Chapter 2665: Questioning, Second Investigation

Just as Xia Duo was heading to the Demon-born Intelligence Research Lab to look for more information, the Alliance meeting convened by Ambassador Tili'ao began simultaneously, with representatives from all countries in attendance, and Eaerlann was no exception.

Inside the conference hall, Ambassador Tili'ao sat with a calm expression in the seat for the Netheril representative, his eyes fixed on the doorway, occasionally exchanging glances with the representatives who had already arrived, until the final representative took their seat.

Tili'ao first briefly introduced the news he had just received, namely the loss of contact with the Arrow Wind Squad under the Demon-born Intelligence Office, and then, disregarding the recently improving relations between Netheril and Eaerlann, he directly launched a questioning of the Eaerlann representative:

"Both this incident of lost contact and the previous one occurred within Eaerlann territory; shouldn't Representative Ausimantusi take the initiative to explain this to the representatives of all countries?"

Facing Tili'ao's questioning, the Eaerlann representative, Ausimantusi, seemed to have anticipated it, with not a trace of panic on his face; he first looked around the conference hall before speaking slowly:

"First, I express my regret for the plight of the two lost squads. It is a fact that the incidents occurred within Eaerlann territory, but I do not believe it is necessary for me to take the initiative to explain anything.

"The Demon Descendant threat is a major issue that the entire Northland must face together; it is not solely the responsibility of Eaerlann. That the incidents occurred in Eaerlann is no different from them occurring in any other country.

"Today, you can question me on the grounds that the incidents occurred in Eaerlann, but will you also question other countries in the future if similar incidents occur there?

"Instead of actively searching for clues about the Demon Descendants, you come to question me, the representative of a country that has also suffered from this disaster; does this not seem highly absurd?"

However, these words from Ausimantusi did not change the attitude of the other representatives. If this had happened in another small country and these words had come from the mouth of a small country's representative, the representatives might have been moved, but Eaerlann—

Not to mention that when Tili'ao convened the meeting, he had already communicated with the other representatives about the many suspicious details of these two lost-contact incidents, including the fact that the second squad lost contact during Xia Duo's investigation; the representatives all had their own opinions.

Just looking at Eaerlann itself, having the capability to carry out these two lost-contact incidents is enough to warrant suspicion, and with so many suspicious points in these two matters, it is certainly necessary for the Eaerlann representative to provide a positive explanation, rather than avoiding the key issues.

After Ausimantusi finished speaking, Ambassador Tili'ao remained silent, only watching Ausimantusi with a calm yet very firm gaze, and the other representatives also tacitly maintained their silence, clearly indicating in this way—

That Ausimantusi's answer did not satisfy them.

After a long silence, Tili'ao finally spoke, questioning again: "Representative Ausimantusi, is this the attitude of the Eaerlann side? If so, then I propose excluding the Eaerlann Elf from the Demon-born Intelligence Research Lab, and from now on, no longer accepting any missions related to Eaerlann."

Once these words were out, Ausimantusi finally could not sit still. Being kicked out of the Demon-born Intelligence Research Lab was not much in itself, but being excluded from the intelligence-sharing system of various countries, and even having people related to the Demon Descendants bypass Eaerlann, were consequences Eaerlann could not accept.

Without intelligence sharing from other countries, it is very difficult for Eaerlann alone to handle the Demon Descendant problem, because as long as it involves foreign countries, if other countries do not cooperate, there is absolutely no way to deal with it.

Furthermore, if all actions bypass Eaerlann, it is, to a certain extent, driving the Demon Descendants toward Eaerlann, and with other countries not sharing intelligence, this would make the domestic situation in Eaerlann abnormally complex and chaotic.

"Everyone, things can be discussed; there is no need to use this kind of exclusionary cooperation to threaten us. This is truly detrimental to the internal harmony of the Northland Alliance."

Ausimantusi barely managed to say a polite phrase, but this was not what the representatives wanted to hear; one by one, they maintained their silence just as before, so Ausimantusi had no choice but to continue:

"Regarding these two lost-contact incidents, wasn't there already a joint investigation into the first one? The investigation results are right there. If you representatives do not trust me, do you not trust the investigators sent by your own countries?"

"As for the second incident, I have only just heard of it myself, and I know even less about the inside story than you do. If you have doubts about this, my suggestion is to conduct another joint investigation until all the truth is uncovered."

These words were much more sincere than before. Although Tili'ao was still dissatisfied, seeing the expressions on the faces of the other representatives, he knew he could no longer force the issue.

This explanation from the Eaerlann representative did not serve much purpose for those who had already concluded that Eaerlann was behind the two incidents, but for those who were merely suspicious, it was almost enough.

After all, the Eaerlann representative had agreed to another joint investigation. If there really were a problem, while they might have been fooled by Eaerlann before due to a lack of preparation, this time, with preparation in advance, they believed they would certainly be able to uncover the truth.

Tili'ao could understand the shift in the representatives' attitudes, but he still proposed: "Since we are to conduct another joint investigation, we might as well investigate the first lost-contact incident again as well, so as to thoroughly resolve everyone's doubts."

This proposal from Tili'ao received the unanimous approval of the representatives. Although Eaerlann's suspicion appeared to have greatly diminished, the suspicious points did indeed exist, and investigating the previous incident again would be beneficial to all parties.

As for whether the Eaerlann side would agree, that was not important at all. Now it was a matter of the minority yielding to the majority. Although it would not be enforced, if Eaerlann did not agree, wouldn't that implicitly prove that at least the first lost-contact incident was related to Eaerlann?

"Since that is the case, then we welcome all countries to send investigators to Eaerlann again to participate in the investigation."

Soon, this formally convened temporary meeting came to an end amidst words from Ausimantusi that might have been insincere or might have come from the heart.

The representatives of the various countries tentatively settled many details such as the number of members for the new investigation team, the time of entry, and investigation permissions; the next step was the investigation itself.

On the other side, Xia Duo, who was searching for information in the Archives of the Demon-born Intelligence Research Lab, did not find any useful information, but this also to a certain extent illustrated the connection between this incident and the Mist Event that appeared in the prophecy.

There was no evidence to suggest any direct link between them, but two completely unprecedented lost-contact incidents had both occurred recently, which was the time node when the Mist Event in the prophecy appeared.

It was hard for Xia Duo not to make a connection.

But since no more clues could be found at the Demon-born Intelligence Research Lab, Xia Duo felt it was necessary to make a trip to Eaerlann in person to conduct an on-site investigation; the best outcome would be to discover the Mysterious Mist directly.

The next best would be to discover the truth behind the two lost-contact incidents.

Of course, the outcome Xia Duo wanted least was to find nothing at all, and for the two lost-contact incidents to be purely coincidental, though this coincidence was a bit too coincidental, to the point that it even caused him to make a misjudgment.

However, for now, Xia Duo was still very confident in his judgment. The first lost-contact incident might be hard to evaluate, but the loss of the second, the Arrow Wind Squad, could not be explained away by the word "coincidence" alone!

He had just wanted to meet the other party, and Dumu had even arranged everything, yet it was precisely at this time that the other party lost contact!

If this could be a coincidence, Xia Duo felt that from now on, anything could be explained as a coincidence.