Chapter 3444: Another Complication

————It will be later~~

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Ailan region, Victory Valley.

The nameless valley that Xia Duo had originally chosen at random had already been named "Victory Valley," signifying the Northland Alliance's decisive victory over the Illuminati, and this place was indeed a key location for the final decisive battle.

Xia Duo had previously revived an Element Elder here, and now, when his avatar arrived here once again, the valley, which had originally been sparsely vegetated, had changed its appearance.

Barracks had been built in the most spacious area in the center, and hundreds of Elite Mages summoned from various countries of the Alliance were resting here temporarily to cope with the raid on the Illuminati's ultimate ritual site that could break out at any time.

As for the surrounding areas near the mountains, including the three low-lying mountain slopes of the valley, they had been set up with a large number of summoning Magic Arrays by Alliance mages. When Xia Duo arrived, he saw one Earth Element after another with robust physiques manifesting from the summoning Magic Arrays.

Then, they walked out of the Magic Arrays and sank directly into the earth within the designated areas nearby. It stood to reason that only by using this method could all the fissures beneath the Ailan region be found and further inspected within a short two-day period.

"Xia Duo, my friend, I have finally seen you."

Talafu, who had been waiting here for a long time, opened his arms to Xia Duo. Xia Duo also walked over with a face full of enthusiasm, and the two hugged each other tightly before separating.

This was the way Calimshans greeted friends, and Elves also had such etiquette. Xia Duo had incarnated as an Elf many times in the Projection Plane and could still accept this way of greeting.

But kissing cheeks was completely unnecessary. Although this was also the way Calimshans greeted their best friends, Xia Duo had clearly expressed that he could not accept it the first time he encountered this situation.

Etiquette is only meaningful if both parties can accept it, and friends are the same. Talafu had done quite well in this regard, and Xia Duo also acknowledged this friend.

After the greetings, Xia Duo asked about the situation here at the first opportunity. Although he had just learned about it through Sending, seeing it on the ground gave him more feelings about the situation here. He asked Talafu:

"Is there really an Underdark passage beneath Ailan?"

"There truly is. Multiple fissures containing Underdark radiation have already been discovered. When I came over this time, I specifically borrowed a Magic Artifact for testing Underdark radiation from a Dwarf friend. It has been taken below by Wuta at this moment."

Among the Southern Four Kingdoms, except for Zhamu Dasi which was relatively isolated, the relationships between the other three countries were very complex. There had been honeymoon periods, as well as periods of hatred, hostility, and even war. It was not strange for a Calimshan to have a few Elf friends or Dwarf friends.

Especially now that Calimshan and Sannata both had the intention to recuperate, the relationship between the two countries was becoming increasingly harmonious.

At this moment, the biggest destabilizing factors in the south were Zhamu Dasi and Kaitemier. The two countries were still in a state of war until now and were currently fighting. The cause was that the Kaitemier Prince died due to a conspiracy by Zhamu Dasi during his visit to Calimshan.

Xia Duo could be considered to have personally experienced this matter. If it weren't for him, perhaps Calimshan would have become the scapegoat for that murder case. It was also because of this matter that he "brushed" his reputation to the max in the Mairide Family, and Calimshan, as a country, also owed him a great favor.

Otherwise, this time, even if both the North and South were threatened by the Illuminati at the same time, it would have been impossible for Calimshan to send an Element Lord so easily and so timely.

……

"Were the summoning Magic Arrays here set up by Wuta? Why do they all look like Elven Magic style to me?"

"It was the approach provided by Wuta, and then it was set up after being perfected by your Alliance mages."

Speaking of this, Talafu seemed to have suddenly thought of something and hurriedly said: "I have also used your Alliance's Computing Power Pool before, but the actual effect, to be honest, was not as good as the rumors outside, at least that's how it felt when I used it myself.

"But this time, I have also witnessed the true effect of the Computing Power Pool with my own eyes. It is truly too unexpected. Wuta only provided an approach and a Bloodline Spell prototype, and your Alliance's mages perfected it in a short time.

"I am wondering, can your Alliance's Computing Power Pool truly be opened to us Spellcasters outside the Alliance?"

In Xia Duo's view, this idea was not excessive. The Computing Power Pool itself could also be considered a type of commercial activity; who uses it doesn't really matter, right? But the problem was that Talafu had used the Computing Power Pool before, and the effect he described himself was not good.

The reason was actually very simple: the main body of the Computing Power Pool was still Alliance mages, and it was even divided into three Sub-networks—Elven Magic, Netheril Magic, and Dwarf Magic—due to different magic systems.

Originally, it was very difficult for the three Sub-networks to utilize each other. In the end, it was Xia Duo who invented the Translation Device, which completely connected and shared the three Sub-networks at the level of computing power resources, rather than just being in the same larger-scale Mind Network.

Now Talafu wanted the Computing Power Pool to be opened to Spellcasters outside the Alliance, which was essentially opening it to Calimshan Scholars. This was essentially hoping that the Alliance Computing Power Pool would support Calimshan's Bloodline Magic.

This matter had both advantages and disadvantages for the Alliance.

The benefits were very obvious. First of all, it could make money. The Computing Power Pool already had plenty of profit while providing subsidies to Alliance mages. Opening it to Calimshan Scholars would certainly mean no subsidies, and the profit margin would only be greater.

Secondly, it could obtain the essence of Bloodline Magic. Nowadays, the Translation Device of the Alliance Computing Power Pool had the best translation effect for Netheril Magic and Elven Magic. After all, these were the two magic systems that Xia Duo was proficient in at the same time.

The translation effect for Dwarf Magic was very limited, but fortunately, there were quite a few Dwarf mages, and they also had bonuses even if they used the local area network, although the benefits were much less compared to mages of the other two magic systems.

For Calimshan, it was certainly impossible for the Alliance to build an exclusive network for them alone, or even if they really did so, it would require Calimshan to pay a price no less than that of joining the network.

Joining the network meant using the Translation Device to connect the Sub-network where Calimshan Scholars were located to the Main Network of the Computing Power Pool. The prerequisite was that Calimshan had to provide enough Bloodline Magic data.

This was actually not a bad thing. In the field of Bloodline Magic, Calimshan was already in an absolutely leading position, so even providing data would not have a great impact on them.

Instead, the value of the Computing Power Pool was greater.

This also led to the disadvantages for the Alliance in opening the Computing Power Pool to Calimshan, which was precisely because of the huge value of the Computing Power Pool for the development of magic.

Regarding the situation of the Main Plane, the Northland Alliance and Calimshan were actually in a competitive relationship. For what purpose would the Northland Alliance cultivate a powerful competitor?

Although the overall strength of the Northland Alliance was indeed greater than any one of the Southern Four Kingdoms, this was the Alliance as a whole. For the specific member states of the Alliance, the comprehensive strength of any one country was not as good as any of the Southern Four Kingdoms.

So, it still comes back to that question: for what purpose would the Alliance cultivate a powerful competitor like Calimshan?