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

Compared to confronting a demon head-on.

Although political and diplomatic work is exhausting, it at least avoids casualties among citizens and soldiers.

If only demons could be dealt with through political means.

Yang Hao harbored unrealistic fantasies.

And it was on April 8th.

The demon in the capital of Roman Kingdom has also begun his "Demon Realm" plan.

Chapter Fifteen: Summary, Future Development, Demon Realm Plans... 8K

On April 8th, the United Nations' military operations on the floating continent officially ended at 11 PM that night. The Kingdom of Eden also needed time to recuperate, but they rebuilt their homeland faster than Yang Hao and his companions had anticipated.

Not long after the battle ended, the Edenians, taking advantage of the magic network, began rebuilding their homeland. They produced a large number of magical dolls to provide bodies for their citizens who were still subjugated by the magic network, allowing their consciousness to be downloaded. They slightly increased the output of the artificial magic reactors, using more artificial magic in a short time to cleanse the ruins of the city. What appeared before Yang Hao and the others was a brand-new but empty capital of Eden.

Elena said that she would have to work on the reconstruction of Eden for the next few days, and once the most basic reconstruction of Eden was completed, she would invite Yang Hao and others to visit.

She also said that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will soon travel to the surface of the earth to see what the world there is like.

To prepare for hosting Elena in the future, Yang Hao curiously inquired about the question of whether magical dolls could actually eat. Elena pondered for a moment before replying that the highest-grade magical dolls produced during peacetime could not only eat but also possessed almost everything a human could do—except for giving birth.

"Explanation: After all, no matter what, our artificial equipment cannot produce tiny cells like eggs out of thin air, so this is an important reason why we retain four hundred living women as the last seed."

Elena's explanation caused Finn's lips to twitch for a while. But considering that this synthetic doll probably had no interest in her man, Finn smiled and said goodbye to Elena before using teleportation to return to the Purple Palace in Constantinople to rest.

Because of her resistance to magic, the black dragon had to fly back on her own—she must have been complaining the whole way, right? But Yang Hao couldn't worry about the black dragon's feelings for the time being.

After having the maids prepare some change of clothes for him, Yang Hao led Fen and Naruja to the outside of Theresa's office. He had heard that Theresa had been waiting for their return, and it would be best to let her know they were safe.

"Teresa, we're back!" Without knocking, Yang Hao barged in, startling the anxious nun pacing back and forth in the office, and leaving Finn and Naruja feeling rather helpless. "Alright, alright—don't worry so much. We're back safely. It's alright."

"How could I not worry! Sigh... It's just that men who work outside feel confident, while I, a housewife left at home, feel worried... It's true."

The little nun grumbled as she stepped forward, first hugging Yang Hao, then giving Fen and Naruja a friendly hug.

After finally relaxing, Baselisa led everyone to sit down in the office, and then began to tirelessly ask about things related to the floating continent.

After all, although Theresa believed that Yang Hao could handle everything, she still needed to understand the details.

One reason is that, as Basilissa of Bayerzans, Theresa needs to understand the details of communicating with the floating continent. Even if it's a task led by Yang Hao, whom she trusts most, work is work, and life is life—she doesn't want to argue with Yang Hao about work in the future, so she must handle everything within the proper rules.

On the other hand, the most important reason was concern that Yang Hao might be overworking himself and damaging his health again. Although Fen was with him, there shouldn't be any problems, but after all, she was Yang Hao's wife. If even his wife wasn't worried about him, who would?

So Teresa kept asking questions, while Yang Hao answered with a smile. Neither Finn nor Naruja seemed inclined to help Yang Hao with his happy dilemma; instead, they were deep in thought in Teresa's office, looking at the already processed documents on the desk.

After a short while, Yang Hao finally explained the current situation of the Kingdom of Eden, and under Theresa's somewhat displeased gaze, recounted Elena's existence and his unauthorized promise to the Black Dragon to "go on a business trip to Isgard for a few years" during the crisis—

“In that case, we really will have to enter a long period of development.” Finn suddenly spoke up. Under Naruja’s somewhat bewildered gaze, she sat down on the table leg near Yang Hao with dead fish eyes, and then sighed: “Theresa, Bayer Zhans’ situation doesn’t look too good either.”

"You think the population problem can be solved in a few years? It's something your elves haven't been able to solve for centuries, why do you expect us Bayerzens to solve it quickly?" Theresa rolled her eyes, then strangely touched her stomach: "Even if I wanted to set an example, to be honest, I don't seem to have those symptoms lately..."

"...Yang Hao, you can't be out all the time, can you?"

"How could that be?" Yang Hao shook his head blankly, while Naruja tilted her head in even greater confusion. "Teresa and I wanted a child too... so little Anna could have a little sister, right? So we definitely didn't use any protection..."

"Besides, given our circumstances at the time, there was no way we could have used fish intestines..."

"I can't let Theresa drink mercury...it'll harm her health."

"Besides, I'm always sitting on top. You've seen him get excited before, how could he possibly be rational..."

The two sides went back and forth, and Fen could only helplessly remain silent: Fine, keep showing off, you guys keep showing off.

One day, Finn will have to do it in front of Theresa when she has to go out to work... phew.

But then again... this seems to be a really big problem, doesn't it?

Fen frowned and sighed:

"In short... although our united nation claims to be autonomous, it is essentially a dictatorial imperial state... it would indeed be very problematic if we did not have a successor."

“...Can’t little Anna do it?” Naruja, who was standing to the side, finally heard a question she could understand and quickly chimed in.

Then the three of them looked at Naruja with helpless eyes and said, "Let alone whether Anna can become the heir of the United Kingdom... just treating the psychological trauma she suffered before is extremely troublesome... If it weren't for the Chief Justice being here with her, Anna might not even want to leave the house."

"So my only requirement for Anna is that she at least be a well-mannered child..." Yang Hao sighed with a wry smile. "I will give her the best care and the best financial investment. The only thing she needs to repay us with is to become the person she wants to be—after all, I owe her so much."

"Wasn't that unavoidable and something we couldn't stop at the time?"

"Whether I have the ability to stop it is one thing, but whether I really owe it is another—I owe my child, so let it be."

Anna is not fit to be the heir to the United Kingdom because of her trauma and current thoughts.

Therefore, Yang Hao, Fen, and Teresa must have a successor, and this successor must be nurtured into a capable individual...

The problem is, it's unclear whether the issue lies with Yang Hao or with Theresa—there's no sign of Theresa getting pregnant at all... and who knows when this will end.

They sighed heavily, and after temporarily setting aside the matter of succession, they began to discuss future development plans.

Undoubtedly, the War of Eden served as a wake-up call for the United Nations. Through this war against the "well-fed" demons, everyone's understanding of demons has deepened.

Undoubtedly, the demons' ability to evolve and learn is a huge threat. However, our side cannot remain in a primitive state forever in order to fight the demons—so after much consideration, increasing investment in industry to improve productivity and researching more and better weapons to fight the demons at great distances has become the core development direction of the United Nations.

"With increased industrial productivity, we can produce more ammunition and products... To put it simply, if we could only produce one Golem a day before the industrial upgrade, then after the upgrade, we can produce 100 Golems a day—in this case, Eden's magic network technology and artificial magic reactors will become our core strength going forward..."

In addition, some questions about the basics of industrial production, namely the output of raw materials, are also good—Teresa, has anything happened with Khuttok Khan lately?

"The herders who went south showed extreme unease about the floating continent. The merchants saw the potential to make money, so they stayed. Through communication, it seems there is a huge iron mine in the Sorrowful Mountains in the north... But given the distance, is it really feasible for the herders to transport iron by horse? Let's forget about it."

Theresa's response further solidified Yang Hao and Finn's idea of ​​invading the Roman Empire's Kagad and Shkur territories.

They don't need the Romans, but they need the churches and iron mines on those two lands. Iron ore is the most important resource in industrial production, not to mention that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, there should also be something like copper ore there.

"Trading is out of the question... so let's focus on our southward invasion—what's the situation in the south?"

"The report is here~ The armies of Hutot Khan and the Isugard colonial forces are locked in fierce combat with the undead, but the number of undead has decreased significantly, and a large portion of the undead have entered the parishes..."

"The parish? Were they lured there by someone?"

"Yes. But the Protestant Church, where the little saintess and that damn witch are, made preparations in advance and didn't suffer heavy losses—but the Old Church, led by Chief Peter, is in trouble. The elven spies say that the Old Church had to abandon a large part of the outer lands and retreat into the towns. Their spring planting fields have been completely ruined. But there's probably plenty of food outside."

"...I don't even know what to say. What about the Roman capital?"

“It’s even more chaotic now.” The little nun rolled her eyes, then pulled out a new intelligence report from under the petite elf’s thigh: “If General Dreschka’s military district can still be considered relatively stable and orderly, and is currently stockpiling food for spring planting, then the capital region can be said to be completely lost.”

Is it that serious?

"That's a doomsday prophecy—you and I both know what a bunch of Romans will do when they go mad. Right now, even the palace in the capital is cracking open. That Robert guy is leading the Imperial Knights to maintain order in the capital, while Prince Gassen and the Alessands are still holed up in the palace... They're doomed. We don't even need to lift a finger; they'll destroy themselves. I just wonder what that suspected demon is up to..."

The Roman Empire remains in a terrible state.

General Dreschka's military district was simultaneously defending against the invasions of the undead, Isugard, and the Huttokhan barbarians, while also dealing with the madmen in the capital and noble districts behind the front lines. He was undoubtedly highly meritorious and hardworking, and it's not fair to say he didn't try, but... well, he was just in a terrible state.

The military district was considered one of the few places in the central Roman Empire that still maintained a semblance of order and civilization, while other areas suffered far more...

In the capital, there was a group of madmen, a group of survivors helped by knights, and a prince who was giving up and curling up. In the other noble cities that were not occupied by the military district, there were also a group of madmen and fools.

According to the elf scouts, in some places, the revelry before the apocalypse has reached an incomprehensible level...

The central region was completely torn apart and rotten. What about the rest of the Roman Empire?

Theresa rolled her eyes, patted Finn's thigh to signal the little guy, who had some assets besides his butt, to get off her desk, and then took out several pieces of intelligence that she had already organized.

As mentioned earlier, the northern parishes haven't changed much, except that both Catholics and Protestants are besieged by the undead, St. Petersburg remains an unknown, and the angels in the sky have turned into skeletons.

The southern coastal areas have been almost entirely occupied by the colonial army. They only need to wait for a second wave of reinforcements to arrive so they can occupy even more land.

The situation in the West was even worse. An important city was controlled by the colonial army of Issugard, the rest of the land was occupied by deliberately lured undead, and the Great Khan's army was roaming around.

So what about the seemingly peaceful East?

It's pretty much rotten already. The Aresians seem to be planning to land in the East—but given the mine owners' self-preservation and strong hostility towards everyone, it seems like war is about to break out in the East too.

Then consider the noble cities still resisting alone and the rebel armies that have fled into the mountains...

...There's probably no country in the world more divided than the Roman Empire. Perhaps.

"Overall, this is good news," Yang Hao shrugged. "We shouldn't have too many problems attacking the territory of Kaghad and Shkur... so for the next few months, we can focus on improving the situation at home."

“Yes, yes, yes. But the problem is, my dear husband, development costs money, you know?” Theresa stared with dead fish eyes, then turned to look at Naruja: “Naruja’s miniature golems can indeed help us a lot, but the current production is still too low... so we still need to work harder.”

“Yes…I will make sure the children work hard…” Naruja nodded. “But the golems in Eden are more advanced than ours…”

"It also means it will be more expensive—none of you are in charge of finances, so you don't know my pain. Everyone knows that advanced technology is useful, but please look at the cost of those things! Even if we had ownership of the demon mines in Eden's Kingdom... we still can't come up with that much stuff to prepare in a short time, can we?"

"Um..."

"Not to mention, my dear husband and my dear friend are planning to develop industry and weapons—after all the calculations, we still don't have enough money. And not only do we not have enough money, we also don't have enough raw materials."

"that..."

"Don't forget that the [Explosive Ore] that Gaparia specializes in is definitely a rarer mineral than iron ore... No matter what, we still need to find a substitute for [Explosive Ore]... But we still have no clue~ So what do you suggest we do, my little puppy?"

"..."

After calming down and averting the threat of war in a short period of time, all sorts of problems and hidden dangers in the country's development were thrown at Yang Hao.

The biggest issues are money and raw materials... but the former will have to wait for the trade between Issugard and the Khuttod Khanate, and the latter will have to wait some time before it can be resolved during the southward invasion of the Roman Empire.

In this situation, no matter how much the little nun complains, can Yang Hao simply conjure up countless minerals and gold coins out of thin air? Certainly not, right?

Even a man's testicles need to fully absorb nutrients before they can produce ammunition. So how could Yang Hao possibly create resources out of thin air?

Left with no other choice, Yang Hao and his companions could only exchange helpless glances before sighing in unison. Just then, the maids outside brought in a late-night snack.

Bayer's late-night snacks have seen a significant upgrade—although the limited food options prevent them from being too elaborate, the fact that they've gone from simple pastries to cakes is enough to make Yang Hao very happy.

Tonight's midnight snack was a dessert made of sweet dried fruit and cake—after enjoying some of the food, Finn suddenly asked about the Gaparia demons.

The demons are now a force that must be dealt with. Whether it's finding them jobs or assigning them to military service based on their skills, given the current severe shortage of human resources, the demons must contribute their strength to the United Nations.

“Personally, I was planning to let the demons adapt to local conditions,” Theresa said, shrugging as she sat on Yang Hao’s lap, munching on a pastry. “Just like how Naruja, as a member of the Listening Clan, can produce golems—and I did preach to the demons for quite a while back then, so I'm fairly familiar with their situation… But this will inevitably cause some demons to leave Japaria, you know? Are the elves okay with that?”

“We elves have no problem with that. Elves don’t even care where underage elves live, let alone demons.” Fin rolled her eyes, gestured for Theresa to make room, and then sat on Yang Hao’s other lap under Naruja’s envious gaze. “So, Theresa, you can decide about the demons yourselves—of course, let me know beforehand, and I’ll be happy to oblige.”

"Hmph... How cute is that little elf who says she wants us to handle things ourselves but actually hopes we'll take good care of her."

“I’m older than you?! I’m over two hundred years old!”

"But he still looks like an underdeveloped middle school student. Hmph."

The group continued their discussion about the demons. Theresa hoped that the demons could uphold their traditional values ​​in people's livelihoods—for example, werewolves are very sensitive to blood, and their impulses under the lure of blood can be tempered through education and training.

In this situation, werewolves are very suitable for jobs like "police" - not to mention that their short-distance running speed is even faster than a carriage moving at full speed, making them almost always successful at catching thieves.