Chapter 2654: Xia Duo's Suspicions and Attempted Intervention

If Elder Laruian might withhold information from Xia Duo due to pressure from Yierlan, then what reason would the Seven Towers have to conceal it for Yierlan?

If one were to truly discuss relationships, the relationship between Xia Duo and the Seven Towers is far closer than that between Yierlan and the Seven Towers.

After all, since the signing of the New Covenant, although many disagreements exist between Xia Duo and the Seven Towers, it must be said that these disagreements are far less significant than their actual shared interests!

Then it can only be that Yierlan tampered with things during the Northland Alliance's investigation process; the basis for this speculation is very simple, because the incident occurred within Yierlan's territory.

Although various countries have formed the Northland Alliance and established the Demon-born Intelligence Office for deeper exchange and cooperation regarding the Demon Descendant threat under the framework of the Northland Alliance, if a specific event involves a member state, the cooperation of the country in question is still required.

Similar to the United Nations on Earth, various countries actively participate in the actions and plans of the United Nations, but if these plans and actions involve a member state—

If the country in question does not cooperate, a small country might simply vanish, but if a major power is unwilling, the United Nations might vanish instead.

Although this is a joke, it also illustrates the essence of this type of joint system: the voice of the primary participants is extremely powerful.

It is impossible for the Northland Alliance to bypass Yierlan to conduct investigative activities in western Yierlan, or rather, if the Northland Alliance does not notify Yierlan in advance, the investigative activities would not be authorized at all.

Even if authorization were obtained, there would be a high probability that Yierlan Elves would be among the actual investigators.

It is not a matter of "whoever finds it owns it," nor is it a matter of "whoever's territory it is on owns it."

……

Later, that fortress was indeed shared by various countries; on one hand, it was indeed a case of Siluwende being unable to overpower the stronger party, and on the other hand, it was also due to the established customs of various countries regarding relic development.

So, what exactly happened in the mountainous region of western Yierlan?

Thinking of this, Xia Duo once again sent a message to the Councilor Secretariat under the Seventon Council, demanding to know the specific identity of that Netherese Mage in the reconnaissance team attack incident.

This should count as a standard operation for the various Northland countries, right!

According to the situation Xia Duo understood, not only were there Yierlan Elves in that reconnaissance team, but there was even a Netherese Mage; if they were truly silenced by Yierlan, then he would have a reason to intervene.

In other words, if a Mist Event were to truly occur in the reality of the Main Plane, then it might have already happened!

Of course, being the first to discover it and having it on one's own territory does indeed provide a certain advantage, but any other informed party can enumerate their origins and proceed to demand a share of the relic's proceeds.

This is not impossible; if an unknown Mist appeared in Xia Duo's Territory and he had not performed relevant prophecies beforehand, his first reaction would also be to seal the news and proceed to monopolize all the benefits.

And Misailaitiao's joining was not due to an assignment from above, but rather his own application; actions requiring experts to accompany them are not uncommon in the Demon-born Intelligence Office.

Half a year ago, he was invited to join the Demon-born Intelligence Office under the Northland Alliance, with his primary work being responsible for analyzing various clues collected by reconnaissance personnel at the front lines while stationed in the rear.

It is just that one cannot take back physical objects, but one can indeed share in a portion of the exploration results.

The only exception to this is Netheril; from the perspective of origins or hatred, they cannot claim any connection, but as a member state of the Northland Alliance, they can still dispatch exploration personnel to enter the relic.

The relevant procedures for Misailaitiao's joining were also very complete and could withstand subsequent investigation.

Thus, in less than five minutes after Xia Duo sent the message, the Seven Towers sent over the information on the Netherese Mage from the attacked reconnaissance team—

This request might have been somewhat difficult for Laruian, but for the Seven Towers, it was very simple; the relevant data might even have been organized long ago, it was just that such "minor matters" had no need to be discussed with a Councilor.

But this data did not mention what clues that team had reported back then, nor did it say whether any relics were found during the investigation of the team's accident.

The mission rewards were higher than those in the rear, high enough that even Elf Mages would not refuse such an arrangement, or rather, this was a reward standard set to tempt Elf Mages, and for humans, it was even harder to refuse.

And this also made him think again of the reconnaissance team attack incident that occurred not long ago; although the Northland Alliance officially classified this incident as an attack, with no sign of the people alive or dead, and only some so-called traces of combat from before the incident, it is very hard to truly convince people.

This is not only needed by the country in question; in fact, any Northland Alliance member state can demand a detailed investigation report of this incident from the Northland Alliance officials.

Misailaitiao, unsurprisingly, hails from the Seven Towers; he advanced to Arcanist two years ago, with his main focus being historical trace tracking within Scrying spells.

Thus, Xia Duo once again demanded the detailed incident investigation report issued by the Northland Alliance from the Councilor Secretariat, but this time, there was not the same efficiency as just before.

The reason he appeared in that reconnaissance team was because the team reported discovering clues that were difficult to preserve at the time, requiring an expert to go to the scene in person to conduct testing.

Although the Northland Alliance has been established, the various countries have not signed a relatively systematic and perfect "Relic Development Convention," but rather conduct development based on past customs.

Especially the Elf countries; everyone might have been one family thousands or tens of thousands of years ago, so demanding a share of the family property is very reasonable. Even if one cannot claim an origin, one can claim hatred and demand a share of the compensation.

He waited for a full ten-plus minutes without receiving the investigation report; it is conceivable that although the Northland Alliance conducted a subsequent investigation, the relevant report was not submitted to Netheril.

But now that a Councilor needs it, it can just be taken out.

This is not a conclusion that can be explained by a simple summary of a few sentences!

Xia Duo guessed whether that reconnaissance team had encountered a Mist Event, and Yierlan had discovered the Mist during their subsequent investigation, but they treated the Mist as some kind of precious relic and deliberately concealed it from the Northland Alliance.

It is conceivable that once Yierlan believes the Mysterious Mist is linked to an ancient relic with huge benefits, they could indeed make the decision to conceal it to ensure their country obtains all the benefits.

In mid-December, the Netheril Water Vapor Migration Plan, led by the Mairide Family of Calimshan, successfully neared its end; with only a little finishing work left, it could be considered successfully completed.

A recent example is Yierlan demanding to share the Arivanda Fortress discovered by Siluwende, in the capacity of descendants of the victims.

Xia Duo's Floating City has already begun its return from the south, and at this time, he is also putting more energy into focusing on the Mist Event, because this time node is now very close to the Cloud Pattern Announcement in the prophecy!

And if one thinks even more darkly, that reconnaissance team might even have been silenced by Yierlan the moment they found out the news because they discovered the Mysterious Mist.