Chapter 1705: Dispute and Support

After ending his meeting with Huo En, Xia Duo did not leave Jilan Tower, but instead contacted Aoerdelin to deliver the orders for the 【Microscope】s he had introduced.

"The 【Microscope】s crafted by Lord Xia Duo have been unanimously praised at Jilan Tower. I have a few more friends who would like to commission one; I wonder if it would be convenient for Lord Xia Duo?"

"It is nothing inconvenient, it is just that I do not have any ready-made ones on hand right now, so they will need to wait for a period of time," Xia Duo said casually, noting down the names mentioned by Aoerdelin.

Seeing that Xia Duo agreed readily, Aoerdelin's heart stirred, and he could not help but say: "【Microscope】s provide a qualitative improvement to the Bloodline Sequencing Project. I will try to suggest to the higher-ups that a special fund be allocated to commission 【Microscope】s."

"If Lord Xia Duo trusts me, you might as well prepare a few more in advance. Even if there is no special fund, I am confident I can persuade more people to purchase them; they certainly will not be left sitting in Lord Xia Duo's hands."

"Is that so?"

Xia Duo pondered for a moment and then agreed, "Then I shall wait for your good news, Mage Aoerdelin!"

"Please set your mind at ease, Lord Xia Duo; Aoerdelin will certainly not let you down!"

"Mm."

After leaving Jilan Tower, Xia Duo had nothing to do for the moment, so he wandered casually through the Old City District.

Tomorrow is the Midsummer Festival, and since it was already afternoon, there were several times more pedestrians playing and strolling on the streets than usual.

Xia Duo only covered his face with a layer of hazy mist; although he did not reveal his identity, it still caused several body-lengths of space to clear around him.

Not to mention ordinary people, even spellcasters are wary of close contact with other spellcasters, so Xia Duo was happy to be at ease.

It was just that although the streets before the festival were lively, Xia Duo's mind was not actually on it at all, and there was no purpose to his walking.

Basically, he just followed the direction of the crowd, going wherever it was lively, occasionally tossing out Gold Coins to buy a few exquisite little trinkets; the rest of the time, his attention was focused on his Communication Magic Tool.

And just as Xia Duo was wandering aimlessly through the Old City District, inside Gustav Tower, Badijiaer had already summoned all the other Controllers of the Seven Towers.

"What do you all think about the suggestion put forward by Lord Xia Duo?"

After Badijiaer finished speaking, everyone exchanged glances privately; some felt it was feasible, while others thought it was inappropriate, but no one wanted to be the first to express their stance.

"I think it is feasible!"

Everyone's gaze immediately turned to Huo En. Usually, Huo En liked to contradict Badijiaer the most; unexpectedly, today he went against the norm and was the first to express support, though Badijiaer's expression remained as usual.

He knew that Huo En being at odds with him was mostly personal in nature; setting that aside, they should actually be considered the firmest of allies.

No matter what Huo En said, Badijiaer did not find it surprising.

"Don't all of you look at me!"

Huo En shrank his body back, only puffing out his chest when facing Badijiaer, and then continued:

"Regardless of whether we take countermeasures or not, the hostility of Comanso toward us will not disappear. I think Lord Xia Duo's suggestion is quite good; after all, the current situation cannot get any worse, but once successful, it could bring about no small improvement to our current predicament."

In fact, in Huo En's view, regardless of whether the Seven Towers took countermeasures, it would be difficult to destroy Comanso's hostility in the short term, and it would also be difficult to change the balance of power between the two sides in the short term.

Under these circumstances, the difference between doing it and not doing it was actually not significant; rather, being temporarily conservative would better preserve existing strength, but—

Master Iolum had come, and coupled with Lord Xia Duo personally visiting to lobby just now at Jilan Tower, why shouldn't he go with the flow and reap two favors in one fell swoop?

Just as he had said, the current situation could not get any worse; instead, by trying a few new methods, perhaps they could even break the existing pattern!

With the first person to express a stance, it was no longer difficult for the others to speak.

No sooner had Huo En finished speaking than Haruisi impatiently raised an objection: "You think the current situation has reached the worst point, but in fact, this is the result of restraint from both our sides and even multiple parties."

"Although we all know that Comanso is the one stirring up trouble now, they are powerful, and we have no need to go head-to-head with them; after all, this matter has nothing to do with the Seven Towers."

Haruisi was about to continue objecting, but was unexpectedly interrupted by a passionate voice—"Haruisi, you really are a spineless coward!"

"Hadelaien, what do you know! The humans of the Northland are weak; how can we survive without being careful and cautious? Didn't you favor Ilfaren before? Then look at what they have done; do you dare say the previous invaders were not sent by Ilfaren?"

"You—"

Hadelaien did not expect Haruisi to suddenly mention the elf invaders from a few months ago. This matter was indeed a thorn in his side, leaving him speechless for a moment.

"Ahem—"

Seeing the atmosphere sliding in a strange direction, Iolum coughed lightly and gave a reminder: "Regarding that invader, based on the situation we have investigated so far, we cannot conclude that it was the work of Ilfaren."

"Right! Didn't you also participate in the joint investigation within Ilfaren's territory, Haruisi? You certainly didn't say that back then!"

Badijiaer also spoke up to support Iolum, "It doesn't matter if such things are said in private, but if you say them out in the open, allies who were on good terms might be driven away by you!"

"Allies who leave because of a single sentence are not true allies," Haruisi muttered in a low voice, then fell silent.

Although everyone heard that sentence of his, since Haruisi was no longer speaking, the others did not bring up the topic again.

But after this incident, the scene fell into silence once more. Badijiaer looked at everyone and could not help but frown.

Ever since the Princess ascended to godhood, he had the highest prestige and seniority among the seven Controllers of the Seven Towers, which was why he became the representative of the Seven Towers. It was just that this representative status required balancing the opinions and needs of all parties, which made him very uncomfortable.

If it were still the past when the Princess was here, he would say whatever he wanted and do whatever he wanted; in any case, with the Princess mediating in the middle, it was nothing like the stifling situation now.

Thinking of this, Badijiaer could not help but glance at the successor chosen by the Princess (for Giles Tower)—Sikumu. This guy probably still thought that being the representative of the Seven Towers was easy.

Little did he know that without the recognition of others, what could being a representative do for you? Did he really think that a representative could have the final say?

His selfishness was too heavy, even Haruisi could not compare to him, let alone the others. At this moment, Badijiaer truly felt regret for the Princess's decision back then.

How could this person's changes be so fast!

If he had known, it would have been better to support Kaousi for the position back then!

Sigh—

"Sikumu, regarding Lord Xia Duo's suggestion, what do you think?"