Chapter 343: Nagrand’s Autumn (Part 3)

Vaughn never got to meet Wu Qingsong. Instead, he was received by Ram, Nagrand’s mistress, who provided him with a large quantity of golden alfalfa seeds and promised that in the coming spring, they would aerially disperse an even greater batch of seeds using aircraft.

The survival rate of such a method wouldn’t be high, but it was convenient—seeds could be scattered during patrols without much extra effort. If they took root and flourished, it could significantly improve the ecological environment around the Icy Sea. If not, given the abundance of seeds after large-scale cultivation, it wouldn’t be much of a loss for Nagrand.

Ram hoped to establish a more stable relationship with the tauren. While Nagrand produced its own iron—albeit of average quality—it was still considered decent for the northern wilderness. Salt was an essential resource for the tauren, and finely crafted, durable wagons, as well as high-quality lamellar armor, were highly desirable commodities. However, the real problem was that the tauren had little to offer in exchange.

As one of the few entirely herbivorous beast clans of the wasteland, they didn’t even raise livestock. Their nomadic lifestyle made it difficult for them to accumulate wealth or trade goods.

If they were willing to convert—even if only for show—Nagrand would offer them much greater support. But since they adamantly refused, Ram could only proceed with the pre-established plan, offering them the most basic assistance.

“If you’re willing, you can exchange labor for goods,” Ram told them. “Tauren are strong and can be much more effective in many areas than the mousekin. Of course, you can also act as patrol units on Nagrand’s outskirts, similar to the Silvermoon wolfmen. While working in Nagrand, your meals will be provided. Depending on the nature of the work and your performance, compensation will be paid in food or goods. You can decide how to divide it among yourselves, but our recommendation is a 70-30 split. 70% for the individual and 30% for the clan.”

This offer carried a hidden agenda.

First, it would help solve the problem of the mousekin’s lack of physical strength, reducing reliance on pulleys and cranes for every task. In places like the blacksmith’s workshop, expanding production without stronger beastkin like the tauren was nearly impossible.

Second, it used the clan’s influence to push these beastkin into Nagrand’s environment, gradually exposing them to its way of life. While they might resist the Xuanyuan faith within their own clans, could they truly remain unaffected while surrounded by believers at all times? 

Wu Qingsong was confident that life in Nagrand was far better than the unstable, feast-or-famine existence of the wasteland—especially for the lower-class beastkin.

Finally, the longer these workers remained in Nagrand, the weaker the clan’s hold over them would become. Over time, they would inevitably grow resentful of the portion of their earnings claimed by their clans. Meanwhile, the clans themselves, growing increasingly dependent on the profits brought in by their workers, would be reluctant to sever the relationship. Eventually, these beastkin would come to identify more with Nagrand’s fairness than with the arbitrary rule of their own clans.

The former hostages had held too high a status to betray their social class, but those sent to Nagrand for labor would inevitably be the lowest-ranked beastkin. Even if they were periodically rotated back to their clans, Nagrand’s influence would already be ingrained within them—something that could not be easily erased.

This, in truth, was the seed of Nagrand’s ultimate integration with the Icy Sea beastkin.

Silvermoon, however, was an exception. As Nagrand’s most stable ally, a gentler approach was taken with them.

In fact, due to the special relationships Wu Qingsong had with Ram, Nina, and Daryl, the Silvermoon wolfkin were far less resistant to the Xuanyuan Church’s presence than other clans. They had even followed Nagrand’s lead in offering some protection to the mousekin within their lands and allowing them the freedom to choose their faith.

This led to the formation of several settlements around key water sources in Silvermoon territory, each housing thousands of mousekin. Numerous wells had been dug, and golden alfalfa was being planted in abundance.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement—the werewolves maintained their pride and independence, while still enjoying some of the benefits granted to Xuanyuan’s followers through their mousekin subjects.

Without Feya’s aid, trees were still sparse, making these towns appear far less developed than Nagrand. However, compared to the more resistant clans, Silvermoon was miles ahead.

In exchange for the wolfkin’s tolerance, the mousekin under their rule had to bear heavier responsibilities, preventing them from tending their fields as meticulously as those in Nagrand. However, with larger tracts of land under cultivation, their food production wasn’t much lower. Through regular pruning and harvesting, they could even supply enough fodder for Silvermoon’s flocks.

With ample food and access to Nagrand’s coal for winter heating, Silvermoon was considering shifting toward a semi-settled lifestyle. Some wolfkin would still migrate south into the mountains with their herds to escape the cold, but others planned to stay behind, following Nagrand’s example—building ice shelters and maintaining a presence on the land year-round.

Despite their thick winter coats protecting them from the cold, werewolves still needed ample food. As long as there was a steady supply of fish from the Icy Sea and Nagrand, their survival in these lands wouldn’t be an issue.

***

Wu Qingsong, however, paid little attention to these matters. His focus remained divided between refining gunpowder and designing firearms, as well as identifying more talented beast-girls.

Several months had passed, and many mousekin had been deemed truly devout by the priests. Since anything that could be put to use was valuable, and to set an example for others—showing that unwavering faith could lead to a better life—the first batch of rat-girls had been selected as candidates for the Sisterhood and begun undergoing Wu Qingsong’s tests.

The mousekin of the wasteland were slightly larger than their southern counterparts, and their ancestral blood seemed somewhat stronger. More importantly, their sheer numbers dwarfed the total number of believers Wu Qingsong had previously encountered in Orgrimmar.

This allowed him to quickly identify over a dozen ratgirls with potential. To his great surprise, not only were two of them capable of channeling holy light, but one even possessed a formidable talent for water magic.

“I can finally experiment with even more dangerous ways to get myself killed,” he murmured to himself, a mischievous grin creeping onto his face.