Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 558: Is this someone who is easy to use?
"I believe that you have seen the disaster detection devices set up by the Scourge Mission on your way to the city of Nereids?" After getting to the point, Queen Emila asked this question first.

Nevile's mind naturally emerged with a scene of a tower-shaped building continuously emitting high-energy magic in the deep sea. She nodded subconsciously and said, "Indeed, I have seen it, but what does this have to do with the Scourge Mission?"

Isn't this an internal affair of the Nierid royal family?
"It's a long story. Please listen to me as I explain the whole story in detail. Perhaps you will understand my worries." The smile on Queen Emila's face seemed to be a little helpless. Seeing this, Nevi'er did not ask any further questions and waited silently for her to continue.

"Nominally, the Scourge Mission claims that the Scourge Detection Device is limited to providing early warnings for impending natural disasters, but in reality, everyone knows that the operating principle of this device is based on the capture of abnormal magical phenomena in the area, which means that it also has the function of detecting changes in magical power. The detection effect of a single Scourge Detection Device may not be obvious, but the Scourge Mission has never been stingy with the number of devices, and will always deploy at least a thousand devices in the target area to weave a giant blockade network. And for the Azure Sky Sea, which is adjacent to human cities and where civilization cannot extend its tentacles, the number of devices they deploy will increase exponentially until any hidden trench or abyss is covered."

Queen Amyra stretched out her slender and graceful fingers and drew a circle on the table, representing the scope of the Azure Sea, which also surrounded most of the territory ruled by the city of Nereides: "For us Mirror Elves, the origin magic that resonates with the magic of the sea plays a vital role in daily life, production and construction, as well as combat and hunting. It can even be considered the foundation of the Mirror Elves' survival. Let alone how we use the origin magic to cultivate on the deep sea land or eliminate dangerous sea beasts in the area, the most intuitive point is that the two origin magics of underwater breathing and deep sea adaptation are the magic that every Mirror Elves will use and must use since birth. Without them, we can't even find our foothold in this sea."

Nevi nodded slightly when she heard this, indicating her understanding. There is a saying that the mirror elves are not a natural deep-sea race. They were originally an alien race born in the archipelago area. Because they were born with the ability to use sea magic, they were able to enter the sea to hunt and gather, avoiding conflicts with other races. But with the fight for land hegemony in the ancient times, the war intensified, and the still weak mirror elves had to develop the two kinds of magic mentioned by Queen Amyra just now, and the whole family fled to the sea to survive, and gradually evolved into an alien race that adapted to the deep-sea environment over a long period of time. As for the fact that they later developed their own civilization in the deep sea and turned back to intervene in the fight for land hegemony, that is a story for later.

Of course, if you don't quite understand the process of this evolution, there is a human scholar named Darwin who cited whales as an example when he proposed the theory of evolution, which is similar to the history of the mirror elves. Although whales have the word "fish" in their names, they cannot breathe under the sea like real fish, and the same is true for mirror elves.

"This leads to a problem." Queen Aimi said in a serious tone: "If the mirror elves want to survive in the deep sea, they must rely on origin magic; but the large-scale and high-frequency use of origin magic will inevitably cause changes in the magic power of the sea area and be captured by the detection network of the natural disaster detection device. Over time, it may attract the attention of the united cult. By then, the city of Nereids will face a catastrophic disaster."

Her words were somewhat horrifying, and the three little girls screamed in unison, apparently recalling some bad memories, such as the fire in the Xugen Swamp. Would such a gorgeous city like a work of art also meet the same end?
But Nevill remained calm and unmoved. She picked up the teacup on the table and was about to take a sip to moisten her throat, but when she moved her nose, she didn't smell the familiar aroma of black tea. Then she realized that she was not on the sky island, so she put the teacup down inconspicuously and said, "This is of course a serious consequence, but at least it won't happen in the short term, Your Majesty? I have already observed on the way here. The number of natural disaster detection devices deployed by the cult in this sea area does not seem to be very large, far from the level of blocking the living space of the mirror elves as you said."

"That's because in the past, we tried every means to destroy some of the devices and disguised them as natural damage caused by undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the natural disaster delegation." Queen Amyra paused for a moment before continuing, "Of course, this alone is far from enough. Therefore, when the news that the Natural Disaster Detection Bureau decided to deploy natural disaster detection devices in the surrounding waters came out, we found out the specific situation through our own channels on land."

It is not surprising that the mirror elves have their own information channels on land. Don't forget that deep-sea crystal corals have always been the best-selling luxury goods in the land-sea region. Collecting this kind of coral is just a matter of hands for the mirror elves, and it is even easier to bribe some daring humans with huge benefits. Of course, this relationship is definitely not strong enough. Even the human servants of the Valenhild family who have received blood covenants dare to rebel against their masters, let alone these greedy people who are obsessed with wealth and interests? The countess asked with interest: "What's the situation?"

"There are two things." Queen Amyra held up two fingers. "One is that the Natural Disaster Detection Bureau discovered two mineral veins in a mountain range in the suburbs of Roterdana City, which are suspected to produce some precious strategic minerals. The Church Alliance attaches great importance to this and even invested huge sums of money to develop related industries in Roterdana City, which originally had no industrial foundation. The second is that the head of the Natural Disaster Detection Bureau in Roterdana City, Mr. Greenwood, is a blind, conceited and extremely short-sighted guy. He was originally sent here because he made a mistake at the Church Headquarters. He is obsessed with how to make merit and get promoted and regain his previous position."

When she said this, Nevill suddenly realized something and chuckled, "People like this are undoubtedly the easiest to use."

"Yes."

Queen Emila was not surprised that Nevile's ideas were surprisingly consistent with her own at the time. After all, good rulers always think alike. The Valenhild family was able to be active in the Śikilia Peninsula for hundreds of years under the leadership of the Silver-Eyed Countess, and then fell into decline after changing several leaders. This was not just because of the secret suppression by the combined church.

She smiled and said, "After learning these two things, we quickly developed a targeted strategy. We used our channels in the human world to spend a huge amount of money to bribe Mr. Greenwood. At the same time, we used propaganda, persuasion, instigation, and inducement to subtly guide his inclinations. He adjusted the strategic deployment of the Natural Disaster Detection Bureau on his own and gave the highest priority to mineral vein excavation. He ignored other matters, including the deployment of natural disaster detection devices in the waters around the Blue Sky Sea. This was originally his job, but in the mind of Mr. Greenwood, who was only thinking about making contributions and gaining the appreciation of the church leaders, it didn't seem that important."

"The plan was executed very smoothly. Mr. Greenwood invested all the manpower and material resources of the Natural Disaster Detection Bureau into his great cause of fighting for power and profit. As a result, the number and density of natural disaster detection devices deployed in the Azure Sky Sea area dropped drastically that year. And the mirror elves of our Azure Sea Mirror finally managed to gain a small living space in this giant net that should have been tightly closed."

"Until now."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)