Sir! Don't close the net!

“The One and Only Ruler…you’re dead.”

"As you wish."

The next morning, a priest carrying a doctrinal text crossed the streets of Instas before the first rays of sunlight touched the city. The residents of Instas, rushing to "check in," turned their heads in surprise to watch the priests pass by. Those who already knew that Bishop Azawi was in Instas also vaguely guessed something.

But Bishop Azavet always kept a low profile, so low that it was as if he didn't exist in Instas, so they accepted his existence.

This was the first time they had seen Bishop Azawi appear in such a large group, and they instinctively felt uneasy, but upon closer inspection, they found that many of the people present looked familiar.

Many residents of Instasus were surprised and muttered to themselves that he was actually one of Bishop Azawi's men.

As they muttered to themselves, their unease lessened considerably, and they began to feel curious.

Alma, walking among the citizens of Instas, stared wide-eyed.

The onlookers were unaware of the truth, but she, with a guilty conscience, knew very well what Bishop Azawi's current posture meant.

This is a harbinger of Bishop Azavet's declaration of war.

Bishop Azavet's only target of war was the Old Days.

The Instars have two branches originating from the ancient life: the fire elves and the young of the black goats.

Alma swallowed hard and instinctively took a step back.

Either don't do it, or leave no room for maneuver.

She wasn't naive enough to think that Bishop Azavet's grand display of power in the territory of the Galar Horn was merely a warning to the fire elves and the young black goats. In over twenty years, Bishop Azavet had never made such a high-profile move.

The only thing she could think of that completely enraged Bishop Azawi, leading him to declare war so openly and recklessly, was that Li Yili had reached the surface of the Sea of ​​the Dead and returned. But if that was really the reason, it would be rather strange.

If they were so angry that they declared war in a high-profile manner, why did they show no intention of hindering them when they set out to go to the Sea of ​​Dead?

Because they believe the Sea of ​​Dead doesn't exist, and because they believe they are destined to fail, they feel it's unnecessary?

Then why did they specifically change the entire capital structure of Instar?

"Damn it... what on earth is going on..."

Just as Alma's head was about to explode from thinking, the priests began their declaration.

"Sheep Village Logistics is a disguised form of the Black Goat's offspring, a branch of the cult 'Under the Old Life'! Its minister, Levi Ist. Richard, is the minister of the Black Goat's offspring! He has now surrendered and confessed to all his crimes!"

Alma's vision went black.

Chapter 165 Even if the world is about to be destroyed, you still have to check in first.

Alma stood in the middle of the road, wandering around aimlessly. Between the fire elf and the black goat's cub, Alma ultimately chose the black goat's cub. Perhaps because she hesitated for a while, when she arrived at the Sheep Village Logistics Minister's office, there wasn't a single Cloud Clan member on the first four floors of the Sheep Village Logistics Building. All the Cloud Clan executives were crowded in the minister's office, while the Black Goat's Cloud Clan members were crammed on the next floor, waiting for the Cloud Clan executives' decision.

Upon seeing Alma appear, the Cloud Clan spontaneously made way for her.

Upon arriving at the minister's office, Alma heard Abu Jean's roar.

"This must be a trap set by Bishop Azawi! They arrested Minister Li Yili to undermine our stance on Li Yili."

The minister deliberately claimed that Minister Li Yili had turned herself in!

"That's despicable, Bishop Azawi! If you're going to break off relations, then break off relations! But to do something like this is just plain despicable!"

The other Yunzhong executives also nodded in agreement.

Is this really what we're getting right from the start?

Alma sighed inwardly.

That's what she thinks too.

Although Li Yili was an undercover agent lurking among the Black Goat's cubs, she wasn't one of Bishop Azawi's people. Even if Li Yili really didn't want to be an undercover agent and wanted to take down the Fire Elves and the Black Goat's cubs in one fell swoop, there was no need to go to Bishop Azawi. She could have just told the two lazy Valkyries at home.

Furthermore, what is the concept of surrendering oneself to the authorities?

This is tantamount to delivering a flying kick to the face of the former. Putting aside the other former cadres, Black Goat would definitely hunt them down to the death. Given Li Yili's cautious nature, she would never choose such a blatant way to leave the former.

So this looks like Bishop Azawi has torn off all pretenses and forcibly arrested Li Yili, and then deliberately pulled a prank on the former minister, the "black goat's cub," to make him surrender. Anyway, since Li Yili is in Bishop Azawi's hands, whatever Bishop Azawi says goes.

But thinking about it this way, it's a bit strange. Although Valhae Rei and Iris seem to be just loafing around, they are still the strongest units in Galarhorn. How could they just stand by and watch Bishop Azavet capture their people in Galarhorn's territory?

So...could it be...?

Alma's eyes widened.

Is that bastard Li Yili really trying to run away? Have the Galar Horn and Bishop Azawi already reached an agreement?!

Oh right—

No one with a sound mind would believe that Li Yili confessed and revealed the black goat's cub and the fire elf. Therefore, when Bishop Azawi put on such a grand show, everyone would think that Bishop Azawi had torn off the mask and used underhanded tactics, and no one would hold a grudge against Li Yili.

Alma raised her hand to her forehead, but apart from her undercover work, no one else here would notice.

“No, Bishop Azavet was not lying. Minister Li Yili not only confessed, but also revealed the fire elf and the black goat’s cub.”

Alma was startled and suddenly turned her head to look over, where Al had his arms crossed and was looking out the window.

For a moment, the entire floor fell into a deathly silence, as if an invisible hand was tightly gripping everyone's neck.

“Executor El…” Abu Jean stammered, breaking the silence, “What, what do you mean by this, Minister Li, Minister Li Yili… How could you possibly confess? How could you possibly reveal the Fire Elf and the Black Goat’s cubs!”

The other Yunzhong executives also swallowed hard and nodded vigorously.

Who is Levi Strauss-Estée Richard?

By single-handedly orchestrating a terrifying scheme, Guo Weidong completed a séance of unimaginable scale. Even the Black Goat, who was so suspicious of her that she was ostracized by other former cadres, stepped forward to declare that Li Yili could exercise her power as a former cadre and mobilize all resources.

Li Yili is definitely the most loyal person to the old days here. How could such a person possibly confess to Bishop Asawi, his old nemesis, and implicate everyone else?

Unless Li Yili is an undercover agent who has been lurking in the past for a long time...

Alma's heart skipped a beat. It wasn't her imagination; the atmosphere had changed. Clearly, everyone realized that it was impossible, and they were just waiting for someone to speak up first.

“What should we do…” Abu Jean asked, his voice trembling.

No matter how large the old order may be, it cannot change one thing: the old order plays the role of an unforgivable and unacceptable evil in this world. They can silently take root anywhere and disguise themselves as any organization, but they can never reveal their true nature.

What has been exposed now is not just an individual, but an entire organization, a business that has been operating for ten years.

Alma remained silent. Putting aside her undercover identity, the current situation was such that both the fire elves and the black goat cubs were doomed by Bishop Azavet. Whatever Bishop Azavet did in Instas, as long as the Old Ones were brought to the forefront, it would all be the Old Ones' fault.

Alma couldn't help but sigh.

Ultimately, this kind of relationship, where you understand and I understand, but you don't say and I don't say, is like walking a tightrope. However, only the old guard walks the tightrope; whether it's Bishop Azawi or the Horn of Galar, they can cut the tightrope at any time.

However, to everyone's surprise, El gave a rather straightforward answer.

"As usual, do what you normally do now."

“Executive El, do you know what you’re saying?” Elma couldn’t help but ask.

“Get back to work. Those who need to calculate bills, calculate bills; those who need to arrange orders, arrange orders; those who need to visit customers, visit customers,” Al stood up and patted his hand. “What are you still doing? Get back to work.”

Although they were all full of question marks, the Yunzhong executives present still got up and did as El said: those who needed to calculate bills calculated bills, those who needed to arrange orders arranged orders, and those who needed to visit customers visited customers. They also drove the Yunzhong staff who were crowding on the next floor waiting for the results to get to work.

Soon only Al and Alma remained in the minister's office.

"Secretary Alma, could you please make a trip to tell Minister Josephine that the work at the steel mill shouldn't be neglected, even though Eddie took the submarine blueprints?"

The steel mill was the one that built the world's first submarine.

"Next, many people will likely commission Fire Sprite Steelworks, which has experience in building submarines, to produce more submarines."

After saying that, El picked up his briefcase and turned to leave.

Alma then realized what was happening. "Wait a minute! Executive Officer Al, what are you doing?!"

“Go to work,” Al raised an eyebrow, “just like any other day.”

"Normally... can we still call this normal?" Alma asked after a moment of silence.

Chapter 166 Calm

“This is not an excuse for Secretary Alma to slack off.”

"Negative, cough—"

Alma coughed loudly.

She knew that El blindly trusted Li Yili. El's most frequent words were that everything was under Li Yili's control and that they just needed to continue working as usual. But the current situation was really too bad. Bishop Azavet was still patrolling the streets. At this point, probably everyone in Instas knew that the Sheep Village Logistics and the Fire Elf Steel Mill were the offspring of the old Black Goat and the Fire Elf.

Work?

It was already incredibly fortunate that the residents of Instas did not join Bishop Azawi's men in storming the Sheep Village logistics building and hauling them all away. Given the circumstances, they should have kept a low profile and minimized their losses instead of brazenly swaggering in front of the Instas residents as if they knew nothing.

“Executor El, I’m being frank. I will have Minister Josephine transfer the Fire Elves’ assets in Instasas as quickly as possible, Executor El, if you have any sense left…” Elma said, her hand on her hip, her gaze fixed firmly into El’s eyes, “and minimize the loss of the Black Goat’s cubs as much as possible.”

After a long silence, El raised her hand and waved. "Secretary Elma, it is your personal freedom to act as you see fit, but I still have to remind you that your performance in the face of emergencies will affect your superiors' evaluation of you."

Alma's expression froze.

El's tone was as if he were saying that Josephine wouldn't agree to transfer the fire elves' supplies as much as possible, and that she would even be allowed to continue working as usual.

"Executor El, you're insane."

Alma abruptly left the minister's office and walked up the stairs to the Sheep Village Logistics Building. The eerie silence that seemed familiar only confirmed Alma's suspicions. Instead of stopping the carriage, she personally drove the Sheep Village Logistics carriage to the Fire Elf Steelworks.

Since this wasn't the first time Elma had rushed in so hastily, the fire elf members weren't surprised and readily made way for her.

"Minister—something terrible has happened!"

Alma burst through the door of the Fire Elf Steelworks Minister's office, panting, and yelled at Josephine, who was sitting at her desk, seemingly engrossed in something.

“Secretary Alma, calm down. We have enough materials here. If we really can’t keep up with the orders, we can refurbish the old submarine test aircraft,” Josephine waved her hand.

Alma stared blankly at Josephine, remaining silent for a long while before managing a difficult "Hmm?"

Now, Bishop Azavet is going around telling everyone the truth about the Fire Elf Steel Mill and Sheep Village Logistics. It's probably time to present the evidence soon. No, given Bishop Azavet's personality, he might just storm into the Fire Elf Steel Mill and Sheep Village Logistics and arrest people at any time.

Li Yili, the minister in charge of the Black Goat's Young, has already been arrested. Whether she surrendered herself or not is still uncertain. Her speculation that Li Yili surrendered voluntarily is just speculation, because Li Yili's life is too comfortable now, and she has no reason to surrender herself.

El blindly believed that Li Yili was also in Li Yili's plan, so he didn't intend to take any action.

Josephine was, after all, the Minister of the Fire Elves, a former Chosen One of the Gods, and had run the Fire Elf Steel Mill in Instas for a full ten years. She had also clashed with Bishop Azawi more than once. Josephine should have been able to see that this time Bishop Azawi wasn't bluffing, but was serious. However, Josephine felt that the big trouble Bishop Azawi was talking about was...

There wasn't enough material to build the submarine.

Although she thought it unlikely, Alma took a deep breath and said with a forced smile, "Minister Josephine, now is not the time to deal with submarines. Minister Levi Ist Richard, the young minister of the Black Goat, has been arrested by Bishop Azawi, and now Bishop Azawi is spreading our name all over the streets."

"Ha...so what?" Josephine raised an eyebrow.

So we're doomed, let's run!