The Great Thief

Following the clues provided by Pamela, Lu Li found Marlene Redpath in a broken house at the foot of Andorhal. There were ghosts and Scourge monsters wandering around, and Marlene was also a ghost herself.

It seemed like even she was unable to escape the corruption of the Scourge.

Although he had previously prepared himself, when Lu Li saw this ghost woman, he sighed.

The fate of this family was reflective of the tragedy of Lordaeron. All kinds of families had perished due to the corruption of the Scourge.

”Do you know Pamela?” Lu Li asked.

Marlene’s dull expression lit up as she anxiously responded with a barrage of questions.

”Have you seen Pamela? How is she? Is she still alive?”

These three consecutive questions demonstrated her love for Pamela. Who wouldn’t love a girl like that?

”She… has already died,” Lu Li sighed.

”She was such a happy child; she was so young too. Did she know what happened to her dad?” Lu Li couldn’t see the ghost’s tears, but he wondered if ghosts could cry as sadness filled with atmosphere.

”I don’t think she did; she didn’t even seem to know that she was dead,” Lu Li said quietly.

Pamela’s aunt burst into tears. She had already died, but perhaps she was so attached to her niece that she had become a ghost and stayed here.

”Has Pamela’s father died?” Lu Li asked softly.

He initially thought that Pamela’s father had left her and he was hateful towards him. However, after learning the truth, his spite turned into respect.

For his daughter, his family and his land, he had shed his own blood.

”Died in battle? His fate was even worse. I had really hoped that Joseph could return to his daughter, but it is now impossible. His soul was corrupted by the Scourge and he is now a monster,” Marlene said sadly.

”A monster…” Lu Li could imagine what had happened.

As the Warriors and the Scourge fought, Warriors were constantly dying, but many of them stood back up again. These Warriors then had to fight people that once stood by their side.

This was the terror of the Scourge.

”Is there any way for me to help?” Lu Li asked.

Since this was a quest, there had to be some solution. He was willing to try his best for Pamela.

”If you can find a particular person, there might be a chance for the father and daughter to reunite,” Marlene responded after thinking for a long time. She didn’t have any confidence in the idea at all.

”Who is it?” Lu Li quickly asked.

”Master Chromie. When I… I was still alive, I had heard legends about him,” Marlene said with some hesitation.

”Chromie, Bronze Dragon, Guardian of Time.”

Lu Li’s heart skipped a beat. He knew Chromie from his past life.

When the Lich King attacked the Dragonblight Wilderness, this drove Malygos and some of the other dragons crazy. When the Infinite Dragonflight invaded the Bronze Dragonshrine, Chromie was sent there too as an ambassador of the Bronze Dragon Corps to negotiate between the dragons and the mortals.

To most ordinary players, she was a cute character with strong equipment.

However, her strength wasn’t to be underestimated. Consider the other people from Wyrnmrest Temple: the Queen of the Red Dragon Krasus, Kalecgos of the Blue Dragon and Lord Itharius of the Green Dragon…

None of them were lower than an Epic level and Chromie was at least the same level as they were.

It was also generally accepted that Chromie was the direct descendant of Nozdormu.

As the Guardian of Time, following the mandate given by King of Gods Aman’Thul, the Bronze Dragon Corps were committed to guarding the timeline of Azeroth. They often stayed in hiding and were rarely seen by the other races.

However, there were always a few members of the Bronze Dragon Corp who were willing to communicate with the mortals. Chromie was one of them.

”If you are willing, you might be able to find her in the Andorhal Ruins. I don’t know if it really is her as she is too strong for me to approach,” Marlene said before imploring, ”I beg you, kind elf. I hear that an item of the dead can be used to change the history of that person. Go to the cemetery of the village and find Joseph’s tomb. His body isn’t there because his ashes were scattered some years ago, but his wedding ring is still under the tombstone.”

”I understand.”

Lu Li carefully remembered the details and head towards the village’s cemetery.

He didn’t know who or what would be at the post-war cemetery. In Lu Li’s mind, a flash of a ghost riding a coach appeared. It was someone he playfully thought to be the garbage collector.

Lu Li reached the edge of the cemetery and looked around to find the tombstone.

After digging through a very shallow layer of soil, he soon found a ring hidden within a wooden box.

It was Joseph’s wedding ring.

After taking the ring, the grave released a puff of blue smoke that floated up and formed a middle-aged man. He couldn’t work out if this was some kind of creature, but Lu Li could hear him shouting Pamela’s name.

Please…

The Paladin lowered his head nobly and knelt before Lu Li.

Lu Li didn’t say anything. He responded with the standard elf salute and watched as it dissipated into the wind.

In the Andorhal Ruins, Lu Li found Chromie among some piles of rubble. She was about the height of his knee and looked quite like a child, much like Pamela.

”Esteemed Guardian of Time, Master Chromie, a Night Elf adventurer greets you. May your glory last forever through the river of time.” Lu Li didn’t dare to treat her as a little girl – this was the most powerful presence he had encountered since Medivh.

”Hey, who’s talking to me?”

The girl woke up from her sleep and rubbed her eyes. As she looked up and saw Lu Li, she exclaimed in shock, ”Heavens, you’re so tall!”

”Master Chromie…” Lu Li didn’t know how to respond.

”Just call me Chromie; I like that name,” the girl said as she lazily stretched her hand out towards Lu Li. ”Now, save me from this damn pile of boxes.”

These boxes weren’t small – they were almost the same size as her – but how could these things trap a dragon?

Lu Li wisely didn’t say too much and reached down to pull Chromie out of the box then put her gently onto the floor.

”Thank you elf. Where are you from?” Chromie winked and looked carefully at Lu Li before adding, ”I can’t see your past nor your future. For our race, this is quite an incredible thing.”

”I’m an adventurer.” Lu Li hardly knew how to answer.

He was a player, so naturally, there would be nothing in his past and nothing about him in the future.