Chapter 3039: The Plight of Ailan and Xia Duo's Opportunity

Taking advantage of the fact that Ailan had not yet gone back on its word, Xia Duo immediately ordered Charles to invite the Ailan representative over to explain; this was the authority he held in his current capacity as an Alliance Consultant.

Of course, if it involved the five great powers or Evereska, Xia Duo might have proactively visited their Plenipotentiary Representative to ask for an explanation, but for an Ailan representative, simply sending a message to have the other party come over was perfectly normal.

Sending an assistant to invite them now was a sign of respect for the other party, and it also fit Xia Duo's consistent style of conduct—courtesy first, force later.

……

Soon, Charles brought a Gold Elf with a somewhat panicked expression into Xia Duo's office and reported first: "My lord, Ambassador Tuomeidisi has arrived."

"Mm."

Xia Duo nodded, then turned his gaze to the Ailan representative beside him, "Ambassador Tuomeidisi, a pleasure to meet you."

"A pleasure, respected Consultant Xia Duo." As a Gold Elf, the Ailan representative looked flattered at this moment, and then proactively asked, "I wonder for what reason Consultant Xia Duo has summoned me?"

"There is a matter I would like to hear the Ailan side's explanation for."

Following that, Xia Duo briefly repeated the situation Charles had reported earlier—namely, Ailan's plan to forcibly collect the Computing Power Pool user subsidy—and then waited for Tuomeidisi's explanation.

"This, this—"

Hearing such news, Tuomeidisi couldn't help but break into a cold sweat, but facing Xia Duo, he forced himself to remain calm and gave an explanation that Xia Duo had not expected—

"Ailan is in ruins and waiting to be rebuilt; we are truly too short of money, so we had no choice but to set our sights on the Computing Power Pool subsidy. But please rest assured, Consultant Xia Duo, the Ailan side will certainly not affect the normal operation of the Computing Power Pool."

When Xia Duo had Charles invite the other party over earlier, he had instructed Charles to inform the other party of his purpose in seeking him out. He had originally thought that with such a long time to consider, the other party would have come up with a reason that was at least superficially plausible.

He hadn't expected it to be so direct, bluntly stating that Ailan was short of money.

However, this wasn't too surprising. Strictly speaking, Ailan being short of money was not a secret, especially for someone like Xia Duo who could access the Alliance's internal intelligence; it was even less of a secret.

Rather than coming up with various reasons to make excuses, admitting it generously was also an effective response strategy.

It gave the feeling of "I'm already this short of money, so don't hold it against me." Furthermore, the other party mentioned that this new tax would not affect the normal operation of the Computing Power Pool, which was again meant to put Xia Duo at ease.

Perhaps in Tuomeidisi's eyes, the reason Xia Duo had him come over was because he was worried that the Ailan sub-network of the Computing Power Pool would be affected, but what he didn't know was that Xia Duo's true intentions were entirely elsewhere.

The real purpose of having him come over was actually to intervene in Ailan's domestic affairs.

……

Inside the office, Xia Duo tapped the desk lightly, as if pondering, and he was indeed pondering. Tuomeidisi being so direct almost caught him off guard, but this matter itself still fell within the scope of his power to intervene.

After pondering for a moment, Xia Duo asked Tuomeidisi: "What is the true situation within Ailan? Do not hide anything. Although I am very dissatisfied with Ailan's collection of the Computing Power Pool subsidy, if the situation within Ailan is indeed severe, I can provide assistance to Ailan through other channels."

"Thank you for your understanding, Consultant Xia Duo."

Tuomeidisi breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and began to explain, "The situation within Ailan is far worse than the Alliance knows. Ailan's agriculture is underdeveloped, and for a long time in the past, the grain used by residents needed to be imported from other parts of Sluwen; after being forced into independence, this situation has still not been alleviated.

"In addition, as part of Sluwen in the past, Ailan's development in all aspects was unbalanced, and now that it is independent, this has become a major problem.

"But to develop, one must have money and resources. Currently, the only resource Ailan can bring out is the Mithril Mine, but the Alliance just discovered a Giant Mithril Mine not long ago.

"It is no exaggeration to say that Ailan's current development has completely stagnated, and has even seen a serious regression. When it will collapse depends entirely on the Alliance's whim."

Hearing Tuomeidisi's description of the independence and his statement on Ailan's current status, Xia Duo roughly understood why he had seen the so-called Ailan return forces over at Poson's side.

Although the Ailan return forces seen at Poson's side might have been disguised by the Illuminati, the soil for nurturing return forces in the current Ailan was truly too rich.

Even the Plenipotentiary Representative stationed abroad revealed such thoughts; one could imagine the true thoughts of the ordinary Elves within the country.

Just as Tuomeidisi had just said, Ailan was forced into independence. If it hadn't become independent, it would likely have been directly occupied by Yierlan. And now, even if there was a massive desire for return within Ailan, Yierlan would never agree to it.

Yet, the Alliance was indifferent to this.

Otherwise, Xia Duo would have long been able to see content related to Ailan return forces in the Alliance intelligence. Even Tuomeidisi, this Plenipotentiary Representative, had the desire to return to Sluwen; there must already be formed return forces brewing within Ailan.

It was just that with Yierlan blocking the way, Ailan did not return immediately. At the same time, the attitude of the Ailan high-level officials was also ambiguous; they were dissatisfied with their current situation but powerless to change it, hesitating between completely leaning toward Yierlan and truly becoming independent (including returning to Sluwen).

"Doesn't the Alliance provide funding? How is it handled? And since all countries have long signed new trade agreements, if you are unable to obtain grain from Sluwen or Yierlan, why don't you purchase it from other countries?"

Xia Duo, who asked these questions, was actually not unfamiliar with the actual situation of the Alliance's funding. In this regard, the Alliance left it to Yierlan to handle, and how it was specifically operated was entirely decided by Yierlan itself.

The only requirement from the Alliance was that there could be no large-scale famine or turmoil, that all aspects of Ailan society had to be kept stable and orderly, and that post-war reconstruction had to be completed as much as possible.

The Alliance only had these requirements in terms of principles; in the actual execution process, the Alliance could not effectively supervise how Yierlan did things, nor could it supervise them.

After all, there were no precedents for this, and the relevant laws had not yet been perfected!

Perhaps other countries also intended to use Ailan as an experiment to further explore the Alliance's operating model, but this only made things hard for the people of Ailan.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo's original idea of just wanting to use Ailan to draw out the Illuminati couldn't help but gain a bit more genuine sincerity.

Although the two sides were of different races, they were both sentient beings living on the Main Plane. When it was within his power, lending a hand was not such a difficult decision to make.

Furthermore, Xia Duo intended to lead the Northland Alliance and even the entire Main Plane, but leadership was not tyranny; it required cooperation with various countries, to be achieved bit by bit in practice.

Right now, it was not only an opportunity to draw out the Illuminati, but also an opportunity for Xia Duo to expand his influence in the Alliance and pave the way for leading the Alliance in the future.