Chapter 3448: Refusing Again

————It will be later~~

————

For Xia Duo, although various countries were using the War Spell System of Yongle City and even had Mages dispatched by those countries operating it personally, it was very difficult for him to interfere with the specific combat process; the only thing he could do was refuse the War Spell response.

But this was clearly not what Xia Duo wanted. If he could not directly interfere with the battlefields of the Time Signal Source within the territories of various countries, then the so-called battles on the Time Line would not have much meaning.

He could not gamble on probabilities to secure victories like the Illuminati; he was not Dafuni and did not have that much Time Force to waste. What he wanted was a guaranteed victory every time he acted.

Under these circumstances, if he could not directly interfere with the battlefield, how could he guarantee a hundred-percent victory?

At present, the War Spell support from Yongle City had been widely applied to various local battlefields. Logically speaking, War Spells were unstoppable, so they should have been winning every battle, but the results were not necessarily so.

Because what determined the outcome of a battlefield was not the life or death of the combatants on both sides, but the handling of the Time Signal Source of the battlefield. If handled well, even if not a single person was killed, it still counted as a win.

But if handled poorly, even if all the Illuminati personnel there were killed, it still counted as a loss.

Xia Duo felt that the various countries had not yet realized the significance of these local battlefields, or perhaps they had realized it but did not attach enough importance to it; otherwise, how could they not accept suggestions that could improve their win rate?

Or perhaps the War Spell support from Yongle City made them feel that this round was secure, so they became conservative. This behavior of celebrating before the match was over was truly ridiculous in Xia Duo's eyes.

Not to mention that the Alliance had not yet won, even if they really did win, in front of the Illuminati who could manipulate the Time Line, it would be nothing more than a matter of doing it all over again.

If it didn't work once, they could repeat it over and over, and could the Alliance really maintain a perfect record in such a war?

It was only because Xia Duo accidentally discovered the Divine Envoy's super-strong Time Anchoring effect on the past; otherwise, relying solely on the Alliance's existing strength, wanting to achieve final victory would likely be somewhat wishful thinking.

If there were no Divine Envoy helping to anchor the past, the best outcome for the Alliance might be a pyrrhic victory—destroying Ailan and everything related to Ailan, including the underground, at all costs, in order to block the Illuminati's ritual.

But if that happened, it might be the outcome of the Space-Time Mist covering the Main Plane as in Xia Duo's previous prophecy. It would be hard to say whether that was a pyrrhic victory or a double loss!

……

Victory Valley.

After finishing the consultation with the Alliance representatives, Xia Duo looked at Talafu beside him and gave instructions:

"I am going to the underground personally to check the traces left by the Illuminati. You stay on the surface and communicate with Wuta's avatar; notify me the moment there is any news."

With a Mind Link to maintain contact with Talafu at all times, it was equivalent to him being able to communicate with Wuta at any time, avoiding the waste of time that would come from talking at cross-purposes once he was down below.

Regarding this arrangement, both Wuta and Talafu expressed their acceptance. Although such communication was a bit inconvenient due to the extra layer, this precisely demonstrated Xia Duo's respect for Wuta's unwillingness to join the Mind Link.

After Talafu conveyed this news to Wuta, Wuta even emitted a muffled sound, stating: "Mage Xia Duo is a person worthy of respect!"

Likewise, Talafu also felt admiration for Xia Duo's attitude. Previously, when he and Wuta had just arrived here, even with Xia Duo's prior arrangements, more than one Alliance Mage had come to persuade him to let Wuta join the Alliance's Command Network.

The reason was to make communication more convenient.

Originally, Xia Duo could have completely used the greater cause and various other reasons to force Wuta to join the Mind Link, but he did not do so.

Compared with the attitude of the Alliance Mages, it made Xia Duo's respect for them and for Calimshan even more apparent.

But in fact, Xia Duo was not as good as Talafu and Wuta thought; not forcing Wuta to join the Mind Link was merely to eliminate variables and let Wuta work with peace of mind.

If Wuta were not a sentient being with self-awareness, but a tool that anyone could use, then he would certainly have demanded that the Calimshan side temporarily hand over the right to use the tool.

Or at least, he would have to ensure that the tool was in the hands of someone he trusted, and that the process of use was relatively transparent to him, with no discoveries hidden.

People and tools are different after all. If it is a person, there will be thoughts, emotions, and selfishness, and no one can say for sure what kind of impact transforming into an Elemental Creature will have on one's temperament.

Under such circumstances, it is naturally better to avoid unnecessary trouble.

It was nothing more than having an extra translator during communication; what a big deal. If the real major tasks were delayed because of fussing over this, that would be truly fatal.

Xia Duo had always focused on the big picture while letting go of the small details. As long as it did not violate principles or touch his bottom line, he was willing to give everyone full respect and understanding. This was just a manifestation of his usual style of conduct.

……

Soon, Xia Duo used Spellcasting to Turn into Earth and Stone, which was actually an alternative Earth Elemental Avatar. In an earth and stone environment, it was just like a Water Element in a water environment; there was no difference from being in his own home.

Of course, even in his own home, one must possess the corresponding ability to conduct detection.

Just like human Mages living on the Surface, they could not directly see scenes outside their field of vision with the naked eye, or perceive information outside their own dimension of Perception.

On the Surface, there were Scrying Spells for the Surface; similarly, underground, there were Scrying Spells more suitable for the underground earth and stone environment.

It was a pity that Xia Duo's knowledge in this area was limited, otherwise he would not have had to find an Earth Elemental creature to help check the underground of Ailan.

Under Wuta's guidance, Xia Duo traveled almost in a straight line underground, and in less than half an hour, he arrived at an Underdark Liexi more than ten New Li deep, with Wuta's true body waiting on the side.

Earth Elemental creatures have no physical form underground but exist in a form similar to a field, controlling all earth elements and their manifestations within the corresponding range according to the strength of their power.

This was similar to how Xia Duo turned into an intangible form in water to Control Water, so he was not surprised that he did not see Wuta beside this Underdark Liexi, because at this moment, Wuta was everywhere in the surroundings.

Xia Duo did not rush to communicate with Wuta, but first approached the rift, checked it briefly, and then asked Wuta through Talafu:

"A very exquisite disguise. How did you discover it?"

Soon, Wuta also replied to Xia Duo through Talafu: "Although the disguise here has achieved a near-perfect level in terms of appearance and aura, I am already an Elemental Creature. My dimension of Perception is not the same as that of flesh-and-blood creatures. As long as I go a little deeper, I can clearly perceive the false side of the earth elements in that area."

So that was it!

The reason Xia Duo was able to discover the disguise here was mainly because he had Wuta's reminder first. It was relatively simple to find faults with a preconceived notion; if he hadn't been told there was a disguise here, he would probably have had to check it inch by inch to have any chance of discovering it.