Chapter 114: The Hero with Great Expectations

The night sky over Stormwind City was as calm as ever.

The darkness of night arrived as it always did, just as people always believed that the morning light of dawn would come every day.

In the dim night, there were constantly red flames in the distance, piercing through the dense mist, proclaiming destruction and terror to this "enclave" that hung outside the human political center of the continent.

In the west of Stormwind City, where the sea had not changed since the last descendant of Emperor Thoradin arrived here a thousand years ago, starlight flickered. Under the clear moonlight hanging over the sea, one could vaguely see the once pitch-black Stormwind Harbor, now brilliantly lit with lights and full of ships' masts.

In addition to the sound of the rolling waves, there was also a distant clamor of voices.

Looking out over Stormwind Harbor, King Llane suddenly sighed to the queen.

"My dear, I have been thinking about a question... Is Duke Marcus the guardian angel destined for our kingdom?"

"If we look at the current situation, it's obvious. Yes!" The queen gently tightened her grip on Llane's arm. "Without his Stormwind Harbor, Stormwind City might not be able to hold on anymore."

Before the arrival of the orcs, everyone thought that the new Stormwind Harbor, built by Duke Marcus alone, was just a useful supplement to the financial revenue of Stormwind City.

As the war progressed, it was suddenly discovered that Stormwind Harbor and Duke Marcus's fleet had actually controlled the fate of this kingdom and become its lifeline.

Stormwind City is located in the south of the continent, and at this time, all land routes to the north were blocked by the orcs. Shipping became the only lifeline for Stormwind City to communicate with the outside world.

In this era, entering the port at night was extremely dangerous. But in order to transport the scarce military supplies of Stormwind City, the old captains of Stormwind City and the maritime kingdom of Kul Tiras not only transported during the day, but also chose to enter the port at dusk, unload their goods overnight, and leave at midnight to save space in the harbor and increase the amount of transportation.

With the efforts of the captains, sailors, and others, various goods continued to be transported from other human kingdoms and the dwarven Ironforge, while women and children who needed to be evacuated were sent northward across the sea to Southshore.

As the seven human kingdoms have not yet had a unified opinion on the orc invasion, the current aid to Stormwind City can basically be considered as coming from the people.

Most of the nobles in the north sneered at the messenger's from King Llane, stating that "the "orc" invasion was of no great harm and danger".

"What are orcs? The trolls here have been killing for thousands of years and have never been completely eliminated." This is the view of most nobles.

They showed the most malicious suspicion and speculation towards Stormwind City's loss of half of its territory.

The only consolation was that the Kingdom of Alterac agreed to lend Southshore to shelter the refugees of Stormwind, and the other six kingdoms allowed Llane's proposal to purchase military supplies to go through, letting the people of Stormwind City buy various military supplies and fiercely attacking unscrupulous merchants who raised prices.

"Simultaneously, Llane is allowed to recruit volunteers and mercenaries in the six major kingdoms.

However, that's not enough.

Only Llane, who has faced the orcish horde, knows that at least seven kingdoms must declare a state of full-scale war and unite the seven kingdoms, including dwarves and elven allies, to be enough.

At the thought of this, Llane felt a pang of sadness.

So far, everything Duke has offered and every idea has been excellent. Like a new kind of stronghold.

It's something that guy named Hua Jia left behind for Duke to manage.

The name is weird, called 'concrete.' How this stuff is made, Hua Jia keeps it a secret. Even if Hua Jia himself tells you, it's still a work in progress.

The effect is remarkable. The latest design of the hexagonal stronghold greatly delays the orc's attack.

This kind of stronghold is about three stories high and made of 'concrete' mixed with stones and mud. It can become incredibly strong in just two or three days. Under the command of a relatively unknown stonemason guild member named Edwin VanCleef, who was personally named by Duke, they made more than five hundred of these strongholds in just a few days outside of Goldshire, one of Stormwind's barriers.

This kind of stronghold can't be easily destroyed even by the largest orcish catapults. The narrow firing ports prevent orcs from even reaching their hands in. A large number of spear throwers trained by Duke hide in these strongholds and give the orcs a heavy counterattack from various firing ports.

When the orcs forcefully destroy the stronghold with the most brutal siege towers, those spear throwers can crawl through pre-dug tunnels that are so narrow that only humans can pass through to the next stronghold and continue to inflict damage on the orcs.

It is even said that some outstanding spear throwers have achieved feats that even the bravest Stormwind warriors cannot achieve - that guy killed 36 fierce orcish warriors alone, and the spear that left a mark on the orc's forehead became the best proof of this achievement.

What makes Llane laugh and cry is that Stormwind Kingdom now has an irregular unit - Murloc."

These despicable monsters that once plagued the residents of Elwynn Forest have now become the guardians of the people of Stormwind.

The murlocs emit inexplicable "daka daka" cries, occupying almost every river in Elwynn Forest that is wider than five meters. Any orc who dares to fetch water by the river will be baptized by the rough spear of the murlocs.

Everything Duke has done has greatly helped the entire kingdom of Stormwind.

Thinking back on Duke's changes to the kingdom, Llane couldn't help but sigh deeply: "I don't know how his raid with Anduin is going. I hope they come back safely..."

"It's okay. If they were killed, I think...Sargeras would be the first to show off..." the queen gently comforted Llane.

Llane suddenly smiled bitterly: "Nearly a thousand years ago, my ancestors came to this place in Stormwind, braved all the hardships, and launched a magnificent era for the people. Anyway, I don't want Stormwind to be destroyed under my watch!"

"It won't. Instead of worrying about that, why don't you think about how to honor their achievements when they return triumphantly? How about we erect a statue for them in King's Valley?"

"Great idea!"

At this moment, Duke, who is being entrusted with high hopes by Llane and even the entire kingdom of Stormwind, is facing his most dangerous battle since his journey through time.

Because his opponent is Gul'dan, even though this Gul'dan is a fictional construct whose magical principles are unknown. In this strange chess space, Gul'dan is still incredibly powerful.

Breathing in the slightly cold air, Duke inexplicably smells the scent of blood and heat in his nostrils. The excitement in his heart is telling him that at this moment, he is writing a legend that belongs only to him.