Chapter 3179: Half-Elf, Living Near the Mythallar Node

At least in Xia Duo's view, noble ends cannot be achieved through improper means.

Even if some in the Alliance believe they can, it is difficult to explain the contradiction in human character reflected by the acts of stealing treasures and sacrificing oneself.

Stopping the Kalishi Project is Xia Duo's ultimate goal, and shattering Kalishi's positive image can also be considered a way to achieve that goal.

Just as Kalishi spreads rumors to question his professionalism, professionalism is the fundamental reason Xia Duo can control the Computing Power Pool; no one is more skilled than him in issues related to the Computing Power Pool.

And for Kalishi's plan to be realized, he must convince the various nations of the Alliance to believe in this plan, and the act of "believing" itself carries a relatively obvious attribute of credibility.

As long as Kalishi's credible image collapses, no matter what he says, the Alliance will hesitate a bit more than they would under normal circumstances.

It is hard to imagine that someone who has just stolen important treasures from the school that nurtured them would suddenly say they are willing to sacrifice themselves to use the stolen treasures to forge an Artifact for others.

Xia Duo is almost one hundred percent certain that even if he confronted Kalishi with the Focusing Artifact, the other party would not admit to the theft but would instead find an excuse.

No matter how outrageous, that is exactly the kind of excuse the Alliance leadership needs most; when the interests are too great to make a choice, they use this excuse to convince themselves.

As for what Zhamu Dasi says, that is not important; saying Kalishi stole the treasures even further proves the feasibility of the Kalishi Project! Otherwise, why would he be in such a hurry?

Therefore, Xia Duo's true intention is not the wine; he does not care what Kalishi says, as long as he can confirm the existence of the Remains of the First Mentor.

In the event that things develop to an irreversible state, he will have to consider seizing that key Psionic Material.

Of course, he would not take the material for himself, but would choose to return it to Zhamu Dasi; if Kalishi has any dissatisfaction, he can go to Zhamu Dasi himself and settle the ownership of the material before discussing anything else.

As for the Alliance side, once Zhamu Dasi recovers the Remains of the First Mentor, what reason would there be to send people to the Northland? And without Psionic Mages attacking the Computing Power Pool, the Alliance would have no need to train Psionic Mages.

If there are still Psionic Mages attacking the Computing Power Pool, then just let Zhamu Dasi take the blame.

And if Psionic Mages are not trained, then an Artifact is not a necessity; as for Arcane Psionic Fusion, Xia Duo estimates that hardly anyone believed in it at all.

Even if Kalishi demonstrates the so-called advantages of fusion, couldn't such advantages be obtained just as easily by grabbing a Psionic Mage or having an Arcane Mage switch to psionics?

If one Kalishi can appear, could more not appear?

They are merely being used as tools; it is not as if those high-and-mighty superiors are personally taking risks to awaken psionics, so what does it matter if they are one-time tools?

Therefore, Xia Duo is not worried about the Alliance coming to trouble him later; perhaps there will be some trouble, but it is all within the scope of what he can handle. If he can properly resolve an event with such potentially great harm as the forging of an Artifact, he will accept it even if it is troublesome.

……

Soon, Xia Duo arrived at the summit of Yunding Mountain. The Cloudtop Tower was built on a platform deliberately shaped on the summit. Before he could enter the tower, a sword-wielding guard nearby approached him, bowed, and announced his identity—

"My lord, I am here to listen to your instructions as arranged by Supervisor Dumu. You may call me A sita, my lord."

"Mm."

Xia Duo nodded, not scrutinizing the other party too much, but instead ordered directly: "Take me to Kalishi."

Although this sword-wielding guard who called himself A sita looked like an Elf, he was actually from Netheril, or rather, a Half-Elf, and one with a majority of human blood.

Perhaps in the eyes of many humans, having an Elven face is something to be proud of, but the ancestors of these people in Netheril who possess Elven blood almost all have a heartbreaking history of being abandoned by their Elven parents.

Therefore, in the eyes of these people, having an Elven appearance is not something to be proud of, but rather a disgrace. However, humans find it inconvenient to operate in Elven society, and much intelligence work often requires the use of these humans with Elven appearances.

Think of a person who hates Elves having to imitate an Elf for a mission, and even having to deal with Elves; it is truly a significant sacrifice.

Actually, Xia Duo was quite curious about the existence of these people, but out of respect for the sacrifices they made, he tried his best not to focus on their appearance.

Even if he appeared a bit cold now, in the eyes of these people who were Elven on the outside but human on the inside, it might be more acceptable!

……

Dumu's location in the Cloudtop Tower was not a secret; at least most Cloudtop Tower guards knew it. Although A sita was arranged into the Cloudtop Tower by Dumu, he had gone through the proper procedures and was not just some guard randomly replaced by spellcasting in private.

Therefore, A sita also possessed the normal guard Permission Level within the Cloudtop Tower. He brought Xia Duo to a stop outside a room on the fourth floor:

"My lord, Kalishi has been living here during this time. I have also guided his two visitors who came to call on him before. Would you like me to knock, my lord?"

"Wait."

Xia Duo was not in a hurry to meet Kalishi. Instead, he diverted part of his consciousness to his main body to operate Luodasi's Focusing Artifact, using his avatar as a medium to conduct a scan.

The result was the same as the previous few times: he could not detect his target at all.

While waiting for the scan, Xia Duo also looked at the environment around Kalishi's temporary residence. As he watched, he suddenly asked A sita:

"Is the floor above a restricted area?"

"The floor above mainly contains some display rooms and is not a restricted area. At least with my Permission Level, I can fully take you to visit, my lord. Even you can go up alone, my lord, as long as you tell the guards there."

"Is every place open?" Xia Duo continued to ask.

"Not exactly. There is a Secret Treasure Storage Room that requires permission from the Evereska Council of Elders to enter. However, it is said that since the Cloudtop Tower was built, not many people have been able to go in for a visit," A sita replied.

"So that's how it is!"

Xia Duo immediately understood; that so-called Secret Treasure Storage Room was likely a key Node of the Cloudtop Tower.

Although the City Mythallar of Evereska had been partially controlled by the Alliance under the guise of helping with repairs, important locations like the Cloudtop Tower still had Independent Mythallars.

Even if they were previously linked to the City Mythallar, after the Northland Alliance obtained the Mythallar Permission for the City Mythallar, Evereska likely would have separated this side.

It was similar to the practice of transferring assets to hollow out a company on Earth; since the control of the City Mythallar could not be reclaimed, they would ensure that the control of other associated Mythallars would not be lost.

This kind of disconnected "transfer" was actually a form of self-preservation.

Since there was a Mythallar, there was a high probability of there being a Node, and Mythallar Nodes were undoubtedly high-energy existences; even if they appeared calm on the surface, they were actually capable of exerting a powerful influence on the surroundings.

That Kalishi chose to stay temporarily below a Cloudtop Tower Mythallar Node—Xia Duo simply did not believe this was a total coincidence!