…………

Prefist, Orisos and North were the first people to be summoned by the Withered. On the way they came, the three of them had already begun to discuss what Nathanos had become, but they were still surprised when they actually met.

They wanted to congratulate Nathanos on a new body, but they never spoke up when they heard that the withered people had succeeded after a lifetime of death.

Prefest walked into the map room. The Nathanos Wither was waiting for them alone. He stopped by the large table in the middle of the room. Nathanos stood on the other side, leaning against his hands, looking straight at the Altlank on the map expressionlessly.

There are other more important marks on the map, such as the stronghold of the Blood Crusaders in the Silver Pine Forest, and the defense outside the city of Lordaeron. The Forgotten are always paying attention to the activities there, but they have not made any active moves to occupy the area. It seems that there is no one yet. From these marks, they understand why they were summoned.

Prefest was very curious about how Nathanos remained calm. If it were him, he would be happy to see his body reshaped, and at least he would have to talk to familiar people. However, Nathanos's serious expression could not see any joy at all. This made the Death Knight feel that the Withering One became more and more mysterious.

"How are the preparations for attacking Lordaeron?" Nathanos asked,

"The sky-covering man is ready," Orisos replied first, "My men have been incorporated into the various forces and have sufficient ammunition."

Nathanos was silent for a moment, looking unsatisfied and dissatisfied. He looked at Prefist without comment. This time, the Death Knights were the main force.

"Everything is ready, sir. The Death Knights can attack at any time."

North knew that it was his turn next, and he was about to speak, and the voice of the Withered One made him swallow his words again.

"You were once called the Plague Messenger, North."

The great pharmacist didn't know why Nathanos suddenly mentioned this, but he was right. It was his identity when he was still working for the Lich King, which had happened a long time ago.

"Do you remember how to cure the plague?"

This is the second time that Nathanos shocked North this day. Several facial expressions appeared on the pharmacist's face at the same time. First, they were stunned, then suspicious, and finally only fear was left. The Withered One had explicitly prohibited the use of plague.

"This is a simple question. Do you remember how to cure the plague?"

This question is simple and the answer is obvious. North nodded in silence, and he couldn't help asking: "Are you going to use the plague to deal with the Crusaders?"

Nathanos' face showed an angry look, for a moment. "I didn't say I should use it, but this could be used as a threat."

"But the plague alone is enough to change the world's view of us. Those few who support us will also begin to doubt us."

The light in the withered eyes paused at North. He was even more angry than he thought. "I didn't say I wanted you to create a plague, I just asked you if it would be modulated."

The pharmacist caught a glimpse of Orisos laughing secretly. He was self-indulgent and guessed Nathanos's thoughts wrong. Perhaps he had never guessed correctly. "Sorry, Master."

"I've seen your strategy for attacking Lordaeron," Nathanos continued. "The only problem is that the Death Knights can only quickly wipe out Lordaeron to the crusades in Silver Pine Forest, but if they can't get the royal city, everything is futile."

The Withered One further analyzed the Crusaders' defensive power. Battlements cannons would bomb any enemy trying to break through the wall. Griffons would patrol the sky and intercept harassment from the air. In addition, there were many strongholds outside the Royal City of Lordaeron, especially the Blood Monastery, which was stationed in an army.

Prefist was the only one of the three summoned who knew tactics. Nathanos asked him to provide a combat strategy, and the Death Knight was commanding the Forgotten Army in his mind, trying to break through one by one. But the battle situation was not optimistic.

"We cannot destroy Lordaeron by frontal attacks." Prefist concluded. "We have not enough soldiers and do not have heavy siege weapons. So we should wait for reinforcements from other places."

"You mean the garrison of Fort Rapids?"

The Death Knight nodded.

"It will take some time to get the armament installed," Nathanos continued. "And even with the follow-up troops, we cannot break the gap between the strength of the Crusaders. Once the fight starts, the outcome will be unpredictable, and there will be huge casualties."

"But at least we have the power to fight, and my attack Crusaders are unprepared for them, and they don't have time to organize effective defenses."

Nathanos shook his head slowly with his eyes closed, "The point of the problem lies in the time we attack."

As soon as he finished speaking, a messenger came to the door of the map room.

"Come in." Nathanos said.

The messenger was obviously stunned when he saw Nathanos's appearance, and even became at a loss when he spoke. "Master?" He spoke in a questioning tone, "This is the latest news from Pandalia, from the Valley of Jinxiu."

The wither took the information and "retreat."

The messenger left in a hurry.

"We're almost out of time." Nathanos read the contents of the letter and threw it into the brazier in the room. "Hellscream attacked the Valley of Jinxiu, injured the head of the Shadow Trap Sect, and took away the heart of an ancient god."

This seemed terrible news, but it was calm when he said it from Nathanos.

"In Pandalia, I made a deal with Woking, the chief of the Dark Spear Troll. The Forgotten will help him overthrow Garrosh's rule in exchange for the land that the tribe supplies and sells in the Eastern Kingdoms, that is, Gilness. That is, the Forgotten will go through two wars in the short term, especially the battle of the Eastern Kingdoms. We cannot fall into a stalemate, otherwise the alliance will have time to stop our expansion. Therefore, we must fight quickly."

Northrooked. It was indeed possible that the pharmacist knew that the king of the alliance would rather let the Crusaders occupy Lordaeron than agree to the Forgotten Lord to become the master of the northern part of the Eastern Kingdom. Moreover, Gilness is still in the stage of competition, and there are still many people fighting between the tribes and the alliance. Of course, those tribe warriors are Garrosh's people.

"Then should we wait until the battle of Orgrimmar begins..." Prefest said. His suggestion was immediately rejected by Nathanos.

"No, because we cannot guarantee that we can occupy Lordaeron before Garrosh is defeated, so we can only act in advance. It is important to ensure that when Urien gets the news, the war has begun. By the time he reacts, it is too late to take measures. After all, in his eyes, Hellscream is more dangerous than me." Nathanos's words were gloomy and there was a cruel smile on his face, as if he was ridiculing the self-righteousness of the Alliance King. "Only by starting the war in advance, we have more time. If it goes well, the Forgotten iron hooves can penetrate deep into the entire territory of Lordaeron. It is best for us to completely wipe out the Crusaders. If not, we must also control the situation of Lordaeron."

North finally interjected: "Will the Silver Northern Expedition Army in Fireplace Valley sit and watch us capture Lordaeron?"

"There are also the Order of the Black Front." Orisos added.

This may be the most valuable question they asked today. Nathanos thought to himself. Of course, the two forces that were incompatible with the Scourge would not allow the Forgotten to act, and he settled his thoughts.

"According to what I learned, Merell went to the Fireplace Valley not long ago, told me about my plan to the Ashes Messenger and Pan, and advised him to prepare for defense."

The Death Knight, the Pharmacist, and the Sky-Crossing One looked at each other and realized the seriousness of the matter.

Nathanos tapped the table with his finger, making everyone's eyes shift to him. "Although Fording did not accept Merriel's advice in the end, I believe that the Paladin has begun to closely monitor us. So are the Black Front Knights, maybe..."

"Master." Malcolm broke in. Nathanos threw a questioning look at him. The Undead Guard continued: "There is a Death Knight who wants to see you, and his name is Sasarien."

A low laughter popped out of the wither's mouth.

"Now, there is no need to guess. The other party has put his surveillance eyes in front of me."

"I know Sasarien," said Prefest. "He is the extremely trusted subordinate of the Great Lord Moglani and the first Death Knight to join the league."

"Take him to the hotel, and I will summon him later if I have time."

Malcolm was surprised, "Master, why don't we drive him away?"

"The forgotten must also have their own way of hospitality. Go."

After the Undead Guard left, the Withered continued to talk about the topic just now.

"When we attack Lordaeron, the Northern Expedition Army in the Fireplace Valley will likely interfere. If we fight the Crusaders hard to decide the outcome, it would be fine, but once the Crusaders are about to collapse or Lordaeron is about to fall, they will never sit idly by. If the Northern Expedition Army suddenly launches an attack, the Forgotten will be attacked from both sides and we will be in danger. Therefore, the method of taking the initiative is not feasible."

The three people who listened to him understood completely that Nathanos had not planned to attack the Crusaders' territory from the beginning. The reason why he summoned the three of them was not only to reject the combat strategy they had set in advance, but also to announce his own strategic deployment.

"Then do you have any plans, sir?" North knew that the Withering One was waiting for this sentence, so he asked.

"It's very simple, let the Crusaders take the initiative to attack us."

The pharmacist saw that both Prefist and Orisos showed novel eyes. He knew that he was the same as them.

Let the Forgotten’s original active invasion be transformed into defense, and then counterattack the Crusaders in the name of “revenge”. Even if the Crusaders are finally wiped out, the Northern Expedition Army and the Black Knights cannot say anything.

This is a sinister plan, but it is the most beneficial to the forgotten.

"The question is, how should the Crusaders take the initiative to attack us? We can't provoke them first." Prefest asked.

Nathanos's eyes were frozen on North.

The pharmacist blinked, then blinked again. He woke up like a dream and said, "Method of intimidation? Plague!"

This time, Nathanos nodded with satisfaction. He believed that any human being would be afraid of hearing the word "plague", especially in Lordaeron, the kingdom that was most corroded by the plague. Initially, it was the plague that it was in chaos because the Curse Sect provoked a plague.

"If you want to capture prey hiding in your nest, you must make them feel that the nest is also an unsafe place. Intimidation is the most useful way. We must intimidate the Crusaders. Once they have the wrong consciousness that the Forgotten are preparing for the plague, they will not sit and wait for death. They have no extra choice except to take the initiative and escape. With their fanatical nature, they will definitely choose the former."

So that's it. North nodded in recognition of this tactic, and the Forgotten does not actually need to create a real plague, this is the most important thing.

"The first problem for us now is to let the Blood Crusaders know that the plague is about to hit their land. How should we do it?"

Nathanos raised two fingers. "First, spread the news and let the Crusaders know that the 'plague messenger' is on our side." He looked at North, and the pharmacist did not object. "Second, mobilize an air force to throw some plague-like potions and abandoned chemical boxes into the villages and strongholds of the Crusaders, as well as crop fields. Remember, the dose must increase with the number of releases, so that the Crusaders know that our 'plague' development is heading for success."

"That fear will slowly become their nightmare." Orisos laughed, praising the Withered Plan in this way.

"What after?" Prefest asked again, "How should we deal with the Crusaders attacking us?"

Nathanos pointed to the map. Ultraman. "They would come here. But before that, the Forgotten will block them on this journey and will fail, and then the Crusaders will march straight into the attempt to destroy the Forgotten's base in Ultraman. The steep terrain and narrow valleys on the snow-capped mountains will become their graves."

"Maybe we can also spread the news and let them know that you're here in person."

North frowned and said, "What? Then they will attack over desperately. Lord Wither will become their primary target. We may not be able to stop them."

However, Nathanos agreed with the idea. "This method works and ensures that the Crusaders are completely lost by the desire to win."

North was sweating in his heart. Nathanos was still talking: "Everyone, if Lordaeron falls into our hands, the Forgotten Kingdom will be indestructible. Now it is time to implement it according to my plan and dedicate the Lordaeron to me."

"Will you build a new kingdom and become a king?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on the Withered One, and his answer made Prefest and the others fall into a third shock.
Chapter completed!