I traveled through time and space and became the Archbishop of Stormwind!

Chapter 698 Sandstorm and Troll Zombies

"Ah! It's you!"

"Oh it's you!"

Akalitta and Valeera blurted out almost simultaneously, pointing at each other with expressions of sudden realization.

It seemed they both remembered. Alvin was about to remark, "An old friend reunited," when the next second...

Akalitha stood with her hands on her hips, puffing out her already quite well-developed chest, her red eyes burning with old and new resentment: "I've disliked you for a long time! You were so fierce back then! And now you've come to assassinate Brother Elwin! You wicked woman!"

Valera was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She had only thought that the red-haired girl looked familiar, but after Alwin pointed out her identity, she suddenly connected the skinny little girl from back then with the girl in front of her who was half a head taller than her, with a curvaceous figure and a breathtaking figure!

The stark contrast and the sense of defeat brought about by a certain female instinct to compare made her instantly furious!

"Ha! I've disliked you for a long time too!"

Valera retorted without backing down, her amber eyes scanning Akalitas up and down, her tone sour and resentful, "Back then you were just an immature little bean sprout, and now, humph! You've grown tall but not smart? All you do is follow men around blindly!"

"Who are you calling brainless?!"

"I'm talking to you! You little red-haired girl!"

"You're the short, flat-chested elf!"

"You wanna fight?!"

The two men were like powder kegs that had been lit, their tension rising again, sleeves rolled up and eyes glaring, as if invisible sparks were crackling in the air.

Alvin slapped his forehead, only then remembering that the last time these two met, they seemed to have been arguing!

History always repeats itself surprisingly.

"Stop! Stop! Everyone, stop!"

Alvin had to intervene again, spreading his arms to stand between the two.

"This is not the time to bring up the past! We have important business to attend to! Akali and Valeera are also here to investigate the Twilight Cult, so their goals are essentially the same as ours! Valeera and Akali are my companions and powerful allies, so let's not argue pointlessly!"

His intervention temporarily suppressed their urge to fight immediately, but their glares at each other were still full of hostility.

Valeera's chest heaved as she gasped for breath. Seemingly realizing that arguing with a young girl was childish, she forcibly averted her gaze and looked back at Elwynn, her tone stiff as she returned to the main topic: "Fine, even if tracking Cho'gall is the important thing, what about the goblins of Gadgetzan?"

She pointed out the window, her tone becoming aggressive again.

"You know they've monopolized the water supply and are making it impossible for ordinary people to survive. Are you going to continue standing by and doing nothing, or even help them commit evil? Elwin, I really misjudged you!"

Here we go again... How come Valeera's still so hot-blooded after all this time...?

Alvin sighed. Valera might be extreme and ruthless, but deep down she had an instinctive aversion to the strong bullying the weak.

"Of course not. If you see injustice, you can't pretend you don't see it. That's my principle."

He paused and continued, "You wait here, I'll find out the truth for you and get an explanation."

Having said that, he didn't linger any longer, walked to the door, opened it, and called out, "Bigwigs! Northumberga! You two come in!"

The two goblin leaders, who had been anxiously guarding the door, immediately bowed and cautiously shuffled in upon hearing this. Their faces were plastered with ingratiating smiles, but their eyes were filled with fear. Their legs went weak when they saw the cold-faced elven female thief in the room, who exuded an aura of "I'm very unhappy."

"This is Ms. Valera,"

Alvin pointed at Valera, his tone flat.

"She is here on behalf of the civilians in Gadgetzan who are struggling to survive, to ask you a few questions."

Valera crossed her arms and walked up to the two goblins. Although she was shorter than them, the pressure from her cold, sharp gaze and the terrifying skills she had just displayed made the two goblins take a half step back.

Without wasting any time, she began listing them one by one:

"First, is it true that Gadgetzan Water Company monopolizes all freshwater sources and sets extremely high prices?"

"Second, do you take advantage of your trade to exploit local residents and business travelers and reap huge profits?"

"Third, have you taken any remedial measures for the civilians who have lost their livelihoods and been forced to take desperate measures as a result?"

Her questions were clear, incisive, and delivered in an icy tone.

Bigewitz and Nogfogger were sweating profusely and stammering, trying to defend themselves with terms like "business costs," "investment risks," and "market rules." But when faced with the specific examples Valera cited—which family was forced to leave because they couldn't afford water, and which small merchant was exploited into bankruptcy by the local shrews under various pretexts—all their explanations seemed pale and powerless.

After the standoff ended, the situation was basically consistent with what Valera had said, and might even be more serious.

Valeera stopped looking at the two ashen-faced goblins and instead crossed her arms, calmly looking at Elwin.

"Okay, I've asked all my questions. Now, what's the next step?"

Elwin walked calmly to the two goblins.

The oppressive aura emanating from his dark pupils chilled the goblins to the bone more than any roar.

He reached out and slammed his hand heavily on the low table in front of the two of them, making a dull thud.

"Don't you two really know what you've done?"

Alvin's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a heavy weight.

"You bully the people who depend on this land for their livelihood until they can't survive and are forced to take desperate risks. Is this what you call 'business'? Is this the 'profit' you want?"

Bigewitz and Northumberga looked at each other, seeing the same confusion and bewilderment in each other's eyes.

In their worldview and goblin business creed,

"Maximizing profits, minimizing costs, and making money by any means necessary, using all rules and advantages" is almost a matter of course.

Water source?

That's a "commodity".

Poor people can't afford it?

That's because they "lack business acumen" or "don't work hard enough."

As for the social problems that this may cause...

What does that have to do with us?

That's something the guards should be worried about.

Seeing their reaction, Alvin knew that talking to goblins about "morality" and "social responsibility" was like casting pearls before swine. He had to give them orders they couldn't refuse in a way they could understand.

"listen,"

Erwin's voice carried an undeniable determination.

"I don't care what you thought before. From now on, things must change. First, immediately lower the price of essential water, setting a baseline that ordinary people can afford. Second, open up permits for some non-core trade routes, allowing locals to engage in small businesses. Third, allocate a portion of your profits, under the name of the 'Gadgetzan Development Fund,' to repair public facilities and hire those who have lost their livelihoods to do cleanup and security work, paying them enough to make a living!"

He stared into the eyes of the two goblins: "You need to come up with a concrete plan now! If you can't, or if you just give a perfunctory answer..."

He pointed to the still-smoking mountain peak to the north outside the window.

“I wouldn’t mind having a few more of those ‘landscapes’ in Gadgetzan.”

Between the threat of overwhelming force and the pain of financial ruin, the scales between the two goblins tipped rapidly.

With long faces, their minds raced, and soon, a solution full of goblin characteristics emerged.

Bigewitz rubbed his hands together cautiously and said, "Sir, how about this? We... we'll introduce a 'basic resident water voucher,' which allows local residents to purchase a limited amount at a low price to guarantee basic living needs. For anything else, like more or better water, it'll still be at market price..."

Northumberge added, “On the trade front, we can open up stall rentals at the Hot Sands market at 80% lower prices than the central market! Let people set up stalls there and be responsible for their own profits and losses! As for hiring, Gadgetzan recently needs to expand its patrols to keep out those damn bugs, so we can recruit some temporary guards and pay them on a daily basis!”

As Elwin listened to the proposal, he knew that this was probably the limit of what the goblins could do.

He looked at Valera: "What do you think?"

Valera snorted, clearly not entirely satisfied with the plan, but also knowing that it was impossible to completely change the nature of goblins.

She said coldly, "Let's see what they actually do. I'll be watching them. If they outwardly comply but inwardly defy me..."

She didn't finish speaking, but the dark blue dagger that had appeared in her hand at some unknown time twirled nimbly between her fingers, its cold light flashing.

The two goblins shuddered and quickly assured each other, "We'll do as you say! We'll do as you say!"

Just when Alvin thought that Gadgetzan's internal problems had come to a temporary end, Chief Engineer Bigewitz looked worried again. As if he had remembered something, he said with some difficulty, "Lord Alvin, Ms. Valera, it's not that we don't want to run the business properly, it's just that business has been very difficult lately."

"Hmm? What's going on?" Alvin frowned.

Bigewitz said with a bitter face, "You know that the lifeline of our water company is those pumping stations and water pipelines scattered throughout the desert, right? Especially the main stations near the foothills in the west. But for the past month, the sandstorms blowing in from the northwest have been very strange, fierce and frequent, and they also carry strange acidic gravel, which have damaged several of our key facilities in the west, and the repair costs are extremely high!"

Northumbergaard added, still shaken, "That wasn't the worst part. When we sent engineers and workers to make repairs, we were attacked! Not by robbers, but by monsters!"

"A monster? What monster?"

"Yes, it's a troll! But not a living troll! It's a dead one!"

Northumbergaard's voice was filled with fear.

"Their skin was dark green or even grayish-black, many of their bodies were rotting, their movements were stiff but their strength was terrifying, they felt no pain, and their eye sockets emitted an eerie blue light! They crawled out of the sand and pounced on anyone they saw! We lost several people! Those who escaped said that those things were like zombies! Troll zombies!"

Troll Zombie!

This word made the temperature in the room seem to drop several degrees instantly.

Alvin's expression turned serious.

Could it be that troll camp, Zul'Farrak?