Chapter 956 - Offer

Duke's speech continued.

"But we are also very lucky. Azeroth is the only planet in the vast universe that currently has a super strong planetary protection array. As long as the array is functioning normally, we don't have to worry about the strongest demons of the Burning Legion directly breaking into Azeroth. Archimonde can't do that, Kil'jaeden can't do that, and even Sargeras can't do that."

"Work hard. If we don't want our descendants to be enslaved by demons and our homeland to be destroyed once again, we can only work together."

Duke's words struck every chief's heart like a huge hammer, and were thought-provoking.

If Duke had said this during the first Battle of Dark Gate, he would probably have been laughed at.

But after going through so much, especially after Mount Hyjal, the Horde has come to realize how powerful and terrifying the enemy is.

Duke's seemingly overly generous behavior was, in the final analysis, determined by the huge difference in realm and vision between the leaders of the Alliance and the Horde. In the face of the Burning Legion, an extremely powerful enemy that would become almost impossible to resist if not handled with care, the grudges between the Alliance and the Horde were nothing more than a minor matter.

"Duke, we understand. Let the Alliance and the Horde continue to work together to resist the Burning Legion." Thrall punched himself heavily on the chest: "I swear that as long as the Alliance does not betray the covenant, the Horde will be an ally of the Alliance during my lifetime."

Duke nodded: "I also swear that as long as the Horde does not betray the covenant, the Alliance will not take the initiative to attack the Horde."

One pair is big, one pair is small.

Four hands with very different painting styles were tightly clasped together.

"Thrall, as you know, I have been promoted to a Demigod of the Demonic Web. I really can't leave now. Varian Wrynn will come to discuss with the Horde later on the specific matters of the expedition to Outland."

"good!"

When Duke and Thrall finished discussing the major principles, Grom suddenly stood up.

"Hey, old friend, what's up?" Duke asked with a smile.

The famous Roaring Master...is old.

Time has left deep marks on this legendary hero who experienced three battles at the Dark Gate, the Battle of Mount Hyjal, and the Battle of Ahn'Qiraj.

Grom had lost one hand and had lost a lot of hair on top of his head, leaving it in a bald style. The remaining hair was simply tied together randomly and pinned behind his head like a scallion.

The once resolute face is now covered with wrinkles.

And the gray beard and even the body hair make people feel heartbroken at the first sight.

Is this still the same Lord Roar who sent Cenarius to death with one axe and killed an abyss lord instantly?

Duke said nothing, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

It was his action that saved this legendary hero from death before the Battle of Mount Hyjal.

It was also because of his actions that he truly saw what it meant for a hero to be old in his twilight years.

In the entire battle of Ahn'Qiraj, Grom had no outstanding performance at all.

Perhaps, letting Grom die as he did in history is the best fate for such a brave orc warrior.

On the surface, Duke showed no expression, but his heart was filled with regret.

Duke's thoughts were captured very well by Grom.

Grom Hellscream has never been a man with delicate emotions. When a person gets older, he will see many things that he cannot see when he is young.

Grom's face twitched suddenly, his shoulders trembled, but he still spoke. His voice was filled with some strange power, as if taking everyone back to the long river of history.

"I spent the first half of my life fighting for my clan, and the second half fighting for my tribe."

"I have made many mistakes - I was the first to drink the blood of the demon, massacre humans, and accidentally killed the demigod Cenarius, putting the Horde in a passive position..."

"I have experienced pain, loss, and even lost myself in the addiction to demon blood."

"But I never regretted it, because I swore that I would chop the Horde's enemies with my axe for the rest of my life."

"Now it seems that I am not far from achieving this goal."

When Grom said this, all the chiefs, including Thrall, fell silent.

Grom's decline in combat power was visibly evident. His movements were slower, his strength was reduced, and as a result, he was no longer the spearhead of the Horde's attacks.

This is the inevitable fate of every tribal warrior who did not die on the battlefield.

In the past years, we have seen too many such warriors. Generally speaking, in order to end their own lives, they even do not hesitate to fight to grab the vanguard position in the war.

Or challenge a monster that is recognized as powerful, prove yourself, or disappear forever from the sight of your compatriots.

Grom longed for the final glory, but he could never get it.

Even the authentic god C'Thun is dead, but he still lives on in this world.

This time, he suffered some serious internal organ damage, and even the power of the Holy Light and the Shaman could not heal him. Healing magic can repair the body, but it cannot fight aging.

He is almost sixty years old.

Orc warriors are often bad at math, and they don't even know how old they are. But this age is an incredibly old age, even for a shaman who rarely goes to the front line.

It is foreseeable that if there is another battle, his performance will be even worse.

Thrall vaguely guessed the reason for Grom's actions.

Grom turned and said to Thrall: "Warchief, I am old, and it is likely that I can no longer serve the Horde."

Although Thrall wanted to comfort Grom, he didn't know where to start.

Orgrim beside him moved his lips for a while, perhaps trying to persuade him to become a Death Knight as well, but Orgrim remained silent in the end.

An old and frail orc hero wouldn't be much stronger even if he became a Forsaken warrior.

Orgrim himself is the best example. His current strength cannot be compared with that of twenty-two years ago.

Thrall finally sighed and said, "Grom, you have done a good job. the Horde thanks you for fighting for more than 20 years. If there is anything else you want to do, go ahead and do it."

"Thank you, Chief!" Grom knelt on his knees and kowtowed heavily.

When he stood up again, there was no more confusion on his face, and he turned to look at Duke.

"Orcs will always avenge their grudges and repay their kindness. I owe you my life, and it seems I will never be able to repay it in this lifetime."

"You don't have to worry about it..." Duke stopped talking halfway because he saw Grom's fiery eyes.

"My life belongs to the Horde. Before the end of my life, even the last second has nothing to do with you, Edmund Duke. But from the moment my life ends, I swear that my soul will belong to you. As long as it is not against the Horde, you can command me forever. I, Grom Hellscream, will never have a single complaint!"

That's right, being loyal to Duke, a demigod, theoretically can bring many benefits, such as immortality and power.

However, Duke never thought that a strong-willed man like Grom would choose to join him because of something that mortals desire but cannot reach.

A true hero ignores life and death.

To have such a result, all we can say is - you reap what you sow!

Without Duke saving Grom's life over and over again;

No Duke handled relations with the Horde impartially;

It is impossible to gain the allegiance of a legendary hero like Grom.

To this day, even if Grom died of old age in his bed in such a cowardly way, he would still be the most outstanding hero of the Horde and would be remembered by countless future generations.

If Grom chooses to repay the favor, it may lead to his "lifelong reputation being ruined overnight".

It is impossible for the orcs to accept a hero who "betrays" his soul after death, even if this hero made great contributions to the Horde during his lifetime.

Without the interference of demon blood, the general values ​​of the orcs have returned to what they were before they fell into madness. They are typical natural people who believe in the soul returning to the earth and long for the blessing of their ancestors.

Although they could reluctantly accept Orgrim, a Forsaken who had returned from the dead, it did not mean that they respected Orgrim from the bottom of their hearts.

This natural contradiction between life and death cannot be easily reconciled.

So Grom's approach is a contradiction in itself.

National glory?

Or is it one's own righteousness?

This approach can neither be said to be wrong nor correct.

But no one can deny that if Grom, a legendary hero, becomes a soul messenger under Duke, it will undoubtedly deepen the bond between the Horde and the Alliance.

Most likely, this will become a brand new bridge of incalculable value.

This may not be an opportunity for the Hordes that are in a weaker position.

At this moment, all eyes are on Duke.

There was a faint smile on Duke's lips, and what was more eye-catching was his open arms.

"I am not a hypocritical person. Under my command, since there can be a black witch who once committed many evil things, a paladin who turned into a monster, and a frost dragon that once ravaged the continent, why can't there be an orc hero? As long as they have the same goal of fighting against the Burning Legion and defending Azeroth, I welcome all the strong to join. So, welcome, Grom!"

"Duke..." Unconsciously, Grom felt himself choking.

In his life, he never knelt before anyone. Even before the two great chiefs, he only bowed and saluted, beating his strong chest with his fists.

But at this moment, he had the urge to kneel down on one knee.

Not for loyalty, not for the formal master-servant relationship, but simply because of Duke's broad-mindedness that allowed him to abandon hatred and narrow national prejudice for the sake of the world.

He just bent down and found himself being hugged by Duke.

In terms of physique, it looks ridiculous. Although Duke is over 1.8 meters tall, for a burly orc who is 2.40 meters tall, he still looks like a child hugging an adult.

Grom was stunned for a moment, then bent down and gently patted Duke's back with his only remaining right arm.

It has nothing to do with race or identity, we are just comrades with the same goal.

"Clap! Clap! Clap, clap, clap!" Thrall, the chieftain, was the first to applaud.

The deep applause woke everyone up. With Thrall taking the lead, the chiefs began to follow suit and encourage humans. Palms as big as palm leaves began to clap.

"Congratulations, Grom!" Orgrim said from the bottom of his heart. It was a pity that the undead had no tears, otherwise he might have shed tears of excitement at this moment.

"Bless you, Grom!" Thrall had a sincere smile on his face. He was in a complicated mood. The chieftain he relied on the most was about to reach the end of his life, but he chose a path that no orc had ever taken.

Perhaps this will be a new glorious beginning, or perhaps it will be an unknown tribulation and curse.

Even if he didn't think Duke would look down on Grom, what if the Alliance and the Horde broke up in the future? Thinking of this, Thrall couldn't suppress his uneasiness.

However, as long as he is still the Warchief, the Horde will not go wrong and embark on the road of no return to confront the Alliance, right?

After the hug, Duke turned to Thrall and said, "I'm busy. In the next few days, I will focus on the expansion and stability of the magic network. Regarding the situation in Azeroth, please find Magni. Regarding the Outland Expedition, please find Varian."

"clear."

Duke is gone. As a newly promoted demigod, he has as many things to do as the stars in the sky.

After Duke left, Grom announced that he would publicly recruit disciples in Orgrimmar. He wanted to make good use of the last moments of his life to pass on his martial arts and skills to the next generation.

While alive, he belonged to the Horde.

After his death, he played for Duke.

Silithus, the evacuation is still going on. The Qiraji swore allegiance to Duke, which many people thought was not an absolute guarantee. Duke did not object, and agreed with the night elves' opinion of retaining Cenarion Fortress, and promised to strengthen the railway from Tanaris to Un'Goro Crater and then to Silithus.

On the one hand, it is for surveillance, and on the other hand, it is also a disguised way to increase the Alliance's territory.

It is definitely a huge project to release the insects from Ahn'Qiraj to the Dark Portal thousands of miles away. The insects' physical strength is not infinite. The huge size and powerful combat power come at the cost of an astonishing appetite.

If the Qiraji really migrates, it would probably be no different from the Qiraji sweeping across the Kalimdor continent.

Thinking of this, Duke felt overwhelmed.

The Qiraji, which numbers in the tens of thousands, simply cannot use portals. Otherwise, the astonishing consumption of magic power would be too much for even Duke, a demigod of the magic web, to withstand.

But there is a way -

Emperor Vek'nilas smiled and gave Duke an idea: "Master, all you want is the Qiraji as mounts and combat power in Outland. Why not transport the Qiraji eggs to the Dark Portal and hatch them?"

Uh, is there such a thing?

Duke's face flushed. "Okay, your suggestion is good. But I'm worried that the cursed land where the Dark Portal is located will affect the will of the newly born Qiraji. Let's set the hatching point at the junction of the Land of Sorrow and Deadwind Pass."

The Land of Sorrows is the Swamp of Sorrows. In order to ensure the supply line between Stormwind Kingdom and Nethergarde, the Swamp of Sorrows has been mostly gone after nearly 20 years of reclamation since the Dark Portal. It has all become military farmland. Only the eastern Temple of Atal'Hakkar and the Pool of Tears surrounding the temple still have swampy landforms.

The south is a cursed land, of course, and although Hakkar in the east is dead, there is no guarantee that he still has some willpower left after his death to trouble the Alliance, so setting the hatching point next to Karazhan may be a form of surveillance.

This is the best choice.

"Master is wise." Viknilas bowed.

Once the matter was settled and the Alliance affairs were handed over, Duke opened a portal and ran to Darnassus, where he visited the Moon Goddess Elune in the Temple of the Moon.

Under the night sky, Duke waited for the will of the goddess.

There is no aggressive momentum, no supreme majesty, only a gentle breath, just like the watery moonlight.

"Thank you, Edmund Duke, you have done a lot for the world. I am glad that my vision has been proven right again."

If giving Tyrande to Duke in the War of the Ancients 10,000 years ago was a bit of a broken jar, Elune is more relieved now. After more than 10,000 years of living together, she has long regarded Tyrande as her own daughter. In fact, she has been in contact with Tyrande for even longer than with her own son Cenarius.

Duke looked up first, then nodded: "Everything for Azeroth."

The goddess gave a heartfelt compliment: "Ah! How rare! You know, many wilderness gods don't have your awareness."

"I rose because of Azeroth, and I am extraordinary because of it. My thoughts and will in this regard should be consistent with yours, Elune."

"indeed."

"Why did you call me here this time?"

"The world has been cleared of its abscesses, which is a good thing in the long run. But in the short term, the world's will, which has been damaged, will fall asleep. You and I are the few beings in this world who can influence the situation. I hope to work together to protect this world while it heals."

"Of course."

"I've heard about the Alliance's plan to march to Draenor. What I mean is that you must not leave Azeroth. I also know that this request may be a bit excessive, but I can feel that evil is eyeing Azeroth. Not only unknown enemies, but even the Lich King Arthas in the far north. He woke up at the moment we killed C'Thun."

Duke frowned when he heard the goddess' words.

the Alliance had not yet recovered and the magic network was just being built, so Duke asked Varian to fight the outpost battle. In Duke's mind, it was no problem for Varian to gain some experience and fight against Vashj and the like. It was irresponsible to ask him to deal with Illidan, who had just absorbed a lot of evil and was in his prime.

Duke was not sure if there was still such a thing as the protagonist's halo in this world. Anyway, the original three-level mage Khadgar, who could destroy the world, died a long time ago, which was an indisputable fact.

If Varian, who was supposed to become the leader of the Alliance, died in Outland prematurely, Duke would be guilty of a great sin.

On the other hand, since Elune mentioned Arthas, Duke cannot help but be on guard.

No one could guarantee that Arthas would wait until Illidan and Kil'jaeden were both kneeling before running out.

What is a hero?

A hero is someone who can do what others cannot.

A hero can endure and wait, but he will never sit and wait for death.

If Arthas were to discover that Duke was preparing to launch a blitzkrieg against Icecrown Citadel in Draenor, even if he was not in his complete form, he would immediately jump out and fight Duke for three hundred rounds.

"Huh!" Duke let out a long breath, thought it over again, looked at Tyrande next to him, and met her expectant eyes: "Okay! I promise you."

Elune breathed a sigh of relief: "It's a wise and reasonable decision. The star soul of Draenor has been annihilated. Even if you descend there in your original form, you will only be a stronger mortal. Once you encounter misfortune, the divinity of Azeroth in you will become the key for the Burning Legion to open the protective array of Azeroth."

Duke understood what Elune said. If the main body went there, even if he won, it wouldn't be much good, and if he lost, he would lose even his pants.

In the past, those who went barefoot were naturally not afraid of those who wore shoes.

It's easy to be fearless when you have nothing.

Now Duke's family is huge and he has the highest quality harem in all of Azeroth. It is because he has something to protect that he has the motivation to become the guardian of the world.

Knowing that it might be a trap, you still foolishly jump into it. This kind of deal is obviously not going to work!

"Elune, Illidan Stormrage is very powerful now. He is not an existence that other mortals can easily deal with. Is there any way..."

The moonlight in the sky flickered. It was clearly just an illusory female projection. Elune smiled slyly and said, "If you promise not to kidnap my high priest before you become a true god, I will teach you a little magic."

Duke was speechless.

As expected... was he seen through?

Duke came this time, firstly to listen to Elune's ideas, and secondly to formally take Tyrande away. It's OK for the leader of the night elves to be your lover, but it's a bit troublesome for your lover to be the high priest of another god.

Duke and Elune both knew that there was no conflict of interest between them, and it should be fine for them to be long-term allies. However, Tyrande's existence obviously involved a conflict of doctrine.

The high priest is the highest representative of a god in the mortal world, and his faith and ability are absolutely impeccable. Conversely, because of his absolute faith, the god only needs a thought to turn his high priest into ashes.

Duke didn't want Tyrande to have a sword of Damocles hanging around her neck all day, so it was necessary for Tyrande to convert. Even if she didn't believe in him, being a nonbeliever or something else would be better than now.

This is a matter of principle.

Duke hadn't even told Tyrande about this. Instead, Elune had thought of it and told him first.

"Goddess - I have never thought of giving up my faith in you." Tyrande was a little overwhelmed.

"Child, this is not about loyalty. It is rare for Azeroth to have a powerful and enterprising demigod with a firm will to fight against evil. As long as you have no objection, I would like to see you become our bond."

The moonlight gently spread down, like a mother's hand, gently holding Tyrande's blue hair.

"this..."

Elune looked at Duke again with divine thoughts: "However, Tyrande has served me for more than ten thousand years. Everyone in the night elves and even the Cenarion Circle has accepted this fact. It is not easy to change. At least let Tyrande train an excellent successor... at least you have to become a true god... When Tyrande takes that step, it will be easier."

Duke bowed slightly. "Your wisdom is unparalleled. I agree."

"Thank you for your understanding." Elune sent a divine thought into Duke's sea of ​​consciousness.

After discussing the situation of Azeroth a little more, the Goddess's will disappeared.

"Duke, you..." Tyrande's expression was extremely complicated.

"Elune is a kind goddess. Can't you see that she is blessing us?" Duke gently pulled Tyrande into his arms. Before they knew it, they were already holding hands.

a long time.

"You go back first. My mind is a little confused."

"Um."

That night, Duke did not stay overnight but returned to Karazhan.

Back in the core area of ​​Karazhan, Duke sat on the Elemental Throne with a majestic look.

"What is the reaction of the users of the magic network?" Duke could easily monitor the status of the magic network, but it was impossible for him to communicate directly with the users like Khadgar.

Khadgar thought for a second or two. "Most of them praised this as a groundbreaking feat. It is simple, fast, and safe. The only problem is that they hope to increase the upper limit of magic power usage and further reduce the requirements for magic usage."

"Veto them. We are not the Church of Holy Light that saves everyone. The greedy people who do not comply with equal exchange will be directly punished in various ways, ranging from disconnection from the Internet to killing." Duke made the decision on the spot.

"Understood." Emperor Veklor nodded. He didn't like scolding people, but killing people. The insect swarm didn't have that complicated thinking, and they would just kill those disobedient insects. Now that he recognized Duke as his master, he could only obey.

After dealing with several urgent issues, Duke began to replan the distribution of the magic network.

In Duke's mind, the magic network is not only the Internet of the magic world, but also a warning network, a permanent backing that can provide magical support to his own wizards anytime and anywhere, allowing them to cast high-level magic beyond the standard.

In the early stage of the magic network, you can simply arrange controlled magic flow channels in major cities.

However, once the magic network begins to take shape, it is no longer so easy to inject elements into it.

The spiritual power that the magician contributes to the magic network cannot be recovered at will.

All forces should be guided and filtered in a standardized manner.

This is like a water plant. After drawing large amounts of water from a clean water source, it cannot simply deliver the water to thousands of households.

First, filtration is needed: from the simplest sedimentation tank, to the high-density filter net with strong adsorption, to chemical disinfection treatment.

Then we will conduct tests: from microorganisms and bacteria to whether chemical substances exceed the standard.

The final finished tap water can be released and circulated to users.

What Duke is trying to do is very similar to a water plant.

In the past, mages simply and crudely introduced elements from the elemental world into their own bodies, combined them with the magic power in the magic circuit, and then released them to shape them into magic.

There is a serious problem of insufficient filtration here.

If the magic network is to attract all mages to use it, the magic power must first be pure.

At the same time, the recovered spiritual power is used to unify the spiritual power and imprint the will on the magic power of the entire demon king. This can effectively prevent the magic network from being abused by outsiders or having its control stolen.

Finally, why are magic spells so long?

It's not because it takes so many spells to call the elements, but because it takes so many spells to stabilize the elements and make them controllable. Throughout the ages, in order to make magic produce complex magic reactions and try to prevent the magic elements from overwhelming the magician's body, magic researchers have racked their brains.

To surpass these magic pioneers, the magic network must do this: when a wizard makes a request to cast a spell, the magic model must be constructed in the shortest possible time and delivered to the wizard safely and quickly.

After achieving the above three points, the final key is to ensure that the magic network has a wide coverage.

It's like a mobile phone. No matter how fancy it is, it will be useless if there is no signal.

How to expand the magic network to every corner of Azeroth is Duke's future task. It can be predicted that this will be a very long process.

"Phew - luckily I still have time." After Duke expressed his ideas and design intentions, the rest was left to several elemental messengers to discuss and implement.

Returning to the bedroom, Duke found that Jaina was already there.

"It's rare that you come so early. I thought you would be busy for a while before coming over?" Duke's teasing was not casual.

There are so many kings in the Alliance, and Jaina is definitely the busiest one right now. When the Horde was hit by a disaster, most of the Alliance's aid materials were first transported to Theramore and then transferred to inland rivers by small boats or offshore flatbed boats.

Later, once the orc migration to Outland begins, the orcs from the Dark Portal will also be sent to Theramore through the portal in Nethergarde.

Basically, there are as many important things that require Jaina's personal approval as the stars in the sky.

Jaina pulled her brilliant golden hair together and smiled charmingly: "Please, the one who asked me to come is my most respected teacher and the man I love the most. Even if you are bored and suddenly want to ask me to discuss the flow of magic in the M-shaped posture, I have to come!"

Duke held his forehead with his hand: "Am I such a person who can't distinguish between public and private affairs?"

Jaina smiled without saying anything, clearly saying - you are it!

"Well, plans have changed. I'm not going to the Outlands anymore."

"Um?"

"I was originally planning to go, but Elune persuaded me not to. She didn't want me to leave Azeroth while the Azeroth Star-Soul was sleeping."

"Even if Goddess Elune didn't tell me, I was going to persuade you. Now that the decision has been made, it's better... What new plans do you have now?"

"I plan to focus on expanding the magic network. I don't think I can spare the time. Please help me open the Dark Portal."

"good!"

On July 5, 22nd year of the Dark Portal, the Alliance and the Horde decided to send out a coalition army again. This time, the Horde sent 40,000 troops, led by WarWarchief Thrall himself, to join the Alliance's 50,000 troops and gather at the Dark Portal.

The huge door in front of me exudes an ominous aura.

The dry red earth is filled with excessive cleanliness.

There is no life, no breath, and even no taste. Thrall, who was born in the human kingdom, once thought that the horrible Barrens or the dry Silithus Desert were the worst places. He did not expect that this cursed land would bring him an even deeper shock.

"Is this the Dark Portal in the Cursed Lands?" Thrall whispered.

"Yes! Our people are at the other side of the gate." Orgrim said softly.

"It's time!" Not far away, Varian was riding a red four-legged insect. The sharp black claws and long legs of the insect looked completely inconsistent with Varian's silver-white armor.

However, whether it is the Alliance or the Horde, it is like this, so no one should laugh at anyone else.

Thrall nodded to Varian.

Varian pulled out one of his great swords and held it aloft. The sunlight reflected off the blade, emitting a blinding brilliance.

Not far away, Jaina, standing on a high magic circle, began to chant a spell. It was a restriction imposed on the Dark Portal, preventing it from gaining power from anywhere around it.

In the huge door, a psychedelic wave of black and green mixed appeared, like rolling mud.

The next moment, before the portal was fully formed, countless demons rushed out from the Dark Portal!

"Swish, swish, swish—"

Accompanied by the sharp sound of breaking wind, black shells flew past the neat coalition army columns. They were like a flock of migratory birds, blocking out the sky, except that they flew lower and lower.

They fired so densely according to pre-determined shooting parameters that they covered the demon army like a black quilt.

The floating fortress of Naxxramas, plus the artillery positions of Nethergarde that stretched for several kilometers, fired thousands of huge Cannons at the same time, and the barrage formed turned the entire sky into a black tide, slamming heavily into the turbulent torrent of demons.

The process of the shell exploding seemed very slow.

Even from two or three kilometers away, one could clearly see the huge demon being blown into pieces, and then the broken limbs and debris exploded into the sky.

The slowness is just an optical illusion.

With the red earth as the backdrop, waves of artillery shells whistled through the void. Some stray bullets even brushed past the sky above the coalition formation and exploded into the open space in front of the formation, sending up clouds of mud and rubble.

This is not the first time I have seen the Alliance's artillery array.

Every time I witness it, I still feel my blood boiling and I can't control myself.

Thrall suddenly felt fortunate that the Horde warriors did not have to brave such terrible artillery fire to attack the Alliance positions.

Long-range artillery fire.

Sniper arrow bursts.

Magic saturation attack.

The javelin volley pierced.

Without passing through these four lines of death, it is impossible to reach the Alliance's position.

However, now the unlucky ones were the demons of the Burning Legion. A few elite demons with no eyes tried to charge forward with the shells, but their fate was no better than that of the ordinary ones before.

the Alliance has artillery of larger calibers. Anyone who is not immune to fire damage or has a wide-area protective shells magic shield will die if they encounter it.

Sure enough, in less than half a minute, those guys were blown into pieces by the "Little Cannon"-level mortars.

For a moment, Thrall was a little worried that such a fierce bombardment would destroy the Dark Portal along with it.

However, he saw a surprising scene: under the fierce bombardment, the Dark Portal was indeed flickering in the flames, as if it would collapse at any time, but this did not happen.

An inexplicable magical force drove away the shells flying from any direction.

There it stands, at the center of the horizon.

In perception, it does not exist.

The Dark Portal itself is a special existence that appears to be located in the center of the Cursed Land, but is actually located in a different spatial dimension.

The violent bombardment continued, the demons crashed into the shells, and the broken limbs and flesh fell like heavy rain.

In the end, even the tribal army became a little numb.

The orc warriors were yawning, the tauren warriors were scratching their butts, as if the Alliance artillery were not killing any powerful demons that could massacre an entire village, but a group of moving targets.

The artillery fire continued for about ten minutes, and then Jaina's voice came through the magic communication.

"There aren't many demons left."

The gunfire ceased within a minute.

Thousands of Cannons fired continuously, and the scene was quite shocking, but unfortunately the cost was also astronomical.

If it weren't for the fact that Duke recently used gold as collateral to grandly launch a new currency nicknamed 'Azeroth Soft Sister RMB', which was very popular and won unanimous recognition from the Alliance and the Horde, and to some extent filled the empty treasuries of various countries by issuing more currency, the Alliance's quartermasters and internal affairs officers would probably have jumped into the river.

"Woo-woo-woo--" The orc trumpeter blew a huge horn, and the desolate and heroic sound echoed in the cursed land.

That was the call to attack.

"Attack!" Thrall raised the Doomhammer high, squeezed the white-haired war wolf under his crotch with his legs, and led the crowd to charge forward.

It has to be said that on a battlefield full of huge pits more than one meter deep, the War Wolf mount is more useful than the Alliance warhorse. A large pit where a steam tank would collapse can be easily crossed by a War Wolf with a single leap, and as a native breed of Draenor, it does not have the problem of acclimatization. As long as there is enough meat, the War Wolf is one of the most ideal Outland mounts.

Fortunately, this time the Alliance doesn't have to envy the Horde.

After seeing the Horde army quickly overwhelm the scattered demons in front of the Dark Portal and then enter the Dark Portal in an orderly manner, Varian squeezed the slightly hard insect abdomen, and the black-bottomed red-ringed insect under his crotch, which looked like a small car, immediately spread out its four sickle-like long legs and began to run forward wildly.

As soon as he passed through the Dark Portal, he felt a trance, a bit like the weightlessness of falling from a high altitude. But it was only for a moment, and soon he and the bug turned into a stream of light, crossing the void measured in light years.

When he came to his senses, he was already being carried by the insects, charging towards the space outside the Dark Portal in a long and wide illusory passage.

Outside the door, there was a pitch-black sky with a fiery red background.

In front of the Alliance soldiers, reflected in their vision, two armies were fighting a life-and-death battle on the same red land in front of them.

All the sounds of fighting seemed to be isolated outside an invisible air curtain. The moment Varian led the vanguard knights of the Griffin Legion to rush out of the Dark Portal, the deafening sound waves were like waves crashing on the shore, hitting the faces fiercely and violently impacting the eardrums of everyone present.

What Varian saw was the huge Lord of the Abyss, the stone giant Hellfire covered in green flames, and the demon guards and doom guards of all sizes.

The only good thing is that the number of these demons is not so great that it makes people despair.

Sensing the arrival of the Alliance, Thrall consciously moved the battle line toward the north of the Dark Portal.

"Alliance - attack!" Varian took the lead and attacked towards the south.

the Alliance army poured out of the Dark Portal like a tide, first the cavalry riding on insects, then the army of Qiraji flying insects led by Shatura, followed by the mage regiment, and finally the clumsy and heavy artillery regiment.

In the Alliance army, no one noticed an ordinary mage.

"Ah!" A male human mage who looked less than 20 years old almost fell off his horse. An Alliance knight next to him was quick-witted and pulled him up.

The two quickly left the main road, dismounted and took a short rest, where a group of people who had just been teleported but were feeling unwell gathered.

"Be careful, Mage. If you fall off your horse during a charge, you will most likely die!"

"Thank you!" The young wizard straightened his wizard's crown and saw the emblem on the other party's armor: "Stromgrade people?"

"Yes! My ancestors have been knights of Stromgarde Highland for generations. My name is Thomas, what's yours?"

The young wizard also showed the emblem on his wizard robe: "Theramore Wizard Mark Dooku sends his greetings."

Karazhan, magic training room.

After injecting highly concentrated liquid magic into the magic circuits in Jaina's body and training her to breathe out more than inhale, and making her unwilling to lift even a finger, Duke ended the evening's class with satisfaction.

Duke wiped the sweat off Jaina's face with pity and showed her a new magic.

"This is..." Jaina, who was obviously very tired and wanted to sleep, suddenly opened her eyes wide, because she saw a person in the huge 108-inch curved rear-projection magic mirror projection. Even if it was just the back, Jaina would never mistake it, it was definitely Duke's back.

Jaina was certain that this was a real-time picture, for she saw Varian's three men attacking at the far end of the screen.

Jaina knew that the combined forces of the Alliance and the Horde were fighting a fierce battle with a detachment of the Burning Legion at the gate of the Dark Portal in Outland.

Jaina directly contacted the wizard in Outland through magic messaging, opened another real-time screen, and was immediately surprised to find that there was no delay between the two screens.

So, there is indeed another Duke in front of the Dark Portal.

Jaina turned around in astonishment and looked at Duke who was grinning beside her: "Who is that guy?"

"That's a character I made with my own hands!"

Jaina was completely confused, with only one thought in her mind - Is this possible?

Duke shrugged. "I can't leave Azeroth. Even if I send a clone with my soul, there's a chance that it will be captured by the enemy and have its soul information stolen, leading to terrible consequences. So I made a clone that looks exactly like me and sent it over."

After that, Duke sat down in a large, comfortable armchair and motioned for Jaina to come over.

When Jaina sat intimately between Duke's spread thighs, with her back against Duke's chest, Duke handed her a magic crystal ball.

Jaina took it and immersed her mind in the crystal ball. She immediately understood what the Duke near the Dark Portal was.

This is a magical construct wrapped in flesh and blood. In essence, this Duke is no different from the magic puppet in Silvermoon City of Quel'Thalas.

The only key is that this magical construct is directly controlled by Duke 24 hours a day.

What's amazing is that Duke equipped this clone with a complete stomach and intestines, and even a complete blood circulation system.

Eating, drinking, defecating and urinating seem to be necessary.

It looks like this clone could still get hurt, or even die.

In fact, what is really important is the magic core that replaces the heart, liver and spleen. This core not only provides master-level magic circulation, but also can transmit magic when necessary, instantly raising the strength of this clone to the Archmage level.

This clone also has a soul, but it is the soul of a Kul Tiran mage who died in battle, which was completely cleansed by Duke and put in.

All the clone's feelings will be directly fed back to Duke in Karazhan, and all action commands will also be made by Duke himself.

Jaina was extremely shocked: "Is this level of remote control really possible?"

Duke curled his lips and said, "As long as the magic transmission between Azeroth and Outland is not cut off. There is indeed a problem over there. Fortunately, my design looks perfect for the time being."

Duke explained it in detail to Jaina.

The core of all remote control is the network.

Only when the network is stable and powerful enough can the delay during operation be low enough to be acceptable. Duke first asked Solarian to place a magic network core near the Dark Gate in the Outer Realm, which can be regarded as a magical version of a mobile phone signal base station.

With this as the core, the magic net is then spread out.

Since Draenor has exploded, to be precise, Outland is no longer a planet at this time, but a half of the earth's crust that has lost its core and is suspended in the void.

Although the planet still has gravity and air on its surface due to its large mass, the interior of the planet has not only lost its owner, but even the ordinary laws have begun to collapse. That's why from time to time one can see islands floating in the air or scattered thunder energy running around in the distance.

Duke easily allowed the magic network to invade Draenor, which also gave him a warning: if he could do this so easily, the Burning Legion could also set a terrible trap for him by modifying the world laws of Draenor.

Of course, the one Duke is going to now is an avatar without self-awareness, so no matter how hard they try, they can't hurt Duke himself at all.

At this moment, Jaina seemed very curious about this brand new remote control system.

Intelligence is a very crucial quality for a mage's growth.

"What are those two numbers jumping up and down? FPS? PING?" Jaina pointed to the upper right corner of the projection screen.

Duke looked at it and secretly stuck out his tongue. He was sweating in his heart and could only explain slowly:

"FPS refers to the number of times the mirror image is refreshed per second. The current maximum is 60. The higher this value is, the better. The higher the better, and the smoother it is. If it is low, the image will feel jerky. Ping, which is the delay between what happens in Draenor and us, is the lower the better. If the delay is low, you will get a response almost immediately when you issue a command to the character. If the delay is very high, 200 or 300, you will find that it will take 1 or 2 seconds for a command to be responded to, and the character will be finished by then. Oh, yes, the lowest delay is 0."

"Oh, I see! Duke, I really admire you. Where do you get all these fantastic ideas? Did you get the inspiration from the Titan relics?"

No, I am a time traveler.

I accidentally got some stuff out of the game using the system AI.

On the surface, Duke had a better idea: "It has nothing to do with Titans. Who told me that your master is the number one magic genius in Azeroth!?"

Very cocky and asking for trouble.

But inspiration is the most mysterious thing.

It is true that success is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, but there is another sentence behind this statement - there are many people willing to pay 99% of sweat, but very few people have that 1% inspiration.

Faced with Duke's conceit, Jaina could only twist her slender waist in a charming way and gave Duke a cold look.

Jaina was very smart and she quickly discovered that Duke's clone could be controlled through extremely simple operations.

With just a thought, Duke's clone can move forward, backward, left and right.

It is easier to release magic. For example, by pressing the 'shortcut key 1', the little man on the screen can chant the spell by himself and start releasing Ice Arrow.

"You can use your mind to directly control the whole process, why do you need to use these?"

Duke put his arm around Jaina's waist: "I get bored sometimes! Maybe I'll ask the Elementalist to help watch my character."

Jaina was stunned—

There is actually such a suffocating operation! ?

It is not through divine power, but through pure magic that he controls a character that can be regarded as his own clone.

Far away in countless galaxies, yet in control of everything, no one else can play with this level of difficulty except Duke.

Jaina was convinced by Duke.

"When can you give me a clone like this to play with?"

"Excuse me for refusing." Duke said firmly.

"Why?"

"What if you lose and your character is desecrated? Even though I know that person isn't you, I'll be upset!"

What's the point of forgiving green? It's the most annoying thing.

Jaina rolled her eyes and didn't insist. In her eyes, not every wizard is called Edmund Duke, and not every wizard has that kind of amazing multi-casting talent.

For now, let's not talk about what happened in Karazhan.

At the Dark Portal, Duke's clone, who once again changed his name to Mark Dooku, transmitted the feelings of all his senses to his original body in Karazhan with incredible clarity.

"Bang!" A huge green stone fell from the sky.

A steam tank was smashed to pieces, and the broken metal parts flew everywhere, causing secondary casualties to the surrounding Alliance soldiers. The crowd simply fell down in large numbers.

"Damn it! Hellfire!?" The knight named Thomas raised his steel shield and considerately protected himself and the wizard who called himself Mark.

"Shield Wall? Are you a professional as well?" Duke asked.

To emphasize, in the standard sense, knight is a title between nobility and commoners, cavalry is a type of military force, and paladin is a professional.

"Well, a mid-level warrior. By the way, can you deal with that thing?" Thomas pointed his sword at the hellfire monster that quickly transformed from a big stone into a green giant covered in flames.

"Don't be ridiculous. A magician fighting that would be exhausting even if he could win."

In fact, they don't have to do anything.

An Alliance lieutenant shouted at the spot: "Holy Light Iron Fist! Who has Holy Light Iron Fist?"

The full name of the Holy Light Iron Fist is Highly Concentrated Holy Light Power Shoulder-fired Anti-Demon Weapon. Because its appearance is similar to the tube on a rocket launcher and is marked with the word "Iron Fist", it is simply called the Holy Light Iron Fist by the soldiers.

This is light equipment specially developed by the Alliance for ordinary soldiers without holy light and magic power to fight against large demons.

A simple hollow iron tube as thick as an arm, with a rocket filled with highly concentrated Stratholme holy water, and a small amount of gunpowder sealed at the tail of the rocket to help it burn, can shoot the anti-demon rocket fifty meters away. Of course, due to the lack of accuracy, after more than thirty meters, this holy light rocket basically has no idea where it flies.

But it doesn't matter, because it's filled with holy water and the bullet is made of fragile plastic. As long as the demon warlock is not hit, or the vital parts are not hit, even if a person is hit, it will be no different from taking a bath, except for dizziness and some skin broken.

You don't even have to worry about accidental discharge and injury.

As soon as Holy Light Iron Fist was launched, it was well received by middle and lower-level soldiers.

In the absence of heavy weapons support, it is better than fighting the demons by yourself with swords and spears.

The huge Hellfire, which was more than three stories tall, noticed these dwarf creatures and shot several beams of light at it. It did not dodge. As a meat shield used for charging in the Burning Legion, the word "dodge" had never occurred to it.

Using the Holy Light Iron Fist to hit it is as easy as shooting during training.

Several holy light missiles, trailing long golden tails, plunged into the huge body of the Hellfire, looking very eye-catching.

The ferocious body of Hellfire suddenly stopped, and then within just one second, golden light emanated from its body.

"Bang!" With a loud bang, the entire Hellfire broke into pieces and exploded in front of nearly a hundred Allied soldiers.

"Hahaha! Long live the Alliance!"

"Long live Edmund Duke!"

The pleasure of defeating a monster that is larger than you can imagine is hard to describe in words.

Thomas, like the other Union soldiers, screamed and whistled excitedly.

Only then did he realize that the little wizard behind him was not very surprised: "Have you seen hellfire with your own eyes?"

Mark Dooku, who was being controlled remotely by Duke, smiled and said, "I've seen it in Mount Hyjal."

"Ohh! That's amazing! Brothers, protect this young mage, Lord Dooku. He has experienced the Battle of Mount Hyjal."

"Wow! Awesome!" The soldiers next to him spoke in unison.

A situation occurred that Duke was not aware of. The soldiers around him spontaneously formed a circle with him as the core.

Seeing Duke's confused look, Thomas smiled and said, "Don't be surprised! This is just the experience everyone has gained from the war. We are not the lucky Stormwind or Lordaeron, nor are we dwarves or elves. The scattered soldiers of other small countries have long been accustomed to banding together around the strong."

Duke understood immediately.

Even today, although the Alliance still verbally claims to be composed of eleven kingdoms, only they themselves know how much water there is in this.

Of the original seven human kingdoms, Gilneas left the Alliance after Second War and has been closed to the outside world, leaving only six. Although none of the seven kingdoms has not had its capital destroyed, Stormwind, which was destroyed the earliest, has recovered the best.

Today, because of Duke's existence, the six human kingdoms in the Alliance have long been divided into different levels: Stormwind is the strongest, followed by Lordaeron and Dalaran, Kul Tiras and Alterac are one level lower, and the lowest is naturally Stromgarde, which has not even restored its kingdom title.

The people of Stromgrade are also tired!

After Edmund Duke, who was born as a commoner, became the uncrowned king of the Alliance, the nobility has faded a lot today, but the thoughts that have been accumulated for 2800 years are not so easy to change. When Stromgarde was destroyed, the unworthy king Galen Trollbane died at the hands of the Scourge and became a humiliating servant of the Lich King.

Just think about how awesome Galen's father, King Thoras, was. Beating the trolls was as easy as eating and drinking. Comparing him with this idiot and coward, the brave Highlanders felt so frustrated.

Restoring a country is not an easy task. Even though the Alliance commander Duke has expressed his support for the people of Stromgrade to restore their country, they still need a king to do so!

Unlike the Barov family, which is the only dominant family in Alterac, the several old Highland nobles are basically the same in terms of fame and power, and no one is willing to submit to the other.

At this time, the Alliance's top leaders revealed that Danath Trollbane, the Highland hero of the Second Battle of the Dark Gate, was not only the nephew of the late King Thoras, but also bravely led the vanguard to counterattack Draenor for the Alliance.

The people of Stromgrade were immediately in an uproar.

He debuted as a civilian, and was initially just a small militia captain. He became famous in the battles of Thandol Bridge and the Counterattack Wetlands. Later, he was willing to be lonely and gave up returning to his country to fight for power. He guarded the Dark Portal for humans for more than ten years, and finally broke into Draenor in one fell swoop.

No matter how you look at it, Danath Trollbane is the true hero who inherited the title of Trollbane (Troll Slayer)!

Even if they regained contact with the Outlands, Danath personally refused to be crowned king, declaring that he was "only willing to fight for humanity and the Alliance."

That's right, the most important reason why Danath refused to return to be crowned king was that he had no reason to abandon the Outland Expeditionary Force and come back to enjoy the life of a king as a coward and deserter.

This reason instead aroused the enthusiasm of the people.

As a result, the so-called Highland King Party, who shouted to make Danath a hero, appeared. They were the Stromgradeians wandering around Azeroth. In this Outland Expedition, they gathered together, joined the expedition, and shouted slogans.

"Fight for the true king of Stromgarde!"

"Sweep the Outlands! Let our king return to Stromgarde as a victor!"

Ideals are beautiful, but reality is cruel.

Even though the proportion of professionals in Stromgradee was high, the absolute number was too small. After eliminating those who had obviously not received military training, only more than a thousand people were approved to join the Outland Expedition. Moreover, the professional mix was obviously unreasonable - there were many melee fighters, few ranged fighters, and a few priests, but no mages at all.

This is normal, as a mage is a profession that requires a lot of money to support.

With their country destroyed and their families ruined, the people of Stromgarde, who were living in dislocation, had no time to train their own mages. Even those with talent sold themselves to Dalaran and became part of the Dalaran Mage Corps. Don't even think about returning until the contract is completed.

It just so happened that when Stromgarde was destroyed and the people of Stromgarde had nowhere to go, it was the Kul Tiras Princess Jaina who opened up Theramore and took in a large number of people from Stromgarde and Lordaeron who had lost their homes.

So they have an almost blind affinity for Mark Dooku, who claims to be a Kul Tiran mage.

Mark, controlled by Duke, did not disappoint them. Although he was not particularly strong, he skillfully cast spells and made accurate attacks, and efficiently knocked over several demon guards who rushed over. He even used the quagmire technique, which was rarely studied by mages, to trap a hellhound with extremely high magic resistance. He asked everyone to gather a team of spearmen and stab the hellhound to death in the quagmire.

"Hahaha! You are worthy of being a strong man who has experienced the Battle of Mount Hyjal." Thomas laughed heartily: "Mark! Excuse me, are you alone? If you don't have a team, can you team up with us, even if it's temporary, the conditions are negotiable. If our team has a mage, we can receive more advanced Alliance missions from the Alliance Military Affairs Office. Because this is related to Stromgarde's rating."

Scoring and then rewarding based on the points was a policy promoted by Duke after the Third Battle of the Dark Gate.

"Merits will be rewarded, and mistakes will be punished. the Alliance has never been a monopoly organization formed by a few major powers. Even if they are weak, people from other countries and independent organizations can also make their contributions to the cause of fighting evil." These are Duke's original words.

In order not to dampen the enthusiasm of other small countries, independent organizations and groups, the Alliance will set aside an extra portion of the spoils of each battle and distribute it to organizations and individuals who perform well in the battle.

It's not just the spoils of war, but also the support rewards from the Alliance itself, which is what the small countries value most.

If organizations or individuals from various small countries work together to obtain enough points, the Alliance can even tilt its policies and allocate manpower and resources to help them realize their wish of revival.

For example, if an organization with a certain number of points proposes to revive a village somewhere in Arathi Highlands, the Alliance will send someone to evaluate it and give a score afterwards. As long as someone is willing to give enough points to support the plan, once the points are reached, the Alliance will send a large number of craftsmen to rebuild the village.

Build a path through the mountains and build a bridge over the water.

The last people to receive special support from the Alliance were the Wildhammer dwarves of Aerie Mountain. Because they had enough points, Duke waved his pen and directly allocated public funds to cover the expenses of the entire Lightning Tank Division in Ironforge, allowing them to drive the tanks into the Hinterlands.

Using steam tanks and various modern machines, a new defense line with a width of more than three kilometers was built along Lake Valowin in the middle of Hinterland. With this defense line, those scattered trolls that have not been wiped out can no longer hope to sneak close to Aerie Peak.

This increased the territory actually controlled by the Wildhammer dwarves by at least two times.

That's right! This is the welfare policy of the Alliance to support weak countries.

While greatly enhancing the centripetal force of the Alliance's countries and organizations, it also raised the Alliance's reputation to a higher level.

This time, Duke also clearly set a price for Stormwind's restoration - starting at two million points.

As long as any organization or individual collects 2 million points through various means such as transactions and injects them into the project of the Kingdom of Stromgradee, the Alliance will fund the reconstruction of the broken Thoradin Wall and the Thandol Bridge Pass, as well as the entire city of Stromgarde.

The reconstruction project of Stromgarde includes the outer city walls, residential areas, and a royal palace that is as good as Stormwind Fortress.

If you want to raise the bar in this project, you can, please give more points. From increasing the number of city walls, improving the quality of city walls, to building a railway from Stromgarde to Southshore, to turning residential houses into villas, there are a wide variety of free choices.

The people of Stromgarde were so delighted that they wished they could put their entire clan on the line and earn two million points first.

It's a pity that dreams are beautiful but reality is difficult.

Although the Alliance has clearly marked prices for obtaining points, for example, a demon guard is worth 10 points, but it is still a long way from 2 million points!

So they have to win over every ally they can.

Facing Thomas' invitation, Duke smiled: "I am a wandering wizard, and I have tasted the bitterness of having my homeland destroyed. Although Kul Tiras has been rebuilt, I will never forget the days when the people of Stromgradee fought side by side with me in Theramore. Okay, I agree."

"Thank you very much."

At this moment, in Karazhan, Jaina looked at Duke with a little surprise: "Hey, dear, what on earth are you trying to do? You asked me to give you a Kul Tiras identity card... just to help Stromgradee restore the country?"

Duke grinned: "Strong Fort must be rebuilt anyway. This concerns the reputation of the Alliance."

"Weren't several kingdoms rebuilt before?"

"Yes! The problem is that the queens of these countries all obey me! Now I have to make it look like the Alliance is not a one-man show."

An alliance, in a sense, is a union of brothers in distress.

For a long time, as long as your capital had not fallen, you would be embarrassed to go out and say hello to others and tell them that you are an Alliance warrior.

Well, the Kingdom of Gilneas, which built the Greymane Wall to keep out foreign enemies and isolate the Alliance, was considered a coward.

The invincible Stormwind was perfectly restored thanks to Duke's amazing means, and it jumped to the top of the Alliance in one fell swoop.

Queen Calia of Lordaeron was promoted to the throne by Duke. Everyone knew that she became the queen for Duke. For the same reason, she vowed never to marry.

Well, the same goes for Quel'Thalas, Alterac, and Kul Tiras. These declining kingdoms, without exception, were all supported by the Edmund Family Chamber of Commerce with all their might.

A large amount of manpower and material resources were invested to rebuild transportation, and modular building materials were sold at low prices. Even those who had no money could enjoy interest-free loans, and the collateral was only the 30-year franchise rights to certain minerals or specialties of these countries.

It is precisely because of this comprehensive series of supporting measures, including economy, people's livelihood, circulation, etc., that these kingdoms have experienced rapid revival.

There is even a widely accepted saying: "Want to restore the country? First have a beautiful queen, and then send her to Edmund Duke' harem. Then the country can be fully revived."

When the Alliance countries are vying for power, this method is the fastest and most effective, allowing Duke to complete the control of the Alliance in the fastest and most peaceful way.

Once Duke completely controlled the Alliance's discourse, this approach seemed inappropriate.

The reason why the Alliance has such a thriving vitality in history, and why it has become stronger each time when capitals of various countries have been constantly in trouble and the world has been destroyed time and time again, is ultimately the inclusiveness that was born out of a common goal.

If the Alliance is just an alliance in appearance, but in reality it is an empire, then one day the Alliance will collapse, even before the Burning Legion's general attack.

This requires Duke to handle this matter with greater political wisdom.

No matter who you prefer to save in private, at least you should treat everyone equally in public.

There are so many countries that have fallen on their knees in the Alliance. Now there is Stromgradee that can be saved, and there is also the dwarf kingdom of Gnomeregan, whose hometown has been temporarily irradiated and cannot be saved. In the near future, when the Draenei join the Alliance, there is also the half-crippled city of Shattrath.

In this life, there is no such thing as Kael'thas forcing the Draenei to jump over the wall and drive away in an airship, but the city of Shattrath, located in the broken Draenor, will fall sooner or later. When the time comes, rebuilding the capital will be another big project.

It is still unknown if there are still Draenei in the Exodar, the capital of Azeroth, in this life.

Jaina understood Duke's behavior at the moment. However, as a strong woman who was good at using her female advantages, Jaina whispered in Duke's ear at the right time, gently put her mouth close to Duke's ear, blew sweet air, rubbed his ear, and gently stroked Duke's shoulders and collarbone with her fingers.

"I understand the logic. However, Theramore's core strength is the Kul Tirans, plus the refugees from Stromgarde and Lordaeron! If you do this now, everyone will run away..."

What's the point of playing with my Theramore?

This is exactly what Jaina meant.

"I remember that when I asked you to build Theramore, I wanted you to build a bridgehead for the Alliance in Kalimdor, right? Have you forgotten what the essence of a bridgehead is?"

Jaina froze in place.

Damn it! Theramore was so prosperous that I almost forgot about it. Before I knew it, Jaina had already established Theramore as the new capital of Kul Tiras.

There is no way! In the past two thousand years, most of the enemies came from the mainland, such as trolls. Kul Tiras Island is isolated overseas and is more like a paradise.

Unfortunately, on the eve of the Battle of Mount Hyjal, the Burning Legion swept through Kul Tiras, killing the former king Daelin in battle, cruelly shattering the Kul Tiran people's dreams.

The reason why Theramore obtained so much manpower and resources was certainly because of the support of the Alliance led by Duke, but another reason was that life on the overseas continent attracted a group of refugees who had lost their homes and longed for peace.

Later, the Alliance supported the Horde and obtained a large amount of ore from the Horde. As the only window port for trade between the Alliance and the Horde, Theramore was simply reaping the benefits and becoming extremely wealthy.

In order to reduce shipping pressure, the Alliance invested in building a large-scale mineral refinery in Theramore to refine the ore into various metal ingots, which were then shipped back to Ironforge, Stormwind City, Lordaeron and other places.

On the other hand, in order to support the Battle of Silithus, several arsenals specializing in the manufacture of ammunition were established in Theramore in advance.

Theramore became extremely prosperous due to trade between the Alliance and the Horde, as well as military needs.

Not to mention the people below, even Jaina, the Lord of Theramore, was paralyzed.

No one has ever thought about what would happen to Theramore if the Alliance and the Horde became estranged or even broke up one day?

If Duke hadn't reminded her, Jaina would still not wake up - as a bridgehead, she must be prepared to be severely beaten!

Jaina's golden eyebrows almost stood up, and her pretty face suddenly turned fierce: "Humph! The Horde has the ability to conquer Theramore first, and besides... who dares!?"

Theramore, a city on an isolated island on the seashore of Dustwallow Marsh, was built from the outset to be the strongest military fortress.

The east is close to the sea, and the north, west, and south are all swamps. The swamps are in terrible condition, and most of the area is a quagmire that can easily swallow a person. In addition, there are a large number of large poisonous spiders and crocodiles and other wild animals. This is definitely not a good place to march.

By the way, to the south of Dustwallow Marsh is the lair of Duke's mount Onyxia, and there are thousands of dragons wandering there...

To enter Theramore, you need to cross a very wide waterway, which is a natural moat.

With the fortress's artillery and some flying battleships, whoever comes will be killed.

It is absolutely true that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

Jaina was not bragging. With the current strength of the Horde, even if the Horde used all its conventional forces, it would not be able to defeat Theramore. If the sea was not blocked, it would be no problem to defend it for ten years, let alone a year or two.

Duke smiled and said, "With conventional tactics, you are of course invincible, but I'm afraid the opponent will use a super magic bomb or something."

Originally, Theramore was destroyed by a nuclear-level magic bomb Focusing Iris, and even lost a Rhonin. Jaina, who had spent almost her entire youth in Theramore, turned gray overnight because of this incident.

Since Jaina is his own harem, Duke certainly cannot watch Theramore be destroyed and Jaina fall into madness or decadence.

Jaina wanted to retort, but then she shut up.

Just like ten years ago, no one could have imagined that there would be warships and fortresses flying in the sky.

No one can guarantee whether in ten years there will be a terrifying magic bomb that even demigods cannot defend against.

Times are changing and situations are changing too.

Theramore's prosperity benefits from the good relationship between the Horde and the Alliance at this time, but what about the future?

Jaina and Duke are immortal, but the Warchief of the Horde is not.

Thrall was a wise leader, but what about his successor?

Jaina would never forget the suffering she experienced as a girl. For a moment, she almost thought she was going to die in the icy Tirisfal Glades at the hands of the cruel orcs.

Whenever I wake up in the middle of the night, I will think of those cruel and bloodthirsty green faces.

Yes! That is the nature of orcs!

Before I knew it, my teeth were chattering.

"I understand. I will move the civilian industry back to Kul Tiras. After all, the inscription on my crown says Queen of Kul Tiras, not Queen of Theramore." After venting her anger, Jaina softened her tone again: "Hey, Duke, last time you said, what is the effective way to prevent large-scale bombing?"

"Dig a hole! Dig a deep hole! Hide the most important things underground."

"I understand."

Theramore is close to the sea, so digging a hole was a difficult and technical job. However, Jaina is now known as the Ice Queen. After Duke was promoted to a demigod, as the only Sunborn warrior in the Alliance, and because Kul Tiras is good at shipbuilding and waterproofing, Jaina has plenty of ways to solve the problem of underground water seepage.

Once successful, even if it was destroyed by nuclear weapons, relying on the troops hidden in the bunker, Theramore would still be like a nail, nailed to the throat of the Horde territory.

But now it seems that it is not too late to change the plan. the Alliance and the Horde are still in the honeymoon period, which will last for a long time before the Draenor migration is completed. Jaina has plenty of time to adjust.

"Hey, Duke. Since Theramore can't be used as a commercial port, and the original Kul Tiras mainland is too small, should we find a new place for my people to develop?"

Duke smiled bitterly. This pillow talk is really powerful!

With a raised hand, another map appeared in the void. Duke pointed lightly and said, "How is this place?"

Jaina opened her eyes, and was delighted at first, then a little hesitant: "Okay, but they..."

Duke had a sarcastic look on his face. "These guys have never done anything good. They didn't learn their lesson after being beaten, but instead held a grudge. Since they are destined not to join the Alliance, there is no need for them to exist."

"the Alliance takes direct action?" Jaina was extremely surprised.

"Of course not, we are a fair alliance..."

Seeing Duke's bad intentions, Jaina was delighted: "Bad guy, no wonder I like you so much. Even though you broke off the engagement, I still wanted to stick with you regardless."

In September of the same year, something big happened in the Alliance.

When Stormwind's Stranglethorn Vale expedition was clearing out the remnants of the trolls who worshipped the evil god Hakkar in Zul'Gurubi, a troll force led by a priest broke through the encirclement of the kingdom's army and rushed into the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale.

the Alliance attempted to pursue, but received a warning from the goblins in Booty Bay in Stranglethorn Vale, claiming that the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale was the goblin territory.

Who would have thought that the Zul'Gurub trolls, who hated all non-Hakkar followers, would sweep across the entire southern Stranglethorn Vale in just one month.

Gurubashi Arena, Misty Valley, and even Booty Bay were all captured by the red-eyed trolls. The defenses that the goblins had painstakingly built were pierced through time and again, and the mercenaries recruited from all over the world were like ducks being chased everywhere, being caught and killed by the trolls one by one.

When the goblins finally couldn't hold on any longer and sent a letter to the Alliance for help, another wave of troll remnants still trapped in Zul'Gurub also began to cause chaos. Stormwind Kingdom was unable to take care of itself, and even the Stranglethorn Vale Expeditionary Force was almost caught in a pincer attack. Fortunately, the Alliance urgently dispatched the air fleet and brought the Edmund Family Infantry Regiment led by Windsor to calm the situation.

In October of the 22nd year after the Dark Portal, the situation in the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale had become extremely bad. Nearly 100,000 trolls had killed the goblins there to the point of almost extinction. The Hot Sand Cartel, which controlled Booty Bay, organized two large-scale landings in an attempt to retake the territory of Stranglethorn Vale, but both attempts failed.

As a last resort, the goblin baron Rivelgaz, the big boss who controls the Steamwheedle Cartel, once again asked for help from Stormwind Kingdom and the Alliance.

Bolvar, the regent of Stormwind, rejected Revigaz's request and asked him to report to the Alliance on the grounds that the king was fighting in Outland and that the army was insufficient.

In the middle of the same month, Duke rejected the request of the Hot Sand Cartel, which had previously claimed to be neutral, on the grounds that the Alliance was sending reinforcements to the Outlands.

At this point, the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale and the surrounding islands were officially incorporated into the rule of the Zul'Gurub Troll Empire.

In the Horde, some people saw the possible foul play, but no one could do anything about it.

The war between the Alliance and the Horde in Outland was at its most intense, so no one had the energy to care about the trolls in Zul'Gurub. But everyone could foresee that the trolls there were like grasshoppers after autumn, and they would not be able to jump for long. Once the war in Outland ended, and Stormwind or the Alliance recovered, it would be the end of the trolls in Zul'Gurub.

After that, the territory in the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale probably has nothing to do with the goblins anymore.

In Orgrimmar, Varok Saurfang, who stayed behind, asked Vol'jin in a deep voice: "Let's do nothing, okay?"

"What can we do? Stormpike trolls are not Zul'Gurub trolls. The Bilgewater Cartel is not the Steamwheedle Cartel."

What Vol'jin said was true. From ancient times to the present, the trolls have never been a unified race. The same is true for the goblins. There are five major trade princes among the goblins, and the only one who has defected to the Horde is the weakest prince of the Bilgewater Cartel, Just Garywix. He is different from the Steamwheedle Cartel. If the Horde intervenes rashly, the Steamwheedle Cartel may start a fight with the Horde first.

However, everyone can see that there is a huge hand behind this unusual event, which is clearing all non-alliance forces from the Eastern Kingdom continent.

Perhaps in three to five years, the entire Eastern Kingdom continent will be united as one.

In fact, Vol'jin's guess was correct.

According to Duke and Jaina's plan, when the Alliance and the Horde's Outland expeditionary forces returned to Azeroth, it would be the day for Kul Tiras and Stormwind Kingdom to clear out the trolls in southern Stranglethorn Vale.

When all the trolls worshipping the evil god Hakkar are killed, Kul Tiras will have a new main city in the southern part of Stranglethorn Vale.

Duke had no psychological burden at all about swallowing up the goblins' territory.

I used to think that goblins were notorious and disgusting in the game. Whenever you accidentally touched the wrong mouse or rubbed the skin of a goblin with your staff in Booty Bay or other places controlled by the Steamwheedle Cartel, countless goblins would rush out from every corner to attack you.

There is no place to escape, I will beat you to death with one stick.

That's why some players don't hesitate to join the Bloodsail Pirates just to take down the goblins.

In this life, fantasy becomes reality.

It is even more exaggerated that the goblins do dirty things in the name of neutrality.

I won't talk about the most brutal venture capital company among the goblins, which is typical of doing all kinds of evil. They dare to trample on all laws in the world with only 300% profit. He is so good that he can turn 300% of the 3% profit into 300% for you, and likewise, he will trample on all laws for you.

People who sell milk mix water into milk, but these bastards mix lime into water!!

It just looks similar to white.

No matter whether you live or die, getting the money is the most important thing.

Later, after the Alliance did business with the goblins, they strengthened the inspections, both in terms of methods and frequency. Duke even added "Probability Theory" specifically for this purpose to prevent Alliance merchants and official purchasing personnel from being fooled.

The result is good.

Take milk for example. In order to enhance the physical fitness of the next generation of Stormwind Citizens, Duke proposed the slogan "A glass of milk a day makes Storm people stronger!"

Do you know how the goblins fooled Stormwind?

Stormwind has many detection methods, right? The goblins directly mix cow urine into milk. Anyway, no matter whether it is evaporated or not, it is still cow ingredients, right?

I'll just give you a "pee a day, weakling storm man."

Anyway, every time something goes wrong, the goblins will just push the person involved out and you can kill or chop him up as you please. But then there will always be a second or Nth guy coming to lick their boots, wanting to do business with the Alliance, especially the Edmund family of Stormwind Kingdom.

Because everyone knows that the Edmund family is rich!

In the early years, the goblins organized various theft gangs to break into Duke's vault. After many failures, they switched from open theft to fraud.

Anyway, every time something is exposed, the goblin upper echelons immediately distance themselves from the matter, claiming that it was done by individuals below them, and they act in an absolutely neutral manner.

"Only a goblin who successfully defrauds money from the Edmund family is a good goblin."

This crazy and distorted value system began to intensify when Ilucia was in charge of the Edmund family's finances.

The goblins are like moths to a flame, with waves of scammers constantly emerging in an attempt to succeed in their scams and become famous among the goblins.

It wasn't until Duke returned from the War of the Ancients and completely cut off trade with the goblins that things began to calm down.

the Alliance's cold reception of the various goblin groups was also an important reason that forced the Bilgewater Cartel to side with the Horde.

The Bilgewater Cartel joined the Horde ten years earlier than the original history. The Horde certainly acquired a lot of goblin technology, but what were the consequences of introducing these tumors? That's really ridiculous.

So this time, the Alliance used the trolls to clear out the goblin forces in the entire Stranglethorn Vale, from the venture capital company camp in the middle of Stranglethorn Vale to Booty Bay, one of the pillars of the Steamwheedle Cartel. Duke really had no psychological burden.

After the war in Outland is over, Duke will continue to shrink the living space of the goblins step by step. Perhaps one day, there will not be a single goblin in the entire Azeroth, and the world will be much more peaceful.

Duke was developing the magic network while manipulating the war in Stranglethorn Vale, and at the same time remotely controlling Mark Dooku in Outland.

Out of bad taste, he applied the name he used ten thousand years ago to this clone. Due to perfect control, this Mark also showed impeccable human habits.

He needs to breathe, eat, drink, defecate and urinate, and sometimes he makes mistakes when casting magic because the elements from the outside world are scattered. No one doubts that this high-end wizard who has fought alongside him for so long is actually a useless puppet.

Varian and Thrall have a very pleasant collaboration.

There is a Glory Road from the central part of Hellfire Peninsula to the Dark Portal in the east. This road is the one that the old tribe took when they gathered here and prepared to cross space to attack Azeroth.

Of course, this path seems a bit ironic now.

Because the people that the old tribe tried to conquer are now counterattacking with the new tribe. Although it is to liberate the orcs who are threatened by the demons of the Burning Legion, it always feels weird.

In order to reassure each other, on that day, after defeating the demon army that blocked the coalition's landing in Outland, the Alliance and the Horde used the Glory Road that runs across the Hellfire Peninsula as the dividing line. The southern part was controlled by the Alliance, with Glory Hold and the forward camp at the Dark Gate as the core, and a series of outposts and bunkers were built to form a defense line to ensure the supply line.

The north was handed over to the Horde. With the material support from the Alliance, the Horde built a medium-sized fortress, Salmar, in just two months.

Starting in October, the Alliance and the Horde attacked Hellfire Citadel together.

There are also differences in the specific task allocation.

the Horde was the main force in dealing with the evil orcs. They used non-lethal means such as nets and tear gas provided by the Alliance as much as possible to capture their demonized compatriots, imprison them and send them to the rear.

The reason why these evil orcs are so violent is ultimately due to the blood of the Abyss Lord. Magtheridon is not as powerful as his boss Mannoroth, but with a large dose, it is also quite troublesome.

Almost every day, nearly a thousand evil orcs are sent through the Dark Portal to the Giant Hammer Camp in the northwest of the Cursed Land. There, they will be treated with the natural magic of the tribal shamans, and after the body discharges a certain amount of toxins and demonic power, they will be treated with various means such as Stratholme Holy Water to remove the demon blood in the body as soon as possible.

the Alliance, led by Varian, broke through the Hellfire Wall and turned to attack Magtheridon's lair.

On October 16, Thomas suddenly received a notice from the Glory Hold mission issuer, asking his team to go to Glory Hold fortress to meet Danath Trollbane.

Thomas was overjoyed.

Although the people of Stromgradee wanted to meet the legendary next king all day long, Danath always handled things in a businesslike manner. He would allow a meeting if it was for Alliance business, but would not allow a meeting for personal matters.

Now that they finally have the chance to show off in front of the future king, Thomas and others are very excited.

Several core members of the Highland Warriors, led by Thomas and Duke, came to the Glory Castle Fortress located in Glory Castle under the guidance of the guards.

Duke also saw the five heroes of the expeditionary force who were supposed to have statues erected in Stormwind City after a long time.

Well!

Suddenly I feel that it's such a cheat to have eternal youth!

Danath Trollbane, the young handsome man during the Second Battle of the Dark Gate, has now become a bald old man with white hair.