Chapter 1246: Section 1247 Current Situation
“The situation on the Pamiji Plateau?” Zithraide pondered for a moment, “Which party’s matters does Your Excellency Illusion Demon mainly wish to inquire about?”
“Any is fine, just discuss anything you feel is worth mentioning,” said Illusion Demon.
“That’s quite a broad scope,” Zithraide muttered, “You’re the first to come exchange information with me for free, ah, what can I do when I can’t beat you.”
After mumbling a bunch of digressions, Zithraide finally began to discuss the current situation on the Pamiji Plateau.
Whether Zithraide was an information peddler, Angel could not be sure. But his organization and analysis of intelligence were more meticulous than Angel had expected.
Zithraide’s analysis of many matters was cogent, and he consistently managed to use sharp perspectives to see the larger picture from the smaller details, such as what he said about Lady Daine: “After the failed plane fusion, Lady Daine arranged for several apprentices from Gravity Forest to search for clues near the Perpetual Ice River. Speaking of which, you should also know what kind of environment that area around the Perpetual Ice River is. What could the apprentices possibly find there? I was curious at that time and later I had my mechanical dolls wander around the lower reaches of the Perpetual Ice River, guess what I saw?”
“I discovered that a team from the Song of the Deep Sea had sneaked into the glacier!”
“People from the Song of the Deep Sea, under Florenza’s guidance, are mainly in the central region of the plateau; they have a set trajectory and are almost impossible to stray towards the Perpetual Ice River.”
“At that time, I was particularly observant of their movements and found that the group from the Song of the Deep Sea seemed to be deliberately making contact with Gravity Forest, even concealing their actions from Florenza!”
Hiding from Florenza? Sanders raised an eyebrow, “People from Doren’s faction?”
Witcher Organizations mostly have internal contradictions, and the larger the organization, the more pronounced these conflicts tend to be. Often, however, the leader of an organization has enough strength to suppress dissenting voices, maintaining a relatively balanced state, as is the case with the Barbarian Cave.
However, the Song of the Deep Sea is different.
The strongest in the Song of the Deep Sea might be Florenza, but there is also another faction led by Doren, whose power is no less than that of Florenza, and he also has very strong and influential external support: the Otherworld power led by Yimagan.
Now the Otherworld power has deeply infiltrated all aspects of the Song of the Deep Sea, and Florenza very much wants to eliminate it but ended up caught in the mire himself.
The factions of Doren and Florenza have almost become completely antagonistic. Initially, the person who ambushed Angel in the Abyss was Nereus, who happened to be Doren’s disciple.
“Correct, considering how familiar they seemed, it’s likely they connected with Gravity Forest a long time ago. I was pondering, given the size of the Song of the Deep Sea, why would they reach out to Gravity Forest? Thinking about the rumors in recent years, the only thing I can think of is you, Your Excellency Illusion Demon.”
“You have a grudge with Doren’s faction, and people from Gravity Forest are eyeing you like prey; I guess they were planning to team up against you. As for timing, maybe when you were in the Abyss? But seeing you now without any issues, it seems their attempt failed,” speculated Zithraide.
In his layer-by-layer analysis, what Zithraide concluded was indeed the truth.
As Angel listened to his narration, he couldn’t help feeling surprised; one should never underestimate anyone who can walk the path of a wizard. Such an ability to deduce the larger picture from smaller details showed Zithraide’s keen insight into worldly affairs and his adeptness with people.
Zithraide casually brought up genuine insights, and Angel found himself fascinated as he listened. Many things recorded in books were actually embellished. Zithraide used his own perspective, taking events from the Pamiji Plateau as examples, to analyze the true situation of major organizations holding each other in check, negotiating with each other, and smartly extracting benefits from one another.
Zithraide saw that Angel was listening intently and spoke in even greater detail.
Moreover, he noticed that Sanders did not prevent him from going into detail, which clearly meant Sanders implicitly approved of his conduct.
Thus, the storytelling lasted from noon until dusk began to settle.
During this time, the news that Sanders really wanted to know was scarce; for the most part, Zithraide was building an information network between the major organizations for Angel.
When the wall clock’s cuckoo chimed for nine o’clock at night with its mechanical sound, Zithraide finally stopped speaking, stretching lazily, “It’s late, we’ll leave it at that for today.”
Angel felt somewhat embarrassed as he thanked Zithraide, clearly aware that many details were mentioned for his benefit.
“Considering your mentor’s involvement, I’ll say that what we discussed today is complimentary. Next time you can come alone, whatever you want to know, I can tell you. I happen to have a deal I’d like to discuss with you,” Zithraide said with a smile while looking at Angel.
“A deal?”
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare to pull Sanders’s beard. I’m simply hoping to exchange some alchemy insights with you. Moreover, I’m different from the stubborn and advantage-seeking Niroson,” said Zithraide, “I am willing to pay a price.”
At the mention of Niroson, Angel was somewhat surprised. Niroson was the first wizard he had encountered after Suise sent him back to the Old Earth Continent, and they had almost come to blows. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Niroson forcefully pulled him into exchanging alchemy insights.
“Lord Zithraide, you know Niroson?”
“I do, I saw him just the other day. He mentioned you, couldn’t stop singing your praises.” Zithraide remembered, Niroson had visited him, praising Angel and hoping he would help send Angel an invitation to Machinery City.
However, Niroson only mentioned seeking help and said nothing about offering something in return, taking advantage to the extreme, so naturally, Zithraide ignored his request.
“Well, if the chance arises, I will come to see Lord Zithraide alone; I just happen to have some queries regarding mechanical alchemy,” agreed Angel with a nod.
Regarding the conversation and potential deal between Angel and Zithraide, Sanders did not intervene. However, as Sanders listened, he also felt somewhat reflective.
From their conversation, it could be seen that Angel’s Alchemy Circle was slowly expanding.
And into this circle, Sanders probably couldn’t squeeze in.
As Angel’s mentor, Sanders felt both gratified and somewhat ashamed.
Once their dialogue ended, Zithraide looked at Sanders, “Are you satisfied with the information I provided earlier, Illusion Demon?”
Sanders neither confirmed nor denied but said, “Apart from what was mentioned before, there are some other things I want to know.”
“Has Rhein been seen recently?” Sanders remembered, he had gone to the Abyss with Rhein, but then Rhein had received a Prophecy from Belus and hurried back to the Southern Domain. Judging by Rhein’s expression at the time, something significant must have occurred.
“Rhein’s whereabouts? I haven’t really paid attention to that… However, not too long ago, Florenza seemed to have gone to Barbarian Cave to find Rhein, and after leaving Barbarian Cave, he disappeared on the Pamiji Plateau. Now, the people from the Song of the Deep Sea have also left the plateau.”
Although these two events seemed unrelated, Zithraide made a point of mentioning them together, which indicated he might believe there was a connection.
Sanders trusted Zithraide’s intuition; among the wizards, although Zithraide’s strength was always in a state of flux, Sanders valued him and maintained their friendship because of Zithraide’s extremely sharp intuition. Sometimes, Zithraide could immediately spot something amiss in what others said.
His intuition was so strong that he could easily tell if someone was lying without the need for a truth-revealing spell.
“I understand,” Sanders nodded, he should find some answers after returning to Barbarian Cave.
“Besides the matter of Rhein, there’s another thing I want to know,” Sanders looked at Zithraide, “Is there a lead yet on the cause of the plane fusion failure?”
Zithraide shook his head, “No, but there’s a rumor out there that it failed due to the intervention of an external force.”
“By the way, Maya has returned from the Crown Star Church; you might want to ask her. She may know something.”
Sanders nodded; although he didn’t care much about the cause of the plane fusion failure, since it happened in the vicinity of the Barbarian Cave, he couldn’t help but pay attention.
The conversation came to a close because it was already night, and Zithraide invited them to dine together.
Having been in the Abyss for so long without much normal food, Sanders readily agreed.
The atmosphere at dinner was pleasant, and Angel, being back in the Wizards’ Realm, was already quite relaxed. Tasting familiar cuisines, his appetite opened up.
After dinner, Zithraide took the opportunity to invite them to stay overnight, and Sanders agreed. Zithraide’s intention was to discuss alchemy with Angel during the evening, but when he visited Angel’s room in the middle of the night, he found he had made a wasted trip; Angel was not in his room.
…
Inside the Gravity Garden.
Angel came to the familiar open-air book room, where Popota was sitting on the ground, somewhat dazed, not daring to touch Sanders’s books or enter the book room area.
Upon seeing Angel, Popota snapped out of his daze.
“Now that we’ve returned to the Southern Domain, many things can be set aside. Once we’re back at Barbarian Cave, I’ll take you to meet Dororo. After that, I’ll also find a way for you to meet Hua Que.”
Popota said in a low voice, “Thank you.”
Angel sighed, about to say something more, when Sanders’s figure appeared in the open-air book room.
Sanders sat down at the desk and looked at Angel, “Now, we can talk. About Heiyu, and how you escaped?”
Just as Angel was about to speak, Sanders suddenly interrupted him again.
“Before you start, give me a straightforward answer. This time, you haven’t caused any trouble, have you?”
Angel remained silent.
“Alright, it seems I was hoping for too much to expect you not to cause trouble,” Sanders massaged his temples, as every time Angel caused trouble, it gave him a headache. Even if in the end there was a great benefit to be had, the process was always too nerve-racking.
“Hopefully, the trouble you’ve caused this time isn’t too big.”
Angel continued to stay silent, which caused Sanders’s heart to skip a beat.
He calmed his emotions and turned his gaze towards Popota, “Never mind, we’ll talk about your issues later; you start first.”