Chapter 391: Passive

Xia Duo turned his gaze toward Aiboke; this bizarre situation was something he had never heard of, and he prepared to listen to the elder's opinion first. However, to his surprise, Aiboke was currently frowning deeply, as if he had encountered some difficult problem, and Xia Duo could not help but ask via Sending: "What is it? Is there something wrong with this Ke'er?"

"No, this Ke'er has only temporarily suppressed his self during the process of self-Jiusu, similar to the effect of a mental spell called 【Mechanical Mind】. However—"

Aiboke changed his tone and voiced his worry, "Rodney Lord coveting the Green Pearl Forest is the biggest problem."

"What is wrong with that?" Xia Duo asked hurriedly.

"Rodney Territory is located at the southernmost part of the Nether Core Region, with the territory spanning both banks of the Netheril River; cargo ships traveling to and from Savile Territory must pass through Rodney Territory!"

Xia Duo roughly visualized a map: the very core of Netheril was Seventon, which was also the northernmost point; in the middle was Rodney Territory, and below that was Savile Territory; to the east of Savile Territory was Konnifila, a border trade city with the Elf Kingdom.

The elves imported metal ores and raw gemstones from Netheril, and exported artworks such as paintings, statues, and jewelry, as well as practical goods like wine, spices, and Magic Items.

This was the part concerning Konnifila City and the elves.

There was also the trade between Konnifila City and Savile Territory, as well as the Netheril Inner Land.

This part mainly consisted of daily necessities and food; the elves forbade humans from destroying the forest, and in reality, Konnifila City could not yet be self-sufficient and relied entirely on supplies from the rear.

For trade of such scale, only a very small number of items with astonishing value would use Teleportation; the rest all went by water or land, transported by manual labor.

The water route went from Seventon to Savile Territory, and the land route went east from Savile Territory.

It could be said that Savile Territory and Rodney Territory were important Nodes on this trade line, and in terms of importance, Savile Territory was even more significant than Rodney Territory.

Because the food for Konnifila City was mainly provided by Savile Territory.

But just as Savile Territory dared not stir up trouble with food, Rodney Territory could not possibly stir up trouble by relying on its geographical advantage; after all, although the border trade city was led by a Great Arcanist, the benefits were not his family's alone.

Everyone's interest was the big picture; who would dare to go against the big picture?

Therefore, Xia Duo wondered if this was a chain reaction caused by Savile Territory leaning toward the Princess, or perhaps the Tower of Time leaving Savile Territory had made people restless.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo suddenly asked, "Which Great Arcanist is behind Rodney Territory?"

"There shouldn't be one. The first-generation lord of Rodney Territory came from Jilan Tower, but long ago he became independent and pioneered Rodney Territory. At that time, Rodney Territory was also like Savile Territory, far from the Nether Core Region; it was only later, as people continuously pioneered, that Rodney Territory was connected to the Nether Core Region."

As he spoke, Aiboke also became somewhat hesitant. Even if Savile Territory had initially shouted about independence, without a Great Arcanist to hold the fort, didn't it still lean toward the Princess the moment there was any sign of trouble?

Perhaps this abnormal action by Rodney Territory was at the instruction of some Great Arcanist, and this Great Arcanist was likely not on the same side as the Princess.

Aiboke had no way of knowing the specific relationships between Great Arcanists, and he dared not speculate at will, but there were only fifteen Great Arcanists in Netheril on the surface; counting them one by one, there was always one who was the Command.

However, now was not the time to study this, so Aiboke sent a message to Xia Duo: "This Ke'er has already achieved Jiusu; keeping him in the territory is also a trouble, let him go."

Already achieved Jiusu? Xia Duo thought of Ke'er's previous act of self-Jiusu, and of course, the fact that he had explicitly stated that Rodney Lord was interested in the Green Pearl Forest; perhaps this was what Aiboke meant by "already achieved Jiusu."

So, should he let him go or not?

First of all, he certainly could not kill him; perhaps in the eyes of the one in the sky, Ke'er was a pure and innocent believer, and killing him would be ominous; this kind of awe still had to be maintained.

But if he just let him go like this, he was somewhat unwilling.

For a moment, many thoughts appeared in Xia Duo's mind, entangling with each other, but eventually, reason gained the upper hand, and he decided to follow the elder's advice—let him go.

Come to think of it, this was more like a scheme in business, only this time it didn't deceive Xia Duo, and he even felt that Ke'er running over so brazenly to become the Chief Advisor was truly too moronic.

But since Ke'er had already paid the price, there was no need for him to hold on to it.

As for Rodney Lord's covetous heart toward the Green Pearl Forest, Xia Duo was also very helpless, as neither Daxia Territory nor Savile Territory had exercised substantial rule over the Green Pearl Forest.

It was tacitly understood to be Savile Territory's private land, but that was only an unspoken rule; now that someone was breaking the unspoken rule, they were actually very passive here.

Meeting moves with moves was unavoidable; it just depended on what the other side did next.

Looking at Ke'er, who was still calm and without the slightest impatience, and even faintly revealed a look of awe, Xia Duo found him repulsive no matter how he looked at him.

He waved his hand and had Laidun Banish him from the territory.

……

Afterward, he and Aiboke walked to the side and talked about Rodney Territory again; from Aiboke, Xia Duo learned more about the situation in Rodney Territory.

The current Rodney Lord was named Aozika'er Rodney; it was said that when he was young, he was very fond of Sword Art, and the previous lord even specially invited a Sword Art Master from the Elf Kingdom for him; Aozika'er even once gave up Magic for this.

However, Aozika'er was not famous for his Sword Art, but for his ability to reproduce.

The previous Rodney Lord only had one child, which was Aozika'er, but in this generation, Aozika'er's children could hardly be counted clearly.

It was not because of secrecy, but because there were too many.

When Xia Duo first heard this, he almost thought he had misheard; a Mage, or rather an Arcanist, was not famous for Magic, but for his ability to reproduce.

This was truly too incongruous.

He vaguely remembered that when he first transmigrated, he had heard Adventurers at the Old Neil Inn talking about some rutting ram in the north; could it be that they were talking about Rodney Lord? Conquering the world by bloodline? Thinking of bloodline, Xia Duo hurriedly asked, "Does the Rodney family have some special bloodline?"

If not, how could an ordinary person who was once addicted to Sword Art eventually become an Arcanist?

However, he did not get an answer to this question from Aiboke, and Xia Duo also felt that his thoughts were too chaotic; now the focus should be on the relationships behind Rodney Territory.

At this point, Xia Duo also intended to end the conversation: "Let's stop here; I plan to contact Niya to see if she can find out anything through the Princess's connections."

"Alright, then I will leave first."

After speaking, Aiboke Teleported away again.

Watching Aiboke come and go like the wind, Xia Duo was full of envy; he certainly would not be satisfied with a mere 【Short-range Teleportation】; only the 5th-ring 【Teleportation】 that truly came and went like the wind was what he wanted.

However, he was close too!

(End of chapter)