Chapter 1182: Alliance Acceleration, Forcibly Constructing Passages

At this point, everyone had to admit that they were about to face not only an ambitious new Drow deity but also a legendary demon of immense evil and power!

"Since the Drow threat has been confirmed, I believe it is necessary to accelerate the establishment of the Northland Alliance; otherwise, it will be difficult to manage once the Drow attack the Surface and spread everywhere!"

The words of Ambassador Atelan of Cormanthor brought everyone back from their shock regarding the demon. Badijiaer was about to say that the negotiations were not yet over, but was stopped by a look from Lander.

Afterwards, ignoring Badijiaer's puzzled gaze, Lander looked at the three Elf ambassadors and the Dwarf Prince, and said solemnly:

"The Northland Alliance does indeed need to accelerate, but I think the most important thing we should do now is to figure out the path these Drow Assassins are using to appear on the Surface. If it is a new Underground Passage, it must be destroyed immediately!"

Generally speaking, for Drow to come to the Surface from the underground, besides using a Teleportation Spell, the simplest method is through an Underground Passage. The latter, in particular, is the main route for Drow to launch invasions.

"Illefarn has long conducted a comprehensive inspection of its entire territory and discovered a total of three Underground Passages. One was completely destroyed years ago, and the other two are in a sealed state and are guarded daily by high-level Mages."

Lucien's meaning was clear: although Drow Assassins had infiltrated the Illefarn Elves this time, it was not because of Illefarn.

Even if those Drow Assassins reached the Surface through a new Underground Passage, that new Underground Passage would not appear in Illefarn!

Lucien could say such things, but neither the Cormanthor nor the Eaerlann ambassadors dared to make such a guarantee. The domestic situations in both countries were truly complex, making it difficult to conduct a comprehensive inspection of their entire territories.

As for Netheril, it was even less possible. First, one had to know which "entire territory" was being referred to. If it meant the territory actually occupied, one could say everything was under control, but if it meant the claimed territory, then it was impossible.

Currently, a large part of the Nether Territory consists of wilderness and forests; who knows if there are any Underground Passages in there?

To say everything is under control would either risk subsequent loss of control or contradict the claimed territory; to say it is impossible, unclear, or uncertain would be too damaging to one's reputation.

Therefore, whether it was the several Great Arcanists of the Seven Towers or Iolum, they all acted as if they hadn't heard what Lucien said, following the example of the two ambassadors from Eaerlann and Cormanthor in avoiding this question.

But avoiding it didn't solve the problem. After a moment of silence, Lander suddenly spoke: "There are results! One of the two assassins just captured couldn't withstand the interrogation and revealed the location of an Underground Passage!"

Upon hearing this, Cormanthor Ambassador Atelan's eyes lit up, and he asked impatiently: "Where is it?"

Lander glanced at Atelan, then let his gaze sweep over the others, finally stopping on Lucien. "Unfortunately, the assassin confessed that the Underground Passage he came from is within the territory of Illefarn!"

"Impossible! When I came, I specifically inquired about the status of those two Underground Passage seals; they were both intact. And even at the other end of the passages, we had set up disguises. How could they have been discovered and utilized by the Drow in such a short time?"

Lucien's face was full of disbelief. Beyond the disbelief, there was an undeniable sense of frustration and embarrassment. He had just told everyone that Illefarn had inspected its entire territory, and now this result appeared—it was truly a slap in the face.

But he also believed that Netheril had no reason to lie about such a matter. Since Lander had said it, the Drow's confession must exist; the only possibility was that the information provided by the Drow was incorrect.

The vivid expression on Lucien's face made Atelan want to laugh, yet he couldn't bring himself to do so. The hatred or conflict between Illefarn and Cormanthor was long-standing; although deep, they were ultimately of the same race, far less than the Drow—an alienated race that lived only for revenge.

Now that the Drow were powerful, how could he possibly laugh!

At this moment, Atelan even helped Lucien ask the question the latter was most concerned about: "Could it be that the Drow deliberately provided a wrong location?"

Lander looked at Atelan with some surprise, then used a Sending spell to tell Lucien the location provided by the Drow, without saying it out loud.

Upon receiving the message, Lucien's expression changed several times, but he eventually forced himself to calm down, bowed to everyone, and said:

"I apologize for my loss of composure. The location told to me by Lord Lander does indeed have issues, but I am not sure if it is related to the Drow or the Underground Passage. I must report this to my country immediately."

After speaking, Lucien bowed again and took his leave.

After Lucien left, Lander still did not announce the location of the Underground Passage confessed by the Drow, but instead took out three palm-sized black spheres and handed them to the two Elf ambassadors and the Dwarf Prince respectively.

The three took the black spheres and inspected them carefully. Finally, the Dwarf Prince Baside asked with slight suspicion: "Is this some kind of detection device?"

"Yes, these black spheres were confiscated from the Drow Assassins who invaded Netheril during the last Dragon Disaster!"

"Drow?"

The two Elf ambassadors, especially Cormanthor Ambassador Atelan, were shocked upon hearing Lander's explanation, and a strong, ominous premonition arose in their hearts.

Immediately following, the premonition came true, as they heard Lander continue to explain:

"At that time, we captured more than ten Drow Assassins, two of whom confessed the function of these black spheres. They are devices used to explore weak points in the earth's veins. We suspect that the Drow may possess the means to forcibly construct Underground Passages!"

"Forcibly construct Underground Passages?"

The two Elf ambassadors reacted immediately. "Could the Underground Passage mentioned by the assassin in the Arena just now have been forcibly constructed recently?"

"I am not sure about that, but I presume Ambassador Lucien will have an explanation soon."

There had been no precedent for such a thing, but as long as the possibility existed, the two ambassadors could not ignore it. Thus, like the previous Illefarn ambassador, they hurriedly left under the pretext of contacting their home countries.

At this moment, in the magnificently decorated hall, besides the group of Great Arcanists from Netheril, only the Dwarf Prince Baside remained. In this situation, even if they wanted to conduct negotiations related to the Northland Alliance, it was impossible due to the absence of those parties.

Badijiaer asked curiously: "Prince Baside, do you not need to notify your country about this?"

He didn't mean to drive anyone away by asking this; it was purely out of curiosity, as the three Elf ambassadors had all rushed off to contact their countries because of this matter.

Instead, Prince Baside became much calmer than before upon hearing that the Drow might possess the means to forcibly construct Underground Passages.

Was it really just that seeing other countries in the Alliance potentially suffering the same disaster made his own confidence grow?

Badijiaer speculated with no small amount of malice.