Chapter 2872: Consciousness Slicing, Dika's Secret

————Still about an hour left~~

————

Dika's reply was slightly slow, but Dumu responded almost as if he had been waiting for Xia Duo to ask at any moment; he gave a reply immediately after Xia Duo sent the Sending, though the content of the reply was far from what Xia Duo had guessed——

"The Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory has a field mission to investigate traces of Demon Descendants in the Langas Plain. I heard that Lord Xia Duo's Floating City is in Langas, so I would like to ask Lord Xia Duo to help keep an eye on it."

Dumu also explained the more specific reason: in fact, for Northland Alliance field missions, the team from the country where the mission takes place acts as the main force. Although this mission also included personnel from outside Netheril, it was primarily Netherese.

Or more specifically, Seven Towers Mages.

And not long after Xia Duo received Dumu's Sending, Badijiaer also sent a message asking him to do this favor. Xia Duo had no intention of refusing in the first place, not to mention that Badijiaer had sent the message personally; after all, he had just used the name of the Seven Towers to go to the Grey Peak Mountains, so now it was time to return the favor—this is how social reciprocity works.

It just so happened that he also needed to go to the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory to ask Dika in person why he had come to see him yesterday, so he could agree to Dumu while he was at it.

……

Northland Alliance Headquarters.

Xia Duo handed a Time Tower Badge with a spell imprint to Dumu and explained the details of using the badge——

"As long as you are within the Langas Plain, you can use it to communicate with Yongle City and then summon an Annihilation Light strike. Additionally, this badge has a guidance teleportation effect, which can ensure the mission team is not in danger of being trapped."

"Thank you so, so much!"

Dumu took the badge, so excited he could barely speak. It wasn't that the Seven Towers couldn't produce something similar, but since Xia Duo's Floating City was in the Langas Plain, it was more cost-effective.

But originally, Dumu had only thought of asking the Floating City to leave a teleportation shortcut for the mission team; he hadn't expected it to include an Annihilation Light strike. This completely exceeded his expectations.

However, this was not the real reason he was so excited. The real reason was that Xia Duo mentioned this badge could be kept permanently and could be used for any future missions within the territory of Netheril.

This was something the Seven Towers could not provide.

Although most of the Netherese currently serving in the Northland Alliance came from the Seven Towers, in terms of the ability to mobilize Seven Towers resources, they were actually far inferior to the Seven Towers members who remained in the country.

None of the Seven Towers was an independent Mage Tower organization; rather, they were complex interest groups composed of numerous territories. Even Badijiaer, as Speaker, could not necessarily mobilize the various resources of the Seven Towers smoothly.

Not to mention him, a Northland Alliance staff member who had long been far from the core.

At the same time, because of this action by Xia Duo, Dumu's mind immediately became active: who said that serving in the Northland Alliance meant one had to listen to the Seven Towers!

Strictly speaking, all Netherese expatriates obeyed orders from the Seventon Council, but in the past, the Seventon Council was roughly equivalent to the Seven Towers.

But now it was the era of the New Covenant; the Seven Towers could no longer fully control the Seventon Council. And as for these current expatriates, apart from the layer of the Seven Towers imprint remaining on their original identity, how much different were they from ordinary personnel in other respects?

In the end, the Seven Towers now understood that it was impossible to use their own resources to support expatriates who should have been supported collectively by the Council.

It was just that they still maintained the habit of issuing orders as they had in the past, which had caused dissatisfaction among many expatriates, including Dumu.

Xia Duo didn't think much of Dumu's overly excited attitude. After explaining some precautions for using the Time Tower Badge, he went directly to the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory.

……

Arriving at the territory of the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory, Xia Duo casually pulled over an Intern Researcher on the road and asked, "Is Researcher Dika here today?"

"He is, in Laboratory No. 4."

"Got it, thanks."

Knowing the exact location, Xia Duo headed straight for Laboratory No. 4. Laboratory No. 4 was among the earlier batch of laboratories built here; at the beginning, the resources provided by the Northland Alliance were limited, and the laboratory specifications were somewhat outdated, not as good as those built later.

Although it was renovated later, the initial space was limited, and there was very little room for improvement through further renovation. As it stood, Laboratory No. 4 had been converted into a place specifically for conducting dangerous experiments.

Xia Duo hadn't expected Dika to be there, but since he was already here, Xia Duo didn't have the habit of turning back.

Arriving at the entrance of Laboratory No. 4, after layers of verification, the heavy door slowly opened. As soon as Xia Duo entered, he saw Intern Researchers busy moving about, and Dika sitting to the side, resting his chin on his hand in deep thought.

He walked over and waved his hand in front of Dika twice. Only then did Dika react, looking up at Xia Duo with eyes full of surprise:

"Consultant Xia Duo, why are you here?"

"You're asking me why I'm here? Didn't you come to my place yesterday?"

"Oh, that. I remember now. Yesterday the Spirit Thought Network efficiency was incredibly low. I asked others and they said you were on temporary leave, so I went to check on you. I would have almost forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it."

"The day before yesterday, I was temporarily commissioned by the Seven Towers to go to the Grey Peak Mountains to investigate the Mithril Mine there. Yesterday counted as part of my leave. Now that I'm back, the Spirit Thought Network has returned to normal. Don't you want to try it?"

"Oh, right!"

Dika responded subconsciously, then realized that Xia Duo had come personally to say this, and he felt a bit embarrassed, "How could I let Consultant Xia Duo come personally to notify me? You could have just said it on the Spirit Thought Network."

"It's mainly because you came to my place yesterday, Dika, so I thought I'd come over personally to explain. I notified the others directly on the Spirit Thought Network."

After finishing, Xia Duo prepared to leave. As long as he was in Aifuruisi, he didn't need to stay in the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory all the time.

Seeing this, Dika hurriedly stopped Xia Duo, "Consultant Xia Duo, there is something I would like to ask for your help with. Only you can help me!"

"What is it?"

"It's about the Spirit Thought Network quota. I am currently researching how to simulate a Mist environment within the laboratory. If successful, perhaps those two already discovered Mist Regions could be safely cleared!"

"That, huh!"

Actually, Xia Duo had long known what Dika's research project was, but the problem was—which researcher's project at the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory wasn't important?

If every researcher came to him privately to ask for more Spirit Thought Network quota, was he supposed to conjure computing resources out of thin air?

Xia Duo did indeed possess a lot of surplus computing resources now, but those were meant for Niya to get extra tutoring, and he occasionally used them himself. Once he opened this floodgate, he had no doubt that other researchers would come asking next.

Having spent so long together, Xia Duo understood Dika quite well. Although this guy was a High Mage, he was different from ordinary Elves; he was devoted to his research and rarely cared about other things.

Or rather, the High Mages who could accept layers of checks to join the Time-Related Magic Research Laboratory basically had this kind of personality, which was quite to Xia Duo's liking.