After a thousand years, Gale returned to the world.
During this millennium, the world had changed dramatically, and too much had shifted. Tydasshid and others had already had children, and these children had now grown into adults.
Gale felt a strange sense of unreality the first time he saw the third generation of his bloodline. While he felt some closeness, there was more unfamiliarity. These little ones hadn't grown up by his side; if not for the blood relation, they would have been strangers.
For long-lived races, this wasn't an issue, as the bloodline was there, and with a bit of interaction, things would improve.
Gale gathered all these grandchildren and kept them with him constantly, even bringing them along when discussing important imperial matters with Tydasshid.
The Kaldorei Empire's population had already exceeded 20 million, which was the result of Tydasshid's family planning policy.
The Broken Isles had been largely developed. Nordrassil, Nathalass, Hovswald, and Black Rook Hold had all become major cities, surrounded by numerous prosperous towns, forming the Broken Isles economic zone.
Driven by the economic zone, Highmountain and Dreamgrove also developed well.
Thunder Totem had now become a vertical city, with large numbers of Highmountain Tauren living both on and below the mountain. In addition, Skyreach and Doomed Cliff had also become prosperous towns, developing along coastal plains like Blindmarsh and Shipwreck Cove.
The Drogbar had almost hollowed out Highmountain's underground. If not for food restricting their development, Highmountain's underground caves probably wouldn't have been enough. To solve the food problem, they formed mercenary groups and went to Northrend to hunt Spider Demons in the underground caves.
After two thousand years of development, the Spider Demon's underground kingdom had become very vast. The underground resources were no longer sufficient for their expansion, so they began collecting resources from the surface.
This caught the attention of the Red Dragons, who informed the Kaldorei Empire of the situation. Tydasshid immediately dispatched Axi to clear out the Spider Demons. Axi, having failed to eliminate all the Faceless Ones, had remained in Northrend and had not returned even after Gale's return.
The Morning Light Family's commitment to their promises was evident.
Because at this time, the Blue Dragons were constantly trembling. Gale was no longer the same as before, and those Blue Dragons truly feared that Gale might wipe them all out in a fit of anger.
Northrend's development also entered the fast lane. Darkmoon City, Utgarde Keep, and Twin Bay formed an economic zone, encompassing eastern Northrend. This economic zone covered Grizzly Hills, ZulDrak, and Storm Peaks.
In western Northrend, besides Starfall City, the Kaldorei Empire also established Northwind Harbor (Valiance Keep) and Amber Harbor (Amber Ledge), and along with AhnQiraj, united the Yak People and Frostborn Dwarves there, establishing a front-line position against the Spider Demons near Ice Mist Village. To prevent Spider Demon ambushes on supply routes, the Empire built a punitive force port on the coastline south of Ice Mist Village, specifically for transporting supplies.
Axi led a combined force of tens of thousands, directly blocking the entrance to the Spider Demon's underground kingdom, Azjol-Nerub, and then dispatched troops to clear out Spider Demon forces on the surface.
The Spider Demons had developed very strong magical technology, and their magic towers were very powerful.
If the Yak People and Frostborn Dwarves attacked the Spider Demon bases, casualties would be very high. But when it came to magic, how could Spider Demons be a match for Elves? The Elven Mages had a hundred ways to deal with the Spider Demon's magic towers; they could even protect the attacking troops with defensive spells and dismantle the towers while enduring their attacks without directly engaging.
However, to avoid casualties, Axi requested a Golem unit from Sethonis. The Golems, disguised with anti-magic armor, charged into the bases and could destroy anything, whether magic towers or Spider Demons.
Her compassionate heart earned her the adoration of the people of Northrend. They no longer called Axi 'Princess' but 'Ice Queen'.
Gale teleported to the front-line position with his grandchildren, where Axi was organizing an attack.
The Drogbar, familiar with underground conditions, were the perfect choice to deal with the Spider Demons. Their stone-like bodies possessed strong anti-magic properties, making it difficult for Spider Demon magic to harm them. However, there was a type of beetle among the Spider Demons that specialized in earth magic, and the earth spikes they created could attack the Drogbar's vital points.
Therefore, Elven Mages had to accompany them. Elven Mages also couldn't act alone; they needed protection.
Axi brought three thousand Elven troops from various parts of Northrend and gathered twenty Lich, assigning them to lead and accompany the Drogbar.
"Father!"
Axi ran over joyfully and embraced Gale.
Gale was also very happy; he had only seen Axi a few times since she came to Northrend.
"How is the war going?"
Axi sighed a little: "For two thousand years, we haven't paid attention to the Spider Demons, and they've actually built a massive underground kingdom. We've gathered five thousand Drogbar warriors and have already occupied a cave roughly the size of the Highmountain underground caves, but this area might not even be one-tenth of the Spider Demon's underground kingdom."
"These Spider Demons are very cunning; they can sense our attack routes. And with so many underground tunnels, they always avoid our attack routes, circling behind us to destroy the bases we've established. This makes our offensive very passive, so I've given up on the idea of quickly clearing out the Spider Demons and plan to proceed steadily, building defensive structures wherever we occupy a place, gradually compressing the Spider Demons' attack space."
Gale shook his head, "In that case, you probably won't be able to eliminate these Spider Demons in ten thousand years. You should know that the Spider Demons' digging ability is probably stronger than our ability to build defenses. And if given enough time, they will reproduce even more Spider Demons."
To deal with the Spider Demons, one still had to rely on the Lich King. Only by acquiring a large number of troops in a short period and overwhelming them with sheer numbers could the Spider Demon problem be thoroughly resolved.
"I'll give you orders to have Hovswald send another two hundred Lich over."
Axi said, "Father, perhaps we can also set up a battlefield."
Gale shook his head, "The Spider Demons were once servants of Yogg-Saron. If they dig into Yogg-Saron's prison, it will allow Yogg-Saron to break through his seal again. The last time he broke through, he caused the Titan Guardians to fall apart. Odyn, Torim, and Loken are already dead, and the remaining Titan Guardians cannot afford to have any more problems."
Hearing this reason, Axi no longer objected.
As they were speaking, a Frostborn Dwarf rushed from the underground cave, "Ice Queen, we've found traces of Faceless Ones in the underground cave."
Gale looked at Axi, who said shyly, "They just call me that."
Axi's son, standing nearby, said, "Mother really likes that title."
"Don't talk nonsense!" Axi glared at him, then said, "Father, I'll go take care of that Faceless One first."
"Go ahead! I'm also going to Ulduar anyway."
Gale told Axi to go quickly and not worry about them.
Axi bid farewell to everyone and followed the Frostborn Dwarf into the underground cave.
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