Stormwind Wizard God-Chapter 183: Deal

If it weren't for Duke's video and the orcs' bloody actual combat, Duke Barov would have sneered at Duke's "50,000 elite soldiers".

In this era, so-called rumors always have too much water in them.

What kind of army is a hundred thousand strong? It would be good to have thirty thousand combat soldiers. Of course, the princes and generals of this era were also accustomed to including the peasant soldiers who had no combat power and went to the battlefield with pitchforks, and even the auxiliary soldiers who helped transport food.

After feeling the threat of the orcs so clearly, Duke Barov had a great change of heart towards Duke and the Stormwind behind Duke. Duke Barov thought it was absolutely a miracle that they could save so many citizens and elite soldiers when they encountered such a terrifying and organized barbarian race.

Duke was moved when he saw Duke Barov.

Duke smiled sincerely. "Of course, this is just a very possible future. There is no absolute certainty that the Horde will come from Hinterland. However, Your Excellency, don't you think that selling food in exchange for the friendship of Stormwind Kingdom, His Majesty Wrynn, and me would be a good deal?"

At this time, Duke held up three fingers and said, "On behalf of Stormwind Kingdom, I propose to your family to purchase 5,000 tons of wheat at a 30% premium over the current market price, and the payment must be in cash in Arathor gold coins. At the same time, as a symbol of personal friendship, I can unconditionally transfer to you the exclusive rights to sell luxury goods of the New Pearl Road in Hillbrad Foothills and Arathi Highlands."

Barov's expression was stunned.

Duke was too smart. 5,000 tons was exactly the total amount of old wheat in the Barov family. If Duke said that he had not secretly collected intelligence, Duke Barov would never believe it.

In this era, storage technology was also quite poor. Even if the grain was stored in a cool and dry cave, it would rot in three years at most. Duke Barov knew that as a refugee, it was good enough to fill his stomach, but 5,000 tons of old grain in exchange for a large amount of money and the friendship of the Stormwind was not a bad deal.

Whether from a business perspective or as an insurance policy for the future, Duke Barov could not think of a reason to refuse.

Duke stood up and stretched out his right hand: "Dear Duke Barov, for the future of the people of Stormwind and for the future of all humans in Azeroth, please agree to help me."

As an actor and a leader who may well hold the future of mankind in his hands, Duke's smile was very sincere, at least it seemed so.

Duke Barov and his wife exchanged a glance, sighed deeply, and stood up together. He also extended his hand to Duke: "Although I still have many doubts about the strength of the Horde and the direction of the offensive, and although I am not a prophet who can see through the future, I choose to believe in you who have created such an atmosphere for the success of the negotiation, and believe in you who are so courageous. I agree to this!"

As the dust settled, Makaro's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally settled down.

Makaro did not participate in the final defense of Stormwind. He was sent early to manage the refugee camp in Southshore Town. If Edwin VanCleef was just the head of the department in charge of construction, he was the real boss before Duke arrived.

Duke did a lot of preparatory work for the refugee camp in Southshore, from the demarcation of residential and functional areas to water collection, sanitary facilities, and safety protection. Duke drew no less than 50 drawings for this purpose.

But the most important food has not been found.

As the number of refugees increased day by day, the food stored in Southshore was decreasing at a visible rate. Even if each refugee could only get two small pieces of black bread every day, it still could not reduce the speed of food consumption.

After all, the number of refugees increased by nearly 10,000 every day a while ago.

Now, Duke has negotiated a grain deal, and finally solved the urgent problem.

The Barov family head smiled and held Duke's hand tightly. "Edmund Duke, I still need to discuss this matter with His Majesty the King. If there are no major accidents, it won't be a problem to pass it. Aiden will listen to my advice most of the time. In fact, what I want most is your personal friendship."

Alex Barov is indeed a great man who has become wise in his old age. Duke knew what he meant as soon as he heard it. Only a very small number of people can call the king by his name. Just like now only Anduin and Llane's queen can call King Llane by his name. By calling the King of Alterac by his name, Duke Barov is also implicitly reminding him of the special relationship between him and the king.

Duke, who knew the direction of history, would not speak out. He also said to Duke Barov in a very friendly manner: "I think so too. Otherwise, Uncle Alex should just call me Duke from now on. This way I will feel more comfortable."

"Duke, uncle is glad to meet you."

After saying that, the two foxes left the negotiation table and enthusiastically put their arms around each other's shoulders.

Duke's negotiations here have made decisive progress, while Llane's negotiations there have reached a deadlock. No, it should be said that the negotiations have not progressed at all!

In the state guesthouse of Lordaeron, Lothar paced back and forth, and finally punched the solid wall.

"Asshole! It's been so many days! Menethil II refuses to meet us!?"

Lothar's anger was justified. Llane and he had been in Lordaeron for three days. But Terenas Menethil II, the king of Lordaeron, the strongest of the seven human kingdoms after the split of the Arathor Empire, refused to meet with King Llane on the pretext of being ill.

"Calm down, Anduin. The meeting between the king is not as simple as you think." Llane sat upright in the chair and took a sip of black tea leisurely.

"But the Horde is getting stronger every day. The griffon riders and spies I left on the other side of the sea discovered that the Dark Portal has been reopened. Large numbers of orcs continue to pour into this world, but the King of Lordaeron refuses to even see us. And that damn duke, he looks at us as if we were beggars!" Lothar couldn't control his temper.

King Llane put down his exquisite teacup: "A king who has lost his land is indeed no different from a beggar. Anduin, we need to be patient."

"Patience!? Our enemies are madly increasing their troops, and the people of our kingdom are starving in Southshore. To hell with patience."

At this moment, the only remaining Morningstar Palace mage in the kingdom who had been guarding Llane suddenly opened his old and turbid eyes.

"Your Majesty, the latest news is that the negotiations between His Excellency Edmund Duke and Duke Barov have been successful. He has reached an agreement with the Barov family to purchase 5,000 tons of wheat at a 30% premium over the market price."

"A 30% premium? That bastard from the Barov family! I'm going to kill him!" Lothar's rage was almost reaching the sky.

"Calm down! Anduin! Calm down! Those stranded in Southshore are citizens of Stormwind, not citizens of Alterac. No kingdom, including Lordaeron, can feed hundreds of thousands of refugees who do not belong to its own country for free!" After Llane poured cold water on Lothar again, Lothar finally calmed down.

"How is the current situation in Southshore?" This time, Lothar did not ask the master Mage, but another attendant.

Just then, a letter arrived from a Griffin Knight.

Llane and Anduin opened the letter and found that it was written by Duke Bolvar Fordragon, who was in charge of guarding Southshore Town:

"Dear Majesty, I know you have been concerned about the situation of the citizens stranded in Southshore. Now I am here to report the latest news. In fact, the situation of the refugees is improving rapidly."

"More than half of the refugees have moved into wooden houses. Sir Edwin VanCleef, who is in charge of building the houses, seems to have adopted a house-building method called 'mold-like' from Edmund Duke. Although the houses all look the same, they can protect our people from the sun and rain in the shortest possible time."

"The new temporary palace has been built. It is located on a hilltop near Southshore, overlooking the sea. His Highness Varian likes this new two-story stone palace very much."

"The murlocs under Lord Edmund' direct command have begun to drive a large number of sea fish to the beach. I saw with my own eyes that as long as you cast a fishing net on the shore, you will definitely catch fish. I have to say, this is a miracle. It would be even better if we could get food from the Barov family. Because the food collected from the Westfall and other places in advance from Lordaeron can only last for two weeks at most."

"As much as I hate to admit it, in fact, there is absolutely no room for me to interfere in civil affairs. Sir Edmund's arrangement is perfect, and my interference will only make things worse. The only problem now is that the people are quite pessimistic about the future of the country. Sir Benedict has tried his best to appease the people, but unfortunately, the effect is not great."

"Worst of all, the morale of the troops is at its lowest ebb due to the lack of food, necessary equipment, and a clear military objective."

After reading Berwald's letter, Llane breathed a sigh of relief.

"Bolvar and Benedict have done their best. I can't blame them." Llane put down the letter.

"Indeed, Benedict is a good man, but not a capable one." Lothar said so. In fact, Archbishop Benedict of Stormwind is also his good friend. The two have known each other for more than 20 years.

"On the contrary, our little Duke always gives us surprises! I almost forgot that he is actually a wizard, not my regent." Llane smiled rarely: "I think we should give little Duke more power and more responsibilities?"

"Don't be fooled by his appearance, he is indeed a genius, but he is actually only fifteen years old." Lothar showed Llane the gray hair on his temples, which was the proof of being harmed by Sargeras' last curse.

"I know, but we don't have anyone available, right? Even for you, I think you should find a deputy."

"Okay, I'll think about it."

Llane thought about it and wrote a letter asking Bolvar to give Duke more autonomy...

Five days later, Southshore.

Duke came back exhausted.

When he returned, he went to Alterac to pay a visit to the King of Alterac, but as Duke expected, he did not see King Aiden Perenolde.

Firstly, King Aiden was unhappy that Duke had taken a detour to go to the Barov family instead of coming to the closer Alterac. Secondly, Aiden had received a secret report about Terenas, the king of Lordaeron. It seemed that the king of the strongest of the six kingdoms intended to hold a major meeting involving all human kingdoms, as well as dwarven and elf allies, for the "One" that had just been removed.

King Aiden was distracted and naturally had no time to greet Duke, the so-called Duke who was obviously promoted on the spur of the moment to be an envoy.

A decree allowing the Stormwind to establish a refugee camp in Southshore and a meal of food sent by the Royal Family of Atlante were like sending away a beggar to Duke.

Makaro was naturally indignant, but Duke just laughed it off. He knew the direction of "history" and was very clear about what kind of person the King of Alterac was.

Duke didn't care about anything. After receiving the imperial edict, he ignored the subsequent grain trucks and went straight back to Southshore.

From north to south, out of the Alterac Mountains area, into the Hillsbrad Foothills area, past Tarren Mill, but before reaching Southshore.

Makaro was stunned by the neat rows of wooden houses that looked like grids on the road. People who didn't know the situation would think that a huge new city had been built here instead of a refugee camp that accommodated nearly 500,000 people.

Seeing Duke's family flag full of death and terror, the children playing beside the house, the women knitting or cooking, or the men building houses, everyone in the camp and the surrounding forest raised their heads.

"Ah! It's the flag of Lord Edmund!"

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"Quick! Bow your head and salute! He is our great benefactor, Edmund Duke."

Children and men knelt and saluted, and peasant women performed the unfamiliar lady's etiquette. There was no organization, no coercion, and everyone saluted the Duke spontaneously.

Not only the common people, but also the city guards and sheriffs responsible for maintaining public order, and passing legionnaires, all knelt on one knee, placed their left hands on their chests, and showed their heartfelt respect to the owner of the flag.

For the common people, counterattacking Stormwind City is really too far away.

Perhaps the people are ignorant and do not understand too many twists and turns. They only focus on the simplest and most honest things such as food, clothing, housing and transportation.

Saving them from the brutal orcs would naturally earn them temporary gratitude.

However, it will require long-term efforts for the public to truly recognize and identify with it, and at least their basic living needs must be met.

Duke did it.

Not only did he use his fleet to save hundreds of thousands of Stormwind Citizens, he also turned Southshore into a national sanctuary where there was no hunger or cold, and no suffering.

On the way here, not a single refugee died along the way, and not a single citizen showed any expression of despair.

Duke saved the collapsing building with his magical means.

In the eyes of the people, Duke is the real hero compared to King Wrynn who lost his territory and Lothar who was constantly defeated in battles.

"Salute to our hero, His Excellency Edmund Duke—" I don't know which officer shouted.

A second later, one hundred thousand soldiers and civilians shouted in unison like a tsunami.

"Long live His Excellency Edmund Duke—"