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

"It's highly unlikely to work." Yang Hao shook his head. "Those [living corpses] are still alive, to put it bluntly. Many of the undead have already collapsed due to malnutrition and been eaten by other undead—if this continues, the number of undead will probably be reduced by at least a third, or even half, before the rainy season arrives..."

It seems the God of Light didn't do a good job of preparing the corpses. Whether it's the living dead or those skeletal angels in the skies above St. Petersburg, almost entirely reduced to bones... perhaps the God of Light isn't as powerful as we imagine.

"Even so, killing a god is a major undertaking that requires long-term planning."

“I know. Theresa and I won’t act rashly, but I also hope that Gaparia will—”

"You'll be the emperor of Gaparia from now on, why are you saying these polite things to me? If you're so worried about Gaparia's opinion, you might as well prepare a low-cut dress for my wedding that won't slip down."

Fen raised an eyebrow, then kicked Yang Hao under the table before giving him a promise.

When Teresa heard this, her expression was extremely strange: Does a low-cut dress that Finn can wear without slipping down really exist?

"Why don't you try nipple covers? I mean—"

"...Go to hell?!"

The two women with the highest power in the United Nations are arguing again.

And just as they were arguing, another piece of intelligence was delivered to them.

The intelligence report's headline was simple: Something happened at sea.

The intelligence was even simpler: the colonial army attempted to transport supplies by sea while the fleet was returning for resupply, but halfway there, all the ships sank. Forget about resupply; the colonial army lost five merchant ships in one fell swoop. The black-haired lady must be feeling utterly disheartened right now, probably cursing her commander's recklessness.

“It seems I need to prepare for Nia’s return.” Yang Hao sighed. “I knew the Isugardians weren’t familiar with advanced warfare, and their recklessness in logistics was also… They underestimated the Aresei and the Romans, and overestimated their control over the coastline—but then again, couldn’t they have let the griffins handle the wooden ships?”

"Is it possible that the ships attacking the merchant ships now are ironclad warships that they can't handle?"

Fen's reminder silenced everyone.

Meanwhile, about thirty nautical miles from the port of the United Nations, Alessar's ironclad warships were salvaging objects floating in the sea.

"Thank goodness we came directly here—those pirates from Isgard went back long ago because they didn't have enough supplies...this is really timely."

Their new ironclads had rotating turrets controlled manually at the bottom of the hull, and those crude naval guns, exceeding 150 mm in diameter, were clearly designed specifically to emulate the Ironclads of Ysugard.

These are the Alessars' new Prince-class ironclads—they have seized control of the seas at this stage with two new ironclads, but they dare not enter the ports of the United Nations to exert their power.

On one hand, it was unnecessary; luring the enemy out was better than foolishly sending the new ironclads into an unprotected but necessary safe harbor. On the other hand, they weren't sure if the secret port contained naval guns capable of threatening their warships.

However, one thing is certain: the colonial army of Isgard is once again in dire straits. Miss Nia's request was also delivered to Yang Hao's office that evening.

However, before dealing with Miss Nia's work, this man needed to address the future institutional development of the United Nations. After all, he had to handle the crucial issue of knowledge inheritance after the death of important craftsmen, instead of constantly calling out "Arthur, Arthur."

Chapter Twelve: The Elf's First Encounter and the Awakening of the Ice Calamity (8K)

The United Nations' system is now undoubtedly deformed.

Yang Hao was not referring to the abnormality in the political system, but rather to the abnormality in development outside of politics.

To give a classic example—now Yang Hao has to find Arthur whenever he needs something, relying on Arthur's invincible brain to research all sorts of golems—although for Arthur it is definitely a good thing that allows him to avoid going home and facing more than twenty fierce elf women, but if Arthur really dies in the belly of an elf woman one day, then wouldn't Yang Hao have no choice but to find Dr. Joseph?

What if Dr. Joseph were blown to death by the elves responsible for maintaining logistics because he designed a weapon that could drive all the logistics staff crazy? Wouldn't Yang Hao be left with no capable people to find and just sitting in his office in a daze?

The current system of the United Nations relies too heavily on individuals for development, which is a terrible situation. To avoid the possibility of important figures, including Yang Hao himself, being left without successors after their deaths, Yang Hao must immediately take advantage of this period of stability to resolve this crucial institutional issue...

"At least if Arthur were to die on a woman's belly one day, or even if I were to die somewhere, the United Nations would be able to find a replacement immediately instead of just standing there dumbfounded, right?"

Yang Hao sighed helplessly, looking at the plan in his hand. After having someone relay a message to Ms. Nia, "I'll go later," he continued to immerse himself in his work.

What Yang Hao wanted to establish was a new system that provided pathways for ordinary people to rise in society while also ensuring the production of high-quality talent—if he had to use something familiar as an analogy, it would be more like a university on Earth.

However, unlike universities on Earth, universities in the United Nations are not only more stringent in their admissions process, subject to oversight by high-ranking officials, but more importantly, they are completely controlled by the government and only serve citizens of the United Nations. After all, Yang Hao had no intention of training talent for the enemy, nor did he intend to let them roam freely after training them—the United Nations needed those talents, even if their population was no longer in short supply in the future; they needed these talents.

So after much thought, it's necessary to use contracts to ensure that talent is locked up in the country... But the key point this time is that his requirement is that the talent from this university will immediately become frontline personnel after being trained, and with the help of Arthur and other big brothers, become the backbone of the United Nations, while everyone will have the ability to take over vacant positions at any time.

"This might be a bit difficult... but with elves as teachers, and some specially selected exceptionally talented students... we should be able to acquire a group of talented individuals within five to ten years. By then, even if I give Arthur a year-long leave and he actually dies, there will always be someone to take his place..."

Although Yang Hao currently only has the ability to get teaching staff from Gaparia, once he has a group of idle and somewhat aging teachers, many problems can actually be easily solved...

That is to say, after the talent problem is solved in the planning,

Yang Hao then had to consider the functions of other departments.

After all, Bayer's work is indeed in a very chaotic state right now.

As Teresa's mentor, Yang Hao not only had to handle major national affairs, but also had to personally deal with or give instructions on even trivial matters.

While it hadn't reached the point of "the general unclogging the toilet," to be honest, if things continued this way, Yang Hao wasn't confident he could keep going for another year or two...

He had to give the United Nations' bureaucracy clear functions, and at the same time ensure that these bureaucracies could be stabilized before his death... but how exactly should he do that?

Yang Hao was deep in thought. Just then, the conference room door opened.

The one who entered was a light, airy fragrance. She glanced thoughtfully at the complex and varied reports in front of Yang Hao, a glint of cunning flashing in her emerald eyes. Then, she pulled up a chair and sat down next to Yang Hao, saying:

"Are you worried about Isgard?"

"To be precise, I'm worried about what will happen in the future." Yang Hao shrugged and handed one of the documents to Fen. "After all, I've fully experienced the pain of lacking qualified bureaucrats in a country with an extreme shortage of population and high-level talent... But fortunately, it's a problem that can be solved—it's just that I don't have a clue how to solve it yet."

"I think this is a pretty serious problem. After all, from the elves' perspective, if they don't have a clue, it means it will be difficult to make progress in a few years."

"That's because the elves used to be stuck in their ways, but times have changed, and those old ideas really should be changed."

"Humph."

The little elf snorted, glanced at Yang Hao's plan, and then sighed, saying that while the elves could help with university matters, the training of bureaucrats and the elven system might not be suitable for Bayer Zhans.

One reason is the issue of lifespan—the bureaucrats of long-lived species develop functions and plans that are incomprehensible to humans due to their lifespan. For humans, it is highly unusual for someone to remain in the same position for hundreds of years. But for elves, it is commonplace, and they diligently hone their skills in their respective roles.

Simply put, humans desire change and seek more, while elves prefer stagnation to hone their skills—under these circumstances, elven political systems cannot coexist with human political systems, since they are inherently in conflict.

"Unless you think that future Bayer Zimmers will be as unambitious as their fathers, I really don't recommend that you just copy them directly."

"I'm not one to blindly follow rules. But I need to at least test some new ones during this period... Sigh, looks like I'll have to go and look at the books on bureaucracy in the Bayer Zans ancient books."

"Hehe, although I really want you to keep going, you should rest for a while, okay?"

Fen tilted her head and pointed at Yang Hao's cheek. Her nails weren't sharp, but when they touched his face, Yang Hao could still feel a cool sensation from the nails and the gentle warmth of her fingers beneath that coolness.

"Look at you! How many wrinkles have appeared on your face? Even with the subtle influence of elven magic, and considering Theresa's divine magic, your face still can't withstand the fatigue and starts to age... You're risking your life, do you know that?"

Fen's fingers slowly moved forward along the curve of the wrinkles on Yang Hao's face, finally reaching the bridge of his nose. Then, she followed the midline down to the tip of his nose before gently placing her fingers between Yang Hao's lips.

Finn wore a serious expression that said, "If you dare to speak, I'll shove my finger in your mouth." Yang Hao could only blink, signaling to the elf that this was no time for joking around.

“I’m not joking. My Regent... Theresa can see you’re risking your life, but she simply doesn’t have the power to stop you and is also mindful of your feelings, which is why she lets you do whatever you want... But I’m different. I’m an elf, and I don’t care about... other people’s feelings.”

Finn's right index finger twirled gently between Yang Hao's lips, like a small drill. She pierced through the defenses of his lips, pressed her fingertip against his upper and lower teeth, and then gently pushed upwards, forcing him to open his mouth. After she lightly placed her finger on his tongue, the elf revealed a sinister smile:

"I don't care what you'll think once you lose your job, nor do I care about your worries for the United Nations... My Regent, please think more about things outside of work... think more about me... think more about yourself, okay?"

"...Hmm?"

"After all, I've already prepared to make you a long-lived being like an elf... but if you die halfway through your work, that would be a problem for me too."

Seemingly having heard some incredible news—before Yang Hao could even realize that this was an elven tradition, Fen pressed herself against him.

Like a powerful butcher admiring a piece of meat awaiting its cleaver, the elf, her face somber and devoid of even a hint of joy in her smile, sucked on his chin, licked his stubble, and murmured indistinctly:

"The smell of weariness. The smell of aging. Your body is rapidly collapsing like rotten wood... It seems that after losing the late empress, you desperately want to emulate her, learn her abilities, and ultimately seize complete control..."

But that's impossible, Your Majesty the Regent. Even for elves, our "perfection" doesn't mean we're omnipotent—no matter how perfect a female elf is, she can't give birth alone.

Even elves are like that... Why must you pursue... the path of perfection?

"...Because I want to make the United Nations a better place."

"But the United Nations is not yet in a position to let you overdraw your life and take your blessings for granted. Bayern is not, Gaparia is even less so... In the end, this is all something we owe you."

"But in this world, isn't it only natural, even without a reason, to work hard for one's family?"

"That's what you think... In reality, even Theresa doesn't think she can unconditionally accept all your sacrifices... Haha, I didn't expect His Majesty the Regent to be so focused on his work that he can't care about anyone else?"

Narudya too, the new presiding judge too, even little Anna... you probably don't understand why little Anna likes Natalia more, do you?"

"That's because... I'm too busy."

Yang Hao tried to explain, but the elf forced him to sit on the chair, sat on his lap, and seemed to seal his mouth with magic.

What he saw was the elf's triumphant smile, his eyes gleaming with the sharp light of a predator as he tilted his head.

"Then... you shouldn't work so hard for me. Even the lazy and good-for-nothing 'Light' that Teresa mentioned is ashamed of your efforts. You'll have plenty of time to work hard in the thousands of years to come, but definitely not now."

“Fen…”

Yang Hao wanted to speak, but he lacked the ability to. Fen's magic meant that he could only say these words in his heart.

Watching Finn bite down on the zipper of her clothes and slowly pull it off, Yang Hao suddenly understood why Arthur was so afraid of his elven lover.

It wasn't just a physical desire; more importantly, the elves' emotions were indeed so stubborn, even obstinate, that they completely disregarded the feelings of others.

This was the first time Yang Hao had experienced love that disregarded his own feelings entirely. This kind of morbid emotion... perhaps it wasn't just Fen's exclusive ailment, but rather a symptom of the entire elven race.

But what's wrong with that?

He found that his hands seemed to be able to move again. But before he could, Finn kissed his lips first.

Once, twice. She was incredibly greedy, even more so than the most greedy Roman.

"You're not getting away today, my Regent... Anyway, you'll have to marry me openly and legitimately eventually, so what's wrong with overspending a little?"

"Fin... but I'm going back to Theresa's place soon..."

Why do you think I came at this time?

Fen smiled and took off her clothes.

She showed Yang Hao the lingerie produced by the Bayer Zans Palace.

............

At the same time, inside the Purple Palace, Theresa muttered, "Fin should have succeeded by now, right?" while stretching on her bed.

She turned over and looked at the open wardrobe, noting that one set of custom-made underwear was missing. Although Theresa had initially jokingly remarked, "Even if she didn't wear it, probably no one would notice," when she first saw Finn's true figure, she still seriously instructed the maid to make a set for Finn, for the sake of future family harmony.

The point is not how precious the lingerie is, but that "this is clothing unique to the Purple-Royal Family." Fen, who owns this set of clothing personally gifted by the Purple-Royal Princess, will become a member of the Purple-Royal Family.

Although it seems that Fen has no need to accept such an award, it is actually very necessary considering Yang Hao's family's feelings.

On the one hand, Finn also needs a clear title, one that is neither higher nor lower than Teresa's.

On the other hand, only if Theresa wholeheartedly accepts Finn will Finn wholeheartedly accept Theresa.

More importantly, after such a long period of study, Theresa had come to realize that her power and political abilities were very limited.