Chapter 2357: On the Countries of the Northland

New Homeland, Red Heart Square.

Administrative personnel under the Zhengwuyuan were divided into twenty-four groups on the east side of the square, corresponding to the twenty-four town-level settlements of the current New Homeland.

The census, which has been going on for two days, is now nearing its end; except for those who are out exploring ruins and haven't managed to return, everyone else is here in this square.

Xia Duo and Ma'aoshi stood in a corner of the square, hiding their tracks, watching the crowd that had gradually thinned out. Xia Duo's eyes were full of joy; although the census had not completely ended, he had already looked over the summary information from the previous two days.

From the time the 【Multi-Child Amulet】 was opened for collection until now, more than one hundred couples have collected the amulets, and the census results from the previous two days, not to mention the number of Spellcasters, showed that the number of pregnancies had increased by a full twenty-plus!

Nearly half of these were from those who had collected the amulets. Of course, it had been less than ten days, and the effect of the amulets had not yet manifested so quickly, but it at least gave Xia Duo a glimpse of hope.

As for the number of Spellcasters, as of now, the proportion of Demon Descendant Spellcasters in New Homeland is 100%, and the proportion of Pure-blood Elf Spellcasters is also over 80%!

Using percentages might not be very intuitive, but if you multiply 80% by the total number of Pure-blood Elves, the resulting number is very objective: nearly eighty thousand Spellcasters.

Although the vast majority of these are low-rank Mages, as long as he thinks of this specific number, Xia Duo inexplicably feels a sense of thrill.

One must know that this is only a tiny force that has just founded a nation, yet it has such potential. If it were those Elf nations on the Main Plane whose populations are at least dozens of times larger than this, once they decided to liberate the lower-level forces, what a terrifying scene it would be.

And Netheril Magic is actually not something extremely secret; just like how humans obtained Elven Magic, it is not unimaginable for various Elf nations to learn of it.

Then, the various Elf nations of the Main Plane actually already possess the potential to liberate such power.

Even the temporarily leading birth rate can be guided or even forcibly increased through various policies, just like the Drow in the Underdark, who must give birth once every 25 years. If it weren't for the harsh environment and cruel competition of the Underdark, with the Drow's longevity comparable to Elves, their population would likely have already flooded.

Xia Duo decided that Elves are truly the chosen ones; even in the most desperate times, they can have countless backup plans to turn the situation around, whether it is the legacy of their ancestors or changing their concepts to strive for self-improvement.

Correspondingly—humans, among the many races with Wisdom, are probably only slightly stronger than races with lacking Wisdom like Orcs and Goblins.

For all other races with Wisdom, their natural lifespan exceeds that of humans; in extreme cases, this means their potential for development exceeds that of humans.

In the past, Xia Duo rarely thought about whether Elves would learn from humans—not because he couldn't think of it, but because he subconsciously didn't want to think about it. But this time in the Projection Plane, in order to seize as much harvest as possible, he made some attempts.

Facts have proven that once they reach a dead end, Elves and humans are no different; both will think of every possible way to seek a way out. A mere trifle like changing the Magic system would not be taken to heart by Elves at all.

As for opening up childbirth, although he hasn't seen the final result yet, Xia Duo also has great confidence in turning their old concepts around. After all, as long as they can physically give birth, the psychological hurdle can always be overcome if they just grit their teeth.

It is just like the law of large numbers on Earth: no matter how small the probability of an event happening is, as long as the time is long enough and the number of occurrences is high enough, it will always happen.

Therefore, when Xia Duo returns to the Main Plane, he will pay attention to the possibility of the Elves' mutation and include it in his observation plan. Even if the probability is small, there is definitely no lack of people with insight among the Elves. Under their conscious promotion, this kind of progressive change is the inevitability of history.

Not to mention, there are humans stimulating them from the side; those High Elves might even take the initiative to carry out top-down reformist changes!

In fact, Cormanthor already has such signs. Crown King Yiner is undoubtedly an Elder full of Wisdom. In recent years, especially after the establishment of the Northland Alliance, the ethnic policy within Cormanthor has almost made a 180-degree turn.

Just looking at the surface momentum, it seems that Five Races Equality and Prosperity has been fully realized in Cormanthor. As for the inside, since the surface is already like this, there will surely be some changes inside.

Those former followers who were purged from the center of power by Yiner are the proof!

And Illefarn, which has always had a tradition of Commoner Executive rule in the past, although it has been influenced by mainstream Elf society and created some Upper Families, the foundation of the system is there. If they want to change, they only need the rulers above to overcome that psychological hurdle.

And as for the specific implementation process, compared to other Elf nations, it has an almost incomparable mass advantage.

Among the countries of the Northland Alliance, besides Cormanthor and Illefarn, there is also Ailan, which was established not long ago, that makes Xia Duo value it more, after all, it involves Demon Descendants from a different Time Line.

As for other countries, although it can be certain that they all have their own trump cards, such as the Dragon Madness Secret Scroll preserved by Akaola, the Treant Elder that may exist in Shaerwen, and Evereska, which may also hide some unknown trump cards, one also needs to remain vigilant.

Compared to those older countries or those with ancient foundations, Yierlan, as a new country, is much inferior, but its ability to rise during the Seven Fortresses War a thousand years ago and become one of the five major powers in the Northland today means its strength cannot be underestimated.

In Xia Duo's evaluation, because of its large population, its development potential can be ranked in the top five of the Northland, but the degree to which it needs to be guarded against can only be ranked seventh or eighth.

However, after this exploration of the Projection Plane, Xia Duo is prepared to raise Yierlan's development potential to the top three; the top two are Cormanthor and Illefarn respectively. As for Netheril, if one does not count the neutral Dan Zuo, it can temporarily be ranked fourth.

If Dan Zuo is included, it can be ranked 4.5, tied with Dan Zuo. If the Dwarves can overcome their traditional inertia and are determined to develop toward the Surface, it can only be ranked fifth.

The remaining small countries may possess some extremely strong trump cards, but because of their sparse population, they are unlikely to have any great opportunities for development for a considerable period of time.

They can only huddle together for warmth, but it is not completely without hope. As the saying goes, "a small boat is easy to turn around." Once they make up their minds to fully embrace Netheril Magic, or even open up childbirth, as long as the big countries do not interfere, they might be able to overtake them on a curve.

In fact, this is also their only chance.

Embracing Netheril Magic is just the appearance; the essence is to give the whole population an opportunity for progress. Opening up childbirth (perhaps it should be called unrestrained childbirth) is the only way to rapidly increase the population.

The combination of the two nurtures the foundation of progress; only by using progress against backwardness is there a slight chance of overtaking.

Netheril on the Main Plane seems to be in the limelight, but in reality, it is built on the mutation technology of the Mythallar. There is an old saying, "a single trick can conquer the world," but once this key trick fails, it might really be unable to recover.

Thinking this way, Xia Duo became more determined about the two basic policies of the Territory—encouraging childbirth and the popularization of Magic. These are, for the time being, the most easily effective and indeed the most effective ways to improve competitiveness.