( The High Elf ' allegiance to the Thoradin bloodline is undeniable; it's clearly stated in the chronicles. The High Elf were genuinely grateful to the humans back then, and the unified human empire was indeed very powerful, while the High Elf were on the verge of extinction. Their allegiance to the Thoradin bloodline is perfectly understandable. It's the Thoradin bloodline, not the humans. So, don't keep saying the High Elf and humans were allies, not allies... they were allies, I never said they weren't!)
Seeing the Sun King's humiliated state, Jiang Jie chuckled.
He didn't expect the Sun King to be friendly. High Elf were notoriously indifferent to outsiders, let alone the King of the High Elf, whose status was extremely noble.
As long as he can stay calm and let the meeting proceed as scheduled, that's enough.
"Since everyone agrees, I hereby declare the meeting open!"
Facing so many high-ranking officials from the Eastern Kingdoms, Jiang Jie remained unfazed and spoke eloquently, "You all have already gained some understanding of the current situation through your respective channels. But what I want to tell you is that what you know is merely the tip of the iceberg. Arthas's strength, Scourge's strength, is far more terrifying than you imagine."
Just the tip of the iceberg!
Hearing Jiang Jie's words, Antonidas nodded and smiled. Besides Jiang Jie, only he truly knew how terrifying the Scourge was. However, he still believed that Jiang Jie's statement was somewhat exaggerated.
Just like that mysterious prophet a few months ago, he exaggerated.
As for the others, they cared even less; the Sun King's face even revealed undisguised mockery.
"Weren't you supposed to drive back the Scourge? My scouts tell me that Arthas, with his remaining Undead, has rolled into the Eastern Plaguelands, and is now in Stratholme, the city Arthas personally slaughtered!" Genn Greymane, the future Wolf King, slammed his fist on the table and shook his head. " The Scourge? Arthas? Your Lordaeron can handle that! Do you really need our help?"
" King Genn, no nation in the Eastern Kingdoms has the power to stand against the Scourge, not even Lordaeron, Gilneas, Dalaran, or Quel'Thalas, which the Sun King is so proud of."
Jiang Jie scanned the area, then stated definitively, " Arthas, he was once a proud prince, a powerful Warrior, a follower of the Holy Light, and a hero of the people! Now he is a traitor, the embodiment of death, an enemy of the Holy Light, and the Betrayer of justice! His runeblade, Frostmourne, can resurrect any slain creature, even dragons. I think Lord Uther will tell you just how many Undead are currently active on this continent!"
All eyes were on Uther, the Legendary Paladin. He nodded to Jiang Jie and then spoke in his usual booming voice, "There are at least 50,000 Undead in Tirisfal Glades, Undead in the Western Plaguelands, and at least 300,000 in the Eastern Plaguelands Undead! Stratholme has at least 200,000, Darrowshire, Plaguewood, Tyr's Hand... Conservatively speaking, there are still 400,000 Undead across the entire Lordaeron!"
hiss!
Everyone gasped!
Four hundred thousand Undead!
Although the leaders already knew some information about the Undead Scourge, they didn't know the exact number of Undead. Apart from Antonidas, who had been closely monitoring the situation, the others had previously assumed it was at most tens of thousands of Undead ravaging the land, plus the city of Stratholme. They never imagined there would be so many!
The situation has actually become this serious!
"I must remind everyone that this is only the current number of Undead. Eastern and Western Plaguelands Tirisfal Glades and the Eastern and Western Plaguelands, there are still at least hundreds of thousands of Lordaeron people. Once these people are killed, they will be resurrected as Undead. Furthermore, necromancers and Death Knight will also resurrect corpses in the graveyards!"
Jiang Jie looked around and said coldly, "You can imagine..."
"When the great cemeteries are emptied, when corpses crawl out of their graves, how many Undead will accumulate? A million? Two million? If you stand idly by, the Undead will grow at an unimaginable rate. In just a few months, the Undead will spread to Silverpine Forest, Alterac Mountains, Hillsbrad Foothills, Hinterlands. Then the entire Lordaeron will become a world of the Undead!" "Emphasis on alarmism!"
These high-ranking leaders were hardly intimidated by Jiang Jie's words. Genn sneered, then retorted without hesitation, " Undead? Those fragile skeletons? Slow-moving zombies? Or those seemingly large but actually easy-to-deal-with Abomination? Gilneas hasn't recovered from World War II yet; they won't send troops!"
" King Genn, do you really think the mountains in northern Silverpine Forest can stop the Undead invasion? But as far as I know, the Undead have already appeared in northern Silverpine Forest! Don't forget, the Scourge also has mages, Archmage! Breaking through the mountain barrier won't be difficult!"
Jiang Jie's face revealed a thought-provoking expression, "You think the Undead can't break through the Silverpine Forest's natural defenses? You think hordes of ferocious beasts will stop them? Sorry, it's not just humans who can be resurrected as Undead; beasts can too! Or do you think the newly built Greymane Wall can stop the Undead invasion? What use is a wall when the whole world is filled with Undead? Or perhaps..."
Jiang Jie's face was filled with icy mockery. "Do you really think that having Archmage Arugal summon evil and ferocious Worgen will be enough to resist the invasion of the Undead? The terror of Worgen is something the Night Elf on another continent know better than you, and Archmage Antonidas knows better than you! They may indeed be able to resist the invasion of the Undead, but what I want to say is: aren't you afraid of... bringing about your own destruction?"
Before he could finish speaking, Genn's smile froze completely, replaced by panic and disbelief.
He suddenly stood up, instantly drawing his sword from his waist, the tip pointing at Jiang Jie, and shouted sternly, "Speak! Where did you learn these secrets? Arugal's proposal was only reported verbally! No one but me could possibly know! Did Arugal tell you?"
" Genn! Put down your sword! What are you doing? You want to attack the Earl of Lordaeron? Attack the hero who fights against the Undead? Ask the Holy Hammer in my hand if it will allow it! Ask the people of Lordaeron if they will allow it!" Uther raised the Holy Hammer of the Silver Hand high, his angry roar like that of a giant bear.
Beside him, Fenna also drew Ashbringer.
"Lord Uther, Fenna, it's alright. I think King Genn was just trying to scare me. How could His Majesty, who is always so gentlemanly, possibly treat me like a barbarian?" Jiang Jie shook his head and chuckled at Fenna, showing not a trace of fear.
Before transforming into Worgen, King Genn wasn't known for his fighting prowess. Even if a fight broke out, he was confident he could defeat his opponent. Of all the leaders present, King Genn was probably the weakest; even King Varian, who was only 25 years old this year, was considerably stronger than him.
He may not be a match for King Varian, but he's truly fearless when facing King Genn!