Capítulo 56: Reforged Chapter 56: Rumors of Naga Invaders?
[Mage's Mark Message] A simple magical communication method that anyone with a bit of magic knowledge can use, although the communication distance depends on the caster's magical level.
One night, Duke pretended to go to Stormwind Harbor to inspect the shipbuilding progress, then came to a rocky beach near the harbor. The jagged rocks provided excellent cover, concealing everything so well that even an entire group could hide there without being easily spotted by the naked eye.
"Come out," Duke said calmly.
"Master." Naga Vara, her arms layered on her shoulders, bowed to Duke.
"What's the matter?"
Vara got straight to the point, "The Greyscale Clan has come. They have already crossed the Dark Reef Sea opposite Stranglethorn Vale and will reach the waters off Dagger Hills in Westfall tomorrow. I have already asked the blind old man who is lurking in the southwestern part of Westfall, near Westfall Lighthouse, to evacuate with our people. By the time the sun rises the day after tomorrow, they will arrive at our Wrathscale Naga's new camp."
Under equal conditions, a Naga could easily defeat ten Murlocs. This isn't just a matter of combat power, but also the natural oppression that higher-ranked creatures in the food chain have over lower-ranked ones. This would cause Murlocs to be unable to utilize even half of their full strength.
Sending Murlocs to confront them would be a death sentence.
Duke raised his chin slightly, "You've done well."
Vara bowed deeply, then said, "Congratulations on your promotion, Master. As soon as I arrived near Stormwind City, I could feel the surging magical power coming from your mark."
Duke looked surprised, then smiled knowingly, "Follow me, and you won't regret it. Go back for now, I'll be there when the time comes."
Vara nodded, bowed again, then turned around, swaying her long snake tail. Her green figure disappeared into the sea waves.
Duke watched Vara's retreating figure with a meaningful look. This female Naga must have held something back before. Perhaps she was injured and her strength had decreased. Now that she had caught her breath, her power had recovered considerably. Coincidentally, Duke's magical circuits had just taken shape.
Duke didn't mind Vara's little schemes. Firstly, his mark could tell Vara about his strength and weaknesses. Secondly, as long as Vara couldn't afford the price of betrayal, she would always be loyal.
Turning around, Duke went to find Marco.
The next morning, before dawn broke, fishermen were already preparing to go out to sea for fishing.
A distinguished guest arrived at the pier - Earth Mage Duke Markus. Following Duke were Marco and a dozen mercenaries.
There was a platform next to the pier's announcement board, which was usually used for declaring important news. Today, Duke stood on it, his blue and white mage's robe so dazzling that many fishermen didn't even dare to meet his eyes.
Marco and his subordinates were dressed in neat, new leather armor, with daggers tied around their waists and thighs - typical naval battle attire.
Duke nodded slightly, and Marco stepped forward, shouting to the fishermen, "Now - the owner of the Pearl Route, a member of the Stormwind Royal Mage Corps, and Earth Mage Duke Markus, has a somewhat dangerous but highly profitable business venture to embark on."
Somewhat dangerous?
"Big business?
Asking us fishermen?
The fishermen were all a bit taken aback, but also somewhat excited. Pearl Shipping Line's cargo ships passed in and out of the harbor under their watch almost every day. Initially, they had hired inexperienced sailors who didn't have their own ships. Now? Those guys were earning double the wages of regular sailors, simply for two days of short-distance sailing, and they had all struck it rich.
No murloc attacks, no naga, no sea monsters—just smooth sailing and enviable wages. They had often been scolded by their families for missing out on the good times and not striking their first pot of gold in the Pearl Shipping Line.
In a relatively peaceful era, it's easier to ignite the spirit of adventure. Seeing the two mercenaries beside Marco hoisting up a large chest of gold coins, the fishermen's eyes lit up.
There was surprise and joy.
The surprise was that the fishermen's wages were definitely not worth gold coins.
The joy was that this was undoubtedly a big deal.
Marco continued with his slightly hoarse voice, "Rest assured, Lord Marcus doesn't want you to engage in any piracy. Right now, a group of naga is about to attack his warehouse. He wants you to sink your old fishing boats at a designated location and wipe out those damned naga in one fell swoop. In return, Lord Marcus will compensate you with a brand new fishing boat of the same size or buy it outright for 500 gold coins. Each fisherman who ventures to sink the ship will receive a compensation of two gold coins. If you are unfortunate enough to die, it will be ten gold coins. You can receive gold coins before setting sail."
The bare-chested Jackson, a respected elder, stepped forward at this point, "Lord Marcus has already ordered an additional forty boats from me. The boat-building fee has been paid in advance, and you can get any type of fishing boat from me."
Old Jackson's words were more persuasive than Marco, an outsider.
Some fishermen were moved. One of them asked with a trembling voice, "We just need to sink the old fishing boats at the designated location, swim away, and then we can get a new boat and the reward?"
"Exactly! Lord Marcus will personally deal with those despicable naga, and our mercenary group will be on the ship behind you to pick you up and bring you back to Stormwind Harbor. Now, Lord Marcus needs ten fishing boats. Who's in?"
Under heavy rewards, there must be brave men.
On average, a fisherman could make two or three silver coins per trip. And it's not like there are no risks at sea. Fishermen nowadays live with danger all the time, even in shallow waters. There are enormous sharks, murlocs, and all sorts of sea monsters.
So, it's not just ten gold coins; even one gold coin would attract many.
"Me!"
"Mine, mine! I've been wanting to replace that broken boat!"
Valla, the female naga leader, was unaware of the events in Stormwind.
All she knew was that she was in big trouble.
With Duke's support, she had gathered half of the murloc tribes in Westfall as her subordinates. Now, more than two thousand noisy murlocs were crammed into half of Shallow Water Bay.
At a glance, such an astonishing number seemed enough to capture a human town. But Valla knew very well that unless Duke was there, these murlocs were just a group of weaklings who could only fight when they had the upper hand.
A male naga with a long scar on his left cheek, stretching from his forehead to the corner of his mouth, blinding his left eye, carrying a massive trident with a blade wider than his body, approached.
"High Priestess, we have new information. Greyscale has nearly 400 naga coming this time, and they've also mobilized over 3,000 murlocs. We..."
"No need to say more."
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