Chapter 1772: Prelude, Invitation

Regarding this, Xierdalanna smiled slightly, "I recently heard a piece of news; if Lord Xia Duo is willing to join in, I can share this news with you!"

I hate riddle-mongers!

Xia Duo thought viciously, and looking at Xierdalanna, he no longer saw the previously somewhat polite expression; his face immediately darkened, "If you don't want to say it, then this meeting ends here!"

Having said that, he made a move to end the communication.

Only then did Xierdalanna panic somewhat, while at the same time a strong sense of shame and anger surged in her chest; if this matter weren't so sensitive, she would never share it with a human!

"Lord Xia Duo, I suggest you listen to this news!"

There was some dissatisfaction in Xierdalanna's tone. Seeing this, Xia Duo slowed his hand movement to end the communication slightly, his eyes flickering, signaling the other party to continue.

"I heard that someone entered the Cloud Crown Palace not long ago and used the 'Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence' to persuade the Evereska Council of Elders, which led to the alliance of small nations, changing the situation where the five Northland powers dominated in one fell swoop."

Speaking of this, Xierdalanna reined in her tone slightly; she was very curious about how such an outlier as Xia Duo could emerge among the Netherese Mages.

With Kangjienio before and Iolum after, and now Xia Duo, could the gods really favor humans so much? Whenever Netheril faces a turning point, a special person appears to lead Netheril back to the right path.

"Lord Xia Duo, I don't think you want the new Northland situation you personally facilitated to suffer a blow, do you? You can listen first, then make a decision!"

"Speak!"

"I don't know if you have received the news, but not long ago, Great Elder Ankalita of Evereska was assassinated while visiting Siluwende. I have already obtained confirmed news that even Ankalita's soul has been annihilated."

"Ms. Xierdalanna, is this the news you wanted to tell me? Then I'm sorry, but just before you contacted me, I had just obtained this news."

Regarding Xia Duo's sarcasm, Xierdalanna was not only not angry, but her attitude became even more softened, "Lord Xia Duo, the news I want to tell you is of course not this, but about the assassin."

"Could it be that Lord Xia Duo is not interested in the news of who the assassin is?"

"The assassin?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo immediately put away his playful expression, his demeanor turning solemn, and he asked: "Ms. Xierdalanna, what do you know? Who is the assassin?"

"I know a lot, but whether I can share it depends on Lord Xia Duo's next choice."

Xierdalanna thought she had grasped the initiative and deliberately paused for a few seconds, seemingly wanting to whet Xia Duo's appetite. Seeing Xia Duo's dissatisfied expression, she then continued:

"Do you know why I just asked what you thought of the Inspiration Light Potion? The assassin who killed Great Elder Ankalita is related to the forces behind the Inspiration Light!"

"That's not right!"

Xia Duo immediately found a loophole in Xierdalanna's words, "Didn't you say before that your Crown King Helien might also be a member of that mysterious organization?

"If that mysterious organization could even handle Crown King Helien, why would they use such radical means to deal with Great Elder Ankalita?"

Although Xia Duo was not yet sure what the purpose of this mysterious organization was, shouldn't secrecy be the top priority before the other party actively exposed themselves?

Or was it that assassinating Great Elder Ankalita was the first step for this mysterious organization to step onto the stage?

But for this kind of mysterious organization, if they had ambitions, shouldn't it be more convenient to step onto the stage when the nations were in chaos?

Although the Northland nations currently had their own conflicts, generally speaking, it was still relatively peaceful. Especially after experiencing the previous underground Drow War, Keman also needed to recuperate; it was impossible to initiate a war, at least not likely in the next few years.

Since the nations were at peace, what room was there for a mysterious organization to rise?

Especially since Xierdalanna mentioned earlier that Crown King Helien of Yierlan was related to the mysterious organization, either colluding with them or simply being a member.

In addition, there were forces in other nations as well. The potential strength of this mysterious organization was so great; once they stepped into the light, would the various nations really remain indifferent?

Therefore, Xia Duo was more inclined to believe that Xierdalanna assumed he cared deeply about the so-called "new Northland situation," or felt that he had already used the Inspiration Light Potion and was very satisfied with the effect and wanted more, so she deliberately linked Ankalita's death with that mysterious organization.

Didn't Xierdalanna incite him openly and secretly last time to deal with that so-called Moonshadow Family?

Now she was doing this again; did she really think humans had no brains?

……

"Lord Xia Duo, I cannot give accurate answers to these questions of yours, but what I can tell you is—besides the assassin being related to the mysterious organization, the price of the Inspiration Light Potion has dropped!

"It's not that the price for purchasing through me has dropped, but the price at which the mysterious organization sells it externally has dropped. It used to be 150,000 Gold Coins per bottle, but now it's only 10,000!"

The news Xierdalanna revealed again, although it deepened Xia Duo's suspicion, the price drop of the Inspiration Light still made his heart jump fiercely.

If they could sell it for 10,000, it meant there was still profit in it!

Assuming a cost of 10,000, and it was previously sold for 150,000 Gold Coins—the selling price being 15 times the cost—could one then assume the cost was only one-fifteenth of 10,000?

Judging from the mysterious organization's greed before, this was entirely possible!

But why lower the price if they could earn more?

Could this be the prelude prepared by the mysterious organization to step onto the stage, in addition to assassinating Great Elder Ankalita?

If one thought about it this way, perhaps Xierdalanna was not lying this time!

Or, unless Xierdalanna had told a monstrous lie from the beginning, otherwise, there was only one conclusion—

She might have been hiding things all along, but there should be no lies.

After all, lies always have a day of being exposed, and selective narration, even if discovered to be selective, has nothing to do with lies; although this might be more annoying, this is an open conspiracy.

"Then, Ms. Xierdalanna, what do you need my cooperation for this time?" Xia Duo asked.

If it were just some trivial requests, then agreeing to them wouldn't matter; if it were too troublesome or dangerous, he was also an individual with independent agency and would not be easily swayed by the other party's empty promises.

Xierdalanna knew that Xia Duo could not agree first, and having already revealed so much, she stopped playing games and said directly:

"I want to invite Lord Xia Duo to raid a secret base of the mysterious organization. Of all the spoils, I only need the formula for the Inspiration Light Potion; as for the rest, Lord Xia Duo can take whatever he wants."

"Raid a secret base?"

Upon hearing this, Xia Duo only felt his scalp tingle. Not to mention how strong the mysterious organization was, the mere fact that High Mages and Great Arcanists acting outside easily triggered the Supermagic Monitoring Divine Art made Xia Duo want to retreat a hundred times over.

"Ms. Xierdalanna, have you considered the Northland Alliance's Supermagic Event Monitoring Divine Art? If the battle is intense, it will inevitably attract outside attention."