguard stronghold? Does this mean the Azure Fleet has a base now?
Seeing this, players were shocked, but before they could react, they all received missions from their respective factions.
[Quest: Stop the Invasion]
[Quest Details: External invaders aim to completely occupy this world. We will neither submit nor surrender. For freedom, justice, and peace, we are willing to fight to the last soldier. Head to Nagrand and stop the invaders from establishing a vanguard stronghold]
Faced with these two quests, players were instantly confused.
How are we supposed to choose!

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