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

Of course, if possible, Hutot Khan also hopes that the United Nations can temporarily accept his people. In return, he will do his best to help in the fight against the Ice Calamity and is willing to share the iron ore resources of the Northern Sorrow Mountains.

......

Honestly.

Yang Hao's two requests to Hutot Khan were actually irrelevant.

After all, opening national highways is perfectly normal given the friendly relations between the two countries. Temporarily accepting refugees is also a very easy and pleasant thing, provided the nomadic people don't cause trouble; it might even temporarily provide the United Nations with much-needed labor...

But—

Yang Hao's eyes were drawn to the mention of "iron ore" in Huttok Khan's letter.

He had long been curious about why Huttod Khan's army possessed such a large quantity of steel weaponry. He had considered that the iron ore resources in the Sorrowful Mountains were so abundant that they could rival the wealth of a nation, but he never expected Huttod Khan to voluntarily acknowledge this and be willing to share it.

"For us, this is a risk-free business."

He sighed. The Ice Calamity was originally a major event that the United Nations planned to resolve on its own—Yang Hao had never expected Isugard and Hutot Khan to provide any assistance. Naturally, all his plans were based on the premise that the United Nations would fight alone.

Now, after achieving his goal, he even received additional rewards... This made him very happy, but it also made him suddenly realize a problem...

So... just how much damage has the Ice Calamity actually caused to Hutot Khan's homeland? To the point that Hutot Khan has had to use his vital iron ore as a bargaining chip?

He turned to look at Elena, who shook her head.

"Explanation: Approximately 7 percent of the refugees appeared on the steppes of Huttok Khan."

"...Seven percent?"

"Explanation: Seven percent of the total population."

"...That means at least tens of thousands of people?" The nun next to her blinked. "After all, the Khuttok Khanate has a large army... If we calculate based on the traditional military-to-civilian ratio, the population of the Khuttok Khanate should be more than we imagined, right?"

"But the nomadic barbarians are practically all soldiers now, right? Using the calculation method of the Bayerzans or Roman barbarians isn't appropriate, is it? But it's true that there are at least a few thousand people... I just don't know what the upper limit is."

“I know! That’s why I’m just guessing… And Finn, come down quickly! We’re talking about serious business! And doesn’t Elena know either?”

When asked by the nun, Elena shrugged and said that there were more than 30,000 refugees in need of help, and among these 30,000 refugees, there were more than 4,000 herders with large herds.

Providing aid to these refugees is not a problem.

The problem is, what to do with those livestock?

Slaughtering them directly would mean the complete loss of their property for the nomads—but there weren't enough pastures around Constantinople to help them raise the animals... So after much deliberation, Yang Hao decided to leave the difficult decision to Hutod Khan and his bureaucrats.

They can produce satisfactory results. However... the large number of refugees also means that the Ice Calamity is progressing faster than they anticipated.

"Perhaps we should confirm the results as soon as possible and deploy them in the possible advance positions of the Ice Calamity."

He sighed as he picked Fen up from his arms and placed her on the sofa beside him. He then got up and stretched, deciding to take everyone to Naruja's place to check on the situation.

Meanwhile, at the site of the Listening Clan.

While sweating profusely as she controlled the piling of stones and earth to take shape, Naruja said with considerable pride that this time, she could finally be of real help.

After all, thanks to her and the children's efforts, this simple yet exceptionally tall golem can mitigate the effects of the cold to the greatest extent possible. It can deliver a fatal blow to the Ice Calamity with the most primitive weapon, and theoretically, it also has the ability to keep up with the Ice Calamity's escape.

Naruja calls these golems, which are over fifteen meters tall, "Titans." She firmly believes that "Titans" will become an important force in the United Nations in the future.

But before that, she needs to prove the value of the Titan with the body of the Ice Calamity.

Chapter 4: Titangolem, and the Lalumia's Conspiracy - 8K

On the same day, Yang Hao and the others arrived at Naruja's factory, and with her enthusiastic introduction, everyone finally learned what the "secret weapon" that Yang Hao had placed such high hopes on was.

In summary, the Titan Golem is the one with the simplest structure, the largest existing size, the slowest movement, and the strongest close-range lethality and resistance.

It seems to be out of step with the current weapons development philosophy of the United Nations, but upon closer examination, it doesn't seem to have any problems.

After all, what's needed on the battlefield is simple and unadorned weapons. Weapons are created to kill, and the simpler and more convenient the method of killing, the better.

If we apply this to the Titan Golem that Naruja is researching, the following points apply.

"It's large enough, and there's no need to worry about structural details during construction... Because of its size, while it's more likely to be targeted by enemy fire, it's also more resistant to damage..."

1. The Titan Golem's enormous size has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that it is large enough, and the fatal parts have gradually shifted from the head and chest to the feet... But judging from Naruja's improvements, after the feet were made of hard metal, the Titan Golem's only weakness was almost completely covered up.

In this situation, expecting to incapacitate the Titan Golem through conventional attacks is extremely unrealistic. This is one of the advantages that Naruja mentioned.

On the other hand, the downside is that—due to its enormous size, the Titan Golem will attract almost all of the enemy's firepower the moment it appears...

However, for Yang Hao, this was actually good news—after all, if Titan Golem was treated as a mere consumable, it could absorb the deadly ranged attacks that would be fatal to conventional troops. Even if it just stood there as a target, it could still play a unique role, turning a disadvantage into an advantage.

Moreover, this is only a change in terms of body shape.

"In terms of control... due to its increased size, the Titanoglem can simultaneously use multiple [magic scripts] for control and [listeners controlling different bodies separately]..."

Hmm, the former might cause some problems if the magic script is corrupted, but the latter, as long as our Ling people are in a safe position, should be fine...

If all else fails, a member of the Listener race can completely control the entire golem, or an ordinary soldier can be directly controlled using the mind-embedded golem control method...

2. In terms of control methods, Titan Golems offer multiple control options that can be adjusted according to the situation. Whether operating autonomously through magical scripts like most Golems, or controlled by Listeners or trained soldiers, the commander on site will be able to find the best way to use the Titan Golem based on the circumstances.

Of course, regardless of the operating mode, it means that the Titan Golem is definitely not as easy and comfortable to operate as the regular Golem.

However, compared to the subsequent weaponry issues, the operational difficulties don't seem so bad...

"Regarding weapons... well... because of its extremely simple structure, the Titangolem can only fight with its hands and feet... However, if Elena could, could find a way to install a scaled-down version of the Colossus weapon on the Titangolem, perhaps... it wouldn't be a problem?"

The Titan Golem's structure is too simple.

It's so simple that there's not even enough space in the gap of an arm to install a regular 30mm cannon.

This results in Titan Golems having extremely simple fighting methods—either punching and kicking, or simply grabbing things from the ground and throwing them. While strength is certainly not an issue, when facing Titan demons, everyone still hopes that Titan Golems could have more diverse attack methods...

At the very least, the weapons should be presentable in name only, right?

Everyone turned to look at Elena, who, under their gaze, could only say that the results would be available after the actual testing.

However, there is still some time before the Titan Golem is put into actual combat testing, so everyone can only go back and wait for news for now.

.......

in the afternoon.

After afternoon tea, Yang Hao and the others had their own work to do, while Elena, who had left her work to the magical dolls, went to Lalumia, hoping that Lalumia could answer her worries and confusion.

"So, little Elena, what are you worried about?"

The deity smiled and offered the synthetic doll a cup of hot tea, then gestured for Elena to sit on the sofa.

"...Confused: Am I really not going to disturb your work?"

"No, not at all. Besides, one of my jobs is to help children with their problems. So sit down. If you have any questions, just ask me."

Elena nodded, then obediently sat down on the sofa with her teacup in hand.

She first took a sip of the warm tea, and after savoring the milky aroma and sweetness, she subconsciously came to a conclusion: Lalumia is a sweet tooth.

After all, it makes sense; Lalumia, like Theresa, loves sweets... perhaps this is something they have in common?

The synthetic doll fell into deep thought, while Lalumia smiled and said, "Sweetness actually symbolizes people's enjoyment of the present and their expectations for a happy future—in a sense, it is also a kind of light."

However... that's not the topic of today's conversation.

"So, little Elena, what do you want to ask?"

Lalumia pulled up a chair and sat down next to Elena. Like a mother with her daughter, she gently stroked Elena's hair, giving Elena unprecedented warmth and calming Elena's previously tense and uneasy heart.

She put down her teacup, took a deep breath, and said:

"Helpless: I'm very worried about Miss Nia. I feel that Miss Nia's actions seem to be inexplicable from the perspective of national interest."

"Oh?"

Lalumia blinked, thinking to herself: Isn't this great?

But she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled to herself as she stroked Elena's hair—Elena's hair was smooth and soft. In a way, artificial things are really convenient.

But then again, she had originally thought that Elena wanted to ask about the Ice Calamity... So in the little girl's eyes, the Ice Calamity was less of a threat than Nia?

The deity fell into strange thoughts, while the small synthetic puppet secretly used the magic network to spy on Yang Hao's every move in the office, sighing with worry.

Admittedly, Nia's recent actions are truly incomprehensible to Elena.

From the perspective of national interest, Nia directly provided Isuga with classified intelligence about the Sirens—from the perspective of the United Nations, Elena should certainly thank her. But thinking about it from an individual perspective, wasn't that really going too far?

Who would send state secrets directly as a token of gratitude? So it was only natural for Elena to see Nia's gift as a manifestation of her love for Yang Hao. And because of this, the synthetic doll, who didn't quite understand the changes in people's hearts, fell into deep worry.

After all, if Nia could win over Yang Hao with a state secret this time, she could certainly do the same with another state secret.

After a while, Elena became quite confident in Yang Hao's short-term self-control, but in the end, Yang Hao was just an ordinary human being...

As human beings, we are all driven by desires. Nia's advances might not cause Yang Hao to lose himself immediately, but once this "gift" becomes a "habit," it's hard to guarantee that Yang Hao will continue to treat Nia with equanimity...

Once you can no longer view someone with a normal attitude, your emotions will naturally accumulate and eventually surge—especially considering that Yang Hao has a promise to go on a two-year business trip to Isgard... Elena is even more worried.

Ugh!

She sighed heavily, and after taking another sip of the now-cold tea, the synthetic doll had to admit that it was very weak now.

Even the pressure of the Ice Calamity couldn't break her, and the work of developing colossus weapons that could be mounted on Titanogrims didn't make her raise an eyebrow in the slightest.

The result is at this moment.

Elena, however, could not prevent Yang Hao from escaping the clutches of the wicked woman after arriving in Isgard.

Ugh!

I imagine Her Majesty Theresa and Her Majesty Finn must have been filled with mixed emotions...

After all, that vile black dragon must have already been planning to do all sorts of filthy things to Yang Hao after he went to Isgard.

Perhaps that black dragon can use words to cover up its ugly side.

But for Elena, who was constantly monitoring the entire Purple Palace, she not only knew what positions Yang Hao preferred at night, but also knew about the black dragon that had been trying to avoid meeting Yang Hao recently—the black dragon's private venting behavior at night had been quite intense, to the point that Elena had to stop monitoring it.

...

A terrifying black dragon.

Elena thought grimly that if her friend really fell into the hands of the Black Dragon, not only would his reputation be ruined, but he might even be paralyzed in a wheelchair and unable to move at all.

We must stop the Black Dragon's vile plan no matter what—but what should I do?