What exactly is the will of a planet, or commonly known as the star soul?
This is a very general topic and no one can explain it clearly.
Duke had read through numerous Karazhan texts, but there were not many records about the will of the planet. Obviously, the will of Azeroth was not an isolated case.
In some cases, the planet has only a vague concept of survival.
Duke noticed that there were traces of a star soul on a planet that Medivh had set foot on. Unfortunately, that star soul was defeated and perished in the face of the invasion of the Burning Legion. The most crucial point in this record is that at the last moment, the star soul did something that seemed exaggerated, but Duke thought it was reasonable in order to survive or perhaps to resist the most thoroughly.
Star Soul placed everything on a mortal hero.
That guy was like a lottery jackpot winner, getting a complete set of luxurious equipment including three mid-level artifacts in just one week. Then that guy became a different version of protagonist, forming an army of one million people in one month to fight against the Burning Legion.
Unfortunately, I don't know whether it was because Xinghun was too weak or because protagonist from another world was not talented enough. Anyway, after killing two high-level void lords in one go, Archimonde directly attacked and beat him into pieces. A vigorous war of resistance ended with the victory of evil.
The planet Azeroth is valued by the Pantheon. There must be a reason why the Titan boss Aman'thul was willing to let go of those short-sighted old gods in order to protect the planet Azeroth.
Perhaps, if Duke could travel back in time a little later, he would be able to learn about this "history" in later versions of the game.
The problem is that there are no ifs in this world!
One day, Duke will run out of the time travel tips in his head. Then, facing an unknown fate, the best option is to strengthen himself.
Duke didn't know whether the will of the planet would give him any benefits for helping Azeroth kill C'Thun this time, or how much benefits it would give him.
At least it would be good to make an account with the Planet's Will and show your familiar face.
If it gets excited or anxious and wants to find a heroic demigod to pass on his incomparable skills, it would be fine to pass it on to me, Duke! I don't mind being a Du Aotian.
Of course, as a time traveler and a smart new demigod, Duke would never put all his eggs in one basket.
If it really turns out to be wrong, then everything will be ruined.
There is no need to deliberately try to please the will of Azeroth. If there are benefits, it is good, but if there are no benefits, there is no need to complain.
After all, the path to the gods basically goes all the way to darkness.
The Old Gods like C'Thun are so powerful, but shouldn't they still fall, be sealed, or be beaten?
The Titans of the Pantheon, who seemed omnipotent and regarded themselves as eternal, were still killed completely, with almost no species left?
In the original history, the mortal heroes of Azeroth should have had their final battle with the resurrected Sargeras.
It can be predicted that the returning Sargeras will have almost invincible and terrifying power.
This Sargeras will even be in his peak state!
Blindly following the path of the gods and restoring the Titans of the Pantheon will not ultimately defeat such a Sargeras.
Duke thought about it for a long time before he figured out a truth -
The various powers now wielded by the mortal heroes of Azeroth: such as the rage of warriors, the energy of thieves, and the magic of mages. From another perspective, this is also a microcosm of the laws and domains mastered by stronger people at a higher level.
Perhaps, the two are one and the same.
Take the Burning Legion as an example. It basically deduced the power of shadow and fire from the fel energy. On this basis, the Eredar Warlock appeared, and then the so-called Death Knight and Demon Hunter branches appeared.
If we use the weak and partial power system mastered by mortals to work backwards, we may be able to trace back to the origin of power in the universe.
In Duke's view, this is the most reliable and practical path to the pinnacle of power.
This road may seem to be the longest detour, but it is the most practical and you won't be fooled by the so-called predecessors.
Unfortunately, the way to embark on this path is to keep trying.
Just like the scientists before the time travel, they faced failures in almost endless attempts, learned lessons from each failure, constantly improved themselves, and finally opened the door to the pinnacle of cosmic power.
To find such a key in this vast universe is not a task that can be described as difficult.
To be honest, Duke himself was not sure he would succeed.
But he can already anticipate what the future will look like.
Or he can directly surpass the limits of the world, destroy the twisting void, and defeat Sargeras.
Or...
Well, actually...
The upper limit of the power system in Azeroth is very high. At worst, he can follow the trend and persuade the Star Soul to unlock the restrictions of the power limit in advance and cultivate a large number of demigods in advance.
By then, a large number of demigods will be wearing a full set of artifact equipment.
That brilliant orange light could scare the Void Lords of the Burning Legion into becoming unable to take care of themselves, even if they couldn't fight back.
But if you take this path, a lot of guys still need to practice!
At this time, after confirming the fall of C'Thun, the four guardian dragons led by Alexstrasza transformed into human form and walked over.
The Red Dragon Queen put one hand around Duke's neck and held him under her armpit without any hesitation: "Oh, Duke, we really have a different opinion of you! I didn't expect that you could support the Wyrmrest Formation through Onyxia and even communicate with the will of the planet... Hehe, there is actually a dragon transformation magic in the Wyrmrest Temple. Are you interested?"
"Get lost! I'm a good demigod of magic for humans and elves, I don't want to be your subordinate. And that thing can only turn humans into half-dragons, right? It's useless."
"No! It's very useful. At least I can see what it looks like with a tail growing on your butt."
Damn, what kind of bad taste is this?
Well, considering that it felt pretty good to be hit in the face by Alexstrasza with Dragon's Peak, the gentleman Du Mouk decided to endure it.
"Thank you again, Duke." Ysera came up and bowed to Duke politely.
"No thanks, I'd be grateful if you could take care of the more aggressive druids." Duke glanced at Fandral Staghelm, who had been a bystander throughout the entire process. Since Tyrande was unwilling to take action against this guy, Duke couldn't confront him directly, but he was happy to give Fandral some eye drops.
"I will." Although Ysera didn't quite understand, she still agreed.
In the perception of night elf druids, druidic doctrine originated from the demigod Cenarius.
The forest demigod Cenarius is the embodiment of the essence of Azeroth's natural life.
Few people know the deep relationship between Cenarius and Ysera, the dragon queen of the Emerald Dream. Many people even think that the two are lovers, but in fact Ysera is Cenarius's adoptive mother.
Duke wanted to give Fandral a little trouble, but that was all. Duke had no intention of dealing with Fandral Staghelm. After all, Fandral's status and position were not worthy of Duke's personal attack, as it would reduce his reputation!
The guardian dragons are all very busy, and it is a rare thing for Duke to take advantage of the time difference and ask them to help.
Protecting the planet Azeroth is a mission imprinted in their entire souls. Unless their entire dragon soul is corrupted like Neltharion, that sense of mission will naturally drive them to fulfill their duty of protection.
"Hmph! Don't let me catch you abusing magic!" Malygos still disliked Duke. Considering that they were fighting to kill C'Thun together, Malygos was giving Duke face by not getting angry on the spot.
Alexstrasza was about to say something when Malygos waved his hand, opened a portal, and ran away.
"Sorry, that's just his personality." The Red Dragon Queen felt a little embarrassed.
"It's okay, I'm used to it." Duke looked deeply in the direction where Malygos disappeared.
The second one to run away was the Bronze Dragon King.
"I'll come to you if there's anything. Yes, if you capture those bugs, remember to keep them under control. If you let them run to the Tanaris Desert again, I'll hold you accountable." Nozdormu was very decisive. He turned into a ball of yellow sand and dissipated in the open space.
This time, Duke touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.
Duke noticed that in the system prompt, there was a message about the Qiraji Twin Emperors wanting to find him. Just now, he was in a fierce battle with C'Thun, so Duke naturally eliminated all factors that would interfere with his battle.
All the affairs of the Demon Network are handed over to Khadgar, and for the rest, it's just "Don't come to me if you have anything to do, and don't come to me if you don't have anything to do."
Now a bunch of god-level guys were talking to him, and he had no time to pay attention to them.
The remaining two female guardian dragons are both very easy to talk to.
"Duke, thank you very much this time." Ysera, with her eyes closed, gave Duke a trance-like feeling of a soft girl no matter when he looked at her.
Of course, the real Ysera is not that weak...
Duke suddenly remembered something.
That was a plot that should have happened in history, but did not happen in this life.
"Yes, what happened to the four guardians of the Emerald Dream, Lethon, Emeriss, Taerar, and Isoldre, recently?" Duke asked as if it was a bit nonsensical.
"Hmm?" Ysera tilted her head with a curious expression. "That's strange. You have almost no contact with druids, and you don't know the Emerald Dream. How did you know the name of my guardian?"
How did you know?
I played them ten thousand times when I was playing the game! Ten thousand times!
Back then, I was so shameless that I asked members to set alarms and start four small accounts to swipe the green dragon lands in Ashenvale, Duskwood, Feralas, and The Hinterlands, waiting to swipe these four green dragon bosses...
Duke rubbed his brows. Sure enough, the history of this life had already deviated greatly. Normally, before the gates of Ahn'Qiraj were opened, these four green dragons, who were originally the guardians of the Emerald Dream, were corrupted by the dark power and fell into madness, so they came out to cause trouble in advance.
But now, for some reason, there is no news about them at all.
Although the shameless Duke had forgotten about these second-tier green dragons, he didn't mind giving away a spoiler: "Ysera, in fact, when I came back from the Ancient War ten thousand years ago, I spied many fragments of the future. One of them was before the gates of Ahn'Qiraj opened, and you four guardians were corrupted by the power of the Legion and the Nightmare King..."
Ysera's face suddenly became transparent.
This is not an exaggeration, but she really transferred her soul and body to another dimension.
Alexstrasza was anxious: "Why didn't you say so earlier!?"
Duke seemed to be saying bitterly: "Anyone who casually reveals the pulse of fate will be attacked by the power of fate."
Many powers in the world are equivalent. Don't be fooled by the powerful guardian dragons created by the Titans. In fact, their powerful power comes from the planet Azeroth itself.
As a reward for protecting the planet and keeping their oath, they have the ability that is simply against the will of heaven, and can get energy replenishment from the planet.
Duke's words really stumped Alexstrasza.
In a sense, Duke cannot reveal the plot directly, but he can prepare for it in advance, which is already very fair to everyone.
The Emerald Dream is very vast. In times of peace, the dragons' solitary nature and habit of sleeping mean that Ysera and the other green dragons have a relationship more like that of a queen and her vassal. They will never interact with each other unless necessary.
Not seeing each other for decades or even hundreds of years is no big deal.
If Duke hadn't mentioned it, Ysera wouldn't even have thought of looking at her own men.
After a few seconds, the humanoid Ysera became solid again.
"Thank you, Duke! Those guys are in trouble indeed." Ysera said solemnly.
"What's wrong? Is it serious?" Alexstrasza was very nervous.
"It's quite serious. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be irreparable." Ysera gently bowed to Duke and said, "I'm sorry, although I still want to talk to you more, it seems that I have to excuse myself now."
"You're busy." Duke nodded.
"Leave the Void Battlefield to us." Her eldest sister slapped her chest.
"Without me..." Ysera hesitated.
"What! Don't we still have four guardian dragons?" Alexstrasza grabbed the strong man like an eagle catching a chick, and grabbed Onyxia who was trying to shrink back.
"Master - Master - I have shed blood for you, blocked knives for you, and served as your mount. You can't ignore me like this -" Onyxia's plaintive voice was so frightening that it made anyone who heard it cry.
It sounds like, if you don't know the reason, you would really think Duke is a scumbag who played with a girl's body and mind and then ruthlessly abandoned her.
"Damn it! I'm asking you to be a guardian dragon for a while, not to die!" Duke kicked Onyxia away without any hesitation.
"Hey, little female dragon, I think you still need to be disciplined! Among the five-colored Dragonflight, no one dares to ignore me... What I just said was not a request, but an order--"
"Ah—no—"
Ah! Dear Onyxia, although I would like to play the dragon taming game with you when I have time, I cannot disobey the king's order!
Have a good journey, dear...
Duke waved goodbye heartlessly, which made Onyxia collapse.
Asking directly in the soul connection, the tearful voice would break the heart of even the most hard-hearted person.
"Master - my dear master! Are you really so heartless? After I became your mount, I never rebelled. I have done my best to complete every task you assigned me. For so long, I have worked hard even if I have not made any contribution! Are you really willing to let me go to that hellhole where there is no gold, no treasure, nothing but broken stones and endless demons? Am I just a thug and a toy that you throw away when you are tired of playing with me?"
While struggling, Onyxia revealed the Dragon Valley intentionally or unintentionally.
Duke swallowed his saliva and said slowly in the soul connection: "When you come back, you will see a dragon bed made of pure gold in Karazhan, which is specially made for you to sleep on."
When Onyxia heard this, her eyes suddenly turned into two golden coins: "Really? You're not lying to me? I don't want a human-sized gadget. I want something that I can sleep in my dragon form."
"This is your master's promise." Duke said proudly.
Onyxia bit her red lip and said, "Well, if you really do it, I'm willing to add one more item to the dragon taming list when you come back. It's up to you to decide."
"It's a deal."
"make a deal."
Alexstrasza naturally had no way of knowing the soul communication between the somewhat improper master and servant, let alone what kind of dirty deal they had reached. She only knew that this evil little female dragon, who had no interest in guarding or Wyrmrest Temple, suddenly glowed, gave up struggling, and was willing to work hard.
Well, that's a good thing anyway.
She glanced at Duke, who gave her an OK sign.
Blinking, the Red Dragon Queen was still a little worried: "Did you pay some terrible price?"
"No, no, no. Onyxia is my most loyal mount. A little reward is what I deserve. Besides, it won't hinder me in any way."
"That's good."
Alexstrasza will never know how shameless a time traveler can be.
Golden dragon bed?
Duke would never do something so bold and hurtful, so awesome.
But Duke is planning to open a bank!
That's right!
After Duke devoted himself to farming for 22 years, the Alliance's resources had reached a point of great abundance. As a result, economic problems also increased, with the biggest problem being currency transactions.
In the past, even before the Alliance was formed, all countries used Arathor gold coins as the unified trading currency.
Gold characters are very expensive, and everyone recognizes that they are valuable.
Looks fine.
In the past, buying a top-quality warhorse only cost a few gold coins.
Now that the Alliance has started to play with high technology, when large-scale military products such as steam tanks come out, the cost of production can easily be thousands of gold coins, or even tens of thousands or millions of gold coins. With such staggering costs, if they are all traded with gold coins, it would be like wanting to die.
the Alliance has begun to use gold notes to replace gold coins, but merchants do not agree with this.
Duke has decided to issue paper money.
To give paper money value, in addition to the most powerful anti-counterfeiting measures, there must also be sufficient collateral. As a time traveler, the easiest thing to think of is the "gold standard" with gold as the core. In the early American economic system before time travel, basically, the amount of gold was equal to the amount of paper money that could be issued.
Therefore, the key to issuing paper money is to have enough gold in the Alliance.
This gold cannot be moved.
Duke will send someone to guard it until Onyxia returns.
When she came back, what if she used it as a bed to sleep on? They could even call it a good name, saying that the Alliance had specially found a demigod dragon to be the guardian of the gold.
Duke wasn't worried at all about Onyxia's corruption or anything.
Dragons have a serious hoarding habit. They hide all valuable treasures in their lairs and never give them to anyone. Otherwise, why have so many warriors slayed dragons throughout history?
It's very simple, make a fortune!
Anyway, the gold bars were collateral, and Duke would not cash them out. It didn't matter at all.
What's more, Duke never said "I'll give you all the gold" from beginning to end!
As for the anti-counterfeiting and exchange of banknotes, it is even simpler.
Duke, as a demigod of the magic net, possessed the most profound magic in the world. He could easily design a barcode on banknotes, and any banknote could be immediately identified as authentic by placing a simple money detector in a place where the magic net could reach.
If anyone dares to counterfeit, the magic network will give immediate feedback.
Duke definitely wouldn't mind having his elemental messenger suddenly jump out of the magic network to teach those counterfeiters a lesson.
In Duke's opinion, as long as there are enough elemental messengers, he can definitely deal with these situations.
Yeah! The plan worked!
After sending off the four guardian dragons, Tyrande came over and whispered, "Goddess Elune asked me to tell you something. When you are done with your work, visit the Moon Temple. But there is no rush."
"Um."
What belongs to the gods belongs to the gods, and what belongs to the mortals belongs to the mortals.
After sending away those guys of super high status, Thrall was finally able to come over. He brought Vol'jin with him, along with Magni and Varian.
"Are you satisfied with the spoils this time?" Duke asked Thrall with a smile.
Thrall grinned, revealing his long fangs: "Huhu, I finally don't have to listen to those guys down there complaining about how the Alliance heroes are much better equipped than the Horde heroes." An incredible victory, coupled with rich spoils of war, can eliminate many conflicts.
Even Anasterian, the Sun King who lost the most manpower, now has Darkstorm Gauntlets in his hands, Cloak of Clarity on his body, and Embrace of the Old Gods tied around his waist. These equipment made by C'Thun, which were looked down upon by the Alliance powerhouses, are like a upgrade for him.
The Sun King would not show any dissatisfaction towards Thrall at this time because he had taken advantage of the other party's kindness.
Magni spoke up: "While you were busy just now, Thrall and Vol'jin proposed to us that they hope the Horde and the Alliance will sign a closer cooperation agreement. If possible, it would be better if it is signed in the form of an alliance."
After Magni finished speaking, the uneasy expressions on Thrall and Vol'jin's faces said it all.
At this time, the Alliance and the Horde were not equal in strength. To some extent, this was an alliance application that was not based on strength but purely on emotions.
A majestic lion would never try to make an antelope his ally.
No sane leader would agree to this under the circumstances.
Unexpectedly, Duke nodded: "It's no big deal. Let the people below work out the specific details."
Duke's straightforward agreement was not only unbelievable to the Horde, but even Varian felt that it was too easy for the Horde.
Varian will never forget how his father died - he did not die in the shocking retreat from Stormwind City, nor did he die in the brutal Second Battle of the Dark Gate. He even fought on the front lines time and time again without suffering any injuries, but died in an assassination by orcs.
As Duke had experienced the first and second Dark Gate Wars, he should hate orcs the most.
Why would Duke agree?
Is this too hasty?
Or is it simply emotional?
Varian said nothing. He was a king and a strong man. However, when placed in the entire alliance, he was lacking in strength, qualifications, knowledge or judgment.
Unlike the Varian in history who had to stand up and carry the flag, the current Varian still has the towering tree of Duke to shelter him from wind and rain.
Maybe he will grow a little slower, but compared to Varian, who has been dominated by the Ghost Wolf's personality for a long time and is a little irritable and violent, he will make fewer mistakes and grow more steadily.
Suddenly, Varian remembered what Bolvar Fordragon had said. As the regent left by the previous king, Varian admired Anduin Lothar the most and accepted all opinions from Anduin almost unconditionally.
After Anduin's death, Duke disappeared again and again, the first time for ten years, the second time for four years. When Varian was growing up, Duke was basically a name that only existed in legends. So the elder Varian trusted the most was Bolvar.
Bolvar commented on Duke like this: "Except for those who are not up to the mark, there are only two kinds of commanders in the world: one is the one who will make full use of all the resources at his disposal to win the war; the other is the one who has obtained all the resources needed for victory before the war begins, and freezes the victory before the battle. The so-called battle is just a formality. Obviously, Duke is the latter."
Bolvar's evaluation has always been deeply imprinted in Varian's mind.
"Listen more! Do more! You can ask questions, but never question Duke. Because there are always things that Duke does that we ordinary people can't understand, and every time, he will prove that he is right." This is Bolvar's most important advice.
So Varian stood aside, listening quietly like a well-behaved junior.
Duke's agreement made Thrall and Vol'jin overjoyed.
"Thank you! Edmund Duke, even though I cannot say that humans are the best friends of orcs, I have to say that you are the most trusted human in the Horde, no doubt about it." Thrall stretched out his big hand and held Duke's hand tightly.
Duke sighed, "This is all for Azeroth! Besides, no one in Azeroth knows what kind of enemy we will face next. I can only say that in the days to come, no one can relax their war preparations. The Burning Legion still has the terrible commander Kil'jaeden, and only one C'Thun has emerged from the several evil Old Gods. As a leader, I must be prepared for the worst."
"So your most pessimistic view is..."
Duke gritted his teeth and said, "All of the guys mentioned above have come out to cause trouble within ten years."
Thrall and Vol'jin's faces both turned grim.
If Duke is right, then the Alliance has no reason to start a war against the Horde. Fighting among themselves in the face of a powerful enemy is really a big deal.
"I understand. I will prepare the war preparedness plan and deploy it."
Over there, Cain also ran over, exchanged a few words, and then took Thrall away. As the victors, the tribal warriors were also eager to see their leader and listen to his victory declaration.
As for the spoils, there wasn't too much trouble and it was basically settled after a few discussions.
When the Horde was gone and only the Alliance was left, Varian finally asked the question in his mind: "Uncle Duke, will those bad things really happen?"
"Huh!" Duke exhaled, then handed a note to Varian: "It's not a question of if it will happen, it's already happened."
After quickly reading the translated coded letter, Varian's eyes suddenly shrank.
"No wonder..."
"No wonder when you defeated Hakkar and wanted to lead the team across Kalimdor, I kept you in Stormwind City in the name of insufficient transport capacity." Duke smiled.
In this Silithus battle, the Alliance sent mainly dwarves and gnomes, who were forced to fire at the enemy. There were not many infantrymen, mostly second-tier legions, and none of the famous Scarlet Crusade Legion and Griffin Legion came.
They claimed that they lacked transport capacity. Anyway, this time the coalition had orcs and tauren infantry, trolls and night elves ranged units, and the Forsaken Mage Corps for magic, which was completely sufficient.
Faced with a powerful enemy, no one would try to stop them.
The result is naturally a happy one for everyone.
Who would have thought that Duke had already secretly detained the main force, ready to send them all to the Dark Portal at any time.
Everything is based on one name - Draenor! Also known as Outland. Now the situation there has changed significantly.
After Illidan Stormrage was defeated in the duel with Arthas who had not yet become the Lich King, he went to Outland to cause trouble just as history had done. However, in this life, he did not have Kael'thas as his accomplice.
Kael'thas was not at the end of his rope, but was now the leader of the Alliance's official Outland Expeditionary Force. As a high elf prince with a good family background, after washing away the shame in the Battle of Mount Hyjal, he was once again regarded as a hero by the elves, and Queen Azrael did not stop his people from joining Kael'thas.
The biggest difference from the original history is that it was supposed to be Kael'thas who led the blood elves to beat the poor Draenei into a pulp, and even occupied their old nest, Storm Fortress in Draenor.
Now history has completely changed.
As if guided by fate, Kael'thas ran to Storm Fortress again. But this time, the Draenei were being killed by the evil orc army and were desperate. They asked for help. Kael'thas was full of justice and took his elves to help.
This made Duke, a time traveler who was familiar with history, feel so happy...
"Are we going to fight again?" Magni asked calmly.
"No, not so fast. I plan to provide some support and let Kael'thas hold on for a while."
"Well, the morale of the Alliance is still okay, but the physical strength of the soldiers and the financial resources of each country have reached their limits." Magni sighed.
If it weren't for Duke's economic development plans over the years, the Alliance would probably be in a worse situation.
Fighting the Patriotic War was fine, as it was a war that would not cause anyone to frown even if they had to pawn their pants. But suddenly, in order to kill evil, they had to cross the stars and send a larger force to another world. As you can imagine, this would definitely cause widespread debate within the Alliance.
Duke's words of slowing down now will undoubtedly make those below him breathe a sigh of relief.
Duke turned to Varian and said, "You were going to ask me why we should form an alliance with the Horde?"
"Yeah. That's right."
"Excuse me, whose territory is Draenor?"
When everyone heard this, they suddenly realized.
Even after experiencing that horrific explosion, according to intelligence, there are still a lot of orcs alive on the shattered planet Draenor.
Duke went on to say, "If the Horde is just the Horde in Azeroth, even if the orcs, tauren, trolls, goblins, and the Forsaken come together, how many people can they have combined? Two hundred thousand at most! Forget two hundred thousand, even if the Horde has a million people, I wouldn't care. But it's different in Draenor."
Sylvanas, who was just collecting spoils, strode over and asked: "How many tribes are there in Draenor?"
"There are no less than three million adult warriors. The latest intelligence is that Illidan is acting as a minion of the Burning Legion, and is working with the Abyss Lord Magtheridon to try to turn all orcs into evil orcs. This means that if Illidan succeeds, we will have to face 10 million enhanced orcs." Duke added two words after he finished speaking: "At least!"
This time, the whole audience gasped.
Duke asked, "Is anyone thinking, 'At least we still control the Dark Portal?'"
Calia shook her head. "Just as we chose to destroy the hive in Ahn'Qiraj to prevent more insects from being born and harming the world, we will not let go of those who attempt to destroy Azeroth this time."
Defense alone is never reliable.
Passive defense is the choice of the weak. The real line of defense is never the fortresses built on the pass, but the stronger army.
"Huh..." Duke breathed a sigh of relief. It was great to not have a guy like Terenas who was hindering the rotation of the planet. The entire alliance was under his control, and he didn't have to worry about anyone holding him back. At this time, he said leiSuraely: "So I agreed to form an alliance with the Horde. The biggest hope is to let Thrall reconnect with the orcs in Draenor and let him organize the orcs to fight against Illidan's army."
"Will it be..." Duke knew that what Magni wanted to ask was whether he would let the tiger go back to the mountains.
Duke shook his head.
If history had been followed, Thrall would have returned to Nagrand in Outland as usual, become a disciple, and step into the way of nature, transforming from a simple warrior into a true shaman.
Such a Thrall would be a more selfless and harmless leader.
"The forces in Outland are far more than just the orcs. I have ordered Kael'thas to deal with the race that calls themselves 'Draenei'. If possible, I hope to absorb the Nadrani into the Alliance, because these Draenei believe in the same way as we do, the Path of Holy Light!" Having said this, Duke lightly hit Tirion's breastplate with his fist.
Among the many races in Azeroth, dwarves, gnomes, and elves form alliances with humans mostly for the sake of interests, while the Draenei are rare in that they join the Alliance for religion and ideals.
In Duke's eyes, the joining of the Draenei was a natural outcome.
And the boss of the Draenei is Velen!
The venerable Velen, also known as "The Immortal", has witnessed the destruction of countless worlds at the hands of the Burning Legion and is one of the few people who can remember all of them.
Velen's origins are unknown. In his hometown of Argus, he was a respectable leader. Twenty-five thousand years ago, the dark titan Sargeras promised to give Velen's people infinite power, but he wisely refused. He foresaw that accepting this power would bring endless disasters.
However, the other two leaders of the Eredar, Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, agreed to Sargeras' deal.
Velen realized that he had no place on Argus. He and his brave followers rose up against the Dark Titans and escaped Argus with the help of the mysterious Light-born naaru.
These brave exiles began to call themselves Draenei, or "exiles". However, Kil'jaeden, who had defected to Sargeras, had been organizing demon armies to target these Draenei for the past 25,000 years.
Velen fought against the demon army for thousands of years until he led his people to a world inhabited by barbaric orcs. This became a refuge for these wanderers. They named this new world Draenor.
By the way, the orcs do not recognize the name "Draenor". Basically, they just call their homeland "our world".
Velen and his people have lived in relative peace and stability for hundreds of years on Draenor. Although they know that it is only a matter of time before the Burning Legion finds them, they still try very hard to coexist peacefully with other races here.
Unfortunately, because a stupid shaman named Ner'zhul discovered Kil'jaeden's will in the void and was deceived, there were various conflicts between the orcs and the draenei.
Under the deception of Ner'zhul, the various orc clans gathered together to form the Old Horde, and directly attacked the largest Draenei settlement in Draenor, the holy city of Shattrath.
The miserable Draenei were once homeless and were forced to live in Zangarmarsh. Many Draenei even lost their minds and became like wandering ghosts in the swamp.
Now, Duke was absolutely certain that Velen, the ancient prophet, was well aware that the Draenei would face a new threat.
The Undying must protect his people, or the entire Draenei nation will be devoured by darkness.
The emergence of the Alliance happens to be the greatest opportunity for the Draenei to survive and reproduce.
"Kael'thas wrote to me saying that the Draenei leader Velen hopes to meet me," Duke said.
"Are you going?" Jaina asked.
"Yes, of course, but not now. the Alliance needs time and rest..." Duke patted Varian on the shoulder and said, "Varian, go first for me and reach a preliminary consensus with Velen, okay? I still have to take care of the magic network."
"Okay, Uncle Duke." Varian's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He knew this was a rare opportunity to hone himself and prove himself.
After the brief discussion, Duke returned to Naxxramas first and summoned the twin emperors.
With a snap, a tentacle of C'Thun was thrown to the ground.
"Okay, you two, what are you still hesitating about?"
C'Thun's Tentacles!
This is an item that is deeply loved by gentlemen. If in the game, this accessory can summon a tentacle of C'Thun to whip the player's enemies.
Just like Barov's Butler Bell, three thugs were summoned instantly to block traffic and affect the cityscape. Ahem, I was wrong. It was to interfere with the enemy.
If Duke can't manipulate the elements and make them into whip tentacles or something, maybe he'll get excited and use them to train dragons.
Of course, at this moment, this is just a proof.
The twin emperors are very arrogant. In the past, their noses were almost turned up to the sky.
However, when Duke showed this tentacle that had lost its owner but not lost its life, their dead faces changed several times.
This is the end of an era.
As servants, they could sense C'Thun's demise. They just didn't see it with their own eyes, so they still couldn't believe it. This was a fact.
"The age of the Old Gods is over. In the future, perhaps Yogg-Saron will jump out, and Y'Shaarj will be like this... well, forget about that despicable N'Zoth. But so what? If I can kill one Old God, I can naturally kill the second and third!"
Every word Duke said was like a hammer, striking hard into the hearts of the twin emperors and shattering their last bit of reserve.
It would be easy to simply force them both to surrender.
But the king and the emperor are not the same thing.
Throughout history, there have been those who occupy land and become kings, but there has never been anyone who becomes an emperor.
Simply forcing them to surrender would not guarantee that they would not rebel in the future, or even become passive and lazy. Yes, Duke could indeed control whether their souls would be annihilated, but he could not control their hearts - their ambitions!
Only the most thunderous suppression, taking into account the future, can subdue these two Zerg emperors who are extremely arrogant in their bones.
Moreover, in Duke's next plan, the Twin Emperors also play an extremely important role.
As twin brothers, Emperor Veknilas and Emperor Veklor naturally have a mutual understanding.
right!
They are already dead.
In their spiritual state, they have no desires or requests.
But they also had to find a way out for their people.
The Qiraji were badly wounded in this war. The destruction of several major hives and the fall of the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj were almost a disaster for the Qiraji.
If they want to survive and continue their race, they must find a way out. Otherwise, with the size of the Zerg, being wiped out is not a dream. Especially after Duke showed them the scene of him contacting the Azeroth star soul and destroying C'Thun's body and divine organization with lava, they knew even more clearly that the Zerg's greatest reliance was gone.
In front of Duke, the once extremely arrogant Twin Emperors bent their knees heavily in a uniform movement that was difficult for others to imitate, bending the spine that had only been bent in front of C'Thun.
"Veknilas (Veklor) greets my Lord!"
The scene at this moment was broadcast by the Twin Emperors to the entire Qiraji Zerg through the Zerg's unique mental network.
With this kneeling, the new master-servant relationship was established.
From this moment on, there were no more qiraji serving as servants of C'Thun, only qiraji serving as servants of Edmund Duke.
In the eyes of humans and other races, becoming a slave is absolutely unacceptable.
In the eyes of the Zerg, this is a necessity.
It is an honor to be loyal to the strong in the divine realm and to be under the leadership of the strongest god, even if you are a slave.
At that moment, almost all the surviving Zerg warriors suddenly let out sharp cries. In the caves of Silithus and in the areas of Ahn'Qiraj that had not yet been cleared, the unique screams of the Zerg swarm echoed everywhere.
This scene scared the Alliance and Horde warriors who were already in a state of celebration. Many of them almost dropped the large wine glasses in their hands and looked around for their weapons in a drunken state.
The next moment, Duke's voice was broadcasted to all places connected to the magic network: "I am Edmund Duke, and the Qiraji are now swearing allegiance to me. This is not an enemy attack! Repeat! This is not an enemy attack!"
This message was quickly translated into various languages, including Darnassus, Dwarven, Gnome, and Orcish...
There was a sudden silence in the air, and then, even louder cheers broke out in every corner of Silithus where there were coalition forces.
"Hahaha! I knew it!"
"Bullshit! You were the first one to pee! Did you see that your crotch was wet?"
"Don't talk nonsense! I spilled the wine!"
"Stop talking nonsense! Let's toast to our invincible commander, Lord Edmund Duke—"
"cheers!"
Those heartless guys started drinking happily again.
Only the Horde's top leaders looked unhappy.
Thrall and Vol'jin looked at each other and saw each other's bitterness - the gap between the Alliance and the Horde had widened again.
This time, it can be said that two continents were affected at the same time.
First, the Firelord Ragnaros and the demigod dragon Nefarian caused chaos in the Alliance, and then Naxxramas spread the Scourge back and forth. Finally, the two major troll clans (kingdoms) of Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub launched an attack.
The Horde was simply being buffeted by the Zerg.
The successive disasters on the Eastern Kingdom continent were all successfully extinguished. Although the losses on the battlefield were considerable and many villages and towns were destroyed, they were far from serious.
The development of the Horde suffered a devastating blow. All the newly opened colonies were destroyed, and all the major cities were severely damaged and almost fell.
After a war, it is also a victory. In terms of economy and population, the Horde suffered a huge loss; the Alliance, which got a floating fortress and an entire Zerg, could at least draw a tie, even if it was not a huge profit.
Plus, the Alliance now has Duke, a living, non-divine demigod, as its leader. This gap is so desperate that one can only look up to him.
At this time, Grom stood up: "Captain, I have an idea..."
"Um?"
At the same time, in Naxxramas, Duke gently used his mage's hand to lift up the twin emperors.
"Since you have chosen to pledge allegiance to me, I am not an ungrateful person. These two things will be considered as a welcome gift to you!"
First, Duke gently put the newly acquired ring on Emperor Vek'nilas. Originally, the ring was supposed to be called Ring of the Ancient Gods, symbolizing the power and glory of C'Thun. Now, Duke used his high-intensity divine power to cross out the name on the ring, and wrote a new name Ring of the God Slayer in Common Language next to it.
Then, what was given to Emperor Vek'lor was an Apostle of Argus!
As the saying goes, the mind of an emperor.
How could the Twin Emperors, who are such smart guys, not realize that Duke was warning them not to have any extra thoughts?
Your boss C'Thun seems to be very awesome, right?
Sorry! It was killed with a slap! No matter who did it, it is now a piece of scum.
The Burning Legion seems to have destroyed countless stars. It is invincible in the universe, right?
Haha! I stabbed his boss to death, and his subordinate Archimonde was also stabbed to death by me.
With these two things, at least we don't have to worry about them daring to defect to the Burning Legion or other Old Gods again.
"Thanks, my Lord!" Although he understood it, the Twin Emperors also accepted it.
For a defeated warrior, this is the best outcome. Don't you know that in the Dark Empire, all the defeated warriors were eaten?
Duke had other reasons for his kindness to the Twin Emperors.
He personally promoted six elemental messengers, and their performance was just as Duke expected, fulfilling Duke's duty of extracting magic power from the elemental world and filling the magic network.
From a wizard's perspective, they are absolutely competent and qualified.
However, after the magic network was established, Duke inevitably had greater ambitions.
Ordinary swords are useless against demons that are over five meters tall. The only ways to improve the combat power of mortals are magic and technology.
In terms of technology, Duke has been constantly giving the Alliance all kinds of cool gadgets. The promotion speed seems to have reached its limit at the moment.
It is better to walk on two legs than on one.
If the magic network can be upgraded and strengthened, the Alliance will have the maximum number of mages when the Burning Legion officially invades Azeroth in the future.
From the time the magic network was established and put into trial operation, Duke immediately discovered a tragic problem - he was too busy.
Mechanical replies cannot actually satisfy customers, or the needs of these little mages who will become Duke's dedicated fighters in the future.
No matter where in the world the wizard is, he is a guy with a very big imagination.
If we don't want the magic network to be exploited and abused, we must invest enough wise managers.
Otherwise, the tragedy of "artificial intelligence being turned into artificial idiocy" before Duke's time travel would most likely happen.
As elemental messengers, Sapphiron and Thaddeus are undoubtedly qualified.
But these two guys were more brawn than brains when they were alive, so it would be too difficult for them to be managers. Alonso was also a person with maximal preaching ability but not much management ability.
In practical terms, it was basically the poor Khadgar who was carrying the load, with the help of the administrator Executus and the black witch Falina. One of the latter two guys was a fire demon who acted rudely, and the other could never trust her.
If Khadgar was not a spirit, he might have died of overwork long ago.
Now, Duke can finally add a strong ally to his magic network - Demon King Veklor. As the magic king, he is a rare demigod who is proficient in multiple types of magic. His mental power is extremely strong, and he has been the insect king for thousands of years.
The swarm mind network has always been one of the multi-threaded manipulation capabilities that human mages have always dreamed of. In fact, on Earth in another world, before the development of electronic computers, no one could manipulate hundreds of different things to do different things at the same time.
To be able to do two things at once is already a sign of genius, and to do a hundred things at once... haha!
However, Veklor could do things that were unimaginable in the eyes of humans. In front of him, it was as common as eating and drinking. What really restricted his strength was the total amount of elements that could be extracted per unit time and the problem of element conflicts, rather than multiple casting.
After Duke connected Vek'lor's soul to the magic network and granted him authority second only to Khadgar, Khadgar, who was originally busy to the point of going crazy, was almost scared to death this time.
By randomly connecting to a mental connection and listening to the conversation between Vek'lor and the mage who was connected to the magic network, Khadgar found that he still had a lot to learn.
"I am the new leyline administrator, Vek'lor. Please speak."
"My name is Pete Johnson. I would like to ask if there is any powerful fire magic that can blow up a mountain in one move?"
"Yes, but you can't use it. If you bring up these unrealistic topics again, your access will be blocked."
"So when can I have all the metamagic expertise?"
Vicklor's divine sense extended out of the magic net and scanned the guy: "Not in this lifetime."
"What's your attitude? Don't you know that I'm the famous wizard XXX..." This self-proclaimed noble guy was also angry.
"roll!"
With a click, the magic network connection was directly disconnected, and the guy's access rights were blocked with administrator privileges. Not only that, he was secretly added to the blacklist. If the guy defected to the Scourge or something, magic would be ejected from the magic network to kill him.
Vicklor also has a bad temper. Although he is used to commanding the entire insect swarm with his mind, it does not mean that after he condescends to be an administrator, he has to be as polite as the customer service representative that a certain time traveler met before, who would coax even the idiots with a kind voice.
In Khadgar's opinion, this was definitely an overreaction.
He wanted to say something, but Duke was already shouting "Well done!"
His boss is like this, what else can he say?
Before, Khadgar had been patient in dealing with these guys who were too incompetent and had bad tempers, because the magic network was just being built. Now that Duke had time to set the rules, he could breathe a sigh of relief.
"The magic network appears to be neutral, but it is actually a magic system used by the Alliance military. There is no need to let those guys with excessive self-awareness get away with it. You should set a stricter rule later."
"I understand." Khadgar nodded.
With Vek'lor, Khadgar will become a more senior prosecutor and just supervise Vek'lor.
Duke already has a plan to defeat more magic enemies in the future and capture their souls to fill the magic network and work as a part-time worker.
After Duke hit the twin emperors with a stick, he should have offered a carrot.
Unfortunately, the Twin Emperors are not ordinary guys. Ordinary favors are meaningless to them. The only thing that can enhance their sense of identity is the reproduction and status of the entire Qira Zerg. This is not something that can be achieved overnight.
Fortunately, there is such an opportunity now.
Back in Naxxramas, in the headquarters, Varian attended the victory reception as if going through the motions, and returned to the command room almost immediately. He was reading intelligence about Outland.
Valeera came over and said, "We just won a great victory. Do you want to rest for a while?"
Varian rubbed his brows and said, "What belongs to the gods belongs to the gods, and what belongs to the mortals belongs to the mortals... I didn't understand this sentence before, but now I understand it more deeply. Uncle Duke needs to focus on more important things. He needs to concentrate more on dealing with more powerful enemies. As a junior and a king, I should help where I can."
Broll Bearmantle next to him was about to say something, but saw Valeera shaking her head.
Varian has a good father, he is born noble, and there are so many legendary people around him to look after him. This is fortunate, but also unfortunate.
Because, under the halo of those legendary figures, everything he did seemed dull.
Killing the evil god Hakkar - even if Hakkar is almost the weakest existence in the God Realm, Hakkar is still a god. If it were in the previous 2,800 years of peace, this feat could be boasted for dozens of lifetimes and would be passed down through the ages by countless bards.
Unfortunately, Varian's achievements were completely overshadowed by Duke.
Because also killed at the same time were Ragnaros's clone, the demigod dragon Nefarian, the demigod lich Kel'Thuzad, and the real ancient evil god C'Thun.
This is a shared glory, but also a sorrow that comes with being in the same era as many great men, because in history books, it will only be recorded that the strongest man in the Alliance, Edmund Duke, led a group of heroes to complete this great kill.
Perhaps, historians and upper-class nobles will remember the names of every participant, but unfortunately, ordinary people will only remember the first few names - Duke, Thrall, Magni...
If one were a mediocre person, he would probably become depressed after such a blow and live a mediocre life.
Varian is not, he is eager to prove himself.
Eager, but not extreme.
Fortunately, Duke was a generation older than him, and he did not impose any rules and regulations on him, or force him to do any work or training that he was unwilling to do. Otherwise, in his youth, he might have been distorted and degraded like Arthas due to excessive paranoia.
At this moment, Varian's eyes were full of enthusiasm for work.
"Broll, I need a map of all known Outlands, and reports from all generals sent to Outlands."
Varian thought he would get a color map, but unexpectedly Broll brought the great astrologer Solarian.
Solarian came over and opened her hands, and a three-dimensional map suddenly appeared in the air. The elves' slender fingers flexibly flew over the ground, marking the three-dimensional map with different colors.
Solarian spoke in a clear voice:
"Outland, formerly known as Draenor. 17 years ago, Master Edmund threw the third-generation Horde Chieftain Ner'zhul out of Karazhan, who was in a self-destructive state. At the same time, a huge explosion occurred, because the core of the explosion was located in Draenor. As a result, the entire Draenor became fragmented."
"Outland is now divided into seven regions, namely the Hellfire Peninsula in the east, Netherstorm in the northeast, Blade's Edge Mountains in the northwest, Zangarmarsh in the west, Nagrand in the southwest, Terokkar Forest in the south, and Shadowmoon Valley in the southeast, where Illidan's main force is located."
"The Dark Portal is now in a very stable state. The main gate to Draenor is located at the easternmost part of the Hellfire Peninsula. The first batch of Outland Expeditionary Forces sent out that year established a solid outpost in the eastern part of the Hellfire Peninsula. Recently, Master Edmund upgraded it to a more solid first-level castle Honor Castle, with Lord Danath Trollbane as the supreme commander."
"Here." Solarian pointed, and the three-dimensional image of the void storm in the northeast corner suddenly bulged: "The blood elf detachment led by Prince Kael'thas is supporting the Draenei in defending Storm Fortress. According to intelligence, because a huge mechanical guard Void Mech with a height of more than ten stories was activated, they were able to withstand the siege of tens of thousands of fel orcs with a small number of troops."
At this point, Solarian paused: "Anything you want to ask?"
Varian frowned. "In seven years, the Alliance has only expanded its control area by this much in Outland?"
"Supply is very difficult. There is almost no grass growing on the Hellfire Peninsula. The vast reddish-brown plain is full of mutant creatures. In areas without the protection of the Holy Light Magic Array, the advance troops dare not even drink unfiltered water. Fortunately, when we went there, we brought enough supplies for 30,000 people to use for two years. We relied on measures such as limited supplies to survive the period of loss of contact."
Solarian pointed to the center of the Hellfire Peninsula and said, "Here is the Hellfire Citadel, a fortress of evil orcs that lost their minds after being contaminated by fel energy. According to incomplete statistics, there are more than 200,000 evil orcs gathered here, and their real leader is Magtheridon, the Lord of the Abyss of the Burning Legion. Not only him, but there is also a humanoid, super-giant mechanical creation on the plains, the Fel Mech, which is difficult for our current civilization to understand. According to calculations, it is nearly twenty stories high."
Looking at the appearance and data of the magic mecha projected by Solarian, Varian's brows were furrowed even tighter, forming a narrow "川" character.
Broll sighed. "Nothing but the dwarven Cannon can kill this thing."
Varian: "Won't this thing attack Honor Hold?"
"It will wander around in a fixed area and attack any creature within its sight. This area is right between the Dark Portal and Glory Hold, which brings great trouble to our supply. At least 60% of the horses will be lost every time we resupply."
"horses?"
Solarian emphasized: "Because this place lacks water, and has been ravaged by magic mechas for a long time, the soil is very bad, and the dwarf steam tanks often get stuck and cannot move. So we use the most primitive horses for transportation, and the horses also suffer huge losses due to the lack of necessary water and fodder."
Varian is not a king who has never fought in a war and can only command blindly. Trained in the most orthodox military academy in Stormwind Kingdom, served as a slave gladiator, and personally commanded the war against the Troll Empire in Zul'Gurub. Varian is much stronger than his historical peers.
As soon as he heard it, he understood why he couldn't move forward.
To defeat a powerful enemy, one must have a strong military force or individual combat capabilities that transcend the mortal world. If the Alliance's strong group cannot leave, they can only pile up military forces. Unfortunately, the supply is poor. The distance of more than 200 kilometers from the Dark Gate to Glory Castle is simply fatal.
Varian didn't think that hungry soldiers without supplies could defeat the brutal army of evil orcs.
"Huh! I understand the general situation." Varian let out a long breath: "When other kings come, I will discuss this matter with them..."
Just then, the door suddenly flew open, and Duke came in with a presence that still surprised Varian.
Looking at the other party's cicada-wing wings and four sharp claws, Varian was a little confused: "Uncle Duke, she is... Sartura?"
This female insect-man exuding the aura of a strong person, wearing purple long-sleeved clothes and pants, spoke in an awkward common language: "I... am... Shatura."
Duke raised his hand and said, "Varian, she is Sartura's sister. Although she is a little weaker, I can't find a better helper for you."
Varian understood immediately: "You plan to call the Zerg to Outland?"
Of course, if there are humans and Protoss, how can there not be Zerg?
Duke almost blurted out these words. Alas! Long before World of Warcraft, there was StarCraft!
Ahem! By the way, when the Draenei wore full plate armor, they looked like the Protoss in StarCraft. Not to mention the humans nowadays.
Duke has been feeding in black technology for more than 20 years, so how the hell is the Alliance going to fight a war now?
On both wings of the infantry, tanks led the way, and then self-propelled artillery followed, mounted on the ground.
Fire the Cannons, blast him!
It would be perfect if we could really hack into the Burning Legion's starships.
Although the Alliance now has flying battleships like the Skybreaker, the rivets used to stitch the steel plates are bigger than a human fist and look low-grade no matter how you look at it!
As for race, it doesn't matter so much.
Now there are only three queens left in the Qiraji, all of them are under the ground of Ahn'Qiraj, and have become Duke's servants. As long as there is enough meat, they can continuously create a terrible army of insects.
In the harsh environment of the Outlands, it is impossible to deal with something as delicate as a warhorse. Insects are just right, and it doesn't hurt to see them die.
Varian was happier to see Shatura than to see his own queen. Being smart, he fully understood Duke's intention.
Varian excitedly saluted Duke with the Alliance military salute: "Your Excellency, Commander, please give your instructions."
Since Varian wanted to do things in a businesslike manner, Duke followed his lead.
"I have more important things to do in Azeroth, a big conspiracy about the Burning Legion. It's not convenient for me to reveal too much now."
Smart people are easy to talk to. Varian understood with just one look from Duke.
The only Burning Legion boss who can make Duke worry so much is Kil'jaeden.
right!
Kil'jaeden the Deceiver!
If it's this guy, then it's only natural that Duke will be in charge.
Varian nodded, understanding.
Duke continued, "The full-scale war in Outland will not start so soon. the Alliance has just experienced a series of wars, and no matter the manpower and material resources, it cannot support a full-scale war in a short period of time. Our enemy is not just Illidan. So I hope that your first step is to work with the Horde to open up the road from the Dark Portal to Honor Hold, build two railways, and build a 500-man fortress at the end of each field of vision along the way to ensure our supplies. The ultimate goal is to wipe out the entire Hellfire Peninsula."
Varian's pupils shrank slightly.
Duke's intention was to wipe out all hostile forces and powerful people, including the Hellfire Citadel with hundreds of thousands of evil orcs, the Abyss Lord Magtheridon and the fel mechas.
"How many troops do I have?"
"How many troops to deploy in the early stage depends on the supply. Before the Dark Portal is expanded, including the advance troops of Honor Hold, there will be no more than 50,000 Alliance troops and 3,000 mechanized vehicles."
"And then what? If I take control of Hellfire Peninsula and the Alliance hasn't mobilized yet, what should I do?" Varian asked.
Duke stared into Varian's eyes, seeing only determination and confidence. Duke sighed and pointed to the southwest of Hellfire Peninsula: "Assuming that you have completed your mission perfectly, then on the one hand you can consolidate your position, and on the other hand you can pass through here. If my intelligence is correct, there is a road called the Thorn Trail that leads directly to Terokkar Forest. Going west from here, you will reach the city of Shattrath."
"Shattrath? The main city of the Draenei?" Varian frowned. "Didn't the intelligence say that it was besieged by orcs more than 20 years ago and turned into ruins?"
"That was true until a group of Sha'tar arrived."
The name Sha'tar means "born in the holy light". They are a group of naaru who came to Outland to kill the Burning Legion. The naaru settled in the ruins of Shattrath City.
A small group of surviving Draenei priests continued to perform holy rituals in the ruins of the city's temples. As word of the Sha'tar's arrival spread, these priests, known as the Aldor, quickly regained their vitality. The reconstruction of Shattrath City began quickly. If it weren't for the arrival of another wave of invaders, the reconstruction work would have been completed soon.
Here, the original history took a beautiful turn.
This time the attack did come from Illidan Stormrage's forces.
However, in history, it was a wealthy man who sent a large group of blood elves to destroy the city.
Now it has become the patroller Gargoma from Hell Fortress who leads 10,000 evil orcs to encircle and wipe out the remnants of Shattrath.
When the evil orc army crossed the bridge near the city of Shattrath, the bishops and believers of Aldor also lined up and vowed to defend the Dome of Holy Light to the death.
But then, less than a quarter of an hour after the fierce battle began, the Draenei who were fighting suddenly received reinforcements.
Prince Kael'thas heard that the Draenei were going to kneel, and at Velen's request, he sent his troops from Honor Hold. As a result, when the evil orcs were entangled, this blood elf army attacked directly from behind, using a large amount of magic to set off a grand fireworks display, turning the evil orcs into ashes.
Just as the Draenei were happily welcoming these reinforcements, something unexpected happened:
The blood elves knelt before the Draenei one by one. The leader of the Legion, a blood elf elder named Volenthal, rushed into the Holy Light Dome and asked the Naaru leader A'dal to meet him.
Upon seeing the naaru, Voren'tal knelt and said, "I have seen visions of you, naaru. Only you can save my people. My followers and I are at your service."
Well, someone under Kael'thas has jumped ship!
This life's Kael'thas is not the blood elf prince who was obsessed with magic in history. Although Duke gave him full authority to handle the Alliance's diplomacy in Outland, and even the right to declare war on the Draenei, or to take back these "traitors", Kael'thas said: "If believing in the Holy Light can reduce their addiction to magic, then I respect their choice."
Yes! When the advance army arrived in Outland, they had not received nourishment from the Sunwell for several years, and the magic addiction broke out again among Kael'thas's men. Although it was not fatal, it seriously affected the combat effectiveness of this blood elf army.
As a result, this line of blood elves joined the forces of Shattrath City and called themselves "Astrologers".
Varian rubbed his brows and said, "The forces in the outer realm are so complicated!"
"Are you scared?" Duke smiled.
"A little scared!" Varian admitted.
"Very good. Only by facing the fear in your heart can you truly grow. Just go for it. Even if you blow up the Outer Realm again, I have a way to make up for it for you."
Varian smiled.
"Hey! I wasn't the one who blew up Draenor for the first time!" Varian laughed like a child.
Duke's smile was equally amusing. "It was Kil'jaeden who threw Ner'zhul into my Mage Tower like a bomb. I just threw Ner'zhul back. Can you blame me for blowing up Draenor in the process?"
"Yes, yes, yes! It's Kil'jaeden's fault!" Varian smiled and came over to give Duke a gentle bear hug.
Duke's body was not thin, but Varian inherited his father Llane's genes and grew up to be tall and strong. Wearing thick plate armor and large shoulder armor, he looked almost twice the size of Duke.
When they hugged each other, it seemed as if their seniority was reversed.
It doesn't matter.
For the first time, Varian felt the warmth of family.
Growing up, he was no stranger to Duke, but not familiar with it either.
During his growth period, Duke spent too little time with him. In addition, due to the wrong development direction, he was closer to Anduin, a warrior, rather than Duke, a mage. For more than 20 years, he has never felt like a family member to Duke.
There is an age difference of almost ten years, and theoretically half a generation apart in seniority, but in reality he is a generation lower. After all, Duke is a tough guy who has played with King Llane's father and Lothar.
This feeling is very strange.
The human heart is the most complicated thing in the world. Once upon a time, Varian was like a king, worrying about how to deal with the behemoth of the Edmund family. For a kingdom, this is a typical case of a tail that is too big to be removed.
The king is not a king, and the minister is not a minister.
But when Duke seduced all the queens and female leaders in the Alliance and did not proclaim himself emperor, Varian began to understand that Duke's pursuit had no intersection with his own, like two parallel lines that never intersected, but moved in the same direction.
This feeling became even clearer when he learned that Duke had been promoted to demigod.
Now, if one had to describe his relationship with the Duke, it would be more like an extremely close and reliable alliance rather than the so-called king and duke.
Patting Duke on the back, Varian smiled and said, "For Azeroth."
Duke felt a little dazed, as if his lungs were off, but he still smiled: "Yeah, for Azeroth."
"Yes, what if... I meet Illidan..."
Duke whispered back, "Don't be killed by him, and don't kill him."
"Um?"
"Duke," Duke said in a voice that was only Varian's.
Varian shuddered.
Duke returned to the War of the Ancients to do great things, and had no intention of hiding it from the Alliance's top brass. Apart from the story of accidentally having sex with Tyrande, everyone knew that Duke went to the Burning Legion under the alias "Duke" to stir up trouble.
Duke mentioned this name at this time, doesn't it mean that Illidan is...
No wonder Varian reacted so strongly.
In fact, Duke was not sure whether Yilidan would be like in history, in Cao's camp but with his heart in Han.
Because of Duke's active participation in the War of the Ancients, Illidan could not even show his face. The attention of all the Burning Legion leaders, including Kil'jaeden, was attracted by the "Duke".
Besides, after the twisting void explodes once, will it cause an egg to make a wrong judgment?
After being imprisoned for ten thousand years, would he develop other truly evil thoughts and fall into the path of evil?
This is the real Azeroth!
These are real heroes and villains!
The human heart is the most difficult to guess.
Even Varian has been holding a grudge against Duke for so long, so Duke has no idea what will happen to Illidan.
So Duke added to Varian: "But the human heart is the most difficult to guess. I can't guarantee whether his heart has been corrupted by long-term use of evil, so it is up to you to judge."
"Yeah." Varian nodded heavily.
There is no way to be sure, so we can only classify Illidan as an evil person.
After explaining everything that needed to be said, Duke left the Zerg to Varian and left the command room.
As soon as he went out and turned a corner, Duke suddenly found Magni at the corner, with two secret room guards guarding him.
Magni was in the corner, sitting on the floor drinking from a flat metal bottle.
Duke was stunned for a moment, then smiled: "Are you worried about Varian?"
"Anduin and Llane and I are good brothers. I watched them grow old, and I also watched Varian grow up." Magni's somewhat nonsensical words were a symbol that he regarded Varian as his son.
Duke sighed slightly. A breeze blew through the corridor, causing the wizard's cloak behind Duke to flutter. "It's a pity that I missed a lot."
"I never understood you before. Because in your dictionary, there is no word 'loyalty'. I am very curious, why can a person without loyalty have such great courage and sense of justice?"
Because I am a time traveler!
Duke couldn't say this, he could only say: "I grew up in a place that doesn't belong to the Seven Kingdoms, but was just included in the Stormwind by the way."
There is no such thing as loyalty if you have never received favors.
"Oh, really?"
"If I have to make a distinction, I am only loyal to my own ideals - Azeroth must not perish."
Magni suddenly laughed and handed Duke the metal bottle in his hand. "In this respect, you are better than the traditional Dalaran charlatans. Those guys won't get out of that damn laboratory until their toilets are blown up."
The dwarf king's wine bottle was dirty and had been used for quite a few years, but Duke didn't mind and took a big gulp.
Shit! Is this pure alcohol? Or did some bastard mix 100% medical alcohol with water and give it to Magni?
With this purity, it can definitely be ignited?
What does it mean to have a liquor with an alcohol content of more than 80%?
After drinking it, your whole body will feel like it's on fire, right?
Even though Duke is now a demigod, he can't bear the impact with just his physique.
Duke was furious and secretly transferred that part of the wine to the flame magic circuit. Damn it, you can burn it however you want.
Even the aftermath of the strong liquor still choked Duke almost to death.
"Ahem!"
Seeing Duke cough, Magni and the two secret room guards laughed uncontrollably: "Hahahaha!"
It is a rare thing to see the chief commander of the Alliance and the demigod of the magic network make a fool of himself.
Duke sat down on the ground next to Magni, and this time he took a small sip. After the first sip, he felt much smoother because he was mentally prepared.
"Don't worry, old friend. Although I have never considered Varian a real relative, he is a very important part of Azeroth. Regardless of Anduin or Llane's instructions, I will train him well."
"Um."
Before they knew it, a human and a dwarf were drunk.
Compared to the Alliance, the Horde suffered even more, with human, material and economic resources on the verge of collapse. The only lucky thing was that the Alliance not only did not take advantage of the situation, but instead raised the purchase price of minerals and other materials. And it directly exchanged the Horde's most scarce food and medicine.
He could shamelessly ask the Alliance for supplies. Vol'jin now felt like a beggar, running to the Alliance every day to ask for disaster relief supplies.
But human power is not enough.
Unless all orcs are genetically modified to change their race, no matter what Thrall does, he will not be able to create a population of hundreds of thousands in a short period of time.
There are 150,000 adult orcs, 50,000 tauren, 20,000 trolls, the Forsaken claim to have more than 20,000, and 38,000 goblins.
The total adult population of the Horde is less than 300,000, which is not even as large as a human kingdom.
What's worse is that this number is inflated. Most of the Hordesmen are rough and illiterate. They are lucky if they can count to three. Those who have some education have become shamans.
Do you think the shaman would be the neighborhood auntie who takes census for you?
This number was calculated with the help of the unreliable goblins and the Forsaken.
Since the tribal territory was vast and sparsely populated in the standard sense, transportation was inconvenient, and many villages did not contact the outside world for ten days or half a month. No one knew whether they were destroyed or not.
All Thrall knew was that letters for help were coming to Orgrimmar like snowflakes, asking for people, food, and wood to build houses. Thrall was overwhelmed.
Just at this time, the Alliance made an offer that the Horde could not refuse: a joint expedition to Outland.
In Tanaris, at the Horde's retreat camp, Thrall and a group of chiefs received a visit from Duke.
"What we call Outland and Draenor in the Alliance, and what you call 'our world', still have millions of your orc compatriots there, right? If the Horde is willing to continue to march hand in hand with the Alliance and kill the Burning Legion's detachment led by Illidan, the Alliance doesn't mind the Horde migrating the orcs from Outland to the Horde territory on the continent of Kalimdor. We can even open the portal between the Dark Portal and Theramore to allow the immigrants to arrive as soon as possible."
Duke had a faint smile on his face when he said this, as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with the Alliance. The relaxed and comfortable look made the eyelids of the three Horde leaders, Thrall, Vol'jin, and Orgrim, twitch wildly.
With their hometown about to collapse, the orcs were forced to cross the Dark Portal and launch the First Battle of the Dark Portal in an attempt to conquer the world of Azeroth... Thrall has been hearing such stories since he was old enough to understand.
To Thrall, the word "our world" seemed both distant and unfamiliar, yet also familiar and within reach.
Regardless of whether this can be blamed on the conspiracy of the Burning Legion, in the past twenty-five years, first Gul'dan, who had seized power in the Horde, abused the fel energy and made the orcs' homeland a turbulent mess and the land withered, and then Ner'zhul committed suicide by blowing up his homeland again.
Just looking at the tragic images of the Hellfire Peninsula provided by Duke, Thrall and other tribal leaders felt a pang of pain in their hearts.
"It's even more dilapidated than before!" Orgrim said in a voice that sounded like a dream.
Looking back to the past, the old tribe assembled an army of millions and gathered in front of the Dark Portal, hoping to destroy all enemies with crude weapons and the orcs' strong bodies.
pity...
The past was gone in the blink of an eye, and millions of troops were wiped out.
The past is past, and what lies before the Horde is a choice without alternatives.
Privately, every orc is a brother or sister. It is impossible for Thrall to abandon his compatriots and leave them to die in a world that is gradually being destroyed.
In the public, the addition of millions of orcs will definitely greatly enhance the strength of the Horde.
It doesn't matter which chief it is, I can't imagine any reason to refuse.
With just a few simple eye exchanges, the Horde reached internal consensus.
Thrall said in his deep voice: "Fighting the evil Burning Legion and saving compatriots is the duty and obligation of the Horde. the Horde will strike."
Duke nodded gently: "Very good."
Then, Duke's eyes were like lightning, sweeping across the entire place. The weaker chiefs did not dare to look into Duke's eyes, which were full of elemental fluctuations and divinity, and all bowed their heads.
"I know the Horde still has doubts about whether the Alliance is too good to the Horde."
"..." The wise men led by Vol'jin were silent. Only Vol'jin raised his head and looked at Duke without fear.
Not only him, every chief was waiting for an answer.
Duke smiled casually: "Everyone here, even the chieftains who have directly fought against the Burning Legion, may still have the impression of the Burning Legion when hundreds of thousands of demons swept across Mount Hyjal, right?"
Grom and others nodded.
"With the help of the power of Nozdormu, the Dragon King of Time and Space, I went back to the Ancient War ten thousand years ago..." Duke waved his hand lightly, and a three-dimensional projection of a battle scene suddenly appeared in front of the tribal chiefs.
"Hiss——" Many chiefs gasped on the spot.
They saw the extremely powerful boar god Agamemgan, who used his violent charge to easily knock away a large number of demons, and used his long fangs to tear into pieces everything that stood in his way.
In the southern part of the Barrens, the core area of the tribal territory, there are two places, Razorfen Fell and Razorfen Marsh. Most of the tribal chiefs are well aware of the ferocity of the wild boars and wild boars in these places.
When they saw Agamemagan, who was worshipped by the wild boar people, the real recognition and feelings they felt shocked their hearts far more than any other demigod.
However, this seemingly invincible and powerful demigod eventually exhausted his physical strength and life under the siege of tens of thousands of demons, and was eventually killed by two primary void lords...
Not only Agamemgan, but also a large number of demigods, including Malorne the White Stag, who was hailed as the number one god of the wilderness of Azeroth, died in this battle.
The five-minute video was quickly played. In the huge tent, only the howling wind from the Tanaris Desert could be heard.
Duke's voice was apparently calm, but anyone could feel that it was full of sonorous temperament that it sounded again.
"In the War of the Ancients, demigods were worse than dogs, and heroes were everywhere. Do you want the answer? This is the answer. So what if the Alliance allowed millions of Horde members to enter Azeroth? It's just a few million more Cannon fodder. That's right! When the Burning Legion really invades, millions of Horde members are Cannon fodder, and tens of millions of Alliance members are also Cannon fodder. You are Cannon fodder, and even I, a demigod, am Cannon fodder. In the face of absolute destructive power, there is no difference between us."
At some point, Thrall and the other chiefs began breathing heavily.