Chapter 567: Joint Efforts from All Sides
When the news that the Wokou would fight against Bay Territory reached the Pfizer Merchant Guild,
it immediately drew great attention from the Pfizer Merchant Guild.
The Pfizer caravans had long been envious of the developing Bay Territory.
But they also knew very well that even the blockade from the Sevinton Council forces couldn't do anything to Bay Territory—instead, it grew stronger and stronger.
Attacking without sufficient strength, as before, was even more inadvisable.
The powerful strength of the Bay Territory army had already spread along with their strange reputation.
Especially in recent newspapers, there had been constant reports about Bay Territory hunting down dragon-blooded creatures, often yielding great results.
This fully demonstrated the strength of Bay Territory.
According to what the Pfizer Merchant Guild knew, Bay Territory had already attracted seventy to eighty thousand adventurers and had no less than a hundred thousand professional soldiers of its own.
Not to mention, their performance in the battles of the underground world was exceptionally outstanding.
Recently, the Grand Arcanist Cronorman was even loudly "boasting" in the council about Bay Territory's merits in supporting the Dwarven Kingdom.
This little old man had a simple idea, focusing on expressing to everyone that—
integrating more arcane technologies into the lives of the Netheril Empire's citizens could enhance the productivity and strength of the entire empire.
Most lords were willing, being among the greatest beneficiaries.
As for most spellcasters and arcanists, what they cared more about was gaining more knowledge, investing more energy and resources into research.
Integrating these magical technologies into commoners' productive activities, in their eyes, was meaningless.
A portion of lords and spellcasters who saw the benefits initially supported Grand Arcanist Cronorman.
Of course, in the eyes of most spellcasters, this Grand Arcanist was simply too fanciful.
But even so, more people began to learn about Bay Territory, to understand their strength and transformation.
"If we want to cause trouble for Bay Territory, relying solely on ourselves is far from enough."
"Pass the message to the Cole Elves. The troubles they encountered before were exactly the handiwork of Bay Territory."
"Those special warriors are probably Bay Territory's secret weapons, the same ones that attacked their Black Raven Castle."
Sora, with a calm expression, looked sharply at the other heads of the Pfizer Merchant Guild.
No one dared to meet his eyes—only the expressionless Bloodhand Karn was still deep in thought.
His thinking was simple—so long as he could take revenge on Bay Territory.
Especially on Beelzebub, who had "defeated" him!
Lark, seated next to Carmen, said nothing. He had spent the last two years near Bloodmoon City.
He had personally witnessed the growth and strengthening of Bay Territory.
He had once entertained thoughts of acting against Bay Territory, but having received no follow-up prophecy from Sora, he decisively abandoned the idea.
He was keenly aware of Bay Territory's trickiness and power now.
Even with his hidden strength, at most he could only fight Bay Territory to a standstill. To expose himself for a coming plan would not be worth it—this was the Darkmoon Family's accumulation of centuries.
Precisely because of this, Lark was so wary of Bay Territory's development.
In just two short years, it had surpassed centuries of his family's buildup.
If suppression wasn't enacted now to break Bay Territory's momentum, it wouldn't be long before even the Pfizer Merchant Guild could no longer contend with them.
After all, even the Cole Elf Kingdom couldn't openly mobilize a massive army to launch an attack on Bay Territory.
Seeing no objections, Prophet Sora, in front of everyone, cast "Sending" to contact the Cole Elves.
Then Sora continued to instruct everyone: "Leave the matter of Bay Territory to the Wokou pirates."
"Let's just supply them with more long-range weapons and new artillery."
"The Cole Elves will definitely intervene, so we can stand aside for now."
"The crucial moment for launching the plan is almost here—centuries of scheming hinge on this."
"During this period, everyone should collect more intelligence, especially the clues regarding the underground world must not be cut off."
"Once the plan succeeds, our strength will make a great leap forward. We will surely gain discourse power in the Big Apple City Alliance."
"At that time, we can mobilize all resources of Big Apple City to blockade and suppress Bay Territory."
"No matter how strong its productivity is, if its goods can't be sold, they're stuck staring."
Everyone could hear the unwillingness in Sora's tone.
After all, with Sora's temperament, he never held back against enemies.
There were too many examples of him arranging for enemies' families to be ruined, their lives spent in pain and regret.
Yet now, he had to leave Bay Territory to be "handled" by others—this was a personal "insult" and "injury" to him.
So they were extremely careful, making sure not to anger Sora and become the target of his wrath.
Cole Elf Kingdom.
The kingdom's capital, the Pearl of the Northern Continent—Corella.
Lush forests were interspersed among the magnificent buildings, blending perfectly with them.
A crystal-clear river flowed slowly through the city center.
On the spacious streets, one magical puppet after another patrolled.
Occasionally, falling leaves were swept away by automatic magic brooms.
A light mist wafted gently outward from the river channel.
Dozens of petite, translucent figures frolicked joyfully by the riverside, their clear, pleasant voices faintly audible.
Hundreds of little spirits curiously examined the unicorns, their adorable large eyes filled with twinkles of wonder.
This was a scene of peace and serenity, like a paradise.
In the luxurious palace at the city's center, the Cole Elf Council was in session.
The news of Bay Territory had passed through several hands and had now reached the council of the Cole Elf Kingdom.
It immediately caused an uproar in the council.
Not because they cared much about Bay Territory.
But because the latter's "counterattack" made them feel humiliated.
They had always been the ones to arrange, control, weaken, and eliminate other forces. They had never suffered such a major loss.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the raiders emerging from the underground world hadn't surpassed a million yet.
Their timing of appearance was simply too "critical."
Right when the Cole Elf Kingdom was in a key phase of attacking the Ail Elves!
The foul-tempered, hard-headed Ail Elves had shown extremely strong resistance.
The Cole Elves had paid a heavy price to break several key fortress lines of the Ail Elves.
They were about to commit more troops to expand their victory, preparing to sweep away the Ail Elves' remaining forces.
And then they got stabbed in the back.
Painful and brutal!
However, what comforted the Cole Elves was the appearance of several elven deities.
For these elf councilors, the gods meant a great deal.
But it didn't mean they would be grateful to Bay Territory—on the contrary, their hatred and hostility would only deepen.
They didn't want to lose face before the gods, because all of them desired to go further.
Councilor Charrise flipped through Bay Territory's various files with a blank expression and murmured thoughtfully:
"The Dwarven Kingdom has temporarily refused cooperation. They bear a grudge over our lack of aid and won't fall out with Bay Territory for now."
Councilor Avalon sneered, scanning the figures around her with sharp eyes and said indifferently:
"I told you before—not to be stingy with supplies. The Dwarven Kingdom needed our support."
"Now look, the Dwarven Kingdom has grown closer to the Netheril Empire and has even opened their lines, letting duergar and drow elves flood the surface."
She paused slightly, noticing their dodging eyes, then took a deep breath and said solemnly:
"Saying more now is useless. The top priority is to quickly suppress these filthy pests. I will dispatch a sister guard squad to assist."
After speaking, Councilor Avalon fell silent.
She had expressed her stance and given her answer, unwilling to get involved in their actions against the Netheril Empire and Bay Territory.
"Focusing on our own development is the proper path. These fools are about to fall into the trap of conspiracy."
The other councilors paid no attention to Avalon's inward complaints.
Many were carefully examining the information on Bay Territory, their eyes showing strong interest.
They had also heard before that the Shadow Council frequently "cleansed" the "geniuses" of other kingdoms and forces.
They originally didn't care, firmly believing themselves to be the true chosen of destiny.
However, the rapid rise of the Netheril Empire, the emergence of Grand Arcanist Iorum and many other prodigiously gifted Grand Arcanists, had also stirred up caution in their hearts.
From initial indifference, they began to invest some resources to support the Shadow Council's cleansing operations.
It was precisely with the support of these elven councilors and great lords that the Shadow Council's assassinations proceeded so smoothly.
Once they targeted someone, the vast majority of geniuses could hardly escape.
After all, no matter how talented a person was, before they fully matured, they couldn't be that strong.
Some geniuses could leap 1–2 tiers to kill enemies.
But if they encountered an Extraordinary or even a Legendary-ranked assassin right after becoming a Professional, they were doomed.
The legendary ranger taken down by Bay Territory was merely one of the Shadow Council's controlled members.
Matthew's experience back then was also a result of the Shadow Council's actions.
Because of their high success rate, they paid more attention and effort to those who escaped their hunts.
Naturally, Matthew and Bay Territory, now making great waves in the Netheril Empire, drew their attention.
They had originally thought that the failed Shadow Council would deal with Matthew swiftly and decisively.
But all they received were reports of repeated failures.
Coincidentally, the Cole Elves were waging war on the Ail Elves, so their most powerful warriors had no time to spare.
Who would have thought that in less than two years, Bay Territory would rise to such prominence.
And now, they had delivered a painful blow to the Cole Elf Kingdom!
In the eyes of the Cole Elf Council, the invasion by underground forces wasn't much of a threat.
They merely awaited the chance to free up time and deploy elite troops to wipe them out.
Only the loss of tens of thousands of elven warriors and over a hundred high elven mages truly pained them.
Elves reached adulthood around the same age as humans.
But due to their different concept of time, training elite soldiers took far more time and resources than it did for humans.
The loss of tens of thousands of elven warriors would take more than two years for the entire Netheril Empire to replenish.
After all, this wasn't typical battlefield casualties—these were real sacrifices.
Now, with intelligence revealing Bay Territory as the mastermind behind the underground invasion—
the Elf Council's attitude changed even more.
Bay Territory's rise must be curbed!
They would show no mercy to the rebellious Netheril Empire, let alone a blatantly "defiant" Bay Territory.
"The Wokou under the Pfizer Merchant Guild are preparing to strike Bay Territory. This is a great opportunity!"
It was Councilor Kaledor who spoke, hatred flashing in his eyes without concealment.
Councilor Avalon knew the reason. The elven commander stationed at Black Raven Castle was one of Kaledor's relatives.
Kaledor had placed high expectations on him—not only personally instructing him in martial arts but also spending resources to have him posted to Black Raven Castle for prestige.
Who would have thought that this decision would cost him his life.
Kaledor, feeling guilty, naturally held deep hatred toward Bay Territory.
Speaker Tarion blinked as he pondered Yaya's situation, and couldn't help but ask:
"What method did Bay Territory's true dragon use to resist the effects of Dragon Frenzy Seal?"
Every elven councilor present clearly knew the Speaker wasn't concerned about Bay Territory but rather their true dragon.
Any true dragon was a force to be reckoned with.
Everyone knew—as long as it lived long enough, anything was possible!
True dragons lived even longer than elves!
The Dragonslayer Star in the elves' hands was their trump card to suppress true dragon forces.
If any signs of a dragon resurgence appeared,
the Cole Elves would unhesitatingly summon the Dragonslayer Star to purge the dragons.
If Bay Territory's dragon was a one-off, it wouldn't matter.
But if they truly mastered knowledge to resist the "Dragon Frenzy Seal" and could replicate it in other dragons, then it would be a complete catastrophe.
Ordinary dragonkind lacked intelligence and didn't understand what this calamity-like Dragon Frenzy Seal even was.
But other true dragons were different!
They lived long and remembered well!