Chapter 472: Vigilance, Teleportation Delay

The Arcane Empire, with a population of nearly ten million, was destroyed in the blink of an eye; even if a portion of the people could escape, it would be very difficult to ever develop to such a scale again.

What a pity!

If Xia Duo were a Great Arcanist, perhaps he would still have the mood to stay behind and play guerrilla warfare with the Elf, but this near-total clearing approach made him directly out of the game.

It was not just him who was out of the game, but nearly ten million lives; the only ones who could survive were perhaps only Arcanists.

Xia Duo was shocked by the cruelty of the racial war, and upon thinking that the Main Plane could very likely suffer such a blow, he felt a sense of horror; when the Projection Plane suffered a disaster, he could return to the Main Plane, but where could he run if the Main Plane suffered a disaster?

……

As his consciousness returned to his body, Xia Duo felt a deep fatigue, as well as a slight sense of unfamiliarity with his original body, mixed with an indelible sense of familiarity; it all felt somewhat awkward.

Enduring the fatigue and drowsiness, Xia Duo contacted the Tower Spirit again to inquire about the situation of that Projection Plane.

"Agent Xia Duo, Projection Plane number 004 still exists—, it has now disappeared—"

Hearing that the Projection Plane had disappeared, Xia Duo also felt a sense of loss; after all, that was also a place where he had lived for more than a year. Soon, the drowsiness became uncontrollable, and Xia Duo could not bother with sentimentality; he had the Tower Spirit teleport him to his residence, then he just collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.

……

After waking up again, Xia Duo put on the 【Crimson Shelter Robe】; because that last projection was in a highly orderly nation, the Magic Item he had prepared in advance had not been of any use.

As for bringing Magic Items back from the Arcane Empire, Xia Duo's Personal Space had already shrunk by half because of the 【Blade of Veto】; before finding a way to expand the space, he would not consider bringing things back from the Projection Plane.

Of course, Knowledge and experience were exceptions.

This return was not in Xia Duo's plan, so while in the Projection Plane, he had not familiarized himself in advance with the daily arrangements and plans for before the projection and after the return.

However, Xia Duo had long been prepared, and the relevant records were all there; this was something he had been doing before he even knew about the existence of Projection Planes, initially just doing some simple short-term planning.

Later, after knowing about the Projection Plane and having the Personal Space, Xia Duo could do even more: short-term planning, long-term planning, occasional inspiration, and the schedule prepared to get out of the influence of the Projection Plane as quickly as possible.

Of course, he was a serious person, so he still would not write a diary. Things like self-reflection and inner analysis were generally done by him before going to sleep, only within his heart, and would not be put down in writing.

After looking through the records, Xia Duo gradually adjusted the time difference caused by the projection, and he knew what he had to do next.

Previously, Niya had sent a message back telling him to be careful of the Huo Ke Territory, as Duolaisen had accused him at the Lord's Conference of capturing Aquilain; although this issue was temporarily shelved at the conference, it would be even more troublesome to deal with later.

Originally, it was just a private matter between two families, but bringing it up at the Lord's Conference made the conflict public, and coupled with the influence of the Elf, it gave Xia Duo a headache.

While in the Projection Plane, Xia Duo had considered this problem, but because there was no one to communicate with, it was later shelved; now that he had returned to the Main Plane, facing this problem, he could no longer avoid it, and this problem had to be solved as soon as possible.

Whether it was killing them directly, handing them over to the Princess, or throwing them to the Arcane Union, or even making a deal with the Huo Ke Territory, it had to be solved one way or another.

However, before that, Xia Duo still had one thing that needed to be done; in fact, he had always been very interested in Aquilain, especially a Spell that the other party possessed.

Being able to detect the occurrence of a teleportation and delay the result of the teleportation!

Detecting teleportation itself was nothing strange, and Xia Duo could also detect teleportation, but when he detected a teleportation, it was also when the teleportation ended; the key lay in delaying the teleportation.

After capturing Aquilain, his personal belongings were naturally seized by Xia Duo as well, but among Aquilain's personal belongings, there were no items for detecting or delaying teleportation, so it was highly probable that it was a Spell.

Xia Duo had also asked the other party, but ever since being captured, the other party had gone from the initial anger and cursing to complete silence; after all, who would give benefits to an enemy!

On this trip to the Arcane Empire's projection, Xia Duo had learned the Judgment Spell, which was most suitable for dealing with this kind of situation.

……

Tower of Time, first basement level.

From the perspective of self-perception, Xia Duo had not been here for a long time; currently, only Aquilain was being held in the entire first basement level, which could be considered very good treatment.

Outside the detention room, Xia Duo looked at the motionless Aquilain, his heart stirred, and he called out to the Tower Spirit, "Tower Spirit, remove his confinement!"

Originally, Aquilain was locked in the Stasis Chamber, where the confinement specifications were far higher than here, and the confined person had almost no perception, which obviously did not fit Xia Duo's psychology.

Removing the confinement was very convenient, and even if his own confinement was removed, Aquilain could not move freely, let alone cast Spells at will; the detention room itself had many restrictions.

Quietly watching Aquilain move his hands and feet, Xia Duo did not want to waste time, and asked as usual, "Are you willing to speak now?"

The only response he got was silence; Xia Duo was not annoyed, as if it were him, it would be impossible to confess so easily, and even the more the enemy wanted to know, the more impossible it would be to confess.

However, this time, he came prepared, "Do you know? The Huo Ke Territory has been expelled by the Seven Cities Council for colluding with the Elf, and Lord Duolaisen was killed on the spot."

These words were, of course, to deceive Aquilain; the Judgment Spell had developed for many years in the Arcane Empire, and it was not just a Spell itself, but more like a comprehensive discipline that combined sociology, psychology, and criminal investigation.

While saying this, Xia Duo cast 【Stun】, magnifying the sensitivity of the mind to facilitate further Spellcasting.

And upon hearing Xia Duo's description, Aquilain indeed reacted, his eyes revealing despair, and he even cursed loudly, completely losing the demeanor of a Spellcaster.

Just at this moment, 【Command】 and 【Inquiry】 appeared one after another, and Aquilain was hit without any resistance.

"Tell me! How to detect teleportation and delay teleportation?"

This time, Aquilain was no longer silent and answered very readily, and Xia Duo listened very readily as well; however, describing a Spell in words was very cumbersome, and after repeated, multi-angle questioning and verification, he put away his notes and left satisfied.

Of course, before leaving, he did not forget to have the Tower Spirit re-confine Aquilain.

……

Returning to his residence, Xia Duo went straight into the Spell Laboratory, while analyzing and organizing this new Spell he had named 【Teleportation Delay】, he tried to perform Element Unit decomposition to facilitate further practice.

For a time, Xia Duo threw all the miscellaneous affairs of the outside world to the back of his mind and devoted himself entirely to the research of this new Spell.