Next Time for Sure

Three years had passed since Zul'An rose upon the Tanaris Desert.

Three years meant little in Azeroth, but for this coastal port city in Tanaris, they had brought earth-shaking changes.

Three years ago, there had been nothing here but sand, barren seawater, and the unbearably scorching sun that blazed overhead at every hour.

Three years later, it had become a coastal jewel beside the Great Sea, spanning several zul in every direction, with walls and gates, a complete street plan, and properly constructed buildings.

The goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel had poured tremendous effort into this place. Over these three years, the Hot Sands chairman had invested nearly all his company's energy, money, and manpower into Zul'An. On top of that came the Zul Empire's full support in resources and comprehensive guarantees of security.

In just three short years, the Steamwheedle Cartel had built an adventurer city capable of housing nearly a hundred thousand residents, along with roughly another hundred thousand transients.

The Steamwheedle Cartel's investment had been enormous. So too had the goblins' returns. To this day, the Zul Empire had not collected a single coin in taxes from Zul'An. To this day, when the Zul Empire supplied this purely commercial adventurer city with necessities, its prices entirely followed the same standards used within the Empire.

Zul'An of Tanaris had now gained a reputation that had vaguely spread to another continent. In recent months, even elven merchants from Quel'Thalas had come here to seek their fortunes in trade. Not to mention the goblins, who had always centered their lives around commerce—aside from Undermine, Zul'An had become the place goblins most wanted to develop.

The Steamwheedle Cartel had exhausted the company's wealth and manpower to build a Zul'An. What the goblins had gained in return was the city's tax revenue,