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

After expressing my thoughts, all the courage in my heart vanished.

Naruja looked at everyone timidly, and her voice involuntarily grew lower and lower.

She felt that people might think that the ideas of a demon who couldn't even read and needed to be taught how to use utensils were just a joke.

Even so, she still believed that her idea was feasible—after all, in Khagad, she and her people had successfully enabled the golems to move around the city of Khagad independently without their control.

Although it's just simple movement and swinging, if the [gun] that Yang Hao mentioned can be used easily... then Golem's self-control is actually not a problem either...

However, those [guns] may need to be made into larger and stronger types specifically for Golems—provided that Naruja's idea is accepted by everyone.

The Ling Clan Chief awaited everyone's response with trepidation. Her antlers shimmered with an uneasy yellow light, while Yang Hao's thoughts began to wander because of her words.

Is the gun easy to handle?

If we're only calculating a rough aiming and firing, then it's naturally extremely simple.

Even a two-year-old child can aim a gun at a target and pull the trigger to fire under adult guidance.

However, loading is another problem—loading a muzzle-loading rifle is extremely cumbersome, something Golem can't handle. The bolt-action loading of the new rifle also doesn't seem like something Golem can manage, so after much thought, Naruja's idea clearly still needs improvement...

...Yes, it's about "improvement," not abandonment. Naruja's idea opened a door for Yang Hao: as long as the loading problem could be solved, then with the special giant firearms and the Ling tribe and elven mages able to develop automated operation...

The stone-made Golems are the most terrifying long-range firepower. They are monsters that are not affected by morale, nor are they afraid of any attack methods other than siege engines or magical spells. Moreover, they can charge forward after their ammunition is exhausted and use their unparalleled tall and sturdy bodies to engage in melee combat with the enemy's vanguard. They are capable of fighting at both close and long range.

Its raw materials are simply stones and soil that can be found everywhere on land! But if the Listeners can make golems from stones and soil, does that mean they can also make new types of golems from steel and magical minerals?

Furthermore, if Golem's "autonomous operation" is improved by the Elven Mage and can perform precise movements, it could even be miniaturized into a "farmer," "craftsman," or "construction worker," or even, after being skinned, become an Earth-based sex doll—but I digress.

In short! If Naruja hadn't reminded him, Yang Hao might have forgotten that Golem possesses a wide variety of possibilities!

This is a cornerstone, besides industrial reform, that is destined to bring about further innovation in the future... no, it is destined to bring about even greater innovation in the not-too-distant future!

As he pondered, he suddenly felt that the Ling clan chief might have been possessed by some sudden transmigrator—otherwise, how could Naruja have come up with such a thing?

But perhaps this girl's unfamiliar timidity was simply because I had never noticed her like this before?

With the help of the Tranquility spell, Yang Hao was able to have normal contact with other people besides the nun during that time—this symptom improved after he reached the Elf King's realm, but admittedly, he still had no real understanding of the Ling people's situation due to his inner problems.

He simply brought them here so that their wounded could receive treatment from the elves and so that they could think about their future work and escape routes—but he really didn't know anything about the Listening Clan, much less about Naruja.

Narudya trusted herself, which is why she articulated her revolutionary ideas. She was timid yet still mustered the courage; what about me?

Ever since being betrayed, she hasn't had the courage to trust anyone she meets new besides Theresa. Never. Even now, they only have "normal contact," and there's no question of trust whatsoever.

Thinking back on it carefully, I was probably really stupid during that time.

...not only did it cause Teresa a lot of trouble, but it also caused a lot of trouble for those who believed in her.

...It's time to give up these childish, coquettish behaviors.

Not only for myself, but also so that I could stand tall and walk with Teresa toward the future we hoped for.

He closed his eyes.

After a moment, he stood up, bowed slightly to the timid Naruja, and smiled sincerely to express his gratitude:

“Great idea. Although it still needs some refinement, Naruja... thank you.”

This was the first time Yang Hao had reached out and taken Naruja's hand without Teresa casting a Tranquility spell on him. He then gently gestured for her to sit down and continued to explain his thoughts.

This not only greatly encouraged Naruja, but also earned her Yang Hao's trust for the first time.

This made Theresa even more satisfied.

Our little dog is finally... showing signs of overcoming its autism.

That way, we can let him use his skills freely without worry.

(I just hope that because he's regained his confidence, he won't attract any female elves outside... Sigh, how is the little nun supposed to deal with a group of sickly female elves who would kill everyone except herself for a man? Maybe later, she can just use the excuse of him being handsome to make him wear a hood when he goes out?)

The little nun was muttering something to herself with satisfaction, having already forgotten what good deed she had planned to do that night.

Outside the window, the moon is bright and the stars are few.

Under the moonlight, in the southern archipelago kingdom of Alesse, the current emperor, Mou Ye, under the guidance of his confidants, inspected the shipyard, which was bustling with activity and brightly lit at night.

After purchasing most of the key components from the Roman Empire, the steam factory immediately became a pillar of the industrial base in the island nation of Arese.

Even Arlesian merchants, who knew nothing about steam technology, realized the impact these metal monsters, which provided a continuous source of power once their cylinders were filled with steam, would have on the nation after understanding how the steam factory operated.

According to the urgent letters and explanations from merchants, Emperor Alessandro overdrawn the nation's resources, spending countless sums of money and precious local products, all to bring two steam factories into his homeland.

This proved to be correct.

After the steam factory was reassembled, literate noblemen became the factory's first workers, following the instructions themselves.

Five months ago, Allese successfully built its first wooden-hulled ironclad warship since its founding, thus becoming the most powerful naval nation in the Southern Islands.

"Unfortunately, our ironclads were sunk by Issugard... Their ironclads were more advanced than ours, as were their cannons. More importantly, they had the technology to raise griffins on board, and even a whole set of orthodox tactics to destroy wooden ships with griffins."

Miao Ye sighed as he looked at the heavy iron blocks being hammered by huge forging hammers in the brightly lit steam factory, which would later be installed on the ironclad warships.

He deeply realized that if a nation wanted to prosper, industry was an indispensable force—even more important than agriculture. After all, agriculture only ensured that the Aresians wouldn't starve, but industry allowed the Aresians to plunder other countries and fill their own stomachs with the flesh and blood of those nations.

...We still need to increase investment in industry. Emperor Alesser murmured. Without increasing industrial output, Alesser would find it difficult to develop further; without development, it was destined to be swallowed up by Isugard. And the best plan to avoid being swallowed up was to devour the Roman Empire first.

As an archipelago kingdom, Alesse is destined to have limited real estate resources.

They now have iron ore to produce warships because iron ore is relatively abundant on the main island of Arese.

Once the mineral resources on the main island are exhausted, the Areser navy, unable to produce more metal warships, is destined to be no match for the Issugardians, who regard them as their mortal enemies.

To avoid this worst possible outcome... they were destined to extend their reach to the Roman Empire on the continent of Elusia.

The area is rich in natural resources. The Roman Empire itself has large iron mines, fertile pastures, gold and silver mines that fill the national treasury, as well as land near forests and coastal ports.

More importantly—we don't even know which fool is secretly ruling the Roman Empire right now. It's so shaky, it could collapse at any moment. If we don't make plans now, when will we?!

However, the population of the Kingdom of Aleser was as scarce as their land resources. After all, it was a maritime nation, and they couldn't expect a large population—under these circumstances, the Emperor of Aleser still hoped to avoid direct confrontation with the Roman Empire as much as possible.

It seems that the best way to avoid a direct confrontation and annexation is through marriage.

Ideally, the son should marry into the family. This way, with the husband's support, the son can gradually seize political power from the Roman family, ultimately achieving a peaceful evolution...

...Coincidentally, the Roman Empire seems to have a puppet empress who is out in the open...

If it's a matter of matching social status, why not just arrange a marriage?

Miao Ye recalled her thoughts at the time, and finally sighed inwardly: No, although the Roman Empire is still in a dangerous drought period, it remains arrogant and self-righteous. Her previous request has already been rejected, and if she were to send another request in the near future, it would probably just be ignored.

They could never possibly agree to the marriage invitation they're currently receiving; the earliest they could extend an invitation would be next year, in October of the year 1405 in the world calendar...

...This means we need to consider making some backup plans.

"...Secretary General, I recall that the dioceses in the northern part of the Roman Empire seem to be making quite a few moves?" He turned to look at the Secretary General following behind him. "Do you think it's feasible for us to contact the dioceses and force them to further destabilize the Roman Empire, or even cause its complete disintegration?"

The Secretary General pushed up his glasses: "It's feasible. Peter the Elder is a greedy and selfish man, or rather, the Roman Empire as a whole is a greedy and selfish villain—except for their former emperor and regent. But the two of them have already broken away from Romanity. Having lost two people who could act as a 'blending machine,' the split of Romanity is only a matter of time."

"...Okay. On one hand, we'll prepare for my son to marry into the Roman royal family next year, and on the other hand, we'll take the opportunity to split the diocese from the Roman Empire... This will not only make it easier for us to enter Roman in the future, but more importantly, splitting up the enemy will be more conducive to our future divide-and-rule strategy... Alright, let's do it this way."

Miao Ye left the steam factory.

With head held high and chest out, he led Alessé from one mountaintop to gaze at the more distant peaks.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Theresa's Morning, the Elf Council, Acknowledgment

[8K Long Chapter]

......

After a period of hard work.

On the morning of May 10th, the once-in-a-century Pokémon Conference was held.

Mother Teresa, little girl—no.

We should now address her as "Ms."

She was naked, covering her face, wrapped in the same quilt on another bed with Yang Hao, who was also naked.

(What the hell did I do yesterday... By God's grace, I, a nun, did *that* kind of thing before my wedding! If my parents heard this, they'd probably crawl out of their graves and beat me up...)

The nun stared intently at the other bed across from her through the gaps between her fingers.

The bed was a mess, covered in stains. On the pristine white sheets, the bloodstains from the previous night were still clearly visible.

What happened last night? Theresa vaguely recalled that they went to sleep very late, and that she was the one being pinned down before they went to sleep.

Why is it being pressed down?

Yang Hao was simply too exhausted these past few days.

He worked hard, bearing all the pressure himself, and smiled as he told Theresa: It's okay, that's how he always did it in the Roman Empire.

Thinking about it carefully, it does seem to make sense... After all, the little queen is still young, not even ten years old yet. The little saintess is autistic and has long since locked herself underground. The little witch simply loves studying magic and doesn't care about national politics at all—she's always been like this, enduring it all alone. Even if her trusted subordinate Arthur were sharing the burden, could this blond scumbag, already overwhelmed by work, possibly relieve Yang Hao of all the pressure?

Theresa seemed a little dizzy at the time. She had a huge fight with Yang Hao, saying stupid things like, "Do you treat me like an outsider?! I'm already planning to be your wife, and you won't even share your own pressures with me!" Then she stripped Yang Hao naked, intending to show him who was the boss in this family, and then...

Then Theresa knew nothing more.

Recalling the intense actions, all she could think of was the pain and pleasure of her first time. That stupid dog was so mean; he clearly said he couldn't take it anymore, but he still...

hiss--

"Waaah..."

The thought of this made Theresa blush uncontrollably. She covered her face and let out a soft, mournful cry like a cub, and it was at that moment that Yang Hao reached out and wrapped his arms around her.

His palms were rough, and the friction against the girl's smooth skin created a peculiar sensation. This caused the inexperienced Theresa to instinctively shudder. Her shudder intensified, especially after noticing the astonishing heat emanating from Yang Hao.

We must stop him—

Before the thought could even form, accompanied by a small gasp, she echoed the sweet words she had spoken to Yang Hao earlier that morning.

They would play around naked in bed for an hour or two before getting up.

...........

An hour later.

A refreshed Yang Hao and a tearful Teresa were washing up together in the bathroom of the room.

Theresa seemed angry at Yang Hao's actions, or perhaps just shy, because she refused to look him in the eye, awkwardly washing her face and rinsing her mouth while muttering in a wronged tone:

"I told you not to move... Waaah... I have no strength left..."