Chapter 2600: Potential Allies

————A bit late, still about half an hour to go~~

————

The arrival of Bulundesi was mainly to pave the way for Huo En's arrival and to set the tone for the upcoming cooperation between the two sides. After Xia Duo met with him at the Tower of Time, he immediately returned to Seventon.

Afterwards, Xia Duo briefly checked the progress of the bloodline sequencing provided by Jilan Tower, set it aside, and then returned to the Laboratory to continue tackling the Secret Land Mythallar.

But this state did not last long, because the end of the month had arrived, and some guests he and Niya had personally invited in Seventon had arrived one after another.

"Councilor Lamani, long time no see, welcome to Daxia Territory."

"Councilor Xia Duo, long time no see. I am also very much looking forward to this Cultural and Arts Festival!"

Councilor Lamani from the Tianshui Plane stood on the same side as Xia Duo on many issues. The two sides had communicated when signing the New Covenant, and many subsequent actions had also demonstrated their attitudes.

Thus came Xia Duo's invitation, and now, Lamani's visit.

"Councilor Lamani, I heard you chose to establish a New Homeland in the south of the Kangqi Plain?" Xia Duo asked curiously.

"Did you encounter any difficulties in the process of establishing the New Homeland, Councilor Lamani? There is nothing you cannot ask for help with, so please do not decline."

This news was actually brought back from Seventon by Niya some time ago. Since winter was approaching and the people of the Tianshui Three Planes had almost never experienced such a climate, only a very small number of lords and councilors had begun to establish territories on the Main Plane.

After hundreds of years of continuous mining, the many mineral resources discovered in the Tianshui Plane were already on the verge of exhaustion. The Tower had already mined them, so how could we, our own people, possibly mine them wantonly?

Niya herself speculated based on the disputes within the Council that this matter would likely end up being settled without a clear conclusion. Of course, on the surface, the resolution for half of the land to be returned to the public would still be executed.

"I have a total of over ten thousand subjects, but only about twenty thousand returned to the Main Plane with me this time. The remaining thirty thousand plus are all elderly and children; they are still staying in the Tianshui Plane and will migrate out together after the weather warms up next year."

"I heard before that Daxia Territory recruited many new subjects in the Tianshui Three Planes. If Councilor Xia Duo gives the cold-weather clothing and heaters to me, will those people still be able to survive the winter smoothly?" This was also the main reason for his current embarrassment.

According to what Xia Duo understood, although the Lamani Council had held a joint meeting requiring the Tianshui Three Planes to cede at least half of the land as public territory, in actual execution, many lords, including councilors, were playing tricks.

A flash of gratitude crossed Lamani's eyes, but when it really came time to speak, he found it hard to open his mouth. After hesitating for a long time, the two had already arrived at the Floating City from Code Plaza before Lamani finally stated his difficulties:

Lamani himself did not mind using spells to help his subjects get through the cold winter, but the problem was—the bitter cold was a natural phenomenon, encroaching at every moment, while his power was limited. Even with the assistance of Magic Items, it was difficult to prepare everything before winter arrived.

"Councilor Lamani, do not worry. Daxia Territory will provide enough cold-weather clothing for your people. Besides clothing, one of my students has also made a type of inexpensive heater that can be used for winter heating. I can also allocate a batch to your side before winter. I have always believed that there is no difficulty in this world that we cannot solve by joining hands!"

As long as the total area ceded is half, it will suffice; how it is ceded is for the Council to discuss and decide.

"There is plenty of food in the Tianshui Plane; the main issue is cold-weather clothing. Currently, Lamani can no longer find any extra winter clothes. Spells can solve most problems, but after calculations, there is still a significant gap."

Lamani was also one of the few lords of the Tianshui Plane who decided to migrate all his subjects back to the Main Plane, which also meant he would abandon all his territory in the Tianshui Plane.

"I wonder how many subjects Councilor Lamani has? How large is the gap in cold-weather equipment?" Xia Duo asked while showing Lamani around.

……

Plus, Lamani did not use his status as a councilor to demand more; instead, he gave the share originally allocated to him to other lords who were also from the Tianshui Plane.

It was just that the Tianshui Plane would very likely use the vast, unsuitable-for-planting, and ownerless ocean of the Qiya Plane to offset the owned land on their side that was originally used for planting.

They wanted the right to pioneer and aid for the Main Plane, yet did not want to give up their original territory. They were quite shrewd. After the Tianshui Three Planes opened, the limited land on Habitable Planes was a scarce resource, even if left vacant.

Although Lamani was worried about his own people, he also could not accept letting other people's subjects suffer in place of his own. Seeing Xia Duo speak so decisively, he could not help but feel expectant, so he took the initiative to bring up this topic:

The Tianshui Plane was, after all, only a small-scale Plane. It might be suitable for growing food and other crops, but in terms of mineral resources, it was far incomparable to the Main Plane.

Under such circumstances, Lamani's choice to abandon all his territory made Xia Duo look at him with a bit more respect. In a sense, Lamani already possessed some qualities of a qualified leader.

"Councilor Xia Duo, I——"

The Lamani Council did indeed provide many resources for the migration of the people from the Three Planes, but it was mainly focused on food, tools, and clothing. For some of the poorer territories in the Tianshui Plane, the first two were not scarce materials at all.

Winter cold protection was not just a problem for his territory; for Daxia Territory, having so many people suddenly appear should be even more difficult!

Niya had mentioned this when she returned last time, and many people were dissatisfied because of it, whether they were councilors from the original Main Plane or councilors from the Tianshui Three Planes.

As for clothing, there were indeed many winter clothes used for cold protection, but currently, there were not a few people migrating to the Main Plane. With so many people sharing them, the originally large quantity of winter clothes also seemed stretched thin.

Of course, there were still some unexploited resources in that Plane, but as the saying goes, it was impossible to collect them before winter arrived. Besides, one also needed to consider the issue of Sustainable Development.

Not to mention that for the past hundreds of years, the Tianshui Plane had always been controlled by the Tower, and the vast majority of the resources mined had not fallen into the hands of the Tianshui Plane's own people.

Lamani was one of those very few people. Hearing Xia Duo ask, Lamani could not help but start complaining, "I didn't consider things properly before and made a rather blind decision. Now I have already started to regret it."

Lamani was very moved by Xia Duo's statement, but he did not agree immediately. It was not that he opposed the intention of cooperation in Xia Duo's words, but he had previously learned that Daxia Territory had recruited over two hundred thousand people from the Tianshui Three Planes in total.