Chapter 2118: Random Associations, Getting Lost

Otherwise, given the arrogance of the Elf, they would never have reacted so quickly, let alone brought along other countries of the Northland Alliance.

For a moment, Xia Duo's desire to continue traveling faded significantly, though staying in Netheril right now wouldn't be of much more use either.

It would be better to continue traveling; if he were lucky enough to discover the Control Center of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, he might be able to preemptively eliminate this disaster that had not yet truly arrived.

"I understand. I will also convey this matter to the Seven Towers, and perhaps the two countries can have deeper cooperation then."

Saying this, Xia Duo was already prepared to end the meeting, but just as he wanted to bring it up, Yinsteliya revealed a troubled expression and said hesitantly:

"Actually, I have another piece of news regarding the Dragon Madness Mythallar, but I don't know if I should tell you, Lord Xia Duo."

"..."

Xia Duo was speechless for a moment; if they really didn't want to say it, they wouldn't have brought it up here. "Master Yinsteliya, please speak freely. I can accept any news."

"Since that is the case, then I will say it. Does Lord Xia Duo remember the Dragon Disaster from two years ago? That was actually the normalized effect of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, only because the Mythallar has been in disrepair for so long that it only triggers once every few decades or a century."

Just hearing the beginning, Xia Duo already had a guess about the content that would follow. Sure enough, Yinsteliya mentioned the Drow without surprise, and most importantly—Keman!

"During the Dragon Disaster the year before last, it coincided with the Drow invasion, or rather, the Dragon Disaster was actually the Drow triggering the Dragon Madness Mythallar riot in advance—from the current perspective, but—"

Yinsteliya changed the subject, very naturally leading the topic toward Keman. "In order to deal with both the Drow and the Dragon Disaster, Keman did something to the Dragon Madness Mythallar. The most direct result was that the Silver Dragon Mage Organization of the Dragon Ridge Mountains rebelled against the Drow in battle and played a not-insignificant role in the subsequent fighting."

"Does Master Yinsteliya mean—that certain actions by Keman led to the accelerated collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar?"

"I don't have that meaning. I am merely pointing out a fact. As for what kind of speculation this fact will trigger, that is not something I can restrict. Perhaps it could also have been caused by the Drow triggering the Dragon Disaster in advance!"

Yinsteliya, of course, could not directly point out that Keman caused the accelerated collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, but the implication in their words could not have been more obvious.

Although Xia Duo knew that a large part of this was to sow discord in the recently eased relationship between Netheril and Keman, just as Yinsteliya had just said, they were merely pointing out a fact—

What Keman did to the Dragon Madness Mythallar during the Drow War.

This is very easy to verify, but once verified, it is hard not to make associations. Of course, it could indeed be said to be the Drow, but the Drow had long since retreated to the depths of the Underdark, while Keman was right before their eyes.

Regarding this news provided by Yinsteliya, Xia Duo had indeed not thought of it before. Even excluding factors of personal preference and thinking with near-absolute rationality, he also felt that this might be the source of the abnormal climate in the last two years.

He could almost imagine that once this news reached Netheril, it wouldn't just be the common people complaining; the Seven Towers would likely immediately re-evaluate their relationship with Keman.

For no other reason than that Netheril is currently the most severely affected by the abnormal climate in the Northland. If it were truly caused by the collapse of the Dragon Madness Mythallar, then the future would not just be abnormal climate; the disaster would very likely intensify.

The current abnormal climate is already difficult to deal with; if there were an even greater disaster, wouldn't that mean the country would be directly destroyed!

Under such circumstances, how could one possibly have a good attitude toward Keman!

And if Yierlan could produce some feasible plan to effectively solve the disaster, they might be able to become the country with the most say in the Northland Alliance in one fell swoop.

Xia Duo even suspected that Yierlan being so anxious to set up some anti-disaster front might be because they had already found some countermeasures.

If that were true, he would actually be quite happy to see it. What he fears most is having no real ability but pretending to have it; if that led to misjudgments by the countries of the Alliance, then the trouble would be huge.

For the time being, it is inconvenient for Xia Duo to intervene in this, so he can only wait and see, while simultaneously accelerating the progress of collecting the Dragon Madness Secret Scroll and searching for the Mythallar Control Center.

"I will also convey this news to the Seven Towers."

After returning to the Floating City, Xia Duo sat quietly for a long time thinking about the way forward. It was not until Niya's avatar summoned him that he withdrew his chaotic thoughts. He had seen many sights on this trip, but there were also many troublesome things.

In the end, he could only sigh, "In troubled times, only strengthening oneself is the greatest way out!"

Seeing Niya again, she was already in the guise of an Elf. Xia Duo also transformed into the guise of an Elf, and then they headed to Taiweimansa again.

Only this time, there was an extra Niya by Xia Duo's side, and with no Elf following them, this feeling of a "free tour" made him feel very relaxed.

"Let's go to that tree first!"

Niya pointed forward. When she arrived, she had already chosen the route for tonight's outing. Aside from the more sensitive Palace, Temple, Academy, and Military Camp, they could basically tour the entire Taiweimansa roughly.

Xia Duo naturally let her lead. The two soon landed on a thick, long branch of the tree Niya pointed to; this was a district in the eastern part of Taiweimansa.

Strictly speaking, it is actually difficult to distinguish east, west, north, and south in Taiweimansa, because the entire city is discretely distributed among huge oak clusters of different heights on the mountain ridge.

Some districts are on the branches, while others are hidden within the tree bodies. Some districts are connected by Xuan Kong Budao, while others are connected directly using deep, long branches.

If it were someone traveling to Taiweimansa for the first time, nine times out of ten they would get lost.

Such a complex and three-dimensional city also reminded Xia Duo of a city in his hometown, only the one in his hometown was a mountain city, while this one was a tree city.

Although he had done his homework before coming, it is difficult to build a concrete impression of this city on trees just through some Magic Image and text information.

After walking through a Xuan Kong Budao district, both Niya and Xia Duo had to admit that they seemed to be lost. Perhaps they had taken a wrong turn on some branch earlier, and only now did they realize something was wrong.

"Then should we find a guide?" Niya asked Xia Duo, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Let's forget about a guide; let me think of a way!"

Xia Duo did not want an extra Elf-brand lightbulb in their world for two. The method he thought of was none other than human navigation. Taiweimansa is covered by a Mythallar, and his Permission Level is not high enough to easily use Scrying spells for direct navigation.

But he himself had been here twice before, especially the first time when he went to the Golden Autumn Courtyard for a banquet; that team of Pegasus knights had relied on their familiarity to lead him around the city several times. Although the second time was direct, he had also seen many scenes of interaction between the cities.

Combining the Magic Image about Taiweimansa he had seen before, Xia Duo could use his smart brain to quickly draw a rough map of Taiweimansa and perform real-time navigation.

It is just that without specific exploration, this navigation might have a large number of blind spots, but it should be enough for just sightseeing.