Chapter 214: The Lordaeron Incident (Part 2)

The piercing alarm bells rang urgently and harshly.

As the king of Lordaeron, Menethil II could no longer remain seated. He abruptly stood up, his claw-like crown radiating an intense aura of authority.

"Please, King Llane and our honored guests, try to remain calm. As the king of Lordaeron, I have the confidence and capability to ensure your safety. Please wait here for a moment." With that said, he paid no heed to the reactions of others. Menethil II waved his hand, and the royal guards rushed into the large conference hall, securing every passage while mages set up defensive barriers.

This disturbance was so exaggerated that it was evident that Lordaeron would lose face after this incident.

The representatives from various nations were either restless or muttering to themselves, their reactions quite interesting.

Of course, the most amusing were Llane and Lothar, who couldn't help but glance at Duke, as if they knew it had something to do with him.

Duke shrugged, gesturing innocently.

Reane rolled his eyes, clearly thinking: Who are you fooling? You trapped a hundred thousand orcs with a single fire. No one can beat you at cunning schemes.

Lothar was even more straightforward, his face darkening.

With no other choice, Duke secretly made a "7" gesture.

Now it was Llane's turn to be silent, while Lothar rolled his eyes.

Seven—referring to the Seventh Department of Military Intelligence.

As an intelligence agency directly under the king, Llane didn't think Duke had the ability to reach into the Seventh Department. Without asking, it was apparent that this was the work of the Seventh Department, and Duke, being in charge of internal affairs in Southshore, was somehow involved, seemingly playing a role.

Llane guessed half correctly.

If Llane were to ask, he would find out that this was a plan initiated by the Seventh Department of Military Intelligence.

In reality, Duke was the one who triggered it.

Due to the matter with VanCleef, Duke found the master who taught him the ways of the rogue. Duke bluntly revealed the man's identity.

As a military intelligence agency that had placed a mole beside a high-ranking official in the kingdom and got caught, this was undoubtedly a major failure. The man's face crumbled.

How important was Duke now?

In the army, there was even a saying that if Lothar fell, Duke must not. This was because the hundreds of thousands of exiled soldiers and civilians now entirely depended on Duke.

Duke could review over 1,000 reports and requests in an afternoon, and then he could multitask, using ten Mage Hands to write ten different reports and instructions without any errors. (In reality, it was the system sprite that helped categorize and summarize the information, which was then reviewed by Duke and written by the Mage Hands controlled by the system sprite.)

It was no exaggeration to say that Duke alone was equivalent to an entire internal affairs cabinet plus 100 civil officials. Coupled with Duke's previously dazzling military achievements, if Duke were to complain to the king, not just that small intelligence officer, but the entire Seventh Department would definitely suffer.

Duke feigned anger and scolded, "You have so much time to do these things, yet you don't think about how to help His Majesty promote the establishment of the Seven Nations Alliance. Even sending a few orcs to Lordaeron to provoke old man Terenas would be better than doing this!"

Although it sounded like a rant, it fell differently upon the ears of the Seventh Department's leader—female assassin Pathonia Shaw.

Due to the Horde's extensive use of wolves, these equally sharp-nosed canines had nearly eliminated all intelligence-gathering avenues for the Seventh Department. Lothar's dissatisfaction with the Seventh Department had been present since the beginning of the orc war.

Pathonia was eager to do something beneficial for the kingdom. Duke's seemingly casual remark inspired her. As the head of an intelligence agency, she had the authority to dispose of prisoners, so she took away a full hundred orcs.

Unfortunately, she didn't speak the orcish language, so in the end, she had to swallow her pride and seek Duke's help.

Duke didn't say anything, he just translated for Pathonia.

In truth, Pathonia had an inkling that Duke wanted to use her and the Seventh Department. Some things are like a layer of paper, obviously fragile, but under sufficient tacit understanding, no one would poke through.

Duke wanted to use the Seventh Department to promote the establishment of the alliance.

The Seventh Department wanted to prove itself and achieve merits.

This matter would not harm Stormwind's interests in the end, so both parties tacitly cooperated.

Obviously, the leader of the Seventh Department did a good job.

King Terenas rushed out of the conference hall like his rear was on fire.

"What's the brand-new method you've prepared?" Lothar asked unwillingly.

Duke raised his hand, displaying the holographic projection of Little One, which was a scene from the Battle of Stormwind. This novel display method indeed left Lothar dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, I misunderstood you," Lothar was an honest person, and seeing that Duke hadn't been involved in the matter, he quickly forgot about it.

At this very moment, in the square before the palace's main hall.

The orc squad was still charging wildly.

A rain of arrows shot in unison, but they couldn't take the lives of these frenzied orcs.

As Stormwind had underestimated the resilience of orc flesh at the beginning of the war, the guards of the Kingdom of Lordaeron made the same mistake. Sharp arrows were lodged less than three centimeters into the orcs' skin. It seemed like the orcs had turned into porcupines, but they still roared like demons, charging forward without a care.

The sword-and-shield-wielding soldiers with large shields were easily sent flying, and a dozen spears thrust simultaneously were often swept away by a single club. These orcs were like indestructible monsters, terrifying the royal guards.

What allowed these guards to stand their ground was nothing more than honor and unwavering persistence.

However, the orcs finally met their match.

A priest, radiating white light, appeared. In the eyes of the Blackhand bodyguards, this kind of person who possessed healing magic was similar to a shaman's healing abilities.

The Blackhand bodyguard didn't think such a person could stop him.

He was wrong!

Terribly wrong!

When he charged with his massive hexagonal rhino horn, what happened next left him stunned.

A hammer!

A huge silver hammer, rapidly swinging with a fierce force that was no less than that of a chieftain-level expert, smashed down on his rhino horn.

With a "bang," the rhino horn, which had crushed carriages and shattered one human shield formation after another, was shattered like a pane of glass by the hammer, scattering fragments in all directions.

Without hesitation, the Blackhand bodyguard swung his right arm, launching the massive iron rod he had pulled from the arena.

However, the opponent's strength was completely beyond his expectations.

After a clangorous sound that was enough to make the surrounding guards cover their ears in pain.

The Blackhand guard's eyes almost popped out of his sockets.

What did he see?