Chapter 234: The Oracle Murgle

Duke shivered in the noon chill, despite it being his own icy aura, he couldn't help but feel absolutely freezing.

When dealing with the citizens of Stormwind, Duke had ten thousand ways to increase their loyalty. After all, they were all humans and knew what people needed.

As for the murlocs, Duke could only try to maintain an air of mystery. Sometimes, he was even happy to keep his distance from them, using their fear of the unknown to maintain a dominant position, ensuring his control over them.

However, when the prophet suddenly began groveling, Duke was caught off guard.

No matter what, the actions of this fellow had always been undermining his authority. Duke had long since made up his mind to not kill him, but to cripple him and make him a true fish.

How merciful of me!

Now, the one who was at a loss was Duke himself.

Tens of thousands of murlocs prostrated before him as the murloc prophet opened the huge clamshell upon which he stood. Duke glanced at it, and it did indeed resemble a throne.

"Great King of the Sea, Duke Marcus! Your servant Murgle bows before you!"

Murgle?

The Oracle Murgle?

Duke was certain he had never heard of this guy before.

However, a system notification said, "Congratulations, you have conquered Murloc Oracle Murgle. He has supreme prestige among the murlocs. His words are law, and his language represents fate. Successfully conquering him means there will be no more murlocs hostile to you."

Duke frowned.

Meanwhile, Murgle, with a comically awkward gait, stepped on the sandy island with his three-fingered, duck-like feet and approached Duke, prostrating himself in front of him.

"King of the Murlocs—please, take your seat on your throne!"

Duke didn't immediately agree; instead, he sneered coldly, "Weren't you just saying 'all creatures not of the sea are unworthy to rule over murlocs'? Why are you now acknowledging me as your king?"

Murgle's large yellow eyes, with their black vertical pupils, quickly spun around: "In the ancient past, there were no creatures on the land. The ocean was the cradle of all life! The first murloc, to escape the terrifying existence deep beneath the sea, grew limbs and emerged onto the shore. Many more followed suit."

Duke felt a sense of déjà vu. Wasn't this story strangely familiar?

"Some murlocs lacked the courage to break free from the ocean's grip, so they retreated to the sea and found territories near the shore. But a group of brave ones continued to venture deeper into the land…millions of years passed, and they eventually became humans! And Duke Marcus, you are the destined king among the descendants of the murlocs!"

Duke burst out laughing.

What a ludicrous adaptation of Darwin's theory of evolution! Well, should I write the word 'submission' for you?

Clever, yet slippery—this was Duke's first impression of Murgle.

However, the silly murlocs all gasped in astonishment and bowed down once more. This spectacle left Duke speechless.

"Remember! King Marcus is our true king. His power is above all Naga and marine creatures! Do you understand?"

"We understand—" The murlocs prostrated for the third time.

This neat and exaggerated scene left the two Naga priests, Marshal Stoutmantle, and the elite soldiers of Stormwind behind him completely dumbfounded.

What kind of joke is this?

People often called Duke the Sea King, but Stoutmantle had never really believed it. He thought it was merely an honorific title.

Even when he saw Duke commanding the naga and murlocs, he assumed Duke had just employed some special means. Who would have thought he would actually witness such a grand ceremony of worshiping a king?

Sitting on the giant clamshell covered in pearls, Duke never quite got used to it. He couldn't help but let his mind wander, thinking that if the clamshell was actually a trap, and he would be killed without being able to resurrect once he sat on it, this story would indeed be a divine work.

Duke was overthinking it.

At that moment, Duke suddenly realized that Murgle was using some sort of telepathic connection, lingering just outside Duke's mental sea, waiting for the call to be connected.

After some thought, Duke accepted the connection.

"Your Majesty, Murgle is at your service."

"Enough, I am just a powerful human. Why are you doing this?" Duke's voice suddenly became cold and indifferent.

"No, no, no, Murgle and the murlocs are truly devoted to kneeling at your feet, Your Majesty."

"Heh!? First, you incite them to disobey the orders of my emissaries, and then you claim loyalty to me?" Duke was utterly mocking him.

"That's because Murgle was not aware of your greatness... and terror..." In the mental connection, Murgle's figure was already prostrating himself.

"Oh?" Duke became interested.

"Murgle would rather not see any murloc submit to a false king, but is willing to offer absolute loyalty to a true tyrant."

"A tyrant?"

"Yes! Murgle not only sees your power, Your Majesty, but also feels the countless restless souls entwined around you. Only a peerless tyrant can accomplish such great deeds. Compared to you, who can change the fate of so many beings, the entire murloc race is but a trivial existence."

Duke narrowed his eyes, "You can see the restless souls around me?"

"No, I can only feel the strong aura of destiny." Murgle continued to prostrate himself.

"Fine, I will forgive your rudeness for the last time. But if there's a next time, I will have the naga and sea giants cut off your escape routes, and have all the humans on land hunt you down, exterminating the last murloc in the world."

Duke's words made Murgle tremble in fear, both in the spiritual world and in reality.

"Alright, go now. From now on, 60% of the murlocs will obey Vala, 40% will obey Sefilis. As for you—Murgle, you will be Vala's assistant."

"As you command, my king."

Duke rubbed his brow and sighed softly, finally completing the defense system for Southshore.

Upon returning to Southshore, Duke welcomed King Llane 15 days later. Under the relentless travel day and night, Llane hurried back.

"Ah, Duke... the mages' portal is really convenient. If your magic was stable enough, I'd rather return with you. Alas, back then, Medivh's teleportation only became stable after he became the Sunrise Mage; before that, it was always a mess," Llane couldn't help but tease his deceased friend.

"Is there any new information?"

"Anduin finally negotiated with them to station the main force of the army in Southshore."

"The main force?"

"Yes, they think the orcs have a good chance of bypassing them and landing on the west coast, so the first, second, and third Gilneas infantry divisions, as well as half of Lordaeron's troops, will be stationed on the north flowing coastline. The second fleet led by Prince Derek of Kul Tiras has also rushed over."

Duke frowned.