Chapter 2029: Consecutive Empty Results, Catching a Big Fish

The other few Elf Mages perked up upon hearing that Tailun had already begun arranging the mission tasks, including Puman; only the corners of Xia Duo's mouth couldn't help but curl into a faint smile.

Tailun noticed this scene, thinking that although the news regarding the Demon-born Secret Base had already been confirmed by their various nations, this information was initially inquired about by Xia Duo first, so he hurriedly asked:

"Does Lord Xia Duo have some discovery?"

"I do have some discoveries."

Xia Duo nodded and stated the situation he had discovered; it was actually very simple: he heard that the meeting point before this investigation mission began was near Terminos, so he used 【Wide-Area Detection】 to search it first.

The result was that the place suspected by the Demon-born Mages to be the secret base didn't even have a single hair; if that secret base were so hidden that even 【Wide-Area Detection】 couldn't find it, then it would likely be a waste of effort for the few of them to go there.

Furthermore, these suspected locations all came from those captured Demon-born Mages, but they themselves were only guessing and dared not verify them; now that the first one has been proven not to be it, what about the subsequent ones?

Will they keep coming up empty-handed?

By this time, Xia Duo was actually not very optimistic about this investigation mission, but since he had already given his word, it was not easy for him to go back on it now.

After all, a low probability does not mean it is completely non-existent; perhaps the second place they go to will be the Demon-born Secret Base!

And after hearing Xia Duo's findings, Tailun did not choose to skip the first suspected location, and the others did not object, so Xia Duo let them be, treating it as a tacit practice.

……

The first suspected location was not far from the Yierlan camp in Terminos, underground in a small hill; Tailun and the others discussed briefly and decided to bypass it from the Ether Plane, then initiate Scrying from the Ether Plane toward the Main Plane.

Using this method, even without other concealment means, one could avoid the vast majority of the Main Plane's perception-searching Magic; if combined with some more sophisticated concealment means, even if the opponent is on guard, one could still seize the initiative in advance.

In terms of guarding against threats from the Ether Plane, Elves do not strive for perfection as much as Netherese Mages, and there is a certain gap in their methods.

In fact, the means used this time to conceal the Ether exploration were provided by the Seven Towers, a field-type Avoidance of Detection spell cast by Puman for the action team.

The first exploration went very smoothly, or rather, it shouldn't be described as "smooth," but rather "completely fruitless"; the first suspected location was just pure underground, filled with common mountain rock, without even a trace of the Demon-born Secret Base.

Not only that, Tailun also searched the historical traces of that area and found no suspicious points; clearly, either the Demon-born Mages guessed wrong, or the existence behind the Demon-born had cleared it out in advance.

But regardless of which it was, it made no difference to the action team; if it had been cleared by the existence behind the Demon-born, it could not be confirmed or falsified, and it wouldn't matter even if it had been destroyed or cleared by another force.

In short, the emptiness of the first suspected location cast a shadow over the hearts of the team members, including Xia Duo; although he didn't have much hope, he did indeed wish that Tailun could discover something different.

This would not only allow this mission to have some gains but also provide some new ideas for the improvement of 【Wide-Area Detection】.

But unfortunately, there were no surprises.

……

Next were the second and third locations, both in the mountains on the outskirts of Evereska, but after careful inspection by the action team, they still failed to find any abnormalities.

Let alone the Demon-born Secret Base, they didn't even find traces of ordinary biological activity.

By this time, even if Xia Duo didn't say it, Tailun and the others gradually realized that the remaining suspected locations would likely not yield any results either.

But since they were already here, they couldn't just give up without finishing the inspections.

It was just that in the subsequent actions, Tailun and the others were somewhat distracted, except for Puman; perhaps having heard Xia Duo's speculation about the Demon-born threat from Badijiaer, he still maintained full vigilance even after consecutive empty results.

As for Xia Duo, although he held no hope for the subsequent explorations, he did not lose his vigilance; unless it was determined that a planned task should be abandoned, he would always try his best to complete it with quality and quantity.

In terms of mentality, he was close to giving up, but in action, he did not relax in the slightest; if nothing else, there were four Elf High Mages beside him, and that alone made it difficult for him to relax his vigilance.

……

Perhaps finally unable to endure it, Tailun gave a suggestion when they were about to conduct the seventh exploration: "It's already the seventh location; if there is still no result this time, then we will split up for the remaining ones!"

"Agreed."

Several Elf Mages agreed without hesitation, and Puman hesitated for a moment before nodding as well; as for Xia Duo—

"I will be with Lord Puman; you don't need to worry about me."

"Agreed." Tailun made the conclusion directly, and the other three Elves did not express opposition.

Xia Duo was not surprised by this; after all, he was originally an external member of this mission, and the Elves had called him over merely to utilize the advantage of the Floating City to break the defenses of the Demon-born Secret Base.

Of course, they could also take the opportunity to spy on the internal operations of the Floating City.

But now, the consecutive empty results made the several Elf Mages realize that it was unlikely there would be any gains, so the Floating City would likely not have a chance to appear, and who Xia Duo followed, or even whether he was there, was no longer that important.

……

The seventh suspected location was located southeast of Shaerwen, inside a sea cliff protruding from the coastline.

Just like the previous six explorations, Xia Duo and his party bypassed it from the Ether Plane and then initiated Scrying; just when Xia Duo thought this time would be the same empty result as before, Tailun's expression suddenly changed:

"There is a situation, Magic Protection detected!"

Immediately after, Puman's expression also changed, and he quickly warned: "Bad, the opponent has set up Warning Magic in the Ether Plane and has already sensed our spying; Mage Tailun, make a decision quickly!"

"Plan No. 5, Laruian, coordinate with me to cast Teleportation; Suweilisi, Kesita, you eliminate interference to assist our Teleportation. Puman, you and Lord Xia Duo stand by to support us at any time."

At the critical moment, Tailun did not falter and quickly issued instructions; the several Elf Mages immediately began to act, while Puman also attempted to continue maintaining concealment to ensure the success of the surprise attack.

As for Xia Duo, although Tailun had not yet asked him to deploy the Floating City to assist in the surprise attack or even serve as the main force, he still calculated the approximate coordinates of the target area and quietly communicated with the Floating City to "preheat" the Jump System.

The next moment, a faint radiance projected around the team members, displaying the approximate Scrying results of the suspected Demon-born Secret Base on the Main Plane.

Although it was not a live view, Xia Duo saw at a glance that its structure was similar to the Demon-born Secret Base he had raided before; both were located inside a mountain, with a high-domed circular hall in the center, connected to multiple layers of rooms surrounding the hall.

Among them, dozens of light spots with varying sensitivity were distributed in the hall, and one could vaguely distinguish about a dozen Spellcasters, two of whom were the most conspicuous.

Not only was their own aura strong and full, but the Magic Items they carried were also far superior to other Spellcasters; with such obvious characteristics, one could tell at a glance that they were undoubtedly High Mages.

And the target location where Tailun was preparing to teleport was exactly inside that high-domed hall in the mountain space!