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

"So, let our Falcon Knights deal with the harpies flying in the sky?"

"Hmm. Perfect timing to test out new weapons."

During this time, Yang Hao also continued to improve the weapon.

The elves are already urging the establishment of oak factories, which will temporarily produce small-caliber rifles and bullets for Bayerzs to use by humans, and the elven instructors will temporarily train them with wooden sticks and Japa 1404 rifles.

It is expected that within a year, the existing army in Constantinople will be equipped with rifles, completely abandoning the old cold weapon tactics.

The rifles used by Bayerzans soldiers were called the "Bayerzans rifles," or, as the elves called them, "little guys."

毕竟跟12.7*108毫米口径的加帕1404式比起来，这把8*60毫米口径的步枪的确显得稍微小了一些...尤其是精灵们比较喜欢大家伙的现在，小口径步枪出现的时候甚至一度遭到了精灵的鄙夷...

Although Yang Hao didn't know how to criticize the current aesthetic of some elves who believe that "bigger is better, bigger is art, bigger is stronger," he was happy as long as they liked it.

These weapons were also given to the Eagle Knights. After all, with their smaller caliber, the Eagles could withstand the recoil in the air, making it easier for the knights to aim.

With the new weapons, the barbarian harpies should no longer be a threat to the United Nations—just as Yang Hao was thinking this, he realized that Finn was not actually worried about the barbarians.

Because stopping the barbarians from moving south is now a piece of cake for them, not to mention that the barbarians themselves are an uncivilized tribe, and intercepting them will not even result in many casualties, only a lot of bullets will be wasted, that's all.

Their key objective was to figure out the real reason why the barbarians were willing to risk annihilation to migrate south as a whole.

After all, no one knew what terrifying force could have driven the fearless barbarians to flee south. Geographically, the barbarians only had two important regions further north.

One is the Mourning Mountains, a range of towering peaks inhabited by an even stranger alien race.

Further north of the Mourning Mountains lies the "Land of Extreme Cold," as recorded in the Bayrzans documents. This land is perpetually below zero degrees Celsius and experiences endless snowfall due to some powerful high-ranking demon.

Considering that the alien races of the Sorrowful Mountains probably didn't have the ability to pose a threat or even intimidate the barbarians, Yang Hao could only tentatively look at Fen:

"...demon?"

“...A demon. But we’re not sure. Because we can’t find any concrete evidence.” Finn nodded, then shook his head. “But this could be a sign of an impending demonic calamity—and you said yourself, your ex-girlfriend told you that the Roman Empire has a very strange servant who can preserve magical remnants within the body... You know, even elves wouldn’t dare to inhale magical remnants rashly, let alone preserve them.”

"So, Finn, do you think it might be a demon that led the barbarians south?"

“Very likely. After all, Your Majesty the Regent, don’t forget... we defeated a demon from a thousand years ago.”

Nervous and uneasy, Fen carefully expressed her worries, word by word.

"The demons of a thousand years ago evolved very slowly due to their endless blood wars deep underground and the scarcity of resources... But what if the demons that have appeared in this calamity are some kind of [evolved] life form?"

The difference between them and ancient demons is perhaps greater than the difference between humans and monkeys. I even suspect now that the servant was a demon... but ultimately, since we haven't caught him, everything we're saying now is just speculation.

...Based on speculation, we can only express concern and vigilance; we simply cannot concentrate all our resources on the unknown at this time.

“So we need to stop those barbarians,” Yang Hao continued. “Kill them, find out what they’re so afraid of…and then we need to figure out how to track down that servant?”

"Perhaps. But there's no need to track that servant—he's lurking in the palace of the Roman capital, but the rangers can't get in now."

"why?"

"Because the Alessars ransacked the entire palace after they went in! Under their control, the only way the rangers could enter was through the main gate, but the security there was just too tight..."

Fen's wry smile elicited an extremely strange expression from Yang Hao.

Surprisingly, the renovation of the Roman Palace's defensive blind spots was led by the Aleseans...

If my sworn brother were watching from heaven, he probably would have already spat out blood.

He felt both amused and saddened at the same time.

Just then, an elf came in and said that the black dragon of Isgard was requesting an audience in Gaparia, and that the person he specifically requested was His Majesty Yang Hao.

Chapter 3: The Conditions of Ysgard and Heartbreak 8K

The black dragon's request for an audience forced Finn to immediately end her short break. She used teleportation magic to send Natalia and Yang Hao to the Green Garden, where she muttered to Yang Hao, "Don't be too busy," before leaving.

Yang Hao has his own job, and so does Fen. So at this moment, they are both fighting on their respective battlefields again.

Yang Hao originally intended for Natalia to rest and do something, since strictly speaking, Natalia didn't have any work to do—but this stubborn and earnest girl ultimately decided to come along and witness Yang Hao's hard work, so he had nothing to say.

"Then let's go check on Anna together after I finish my work in Gaparia. Come on, she's someone you know, so you don't need to be so serious in front of her."

"But work is work, and life is life."

"You're as serious as ever, Natalia."

Yang Hao and Natalia chatted as they walked through corridor after corridor until they met Miss Black Dragon, who had requested a meeting, in the reception room.

Miss Black Dragon was wearing her most beautiful clothes. Although she looked elegant and calm, she was actually constantly scratching something on the table with her fingernails.

Yang Hao didn't know why, but he always felt that she treated herself as a "commodity". In short, her behavior made Yang Hao feel strange.

“Miss Nia, what has happened?” He considered for a moment. If he could finish his last work in Gaparia as soon as possible today, he could spend half an hour with Anna before returning to the Purple Palace to continue working, and then have some rest time to take a walk with Theresa in the evening. So he chose to get straight to the point. “I’m very satisfied with your recent collaboration with us—so let’s get down to business as usual? It’ll be better for both of us.”

"That would be wonderful, but Your Majesty Yang Hao..."

Black Dragon glanced at Natalia, who had come in with Yang Hao and was now sitting in a corner chair. Black Dragon seemed to not want anyone else to record what happened in the meeting room, but Yang Hao waved his hand and said that he would tell her anyway if she asked, so it was better to let Natalia listen in.

This made Natalia's gaze towards Yang Hao even softer, and it also made Black Dragon realize that this woman, who was supposedly the former chief judge, held a very special place in Yang Hao's heart... So she chose to comply with Yang Hao's wishes and coughed twice.

"Actually, this is related to an unexpected incident that happened to our colonial fleet... They encountered a typhoon while heading towards the continent of Elusia, which caused several overloaded supply ships to sink. This means that while our fleet may arrive at the continent of Elusia ahead of schedule, it will also face extremely serious logistical problems in the short term."

So... in other words, we hope to receive industrial assistance from Gaparia... We hope Gaparia can produce bullets for us as consumables, and we are willing to pay a high price for this..."

Nia knew Yang Hao's habits, so she spoke quickly and concisely, then waited for his reply with an outward calm but inward anxiety.

Yang Hao, upon hearing this, simply looked at him with a strange expression.

He had previously told everyone that Ysgard had chosen a very bad time to invade – during the typhoon season. Ysgard might face extremely serious logistical problems after the landing operation, and therefore concluded that Ysgard was destined to be bogged down in a quagmire of war.

But he didn't expect Issugard to be so unlucky, with even the newly arrived troops unable to obtain sufficient supplies for combat.

After thinking it over, the people of Ysgard are really unlucky—but, produce [bullets]...?

Yang Hao reached out and pinched the bridge of his nose, then asked:

"Miss Nia, I remember that Isgard used [cardboard fixed bullets], right?"

"Yes... I know this is a very heavy burden for Gaparia, which also has very scarce industrial resources, but as long as Gaparia and Bayern can guarantee us three months... no, just one month's supply of ammunition, then our colonial war will stabilize."

For this, we are willing to pay an extremely high price. To use an analogy that Your Majesty, the Regent, can understand, if the reward you demand is our President's daughter, I wouldn't mind going back and kidnapping her right now..."

"...Then that won't be necessary. Can I think about it?"

For a diplomat to utter such a statement as kidnapping their own supreme leader to pay off debts... it seems the colonial army's current situation is far from dire.

At this moment, Yang Hao was completely unaware of Nia's rhetoric. Rather, few people would take this seemingly joking joke seriously. In reality, if Yang Hao really intended to bring the President over, Nia would not only actually kidnap her, but would also legitimately allow Yang Hao to take over the affairs of Isgard as well.

To Nia's disappointment, Yang Hao actually thought it was a joke—she was extremely disappointed, feeling frustrated that her punch had landed on nothing.

As for Yang Hao, he was considering the various details that Nia had just raised.

Undoubtedly, Isugard didn't realize the true industrial strength of Gaparia. They mistakenly believed our industrial capacity was very limited and assumed we wouldn't provide them with much supply under normal circumstances. That's why they made this request to us in such a humble manner, prepared to pay a high price...

In reality, if Ysgard were truly in dire need of the United Nations to provide ammunition, then all they would need to do is have Naruja's small golems manually produce cardboard bullets in a temporary factory—the advantage of the small golems is that they can work 24 hours a day without interruption, and their work efficiency is better and faster than that of the bio-workers.

The only thing to be careful about is the explosive charge... Yang Hao couldn't guarantee that Isgard's weapons could withstand the powerful force of the explosives; he really couldn't: because that thing was designed for use by extraordinary races like elves, and even the Bayerzans were currently using a version with a reduced charge...

But the so-called reduced propellant charge only considers that the recoil the soldier has to endure when firing should not be too great, not that the barrel might explode as a result!

In this situation, Yang Hao was genuinely worried that Isugard's rifle might explode... So after much consideration, he could only conclude that the propellant charge probably needed to be reduced to one-tenth to ensure safety.

On the other hand, although Yang Hao was willing to help Isgard, after all, he didn't want Isgard to lose—but before that, Yang Hao still had to consider the interests of the United Nations.

Since Ysgard mistakenly believes our industrial capacity is low, let's continue pretending. However, given their honesty and previous pleasant cooperation, giving them a little something extra wouldn't be out of the question...

Thinking of this, Yang Hao feigned an extremely troubled expression and said:

“Miss Nia, to be frank, you know that the industrial output of both Gabon and Baikal is also very limited... We really can't provide you with much supply, unless..."

He paused for five seconds, confirming that the composure on Nia's face had visibly distorted, and that he had truly ensnared her in his trap. He sighed and remarked:

“Unless you can give us enough [things]—after all, you know I have a responsibility to my country. I can't risk letting my people go hungry by concentrating resources to meet your needs without any return, so you at least have to let my people see some benefits so they'll be willing to endure it... Do you understand?”

In reality, no one in Gabi will go hungry, and the small golems working there are unlikely to complain. The only impact is that in the near future, the production of small golems will be concentrated on supply production in Ysgard. Moreover, after production ends, these small golems can be reprogrammed to perform other tasks.

Yang Hao originally intended to mass-produce small golems to "correct" the population structure, and now he can use them directly—in other words, he is actually using a risk-free business to swindle the wealth of Ysgard!

But who can blame them when the United Nations is not only Ysgard's only ally in Elusia, but also their only savior right now?

Just like the unscrupulous merchant who was the only one to deliver life-saving food during a famine, even if Yang Hao didn't really want to cheat the people of Isgard, he couldn't resist the generous gifts they offered...

Moreover, if he were to foolishly and readily agree to Nia's request while pretending to have "insufficient industrial capacity," he might arouse suspicion from her.

So, after much deliberation, His Majesty the Regent, having fully grasped how difficult social situations can be, decided to do Nia a favor in a reasonable way in exchange for deeper cooperation between Isgard and the United Nations in the future.

As expected, Nia visibly breathed a sigh of relief in the face of Yang Hao's "request".

After all, what she feared was that Yang Hao might suddenly and straightforwardly agree to this difficult request, or that Isugard might not have to pay a price—it was really hard not to wonder if the two countries of Gabai might be plotting something.

Fortunately, Yang Hao demanded appropriate compensation from Issugard. This proved that the industrial capacity between Gabai and Kamaji was indeed limited, and also demonstrated that Gabai and Kamaji were willing to further cooperate with Issugard. Under these circumstances, Nia was naturally grateful for the Regent's proposal.

She was grateful for Yang Hao's sincerity, and even more grateful that he had done her a favor, giving her the initiative to make an offer instead of having to accept all the demands of the two countries—so after pondering for a long time, Nia coughed twice and then tentatively spoke:

"...Your Majesty Yang Hao, in exchange for a month's ammunition supply, plus a month's food supply, I am willing to use my authority as a special diplomat from Isgard to bring you the technology and part of the Siren migration, as well as... data from some of our Isgard's classified research."

"...Huh? Please tell me more about it."

Then came the endless commentary.

Nia described the power of the Sirens' innate magic to Yang Hao, along with a list of classified domestic research projects in Isgard. As a return gift for the favor Yang Hao had done her, she also granted him the right to choose Isgard's core research projects.

Yang Hao, meanwhile, was deep in thought. The Sirens' innate magic sounded intimidating and seemed to have considerable technological potential. Even if its potential was limited, the fact that they could create a replica of the "Happy Cup" in the magic-scarce Isgard was enough to prove their worth. Therefore, Yang Hao felt he had to seize the opportunity presented by the Sirens' technology and potential immigration.

What interested him even more was Ysgard's core technology: among Ysgard's core research, something called "Individual Mech" had already been put on the agenda.

According to Nia's explanation, the so-called "single-soldier mech" was an experiment conducted with the intensity of future warfare in mind. Of course, Nia didn't dare say that this was research conducted by Ysgard using the elves of Gaparia as a hypothetical enemy...

In summary, the design concept of the [Single-Soldier Mech] is actually similar to that of the plate-armored knights of the Roman Empire today. However, the difference is that the [Single-Soldier Mech] has more functions than armor that only provides protection, and it is also more comfortable to operate.

According to Ysgard's current research progress, they have successfully put an ordinary human in a mech suit and granted him twice the strength of an average person while the suit is powered on.

Moreover, although the current [single-soldier mech] is far less agile than ordinary soldiers, it has already demonstrated its advantages in special operations.

"For example, its helmet already allows ordinary humans to move normally in complete darkness without lighting, with a visibility exceeding one hundred meters..." Nia proudly stated, "And this night vision capability is a built-in function of the individual mech's helmet—under these circumstances, we have reason to believe that the [individual mech] will be the backbone of future high-intensity warfare. It's just that it's a bit expensive..."

How expensive?

"The cost of a prototype of a single-soldier mech is about one-thousandth of the entire military budget of Ysgard. After all, the gems used to provide night vision are extremely rare minerals, and the metal muscles that increase the operator's strength can only be made by the Sirens... So... ahahaha... they still have a long way to go... probably."

"..."

Yang Hao was initially quite happy.