Early the next morning, Diego boarded the Maiden and left Stormwind.

He did not go to the Cathedral of Light to seek recognition of his sainthood, and this honor was not inevitable for him. Moreover, in the history of the Holy Light Church, there is no precedent for the canonization of living people, so the Cathedral of Light has adopted an attitude of ignoring Diego's sainthood, neither acknowledging nor denying it. In the time that Diego had arrived in Stormwind, the Cathedral of Light had not sent anyone to contact him, as if the man didn't exist. In that case, why bother to get on and be bored?

They sailed at sea for half a month. I don't know if it's because of the cowardice of the hometown, or because I'm worried about the attitude of the people towards this unreasonable lord, when the Maiden gets closer and closer to the southern end of the western wilderness, Diego's mood suddenly becomes a little apprehensive, like the groom at a wedding, full of joy and expectation, but full of uncertainty. of married life felt slightly anxious.

It was in this complicated mood that they saw the pearl embedded in the western wilderness coast from afar—the harbor of Long Beach.

"This is my territory, my home in this world." Watching the coast get closer and closer, Diego couldn't help but mutter.

Compared to when he left, the Port of Long Beach was completely different, and it had the rudiments of a port city.

After more than a year of excavation and dredging, the water level in the Port of Long Beach has become much deeper, and it is now possible to moor large ships, and there are more berths. More than a dozen trestle bridges stretch far into the sea, and all kinds of ships of all sizes are moored on both sides of each trestle. The masts of different heights are densely packed like jungles. Flocks of seagulls, boobies and albatross hover over the forest, searching for food scraps.

The architecture of the port has also changed, and most of the wooden and clay houses that had been built in a hurry have been converted into stone buildings, and the craftsmanship of the former members of the Masons' Union has once again shone brightly, making them sturdy and beautiful. When viewed from the sea, the rows of blue roofs reflect the sunlight and shine like sparkling waves.

Under the guidance of the pilot, the Maiden slowly slid into the harbor and stopped beside a trestle. This is the shortest trestle from the pier, only twenty or thirty meters from the pier at the end.

They were greeted only by three men, Sheriff Grian Stallman, Administrator Edwin Van Cleeff, and Territorial Guard Commander Harry Burgard, and they knew that the Lord didn't like to do anything like welcome ceremonies, perhaps because they had seen too many of them in their previous lives. In the bottom of his heart, he hated this kind of disturbance and vulgarity.

Fleet Commander Phil Laren was not among the welcomers, as the former pirate captain had been on a cruise with the Swordfish on a cruise a week earlier. Today, although he has added several supply ships and small sentinel ships to his "fleet", this is still the only one that can be used. Eager to add strength to the fleet, he looked forward to the return of his lord, and he was about to die.

"Hail to you, my lord! Welcome back! ”

The Big Three stepped forward and saluted excitedly. Truth be told, the pressure on them during Diego's absence has been too great. It's not just pirates who covet this new port, but also black hands from within the human race, who are far more difficult to deal with than pirates. If it weren't for Duke Berval's covert care, they would have collapsed long ago.

"I also salute you, you have worked hard during this time! Your loyalty and hard work will be rewarded! Diego said sincerely. Yes, loyalty must be rewarded, and in his heart, he had actually already thought of a reward plan, and it was only a suitable time to announce it.

He turned around and introduced them to the soldiers and priests of the Stormwhip. To be honest, looking at these fierce and majestic elites of a hundred battles, the Big Three were all shocked, and even Grian Stallman, who had seen the big scene, looked at these elite soldiers sideways. They couldn't help but think in their hearts that during the period of the lord's absence, there was anything out of line in their words and deeds.

They left the docks and walked through the city to the castle of the Lord, located at the foot of Dagger Ridge.

As they walked into the downtown area, Diego was surprised to find that it was far more bustling than it looked from the sea, and the streets were crowded with people on both sides, and they passed through the downtown area at a very slow pace. Along the way, many people recognized the Big Three of the Port of Long Beach and were amazed at the identity of the young man they were accompanying, as several people were clearly led by the young man.

Only the early inhabitants of Long Beach Harbor recognized their lord and cheered. In this troubled era, for a common man, a place where he can live and work in peace and contentment without excessive taxes is exactly what they want most? Isn't a lord who can bring them all this worthy of heartfelt admiration? Not to mention, this lord is also a dragon slaying hero, which is even more worthy of the people of the Moon Creek Lord.

"You've done more than I ever imagined!" Diego looked at the thriving port city with satisfaction and couldn't help but praise.

"In your name, we've had a lot of help: Duke Berval of Stormwind has been helping to look after this place, Viscount Steven Rainier of Raven Ridge to the east and goblin merchants from Treasure Bay to the south have established trade links with us, and the Copperbeard Dwarves of Ironforge are willing to supply us at the best price, even if it's a little too far away." Van Cleef humbly attributes it all to Diego's connections, while Stallman and Bergard agree.

"But you also have a lot to do." Diego said with a smile. He did not continue on the subject, instead focusing on interacting with the enthusiastic people along the way.

It took them nearly two hours to finish the short ten-mile journey. At the gate of the castle, Bart Leibi was leading more than a dozen servants to await the arrival of the lord. With the sound of a loud trump horn, Aznar's family crest fluttered over the minaret once again.

The soldiers of the Storm Whip were housed in a barracks in a corner of the castle, which had been built with enough space so that the entire company was stationed inside, and it didn't look crowded at all.

In the conference hall on the third floor of the castle, Diego, Masrae, Huffman, and the Territory Triumvirate held an internal meeting - this was very necessary, and after leaving the Moonstream Territory for so long, Diego needed to learn more about the development of the territory as soon as possible.

Speaking on behalf of the three officials was Administrator Edwin Van Cleef, who gave Diego an overview of the changes and current situation at the Port of Long Beach.

After more than two years of rapid development, the residents of the Port of Long Beach are no longer simple locals, and their races are no longer limited to humans. Attracted by Diego's original free port policy, many businessmen and artisans from other places also chose to settle down here. Among these people, the majority are goblin merchants, a race with a keen eye for business, who always wait for the first time to spot business opportunities and be the first to come out on top. Although humans still make up the majority of the population in Long Beach Harbor, the proportion of goblins, dwarves, trolls, minotaurs and gnolls is gradually rising.

With the increase in population, the Port of Long Beach was divided into four urban districts according to the topography. The highest is the Uptown town, located at the foot of Dagger Ridge, with Diego's castle as its core. The view is wide, the scenery is beautiful, and from the window of your own house you can overlook the whole city and the endless sea. Most of the high-ranking officials of the Port of Long Beach chose to build their homes here, and some wealthy businessmen also chose to live here.

A little lower than the upper town is the trading area, which is mostly populated by merchants with various shops. Specialty goods from all over Azeroth can be found here, and merchants from all over the world trade here, making a lot of money or losing money. It is also the place with the most bars and inns, and is home to countless merchants, mercenaries, sailors, and adventurers. But with the sheer flow of people comes a lot of trouble, fights, fights, and murders are a must-have drama every day, and every night, the vigilantes sent by Grian Stallman to patrol here are busy to death.

The southernmost part of the port is the docklands. As the name suggests, the docks are a narrow coastal area centered on the docks, which is full of port facilities and warehouses and warehouses, but there are also some cheap inns and taverns for dock workers. At the northernmost end of the docks is a small dockyard that can only be used for the construction of small merchant and fishing vessels, or for minor repairs to medium and large ships, due to its short construction time, lack of skilled workers and lack of technical reserves. The Swordfish, the frigate in the harbor of Long Beach, is often moored at the exclusive berth closest to the dock.

And along the foot of Dagger Ridge, to the east of the Uptown and Trade District, is the religious district of Long Beach Harbor. The creation of this area was not planned by Van Cleeff - in the third month after Diego left the harbor of Long Beach, as if it had been discussed, in the open space next to the shaman's altar set up by Van Goray the Gnoll, a priest from Stormwind built a small church of the Holy Light with donations from merchants, while the dwarven Edith Blom led his fellow men to build a temple dedicated to the dwarven father god Kazgros, which was even smaller, looking like a typical semi-underground dwarven bunker. This spontaneous gathering area was later simply characterized by Van Cleeff as a sect. Teach. District. Later, after a few pious minotaur sailors donated a Mother Earth altar here, the sect. Teach. The district is even more worthy of its name.

In the plains north of Long Beach Harbor, after Diego was promoted to earl, the vast wilderness area from the Gold Coast Mines in the north to Sentinel Ridge in the east was assigned to his domain, which was almost a quarter of the entire Western Wilderness. After Harry Bogard led the convoy to clean up the fish-men and gnolls and bandits here, Van Cleef arranged for a large-scale reclamation of this vast wasteland. As the granary of the kingdom of Stormwind, the lands of the Wild West have always been known for their fertility, and this is no exception. The oats, potatoes, pumpkins, and peas produced by these new farms will not only supply the town of Moon Creek and the Port of Long Beach, but the surplus will also be exported through the port. However, due to the lack of manpower, less than a third of the newly cultivated land was made up of this wasteland.

Van Cleef spoke for more than an hour, but it was still a little general, but it was enough for Diego to get a general idea of his current territory. He nodded in satisfaction and looked at everyone with a smile.

"You can hear that you have done a great job during my absence, and the Port of Long Beach is now a prosperous city. In order to reward you for your outstanding contributions, I am going to perform the first knighthood in my realm. How can an earl not have his own vassals? ”

A few seconds later, after reacting to the meaning of his words, the breathing of several humans present suddenly became heavy. In the entire human world, becoming a nobleman is something that almost all commoners aspire to, because it represents a complete change in life, just like a carp jumping through the dragon gate, and from then on entering the upper class, with respectable wealth, power and status. No one could resist the temptation, not even Edwin Van Cleeff, the former head of the Brotherhood of Defia, who had hated the aristocracy, and couldn't help but feel a pang of excitement.

"Tonight, folks, let's have a blast!" Satisfied with the reactions of his subordinates, Diego announced loudly.

Inside the castle, a grand dinner party was immediately prepared. After Van Cleeff's screening, more than a hundred invitations were sent to various parts of the city. High-ranking officials in the city, officers in the convoy, representatives of prominent civilians, pioneer farmers, powerful merchants, hosts of temples, altars, and churches were all included in the guest list, and even the captain of the Virgin, Shax Aubrey, received an invitation.

After nightfall, people come from all over the world and converge in front of the brightly lit castle of the lords. In the square in front of the castle, countless horse-drawn carriages are constantly flowing to transport guests here. Countless people have come here in the hope of seeing the true face of the lord of the Moon Creek Lord, the noble earl, the legendary dragon slaying hero.

The feast lasted until late at night, and no one noticed in the brightly lit banquet hall that the host's figure had disappeared. And at this moment, in the lord's bedroom on the top floor, Diego was standing on the terrace, proudly overlooking the harbor of Long Beach, bathed in the light of Elune.

This port, a city that never existed in a previous life, is the most direct proof that he has changed this world. It's clear that he can change, and is changing the world, for the better.

He believes that with his efforts, the future of this troubled world will also be changed!