Recap: The Arena Life of Warcraft Heroes (Part 1) The Arena Career of Warcraft Heroes (Part 2) - Thrall's Love History. "After a long period of darkness, we will welcome the bright moonlight." A thin old man appeared behind Illidan. As usual as a black mist rising, he looked like a large black coat draped over a forked branch, and only under the dim brim could you see his gray beard and pointed jaw. "Are you talking to me?" Illidan inhaled sharply. "Newcomer, I only have three things to say to you." The old man paused for a moment, it seemed that everyone around became still, "First, the only rule of this prison is 'Godfather'; second, do not attempt to inquire about any information related to 'Godfather'." Illidan's face turned pale, this was a sense of oppression he had never felt before. "Third," the old man finally glanced at them and disappeared into the darkness, "from now on, call me 'Godfather'." (Part 1) This was the first time Illidan remembered the Godfather speaking to him, and also the only time. It had been the second month since arriving at the first level of CHERRY Prison, in fact, Illidan had just learned the meaning of this "first level". The CHERRY Prison has three levels, these three levels are not spatial concepts. In CHERRY Prison, no resurrection spell can be used, and there is no graveyard. Anyone who dies unexpectedly will enter the next level until the third level. Death in the third level will be complete and eternal annihilation. As for what "complete destruction" means, Illidan actually did not understand this concept, his brother Malfurion told him that it was a terrifying situation, like when Kael'thas died, his body was flushed down the toilet, healing couldn't revive him because it would remind that the distance was too far, and if it was a big city's toilet, it might even be sent to a water purification company for disinfection treatment, that is complete destruction. Additionally, CHERRY Prison has one most prominent feature which is the uniformity of clothing, everyone is required to wear a large all-black coat, the skirt and brim parts are exaggeratedly large, wearing it will obscure any external features. Malfurion told them "Maintaining mutual strangeness is the best way to prevent prison riots", before giving Illidan and his brother their coats, Malfurion's icy words left a deep impression: "Conceal your identity, forever." Illidan increasingly realized the accuracy of this statement, because these days he kept hearing some unsettling conversations: "I heard Illidan is also imprisoned in our prison." "I don't believe hh but if it's true, I must kill him, maybe I can get dual daggers." "I agree, in the outside world, I haven't seen a staff in 20 CDs, until our MT's secondary character thief got the Tower of Karabor." "I've graduated from Black Temple, if you go to kill him, remember to bring me along, I only need badges." "You guys are so strong, my previous guild was stuck at three faces, great masters, take a look at my equipment, can I raid eggs?" hh These words made Illidan sleepless nights, if his identity was exposed, he would definitely face a prison-wide riot killing, a death without suspense. "Brother, I've never been this scared, if I'm really discovered, can my Sin'dorei Warblades really save me?" "Obviously not, only flash powder can save you." However, the most mysterious place in CHERRY Prison is its secret complex organization. On the first day entering CHERRY Prison, when Illidan and Malfurion were cautiously observing every stranger in the central playground, a sturdy human soldier ghost-like appeared in front of them, even through the dark brim, they could feel the cold light shooting from his eyes. "I am the leader. New friends, you now have two choices." "Sorry, we already brought enough living supplies." Malfurion wanted to leave. "I'm not here to sell anything, I'm the leader here." "I know you're not an ordinary salesperson, friend. But we are only two brothers, so we won't group buy." "Be serious, young man." A hint of anger flashed across the leader's face, "Your two choices, first, become a member of our organization; second, go to the second layer prison and find another organization." "So, there's only your union here?" "More than a union, we call it 'Party'." "What party?" "Skull Party. Remember this great name." Skull Party. Illidan thought, never imagined there were so many undead players in the prison. Later, Illidan learned that the "Skull Party" was a powerful organization with nearly ten thousand members, the highest leader was the Godfather. Because it was impossible to distinguish anyone inside the prison, it was very likely that certain passerby A, B, or C was a high-ranking official of the Skull Party, some ignorant newcomers often ran into trouble, these people would often receive six days of internal soft confinement in the prison and write "Prison Security Management Regulations" twice as punishment. The worst case was even being directly thrown into the second layer prison. When Illidan first arrived, he was punished for saying, "Where can I buy soy sauce?", a regulation he still hasn't fully understood. But as he delved deeper, Illidan finally understood the reason for the existence of the Skull Party was only one thing: escaping from prison. There have been countless escape attempts in the history of the Skull Party, this is understandable, no one wants to stay in a place where you can't even buy soy sauce. Actually, escaping isn't a complicated matter, its goal is clear and straightforward, because the entire guard GM of the first layer prison is only Maiev. But the Skull Party has never defeated Maiev, not even come close. According to some elders, Maiev has extremely high physical melee attacks, in the early days of the prison, most warriors locked up didn't even graduate from hero dungeons, in front of Maiev's attacks, they were like paper. Worse yet, Maiev has a full-screen powerful AOE skill called Blade Array, causing massive damage while countering mana-based classes for 6 seconds, which means the MT will receive no healing during those 6 seconds. In fact, if you ever get the chance to enter the second layer prison, you will find that half of the prisoners there are various races of MT warriors. An elder recounted the most shocking battle last year, where a strong T6 warrior team even pushed Maiev below 10%, just as thousands began cheering and mages started casting Blizzard spells to celebrate, the server couldn't handle the magical effects of thousands of players, and crashed, when they logged back in, they found the prison had reset, Maiev was full HP and mana again. At that time, everyone was disheartened, sighing that they had lived for so many years without realizing they were playing on a NES. "At least that MT is still alive. He was the first warrior to face Maiev and survive." Illidan said. "No, in fact, he was the first person in prison history to commit suicide. Maiev ultimately proved she was a NO PETCH NO DOWN strong GM." "Can warriors self-harm?" "He took out a FM egg knife with over 40 spell damage, then hundreds of rogues instantly killed him." "On purpose?" "That's right. His last words before dying were: 'Life itself has no meaning, only resetting can make you understand the truth of life.' He was the Grand Lord Mograine." ...... "There's something important, Illidan. The Godfather is holding a meeting." Malfurion's words woke Illidan from his reverie. "About what?" "Escape." (Part 2) Moonlight poured into the dark and quiet Karazhan. The door of the Guardian's library was slightly opened, and the light steps stopped abruptly. "Uncle Elune." "It's you, High Priestess Tyrande." Elune put down the book in his hand, the elf woman in front of him looked exceptionally weary. "I apologize for disturbing your rest at such a late hour." "No problem, I queued for an Alterac Valley three hours ago." Tyrande wore a simple purple long dress, looking like a child who had just woken up. She had lost her previous sharpness and pride, all that could be seen in her eyes now was fatigue. She lowered her head and softly said, "I have a favor to ask of you, Uncle Elune. I heard your uncle works in Blizzard's upper management, I hope you can use him to teleport me to CHERRY Prison." "What are you saying?" Elune widened his eyes, "You mean... you want to go to CHERRY Prison alone?" "I'm determined." Tyrande said faintly. "You'll be facing a completely unfamiliar world, you may die at any moment!" "Even if my life ends tomorrow, I won't think it's too short, but the news of losing Illidan is different." Elune stared at Tyrande, her previously tired eyes suddenly became firm and fiery, like the first ray of sunlight entering the Moonwell in midsummer. "Alright, beautiful priestess." Elune began to cast a powerful spell, "I think I can no longer stop you, but before you go, you must promise me three things." "Please tell me." "First, I will help you change your appearance and even your class. In such a strange place, not being recognized is the safest, you cannot reveal your information to anyone, no matter what the situation." "I assure you. I want to become a human female rogue, is that possible?" "Of course. The second thing, here is a necklace, it gathers the most imaginable power of the entire Karazhan, within an hour of wearing it, you can avoid one death, allow me to tightly put it around your neck when I foresee death approaching." "Thank you, I will." The portal was completed, it looked like a dark purple scar in the sky, or like a gaping mouth of the hell gate. Tyrande slowly walked towards the portal, at this moment she had already transformed into the appearance of a human female rogue, looking even younger. She stared at the deep purple portal, like an innocent little girl about to pick up the most dangerous toy. "From now on, I will be called Little Moon." Tyrande turned around and looked at Elune, this was the first time she smiled, "Thank your uncle for me, I look more beautiful than Jaina now." "The third thing." Tyrande stopped, her face was illuminated by the transmission gate. "Remember your name." Tyrande's figure disappeared into the portal, a long time after, a voice seemingly from ancient times echoed in the sky of Karazhan: "I am the Brutal Gladiator, Tyrande Whisperwind." (Part 3) The venue was a desolate place akin to the ruins of Lordaeron, it was as vast as two Black Coasts, but its terrain was as simple as possible. Except for the old square paved with crushed marble in the middle, everywhere else was filled with slanted wild houses and graves; those were noble houses with the style of Stormwind architecture, but now they looked like they had suffered from at least a thousand years of the most severe plague and war, shattered beyond recognition. The entire prison was like a giant footstep, all that could be felt was the strong smell of blood and history brought by the cold wind. Malfurion raised his head. He remembered that this place gave him a bright feeling on the first day he entered the prison, now he understood that it was because they had spent endless days in the dark. In reality, there was not a single ray of sunshine here, the sky was composed of mysterious black and white vortex clouds, those clouds were as thick as foam on a cup of hot coffee, some dark lines like water snakes wriggled through the foam and quickly disappeared into the unpredictable distance. "Very oppressive." Malfurion murmured. "More oppressive than you. I haven't eaten soy sauce for a month." Illidan said. The entire crowd quickly gathered together, forming a huge solemn formation, like thousands of crows resting silently on vampire rooftops, the silence was suffocating. At the end of the crowd, the Godfather sat in front of a European-style cross tombstone, resembling a zombie dug up. When everyone stopped whispering, the Godfather began his speech. His voice was far less weak than his body, instead having an unimaginable penetration, as if it came from the sky's judgment: "An absolutely exciting message." "We have obtained a warrior in 8T6 gear, from CWOW, banned for spamming." "I don't care about his past, but I believe a warrior who has faced Kil'jaeden head-on will not fear any attack from Maiev. His arrival makes us all incredibly close to heaven." The crowd immediately stirred with excitement, the joy of thousands hard to conceal. "There's a question." Someone stood up in the first row, it was the leader. "Speak." "If something like last time's reset happens, last year's failed escape attempt was our most painful memory." "This is exactly what I want to tell you." The Godfather paused for a moment, "In this escape attempt, we will only send out a 25-person elite team to challenge Maiev, others will be substitutes upstairs, situations like last time's server crash will not happen again." "How do we ensure the MT's survival during the 6 seconds when healers are countered by the Blade Array?" The leader continued to ask. "In the long journey from Hero's Gate to Kil'jaeden, I believe his endurance has been tested strictly. Critical warriors often can only pull small mobs." The Godfather indicated for a Tauren warrior in the first row to stand up, saying to everyone, "This is our MT. Absolutely tough warrior, you can listen to his declaration." The MT stood up, facing everyone, he turned back and asked the Godfather, "Should I speak my heart?" The Godfather nodded. The MT took a deep breath and shouted explosively, "Is there anyone working for NCsoft here, damn your ^%$#@!, why did you ban my account?" Before the MT finished speaking, he was hurriedly dragged away by the leader. "So this is still an uncertain battle." The leader asked. "There's nothing absolutely certain in the world." The Godfather looked at the leader, "Just like you sitting on the toilet, you can't guarantee you won't be flushed down." The crowd immediately fell silent, no one spoke for a long time, the Godfather's philosophical thinking was fully displayed on the toilet. "I have a way." Suddenly someone in the crowd spoke. The voice was small, but everyone present could hear it clearly. The Godfather took great effort to see that it was a seated Undead warlock in the back row, he just stood up, looking somewhat nervous. "Speak." "We can find a bug point in our battlefield, where healers can stand out of Maiev's line of sight, this way they definitely won't be hit by the Blade Array." "Funny." The leader glanced at him, "I've thought of this method before. This square is our battlefield, I've searched here for three years, there's absolutely no place to bug." "I've found it." The warlock said casually. "Impossible! I've been here for three whole years, I haven't found any bugs, there are no bugs here!" The leader shouted. "Believe him, he's from CWOW." Someone in the crowd whispered. "Prove it to us, within three minutes." The Godfather stared at him. After receiving the Godfather's permission, the warlock happily ran towards a pile of rocks in the southwest corner of the square. The pile of rocks was tall but the angle was very straight, like the Thousand Needles Stone Forest's millennium stone milk peak. The warlock jumped step by step on the almost impossible straight slope, like a frog climbing the walls of an ancient well, soon the warlock reached a height that surprised everyone. "Is this enough? I think it's impossible to be hit by the Blade Array here, and hiding my body in this rock crevice, Maiev definitely won't see me." "Enough, QVOD, absolutely enough." This was the first time the Godfather repeated his own words. The crowd erupted in loud cheers. "The next thing is much simpler," the Godfather looked at the surging crowd below and said, "Select 25 absolutely excellent elites." (Part 4) "There are only three spots for rogues." Malfurion came to Illidan's room, he had already been selected as the main Druid. "How many people signed up?" Illidan asked. "Over two thousand, ten times as many as Druids." "Is the test content determined yet?" "All I know is that it's with hunters, the time is this afternoon." "Even if there's only one spot, I don't feel I'll be eliminated." Illidan stood up and said, "The fun is finally here." "Good luck." Illidan arrived at the examination site early in the afternoon, the location was the same as the previous meeting venue, and by now the participating rogues were already numerous. "The rules are very simple." The examiner spoke, "The rogue and hunter tests are combined. The entire square is the testing area, there is a bottle near the back of the square, five hunters are guarding the bottle 10 yards away. Two rogues work together to break through the hunters' defense. If the rogues can grab the bottle, the rogue side wins and advances to the next round, otherwise if they are caught, the hunter side wins." "I can't understand." Someone in the crowd loudly said, "Our DPS role is to output damage, this strange test doesn't seem to select anything useful." "What thieves need in dungeons, isn't technique or gear, but the constant tension throughout the process, that's exactly what we are testing." Illidan drew a number relatively late, it was 9527, he felt familiar with this number but couldn't recall it. His partner would be Rogue 9528, whom he hadn't seen yet. Five minutes before the competition, Illidan entered the venue. "I've been near you for a long time, sir, but it seems you didn't notice me." A girl's voice came. "Sorry, my graphics card is glitching." "It's fine." The girl seemed unwilling to talk much. "You must be very beautiful, your voice reminds me of the singing girls in Elwynn Forest." "Thank you." "What's your name?" "Call me Little Moon." The competition began, the five opposing hunters had already set up flares in all directions. "Flawless." Illidan muttered. "We just need to wait for their moment of laxity." Little Moon said. "No need to wait, I've already spotted it." "How? I can't see any way through at all." Illidan smirked, intending to say, these hunters aren't even as good as the ones on duty at Tyrande's doorstep. But he stopped himself. "I've been through many battles." Illidan stealthed up to the first hunter, only then did Little Moon see that there was actually a gap between the flares, though the danger was undeniable. "Come over, it's fine." Illidan whispered to Little Moon. Little Moon saw the boundary point but hesitated to step forward, knowing that stepping meant entering a cliff edge where there could be no error. "I think I can't do it, 9527, go get the bottle, success is yours." "Step back, retreat 20 yards, then target the fifth hunter. You don't need to ask why, just do as I say." After Illidan finished speaking, he immediately stunned the