Chapter 2630: Beyond the Transaction, Negotiating in the South

"Maintaining our technological advantage externally is the bottom line. The Mythallar is not like other technologies; if the Mythallar were to be used as the price, or even if the potential right to purchase a Mythallar were the price, I fear no one on the Council would be willing to set such a precedent."

Yinaole's words were very blunt. It wasn't just him; it is estimated that other councilors would not agree either. That leaves only one choice: to negotiate with Kaitemier and Zhamu Dasi in the south to allow the water vapor to pass through.

Using the migration of water vapor to Calimshan to offset the other party's efforts.

Although it seems that migrating water vapor to the Narrow Sea or the Arctic would only require Netheril to pay a few Arcane Crystals for the time being, and the transaction itself is fair, but beyond the transaction—

Netheril needs to resolve the snow disaster, and Calimshan needs a Mythallar. Both sides know the other's needs, which actually becomes a hidden transaction condition.

If the water vapor migration can resolve the snow disaster, then it counts as Netheril owing Calimshan a favor. A favor, of course, can only be offset by a favor, such as a Mythallar, or a massive amount of water vapor, or a Water Elemental Channel.

The weight of these three decreases in order.

Simply resolving the snow disaster is not enough to trade for a Mythallar, but it can accumulate this portion of the favor. If it accumulates enough in the future, then perhaps it won't need to be traded for.

If it is not traded, that almost inevitably leads to a falling out between the two sides.

Of course, one could also say that a transaction is a transaction, and there are no factors outside the transaction. But how could transactions between nations be that simple? The two sides are neither allies nor do they have any historical ties. Just ask: if the transaction were cancelled, who would be more distressed?

Regarding this game of psychological bottom lines, a considerable number of Netheril Lords would express that they do not care without any obstacles, but lords who value ordinary people, such as Xia Duo and Yinaole, could not possibly do so.

Or rather, from the moment Xia Duo took the lead in using the 【Annihilation Light】 to annihilate the dark clouds, in a sense, he had already fallen into a disadvantageous position. Anyone with the conditions to do better can use this to manipulate him.

It is just that whether the measure of this manipulation is "extreme pressure" or "just right" is a different choice for different people. Judging by Calimshan's current approach, what they are doing does not make Xia Duo dislike them.

"Then who should be sent to the south? Teacher, you know, there is still a grudge between me and Zhamu Dasi. Although it looks calm now, who knows what the reality is?"

"That is indeed a problem, but it is useless for us to close the door and discuss it here right now. We still need to sound out the other councilors."

Thus, Yinaole proposed, "I will go and test the attitude of the Seven Towers, and you should also hurry to sound out the opinions of the other councilors. Once I return from the Seven Towers, I will convene an emergency council meeting."

"Understood, Teacher, go ahead. I will contact the other councilors right now."

If it were in the past, it would not be certain that Xia Duo could contact all the other Great Arcanists, as not everyone had exchanged contact information with him.

But today, after the signing of the New Covenant, and just at the formal council meeting not long ago, the Tower of Time's Remote Conference System was passed. With the help of this system, it is easy to contact other councilors.

The emergency meeting Yinaole mentioned is actually also conducted through this Remote Conference System. This is indeed much more convenient than having to come to Seventon in person or via Projection to hold a meeting in the past.

As long as the time is coordinated with all parties, a meeting can be started almost anytime, anywhere.

Before long, Yinaole returned. The two chatted briefly and then parted ways. Xia Duo returned to his exclusive Laboratory at the Arcane Union and activated the Council's Remote Conference System.

Almost all councilors were present, including Niya, who was far away in Nan Jing, who also used the Remote Conference System to participate.

At the meeting, Xia Duo concisely recounted the sequence of events. Of course, the angle was different from when he first introduced it to Yinaole; at the meeting, he spoke about how to resolve the upcoming snow disaster.

Counting the private contacts with other councilors just now, he didn't even know how many times he had introduced it, but when doing things, one must see them through to the end.

After Xia Duo finished speaking, councilors immediately expressed their approval. This had actually been sounded out beforehand. Except for a very small number of people, almost all councilors were in favor of proactively resolving the snow disaster in advance, rather than waiting for the snow to fall and then making up for it.

"It seems that everyone has no objections to Councilor Xia Duo's proposal. Then, please have Councilor Xia Duo introduce how to proactively resolve the snow disaster. I think this is also something many people are interested in."

Badijiaer controlled the meeting process, and because he had communicated with Yinaole beforehand, he was even more intentional about pushing the meeting process forward at this time. After all, even he did not know much about the details of the so-called water vapor migration, let alone the others.

"Very well, everyone."

Seeing that everyone had cast their gazes toward him, Xia Duo stated the Water Vapor Migration Plan, "This plan was originally proposed by a Scholar from Calimshan. We can use powerful wind elements to migrate the dark clouds currently covering the entire territory of Netheril to other places, thereby avoiding the heavy snowfall that will begin in half a month."

"This plan sounds good, but can the Calimshans really do it? Even if they can, we can all imagine the difficulty of such a thing. So, what do we need to pay?"

This was, of course, a line of questioning Xia Duo had communicated beforehand, aimed at displaying the full ins and outs of the matter, while also forming a combined force and consensus to force other councilors who were resistant to this proposal to agree to it.

"Unlike the impression you all have of a wealthy country that wants for nothing, Calimshan is actually a desert country that is extremely lacking in freshwater resources. Connecting to the Water Elemental Plane is not a difficult task for us, but it is not so easy for them. Furthermore, because their land is not a naturally formed desert, but one caused by elemental wars, it is far more difficult to manage than a normal desert environment."

Xia Duo spoke eloquently and casually projected the scenes he had seen while traveling in the south, then continued to answer the question from the councilor just now—

"Under these circumstances, Calimshan only requires us to set the destination for the water vapor migration within Netheril to Calimshan, and they are willing to help us handle this matter free of charge."

"Then, if so much water vapor is migrated away, will it cause any irreversible damage to Netheril's own environment and climate?" Another councilor raised a question.

"There will be a certain impact, which may cause next year's precipitation to decrease, but as for any irreversible damage, that is not the case."

Although Xia Duo did not explain this point in detail, everyone present was a Spellcaster standing at the peak of the Netheril Magic System, so they naturally understood the difference in difficulty between addition and subtraction.

If it is just a lack of water, Netheril has plenty of means to solve it. In fact, except for places with a high degree of development like the Inner Land, most other places are still in a primitive landscape, with vast forests that can inherently retain enough moisture.

For example, around Daxia Territory, there are too many undeveloped forests. Even in the Kangqi Plain, there are fewer forests and more grasslands, but it is also crisscrossed by water networks, so it is unlikely that a drought will occur.

For the Netheril of today, the difficulty of solving the scarcity of certain resources is far less than the difficulty of solving the proliferation of certain existences.

The thick dark clouds currently covering the entire territory are one such example; Netherese Mages can hardly solve them, while a lack of water would be simpler.

Furthermore, there are the Murloc Tide and Orc Tide problems that have not yet been completely resolved to this day. The latter causes greater damage, but the difficulty of solving it is actually not as high as the former.

Every summer, a large number of murlocs strike the mouth of the Nether River. Although it does not cause much damage, they come every year, not only blocking sea transport but also causing no small amount of pollution.

Of course, every year there are always a few unlucky ones who die at the hands of murlocs.

This is near Seventon; there are also many murlocs in the inland river basin. Maihete Lake was once the murloc breeding base for Jilan Tower, and it is normal for one or two to occasionally run out.

If there is some black hand behind it, even the inland river basin will encounter a Murloc Tide, such as the time Xia Duo encountered one in Nan Jing.