Chapter 1483: Abnormal Behavior, The Beginning of Longevity

In the cemetery, the standoff between Buluode and Saville did not last long, and in the end, it concluded with Saville taking the initiative to leave.

Meanwhile, on the other side, in Seventon.

The Swift Longevity plan based on targeted cloning had been effectively verified in Elves, and with the deadline approaching and Akaola pressing hard, Xia Duo returned to the Tower of Time once again to travel to Akaola via Astral Projection.

……

Just like the last time he came, the location where Xia Duo descended in response to the summoning Magic Array was still the same Secret Ritual Chamber as before, only this time, the Wujin Changlang passage outside was not opened.

The female Elf official led him directly to the previous Reception Room, where the same three Elves remained—the Crown King of Akaola, the Crown King's uncle, and Prince Fusi.

"Lord Xia Duo, was replacing the plan with a new one your idea? Do you have any idea that Akaola is currently on the verge of collapse? What exactly is your purpose in doing this?"

As soon as Xia Duo arrived, he was not greeted with the expected gratitude, but rather with questioning from the Crown King's uncle, the military Consultant and high Mage Aisibilan.

This left Xia Duo feeling stunned. He subconsciously looked at the Crown King of Akaola; only he and the Crown King were present during the events of that day, and Xia Duo himself certainly hadn't done anything, so it must have been the Crown King.

Yet, at this moment, the eyes of the Crown King of Akaola lacked the sharpness he had shown in the secret chamber when demanding that Netheril change the plan; instead, they held a deep sense of supplication.

And the moment Aisibilan turned his head, the other party immediately resumed a dignified expression, as if that look of supplication had never appeared at all, and followed up on Aisibilan's words to question him:

"Lord Xia Duo, are you here this time to propose some other unreasonable conditions?"

"I—"

Xia Duo really wanted to curse out loud at this moment, but the memory of the Crown King's pleading eyes just now was so clear—what on earth was going on?

However, arguing on someone else's turf was meaningless. He simply stated his mission, and this time, unlike the last, he did not save face for Akaola:

"I am here this time commissioned by the Seventon Council to cast a longevity Spell for the Crown King!"

Hearing this, the expressions of the three Elves in the Reception Room were not very pleasant, and Aisibilan continued to challenge him: "Are there no other conditions?"

"My mission does not include those," Xia Duo said coldly.

"We don't have much time left. Can the new plan be completed in time? Are you sure it's useful?" Aisibilan continued to nitpick.

By this point, Xia Duo could see it: the new agreement between Netheril and Akaola had already been signed, and he didn't know if this guy was truly unaware or just pretending to be.

Moreover, this guy seemed to always hope he would use the previous heart-based plan. Could it be that the little Elf named "Dai Er" was not the other party's biological son?

For a moment, Xia Duo made many connections. He vaguely felt he had been drawn into some conspiracy, but if forced to say what was wrong, he couldn't put his finger on it.

The only thing he could be sure of was that the Crown King of Akaola definitely knew something, but the other party hadn't tipped him off in advance, which made Xia Duo somewhat annoyed.

Next, he stopped explaining anything and just watched Aisibilan's performance in silence, along with the indifference of the Crown King of Akaola.

In the end, it was Prince Fusi who couldn't stand it anymore and interjected, "We have already signed a formal agreement with Netheril; we trust they will not deceive us."

But with his preconceived notions, Xia Duo still felt that Prince Fusi might have some issues. How did that saying go—"Throughout history, has there ever been a forty-year Crown Prince?"

Prince Fusi had been the "Crown Prince" for far longer than forty years. Perhaps he did not wish for the Crown King of Akaola to continue living, and only supported the longevity treatment due to the current situation.

As for actually plotting some conspiracy in secret, that was entirely possible.

However, Xia Duo was unwilling to consider the many undercurrents beneath the surface. He would take things literally as they were said; as long as his own side was impeccable, the final outcome would still come down to overt methods.

And overt schemes ultimately boil down to one's own strength. Unless Akaola completely defected to Keman, the possibility of their internal conspiracies affecting Netheril was not high.

As for whether Akaola would completely defect to Keman and be willing to serve as their stepping stone, Xia Duo thought the possibility was low. "Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of an ox" might be a proverb from his hometown, but it spoke to human nature.

And Elves, without a doubt, could be considered "human" in a broad sense.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo couldn't help but feel a bit dispirited. With the intention of finishing the mission and going home as soon as possible, he looked at the Crown King of Akaola again and said directly: "Please arrange the spellcasting environment for me, Crown King."

His tone made no effort to hide his impatience. Only then did the Crown King of Akaola stop the nagging of Prince Fusi and Aisibilan, and subsequently ordered Prince Fusi to arrange a court banquet.

As for Xia Duo, he was led by the previous female Elf official to a secret chamber behind a corridor that the banquet would pass through, to wait for the blood collection.

All of Xia Duo's operational procedures, except for the details of the Spells that needed to be kept confidential, had already been communicated to the Akaola side in advance.

In fact, the entire process of his mission this time had been negotiated between the Seventon side and Akaola; there was not much room left for Xia Duo to improvise.

Therefore, it made the Crown King's uncle's behavior seem all the more abnormal.

If there were a problem, it should have been raised during the negotiation stage; why make things difficult for him, the executor of the mission!

……

During the time spent waiting in the secret chamber, neither the Crown King nor Consultant Aisibilan, nor Prince Fusi, had sought out Xia Duo.

Thus it continued until evening, when the female Elf official reminded Xia Duo that the Crown King's blood relatives were about to pass by. At the same time, the Crown King of Akaola arrived at the secret chamber, and only then did Xia Duo rouse his spirits, preparing to cast the Spell.

The first step was Bloodline Perception; this Spell required the Crown King to be present to be cast. This Spell originally came from the Elves, and for this mission, the Akaola side had specifically provided the Elven Magic version of this Spell.

It was somewhat different from the Netheril Magic translation provided by Jilan Tower earlier. As a Spellcaster, Xia Duo's most intuitive feeling was that the translated version omitted quite a few elements, only capable of sensing whether there was a blood relationship between targets.

The original Elven version, however, was more comprehensive. In addition to containing all the functions of the translation provided by Jilan Tower, it also added the ability to search for close blood relatives over long distances and to perceive the degree of blood closeness.

Of course, Xia Duo did not necessarily believe the Netheril version was worse than the Elven version; it was possible that Jilan Tower had only provided a castrated version at the time, while they actually kept the complete version themselves.