Volume 3: Tides of Darkness Chapter 132 Nanhai Town
Old Henry waved the hoe vigorously, sweat dripping from his hard work. He watched the ridges in front of him being turned up one by one, seeds being scattered among the soil, and soon sprouts appeared in the soil and wheat seedlings grew.
Old Henry wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at the bright sunshine above his head. He felt so comfortable.
After so many years of fear, I can finally have a few days of peace.
Like millions of nameless farmers in this world, Old Henry's daily job is to farm and harvest crops. However, such a simple job is as dangerous as hanging your head on your waist. Mountain lions, grizzly bears, wild wolves, giant spiders, fishmen, trolls, snow monsters, robbers, bandits, and even dragons, every kind of monster will try to eat these farmers.
Those noble lords were never absent when it came time to collect taxes and grain, but when they encountered danger, they simply disappeared without a trace.
Fortunately, these bad days are finally over, and I can finally live a good life...
Old Henry was just sighing when, in the distance, a group of cavalrymen galloped past quickly. The man leading the group had the suffix of Prince of Alterac on his head.
Hey, it’s the prince who has arrived. This is the second prince I’ve seen today. It looks like something big is going to happen in Nanhai Town.
But old Henry was not worried, he was quite relieved.
A few years ago, King Aiden of Alterac's only son was killed by frost trolls, and he was filled with fear when he heard the news.
A king without heirs means chaos. Once the king passes away, either the nobles will fight for supremacy or foreign countries will intervene. In any case, their peaceful life cannot be maintained. Fortunately, King Aiden is still strong and has given birth to more than 30 sons in three years, and each of them is a strong man in his twenties. Now they no longer have to worry about the succession of the kingdom.
And since then, adventurers have appeared in this world on a large scale, and their busy figures can be seen everywhere. The wild beasts, gnolls, murlocs, bandits, snowmen, and even dragons that threaten their safety are no longer a problem. As long as everyone can pool together some money and issue a few elimination missions, there will naturally be brave adventurers who will eliminate these threats.
Compared with those nobles who just eat and wait for death, these adventurers are so reliable and never say useless things. They just tell them where to go, how many to kill, call it a day, collect the money and leave.
Although adventurers usually have bad tempers and are quick to draw their knives and hack at people, they never harm farmers like them. At most, they would say a few strange words like "enpixi".
Old Henry never took it seriously.
Nowadays, the farmers in Alterac, at least the self-employed farmers like old Henry who own their own houses and farmlands, live a very comfortable life.
Old Henry has lived for so many years and feels that these years are basically the best years of his life.
In the blink of an eye, the wheat had already grown. He hurriedly waved the hoe and picked the wheat. Soon the wheat in the field was piled into a bundle. After harvesting two bundles of wheat, the day's work was completed.
Another round of horse hoofbeats sounded. Old Henry looked up and was surprised to find that another prince was galloping towards him with his cavalry. This was the third one today.
What surprised him even more was that the prince actually walked towards him.
Old Henry was nervous. Hey, this is a prince. Should he kneel down and salute him? Or should he call him His Highness or His Excellency? He was very nervous, but his face was expressionless.
He didn't stand up until the prince came up to him and looked over with an expressionless face.
Aidan (Prince of Alterac): "Old man, may I ask which direction Southshore is in?"
Farmer: “It’s a nice day today.”
As soon as old Henry finished speaking, he cried out inwardly, "Oh no!" He was anxious, "Old Henry, oh old Henry, are you stupid? How can you say such nonsense? The prince is asking you a question."
Aidan (Prince of Alterac): "Um, I mean, go that way?"
Farmer: "Well, the harvest must be very good this year."
Aidan (Prince of Alterac): "I ask, how do we get there?"
Farmer: “It’s a nice day today.”
It's over, it's over. The prince will be angry. He won't kill me with his sword, will he? Old Henry felt desperate. The nobles and the royal family were not reasonable. The law stipulated that if a noble was offended, he could take action against the adventurer. Beating him was the least of his punishment. Even if he drew his sword to look at him, there was no place to complain.
However, the prince in front of him just sighed, "Sorry to bother you," and turned away.
Old Henry breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt a little ashamed. What happened to him? His Royal Highness the Prince was so kind and just asked for directions, but he didn't serve him. Damn it!
He opened his mouth with all his strength, twisting his tongue, and using all his strength, "Your Highness..."
These four words took up almost all of his strength, but the prince had already gotten back on his horse and was galloping away into the distance.
Old Henry sat down on the ground, feeling that all his strength was exhausted.
He shook his head helplessly and decided to continue harvesting the wheat.
Murphy was a little speechless. It seemed that the intelligence of these nameless farmer NPCs was not enough. They kept repeating the same two lines over and over again. It was impossible to get any clear answer when asking them for directions.
I don’t know how the three old men gathered these farmers together.
There was an intersection ahead, with road signs nailed around it. Murphy took a look.
To the north - Tarren Mill.
East - Durnholde Keep
To the south - Nanhai Town
To the west - Hillsbrad.
Fortunately, I didn’t take the wrong path. This was the road to Nanhai Town.
By the evening, the team finally arrived at Nanhai Town.
It is called a town, but in fact it is more like a city, with thick stone walls and bustling streets. It used to be just a deserted fishing village, but later with the development of north-south commerce, Nanhai Town became an important commercial port leading to Ironforge and Stormwind City, and therefore became more and more prosperous.
This is an important southern town and commercial center of Alterac, where the only fleet of the Kingdom of Alterac is stationed.
This used to be the fief of the third prince, but the third prince was killed by a black dragon and left no offspring before his death, so the city was nationalized and is currently managed by a baron who serves as the city governor.
When he saw Murphy and the knights entering the city gate, he immediately brought people up to greet them.
Jeffrey (Alderman of Southshore): "Ah, Your Highness, welcome, welcome. The other two princes are already resting in the castle."
Aidan (Prince of Alterac): "Well, find a place for my people to stay and prepare dinner. I will join my brothers and lead the way."
Ten minutes later, Murphy followed the alderman into the town hall of Nanhai Town.
The three of them greeted each other, and just then the alderman sent someone to deliver dinner. The three of them ate while taking out the map and discussing the route of action.
There are two ways to Stormwind City. One is the land route, which goes through the Hillsbrad Foothills, through the Thoradin Wall, into the territory of the Kingdom of Stromgarde, through the highland wilderness of the Arathi Highlands, through the wetland swamps full of flies and crocodiles, then to the snow-covered Khaz Modan, and then to the Burning Plains where black dragons are rampant and fireworks are everywhere...
Finally arrived at Storm Kingdom.
The road is quite long. Even if the entire cavalry is on the road, it will take at least a week.
Moreover, there are all kinds of monsters along the way, so you will have to fight a few encounters, and maybe you can even kill a few bosses along the way.
Although galloping on horseback and traveling thousands of miles sounds poetic, Murphy has already become a little bored after two days of riding. The thought of riding a horse for a week in the game makes Murphy feel a little annoyed.
It's a pity that the story missions don't allow the use of teleportation, and it's not very realistic to teleport a large group of people over long distances, otherwise it wouldn't be necessary to go through so much trouble.
Another route is the sea route, which starts from Southshore Town and travels through the South Sea and Naga Sea by boat, replenishing supplies at Menethil Harbor, then bypassing the coast surrounded by the mountains of Khaz Modan, crossing the Storm Sea, and finally arriving in Stormwind City.
It’s also a journey of about a week, but fortunately you don’t have to ride a horse, and sitting on a boat isn’t that tiring. If you’re not afraid of accidents, you can even go offline in the cabin and wait until seven days later to go online again.
The three of them discussed for a while and decisively chose to take the sea route.
Murphy called the alderman in.
Aidan (Prince of Alterac): "We need three large ships to set out for Stormwind tomorrow. Find us the ships, load them with supplies, and get the best sailors. Go do it now."
The municipal officer looked embarrassed. "Your Highness, this matter may be a bit troublesome. Recently, the fishmen and Nagas in the South China Sea have been rioting like crazy, and there are also a large number of pirates running rampant, seemingly searching for something. Many fishing boats and merchant ships have disappeared. I'm afraid that sea and land are not safe."
Darabongba (Prince of Alterac): "What? There is such a thing? Where is our fleet?"
Jeffrey (city councillor of Southshore): "Fleet commander Earl Dennis believes that in the face of such a situation where the primary goal should be to preserve the fleet."
Sigurd (Prince of Alterac): "Humph, you are just a bunch of rubbish. Why does the kingdom spend so much money to feed you every year? Let that Dennis come to see us immediately."
