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

After Finn returned to the earth's embrace, she glared at the nun with deadpan eyes and pulled her back a little. Faced with Finn's question, Yang Hao paused for a moment before beginning to think. Naruja paused, lowering her head to try and hide her surprise, but the blue-pink antlers on her head betrayed her expectant feelings.

The nun felt that things could no longer be delayed, so she decided to give Yang Hao a push... But just as the nun took action, suddenly—a strange sound came from Yang Hao.

......

At first, it seemed to be a noise. Yang Hao looked around blankly, not knowing where the sound was coming from. But the guards around him immediately went on alert, surrounding Yang Hao and the others and protecting them with several layers of protective magic before they felt a little more at ease.

Then, the elves were the first to sense that it was a communication spell with no hostility—but the problem is that the elves' communication spells cannot produce noise, so what was going on?

Everyone stared at Yang Hao, who then rummaged through his clothes and found a strange object coalescing in his pocket...

“This is…artificial magic?” Finn recognized the substance’s true nature. “Artificial magic from the Land of Eden? But why is it here with you?”

"Perhaps someone wants to contact me? But how did they pinpoint my location so precisely?"

Yang Hao shook his head blankly. Just as he was wondering who had contacted him, a familiar female voice came from inside:

"Question: Surface magic and man-made magic are not compatible... Some localization modifications are needed for efficient utilization... Mr. Yang Hao? Can you hear me?"

It's Elena!

Yang Hao suddenly realized.

But then he noticed that the faces of three women connected to him, including Naruja, suddenly darkened.

He suddenly realized that Elena's communication with him seemed to be getting worse...

Chapter Four: The Manifestation of "Light" and the Truth of the Past—8K

Mr. Yang Hao? Can you hear me?

When Elena's voice came from the tiny magic cube.

Yang Hao was genuinely happy—on the one hand, he was certain that Elena's initiative to seek him out would bring more benefits to the United Nations, and he was happy that his country could gain more benefits.

On the other hand, he also had to admit that he had a rather good impression of Elena... After all, she was a mechanical life form that had been fantasized about countless times on Earth—and Elena, as a "life form," seemed quite innocent, which only increased Yang Hao's goodwill towards her.

Of course, this was just affection for a friend. However, while Yang Hao thought this way, the other girls didn't think so...

For Finn and Naruja, who had spent time with Elena, Elena's current behavior was much better than when they first met her, when she was completely mechanical.

All of Elena's changes are related to Yang Hao—even a fool could guess what kind of feelings Elena harbors for Yang Hao...

Perhaps the synthetic doll girl herself hasn't realized it yet... or perhaps it's just a simple misunderstanding between Finn and Naruja, but in any case, why would you choose to use magic to deliberately have a private conversation when you have the proper channels available? It's really hard not to speculate...

The thought that Elena, this synthetic doll, might take advantage of Yang Hao's curiosity about her and start doing whatever she wanted... made Finn unable to help but show a terrible expression.

As for Naruja, she didn't actually have much affection for her ancestor's "master." Now that she realized Elena might compete with her at any time, the chieftain's face was still calm, but the slightly reddened antlers clearly showed that she was not in a good mood.

What about Theresa?

Her knowledge of Elena was limited to Yang Hao and Fen's descriptions. Not to mention Elena's personality, she didn't even know what Elena looked like... But under these circumstances, Theresa suddenly realized that her man might be stolen?

(After all, thinking about it carefully... although that guy's way of speaking was a bit strange... but he was secretly trying to contact Yang Hao, which clearly meant he had some ulterior motive, right?)

Theresa walked gently to Yang Hao's side, then took his arm in a friendly manner and secretly pinched the back of his hand.

(And how exactly did you pinpoint Yang Hao's location from such a great distance?! It would be one thing if it were Constantinople, but this is Fingel in Gaparia, Fingel!)

How could you find my man from so far away?! You're probably... (hiss...)

Theresa just wanted to know—how exactly did you, the Queen of Eden, find Yang Hao? That was all she really wanted to know. Honestly.

Faced with the three women's gazes—some silent, some displeased, and some kind—and the faint pain throbbing in the back of his hand, Yang Hao, with the other scattered guards pretending not to see anything, could only manage a few dry laughs and say:

"Yes... I can hear your voice, Elena. How did you find me?"

He was also curious about Elena's ability to pinpoint his location and use magic. After all, the fact that she could remotely generate something like a communicator this time meant that she could send bombs in next time.

Perhaps Elena didn't mean any harm, but her diplomatic skills as a queen were still far too immature. Yang Hao decided to help Elena, at least to let her know that such things must be done with prior permission—this was also for his own peace of mind.

When Yang Hao asked her questions, Elena simply gave this answer:

Explanation: Mr. Yang Hao's unique circumstances made it very easy for me to locate your position within mainland China.

However, perhaps due to the significant time difference, the artificial magic of the Kingdom of Eden seems somewhat incompatible with the native magic of the continent of Elusia... Our magic from the Kingdom of Eden will be 20% less efficient when used on the continent of Elusia, but this is within an acceptable range. We can adapt on our own.

"I see... Elena, why are you looking for me at this time?"

"Explanation: This is to inform you of some things. The Kingdom of Eden will complete the reconstruction of its territory by April 15th. Although the population cannot be increased and it is impossible to ensure the functionality of many buildings, at least during that time I will have time to go to the surface and explore the current surface world."

As she spoke, Elena's voice sounded cold, yet tinged with unease. Yang Hao initially thought this was a good thing, but just as he lowered his guard, Elena's curiosity and Theresa's displeasure beside her caused Yang Hao to unconsciously break out in a cold sweat.

"Request: and... I hope that Mr. Yang Hao and Miss Nia can accompany me to investigate the surface conditions. We Edenians are not familiar with the current surface society, so we urgently hope to learn more common knowledge with your help."

Explanation: Besides that, I also have a few things I'd like to confirm with you privately. One is a technical discussion, and the other is that I'm very curious about your expertise. Could you perhaps spare some time for me later?

"..."

What to say?

Yang Hao actually quite liked the straightforward nature of the mechanical lifeforms. This meant that many trivial matters that might drag on from the beginning to the end of the month in human society could simply disappear without a trace; it meant not only high efficiency in negotiations but also greater ease in communication between the two parties...

That was Yang Hao's original thought.

But when Elena directly asked to be alone with him—even if she might not actually have such thoughts—it inevitably led people to mistakenly believe that the young girl had some malicious intentions...

This is not.

His wife, standing nearby, was furious, and his second wife, not far away, was also seething with resentment. And what's worse, Yang Hao seemed unable to explain the current situation to Elena yet!

He could only manage a dry laugh—and it seemed Elena realized that what she had said was inappropriate. After a moment of silence, she gave Yang Hao this reply:

"Chen Shu: Please pretend you didn't hear what I just said about 'individual confirmation.' Some technical exchanges would be better with more researchers involved."

"...call."

Yang Hao breathed a sigh of relief. But Elena still showed no sign of hanging up.

She said that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, she would have a proper discussion with Yang Hao about the "Catastrophe of Ice" on April 15th.

The Edenians originally planned to rebuild their colossus weapons on the floating continent, but no matter how they constructed them, numerous blind spots always appeared within the weapons' range. If we consider the original design power of the colossus weapons—capable of scorching the entire surface—then these blind spots wouldn't be a major issue. But the problem is, the colossi of the Edenian Kingdom simply don't possess that kind of power!

Not to mention the presence of allies on the surface. So, after much deliberation, unable to increase the power to the point of "ignoring blind spots," the Edenians had no choice but to find another way: to build colossus weapons on the surface world. By connecting multiple colossus weapons into a firing network, they could block all the paths of the Ice Calamity that might move south at any time, while also posing a powerful threat to the Ice Calamity.

As for the location... based on observations of the surface, the highest building in the Monster Forest is the top of the Purple Palace in Constantinople. Further into the forest, the location of an even higher site remains unknown.

Elena decided to start with the simplest thing—that is, she wanted to build the Edenian colossus weapon on Yang Hao's palace, turning the entire Purple Palace into a deadly weapon that threatened the life and death of the surrounding area.

Let's set aside the bizarre expressions on Theresa and the others' faces when they heard their homes were going to be turned into weapons. Even Yang Hao himself found it utterly absurd: Did Elena really know what this meant?

On a grander scale, Elena is placing her nation's most precious treasure in the royal palace of another country's capital, much like depositing a huge sum of money she has painstakingly saved into her roommate's safe. This means that the United Nations, in a sense, has the ability to take that money away at any time.

To put it bluntly, Elena is actually challenging the authority of the United Nations—after all, that's a Colossus weapon! It could destroy the current Bayer Zans city at any time, and you not only built that thing on your own territory, but you also plan to build it on our heads? What are you thinking?

Yang Hao's unusual silence prompted Elena to quickly offer an explanation:

"Conclusion: You will have complete control of the Colossus Weapon. In other words, even if you immediately take control of the Colossus Weapon and fire it at Eden after it is completed, we will not be able to take away your control."

"...ha?!"

Isn't this... even more outrageous?

You built the Colossus weapon in my house, fine, but are you really planning to hand over all control to me? Wait... this is making me wonder if something bad is going to happen later.

Yang Hao was somewhat amused and exasperated: if Elena were a seasoned politician, Yang Hao might have been much calmer. After all, there's always a ulterior motive behind unsolicited favors...

But the problem is, the one who gave me this great gift was Elena—Elena genuinely seemed to have no schemes other than resolving the Ice Calamity. To resolve the Ice Calamity, she simply handed me a powerful weapon...

This is... way too naive, isn't it?

Just as everyone was astonished by this, Elena gave a more reasonable explanation—in a sense, this was a "gift" from the Kingdom of Eden to the United Kingdom in its assistance.

After all, just as Yang Hao thought, if it were simply about fighting the Ice Calamity, the Edenians wouldn't be foolish enough to give away such a powerful weapon to a neighboring country... But if we take into account the help the United Nations had given to the Edenian Kingdom, especially Yang Hao's help to Elena [although Yang Hao himself didn't know what he had done], then this was an acceptable [gift] for the Edenian Kingdom.

But this gift, which is rather ordinary for the Edenites, might be too much for the United Nations to handle... So, with no other option, Yang Hao could only say, "Let's talk more in depth on April 15th," and the little drama caused by Elena finally came to a complete end.

Yang Hao confirmed his in-depth conversation with Elena on April 15th. Finn and Teresa were puffed up with anger, as Yang Hao always brought them unexpected results whenever he went out. Although Naruja didn't say anything, judging from her antlers, she didn't seem too happy about Elena's covetous gaze towards Yang Hao.

Left with no other option, Yang Hao could only suggest that they talk about it after dinner—perhaps after dinner he would be able to explain the whole story of Elena to his two wives and Naruja? Or perhaps, it would be best not to explain at all?

Who knows?

He sighed, feeling that even this rare period of peace was a very tiring workday for him.

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

Meanwhile, inside the Great Library of Eden.

After ending her call with Yang Hao, Elena went to the roof of the Grand Library and looked down at the city that was being rebuilt.

Because the number of magical puppets that have been backed up to only about 1 remains, the Kingdom of Eden, with only a little over 1 people left, is unable to rebuild all the functions of its homeland, even though it can rebuild its home.

Taking industrial production as an example, under normal circumstances, at least one thousand people are needed to maintain the industrial zones of Eden. If just one industrial zone requires one thousand people to maintain, then that's not even considering the other aspects of the business.

"Judging from the current situation, it is a foregone conclusion that our country's labor force cannot meet the existing needs - we need more cheap individuals to share the repetitive labor. Expensive magical golems will not work, we need golems on the ground."

Elena began to mutter to herself. A small screen appeared in front of her, and the scene on the screen shifted from seven figures away from Yang Hao, who was eating, to the production workshop of small golems outside Constantinople.

Elena's observation of Yang Hao stemmed from her own interest. Her examination of the smaller golems, however, was to compare the differences between ground golems and Eden's Kingdom golems.

Undoubtedly, the Kingdom of Eden places far too much emphasis on quality—the cost of producing one magical golem is enough to produce a thousand small golems on Earth. And frankly, if the sole purpose is to meet industrial and labor demands, the people of Eden don't really need to add so many functions to their magical golems...

To use an earthly analogy, they shouldn't be adding gaming computers and keyboards to shovels used for digging—Elena has indeed found suitable substitutes, but how to put it? It seems Eden really can't produce them themselves...

"Judgment: It's not that we lack the technology to produce it, but rather that we are so wealthy that we don't even have the necessary materials to produce low-end equipment..."

Elena sighed.

The entire land of Eden is composed of magical materials; even the soil is of a higher quality than the most fertile land on Earth. The people of Eden wouldn't waste gold, which could yield countless resources, on such a place for a short-term need...

If possible, Elena hopes to trade with Yang Hao and others for a production line for cheap small golems on land by trading magical materials from the floating continent—if that's not possible, she also hopes to obtain the permission to build factories on the ground.

In this way, the Kingdom of Eden can produce its own cheap golems on the ground and then send them to the floating continent to put them to use.

But then again...

(Our factory will also provide convenience for Mr. Yang Hao's country... If possible, it would be better to trade for as many national resources as possible.) Elena pondered, (This way, it's a win-win situation for both sides. We can obtain regular resources, the United Nations can obtain products produced by our factory, and then we can obtain cheap labor again... We win twice, and he wins once, which is great.)

(But then, wouldn't I be unable to discuss matters related to [technical knowledge] with Mr. Yang Hao? If the transaction doesn't make the other party happy, he won't be willing to provide us with knowledge from another world... So... besides the colossus weapon, building factories on the ground, and the previously agreed-upon artificial magic reactor—what else should we do?)

The little synthetic doll was troubled, and just then, the [Camera Puppet] she had sent out to gather intelligence sent back some intriguing news...

"Hmm? I'm puzzled... Is this Bayer Zans-style architecture? Intelligence analysis... suggests this should be the legendary [St. Petersburg]?"

Unbeknownst to them, the Eden Kingdom's reconnaissance puppets had already flown to the parish of the Roman Empire, far, far away from the United Kingdom. Ignoring the densely packed figures on the ground, Elena focused intently on the new scene: the city comprised of the massive cathedral, which the people of the United Kingdom called the "Holy City."