Chapter 1094: Scarlet Monastery (Second Update)
Zou Zhuo: “???”
Threat, a blatant threat!
From Chen Mo’s tone, if Zou Zhuo dared to spill this, he’d get his account banned directly?
Damn, can’t mess with that, can’t mess with that.
Zou Zhuo paused for two seconds: “Alright, boss, you take a break. I’m off to farm Scarlet.”
No choice, he had to bow to the dark forces…
Although this was a shocking scoop, Zou Zhuo didn’t dare to leak it.
Why?
Not because he was afraid of getting his account banned—he knew Chen Mo was just joking, he wouldn’t actually ban anyone.
The key issue was: if this news got out, would it have a negative impact on this server…
Zou Zhuo could now sense that the Alliance and Horde on this server were basically balanced, as seen from the battle in Hillsbrad Foothills. Maybe the Horde had a slight edge.
If he exposed Chen Mo’s identity, he’d feel great, but what about the consequences?
Chen Mo had so many fans. Once players found out, they’d swarm into the Alliance and his guild like crazy. Then what would the Horde even play for?
There were already two big bugs on that side, and if a flood of players joined, Zou Zhuo and the other Horde wouldn’t stand a chance.
So, Zou Zhuo decided to keep this secret.
“Little fatty, hurry up, we’re waiting for you to pull the mobs,” Old P urged from the other side.
Zou Zhuo arrived at the dungeon entrance and thought for a long time: “Everyone, how about… we switch to the Alliance?”
…
…
The little fatty’s proposal was ultimately rejected.
Actually, Zou Zhuo was just throwing it out there; he didn’t seriously want to switch to the Alliance to cling to powerful players.
On one hand, there was the sense of faction loyalty. Even though it sounded vague, many players were incredibly steadfast. Once they decided on the Horde, they were Horde for life, and they’d never play Alliance.
On the other hand, Zou Zhuo and his friends were having a great time on the Horde side. Playing together as a bunch of noobs was the most fun. If someone super skilled joined them, they’d lose the joy of the game.
So, Zou Zhuo and Old P not only had no intention of leeching off powerful players, but they actually thought that having Chen Mo on the Alliance side would make the battles more interesting, definitely not boring.
The difficulty of Scarlet Monastery took another leap for the players.
At first, Zou Zhuo and his group thought dungeons like Wailing Caverns and Shadowfang Keep were tough enough, wiping several times before clearing them. Later, as their gear improved and they got more blue items from quests and dungeons, they thought they were ready. But when they tackled the new dungeon, they still wiped like dogs!
The monsters in Scarlet Monastery were densely packed and varied. Some would shout for help, others would flee in panic when low on health, and there were many patrols. One wrong move and they’d stir up a hornet’s nest, leading to an instant wipe.
Of course, the VR version of *World of Warcraft* had many improvements over the original.
For example, the dungeon structure was adjusted—it was more complex, the area was significantly expanded, and the monster density was relatively reduced. There were also Scarlet Crusaders patrolling with dogs, and their vision range was much wider than normal monsters.
These dungeon monsters were given corresponding AI based on the storyline, no longer standing dumbly in place waiting for players to attack.
According to the plot, the Scarlet Crusade was corrupted by Balnazzar, with most members falling into madness and blind obedience, committing many evil deeds under the banner of justice. So, the AI of these Scarlet Crusaders didn’t need to be too high.
Warriors stood guard and patrolled the Scarlet Monastery, while Scarlet monks and priests studied scriptures. When they saw intruders, their fanatical faith drove them to charge fearlessly, but when low on health, they’d try to flee and call for reinforcements. Players then had to quickly take out the messenger Crusaders, or they’d face a horde of enemies.
With current AI technology, these monsters could have been made much smarter, but that would have been too hard. Having five players fight countless monsters with intelligence close to the players’ own? That would be unplayable.
So, this change was a compromise. On one hand, it boosted the Scarlet Crusaders’ AI, making them seem like intelligent living beings. On the other hand, the dungeon layout and structure were adjusted so the AI increase didn’t ruin the difficulty.
Although Scarlet Monastery wasn’t a complex dungeon—mostly a straight path—it was always popular. One reason was its unique bosses, and another was its excellent loot.
In the interrogation room, Interrogator Vishas had a quest involving the Forsaken Vorel, whose ring he stole and gave to his wife. Horde players could take a quest to kill his wife and reclaim the ring.
The most ironic part was that Vishas constantly bragged about his wife’s beauty, but when players actually found her, she was hideous beyond belief…
Houndmaster Loksey’s classic line: “Close the door, release the hounds!” And he dropped a blue-quality dog whistle, a rare early-game toy.
Arcanist Doan was one of the few early mage bosses. He used Polymorph, Arcane Explosion, Silence, and Detonate, wiping out unprepared players left and right.
Not to mention the “Blade of Light” in the Armory and the classic lines of the “Dog and Bitch” boss. Many players could still recall the iconic tones of those lines…
But for Zou Zhuo and his group, they couldn’t reach that point yet because they hadn’t gotten the key.
…
After barely defeating Arcanist Doan, Lin Xue was resurrecting people, while the others excitedly looted the corpse and grabbed the key.
Zou Zhuo’s focus was a bit odd—he was looking at the books on the table…
The Scarlet Library was the public library of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, rivaling Stormwind and Karazhan in its collection.
Upon entering the Scarlet Library, Zou Zhuo had noticed the bookshelves lining both walls, packed with books. In Arcanist Doan’s room, the collection was even larger, filling almost the entire space.
Most of these books couldn’t be read; they could be taken down and flipped through, but they only contained meaningless symbols.
However, several key books were readable, containing extensive lore about Azeroth’s history.
There were many such books scattered throughout major cities, dungeons, and NPC residences as Easter eggs.
“The War of the Three Hammers, Origin of the Undead, the World Tree and the Emerald Dream, the Arakkoa’s Ogre Wars, the Frozen Throne and the Icecrown Citadel, the Orc Wars, the War of the Ancients… Wow, there are so many books here!”
“Hmm… completing an achievement: Reading World of Warcraft history inside *World of Warcraft*…”