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

When Yang Hao once again led the army into battle, he only brought 2500 new-style Bayer Zans soldiers undergoing combat training and 2500 elven archers as his main force. Accompanying him were several machine gun Golems and howitzer Golems, as well as the newly formed Eagle Knights.

The Bayer Zans will apply their newly acquired experience to actual combat, transforming themselves from recruits to veterans. The elven archers, on the other hand, will be primarily testing their modified weapons—trippers, scopes, enchanted barrels, and the like.

In short, the elves' weapons have already undergone countless modifications in the internal frenzy. Yang Hao knew their thoughts, so he brought them along—on the one hand, the new designs needed to be tested in actual combat, and on the other hand, the elven archers would be a guarantee against unexpected events in the upcoming battles.

In addition, there are some Eagle Knights—who are also equipped with new weapons, and now it's time for them to be tested in actual combat.

"Simply put, this is just a picnic."

Yang Hao hugged Natalia and Anna, who were seeing him off. Theresa and Finn were too busy to come, and besides, they trusted Yang Hao completely, so they didn't think he would face any risks in this battle.

"So you really don't need to worry too much... Anna, you need to study hard while I'm away, okay? I'll take you out for a walk when I get back... Natalia, you have to take good care of Anna too."

“I understand, Your Majesty.” The young woman, now the Chief Justice of the Bayern Court, nodded and then took the tearful little Anna from Yang Hao’s arms. “Just please be careful… understand?”

"Don't worry. Naruja is with me too."

He touched the judge's forehead, then turned and left.

In the assembly area outside Constantinople, the expeditionary warriors were already fully equipped and ready to depart. Yang Hao rode on the back of a giant moose gifted by Gaparia, with Naruja looking on with curiosity behind him.

The future founding father of Gaparia had an open and intimate relationship with a woman other than the Queen of Bayezid. In human nations, this would be an undeniable scandal—but for the Bayezids, who were already a polygamous society, it didn't seem to bother them. For the Gaparian elves, their Fen rarely got to drink soup, so what was wrong with letting their pet-like chieftain of the Ling tribe have some meat in this situation?

Everyone knows that Naruja had contact with Yang Hao earlier than Yang Hao. Considering the industrial capacity brought by the Golems and miniature golems, rather than saying everyone is "unwilling" to see Naruja and Yang Hao so close, it's more accurate to say everyone hopes their relationship will grow even closer so they can quickly increase the Ling race's population and boost golem production...

In this situation, it would be more problematic if Naruja couldn't sit on the same moose as Yang Hao. At least that's what everyone thinks.

"...I have a feeling that everyone is being too lax?"

"After all, this is essentially like a picnic—I actually wanted the demons to come and witness a real war, but their situation hasn't been very good lately." Yang Hao shrugged. "They finally have a stable home again, not to mention that during the period of peace, many demons have stable jobs, and they're not yet used to the benefits of the new weapons."

"Can't we intensify training?"

"It's not a matter of intensifying training, but rather that many of the demons are physiologically unable to use our existing firearms—like the werewolves' claws, they can't even pull the trigger, let alone fire a gun. The bear-men are the same; their guns shatter the moment they squeeze the handle, how can they use our weapons?"

But using cold weapons would result in more casualties, making it a losing proposition... So it's better to have them work in Gaparia for now, until we develop firearms that are more suitable for their physical characteristics.”

"Oh...it's similar to Golem, huh?"

Naruja turned to look at her Golem, at the cannons or machine guns specifically designed for Golems.

Yang Hao also turned his head slightly to take a look, and then nodded to indicate that this was indeed the case.

The demons are now the most awkward group in the United Nations.

On the one hand, they joined the United Kingdom not voluntarily but under duress. Although they received equal treatment and protection in Gaparia, most of the demons ultimately did not have any real feelings about life there.

So what Yang Hao did was give the demons jobs, allowing them to alleviate their guilt about "eating and drinking for free" through the hard work and fatigue. This was effective, but it still didn't alleviate the demons' awkward situation. They still hadn't gained their normal status within the United Kingdom, simply because Yang Hao couldn't find any other place for the demons to do low-level labor.

For most demons, their physical characteristics are not suitable for using firearms, at least not the current ones. Since they cannot use firearms, they naturally cannot join the standard army of the United Nations to serve their country.

As smaller golems can replace more and more jobs, the low-skilled labor of the demon race will gradually be replaced...

Advanced magical research is something that only special demon races like the Listeners possess similar talents to... In the current situation where universities have not yet been established, it is extremely unrealistic to expect most commoner demons to receive an excellent education.

So, what should we do?

Yang Hao still couldn't think of a solution, so he could only put the demons aside for the time being and deal with the war here first.

After all, he had to save the Isgard colonial army first. Once Miss Nia handed over the research secrets and industrial knowledge of Isgard in her mind, perhaps the demons would have a suitable place to use their talents.

With this in mind, Yang Hao and his troops arrived at the city that was originally owned by the western ranchers on March 15.

This is a pitifully small town compared to Constantinople. But on the steppe, this city with its stone walls was an insurmountable natural barrier for most nomadic peoples.

However, in the face of artillery fire, such city walls, which can only defend one side, have lost most of their significance.

The city is currently flying military flags, and the city walls are filled with tense and anxious militiamen and recruits. General Dreschka has taken all his main forces to the central district to carry out his "conquest"—in other words, the city is practically a ghost town.

Yang Hao had already decided to hand over the city to Isgard for management, but before that, he had to ensure that Isgard could not completely control the city in a short period of time.

"Naruja, have Golem prepare to launch the city," Yang Hao said. "Launch the areas near the granaries and warehouses, and also try to launch military camps and other necessary facilities—although this city will later belong to the Isgard people, I don't want them to use it so comfortably."

The chieftain of the Listening Clan nodded, and then ordered her golem to a suitable place.

puff--!

On the city wall, on his upper floor, a ballista fired a huge bolt, but when it hit the golem's metal body, it was deflected, leaving only a few dents on the golem.

The machine gun Golems unleashed destructive fire on all the exposed ballistae and catapults on the towers, while the soldiers of Bayezid, under the watchful eyes of the elves, sought their respective cover as trained, and then began firing at the densely packed heads of the defenders on the city walls from a great distance.

boom--!

Accompanied by the endless gunfire, the city walls were riddled with bullet holes. Countless Romans died without even a scream, for only their heads were exposed on the walls, and naturally, only their heads would be hit.

"Looks like these little guys aren't that powerful after all." Some elves smacked their lips, looking at the little guys used by the Bayer Zans with some disdain: "But after all, our allies are objectively not very strong, so it's understandable... But as expected, the larger the caliber of a gun, the better."

"I think a good weapon is one that can kill, and frankly, using its current caliber against an ordinary Roman is a huge waste..."

"In the future, we might not only be facing the Romans. Who knows, one day we might have to fight demons again—back when we fought demons, the advantage of large-caliber weapons was enormous..."

"That's true..."

The elves chattered amongst themselves, while the archers of Bayerzan became increasingly adept at aiming their crosshairs at the enemy's head.

The Romans seemed to be on the verge of collapse. They tried to raise a white flag, but at Yang Hao's command, the elven archers, with their unerring accuracy, killed every Roman who attempted to raise the white flag.

Then, Golem, having prepared to launch his projectiles, finally unleashed a barrage of projectiles over the city.

Under the threat of Golem shells, the wooden camps and warehouses in the city were utterly unable to withstand the damage. Only after estimating that the warehouses and barracks were mostly burned down did Yang Hao order the entire army to cease fire.

The battlefield was silent for a moment, then a crumpled white flag was raised over the wall. The town gates were opened.

Through the city gate, Yang Hao could see a surrendering troop slowly approaching, carrying a white flag. Yang Hao paid them no attention, instead looking through the slit into the city walls at a fire not far away.

Although people were trying to extinguish the flames, the destruction of the warehouses and military camps was an undeniable fact. Even if Ysugard controlled the area, they could only ensure the safety of the supply routes; what methods they would use to deal with the residents was another matter entirely.

(Having lost their base, the Issugardian colonial army will inevitably requisition some buildings for their own use. With the grain and general warehouses destroyed, they will certainly force the local residents to perform labor or levy grain for them... In this way, if the Great Khan is still unwilling to ally with us, we can ensure that the Issugardians do not advance too quickly—conversely, if the Great Khan is willing to ally with us, we can watch the Issugardians and the barbarians fight each other... A win-win situation.)

"Get the Isgardians here to take over the city immediately, then we'll have to go back—oh, and remember to have the Isgardians come over."

Yang Hao gave the order and then jumped off the moose. After helping Naruja down as well, he used the power of the elven mage to observe the scene within the city.

The corpses of the nobles from the ranch council were hung before the inner city gates. Their bodies now swayed in the fierce wind, seemingly swarming with flies.

In the distance, people were constantly trying to put out the flames in the city, but in a water-scarce place like Ranch City, all they could do was dig up soil and throw it at the base of the flames in the hope of extinguishing them immediately.

Further away, a steady stream of people continued to advance towards the destroyed granary. They knew they couldn't possibly salvage the entire granary, but they would take as much grain as they could from inside.

It seemed that the chaos that had ensued after the city fell under the control of Ysugard was a foregone conclusion—just as Yang Hao was pondering this, a Bayernman approached.

“Your Majesty, they want to see you.” The soldier pointed to the group carrying the white flag. “They say they know you and are begging for your audience.”

"I don't know anyone here."

"He said he used to be a nobleman in the capital and escaped by hiding in a commoner's hut when General Dreschka was purging the nobility. He hopes to pledge his loyalty to you."

"Who in the world cares about the loyalty of the Romans?" Yang Hao chuckled. "But I'll still go and see—just to see a joke."

He led Naruja and a group of guards to the front of the surrendering group. Under his keen observation, a disheveled man knelt on the ground.

Although the man looked filthy, clearly having not bathed for days, Yang Hao could still immediately recognize from his posture evidence that he had once been a nobleman.

At least ordinary commoners would just kneel on the ground without any resistance, while these nobles clearly understood that there were different levels of kneeling postures – this person was exactly as Yang Hao saw, with his buttocks sticking up high, and he was lying on the ground kissing the soil.

This is the highest level of kneeling greeting. Yang Hao remembered that this was the most humble gesture only made by the most heinous criminals when begging for their lives.

Therefore, Yang Hao was certain that this person was definitely a member of the Quiet Exile Incident at that time.

"Your Majesty, my Regent—you have finally returned like lightning!"

The nobleman lay prostrate on the ground, trembling violently. He kept kissing the soil in front of Yang Hao, seemingly intending to slowly crawl over and kiss his boots—but the soldiers blocked his path with their weapons, forcing him to express his humility and affection only through words.

"We, the Restoration Party, have been waiting for your return for a very long time—now that you have returned with a powerful army, we are naturally willing to pledge our loyalty to you. We only hope to help you defeat the rule of General Dreschka and Prince Gassen, and give the people of the Roman Empire a peaceful life!"

"Pfft... Hahaha... Are you misunderstanding something? Do you really think that Roman Country is a good country except for its land?"

Yang Hao was amused and burst out laughing.

"You wanted to execute me back then, but now you want me to go back?"

Do you expect the souls of the dead to continue working for you after you kill them?

"If you're so optimistic, why not hope that Benjamin, whom Garson murdered, will be resurrected and then immediately execute his unfilial brother?"

Yang Hao's three questions left the nobleman speechless. But perhaps in order to fight for his own chance to survive, the nobleman wept and said that their silence at the time was "only out of necessity," and now that they had a chance, they were naturally willing to support Yang Hao's return to the Roman Empire.

Now, not only Yang Hao laughed, but even the elf next to him couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Given the current state of the Roman Empire, do you really think you have any influence to attract others to come and inform you?"

Yang Hao waved to the elf to be quiet for now, lest he burst out laughing. He simply suppressed his laughter and walked up to the nobleman, then kicked him so that the nobleman was flipped over on his back, able to see the clear sky above.

Yang Hao began by asking, "How many of my things did you tear down back then?" It was as if he was deliberately letting this nobleman know the current situation. He then recounted, word by word, what he had done for the Roman Empire, what the Roman Empire had destroyed, and what was now being used against the Roman Empire.

"The factories I built for you, you dismantled. Now those factories in Isgard and Alessar provide them with productivity, produce a steady stream of bullets and products, develop their industry, and provide them with new technologies."

And your soldiers, after losing the battle, were still spouting nonsense like, "If only we still had our factories..." If you hadn't dismantled my factories, would you be in this predicament now? What a port that fell in a single day! The only good thing about dismantling the steam factory was that it prevented Ysgard from using your factories to produce their supplies—that's the only good thing you did. For you…”

"I fucking described to you just how much war potential the merchant ships of Isgard have. I told you that Isgard's ironclads would crush you on the sea. I told you that Isgard would never be satisfied with one-way trade, but would fucking invade."

So I fucking tried my best to give you at least a basis for self-defense, forcing the Isgardians to negotiate a peaceful "commercial war" rather than a "real war," and you fucking tore everything apart without even mentioning it, and you still think others really won't attack?"

"The basic education I started was to prevent you from being culturally invaded in the future, to ensure there were enough skilled workers in the steam factory, and to make you better through education! But you killed or drove away my teachers, and didn't clearly state that maintaining the status quo was best for your people. And now, you're eating people, and you're happy?"

"I even provided you with free medical care. Those medical personnel, once trained, will not only be able to control the plague in peacetime and provide treatment for the sick, but more importantly, they will be able to ensure that your wounded receive effective treatment during wartime—now, are you happy? You can't find a single doctor in all of Roman, are you pleased?"

"And what about that fucking religion! That fucking Church of Light—now that the living dead have gone south, are you all happy?"

"I fucking told you guys long ago that if you didn't do this, you'd be finished sooner or later! Now, you're finished, are you happy?"

After a long silence, Yang Hao finally managed to utter a single sentence:

"Back then, my mother even told Garsen about the breach in the palace's defenses..."

As a result, the Aleseans moved into the palace and then filled the gap.

"If you don't die, who will?"

To be honest.

Yang Hao was genuinely happy.

Roman not only destroyed everything she had done for him, but also humiliated her severely.

Now, karma has caught up with them.

I feel good watching the Romans suffer, but I feel it's a shame that my sworn brother was born in this country.

The Romans must be feeling pretty good right now, right?