Chapter 1581: New Changes, Obsessed with Drilling Problems

"Quota circulation?"

The change in Iolum's expression went from surprise to shock, then returned to normal, all in almost a single instant, but Xia Duo, who had been observing him the whole time, still noticed it; clearly, Iolum also realized the severity of the problem.

"Can you explain in detail?"

"It is roughly that those in Netheril who obtain quotas sell them to others who need them more, or even to Elves. Once this situation arises, the situation may no longer be something the Seven Towers can control."

Xia Duo attempted to list several scenarios where quota circulation might occur, such as Cormanthor deliberately offering higher prices to purchase them from Netheril; regardless of whether it succeeded, it would make it more difficult for those within Netheril who needed quotas to obtain them.

Not to mention that when it comes to financial resources, humans are likely no match for Elves.

Or perhaps, even if it were just the concentration of quotas within the Elven Nations, it would bring enormous competitive pressure to Netheril.

Following this, for every potential situation Xia Duo mentioned, Iolum's brow furrowed a little tighter, until in the end, it turned into a heavy, deep contemplation.

"Regarding quota circulation, have you spoken to anyone else about it?" Iolum asked.

"No, I have only mentioned it to you, Teacher, today."

"Do not mention it to anyone else for the time being. I need to discuss this with the Seven Towers first. If nothing unexpected happens, the situation should change in the near future. Wait for my notification."

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo could not help but frown, and he hurriedly confirmed with Iolum: "Does Teacher mean that the Seven Towers might adjust the previous allocation plan to gain more support?"

"Yes."

"Then in what aspect might they adjust it?" Xia Duo continued to ask.

"You don't need to worry too much about this. I know them; they will very likely propose allocating quotas only to Great Arcanists, and others will then obtain them from the Great Arcanists."

"Like that?!"

Xia Duo felt very surprised by Iolum's answer. If it were allocated this way, wouldn't the Seven Towers be handing over more than half of the quotas to others? And even if it were divided like this, it would still be impossible to prevent people from selling quotas to the Elves, right?

Xia Duo told Iolum his doubts, and to this, Iolum's explanation was—

"This is just my simple judgment on the adjustments the Seven Towers might make. The actual situation will certainly be more complex. If the Seven Towers want to propose this new allocation plan, they will definitely place restrictions on quota circulation."

"Additionally, don't count on all quotas being distributed at once. I will request that the Arcane Union receive a portion first, to be used for applications by those who have no channel to obtain quotas from Great Arcanists."

"I understand."

Xia Duo nodded. Since Iolum said so, he likely had some degree of certainty. It was just unclear how the Seven Towers would appease those Mage Tower organizations that did not have Great Arcanists.

"It is getting late, so I won't delay Teacher's rest. Let's meet again next time."

……

After the communication was cut off, Xia Duo was still pondering the content of the conversation he just had with Iolum in his mind.

If one followed the allocation plan that Iolum mentioned last—allocating only to Great Arcanists—in the long run, it might not be as favorable to the Tower of Time as the current Seven Towers plan, but it was not unacceptable.

As long as a certain quota could be guaranteed, and as long as the quotas were made to fall into the hands of those who needed them as much as possible, Xia Duo did not actually care very much about the specific amount.

In the future, it would be entirely possible to move some so-called large-scale magic activities into a Sub-plane; the Seven Towers might have already done so.

That was why Iolum had the confidence just now to say that the Seven Towers might give up the majority of the quotas and allocate them only by the unit of Great Arcanist.

Of course, it would be best to have sufficient quotas to conduct various research in the Main Plane. After all, the environment of a Sub-plane is different from the Main Plane, and if one wants to bring it to the Main Plane for use, it must go through a round of conversion.

If there were few research projects, the trouble might not be apparent, but if there were many projects, then even if it were just a tiny, insignificant bit of extra trouble each time, it would not be a small amount when accumulated over a long period.

But compared to the amount of the quota, what Xia Duo worried about most was the issue of aiding the enemy.

No matter how the internal quotas were divided, the meat would always end up in the pot, and one could always find a way to eat it. But if it were sold to foreign forces, it would fundamentally weaken one's own development potential while simultaneously bolstering the enemy's potential.

If one wanted to make up for that, the cost would be more than just the profit from selling a few quotas.

And this was the biggest reason why Xia Duo wanted to publicly support the Seven Towers; the interests of the Seven Towers and the interests of Netheril were generally consistent, whereas others might not be.

Of course, if he could obtain long-term benefits for himself while supporting the Seven Towers, that would be even better.

……

After pondering for a long time, Xia Duo walked out of the Study and came to the bedroom next door. Niya had already returned from the Study on the top floor and was currently sitting on the bed, holding materials and staring blankly.

Hearing Xia Duo's footsteps, Niya immediately put away the materials, put on a pitiful look, and asked Xia Duo: "Can I not do the test papers tomorrow? I feel like I have no problem learning by reading the materials myself!"

"No!" Xia Duo refused decisively without hesitation. "How can one easily give up on something that was agreed upon!"

After saying this, he also tidied up and climbed onto the bed. Feeling Niya's warm body, he could not help but feel a bit distracted.

"But I didn't know beforehand that there were other questions to do besides the diagnostic test papers! Can we just do the current test papers, okay?"

Niya hugged one of Xia Duo's arms and shook it back and forth, acting like a spoiled child. Even though Xia Duo's mind was made up, he could not help but doubt whether he was being too harsh on Niya.

"Then I'll set fewer questions later?" Xia Duo said tentatively.

"Hmph!"

Niya let go of Xia Duo's arm quite simply, turned her head away in a haughty manner, and took out the materials to start reading again. She knew that nothing she said could change Xia Duo's mind, but at the same time, she could also feel Xia Duo's expectations for her.

It was just that the feelings were a bit too straightforward; even though the two had been married for many years, she was still a bit embarrassed to say it out loud and could only use this kind of childish behavior to cover it up.

And Xia Duo actually saw through Niya at a glance. If she really didn't want to improve herself, she wouldn't be holding study materials to read right before going to sleep. It was just that Xia Duo had a lot of confidence in his teaching plan, and this should not be study time.

So he hugged Niya from behind, snatched the materials from Niya's hand, and threw them to the end of the bed: "Stop reading, at night one should do things that should be done at night!"

……

The next day.

Xia Duo continued to accompany Niya to do test papers. During this time, he did not forget to issue the second batch of engineering design tasks to the Independent Research Lab of the Tower of Time—still 26 tasks, and still issued to those three Mass Production Design Research Labs.

There was no help for it; who let the Tower of Time have such a severe shortage of professional design personnel right now? They could only slowly train through practice.

However, Xia Duo also promised those three research labs that after the Academic Affairs Office replenished the number of Teachers, he would let them prioritize selecting suitable personnel to add to their research labs.