Leaving Lake Nazferiti, Jiang Jie transformed back into a fierce tiger and galloped wildly towards Zul'Gurub.
Apart from the departed Nesingwary Expedition, no one would pay attention to a tiger, especially the most powerful tiger king.
As night fell, Jiang Jie arrived at the mountain hollow, where the massive Zul'Gurub lay not far away.
Troll once ruled over much of Azeroth, building countless towering and magnificent cities, Zul'Gurub being one of them.
It is the capital of the Gurubashi Empire, and has existed for tens of thousands of years, even before the appearance of the Night Elf. It is one of the oldest cities in the world, if you don't count the capital of the Black Empire.
This city, built of massive, earthen-yellow bricks, is a true city, covering an enormous area, even larger than Lordaeron.
With the fall of the Gurubashi Empire a thousand years ago, the Troll largely left Zul'Gurub and scattered throughout Stranglethorn Vale, such as the Bloodscalp Trolls living near Zul'Kunda, the Skullsplitter Trolls living near Zul'Mamwe, and the Gurubashi Trolls living near the southern gladiatorial arena.
The birthplace of the great Gurubashi civilization, Zul'Gurub, located at the easternmost part of Stranglethorn Vale, has been abandoned for over a thousand years.
Only a small number of Troll have ever lived there, just the Gurubashi Trolls who studied and hoped to preserve the ruins from the jungle, and only a very small fraction of them.
But Jiang Jie knew that wasn't the case.
He soon discovered that many people who did not belong here had taken over the city.
" Atal'ai Troll!"
The Atal'ai Troll are not actually a separate clan; the Hakkari are.
During the Gurubashi Empire, there was a clan that was most loyal to Hakkar. Their original name was no longer remembered, and this clan was given the name " Hakkari," meaning "servants of Hakkar."
Later, Hakkar's greed grew daily, and he began to lose patience with the Priest Hakkari who were loyal to him.
Hakkar commanded the Hakkari to find a way to bring his physical form into this world so that he could drink blood directly.
Most of the Hakkari were terrified, and only a portion of Hakkari remained steadfast in carrying out Hakkar's orders, thus breaking away and calling themselves " Atal'ai ".
The Zandalar Tribe rallied the other clans to Devastation the Gurubashi Empire. The Atal'ai Troll were driven out and almost completely wiped out, with only a small number escaping to the Swamp of Sorrows and building the Temple of Atal'Hakkar.
The Hakkari were also banished, and later went to the Swamp of Sorrows, where they joined the Atal'ai, hoping to summon the Hakkar to this world, Devastation it, and avenge them.
Now, these guys are back!
Stranglethorn Vale has many Troll clans, among which the Bloodscalp Trolls, Skullsplitter Trolls, and the most orthodox Gurubashi Trolls are the most numerous and powerful, each with several thousand members.
The once most powerful Gurubashi Trolls have gradually declined, and now there are fewer than two thousand of them.
The Skullsplitter Trolls are stronger, probably less than three thousand.
The Bloodscalp Trolls are the strongest, numbering around five thousand.
Add to that the various other Troll clans, and there should be at least twenty or thirty thousand of them, which is quite a lot, considering the decline of the Troll.
Jiang Jie had once heard Brann say that the Gurubashi Empire at its peak had more than a million Troll, and its territory encompassed what is now Stranglethorn Vale, Westfall, Duskwood, Deadwind Pass, Elwynn Forest, the Blasted Lands, and the Swamp of Sorrows. It was a powerful empire on par with the Zul'Aman Empire.
Even after being decimated by the Aqir, the Pandaren Empire, and the Kaldorei Empire, they should still have at least 100,000 before summoning Hakkar.
According to the ancient Troll tablets unearthed by Brann, in the battle 1,500 years ago, the Zandalar Tribe gathered tens of thousands of Troll to attack Zul'Gurub, directly crippling the Gurubashi Empire.
Afterwards, the Troll race was affected by the harsh environment of Stranglethorn Vale, where various ferocious beasts roamed the land, food was scarce, and the birth rate could not keep up with the death rate, so their numbers continued to decline.
Fifteen hundred years later, only this much remains.
Now that the three thousand Atal'ai Troll have returned, their overall strength should be second only to the Bloodscalp Trolls.
Their goal is singular: to summon Hakkar!
If they successfully summon Hakkar, the Hakkar Atal'ai Troll ' power will undoubtedly increase further, making them the most powerful Troll clan in Stranglethorn Vale. Then, just as Jiang Jie knew, they would begin attacking and enslaving other clans. Even the high priests sent by the Zandalar Tribe would be enslaved by Hakkar. The Zandalar Tribe would then seek help from the Alliance and the Horde, ultimately killing Hakkar and thwarting their plot.
" Hakkar seems to have returned to this world..."
Jiang Jie entered Stealth mode, quietly climbed to the tallest building in Zul'Gurub, and gazed into the distance.
The entire Zul'Gurub was thriving, with thousands of Troll living there.
Troll worship the Loa Demigod, and the Gurubashi Empire even once regarded Hakkar as its supreme deity. Therefore, at the very front of the long corridor at the main gate of Zul'Gurub stands two Wind Serpent statues, each seven or eight meters tall, which look particularly eerie.
Looking at the two Wind Serpent statues, Jiang Jie felt as if Hakkar was watching him the whole time, and a sense of unease washed over him.
During the battle of Karazhan, Jiang Jie was being watched by Xavius from across a world, and that feeling was truly unbearable.
While Hakkar may not be as powerful as Xavius, he is probably no less formidable than an ordinary Wild God. Being targeted by such a being is definitely not a good thing.
Continuing along the corridor, you'll see statues of cheetahs and tigers—these are statues of the LOA gods worshipped by the Troll. However, they are not as powerful as the Wild Gods, and their strength varies considerably.
Jiang Jie continued forward, then suddenly his expression changed slightly:
Battle has broken out ahead!
Jiang Jie quickly approached and soon discovered that one of them was clearly Atal'ai Troll, many of whom showed signs of resurrection, the masterpiece of the Jin'do the Hexxer.
The Jin'do the Hexxer Voodoo, capable of perfectly resurrecting Troll corpses. The Troll Undead in the Temple of Atal'Hakkar were likely his creation.
However, Jiang Jie discovered characteristics of Bloodscalp Trolls and Skullsplitter Trolls on some of the Troll, indicating that Jin'do had not only resurrected the dead Atal'ai Troll but also other Troll, which would undoubtedly make the Atal'ai Troll even stronger.
Hundreds of Atal'ai Troll are besieging a Troll squad of only a dozen or so.
The members of this Troll squad were noticeably smaller than the other Troll, with thin, bony arms and legs, looking as if they were malnourished.
Of course, Troll are much larger than humans. Although they are relatively small, they are still much taller than humans. In fact, some of the female Troll are no shorter than Jiang Jie.
Although this Troll force was not weak, it was clearly no match for ten times its number of enemies. The reason it was still holding on was mainly because of two exceptional individuals among them:
Two Shadow Hunter carrying six or seven weapons on their backs and wielding two double-headed scimitars in their hands!
They weaved through the crowd with the speed of the best thieves. The twin blades in their hands were somewhat similar to Illidan's Warglaives of Azzinoth Warglaives of Azzinoth, though far less powerful, but they gleamed with a cold white light and a touch of green—the color of voodoo.
They are not only Shadow Hunter, but also skilled Witch Doctor; among the six or seven weapons they carry on their backs is a voodoo staff!
The two Shadow Hunter, one slightly weaker but still a master-level player, and the other stronger, barely reaching the Legendary level:
It was Vol'jin who led the Darkspear Tribe to join Horde Vol'jin!
Why is he here?
Shouldn't he be in Durotar at this time, helping Thrall build Orgrimmar? How did he end up here?
Troll are very strong, extremely strong.
Among all the races in the Alliance and Horde combined, only the Night Elf and Tauren can rival the Troll in individual combat strength; even the Orcs cannot.
In terms of sheer strength, Troll are not much weaker than Orcs, not to mention that Troll possess Regeneration abilities, stamina, and survival skills that other races lack, which are unmatched by other races.
Every adult Troll is a true professional, while in human society, the proportion of professionals among all adults is less than one-tenth!
The ones currently besieging the Darkspear squad are among the best of the Troll.
Although Vol'jin is a Legendary, he is only the weakest of the Legendary, capable of fighting a dozen or twenty Atal'ai Troll at a time. Any more than that would be dangerous. The other Shadow Hunter is even weaker, able to face only seven or eight Atal'ai Troll simultaneously.
Not to mention, among these Atal'ai Troll are high-ranking priests with exceptional spellcasting abilities!
More importantly, even more Atal'ai Troll are charging towards this side!
The two Shadow Hunter could easily break through with their speed, but Darkspear Trolls was already injured. Vol'jin clearly didn't intend to abandon his companions, so he continued to fight to the death, but this was definitely not a sustainable solution.
" Vol'jin, you're lucky you ran into me!"
Jiang Jie snorted coldly, leaped into the air, and landed on the twenty-meter-high gate of Zul'Gurub. Then he took out his orange bow and fired several arrows in quick succession!
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