Chapter 2184: Appeals, Advice, and Acknowledging Independence

"Ladies and gentlemen, never in the history of the Northland nations have we been as closely connected as we are now. The birth of the Northland Alliance has made true, peaceful, and stable development possible for the Northland, but such close ties have also brought previously inconspicuous conflicts to the forefront."

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Crown King Luoruian did not start by demanding how much territory to secure for Yinerfalang; instead, he began with the establishment of the Northland Alliance, speaking of the crises lurking beneath the currently somewhat superficial appearance of peace—

"Territory is the realistic foundation for a country's existence, and the stability of a territory also means the stability of the country. As early as the beginning of the Northland Alliance, all nations made determining borders the top priority after the Alliance's formation.

"But disappointingly, over the past four years, each nation has had its own interests in this matter, and we have been unable to reach a consensus until today, when we finally see a true glimmer of hope.

"Although this glimmer of hope has come somewhat suddenly and made some people feel uneasy, we must ultimately look forward with a developmental perspective. If one does not take the first step in some matters, one will never know what will happen afterward.

"Here, in my capacity as Crown King of Yinerfalang, I call upon all nations to actively participate in the matter of territorial demarcation. The sooner this matter is resolved, the sooner the Northland nations can cast off their burdens and stride forward to embrace a brighter tomorrow!

"Additionally, I must advise certain nations to abandon their unrealistic imperial fantasies as soon as possible, to abandon their narrow-minded racial superiority, to protect the rights and interests of their people internally, to respect the sovereignty of other nations externally, and to conform to the general trend of Northland development; otherwise, they will only bring about their own destruction!"

After Luoruian finished speaking, two cold snorts—one light and one heavy—immediately rang out in the Covenant Hall. The representatives present were all people who operated in the Northland; as long as they weren't foolish, they could tell that Luoruian's last two sentences were directed at Yierlan and Keman.

Of course, it was mainly Keman; Yierlan could only be said to be tangentially involved. In the past, Keman was the epitome of "imperial illusions" and "racial superiority." Even if there had been some changes now, it was difficult to reverse the impression held by outsiders for the time being.

Therefore, just as Luoruian sat back down, Jialanuode, who had long been unable to restrain himself, immediately signaled to Enjier that he wanted to speak, but Enjier acted as if he hadn't seen it and called on another representative from Siluwende who had signaled at the same time:

"General Kelusi, please speak!"

"Yes, thank you, Speaker Enjier, and thank you, Mage Jialanuode, for yielding."

Kelusi was currently wearing a light green Mage Robe, showing none of the sharpness of a Warrior from the war period. He seemed to express his gratitude to Enjier, and afterward, he did not forget to tend to Jialanuode's mood.

After all, he had seen clearly who had signaled to speak just now, and the most critical among them was, of course, that Mage Leader from Keman.

"Everyone, not long ago, the country I belong to encountered a false accusation, which triggered a war that could have been avoided. I believe everyone present here already knows the details and reasons, so I will not repeat them.

"The reason I bring this up is to illustrate the importance of a country's sovereign independence, and territory is the realistic foundation for a country to exercise its sovereignty.

"The Northland nations all developed from the ruins of war. Regarding the concept of territorial borders, each nation was actually very vague at first. It was only when neighboring countries came into contact that the concept of borders began to appear.

"Taiquese Yizu means 'a gathering of people.' I believe that territorial borders should be defined by the settlements of the people who identify with each nation's identity and the nearby land that can be effectively controlled. This is a concept that conforms to the simple understanding of ordinary people.

"Regarding the Ailan Kingdom, although I feel very regretful, that was the choice of the Ailan people themselves, and I respect their choice."

After Kelusi finished speaking, whispers immediately broke out in the hall. As Kelusi said, people can define borders and define a country, but could it be that Siluwende didn't want to recover the Ailan region?

Those who only saw the first layer would indeed think so, but those who saw further ahead were already praising Kelusi's decisiveness. The Ailan region did indeed belong to Siluwende originally, but now it had indeed become independent.

One must know that the Alliance Assembly was currently discussing the issue of territorial demarcation. If Siluwende kept clinging to the Ailan region, the best result would be to shelve the dispute, and Ailan would certainly not be recovered.

On the contrary, if the dispute were shelved, Siluwende would have to face the possibility of its territory being encroached upon by Ailan. After all, the two countries did not yet have a clear boundary line; there was only the boundary line from the ceasefire at the time.

Although Ailan was very weak now and no match for Siluwende at all, Yierlan, who was behind Ailan, was still eyeing Siluwende!

Even if Siluwende found helpers, it would be hard to avoid the outcome of two brotherly nations falling into the quagmire of war.

It would be better to simply fulfill the other party's wishes and determine the borders between the two countries. In this way, even if Yierlan took the opportunity to stir up trouble in the future, Siluwende could at least occupy the moral high ground and demand that other Alliance nations stop the war.

Otherwise, it would truly be letting Yierlan come and go as it pleased.

Giving up the Ailan region could be called the political Wisdom of Kelusi and other Siluwende leaders, but it was even more the sorrow of a weak nation. If Siluwende were stronger than Yierlan, Kelusi would absolutely never have made such a decision.

Of course, if Siluwende were stronger than Yierlan, perhaps it would be Yierlan that was invaded, just like the Seven Fortresses War a thousand years ago. After all, Siluwende, which inherited the legacy of Aryvandaar, was no pushover either.

Kelusi's words caused many people to fall into deep thought, pondering what the true independence of the Ailan Kingdom meant, what kind of impact this matter might bring to the Northland Alliance, the situation and way out for the remaining small nations, and so on.

Xia Duo was also feeling emotional at this moment. When he last saw Kelusi, he felt that the other party was a very special Elf; he hadn't expected him to be so decisive this time.

As for what impact Siluwende's formal recognition of Ailan's independence would have on the future Northland Alliance, Xia Duo was more worried about whether the major powers would vie to imitate this, inciting independence in the border regions of small nations.

If that were the case, then allowing Ailan to be independent would be letting the devil out.

Recalling how such situations were avoided on Earth, another speaker had already passed in the hall; it was the representative from Shafeier.

Shafeier, the Dwarf kingdom located beneath the Listar Forest, had always been Keman's most steadfast supporter. The two countries had forged a deep friendship early on, during the process of jointly dealing with the Drow invasion at the beginning of Keman's founding.

Of course, it wouldn't be wrong to call it a vassal state, but Shafeier and Keman had almost no conflicts in their living environments; on the contrary, both sides needed each other very much.

Shafeier needed Keman as protection, and Keman also needed Shafeier to monitor the movements of the Drow underground. It could only be said that their strengths complemented each other!

Enjier had just bypassed Jialanuode's request to speak and immediately added a supporter of Keman to speak. Xia Duo could guess the reason; it was mostly to wear down Jialanuode's dissatisfaction with Crown King Luoruian's speech just now.