More than 900 years had passed since Andreas's departure. Although Moonshadow's Rest continued to develop according to his vision, the pace of growth inevitably slowed without its lord, who possessed an infinite spirit of progress.
A prototype ironclad ship, made entirely of metal, had long been completed. However, this experimental version looked incredibly clunky, clearly far from reaching Andreas' standards.
As the acting lord, Leticia possessed only a superficial understanding of shipbuilding. She did not dare to aggressively allocate too much funding to the naval research department to improve the ironclad.
To this day, that prototype all-metal warship could only bob on the sea's surface. Its low speed made its existence rather redundant, and the shipwrights could not initiate the next phase of research without authorization.
"Hah~"
Leticia let out a lazy sigh. "When exactly is Andreas coming back? Being the acting lord is so exhausting..."
Onyxia rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You have the nerve to say that? Most of the work is organized by the secretarial team, then Celeste and I help with the final screening. All you need to do is stamp the documents."
"Ahaha~"
Leticia waved her hand without a shred of shame. "Those who are capable should do more work! Leading troops into battle is fine, but I'm really no good at administrative management."
Celeste shook her head helplessly. "I wonder how Uncle Andreas would judge you if he saw your lazy state."
Since affairs in Astranaar were also numerous, Shandris—after confirming that the administrative system of Moonshadow's Rest could operate normally—reduced the frequency of her travels and spent most of her time assisting the overburdened Archdruid.
The "three kids running the house" occasionally caused some mishaps, but fortunately, with the help of the secretarial team Andreas left behind and capable officials like Maclay to clean up after them, no major problems occurred.
"Lady Leticia."
Lisa from the secretarial team opened the office door and entered. Leticia hurriedly straightened her face, putting on an air of working hard.
Lisa had long ago seen through the nature of Andreas's sole apprentice. Ignoring the teacup and snacks on the desk, she reported with a steady gaze, "Dath'Remar Sunstrider has arrived. He says he has important matters to discuss with you."
"Again..."
Leticia's face immediately slumped. "Fine, take him to the reception room first. I probably know what he wants to say."
...
In a corner of the vast Emerald Dream, two cities—belonging to the same region but unable to observe each other—now looked vastly different compared to 900 years ago.
The development speed of the projected Moonshadow's Rest could only be described as mediocre. Even with the original team personally selected by Andreas as support, whether they could be utilized effectively depended on whether the lord, Tyrande, knew how to use people well.
Evidently, High Priestess Whisperwind's governing skills were not up to par. In the early stages, she chose to "imitate the pattern," barely managing to keep up with the initial growth rate of the original Moonshadow's Rest.
However, Tyrande was at a total loss when it came to certain key technical issues. Overall, the development of the projected Moonshadow's Rest was much slower than expected.
Through the process of building the projected Moonshadow's Rest from scratch, Tyrande finally gained an intuitive understanding of her own governing abilities.
Setting aside her prejudice against the Highborne and her dangerous populist incitement, her administrative skills were not destructive, but they certainly weren't good either. If there were no object of comparison and she was simply developing in isolation, she might have optimistically believed she was doing well.
But with the brilliant example of the Moonshadow's Rest that Andreas had developed in the material world before her, no matter how thick-skinned she was, she couldn't utter such insincere words.
The projected Astranaar , not far from the projected Moonshadow's Rest, presented a completely different scene.
Although limited by the total population of Astranaar in the material world, the scale of the projected city did not exceed the original. However, the level of prosperity within the city was significantly different.
To prevent mutual interference, even though they were neighbors, the two cities felt as if they were separated by an entire world; neither Andreas nor Tyrande could see the other's progress.
Even so, Andreas remained optimistic about his efforts over the past millennium. As he had expected, Elune's sealing of his Shadow power indeed had other intentions.
The simulated Satyr War occurred exactly as anticipated. Xavius still led his elite forces straight toward Nordrassil.
Moreover, this time, without the army of Moonshadow's Rest to help intercept them, the Druid army led by the projected Malfurion was routed, eventually being forced to retreat to Nordrassil and enter a grueling war of attrition.
Andreas speculated that Elune sealed their powers because she didn't want them leading the charge and slaughtering the enemy ranks single-handedly.
Andreas wasn't sure what the situation was on Tyrande's side, but losing his Shadow power made him quite uncomfortable. The power of Nature felt clumsy to use at first, and it took several centuries to gradually grasp its essence.
Although he blocked the Satyr attacks with precise deployment and tenacious defense, Andreas—unable to call upon border reinforcements—could only barely keep them away from Nordrassil, powerless to drive the Satyrs out completely.
When the one-thousand-year limit was reached, the mist separating Andreas and Tyrande finally dissipated.
Seeing the peaceful development of the projected Moonshadow's Rest, Andreas felt a surge of irritation. This was clearly Elune being biased and intentionally increasing his difficulty.
If it hadn't been for the Satyrs at the gates constantly slowing Astranaar's development, Andreas was confident he would have left Tyrande far behind.
Even so, the scale of the two cities allowed one to see the winner with the naked eye. The projected Astranaar was at least twice the size of the projected Moonshadow's Rest. Under Tyrande's operation, the projected Moonshadow's Rest hadn't even reached the population limit of its material world counterpart.
"Heh~"
Feeling disgruntled, Andreas quirked the corner of his mouth at Tyrande opposite him. Tyrande also saw the massive number of Satyrs piled up near Nordrassil, but surprisingly, she did not fly into a rage at Andreas's provocation.
"The 1,000 years have passed. You have both worked hard."
Elune appeared on time in the air above the two projected cities. A few seconds later, Ysera also teleported directly over using her authority as the Dreamer.
Glancing at the comparison between the two cities, Elune said with a smile, "There should be no need to announce the winner, right? Tyrande, what are your thoughts?"
The named Tyrande gave a bitter smile and said, "I knew the final outcome when time reached the 500-year mark. It is indeed a lack of skill on my part; I have nothing to say."
Elune nodded. "Then I shall announce the result. The winner is Andreas Moonshadow."
Andreas felt no joy at this; it was an expected development from the start.
"Respected Elune, was this thousand-year management simulation game just to make Tyrande recognize the limits of her abilities?"
Seeing the subtle dissatisfaction on Andreas's face, Elune comforted him with a smile, "Of course not. I will give the winner corresponding compensation."
Turning toward Tyrande, whose expression was calm and whose temper seemed much more restrained, Elune's lips curled into a satisfied smile.
"Tyrande, as punishment for the loser, upon returning to the material world, you must temporarily focus on training the Sisterhood, pulling them back from their strayed path to the righteous way. You personally shall not involve yourself in politics again until your reformation is complete."
Tyrande calmly accepted Elune's punishment. "Yes, I obey the divine command."
Elune's gaze turned to the quite surprised Andreas. "Andreas, I know you are dissatisfied with my secret meddling."
"As compensation, before Tyrande completes the reformation of the Sisterhood, you will take her place and manage the Night Elven race alongside Archdruid Malfurion."
Seeing the look of astonishment on Andreas's face, Elune smiled mischievously. "This time, you can display your abilities to your heart's content in the material world, showing Tyrande and Malfurion—who sleeps all day—what an excellent leader should do."