Chapter 3269: Riyue Jiazu, Unbelievable

As Xia Duo said, that High Mage dead-man (or perhaps someone coerced) did indeed attempt a counterattack after sensing the Floating City's assault, even aiming to directly destroy Evereska.

But the power displayed by the Floating City was sufficiently strong, and coupled with the interference of the Apostle Feidisi, that dead-man could not fully commit to a counterattack; thus, even after fully unleashing his Saint Form, he only managed to send Feisita away and could do nothing more.

Facing such a High Mage who has fully unleashed their Saint Form, the most effective approach is to temporarily evade for a moment; as long as one can dodge, one doesn't even need to take action personally afterward, as the opponent will destroy themselves, and in the most thorough way possible.

Therefore, this kind of deterrence from a High Mage is very effective against those with weaknesses, but if facing the Illuminati, who have not exposed any weaknesses, their own family or other things they care about become the weakness.

Generally speaking, it is the Upper Families within the Elf World who deter one another, thereby forming a relatively peaceful tacit understanding of struggle; even those who lose power generally do not face the threat of death.

Previously, when the Northland Alliance was established, the Wuweilun remnants of Keman challenged the Yilisier Mianwang and ultimately won; it was not that the true level of that Wuweilun remnant was higher than the Yilisier Mianwang, but rather that both were High Mages, and one dared to risk their life while the other did not—it was that simple.

And in the end, that Wuweilun remnant, despite having won and having had the chance to survive, still burned themselves out and offered up the final legal authority of Wuweilun, all to find a way out for the other Wuweilun remnants still living within Keman.

This is the situation of having a weakness; of course, one could also say that realistic politics are intricate and complex, and cannot be decided by a simple victory or defeat.

But it is undeniable that a High Mage, as long as they do not fear death and do not care about the consequences, can exert power that is absolutely not to be underestimated.

When Xia Duo faced that High Mage dead-man, although he did not confront them personally, he had an indirect duel with them through the Floating City, and the result was obvious—

Although the opponent died, their goal of letting the Apostle Feidisi leave was also achieved.

War Spells could not stop the opponent, and Xia Duo had nothing to complain about; if it were himself, unless he relied on bloodline abilities, he likely could not have achieved the level the opponent did.

By the same token, the Alliance representatives could not blame him for letting an Illuminati member go because of this; facing a High Mage dead-man, if anyone had the ability to stop them, they wouldn't be sitting here.

……

Next, Youfunisi asked about some details, including the Illuminati clues discovered by Ailan, all of which Xia Duo answered one by one; he did not exaggerate the parts he was not clear about himself.

In the end, Youfunisi had no more questions; after all, all the reasons could be boiled down to one sentence—the Movement of Evereska was authorized, and the Alliance was even notified immediately afterward.

It was very difficult to find fault even if one wanted to.

Xia Duo could understand the thoughts of the representatives from various countries, a point Tili'ao had hinted at to him as well: it was the current state of Evereska, being controlled by the Floating City, which meant the Alliance Headquarters within the city was also within the Floating City's range of control.

This is a point that is generally difficult for various countries to accept.

Placing the Alliance Headquarters in Evereska in the first place was because they favored Evereska for being sufficiently neutral, and its geographical location was also quite good, being roughly in the middle of the Northland.

And now, Evereska has gone along with Xia Duo's Floating City, and it is uncertain how long this state will last; Youfunisi had asked, but Xia Duo could not give an accurate time, as that would require combining it with the actual progress of the Floating City's renovation project to draw a conclusion.

But for now, the renovation of Evereska is still only at the verbal stage, with nothing even started yet, so how could he give a specific timeline?

As for putting Evereska back in its original place, that was of course within Xia Duo's capabilities, but he had previously given Evereska two choices: one was to return it to its original place, and the other was to renovate it into a Floating City.

Evereska chose the latter, so Xia Duo certainly could not betray them now, so he excused it by saying that Evereska's structure was damaged during the Movement process and could not be directly returned to its original place, requiring repairs and renovations first.

This so-called repair and renovation is actually just turning it into a Floating City.

……

In the end, the representatives of the various countries discussed back and forth without reaching a definite result, and the issue of how to settle Evereska was temporarily shelved.

Youfunisi soon raised another request: "May I ask Consultant Xia Duo, can that batch of Illuminati captives be handed over to the Alliance for processing?"

"Of course, after all, this can be considered a continuation of the Alliance intelligence department's capture operation, and the Alliance is entitled to a share of the captives."

Hearing this answer, Youfunisi finally breathed a sigh of relief, and he hurriedly said: "Rest assured, a copy of the interrogation results and subsequent processing will be synchronized to you, Consultant Xia Duo."

"Hmm, there is one more thing I need to remind you of, and that is regarding the High Mage who was captured."

"What about him? Is his identity sensitive or something else?"

Seeing this, Youfunisi hurriedly signaled for the observers on both sides to leave; if the captured High Mage's identity was sensitive, it was indeed not suitable for too many people to know.

And Xia Duo also knew that the identity of Xibokelaite was indeed somewhat sensitive; his family had spanned the three nations of Siluwende, Shaerwen, and Yierlan, and was even a founding family of the latter two. If this identity were to be made public, it would likely cause an uproar throughout the entire Elf World.

And correspondingly, Yierlan might also hate them even more.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo told Youfunisi, "That High Mage comes from the Riyue Jiazu!"

"That's impossible! You're talking nonsense!" Before Youfunisi, the Alliance's rotating Speaker for this month, could speak, the Yierlan representative Aosi could not help but refute.

From his reaction, one could also see the sensitivity of Xibokelaite's identity.

But Xia Duo would not indulge the other party; he glanced coldly at Aosi and said decisively, "If you don't believe me, I can pull Xibokelaite out right now to confront you!"

"You—" Aosi was suddenly speechless.

Just now, he had spoken out of subconscious indignation, but now that he had calmed down, he knew very well that Xia Duo could not be playing petty tricks on such an issue; since he said it was Xibokelaite, it must be Xibokelaite.

But how could this be possible?!

Although his reason told him that Xibokelaite of the Riyue Jiazu might truly have joined the Illuminati, his emotions were still constantly denying it; if even the Riyue Jiazu had been infiltrated by the Illuminati, then which family in Yierlan had not been infiltrated?

Once this kind of thought arose, it was difficult to erase, and Aosi would not blame the Upper Families of Yierlan for why they were so easily infiltrated, but instead turned his hostility toward Xia Duo.

He even thought with some luck that if it weren't for Xia Duo, the false harmony within Yierlan would not have been so easily punctured.