Chapter 2000: Deliberation and Coercion

However, Atifeisi's words failed to attract the attention of Jianade and Kesita; those two remained silent and deep in thought, as if Atifeisi were not present at all.

Adalier, on the other hand, cast a rather dissatisfied glance at Atifeisi and shook his head to signal the other party to stop speaking, and thus the room fell into silence once again.

After a long while, Kesita finally spoke slowly, saying to Adalier: "If the survey report from the Bemacher Philosophy Society is not forged, I think we can take the risk and try."

"My opinion is the same as Kesita's."

Following Kesita, Jianade also expressed his stance, "There has never been a war without risks, but the premise is that the Bemacher Philosophy Society's report is sound."

Hearing this, Adalier felt a surge of joy in his heart. In truth, setting aside all other external factors, he himself wished to end this war as soon as possible.

Now, besides the factor of orders from above, the unstable mood of the Spellcaster Tribe was also a major incentive for him to utilize the survey results of the Bemacher Philosophy Society to quickly end the war.

So now, the key to the problem was the Bemacher Philosophy Society.

Adalier stared into Atifeisi's eyes with a serious expression and asked solemnly: "Atifeisi, I don't want to hear any empty words or platitudes; you just need to tell me—is your society's survey report accurate and credible or not!"

"This—"

Atifeisi, who had just said to let Adalier trust the society's ability and judgment, was now somewhat hesitant; such a commitment regarding a specific event was not easy to make.

If something were to go wrong, even if it were not the society's fault, he might still suffer unnecessary criticism or even punishment as a result.

"Hasn't the report already been sent back to the country? Commander Adalier, and also Mage Kesita and Mage Jianade, you have all seen it; can you not make a judgment yet?"

Atifeisi's evasive attitude made Adalier very dissatisfied. He snorted coldly, continued to stare straight into the other party's eyes, and said forcefully:

"I am asking you now, give me a clear answer!"

"It should be accurate and credible. The survey work was personally directed by Mage Yan Xing. I trust him. If the Commander still has doubts, then simply don't come to our society."

This sounded like a relatively clear answer, but what Adalier wanted was not this; what he truly wanted was a clear guarantee from Atifeisi, as the president of the Bemacher Philosophy Society.

Adalier had learned a lot while by the Crown King's side, and one of those things was—if the risk of doing something is too high, then find enough participants of sufficient weight to share it.

Specifically regarding the execution of this new order, refusal was clearly the last resort, and to achieve the goals in the order, one would inevitably have to take certain risks, and not small ones at that.

In this situation, one must not only find high-level Mages from the same camp to share the decision-making risk, but it is best to find a target who can pay the price for failure.

As a commander, he indeed needed to be responsible for failure, but he could not take all the responsibility upon himself. If that were really the case, others would not appreciate him; they would only say he was too stupid.

In Adalier's eyes, the Bemacher Philosophy Society was an ideal scapegoat.

Needing to use them while also needing them to be the scapegoat seems unfair, but this is reality. Under normal circumstances, the Bemacher Philosophy Society would never find such an opportunity to be in the spotlight and perform a great service.

If one wants to obtain huge benefits that are hard to get under normal circumstances, how could one not take risks!

As long as the subsequent war goes smoothly, then wouldn't there be no downsides at all!

"Atifeisi, I believe in you, but that does not mean I believe in your society. If this is still your answer, then I can only return to Taiweimansa to resign to the Crown King. When a new commander is sent, he won't be as easy to talk to as I am, and the efforts your society has made so far will likely receive no reward."

Adalier's words were both soft and hard, and the pressure instantly shifted to Atifeisi's side. At the same time, Kesita, who had not paid the slightest bit of attention to Atifeisi just moments ago, also suddenly said:

"Mage Atifeisi, could your society's survey report really be forged! Or perhaps your society has long been in league with Sluwen and is using a problematic survey report to lead us into a trap!"

"Mage Kesita, please be careful with your words! Although the Bemacher Philosophy Society is not famous, it is not for you to slander at will!" As Atifeisi spoke, the eyebrows above his forehead twitched rapidly, revealing the extremely agitated emotions of their owner.

"Kesita, don't say that. I believe Atifeisi would absolutely never betray Yierlan. Perhaps he was just deceived by some villains within his society."

"Commander Adalier!"

Although he knew Adalier was deliberately provoking him, Atifeisi still could not stand that anger. If he endured it, wouldn't it be a tacit admission that there was a problem with the Bemacher Philosophy Society!

"I guarantee that Mage Yan Xing's survey report is accurate and absolutely credible, but as for matters outside the report, our Bemacher Philosophy Society will not be held responsible!"

"You don't need to confirm with Mage Yan Xing again?"

"No need, I trust him! If there are any actions next, I am also willing to cooperate, but there is one point I must emphasize again: we will not be held responsible for matters outside the report. Before Commander Adalier issues operational instructions, please be sure to consider everything thoroughly."

"I know! If Mage Atifeisi has no private matters to attend to, stay here with me. I am about to summon the other Mages for a meeting to discuss the specific details of the operation."

"No problem, please Commander Adalier, be sure to remember what I just said."

Atifeisi emphasized it once more, but Adalier acted as if he hadn't heard, merely grunted twice, and then ignored the other party, turning instead to summon the projections of the high-level Mages in the Spellcaster unit who were not currently in battle to attend the meeting.

……

Ether Plane, nameless wilderness.

A huge sky-blue sphere floated quietly in mid-air, surrounded by shimmering, multicolored Ether Mist, appearing somewhat hazy and dreamlike.

At this moment, a full twelve hours had passed since Xia Duo pulled the Floating City over from the Blue Crystal Plane.

Originally, he thought that since Yierlan and Sluwen were fighting so fiercely on the plains south of Adofier Fortress, the final battle would break out very soon.

He did not expect that after more than ten hours, the battle situation would remain deadlocked, with no signs of the anticipated final battle appearing.

"Could it be that Sluwen really has no trump cards left?"

In the lounge of the Floating City's Central Control Zone, Xia Duo could not help but sigh, but it was only a sigh. He knew very well that if Sluwen really had no trump cards, they would not have performed like that earlier.

But now that it had reached this point, just from what he had observed, high-level Mages had completely unleashed their Saint Form at least four times, and this also meant that Sluwen had already lost at least four high-level Mages.

These are not leeks in a field that can be harvested at will. As the pinnacle of individual power in the Main Plane, who could force them to sacrifice themselves unless they were willing?

One must know that the current ruling faction of Sluwen was originally just a resistance organization. Even if they had accepted the power of the old system, when it truly comes time to fight for their lives, how many high-level Mages can they actually bring out?