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

"I might be able to let him rest, maybe I could give him a home, maybe I could silently support him when he's hurt... but I don't have the ability to make him turn around, nor do I dare to reach out and grab him to stop. Sigh, what can I do? I worry about this and that, I worry that he will get hurt because of my every move, I worry that one day he will feel that my 'stopping' is a betrayal—that's why I need someone who can disregard his feelings and force him to stop on the verge of collapse."

Mother Teresa murmured to herself. The most important thing she had learned from her political work during this period was, of course, the art of compromise and cooperation, and the skill of discerning her own true abilities and the scope of those abilities.

She knew that there was very little she could do for Yang Hao as Mother Teresa, which was why she became Baselissa. Even so, Mother Teresa still lacked the ability to stop Yang Hao at the crucial moment.

Rather than ending up alone, frantically running around in a panic, and potentially letting him get hurt in some unknown corner, Theresa chose to compromise with Finn. She gave up having Yang Hao's love all to herself, just so Finn could join the battle—after all, to be honest, elven emotions are pathologically stubborn; they'll force their partners to stay regardless of their wishes, while simultaneously making them live as long as elves...

But it is precisely because of this that Finn possesses talents that Theresa does not have.

Just like some people are born unable to handle spicy food, while others can't live without it—Fen, as the "chili pepper," naturally undertakes the most important task that Teresa just agreed upon with her...

The condition is to "pull him down at crucial moments and prevent him from charging headlong into the abyss."

Theresa assured Yang Hao that he would never die from his mad pursuit of perfection, but the price was that, politically speaking, he would have to marry multiple wives—a condition Theresa considered acceptable.

Because she knew that Yang Hao trusted and loved only her. She knew that Yang Hao was capable of abandoning everyone except her in crucial moments... and that was enough.

(After all, I'm just a little nun~)

The little nun muttered to herself, pulled the blanket tighter around herself, blinked, and then took off all her clothes under the covers.

Anyway, Fen will save some for her, so there's no need to worry about not having meat to eat later.

Theresa was in a good mood, and Finn was naturally in a good mood as well.

Meanwhile, the black dragon, left outside, paced back and forth anxiously, her eyes bloodshot—she waited and waited, but in the end, she still did not receive permission from His Majesty the Regent to receive her.

The elf said that His Majesty the Regent had taken a break due to his busy work, and asked that he come again tomorrow.

“Then I’ll come again tomorrow.” Nia gave a wry smile, knowing that she would inevitably have to face pleas from the colonial commander and entreaties from Margarita when she returned. “I hope His Majesty the Regent will be refreshed by tomorrow—I’ll take my leave now.”

She left.

When Nia came back next time, it was already noon on March 10th.

Since the sinking of those five merchant ships, the colonial forces of Issugard have been bogged down in a quagmire of war, unable to advance or retreat.

They advanced, but without supplies, even though they had sent a batch earlier, they could only reach the outskirts of the western ranchers—well? To be precise, the outskirts of General Drell Shocker's new town—and couldn't suppress the city any further.

Retreat? Their fleet had just returned for resupply, and with five merchant ships sunk, it was impossible to bring everyone home. Moreover, these people had come to colonize, not for sightseeing—so for the colonial army, retreat was even less likely.

Therefore, Heilong bears the heavy responsibility of ensuring the survival of 20,000 people. To put it simply, the entire village is watching his efforts to secure a place in the relocation housing program.

Under these circumstances, the hardworking and meritorious Miss Black Dragon had no choice but to bite the bullet and go ahead. But before she did, she still had to ask a few questions...

"Without logistical support, every bullet we fire is one less we have left... Building a factory here could alleviate our logistical burden. But the first batch of soldiers are all here; how can we let soldiers build a factory? So, Lady Nia, we can only rely on you—if you can persuade the United Nations to join us in attacking the Western Ranch, then everything will be alright!"

The commander of Ysgard tearfully complained to Nia yesterday. Nia understood the warriors' limitations, but that was no excuse for you guys to dump all the pressure on my shoulders!

If you hadn't risked your life transporting supplies without cover, would I be in this mess now? If you keep going like this, I might not even be able to repay your debt even if I sleep with him! And if this continues, forget about me desperately borrowing the president's daughter; she might even come running after receiving the message...

Never mind... I've gone off on a tangent.

Nia endured the waves of pain in her stomach, trying her best to maintain her composure.

Damn it! Even dragons can't handle the stomach acid secreted under excessive pressure... How could you bear to subject a black dragon who's not even five hundred years old to such stress? How dare you...?

Nia cursed the colonial army for the pressure they were putting on her, while Yang Hao, after carefully reviewing Nia's request, sighed with considerable difficulty:

“Nia, this isn’t what we agreed on,” he said. While the United Nations had the capability to help Ysgard establish a supply line, frankly, if a promise isn’t kept, the impression it leaves is extremely negative. “You know what this means, right?”

"Yes, I know." Nia was incredibly ashamed. She had already negotiated the biggest concession possible, yet she was the one constantly making a fool of herself. How could this make the thin-skinned black dragon feel comfortable? How could this allow the black dragon to speak confidently in front of Yang Hao? "I'm truly very sorry... but... our situation is also quite dire right now. Without your assistance..."

"Ugh..."

Yang Hao sighed again.

Ysgard cannot afford to lose at this stage, so they must provide assistance no matter what. But this cannot be done for free—after all, they have already given Ysgard too many chances.

Although Yang Hao admitted that his concealment might not be good for his allies, on the other hand, if the Issugard people had problems at the most dangerous moment, wouldn't things be even worse now if he hadn't kept a backup plan?

Therefore, no matter what, Yang Hao had to obtain something from Isgard... and what Yang Hao wanted was the knowledge in the mind of the ashamed black dragon.

So, he took a final breath, and after a long while, he extended his finger towards Nia:

“I understand now… It can’t be free, Nia. In that case, you’ll have to stay here with us for a while to work.”

"Huh?"

Upon hearing this, Nia was taken aback at first, then her face flushed red, as if she had misunderstood something.

But when she saw that Yang Hao was pointing to her own head, she realized that Yang Hao's real desire was not for a black dragon wearing black stockings to serve him, but for the knowledge in that black dragon's head.

“If it’s industrial technology… I’m willing to trade for your help.” Nia quickly adjusted her mindset. “But… Your Majesty Yang Hao? You should know that if I’m alone at this stage, I can only provide some theoretical knowledge at most.”

"Theoretical knowledge? That's not enough... Give us some technology too. That way, we can send troops soon, how about it?"

"...make a deal!"

Nia felt it was a good deal to exchange some theoretical knowledge and technology for a stable supply line so that the Isgard colonial army could launch further attacks on the Roman Empire, so she chose to accept.

As for Yang Hao, he never intended to send out his main force: after all, after General Dreschka killed the western rancher, the city had at most three hundred soldiers left, and the rest were taken by General Dreschka to other places for "on-site training" with the local nobles.

In other words, the city that blocked land transport between Ysgard and the United Nations was actually a ghost town long ago! But then again, it seems there was no need for us to keep that city.

After pondering for a while, and deeply recalling the Romans' "difficulty in being controlled," Yang Hao decided to "sell" some favors to the Isugardians.

“Once the cities are captured, we won’t accept them. The population and resources of those cities will be managed by Isugard—but conversely, we need to have complete control over the Earldom of Kargard and the Territory of Shkur.” Yang Hao shrugged, feigning a big surprise for Nia: “Everything else remains the same. What do you think?”

Nia was stunned for a moment. After realizing that Yang Hao had actually given control of an important town in Isgard, the black dragon, who was already grateful for Yang Hao's generosity, almost burst into tears.

She found that not only did her family members always cause her trouble, but every time she felt exhausted and desperate, it was Emperor Yang Hao who bestowed some warmth upon her...

This contrast filled the black dragon with unparalleled gratitude, but it also made the intelligent dragon realize in an instant that something was amiss...

After all, logically speaking, His Majesty the Regent shouldn't be so generous. One or two favors are one thing, but how many times has this been done already?

Even if he himself is a pushover, the United Nations cannot continue to be a pushover with him... Individuals in a country can be warm and friendly, but a country as a whole is destined to be indifferent and profit-driven when facing outsiders.

...Is His Majesty Yang Hao giving me so many benefits because he's certain he'll extract even more from me?

Black Dragon's previously boiling mind cooled down instantly.

She scrutinized Yang Hao's face, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but suddenly noticed that the wrinkles on his face seemed to have lessened.

“Your Majesty, thank you for your help. Since you are willing to bestow such a generous gift upon us, we in Isgard are naturally happy to accept it. However, there is something I am very curious about... Does your face look a little younger?”

Nia's curiosity surprised Yang Hao.

He then touched his cheek and noticed that since that day, his body seemed to have been openly infused with more elven magic by Fen, and that the reason he had become "younger" was probably related to that magic...

"Perhaps it's because something good happened to me recently."

He gave a vague answer.

...........

Meanwhile, Theresa and Finn were discussing the future domestic affairs of their two countries. With Yang Hao diligently engaged in diplomatic work, the women naturally had to shoulder all the responsibilities within their capabilities.

“Now that Natalia has become the presiding judge of Bayern, the legal vacancies have been filled for the time being—but sure enough, there are still quite a few vacancies in the civil affairs department, the public opinion department, and the enforcement department,” Theresa muttered. “Especially in the [enforcement department]. Right now, we’re still using [soldiers] instead of [police] to maintain order—that’s not a healthy structure.”

"As far as I know, in many places the military is responsible for maintaining order, right?"

"That's wartime, wartime! Under normal circumstances, if a group of fully armed soldiers were patrolling, regardless of the effectiveness, from the residents' perspective, they would definitely feel uneasy, right?"

That's why I want to fill those three positions as soon as possible... And then again, how do we manage public opinion?

"From what I remember, in the Roman parish, it seems to be a good thing for deliberately guiding people's thinking." The elf shrugged. "Specifically, it's about deliberately reporting certain facts to people... just like how we elves don't lie but we can conceal things—concealing certain things, deliberately smearing the enemy, and then praising our own side. I guess that's the most basic form of public opinion?"

"But that's not enough. I need something more comprehensive... Oh well, these things can only be taken slowly—by the way, how was your first experience?"

"...Can't you be a little more reserved?"

Finn looked somewhat helpless, while Theresa seemed thoughtful:

"Don't want to talk about it? Fine then. Compared to that... you've succeeded?"

"I guess so. Let's try to calm him down and stop him from overworking himself—but as you know, this can only be done for a while."

"But it's better than endless toil, isn't it?"

"Too."

The women were whispering amongst themselves, preparing for their upcoming work.

Meanwhile, the Alesean fast ships had finally rounded the eastern side of the continent of Elusia and were now traveling north along the land that was perpetually covered in snow for some unknown reason.

The closer you get to the north, the colder it gets. And the closer you get to the north, the more ice there is along the coast.

The Aleseans wondered if they had come to some place they shouldn't be.

After seeing through the binoculars what appeared to be a huge biological statue lying prostrate on the ice field in the distance.

They were even more convinced that they had come to a place they shouldn't have been.

"How about we take it back?"

A sailor from Allesian muttered to himself, pointing to the statue in the distance:

"After all, it looks quite valuable... and if it has any special uses, perhaps it could be put to good use domestically?"

"Shall we send a ship to take it back?"

The others pondered this for a moment, and finally decided to have one of the speedboats deliver the goods back to Arese, while the others continued on their planned route.

The Alese people, left on the ice field, were dressed in thick clothing. Shivering in the cold wind, they approached the stone sculpture with various tools, only to suddenly realize that the sculpture was no ordinary stone sculpture.

Overall, it presents a sense of shattering like ice crystals, and in the distance, there seems to be a tall mechanical wreck made of metal staring back at this strange statue.

The Alese had no interest in the wreckage, as they lacked the capacity to explore a wreckage nearly as high as a small hill in a short period of time.

But they seem to have the ability to take this stone sculpture back with them.

With the clanging of shovels and rivets, the statue was hung on a makeshift sled and slowly moved toward the ship.

The Alese people were unaware that the snowstorm was getting worse.

They lost their way in the blizzard. They were following the markers back, but in the end, they couldn't find their own ship.

What they saw was only endless snowfall and ice fields that were gradually spreading outwards.

And the faint sound of a heartbeat could be heard behind me.

Chapter Thirteen:

3 month 12 day.