Chapter 2358: Stealing Through Time

————Returned late, this chapter is too late, I'll make up for it tomorrow~~

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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 currently in the New Homeland.

The census has been going on for two days and is now nearing its end; except for those who were out exploring ruins and didn't make it back in time, everyone else is 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 yet completely ended, he had already looked over the summary information from the first 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 first 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, so the effect of the amulets had not yet manifested so quickly, but it at least gave Xia Duo hope.

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

Perhaps the proportion alone is not very intuitive, but if you multiply 80% by the total number of Pure-blood Elves, the resulting figure is very objective: nearly eighty thousand Spellcasters.

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

One must know that this is just a tiny force in a newly established nation, yet it has such potential. If it were those Elf nations on the Main Plane with populations 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 some extremely secret thing; just like how humans obtained Elven Magic, it is not unimaginable for various Elf nations to learn of it.

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

Even the currently 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 situations, 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 intelligent races, are probably only slightly stronger than races with lacking intelligence like Orcs and Goblins.

For all other intelligent races, 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. It wasn't that he couldn't think of it, but that 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; they 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 the Elves.

As for opening up childbirth, although he has not yet seen the final result, Xia Duo also has great confidence in reversing their old concepts. After all, as long as they can physiologically 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 occurring, 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 attach importance to the possibility of Elf mutation and include it in his observation plan. Even if the probability is small, there is definitely no lack of insightful people among the Elves. Under their conscious promotion, this progressive change is the inevitability of history.

Not to mention, with 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 be some changes inside to some extent.

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

And Illefarn has always had a tradition of Commoner governance in the past. Although it was influenced by mainstream Elf society and also produced some Upper Family, the foundation of the system is there. To reform, it only requires the authorities above to overcome that psychological hurdle.

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

Among the Northland Alliance nations, besides Cormanthor and Illefarn, there is also Ailan, which was established not long ago, that Xia Duo values more, after all, it involves the Demon Descendant of an alternate Time Line.

As for other nations, although it is certain that they all have their own trump cards, such as the Dragon Madness Secret Scroll preserved by Akaola, the Tree 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 nations or nations with ancient foundations, the new nation of Eaerlann is much inferior, but its ability to rise from the Seven Fortresses War a thousand years ago and become one of the five major nations of 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 of vigilance required can only be ranked seventh or eighth.

However, after this exploration of the Projection Plane, Xia Duo is prepared to raise Eaerlann'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 traditional inertia and are determined to develop toward the Surface, it can only be ranked fifth.

The remaining small nations may possess some extremely powerful trump cards, but because of their sparse population, it is feared that there will be few opportunities for major development for a considerable period of time.

They can only huddle together for warmth, but it is not completely hopeless. As the saying goes, "a small boat is easy to turn around." Once they are determined to fully embrace Netheril Magic and even open up childbirth, as long as the major powers do not interfere, they might be able to overtake on a curve.

In fact, this is also their only opportunity.

Embracing Netheril Magic is only the appearance; the essence is to give the whole population an opportunity to 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 it is actually built on the mutation technology of Mythallar. There is an old saying, "one trick wins over everything," but once this key trick fails, it may 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 currently the easiest to see results from, and indeed the most effective methods to improve competitiveness.