As Rex gazed at the towering Greymane Wall ahead, a slow creaking began.
The massive gates slowly opened, and Rex's party swiftly passed through the Greymane Wall. With their entry into Gilneas, this journey to Dalaran came to an end.
This trip to Dalaran had introduced Rex to quite a few people, including some legendary figures, but the one who left the deepest impression was Scott. That vicious orc had made a lasting mark on him. Rex still could not forget the frustration of being pinned down and beaten without a chance to fight back. Now that he had returned to Gilneas, gaining practical combat experience had become an absolute necessity.
Antonidas had taken the appearance of orcs in those mountains very seriously and come to inspect the scene himself. His expression darkened after he discovered the corpses of kobolds and the others. Rex remembered that sight clearly; Antonidas had obviously been deeply troubled. Still, whatever the mage intended to do was beyond Rex's control. After expressing his concerns about the Refuge, Rex had continued his journey, accompanied by Jaina and the others.
With Jaina and Kael'thas there, Rex had nothing to fear even if Scott returned. The rest of his journey went smoothly, and after they reached Ambermill, Jaina, Kael'thas, and the others departed.
Prince Rex's return caused quite a stir in the capital of Gilneas. Despite the country's many years of isolation, some of its people still held an intense curiosity about the outside world.
The caravan's goods proved astonishingly popular. Over the past few days, Rex's shops in the capital of Gilneas had been bustling beyond belief. In his previous life, even the isolationist Qing Dynasty had been unable to cut off all contact with the outside world, and Western goods had still found their way in. Gilneas was different. The Greymane Wall had completely severed every connection between Gilneas and the world beyond.
Gilneas occupied a peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides. It should have been able to develop thriving maritime trade, much like the great naval powers. Unfortunately, the Biting Reefs filled the waters along all three coasts. No ship dared approach; any that did would meet with destruction, taking its crew down with it. Had Gilneas been willing, clearing a shipping lane through a nationwide effort would not have been particularly difficult. It would merely have required some additional national resources. Instead, Gilneas treated the Biting Reefs as a natural barrier and made no effort to clear them.
With the Greymane Wall blocking the only remaining route to the outside world, Gilneas was truly isolated, without any contact whatsoever. Everyone had a natural interest in unusual things, and the people of Gilneas were no exception. Goods from Dalaran were commonplace elsewhere, but in Gilneas they were rare treasures.
Those without money came to enjoy the bustle, while those with money came to buy, making Rex's shops extraordinarily busy. Just how busy they were was clear from Vincent's visit to Rex. The shops' popularity and the profits behind it were a secret to everyone else, but not to two men: Vincent and Darius.
Rex had ordered the others to keep quiet, but he had given no such order to Ulysses or Rona, so Godfrey and the Crowley Family behind them knew exactly what was happening. Darius was the first to visit Rex, which came as no surprise. Vincent followed. Even he could not ignore the profits involved. Did the caravan make money? In Vincent's eyes, the answer was a definite yes. He was undoubtedly the shrewdest man in all of Gilneas. Others might fail to see it, but how could Vincent?
What Vincent had not anticipated was just how enormous those profits would be. The caravan stood to earn over three thousand from this trip altogether—a considerable sum, even accounting for all the hard work involved. And Rex's portion was only part of the caravan. Monroe had also gone to Southshore. Combined, their profits would certainly exceed five thousand gold coins.
Five thousand would not have been much for an entire year, but this had taken only a few months. They could easily make four trips a year, bringing in twenty thousand gold coins—enough to equal a tenth of the income of Gilneas as a whole.
Faced with such staggering profits, Vincent naturally could not sit still. Four trips a year would be a tight schedule, but three were certainly possible, and the caravan could be expanded. As they made more trips, their profits would inevitably decline from the current heights, but they would still be considerable.
For the sake of his family, Vincent could hardly remain idle. After seeing him off, Rex let a faint smile appear on his face. The first step toward changing Gilneas was complete.
Rex had deliberately played up the caravan's profits, and some of the frenzy surrounding its goods had been staged, though most of it was genuine. If he wanted to change Gilneas, his strength alone was too little to accomplish the task. Since ancient times, the simplest way for heroes to achieve their aims had been to gather others around them. The caravan's profits were Rex's means of attracting attention, and he had clearly gotten off to a strong start. With the Crowley and Godfrey families joining him, he already had a substantial force behind him.
A relationship bound by shared interests was the most enduring kind. As for friendship, loyalty, and all the rest, that was bullshit. If you could offer no benefit, who would give you their loyalty?
Simply telling the people of Gilneas how wonderful the outside world was would convince no one, nor would it make anyone yearn to go there. Rex's next step, then, was to take a few poor people and turn them from roosters into phoenixes after they left Gilneas with the caravan.
Rex intended to begin spreading the word in Gilneas about the wonders of the outside world: gold lay everywhere, and even a random handful of dirt could be brought back to Gilneas and sold for money.
How had the Age of Exploration begun in his previous life? Had it not been because so many penniless nobodies had become rich overnight? Rex intended to steer that same trend. Crowley and Godfrey were excellent examples of people getting involved. Once more and more people wanted to venture beyond the Greymane Wall, Gilneas's policy of isolation would crumble on its own.
Doing all this step by step would take a great deal of time, and Rex did not have that much to spare. His next move, therefore, was to manufacture a few millionaires. At the thought of the gold coins this would cost, Kael'thas's figure sprang unbidden into his mind.
Looks like I'll have to spend more time with that rich guy.
(End of chapter)
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