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

But for Lawrence...

If His Majesty the Regent truly has the confidence to enter the Demon Realm.

Then he must have a way to solve the problem.

The two, each with their own conflicted feelings, simply stared at each other helplessly.

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

Meanwhile, in Constantinople, Natalia, after asking her maid to look after little Anna, sighed as she began her night shift.

Because Yang Hao hadn't woken up from his rest, Natalia didn't have the opportunity to directly inquire about him, even while handling her work. But after thinking it over, Natalia knew that she only needed to do one thing well.

That is the important matter of "getting the people to temporarily set aside their hatred for the Roman Empire and concentrate on dealing with matters concerning Isgard and the demons".

Why must Natalia be in charge instead of a dedicated propaganda department? One reason is that, as Yang Hao's trusted advisor, Natalia possesses greater persuasiveness and influence in some respects than the current propaganda department.

On the other hand, if Natalia, being a Roman, were to speak and gain the approval of Yang Hao and the others, the effect would be, in some ways, better than if Yang Hao directly issued the order.

But this inevitably requires conveying a possibility to people... a possibility that people must be prepared for.

That is—this time, the United Nations not only need to assist the Issugard colonial army in overcoming difficulties when the Ice Calamity moves south, but more importantly, there is a possibility that this operation may very well yield nothing.

“It’s hard to say if this will succeed…” Natalia sighed, slumped over her desk. Her single ponytail, tied up for convenience, slid down her right shoulder, cascading along the contours of her body. “After all… we can’t keep pinning our hopes on an exceptionally high level of public civility, can we? While the United Nations currently boasts a high level of public civility, can we guarantee it will be the same next year?”

Natalia believed that she should find a way to overcome the difficulties without relying on the quality of the people. This wasn't just to impress Yang Hao; more importantly, she genuinely didn't believe Yang Hao would place all his hopes on the quality of the people.

On the one hand, people change. Even the elves, after living for thousands of years, underwent drastic changes because of Yang Hao's arrival, let alone the Bayerzans?

Bayer Zion's ancestors, having endured brutal battles, could naturally maintain their integrity... but what about their children? What about their grandchildren?

It's obvious to the naked eye that the decline in national quality is something that's bound to happen in the future... Even if it doesn't actually decline, Natalia still thinks that a "reserve plan" is necessary, right?

Another reason lies in...

"Instead of making people truly achieve saintly purity without seeking any reward... wouldn't it be better to be pure in the form of praise or reward?"

Natalia's experience gained from many years as a court president.

Based on her experience, it is impossible to expect the entire nation to do good deeds unconditionally.

Humans are creatures that need feedback. If one or two acts of unconditional kindness only elicit gratitude, that's fine, but if they don't even receive a word of praise, then people are very likely to give up on their good deeds out of exhaustion.

Conversely, what if everyone received a "thank you," community recognition, or even government rewards when helping others?

...Although Natalia believes that there will be many more "good deeds" that are not from the heart but focused on material rewards, the social atmosphere will improve on the basis of material rewards...so what's wrong with that?

If a person with the greatest malice performs good deeds throughout their life, wouldn't we still only recognize them as a good person?

Conversely, if a good person with saintly virtues commits evil deeds throughout their life, wouldn't we also simply consider them an evil person?

Isn't it better to cultivate more "good people" through material rewards than to simply rely on the spontaneous goodness of a single person?

Natalia believed that the path she envisioned should be flawless... but the problem was that His Majesty Yang Hao had presented her with a difficult challenge...

A difficult problem: how to unconditionally help the people of Ysgard...

This contradicts Natalia's vision of creating more benevolent people through greater material wealth, and the most contradictory aspect is that the people of the United Nations are highly unlikely to approve of this unconditional aid...

"If it were an emergency and we didn't have any salt at home, borrowing some would be fine... but the problem is, it's more like a family is trying to get their son married, and then the neighbor next door says they want to borrow money so their son can get married too..."

Natalie sighed and made a very apt analogy—indeed, if it were just a trivial matter like "borrowing some salt," a family would certainly be willing to lend it out readily.

But the problem is... who would be willing to lend out such a huge expense as the bride price for getting married unconditionally?

At least in Natalia's understanding, it was virtually impossible for the Romans to do. Neither could the Isugards, nor the Khanate of Khuttoth, and in fact, apart from the Gaparia, none of the other members of the United Nations could...

Gaparia could probably do it because almost every elf in Gaparia's elven society knows other elves in that society. They know everyone in their country, so trust is naturally not a problem.

The Kingdom of Eden couldn't do it because trade constitutes a large part of their social structure.

Bayer Gems can't do it because Bayer Gems people are also human... Lending is definitely not a problem, but at least you have to provide some collateral, right?

Guarantee... Guarantee...

Oh, right... a guarantee!

"Can we get Isjugard to provide a guarantee as collateral for this unconditional rescue?"

Natalia, who had been listless, jumped up from her chair, only to nearly fall to the ground. After struggling to her feet and groaning as she stood up, the girl sat back down and took out paper and pen from her drawer to work out her ideas.

While it's true that Issugard currently has nothing of value to offer in return for the United Nations' selfless assistance, it doesn't mean they can't use something as collateral.

After much thought, Natalia reasoned that since Miss Nia the Black Dragon had once used the "knowledge" in her mind as collateral, it shouldn't be a problem if Ysgard offered a slightly larger amount as collateral this time...?

"Although we don't know the exact amount that can be mortgaged... we should be able to come up with a general direction... Alright, let's wait for His Majesty to wake up before making a decision?"

The presiding judge was pleased with his idea and put in a lot of effort to help Yang Hao alleviate his worries.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom.

When Yang Hao awoke from his hazy dream, he not only found that his clothes seemed to have been changed, but also that his hands were being embraced by his two wives, who were of vastly different sizes, and he couldn't free himself for the time being.

"..."

In order to figure out the current situation, in the dim light, he turned his head to look at the warm and soft women on either side of him.

On her right side, squeezed so tightly that her right hand was almost impossible to pull away, was Theresa's body, dressed in a semi-transparent white nightgown.

Her body rose and fell rhythmically with her deep breathing. She uttered muffled moans as Yang Hao moved, and after pulling his arms even tighter, the little nun gave Yang Hao no chance to escape.

On Yang Hao's left side was a tiny sprite that always left gaps no matter how tightly he hugged her, and in the end, he even had to rest his face on her hand to prevent Yang Hao from leaving.

Perhaps due to her physical disadvantage, even when the elf was wearing the loosest-looking pajamas and lying in bed, she couldn't compete with Theresa in terms of her size.

To compensate for her physical shortcomings, the tricks she used were, of course, things that were of little use to Theresa in terms of "technique".

Yang Hao was certainly happy about this.

But when he thought that if Finn were sandwiched between him and Teresa in her current position, she would look more like their daughter, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey hey hey..."

After trying to use his leg strength to cover the two of them with the blankets, Yang Hao, who couldn't get out of bed for a while, could only lie in bed thinking about the work ahead and setting a direction and goal for what was to come.

What is clear is that the most urgent task at present is to save the main force of Ysgard, so that they can preserve their strength and eventually become the "muscle" to fight against demons in the future.

Following that is the Ice Calamity heading south—whether Yang Hao hopes to capture it alive for research or intends to kill it completely, the Ice Calamity will be a massive test that only the United Nations can overcome.

If the United Nations fails in its efforts to resist the southward advance of the Ice Calamity, one can only imagine the bitter consequences that the continent of Elusia will face in the future.

At that point, the destruction of Gaparia's capital would be considered the least damaging thing to the continent.

In the worst-case scenario, the Ice Calamity might even turn all the land along its way to the Demon Realm into permafrost that never thaws... If it were even more severe, the entire continent might become the territory of the Ice Calamity.

This is an absolutely unacceptable event for the United Nations... but how to combat the Ice Calamity is a good question.

Elena's plan was to use a large number of colossus weapons as a foundation to build a firepower network specifically targeting the Ice Calamity in order to stop its invasion.

But Yang Hao always felt something was missing...

It's like a "fat couch potato's happy meal"—it has a burger, fried chicken, and fries, but it's missing a Coke. His intuition tells him that something crucial is missing from this plan...

While the simpler the plan, the better... the simplest plan often results in the greatest losses for the United Nations.

In that case... it would be best to try to communicate with Nia, Lalumia, and Elena, right?

Or perhaps the inspiration came from the Roman Empire... or perhaps from the Roman Empire in its present form?

..

"Um..."

Yang Hao never imagined that the Roman Empire would become a disaster area in the Demon Realm.

It seems this matter is definitely related to that demon servant—it's pointless to investigate the demon servant's motives now; the key point is that countless people within the Roman Empire will be corrupted into demon-like creatures.

One or two million is fine.

But the problem is that over ten million people in the central region have been corrupted into demons... that's going to be a difficult situation.

"No matter what, a demon's larva is several times stronger than an ordinary human..."

Yang Hao sighed. The real world will soon see tens of millions more demons appear out of thin air... This is a major problem facing the continent of Elusia in the future.

Moreover... the geography of the central region of the Roman Empire is actually quite bad.

Multiple entrances allow for attacks on the central district of the Roman Empire, meaning that demons can launch simultaneous attacks on humanity from multiple exits in the future...

The bigger problem is that the demon servants might even pinpoint the next rift to the former territory of the Roman Empire... which is hardly good news.

Yang Hao sighed heavily again.

"Sigh... This is difficult... The demons must have acquired a large number of excellent combat forces by now, right?"

And the demon servant that Yang Hao longed for.

At this very moment, he lay sighing in the Roman capital, which had now become the mother nest of demons.

"Sigh... I shouldn't have let the Romans become demons."

In his weary vision.

The primal demon is currently engaged in a fierce internal struggle with the newly born Roman demon.

There was absolutely no sign of peaceful coexistence among the ancient demons.

Chapter Four: Escaping is Shameful but Useful, and... -8K

As the "Demon Realm," which covers half of the Roman Empire, is currently undergoing a transformation at its heart, making this ecosystem, resembling the demonic native world of "Purgatory," increasingly suitable for demons to live in.

Many people may have a misconception that demons are powerful creatures that can survive in almost any place—this is not the case.

Don't be fooled by the fact that fire-breathing demons can spew flames that can melt steel, petrification demons can lie underground for hundreds of years without moving, and some acid demons can even swim freely in pools of sulfuric acid.

Ultimately, however, the high-ranking demons and Titan demons, who are already considered "special cases" among these demon races, are still a very small minority. Just as humans cannot determine the suitable terrain for a species based on the abilities of their strongest warriors, demons cannot judge whether a place is suitable for their survival based on the strength of high-ranking demons.

Therefore, in the early stages of the [Demon Realm], the transformation of the world within the barrier became the demons' top priority—but it was at this time that the demon servants suddenly realized that they shouldn't have assimilated the Romans into demons... at least not at this time.

"...I regret it now, I just regret it."

How confident the former demon servant was.

Look how pathetic the demon servants are now.

He never imagined that assimilating the Romans would lead him to such a predicament, just as France on Earth never imagined that white people would one day become a rare ethnic group in their own country. He truly couldn't understand how this was happening.