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

"Your Majesty—let's go. To get to the Oak Mine, we'll need to ride a stag or a hawk... Eh? And who is this?"

“She is Naruja, the chieftain of the Ling tribe, we told her on the way.”

The Hanging Gardens of Fingal features the Falcon Flight Hub, accessible to all elves. By riding the Falcon, elves can travel quickly and freely throughout the Elf Forest, though some identification is still required to reach important locations.

Yang Hao had the certificate Fen had given him, so after taking out that document, everything went very smoothly.

They arrived at the Elven Oak Square at 10:00 AM sharp that day—to the naked eye, it was actually a peculiar sight formed by countless intertwined oak trees. But if you flew high into the air and paused briefly at the treetop level, you could see the true nature of the sight inside.

Surrounded by oak trees, there was a small rocky hill, slightly shorter than the nearly 100-meter-high forest.

The tree's roots coiled around the mountain, squeezing into every crack and sending their brownish-brown, translucent vessels deep into the ground. Under the light, these intestine-like brownish-brown roots moved rhythmically, gradually transferring the mineral sand within them towards the heart of the tree.

Arthur explained that it was the Elven Oak Mine—the closest mine to Fingel, producing over 70% of Gaparia's magical minerals, as well as regular iron, silver, and copper ore, and gemstones buried deep underground. This was essentially the heart of the Elven mining industry; losing this mine would plunge the Elves into a mineral shortage for the next ten years, making armor production impossible, and even the supply and demand of arrowheads would become extremely unstable.

After landing, Yang Hao and Arthur climbed down from the eagle with worried expressions. Before Yang Hao could say anything, Arthur, wearing a golden mask, skillfully led the way while saying:

"Your Majesty, this place is rich in mineral resources, but you probably think the same as me... it's too densely packed. It's really far too densely packed."

Seventy percent of the kingdom's mineral resources are produced here. Not only mineral resources, but also the supporting military industry is built around the mines.

This is similar to how the human heart and brain function in the same place; if this place is deliberately damaged, then the Elven military industry will be completely destroyed.

In the Roman Empire, the now-demolished steam plant was actually considered a densely populated industrial area. However, when Yang Hao and Arthur were still in the Roman Empire, they would never have built such a crucial steam plant near the mines.

On the one hand, it is to avoid further environmental damage and overcrowding, but most importantly, it is to avoid being wiped out by the enemy.

If the enemy only destroys the raw material production areas, the factories will still exist, and they can produce equipment as quickly as possible before resources run out, thus securing a short-term solution to the invaders.

If the enemy only destroys the steam factory industrial area, and the raw material production area is not destroyed, they can still prepare for a long war. Although weapons production will not be as efficient as before, at least they can produce small batches continuously to cope with a long war.

But an outdated arrangement like that of the elves, which gathers more than half of the raw material production areas and more than half of the handicraft industries in the same region... is undoubtedly a foolish thing to do.

This means that if an enemy were to damage the areas where raw materials are produced, it could also destroy the centers of handicraft industries.

If a country loses both raw material production and product output, it will have no choice but to fight a final, life-or-death battle with its reserves of products and resources... Perhaps the elves are thinking that this is how they have done things in the past, and this is perfect—but in Yang Hao's opinion, this outdated perfection is not as practical as simply throwing it away.

“Your Majesty, you know… it’s like a perfect stone knife—but we’ve entered the age of steam, what use is a stone knife now? I’d rather the elves use imperfect iron knives than see them on the battlefield with stone tools, not to mention the steam plants of the Roman Empire now…”

"The steam factory? It's all gone, all dismantled. The steam rifles have been thrown away or sold off, so in a sense the elves are now using perfect stone knives to fight against the parish's rusty iron knives."

"Huh?! It's been demolished?! Have they gone mad?!"

Completely stunned by the bombshell news Yang Hao suddenly dropped, Arthur stood there dumbfounded, not even noticing when Naruja and Teresa passed by.

This was perhaps too much of a blow for Arthur—after all, the steam factory was the culmination of his hard work, like a child for Arthur and Yang Hao. Although he no longer had the chance to go back and see it, he was still quite proud of it.

As a result, the Roman Empire not only expelled the regent, but also demolished the steam factory? Who would have thought...?

He was stunned for a while, but finally calmed down, muttering to himself, "Anyway, I'm already on the Elf Kingdom's side." He jogged back to Yang Hao's side.

It was at this moment that they arrived at the entrance of a hollow oak tree. After showing the guard the documents in their hands, they went inside and carefully examined the metal ingots that were automatically produced by the ancient tree.

Yang Hao counted silently in his mind, while Arthur promptly gave the answer:

"The ancient trees can't produce metal ingots as quickly as the factories we've established in the Roman Empire."

From a macro perspective, the overall production capacity of the Oak Mine is only two-thirds that of the Roman Empire [assuming it possesses a steam plant]. However, considering the differences in population and resource needs between the two countries, the Elf Kingdom is better overall than the Roman Empire—but the Roman Empire is larger in scale, given its larger population.

The disadvantages are as mentioned above, while the advantages are as you can see. We simply need to have people sort, pack, and transport the produced metal ingots for storage. As for costs, we only need to periodically supply the ancient trees with magic, plant oak seeds, and irrigate them occasionally. Furthermore, we don't need to worry about the underground mines collapsing as a result.

"Underground mines...approximately how many resources are there here?"

"Nobody knows. But the elves say that the oak mines and workshops here have been operating for thousands of years, from the ancient wars of the demons to the present day."

My personal estimate is that this underground deposit is a rich mine that only elves could access. But I must make it clear to you... this vein is far more fragile than we imagine.

We simply cannot extract the resources underground by manpower unless we level the entire mountain and then carve out a huge pit, just like the silver mines on the eastern side of the Roman Empire…”

"In other words, this place is not only the heart of the elves, but also their vital Achilles' heel..."

Yang Hao sighed heavily and muttered to himself, "If it's just the heart, then at worst I can have a mage cast healing spells to save my life after the serious injury. Casting spells continuously for a month should be enough."

But if the vital point is damaged, it's instant death; there's no chance of rescue...

Arthur and Yang Hao discussed that the proposal to divide the [intensive mixed industry] here must be put on the agenda as soon as possible—although this would affect production efficiency, it was better than one suffering and the other suffering as well.

They then discussed the possibility of transforming the oak tree into a structure similar to a steam factory. However, during this discussion, Arthur solemnly stated that Yang Hao needed to confirm the direction from the outset. After all, ancient trees are not factories built by humans; they need time to grow, and once mature, it's virtually impossible to alter their internal structure except for further expansion.

So, is the plan to create an "automated factory" that produces metal ingots in a fully automated but slow manner, yet can produce products endlessly without any human supervision?

Or is it a semi-automatic factory, like the steam factory, that requires manual processing but can quickly produce output?

Yang Hao thought for a moment and realized that he didn't know much about the Elf Kingdom, so he humbly hoped that Arthur could offer suggestions "without worrying about saving face".

"So... I'm more inclined to favor fully automated factories, even if they're slower."

Arthur shrugged and patted the mask on his face:

"After all, the total elf population can't provide us with a large workforce, and elves are a capricious race. You might invite an elf out to look at the moon from time to time, but if you say you'll go to see the moon every day, he'll just turn around and leave..."

"...In other words, they can't possibly do tedious manual labor on an assembly line...I understand. Thanks, Arthur."

Yang Hao recorded Arthur's suggestion in his notebook, but at that moment, Theresa suddenly said thoughtfully, "Since the factory that grows from the ancient tree can hardly change its internal structure in the future, why not consider the possibility of future improvements from the beginning and reserve room for improvement in advance?"

"Just like how we clergy always leave room for ambiguity when we take our oaths, the oath of the Church of Light deliberately states 'not to wear gold, silver, or jade in sacred occasions.' But even the God of Light himself might not know what 'sacred occasions' actually refers to. So naturally, priests of the Church of Light openly wear gold and silver rings on the street..."

Even those idiots over there know to leave themselves some room for maneuver, so why did you two insist on fixing your direction from the very beginning?

The little nun looked at Yang Hao as if he were an idiot, while Yang Hao and Arthur exchanged glances at each other simultaneously.

Then, he made a bold stroke in his notebook, changing the original "Fully Automated Factory Reform Plan" to "Fully Automated Factory Reform Plan with Diverse Internal Transformation Capabilities." He then hugged his lover tightly and whispered his thanks for her reminder in her ear.

...........

Because they needed to conduct an on-site investigation of the supporting industries around the oak mine, Yang Hao and his group, guided by Arthur, went to rest in a village not far from the mine.

The elves here have been blacksmiths or arrow makers for generations. Compared to the Hanging Gardens of Fingal, the village has a relatively balanced male-to-female ratio—if you disregard the fact that the male elves who remain seem to be relatively young, while the female elves seem to be "old maids" who have lived for hundreds of years.

Arthur seemed very familiar with the place, and he skillfully tried to take them to a small restaurant to enjoy the local elven cuisine, but it was at this moment that they were caught up in the riots in the village.

"Let me go! Let me out! Let me leave this place! I'm going to avenge Finn! Don't stop me... don't stop me!"

At first, there was a piercing scream from an elven woman. Yang Hao and Theresa frowned, while Naruja took a step back warily and secretly created a smaller golem behind her just in case.

Arthur, however, made a rather distressed facepalm gesture.

"Here we go again," the masked man said with a wry smile. It was probably the "spare branches" from this village that caused the chaos. If nothing unexpected happened, the elven guards would be here soon to clean up the mess.

But before the elven guards arrived, an elf with a resolute expression and a face full of anger broke through the crowd in the distance.

Arthur quickly pulled Yang Hao and Theresa, who were standing in front, behind him. Then he followed the angry elven woman and, the moment she turned around and berated him, he used some kind of enchantment on his mask to cast a spell.

A flash of blue light. The elf collapsed to the ground, then was held in Arthur's arms, clearly unconscious.

The other elves, who had hurriedly caught up, seemed relieved, bowing and scraping to Arthur in front of the stunned Yang Hao and the others to express their gratitude. They then took the elf from Arthur's arms and carefully escorted her back to the village house.

“That elf is called Nitas… wow, a very long name. She’s an elder, probably over 1000 years old.” Arthur muttered to himself, gesturing for everyone to follow him. “Her situation is a bit complicated, and it’s gradually becoming the norm in elven society… Hmm, where to begin? Perhaps we should go eat first?”

"...More than the explanation that follows, what bothers me is how skillfully you stunned the Pokémon. It's like you've been a seasoned Pokémon swindler for ages..."

"Of course. Before I married Viya, I don't know how many lovely older sisters I'd used this method to knock them out... Thinking back, it was quite dangerous back then. If I hadn't made an agreement with them, who knows how many of those lovers, driven to such madness, would have started a battle royale because of me..."

"Alas, being handsome and capable is a mistake, so Your Majesty, could you please stop letting these two women look at me like I'm trash?"

Arthur looked up at the sky, while Yang Hao stared at the backs of his subordinates, lost in thought.

It seems that not only have the elves' production and military become outdated, but their society has also been flawed because of its pursuit of "perfection"?

This is not good news. Yang Hao shook his head; it really is not good news.

...........

This is a restaurant in a village near the Oak Mine, famous throughout Gaparia for its unique local cuisine and customs from before the Demonic War.

Arthur generously reserved the best private room, and after everyone had ordered their desired dishes, he removed his mask and said:

"That elf—well, let's call her Nitas. To me, Nitas is a genuine old lady, and the main reason she became a [Broken Branch] is related to what happened around the time of the Demonic War a thousand years ago. I heard it from the village chief, but considering that many old elves still hold grudges about what happened back then, I'll assume it's true."

But before that, let me explain one of the most important characteristics of elves: they are incredibly... stubborn when it comes to emotions.

“We all know that,” Yang Hao nodded. “So this is actually related to [relationships]...an embarrassing incident? And what’s with the [broken branches]? Are they from hostile groups in the Elf Kingdom? I initially thought they were arresting patients with infectious diseases, rather than treating their own people…”

"It wouldn't be accurate to say we're being treated as enemies..."

Starting with this sentence, Arthur sighed as he explained to Yang Hao and the others the weight and influence that most important element, emotion, held in the hearts of elves in their seemingly perfect social structure.

When an elf loves someone, they will use the most extreme methods to keep that person by their side. Similarly, when an elf hates someone, they will use the most extreme methods to banish or kill that person. Elves rarely harbor feelings of disgust or resentment towards each other; in other words, if elves truly form a romantic relationship, they will be the most stable and inseparable partners.

But in the war of the demonic calamity thousands of years ago, in order to fight against the calamity called the "demonic calamity" that swept across the world, and in order to fight against the invaders from another dimension, many elves left their homeland with the resolve to die. Many elves also watched their husbands leave with the strong feeling that their husbands would die in battle far from home.

If the warriors who went to war had truly died at the hands of the demons, perhaps the [Broken Branch] would not have appeared.

But the problem is...

They did not die at the hands of the [Demonic Calamity] demons, but at the hands of humans.

"According to uncertain records... back then, there seemed to be an empire called [Bayerzance] that was stabbed in the back by a vassal state they were protecting, and had to sink into the ground and perish together with the demonic calamity - during this period, many elves were also implicated as a result."

But that's not the point. The elves wouldn't complain if it meant living and dying alongside their allies. The point is that some of the escaped elves were killed by traitors on their way home to report to their people.

Perhaps it was due to poor intelligence leading to misjudgment, or perhaps the other side possessed the [Light God Power] that only people from the Bayerzans Empire had... The elf was killed without any warning, stripped of all his equipment, and even his body was carelessly thrown into the forest to be eaten by wild beasts.

When the twigs, hoping to retrieve their husbands' belongings, headed to the former battlefield, they discovered their husbands' bodies, murdered by humans, along the way... In that instant, the elves transformed from ordinary individuals into "Twigs," becoming individuals who, even in the eyes of other elves, seemed excessively insane and obsessed.

The waiter brought the food. With a soft clinking of bowls and plates, Arthur remained silent for a moment until the waiter left before speaking again:

“An elf will only love one person in their entire life. They will respect that person’s thoughts, but they will also do anything to keep that person alive—Your Majesty, imagine if you were in their shoes, going to war with your beloved in your arms, spending more than ten days in trepidation, fearing that she might die at the hands of the enemy, and when you finally mustered the courage to go and collect her remains, you found that she had been killed by someone you suspected of protecting… How would you feel?”

Yang Hao paused for a moment, then turned to look at Theresa, who was eating with her head down.

He thought for a moment, then answered without hesitation:

"I will find the murderer and then torture him in the most cruel way."

"That's right."

Arthur snapped his fingers, picked up a piece of vegetable with his knife and fork, and put it in his mouth.

Crunch, crunch. The vegetables made a crisp sound as they were bitten, but even while eating, Arthur didn't stop explaining.

"The 'Broken Branches' discover that their husbands have died in an attack by traitors, and from the elves' perspective, it is natural for them to seek revenge."

But Your Majesty... the lifespan of elves is far too long, while the traitors are humans, whose lifespans seem far too short in comparison.

Some of the remaining fragments might even find the dying murderer and exact revenge.

But what about those "remnants" who might only find their husbands' bodies centuries later? Whom can they seek revenge against?