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

“Give him the statistics—he will be the Caesar and Bartholomew of the future empire, and you should treat him with the same respect you would show me.”

The elder was taken aback. Following the purple-clad princess's gaze, he realized that this man dressed in clothes imbued with elven aura actually held such a prestigious position.

In an instant, the elder put aside his confusion: after all, the princess in purple had been living outside for many years, had her own marriage, and had her own life, which was perfectly normal.

Therefore, he readily handed the report to Yang Hao, not forgetting to add a sentence:

"If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, Your Highness the Purple-Clad Princess, and the future Bartholomew."

Yang Hao nodded, then looked at the report written in ancient script in his hand. In order to allow Yang Hao to read the contents without any hindrance, Theresa casually cast a stronger spell on him. With the help of the spell, Yang Hao looked at the report in his hand, and his heart sank to the bottom little by little.

The entire city of Constantinople had 92 people before the expedition. Disregarding the more than 5 who had already died in battle, he decided to round it up to 87.

Of these 87 people, after removing the rare group of about 2 elderly people, only 85 remain.

However, if we exclude children under the age of ten, these 85 people only amount to 70.

Of these 700,000 people, how many are men in their prime?

...less than 5 have returned from the battlefield.

How many women were in the same situation at the same time?

20 million people.

Of the remaining 45 people aged 10 to 16—although the Bayer Zans Empire has already treated this group as "adults," in short, in Yang Hao's opinion, how the hell are they supposed to manage this place where the male-to-female ratio is nearly 5 to 1?!

5比1!甚至已经快到6:1的地步了！这其中甚至还算上了不到16岁的青少年！

What could he say? Aside from the fact that it was the women's side that was in charge of [5], this was the beginning of a hellish rebuilding of an empire.

Moreover, Constantinople's food reserves were exceptionally low.

Although the senators had already factored in the production from that mushroom farm, Constantinople's food supplies would probably only last until February of this year.

In other words, if Theresa had not chosen to return to Bayezid, even if Bayezid had achieved a resounding victory, they would have been in an extremely dangerous situation due to the famine in February, and might even have faced national extinction.

...In some ways, this was even more difficult to manage than the numerous tribes before the founding of the Roman Empire. At least back then, the tribespeople had their own stable food supply and a stable male-to-female ratio, and Yang Hao wasn't fighting alone; he had his sworn brother...

...But how should I put it? This time he wasn't fighting alone.

Theresa will try her best, and Finn will assist him—although it will be very difficult to get started, overall, it is not impossible to have this opportunity.

He sighed and handed the report to the elder.

Then, as if remembering something, Yang Hao handed him another report as well:

"That's the casualty statistics. Let's compile them—the city's ranking will be rising soon."

“I understand, future Bartholomew—but I have a question.”

"Ask away."

"Excuse me... what has become of those we protected back then? Is the land truly as lush and green as the standard-bearer described, with safe land everywhere for wheat to grow...? Can our children really grow up under the sun, instead of being killed by it like pests?"

The elderly elder asked cautiously, leaving Yang Hao and Theresa silent.

Their mouths seemed to be gagged, making it difficult for them to utter a sound. But soon, Yang Hao sighed and patted the elder's shoulder:

"Yes. Although it is winter up there, after you ascend to Constantinople, you will see the golden sun, you will see green plants, you will be able to eat bread made of wheat after the elves bring you winter clothes, and you will be able to sow seeds according to the manual when spring comes... Although it will be difficult this time, I assure you that you will see what the standard-bearer sees."

As for the sunlight... if the sunlight could kill you, then the standard-bearer wouldn't have been able to come to Gaparia to inform us of your situation.

The elder let out a long, relieved sigh, but soon he noticed a question that neither the future Bartholomew nor the present Bartholomew had answered:

"What about the people we protected back then?"

At the time, most of Bayern's warriors were fighting on the front lines, and no one noticed the betrayal from the rear.

Should we let them know the white lie, or tell them the harsh truth now?

Yang Hao and Teresa made no choice.

He simply patted the elder on the shoulder again and said, "Now is not the time to talk about this."

He said, "Go check if the city is fully functional, and let the soldiers and women who have returned from their battles go back to their homes and wait."

Because soon, the city will rise. They will soon see the sunlight.

The elder left with a sense of satisfaction.

Immediately after he left, Finn used teleportation to arrive. She walked behind the throne where Theresa sat, then shrugged at the noble princess in purple:

"Perhaps the first thing you'll do after you take the throne is to prepare a chair for His Majesty the Regent—otherwise you'll have to sit on his lap during court sessions."

"...You want a chair too?"

"No. The Green Garden is enough. But then we might need to build a city together at the border of the two countries. A city that belongs to both the elves and Bayern."

Finn sat on the armrest of the throne, and Theresa simply smiled and looked at her.

Yang Hao watched their interaction with a puzzled look, and finally he just sighed and said, "This isn't over yet."

The rise of Constantinople will cause all the cities that were once submerged in the Bayreuth Empire to rise.

This will cause great chaos in the Roman Empire—no one knows what will happen, but they need to be prepared.

Chapter Twelve: Rise to Power and Restoration, the Birth of the Saintess 8K — 5

After the Bayreus Empire successfully won the final battle against the ancient demons, Constantinople was making final preparations for its ascension with the help of the elves.

The elves treated the most severely corrupted patients in the magic-scarce underground, but the remaining numerous corrupted beings would have to wait until they rose to the surface.

To prevent the residents, who lived underground year-round, from being harmed by direct sunlight, the elves installed black screens on every window of every house to reduce the intensity of the sunlight. Furthermore, almost all the elves left their provisions for the starving Bayrjans. The half-elves even made several trips back and forth to ensure that almost everyone in the city could have a bowl of hot porridge before rising to the surface, before they finally breathed a sigh of relief and quietly rested in their encampment.

Hot porridge, which the elves would consider bland and tasteless, and even less acceptable to nobles and commoners in the drought-stricken Roman Empire, was a welcome treat for the Bayezids—they were enjoying porridge made from wheat grains, a dish they hadn't tasted in centuries. Although the porridge didn't have many seasonings, it was enough for them.

With food to eat and knowledge of the city's upcoming developments, Bayerzans, after the initial fervor of the Purple Princess's return, quieted down. They awaited her decision, but for the Purple Princess, there was one more thing she needed to do before officially issuing the order to upgrade the city.

That was her coronation as the supreme ruler of the Bayern Empire, Basilisa, or as the Roman Empire often referred to her as the "Empress."

In the Baynesian Empire, there were three titles for the supreme ruler: "Barcelona" meant "Empress," "Barcelius" meant "Emperor," and "Caesar" meant the person with the highest status below the Emperor, a position that could be described as "second only to the Emperor and above all others."

The titles of "Barcelona" and "Barcelius" cannot coexist, and the title of "Caesar" can only be granted when Theresa becomes empress. Not to mention that the promotion of all cities in the Bayezid Empire requires the direct authority of the emperor.

Because of this, Theresa had to undergo her coronation ceremony before raising Constantinople to the surface. This also gave Theresa, Yang Hao, and others time to discuss potential problems with the senators after the city's ascent.

"In other words, the rise of Constantinople means the rise of all the sinking cities that once belonged to the Bayer Empire. Am I right?"

Yang Hao frowned, and Theresa blinked. Faced with their question, the elder first nodded, then shook his head:

Yes, that's the theory.

But apart from Constantinople, the condition of the other towns we had previously learned about through the portal network was appalling—their underground areas were almost completely abandoned, and we couldn't find a trace of the people or even a single demon.

Not to mention, many towns have sunk less than halfway or even just a few meters! In this case, those cities may have already turned to dust by thousands of years of wind and rain, leaving only a few walls. Their rise will not pose a great threat to the surrounding areas.

The only thing we need to pay attention to is St. Petersburg. That was once our holy city of light, the city of the Bayern faith. It has sunk more than 50 levels. After Constantinople rises, St. Petersburg will definitely rise in tandem... and this is locked; we can't modify it. Even if it were possible, we would have long since lost the technology.”

"Lost technology?"

"To be precise, no one is learning—future Barthelius, Your Majesty Barthelisa, for thousands of years we have been focused on fighting demons. With the number of soldiers on the front lines dwindling and the entire nation on high alert, we simply do not have the capacity to teach people those obscure and difficult things... those are things that can only be learned in peacetime, and clearly, we have only just embraced peace."

The elder's answer allowed Yang Hao to learn some of the facts about the Bayer Zans Empire.

Firstly, the Bayern Empire is almost certainly a dictatorship—Bassaria Theresa will have the authority over the entire empire in the future, including making cities sink or rise using ancient technology, or ordering everyone to develop in a certain direction. Her little nun will be able to do whatever she wants in the future, and her people will hardly complain.

Establishing a nation is easy, but maintaining one is incredibly difficult. Take the Roman Empire, for example; it was remarkably easy to build, yet they nearly destroyed themselves. Even if they survived, wouldn't they still have to disappear when Ysgard invades?

...It's easy to imagine how demanding it will be for him to simultaneously handle the administrations of both Bayerzan and Gaparia. But if possible, Yang Hao hopes his office can be located in a fixed area...

All I can say is that we should take it slow. He gently patted Theresa's shoulder, which caused the little nun—or rather, the purple-clad princess—to cast a puzzled look at him.

Secondly, the rise of cities in the Bayern Empire was not possible to be defined by region. At least not for the current Bayern people.

Constantinople's ascent means other sinking cities will also rise. Constantinople's descent means other cities will also descent. Before forcing the Bayerns to relearn ancient knowledge, Yang Hao must prepare for the emergence of city ruins around the Monster Forest.

Furthermore, he realized that the Roman Empire's portal network might encounter problems during this period—after all, in his inspection, the portal network appeared to be very fragile. Although the Bayern Empire's own portal network was robust, this did not mean that the Roman Empire's portals, which had been neglected for perhaps two years, could be any more robust.

The earthquakes caused by the city's ascent could potentially damage the Roman Empire's teleportation portal. In other words... this might be Yang Hao's best chance to rescue his sworn brother's child, the young Empress Anna, and the Chief Justice Natalia.

(After all, armies from other places can't provide support through the portal, and Garsen is a bastard who has to keep the area around the capital under his control... He'll definitely be running around for the portal, which gives me an opportunity... As long as I take the elves in and use the teleportation magic directly at the palace, it should be fine.)

While the elves' rangers could use invisibility magic to infiltrate Roman Palace, it didn't mean that the elven archmages could instantly cast teleportation spells—especially when teleporting large targets. The elven archmages needed a long time to cast their spells, which was the key reason why Yang Hao hadn't sent anyone to rescue them earlier.

After all, they only have one chance to save the little queen... Since Yang Hao can wait for the best opportunity, why not wait a little longer? It's true that their time is very tight, but just like washing your hands before eating, he doesn't want to lose the opportunity due to rashness and haste.

On the other hand, this should also facilitate Ysgard's invasion... Should we use this reason to get that black dragon to offer some additional conditions for our side?

He was pondering this when another elder found the crown for the coronation from the depths of the dusty palace, and it seemed the coronation ceremony could officially begin.

...This small coronation ceremony was held temporarily for the city's ascension.

Only after Constantinople had completely settled down would a grand coronation ceremony take place. This not only signified that the Bayezians had emerged from the shadows of the underworld, but also meant that they would step into the future.

At that time, Theresa will have a lot of work to do. From establishing the country's name and its future development to various diplomatic, military, and political tasks...

She'll be very busy. But for now, all she needs to do is give herself a little coronation and then elevate the city.

This meant that Theresa would have to stay here for a while. After all, she was the pillar of strength for all of Constantinople. The Bayern were strong, but they were also vulnerable after the return of the Purple Princess. They couldn't afford to lose the Purple Royal Family again, and Yang Hao and the others understood this perfectly.

In that case, it will be a bit of a hassle for Fen. Yang Hao looked at Fen, who was standing not far away with Naruja watching, and then turned around to accept the small crown handed to him by the elder.

In Bayezid, if the next Bartheliza or Bartholomew had a partner, the throne would be passed to that partner, who would then personally crown the next emperor.

This seemed to have a lot of meaning. Yang Hao didn't quite understand, but he knew that Teresa was waiting.

He gently placed the small crown on her head, adjusted its angle, and then tidied her hair. He then said to the white-haired nun with her eyes closed, "It's over."

"...Um."

She gave a vague response, and after taking Yang Hao's hand and standing up, she walked to the city's control panel inside the Purple Palace.

Theresa reached out and gently swiped a groove on the control panel. As the blade sliced ​​across the blood groove, her blood unlocked the entire control panel.

She stared intently at the control panel before her, and finally, with a cold and mature demeanor that Yang Hao found somewhat unfamiliar, she issued her first official command as Baselisa:

"I, as the new Baselisa, declare that the rise of Constantinople begins immediately."

Blood dripped onto a white button on the control panel, and with a sudden flash of faint magical light, the entire city of Constantinople began to slowly rise as it swayed.

The city's dome is actually part of the city. When the city descended, it ensured its safety from the sky; after the city rose, it also ensured that it could break through the rock layers and soil that had been sealed for countless years during the ascent.

With a violent tremor, everyone felt the increasing pressure on their bodies. Teresa swayed, and Yang Hao stepped forward and embraced her. She looked at her man, and he looked at his woman. Finally, they both sighed and stood there supporting each other.

Not far away, Fen muttered, "They really lost." Naruja, who was leaning against a pillar looking somewhat dejected, didn't seem to care much, though she was quite envious.