Chapter 2457

"What is the total population of the Tianshui Plane?"

"During the census a few years ago, it was about 1.4 million. It should be roughly the same now. The land in the Tianshui Plane is limited, and the population it can support is also limited. After several hundred years of development, all the land that could be cultivated has already been developed. This is also an important reason why we want to return to the Main Plane; there really isn't much room for development there."

Hearing that the Tianshui Plane actually had 1.4 million people, Xia Duo was secretly shocked. If there were a few more planes like this, wouldn't more than half of Netheril's population be privately controlled by the Seven Towers!

At this moment, Yinaole seemed to hear Xia Duo's inner thoughts and asked that key question: "Besides the Tianshui Plane, which other planes have people who want to return to the Main Plane this time?"

"I know of the Golden Plain. This plane was originally held in the hands of the Nether Family, but as you both know, the Nether Family has not been prosperous. Ever since the Princess's Ascension to Godhood, this plane has been controlled by Giles Tower."

Speaking of this, Puman seemed to suddenly think of something and added a few more sentences, "Actually, the Princess had arrangements for the Golden Plain Plane and was prepared to connect it to the Main Plane. But because the Ascension Ritual was temporarily moved up, many arrangements were disrupted, including the arrangements for the Golden Plain Plane."

"Then what is the population of the Golden Plain Plane? Have you been there?"

"I have been there. When the Princess was still around, although that plane was not open to people from the Main Plane, there were almost no obstacles for us Netherese who originated from Other Planes. I have been there several times. That plane is much larger than the Tianshui Plane, about three times as large, and the climate is naturally very suitable for planting. It has a bountiful harvest almost every year, and the population is nearly four times that of the Tianshui Plane."

"Are there any others?"

"There is also the Qiya Plane. More than half of the plane is sea, and the other small part is like towering cliffs. Although it is also a Habitable Plane, it is not suitable for farming. Only a small basin has people living in it, with a population of only fifty or sixty thousand."

After that, Puman did not mention any other Habitable Planes. Perhaps he only knew of these three, or perhaps there were only these three Other Planes that wanted to return to the Main Plane.

But even if there were only these three planes, the population would be as high as over 7 million. Although it is not as large as the population of Netheril in the Main Plane, it is not far off, and there is no difference in magnitude. (The Main Plane has less than 10 million.)

Once they are brought over, it could greatly increase the development potential of Netheril.

Yinaole pondered for a moment and then continued to ask: "Then how many of you are determined to return to the Main Plane? Surely not everyone wants to come back, right? After all, although the Main Plane is vast, there are also many kinds of dangers; it is not as stable as a maturely developed Other Plane."

This question is actually very critical. If it turns out in the end that only a few Spellcasters want to return and they have kidnapped the majority of ordinary people for this purpose, that would be a bit awkward.

In this situation, the return of the Other Plane can be done, but it might need to be done in a different way. After all, a lack of moral justification needs to be compensated for in other aspects. Of course, this is not to say that Spellcasters are not people, but that they cannot represent the majority and do not reach the level of moral justification, though minor justification is still possible.

Puman also understood the criticality of this question, and he replied solemnly without hesitation: "Currently, besides us Spellcasters who are determined to return, the willingness of ordinary people to return is actually limited."

"But what is certain is that most people also hope to return to the Main Plane. I just said that the land in the Other Planes has been fully developed, and it is difficult for the population to grow any further."

"Take the Tianshui Plane, which I am more familiar with, as an example. In recent years, magic planting similar to the Arcane Garden has been used as a food supplement; otherwise, some unbearable things might have happened."

"And we have not hidden this status quo from the ordinary people. Almost everyone knows the problems the Tianshui Plane is currently facing. Magic is not a long-term solution because maintaining magic also requires a price."

"The only solution is to return to the Main Plane."

Speaking of this, Puman paused, and as if thinking of something else, he looked at Xia Duo and said pointedly: "If the Steam Engine could be used for agriculture, perhaps it could improve the agricultural efficiency of the Tianshui Plane and squeeze out some land. But the problem is that the Tianshui Plane is only so big; doing this only extends the deadline for the plane's saturation and does not truly solve the problem."

"Yes."

Xia Duo nodded seriously to show his understanding. Although Netheril in the Main Plane is vast and sparsely populated with a large amount of undeveloped land, ordinary Netherese might find it difficult to understand what population saturation is.

But this was not a problem for Xia Duo. Back in his hometown, he already knew and had seen the contradiction between limited land and unlimited population growth.

At that time, his hometown chose to actively develop agricultural technology to improve production efficiency and control the population, eventually keeping the population at a relatively safe level.

Regarding population and land carrying capacity, there is a more famous theory on Earth, which is Malthus's population theory. Although later developments proved that there were many misunderstandings in it, its simple and easy-to-understand concept made the concept of the contradiction between population and land deeply rooted in people's hearts.

And in the magic world, a plane is like a bottle with limited capacity. Although the Main Plane is large, the small ones are too small. Xia Duo could fully understand the thoughts of the people in the Tianshui Plane.

Even for ignorant ordinary people, when the food produced in the fields each year cannot satisfy the growing population of the family, they will feel worried about it.

It is just that the Seven Towers had a bottom line in the past and used magic to supplement food; otherwise, those Other Planes would likely have experienced a cycle of population "growth, reaching the limit, and sharp decline" similar to the dynastic cycles of ancient dynasties in Xia Duo's hometown.

It can be said that once the Tianshui Plane loses magic, a man-made disaster will almost certainly occur until the population is reduced to the limit that the land can support under current technical conditions.

Perhaps such things have happened in the past few hundred years; otherwise, in a peaceful environment, the population growth rate of the Other Planes should far exceed that of the Main Plane, and the total absolute population should also exceed that of the Main Plane.

Mentioning the population limit of the plane, not only did Xia Duo think of this problem, but Yinaole also thought of it, and this is exactly the greatest legitimacy he wanted regarding the return of the Netherese from the Other Planes.

The questions that followed were some details, such as how many Spellcasters stood with Puman, especially how many Great Arcanists there were as top-tier power, what means they had prepared to deal with or break through the blockade of the Seven Towers, how many supporters they had within the Seven Towers, and so on.

Puman answered these questions one by one. It was only then that Xia Duo learned for the first time that the Seven Towers had actually hidden as many as twenty-six Great Arcanists, including Puman, in the Other Planes.

And this was only what Puman knew; perhaps there were some that even Puman did not know about.

As for why there were so many, Xia Duo guessed that on one hand, it might be because those Other Planes still maintained a certain classical style, and the communication between Spellcasters was more frank and frequent, which led to the birth of more Great Arcanists.

Another reason is the plundering of the essence of the Main Plane. For example, Stuart, whom Xia Duo was certain had been hidden by the Seven Towers, and there must be others. Basically, every genius who suddenly disappeared or died accidentally can be suspected in this way.

Although it is not certain that all of them were hidden in the Other Planes by the Seven Towers, and not all of those hidden could grow into Great Arcanists, at least it provided a possibility.