Chapter 3157: Maintaining Professionalism, Opportunities for Small Nations

As the person in charge of the Northland Alliance's Psionic Network Research Center, Xia Duo's status is actually very difficult for outsiders to shake, and the primary reason for this is—

In the entire Northland, there is not a single person who is more professional than Xia Duo when it comes to the Computing Power Pool!

And as long as Xia Duo retains this status, neither Kalishi nor Yierlan can bypass him to control the Computing Power Pool.

Therefore, after Xia Duo explicitly opposed Kalishi's New Artifact Project, they wanted to seize control of the Computing Power Pool. Since you, Xia Duo, oppose it, we will do it ourselves; even if it cannot be done openly, it can still be carried out privately.

As long as control of the Computing Power Pool is in hand, it is very difficult for those without the relevant Permission Level to discover what is being done in private.

And to seize control of the Computing Power Pool, Xia Duo is the biggest obstacle. Yierlan's retreat to the next best option of questioning the security of the Computing Power Pool is actually questioning Xia Duo's professionalism, and is a challenge to Xia Duo's status as the current actual controller of the Computing Power Pool's Magic Artifact.

Although the subsequent representative of Comanso did not explicitly express support for Yierlan or Kalishi, their words were filled with questioning of Xia Duo's professionalism.

It is inconvenient for Xia Duo to boast, but Ambassador Tili'ao has no such scruples. He directly pointed out Xia Duo's professionalism in the field of the Computing Power Pool; even if the current Computing Power Pool truly lacks the ability to defend against Psionic intrusion, that is not Xia Duo's fault, but a shortcoming of Arcane Magic itself.

If anyone else were to come, they would not necessarily be able to solve it. Unless one finds the mastermind behind the intrusion incident, who can guarantee that changing to someone else will prevent another Psionic intrusion?

In that situation, even if one were to introduce Psionic Mages to participate in the actual management of the Computing Power Pool, the most ideal approach would be to cooperate with Xia Duo, or submit to Xia Duo's leadership, rather than replacing him with someone who does not understand the trade, where the layman directs the expert.

……

As for whether a New Artifact can ultimately be created, although it is still an unknown, the stance of small nations will also become a variable.

But at the same time, being small has its advantages. For example, Evereska on the Main Plane very easily passed the decision to retire Netheril Magic, and later very easily decided to attempt to develop Psionic.

Xia Duo noticed that upon hearing words like "Psionic may have a promotional effect on Arcane Magic research," those representatives of small nations almost unanimously showed varying degrees of being moved.

Xia Duo has the support of Netheril and Ilfaran, so he does not need to worry about control of the Computing Power Pool changing hands, but it is foreseeable that after this incident, various nations will find ways to insert their own people into the Psionic Network Research Center.

As for Danzo, they consistently stay away from Surface disputes, and plus Enjier was the Zhuren Speaker this time, so they just said some painless words and confirmed the "launching of an inquiry into Zhamu Dasi."

But what is certain is that Yierlan is also very covetous of the control over the Computing Power Pool.

It all depends on the degree of maintenance by each nation; there might be some fluctuations, but overall it will not differ too much, and an absolute gap cannot be opened.

Even Irusk, which has not yet figured out Arcane Magic, had representatives who were fantasizing about overtaking on a curve by relying on Psionic!

On this point, Netheril is actually inferior to several other nations. Although it is also at the ten-million level, it is indeed not as much as the three nations of Ilfaran, Listaer, and Comanso, let alone the three combined.

Of course, Irusk is not included, because before the Northland Alliance, they did not even have the concept of a nation. It was because the Northland Alliance was established, and Ilfaran needed a fixed support vote for the Alliance General Assembly, that they forcibly kneaded the human villages on the border together to form a new nation.

The small nations here refer to small nations like Evereska and Akaola; although their national strength is weak, their understanding of Magic and their potential all belong to that of a major power.

If the total population of Evereska and Comanso were at the same level, then their war potential would also be at the same level!

The reason for this is, of course, that the Elves of the Main Plane were once prosperous. Elven nations that inherited the legacy of their ancestors, regardless of size, basically maintained the same level of Magic development—the level of their legacy.

This is probably the only consensus of this Alliance General Assembly, and even Comanso, which has likely already colluded with Kalishi, did not object.

This Alliance General Assembly has another point worth Xia Duo's attention, which is the attitude of the representatives of small nations. Although they look the same as in the past, supporting the major powers in their respective regions, but—

But on the Main Plane, the exploration limits of major powers and small nations in the field of Magic have not actually opened up too large a gap.

This is already a very obvious trend, indicating that Kalishi's plan has succeeded in part; he successfully aroused the interest of Northland nations in Psionic.

……

But still, that same saying: regarding Psionic Mages, as long as one does not see it with one's own eyes, nothing can be taken as true; one must always remain suspicious and vigilant.

The reason they cannot get the treatment of a major power is merely because their war potential is not as good as a major power. Taking Evereska as an example, the total population is only a few million, while whether it is Comanso or Ilfaran, the populations are at the ten-million level.

The direction of public sentiment is one aspect, and Xia Duo cannot help but suspect the true relationship between Kalishi and Zhamu Dasi. Previously, Kalishi said he had broken with the Anti School; now it seems that possibility is not non-existent.

If they are adjacent small nations, merging might actually be the optimal solution, just like the establishment of Yierlan back then, which was the merger of several small nations in the Listar Forest.

The status of small nations and major powers on the Main Plane in the Alliance actually has a huge gap. On Earth, due to technology having already created a near-absolute generational gap against small nations, small nations have almost no power to resist when facing major powers.

By the time the meeting reached this point, the situation was already quite clear: Comanso has one hundred percent gotten together with Kalishi, and Yierlan's attitude is ambiguous; it is still uncertain whether they, like Comanso, have also gotten together with Kalishi.

This is somewhat similar to the "Big Mao" and "Little Mao" on Earth. It is true that Big Mao > Little Mao, but because both sides inherited the legacy of the "Old Mao," the technology has not opened up too large a gap. If Big Mao wants to win, they can only use their sheer volume to suppress, and even if they win, their own losses will not be small.

Although now, major powers have greater volume than small nations and greater war potential than small nations, small nations do not need to be particularly afraid of major powers; if they really fight, the major powers will also feel the pain.

A small boat is easy to turn around; a large boat, even if it realizes risks or discovers opportunities, may be unable to change in time due to its own massive size, and thus be beaten to the punch by a small boat.

This is the path for small nations on the Main Plane to overtake on a curve—seeking variables outside of Elven Magic, or seeking cooperation between small nations, or even merging.

What Elves identify with most deeply is their family (clan), followed by their race, and only last does it come to the nation. Merging small nations is only difficult to achieve geographically; after all, the drawbacks of scattered territories are too many.