Chapter 1729: Deterrence of Small Nations, Compassion

Feisu Chinese.

Next, Xia Duo did not plan to stay at Jilan Tower for long; he was merely somewhat surprised, though not entirely unexpected, that the Evereska Huo En mentioned had once again sent two Elders to the Elven Court.

Since Evereska was determined to stir up the Small Nations Alliance, they must have prepared for possible countermeasures from Cormanthyr, but what Xia Duo did not expect was that Evereska's preparations would be so intense.

The Elven Court was located within Cormanthyr; placing two "true" Elders there who were essentially waiting to die spoke for itself, especially since they had only just withdrawn their Elders last year and were now sending them back—it truly carried no small amount of deterrence.

"Then what actions are the other small nations taking? Are they also sending Elders to the Elven Court, or something else?" Xia Duo asked.

"There is no news yet. However—"

At this point, Huo En looked at Xia Duo with a somewhat complex expression, "However, Evereska has already shown its determination; presumably, some small nations should respond before long!"

"I hope so."

Seeing that expression on Huo En, Xia Duo could roughly guess what the other party was thinking: either lamenting that the situation was changing too fast, or feeling wary because they felt all of this was stirred up by him.

But regardless of which it was, Xia Duo did not believe his influence in it could be that great; without him, there would be others who could think of inciting Evereska to form a small clique to resist the pressure for Netheril.

The rapid change in the situation was simply because the past world had been too dull and lacked change.

Xia Duo believed that his true influence did not lie in Seventon or Evereska, but in the South, where a new emerging force with huge potential was gestating; that was the power that would truly change the world.

"By the way, Lord Huo En, the Northland Alliance meeting is in three days. Are you confident that you can completely strip the evaluation and investigation rights of the Magic Restriction Treaty from Cormanthyr?"

"If someone else asked, I might say it's uncertain, but to Lord Xia Duo, I can tell you very clearly: this time, Cormanthyr will surely suffer a crushing defeat!"

"So confident?" Xia Duo was somewhat skeptical.

It was clear that there hadn't been any rumors about the Small Nations Alliance, so how could they suddenly ensure the stripping of Cormanthyr's Permission Level? Or was it that Huo En had just concealed some details about the Small Nations Alliance?

"It is not just me who is confident, but Netheril, Illefarn, Danzo, and Yierlan who are confident together. They have already clearly responded to our proposal to support stripping Cormanthyr's rights at the Alliance meeting three days from now. Added to the possible appearance of the Small Nations Alliance, how could Cormanthyr not suffer a crushing defeat?"

So it was inside information!

Xia Duo suddenly understood. Thinking back to not long ago, when Netheril was schemed against by Cormanthyr and "backstabbed" by its ally Illefarn, now Cormanthyr was to be "backstabbed" by Yierlan in the same way—it really was a case of "it's not that retribution won't come, the time just hasn't arrived yet"!

I am afraid that after this meeting, all disputes and entanglements within the Northland Alliance will become clear. Coupled with the rise of the Small Nations Alliance, between nations, there are no eternal enemies and no eternal friends, only eternal interests.

The alliance relationship between Netheril and Illefarn would likely not be able to return to what it once was.

There is even the relationship between Netheril and Akaola; once the other party joins the Small Nations Alliance, it might also become subtle.

Of course, hostility should not exist, but wanting to be as close as before would be almost impossible.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo felt a strange sense of melancholy for some reason. Even though his will was firm, he could not help but feel a trace of confusion about such a future.

However, he had no doubts about the path he insisted on, only becoming increasingly respectful of his hometown leaders' choice of a "community with a shared future."

At least for now, he did not have that kind of heart or that kind of vision, but in the future, he would still encounter similar choices; how should he choose then?

This question, Xia Duo could not answer for the time being. One reason was that his original heart was hard to deceive, and the other was that the objective situation of the current world was not consistent with his hometown.

After leaving Jilan Tower, Xia Duo quickly adjusted his thoughts. Things that were too far off did not need to be considered for now; he should do what he had to do at the moment, step by step.

Only by laying a good foundation now and constantly strengthening himself would he have the power to make choices in the future; otherwise, everything was just empty talk.

Next, Xia Duo went to the Arcane Union again. Only a few days had passed, and he did not go to ask Iolum if new Spirit Material had been received, but went directly to the Ether Forward Base.

The current Ether Forward Base was mainly divided into inner and outer layers. The outer periphery was actually the area where the original Arcane Union core Laboratory was located; now it had become something like a fortress.

It completely enclosed the Ether Overlap Region, opening only two passages into the Ether Overlap Region. The inner layer of the Ether Forward Base was built near the boundary of the overlap region to facilitate hunters entering and exiting the Ether Plane.

After all, the area of the Ether Overlap Region was quite large. If it were built in the middle, just traveling would waste a lot of time. Not everyone was like Xia Duo, for whom flight was a passive ability.

In order to deal with unexpected situations after entering the Ether Plane, most hunters would choose to proceed on foot.

In addition, building the Forward Base at the edge of the overlap region also facilitated the retreat of hunters and the base's support.

Hunting Spirit Quality, to put it nicely, was called "collecting materials," but to put it bluntly, it was simply going to slaughter an alien race, even though that alien race seemed to be naturally hostile to normal life.

But they had always lived in the Ether Plane and almost never went to the Material Plane. Now a group of people rushed into their home to kill them—was this not the arrogance of Spellcasters?

However, Xia Duo had nothing to criticize about this; after all, he was one of the parties in the Spirit Quality trade. The only thing he could probably do was not to do the killing himself.

"What a cheap and hypocritical sense of morality!"

But in the short term, Xia Duo could not find any Spirit Material other than the Twisted Phantom Core. Coupled with the fact that the Twisted Phantom appeared to be almost inherently evil, he actually felt no guilt in his heart.

It was just like humans killing pigs and sheep; what sins did the pigs, cows, and sheep have?

The saying of the sages, "The gentleman keeps away from the kitchen," was indeed reasonable!

Ether Overlap Region, Base No. 3.

Since there was a No. 3, there were naturally No. 2, No. 1, and even more. In fact, there were a total of eight Forward Bases in the Ether Overlap Region.

This was certainly not one for the Seven Towers and one for the Arcane Union, but distributed in four directions, two by two, supporting each other. All Forward Bases were managed by the Arcane Union, at least in name.

This time, Xia Duo chose Base No. 3 mainly because he heard outside that someone at this base had recently obtained Spirit Quality. The Sorcerer Deacon outside did not know the specific situation.

Xia Duo had to see for himself, and by the way, see what other specialties the Ether Plane had.