Chapter 1766: Butterfly Effect, Persistent Defense

"What line of reasoning?" Huo En pressed.

"In my hometown, there is a saying—"

Xia Duo looked around and found that everyone was not surprised that he had another hometown. Thinking about it, it was likely that the information about him being an Easterner had already appeared on these people's desks back when he had just become an Arcanist.

Thus, he continued: "A butterfly flapping its wings at one end of a continent can trigger a hurricane at the other end of the continent.

"Perhaps someone triggered a tiny change from afar, or even from the elemental level, which led to the climate anomaly in Netheril.

"Because the change was too small and too weak, it was difficult to lock onto amidst the massive amount of natural changes, which made this climate anomaly appear as if it happened naturally.

"But I have always insisted on one point: everything that exists leaves a trace. Perhaps we could have all meteorological data from the beginning of last year's climate anomaly searched and have experts in climate analysis examine it; perhaps we could then find the trajectory of the anomaly being transmitted and amplified bit by bit."

After Xia Duo finished speaking, Huo En's face clearly showed joy. Just hearing this line of reasoning, he felt it was feasible, though he worried that there wouldn't be enough time to discover the traces before the next, or even the next, climate anomaly arrived.

Netheril could still hold up after one or two climate anomalies, but if they were to keep occurring, even with an Arcane Garden, it would not be a long-term solution.

Suddenly, he felt a bit of resentment toward Xia Duo. If he had known this line of reasoning, why not say it in private? If the mastermind behind the scenes found out, wouldn't they be on guard?

Right—

"Lord Kelifu, I wonder if you could perform a prophecy based on the line of reasoning mentioned by Lord Xia Duo?"

The Seven Towers had previously asked the Archbishop of the Sewendun Dashendian to perform a prophecy, but prophecy was not omnipotent. Even gods were not omnipotent; there were always domains they could not reach.

The result of the previous prophecy was only one: natural change, with a suspicion that someone had erased the insignificant disturbances of the Spell Source Point.

But if one were to track the trajectory of the climate anomaly's transmission and amplification based on the line of reasoning proposed by Xia Duo, as long as the source was found, at the very least, it could be determined whether such a Spellcaster existed.

Such tracking was undoubtedly a massive project for a Spellcaster, but for a god, it might just be a matter of lifting a hand.

Right now, there was a Great Arcanist in this Huanxingdating who was skilled in Prophecy. Huo En naturally wanted to strive for it as much as possible. Even if it didn't work out, he could go back and find a way to ask the Priests at the Great Temple who were skilled in Prophecy for help again.

Even if Kelifu agreed, Huo En did not intend to give up the plan of going back to perform another prophecy for comparison.

It was just that this time, Kelifu refused a bit too bluntly: "Apologies, Lord Huo En, I have been busy with matters recently, and I am afraid I cannot spare the time to specifically perform a prophecy."

Not being able to spare the time was, of course, just an excuse. If a prophecy required a long time, it would be better to mobilize Spellcasters to investigate!

The real situation was, of course, that Kelifu had consumed too much Divine Grace for his research on Resurrection and was currently in the stage of "grinding" Divine Grace. If he were to perform a prophecy, who knew how much time would be wasted? Even if the Seven Towers compensated him generously, could they directly give him Divine Grace?

In any case, there were other Priests at the Sewendun Dashendian, and Kelifu was not worried that the Seven Towers wouldn't be able to find someone to perform the prophecy, nor would it delay the investigation into the abnormal climate, so he refused decisively.

……

Regarding Kelifu's refusal, Huo En was undoubtedly somewhat disappointed, but Kelifu was an old friend of the Seven Towers and not an outsider, so he couldn't say anything more, only nodding to show he understood.

"Does anyone else have anything to add?" Iolum asked.

Silence, but the Huanxingdating was clearly echoing with the Magic Net oscillations characteristic of the Message spell. Iolum waited for a while, but no one spoke, so he said:

"If you have any clues or lines of reasoning, you can contact me privately, or contact those from the Seven Towers. It is already September, and winter will be here before long. If we cannot quickly find a definitive answer to this matter, I fear the people will not be able to hold on for much longer. Let's leave it at that. Next topic—"

Following that were some routine topics, mostly important matters within the Arcane Union that involved numerous Spellcasters, some of which involved various interests to a greater or lesser extent.

A few were tasks issued by the Seven Cities Council. As the "orthodox" of Netheril, they naturally had the authority to issue tasks to the Arcane Union, though they would also pay for them.

……

But these routine topics were limited in number, and soon the real theme of this Council of Great Arcanists arrived—at least in the eyes of the three who had arrived from the Seven Towers.

"For the next few items, everyone has an idea in their minds, so I will state them all at once."

Iolum raised his eyes and scanned everyone's faces, then continued: "Hede Mage Tower accuses the Verdant Tower of maliciously interfering with the internal affairs of its Territory and Mage Tower;

"Duiite Mage Tower accuses the Verdant Tower of maliciously encroaching upon its Territory and Mage Tower, plundering population, resources, and wealth;

"Da'erma Mage Tower accuses the Verdant Tower—

"……"

There were as many as twelve accusations regarding the Verdant Tower Alliance violating taboos, among which there was no lack of those raised by members of the Verdant Tower Alliance, clearly with the Seven Towers working behind the scenes.

In Netheril, Territory and Mage Tower referred to the same target in the vast majority of cases. The reason for the different names was that they corresponded to the Lord's different identities in the Seven Cities Council and the Arcane Union, nothing more.

Undoubtedly, regarding Territory issues, as long as one put on the skin of a Mage Tower, one could bring it to the Arcane Union.

Of course, if there were problems with the inheritance of a Territory and the Mage Tower had decayed beyond recognition, then there was no other way but to go to the Seven Cities Council to file a complaint.

……

When Iolum finished reading these twelve accusations, the Huanxingdating suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

The tradition of independent Territories in Netheril was deeply rooted in people's hearts. Even within the Verdant Tower Alliance, not everyone could accept that theory of Keluosi's.

What was so-called integration to enhance competitiveness if not another way of saying annexation?

Previously, because Keluosi was too close, those members of the Verdant Tower Alliance did not dare to openly oppose him even if they were dissatisfied in their hearts. But once the Seven Towers stepped forward, the situation was different.

Having submitted their pledge of allegiance to the Seven Towers, the Seven Towers naturally had to protect them from Keluosi's persecution; otherwise, no one might believe in the Seven Towers next time.

The accumulation of public credibility was a very long process, while losing it could happen in an instant. The Seven Towers would not be so unwise.

Based on past credibility, those members of the Verdant Tower Alliance were also willing to believe in the Seven Towers, and thus this scene came to be.

"Keluosi, do you have anything you want to say?"

"Of course I do."

Keluosi even stood up from his chair, "I will not give up my right to speak!"