Chapter 578: Kelisi, and the Elf Again

Of course, even if he wanted to stay and see the results, Xia Duo still had to consider unexpected situations, whether they came from the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce or from the person behind the murloc incident.

During the interval while that Senior Arcanist named Saide was examining the water weeds, Xia Duo returned to the "Lucky Owen" and called over Lao Ouwen and First Mate Lusi, instructing them:

"The situation has changed now. Captain Owen, I ask you, how many more days will it take to get from Maihete Lake to Savile Territory?"

"My Lord, under normal sailing conditions, we can return to Savile Territory in about 15 days. Considering that it is downstream after entering the Wolfburg River section, according to the current speed of this season, it can probably be reduced by a day or two."

"Then if the residents on the Owen are transferred to other ships, do those ships still have space to load enough food for all the residents for 15 days?"

Lao Ouwen did not answer immediately, but considered it carefully for a while before stating his judgment, "My Lord, if it were before, that might not be possible, but today we only brought a little over 400 residents, and since the voyage is already more than half over, other ships should have no problem supporting them for 15 days."

"Good!" Xia Duo breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although he was prepared to stay behind to see the results, if the entire fleet left, then his subsequent travel and mapping plans would basically go down the drain.

He was not willing to wander around in the wilderness all by himself, even if it was a water environment that was very friendly to him.

"Transfer the residents and food immediately. Leave only the basic crew on the Owen, as well as food for the next few days. If everything goes smoothly, we can still catch up with the fleet ahead."

"Yes, Lord Xia Duo."

Upon receiving the order, First Mate Lusi left immediately to send word to the other ships, while Lao Ouwen remained behind.

Xia Duo asked, "Captain Owen, I know you only retired the year before last. Before that, when you sailed through Maihete Lake, had you ever encountered murloc bandits?"

"Never. However, I once encountered a lone murloc in the river section near Savile Territory. I sold it to an Adventurer for 20 Gold Coins. I later heard that he turned around and sold it for 100 Gold Coins. Thinking about it now, I still feel a bit regretful."

Looking at Lao Ouwen's nostalgic expression, it was estimated that this incident had left a deep mark in his heart. Xia Duo did not interrupt him, but Owen quickly reacted, realizing he was in front of his Lord, and hurriedly apologized:

"My Lord, when a person gets old, it is easy to let one's mind wander."

"Captain Owen, you are not old. Sometimes I really doubt your age; you don't look like someone over 60 at all." Xia Duo said with a smile.

Lao Ouwen had a sturdy build. After retiring and being rehired by Xia Duo to serve as the captain of the Owen, he had insisted on steering the helm himself, and his energy was very vigorous. Of course, it was precisely because of this that he could become the captain of the Owen.

After the lighthearted talk, the serious business still had to be asked. Xia Duo did not mind showing a personable side in front of his residents, but the premise was that they obeyed the order of Daxia Territory, or rather, Xia Duo's order.

Looking at Lao Ouwen's somewhat reserved appearance, Xia Duo sighed silently in his heart. In the end, he had not yet become the Daxia People he was satisfied with. It seemed he would have to look to the next generation, so he continued to ask:

"You saw the scene at the bow of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce ship earlier. There are actually so many murlocs in Maihete Lake! Captain Owen, did you know about this situation before?"

"I did not. If I had known there were so many murlocs in Maihete Lake, I reckon I would have chosen to retire long ago." Owen had a lingering fear; he was indeed frightened by those dense swarms of murlocs.

Afterwards, Xia Duo asked some more detailed questions, confirming that the murlocs that normally slipped out of Maihete Lake were also like wild beasts, would not develop Wisdom, and would not grow water weeds on their bodies.

It seemed that the water-weed murlocs must have appeared recently.

……

Before long, all the residents on the "Owen" were transferred to other ships in the fleet, and those ships soon set sail, with only the "Owen" remaining behind.

After leaving a Warning Magic, Xia Duo continued to travel toward the large ship of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce by walking on the water. At this moment, he suddenly thought that while walking on water was somewhat intimidating, he still had to walk himself in the end.

But using 【Flight】 was a bit wasteful. If he could have a flying mount at this time, it would be much more convenient! And not just now; in many situations where 【Flight】 was needed, a flying mount could be used instead.

Xia Duo thought of what Niya had mentioned to him a few days ago: after he left, Archmage Greta had sent him a pair of Pegasus as an extra reward from the Princess. Of course, by now, those two Pegasus had long been sent back to the Tower of Time by Niya.

If he had left a few days later, perhaps he could have brought the Pegasus onto the ship.

Even in the 【Projection Plane】, Xia Duo had never ridden a Pegasus. He was still quite interested in this kind of flying mount of the Elf, though, of course, he was even more interested in unicorns.

To Xia Duo, a Pegasus was nothing more than a horse that could fly. It was indeed very rare, but compared to a unicorn that could speak, had Wisdom, and could perform Spellcasting, a Pegasus was nothing at all.

……

When he arrived on the large ship of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, Saide was already nowhere to be seen, and Mai, Er Si was not there either. Only Ti Mo Xi was talking to a strange Mage at the bow. It seemed the investigation team Ti Mo Xi mentioned earlier had already arrived.

Xia Duo stepped forward to greet them, then asked: "Lord Ti Mo Xi, how is the situation now?"

"So far it is going smoothly. As for further details, we have to wait for the investigation results from Kelisi's team. I forgot to introduce you; this is Kelisi, a Senior Arcanist of the Arcane Union."

Xia Duo bowed. He did not expect to meet another Senior Arcanist, and one from the Arcane Union at that, which made him feel a bit curious about this so-called investigation team.

Was this an outsourced team that the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce found at the Arcane Union, or had someone from the Arcane Union joined the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce?

And was this investigation team just going through the motions like Archmage Olong, who went to Huo Ke Territory to investigate the Mage assassination incident earlier?

"Lord Xia Duo, I have heard my nephew mention you more than once. He is also a Pioneer and is currently developing new land on the Kangqi Plain. He highly praises the 'Standard Development Manual of Daxia Territory' that you wrote. He told me that if it weren't for this book, he would have been ready to give up on pioneering."

Kelisi looked at Xia Duo curiously, as if wanting to see clearly what was so special about Xia Duo that he could write a book that even his arrogant nephew highly praised.

*Cough*—

Xia Duo felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at by Kelisi. He covered his mouth and coughed, hurriedly changing the subject, "Lord Kelisi, what have you discovered here? Who is behind those water-weed murlocs? What is the function of those water weeds?"

A series of questions stumped Kelisi. He glanced at Ti Mo Xi, and seeing that he did not object, he replied: "Our team specializes in tracking clues. We have currently discovered several traces of human interference, but as for who is behind the water-weed murlocs, we still need to continue searching for clues. My people are doing that now. We will preserve the clues and bring them back to Seventon to conduct further investigation. However, based on experience, I speculate that this matter cannot be separated from the Elf."

"As for the function of the water weeds, this is not what our team specializes in. Perhaps it would be better to ask Senior Arcanist Saide when he returns."

Elf?

Xia Duo fell silent. Why were there Elf everywhere? It really felt a bit like a haunting presence. Then, would the mysterious organization that had ties to Rodney Territory also be backed by the Elf?

No, Xia Duo quickly denied this speculation. Lord Huo Ke had said that the mysterious organization was backed by a Great Arcanist and had ties to Rodney Territory; he still believed this point.

If the mysterious organization was also backed by the Elf, then what did Lord Huo Ke's actions count as? Dogs biting dogs between different Elf factions?

If it were really dogs biting dogs between Elf factions, shouldn't they have exposed their identities directly?

If it were the same Elf faction, there would be no need to say such things.

It seems that the water-weed murloc incident here should be Mysterious Organization No. 2. Having one mysterious organization was not enough, and now another one had popped up. It really was troublesome!

Looking at the calm lake surface, Xia Duo could not help but feel a bit irritable.