After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

Importantly, once the Alesers settle in the capital...

"..."

This will put unexpected pressure on Yang Hao's plan to save the Little Empress!

After all, based on the intelligence provided by the Isgardians, these elite Areser soldiers were equipped with steam rifles that fired steel balls! While these steam rifles were certainly not as powerful as the Japa 1404 at long range, at very close range, these steel balls still had the power to directly pierce an elf's skull and kill him!

The elves cannot afford such losses. Not only are each elf precious, but every elf selected for the operation is a top-tier master... Yang Hao absolutely cannot allow any casualties in this operation, therefore he must admit that if the elite Alessar troops were to occupy the Roman Palace, it would definitely have a terrifying impact on his plans.

Not to mention, after absorbing the technology of steam factories and steam rifles, the Aleserians would certainly make some improvements... If they were lucky, they would at most reach the point of mass-producing steam rifles. If they were unlucky, their steam rifles might have already taken a step further in range, rate of fire, power, and accuracy...

On a wide plain, there's little difference, but within the confines of a palace interior, the problem becomes much more significant...

Yang Hao's face darkened as he slid the envelope across the table. With Miss Nia's approval, he opened it and found inside a black-and-white photograph obtained by the people of Isgard using some unknown technology.

The steam rifle in the Aleser's hand in the photo confirmed Yang Hao's ominous look: it was indeed a new type of steam rifle, which would definitely bring terrible casualties to the elves.

"...How many more days until they arrive in the Roman capital?"

He asked. Faced with the Regent's unusually serious question, Nia merely glanced at Finn's expression, and after confirming once again that Yang Hao was always the leader of both Kabul and Baikal, she smiled and said:

"Your Majesty Yang Hao—that intelligence is classified as Issugard's secret. Wouldn't the best way to obtain it be for our three kingdoms to establish an intelligence-sharing alliance, further strengthening our friendship?"

"...Let me discuss this."

The meeting entered another break. It was now lunchtime.

Nia won back a point and chose to go back for dinner—she still preferred the exquisite cuisine of Isgard. It wasn't that the elves' food was bad, but the taste of home always brought her joy.

As for Yang Hao, he could only ask Finn's maid, Qinna, to first organize the recent intelligence on the Roman Empire, and then, with a worried expression, ask Finn to send Theresa over.

It wasn't that Theresa could be of any help, but rather that at a time like this, he hoped Theresa could be there to comfort him and offer some advice.

Not long after, Theresa arrived. Although she was very busy after becoming the new Baselissa, it didn't mean she didn't have time to rest during meals.

After confirming the lunchtime schedule with the maids and elders, she came over immediately. Fen also brought Naruja along, just because Naruja might be able to offer some unexpected and good advice using her understanding of the tribe's way of thinking.

The four of them sat around the table. After a while, and after taking their first delicious bite, Yang Hao sighed:

"I think it's acceptable to share intelligence with Isgard if it's just a simple intelligence-sharing transaction."

But the problem is, Isgard wants more than just intelligence sharing—given their willingness to readily accept my technology promotion, which was clearly designed to harm them, they probably have ulterior motives...

I'm not worried about whether they have any designs on our country. If I had to say they do, I doubt it would affect me, Finn, Theresa, or Naruja. I'm confident I can mitigate any potential impact... But the problem is, they're behaving so strangely..."

“I understand, I understand. It’s like that guy who eats and sleeps like a pig, Guangming, suddenly chatting with me, or like a little puppy suddenly crawling on me and nursing. If something like that really happened, I would find it very strange.”

"Theresa? Could you tell me more about her? I've suddenly become very interested in this..."

"Waaah..."

The three girls gave different responses. Teresa instinctively started swearing and making dirty jokes in this relaxed environment, Finn was very interested in the latter part of her story and completely ignored Yang Hao's embarrassment, while Naruja remained as clueless as ever about these political matters.

Regardless, having voiced his concerns in front of them made Yang Hao feel very relaxed.

Simply feeling relaxed won't solve the problem. So, after enjoying a few more bites of delicious food, Yang Hao tentatively offered his thoughts on how to solve the problem.

First, intelligence sharing with Isgard must continue. Without intelligence from Isgard, Yang Hao's plan would be thwarted or even fail outright.

Secondly, once intelligence sharing with Isgard begins, it is essential to closely monitor the Isgardians' further intentions—if they have ulterior motives, Yang Hao must consult with others and make judgments before making a decision to avoid being taken advantage of.

Thirdly, Yang Hao absolutely cannot be alone with the Isgardians during this period. Finn sensed a strong unease, as if the black dragon wanted to force itself on Yang Hao in public—she had a feeling the Isgardians were planning something big.

Everyone agreed on the first two points, but Yang Hao seemed hesitant about the third.

After all, as regent, it's perfectly normal for him to occasionally dine with envoys from other countries and discuss matters of state. If even this can't be maintained, then it might be time to prepare for a period of strained relations between the two nations.

"After all, the people of Isgard wouldn't be foolish enough to do anything significant under those circumstances, would they? They're not Romans..."

"That's true..."

Finn eventually withdrew her opinion, but she seemed to recall something, and after the meal, she still wore a thoughtful expression...

In the afternoon, negotiations began again.

In today's third round of negotiations, Nia took the initiative, while Yang Hao was the one who suffered a setback.

He agreed to share intelligence as originally planned, but Nia's side stated that they would not release important intelligence before Gabon and Baikal provided it.

"After all, we in Isgard have been ahead of the curve for a long time. It's only reasonable for the two kingdoms of Gabai to follow suit now, isn't it?"

"...That makes sense. So, will Ysgard provide us with intelligence as soon as it confirms?"

"If Gaparia and Bayez could do the same, Isugard would definitely hand over the intelligence we have at the same time as the intelligence exchange."

Nia shrugged, rested her right elbow on the conference table, and then gently grasped her right upper arm with her left forearm under her chest.

She looked at Yang Hao with keen interest, feeling as if she had discovered a weakness in him—and indeed she had. She should have realized long ago that the Regent, a man who valued relationships so highly, could not possibly disregard the young Empress he had cared for for so long.

However, Isgard had no intention of kidnapping the empress for blackmail. Firstly, there was no need, and secondly, Isgard was not one of those barbarians—they were civilized people. Although they would certainly resort to despicable methods, at least they wouldn't use such vile means against a child.

So, Your Majesty the Regent, what is your reply?

Nia just watched, and Yang Hao just watched.

After a moment, he nodded:

"In that case, let's leave the issue of intelligence sharing here—we will soon hand over the intelligence to Isgard, and we hope that Isgard will keep its promise."

“That’s natural. Now, before delivering the intelligence… let me tell you something for free. Some information about the Kingdom of Arese.”

After all, we'll be fighting against these two countries together from now on. Miss Nia emphasized the word "we," which made Yang Hao and Fen realize that Isgard indeed had ulterior motives.

Then, Miss Nia began by saying, "They are a pirate kingdom." Before Qinna brought the latest intelligence, she recounted to Yang Hao the past of the Alessars' unbridled behavior at sea.

It seems that thirty years ago, during the Age of Exploration in Issugard, the land explorers made contact with the Alessars. Their first encounter left an extremely bad impression on both sides: Alessar pirates robbed an Issugardian expedition, only to find nothing of value on board except for food and ammunition. Enraged, the pirates sank the ship, much to the fury of the Issugardians.

What followed was a long war. Although Isgard and Areser were geographically far apart, their fleets clashed constantly on the ocean.

As is well known, on the continent of Orros, sea transport remains the cheapest way to move large quantities of goods from the west to the east. Not to mention that coastal caravans can also earn extra income by trading with other cities—therefore, Issugard has been working hard to build its own caravans, while simultaneously developing land transportation and more advanced sea transport.

With the advent of maritime transport, conflicts with audacious pirates were inevitable.

The pirates of Aresel were a band of madmen. They would swiftly attack caravans in Issugard under the cover of night or in fog, and for the people of Issugard at the time, defending against these elusive pirates was no easy task.

It's like a cockroach crawling into your drainpipe. If you don't deal with it, your house will be infested with cockroaches in the future. But dealing with just one cockroach takes too much effort, and you might even have to dismantle the drainpipe. And the cockroach might run away faster than you can dismantle it.

In this situation, Isgard and Alessar were practically irreconcilable enemies. However, Isgard quickly gained a tactical advantage thanks to the "Eagle Mother" tactic that Yang Hao had inadvertently proposed, and through the presence of griffins, they discovered the location of Alessar's fleet earlier than the Alessars... Thus, the Alessar pirates were temporarily driven out of the coast of the Orros continent, but this did not mean that these madmen would give up so easily.

Since the fattest Orros couldn't go, Alesser turned her attention to the trade routes between Orros and the continent of Elusia... After all, the Eagle Mother of Isgard couldn't patrol there all the time, and even if she did, Alesser's pirates could break up into smaller groups. This was really a headache, and they really didn't know what to do.

"Not to mention, the Aleser also traded with those lizard races... Under these circumstances, the Aleser have truly made a name for themselves as a pirate kingdom in Isugard—of course, the Aleser definitely used the high-class identity of merchants when trading with the Romans... After all, merchants are the most important guests for the Romans right now. Not to mention a sea kingdom that can provide a large amount of fish."

At this point, Nia shrugged, clearly disdainful. She knew Alesser definitely had ulterior motives towards Roman, so the grain trade between the two great powers that Roman hoped for would ultimately only send wave after wave of elite troops...

But the problem is, Alleser might actually supply Roman with the spoils: because Roman will definitely ally with Alleser against Isugard, even if they are subsequently annexed by Alleser, they will certainly do so...

"Tsk tsk...it's disgusting that the Alessars got to play the role of 'good guys' in a legitimate way," the Black Dragon muttered to himself. Just then, Yang Hao spoke in an extremely strange tone:

"Since the Alessars are using pirates to rob you, why can't you also pretend to be pirates and double-cross them?"

The man and the dragon just stared at each other, wide-eyed.

This was indeed difficult for Yang Hao to understand. He thought to himself, since Alessar had already shamelessly played a masquerade ball with you, why should you still openly use your true forms to fight them in an unequal battle?

The Aleseans can pretend to be pirates and attack your homeland, so why don't you turn the tables and pretend to be pirates and burn their entire families down?! Your leniency is truly frightening...

This was Yang Hao's thought at the moment, but he wasn't quite sure what Isugard was thinking, so he could only raise his confusion rather than offer an answer.

For Nia, however, this was like a sudden awakening—oh right?! How come they didn't think of that? How come their thinking is still so stubborn and conservative?! Why do they have to insist on fighting against these shameless Alessar pirates with the idea that "we are the righteous Isgard Navy"?

They've already lost all shame, so if we insist on maintaining our dignity, wouldn't we just be at a disadvantage? Exactly! Who says we can't pretend to be pirates? They've already attacked our homeland, so why can't we turn around and pretend to be pirates and attack theirs?

Anyway, Alessar's influence at most is limited to dealing with the Roman Empire, but the problem is that we originally planned to invade the Roman Empire. Even if we lose the Roman Empire as a trading partner, it won't be a big loss for us, right?

...Okay. Once we get back, we need to get the President to consider the feasibility of the "pirate disguise" as soon as possible.

Thank you so much, Your Majesty the Regent—don't you really want to consider coming and living with us?

Nia was in a state of great inner turmoil. And it was at this moment that Qinna finally delivered the information.

What she brought was the latest intelligence from Gaparia regarding the Roman Empire over the past few days.

The intelligence included information about the Church of Light, which was currently engaged in internal strife, down to details such as the Holy Maiden's current attempt to govern using Yang Hao's past experience and nearly making a mess of things, or the fact that the Church Leader Peter's side was running smoothly but was losing money or being embezzled.

Naturally, this intelligence also included rebellions throughout the Roman Empire, especially the escalating rebellions in the central region and the current state of cities that sprang up as a result of Constantinople's rise.

Yang Hao was very satisfied with this intelligence, as was Fen, and Nia certainly didn't say anything.

After comparing the contents of the intelligence report, she took out an envelope from beneath the soft scales on her chest. Yang Hao took the envelope, which was still warm from the black dragon, glanced back at Fen, whose face was even more pale, and took out the letter inside. He unfolded it and found that it was actually a detailed map of the Roman Empire.

"In any case, our spies are also working hard—they even have to starve themselves to the point of being emaciated in order to infiltrate the Roman Empire openly, because apart from the important figures, almost no one in the central district has enough to eat."

Nia shrugged.

"But all they can do is compile the map and monitor the possible routes of the Aleserians. We also need your intelligence support. By the way, are those giant, gate-like structures in the central district a Roman custom? Our people observed them from a distance but couldn't find any purpose for those gates; they certainly look like useless decorations... That's all we know, let alone what's inside those strange cities, some tens of meters above the ground..."

It seems the Isgard people's intelligence on the Roman Empire is not deep enough. Of course, this is also related to the fact that most of the teleportation portals in the central district are damaged... Yang Hao made a judgment and then gave his answer:

"Useless junk now."

"I see—so those peasant settlements that our people discovered are actually the [rebels] you mentioned in your intelligence? In that case... the itinerary of Alesser's elite troops might be affected."

Nia pointed to the map, gliding from Drake Harbor along the Roman Empire's national highway—or so she'd guessed, those overgrown, barely legible stone-paved sections were the highway. Anyway, she slid up the highway, passing several towns before finally placing her finger on the central area where the Roman capital was located.

The town on the base was a place the elite Alessar forces couldn't bypass, and it was currently besieged by a rebellion. Even if they could quell the rebellion in one city a day and then rush onward, the Alessars couldn't reach the capital before January 14th—moreover, even if they did reach the capital, they would need time to rest. After all, they were a human force, not tireless machines.

In this situation, Yang Hao breathed a sigh of relief: he seemed to still have time to save his little empress, but then Black Dragon's next words made him tense again:

"However, the Alese may not help to deal with the rebels. If they don't deal with the rebels, they will definitely arrive in the capital on January 10th."

Yes—the Aleseans probably won't care about the rebellions along the way at all. Their orders are probably just to protect Roman's capital.

In this situation, Yang Hao only had three days... Three days. Although the masters could certainly reach the Elven capital within three days, if they rashly entered, they might be surrounded while the archmage was casting the teleportation spell...

If the Night Witch wasn't monitoring the young queen and her companions, Yang Hao was confident he could weather the encirclement and escape. But with the Night Witch watching, a single cast of her darkness magic, nearly completely blinding them, would render even the elves helpless against the royal knights with their rifles and longbows...

What is this again? It's like someone's monitor being unplugged while they're playing a game—how are you supposed to beat someone else without a monitor? That's impossible...

Therefore, Yang Hao felt extremely...headache-inducing. He needed to find a time when the capital's defenses were weakest to launch an invasion, but time was of the essence. What could he do?

Just as Yang Hao was racking his brains over this, Fen stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and then smiled at Nia:

"So, will Issugard also fulfill the promises made in last night's contract?"

Upon hearing this, Nia's face froze.

Just yesterday, Isgard signed a contract with Gaparia—a contract concerning the Roman capital.