In Ark Simulator, why do I always start out as a ruthless person?.

"Tear apart all enemies who dare to strike back at Leitania!"

"Victory belongs to Leitania!"

"For victory!"

"For victory!"

[Tens of thousands of hands and tsunami-like enthusiastic shouts responded to Hildegard standing at the highest point.]

[At this moment, she seemed to have once again become the heroic, cold-blooded and ruthless "Black Queen".]

……

A month later, in Londinium, the capital of Victoria.

In the Imperial Parliament, the eight dukes, who were incompatible with each other and had ulterior motives, unexpectedly gathered here, contrary to their usual practice.

You know, long before Emperor Victoria was hanged, the eight dukes had already begun to be wary of each other, and did not allow anyone to enter Londinium without permission.

But today, they gathered together.

If they weren't dueling to exchange their opinions.

There was no doubt that something major had occurred that threatened the entire Victoria and made them all feel that they had to discuss it together.

Inside the Imperial Parliament, the atmosphere among the eight dukes was extremely solemn.

Of course, there was one duke who had a completely different attitude.

Her emotions were very unstable, she could even be said to be furious.

"Damn it! Damn it! *Victorian slang*!"

"Damn Leitania! Damn Emperor Leitania! How dare he fool us?!"

The Duke of Windermere's face turned pale and he slammed the newspaper in his hand heavily on the table.

As a duke, she even forgot about etiquette and decency, pacing around the round table of the Imperial Parliament in circles, speaking Victorian slang that was unbearable to the ear.

However, none of the other seven dukes present, who also had gloomy faces, stopped the Duke of Windermere's actions.

Rather, it was fortunate that the Duke of Windermere acted as their mouthpiece, allowing them to barely maintain the decency that gentlemen and ladies should have.

Otherwise, given the current situation, it would be difficult for them to guarantee that they would not curse.

The headline of the newspaper that the Duke of Windermere slammed on the table read in bold black font:

《Peace breaks down! Letania annexed Bolivar and announced a strategic partnership with Colombia!》

The news headlines alone made the eight dukes realize that they had been deceived!

"I see……"

Among the eight dukes, Duke Kaster, who had the best intelligence system, finally spoke:

"It seems that the Emperor of Leitania has been playing tricks on us from the beginning."

"He should have already reached a strategic cooperation with the president of Colombia. His friendship with us is just a superficial effort."

"He numbed our judgment into thinking that Letania would go to war with Colombia."

"He was able to annex Bolivar so easily by taking advantage of our concessions."

"In the future, we can also unite with Colombia to form a double-sided situation against us, creating the most favorable conditions for war."

The most hateful thing is that the agreement allowing Letania to annex Bolivar has the joint signatures of their eight dukes!

It can be said that the Eighth Duke shot himself in the foot in this matter!

From the beginning to the end, Leitania did not violate any part of the agreement.

It's just that the war between Letania and Colombia that they expected did not happen.

This made it impossible for the eight dukes to even take the "great cause" and bring an army to bear against Leitania.

I can only swallow this loss silently!

"Then what should we do?"

After a moment of silence, Duke Godotin asked a soul-stirring question:

"Now, we have Colombia in the northwest and a Bolivar staring at our rear."

"And this Emperor of Leitania will definitely not be satisfied with the status quo. He will definitely find a way to get more territory and more resources."

"In the future, when he is truly ready, we will have no choice but to go to war with Leitania."

"Humph! Let them come!"

On the other hand, the Duke of Windermere, who had been fooled and became the laughing stock of the entire Victoria, roared with anger:

"When they come, our Steam Knights will crush their army and grind their proud warlock group into pulp!"

"—Calm down, Duke of Windermere."

Finally, the Duke of Normandy, who had the highest status among the eight dukes and had remained silent until then, spoke up to stop them:

"War is not a joke. We should avoid war as much as possible."

"At least, we should make adequate preparations before the war breaks out."

"…I have a plan that may buy us some time."

After pondering for some time, the Duke of Normandy proposed what he thought was the best solution to the seven dukes in front of him.

"First, we cannot ignore the threat from the northwest."

"Since we have no reason to attack Bolivar now, the best way is to let the most powerful dukes among us guard against the threat from the northwest."

"Then... Duke of Wellington, are you willing to take on this task?"

Soon after the Duke of Normandy finished speaking, everyone's eyes were focused on the oldest duke present.

The duke's hair and beard were already completely gray.

Even in occasions like the Imperial Parliament, he kept his eyes closed and said nothing.

But this old duke, who had made outstanding military achievements and had fought against the Witch King, Ursus, and even the Emperor of Gaul, still exuded a majestic aura like a sleeping lion.

When his name was called, the old duke just raised his eyelids slightly and said indifferently:

“…Then that’s it.”

"Well, I'm glad you're willing to take on the responsibility of defending our country."

The Duke of Normandy breathed a sigh of relief, and then instructed again:

"Also, regarding the Tara riots in your area, we all hope that they will be resolved as soon as possible."

"There's enough chaos in Victoria already, we can't let the people of Tara add to the trouble."

This time, the Duke of Normandy's words did not receive any response from Wellington.

Everyone had no choice but to interpret Wellington's silence as acquiescence.

"In addition, not only Tara, we also need to strengthen our control over Lower Gaul."

The Duke of Normandy went on to add:

"Ever since we assigned several mobile cities in Lower Gaul to the Leithania Empire, the Gaul survivors in Lower Gaul have become much more restless."

"These stupid Gauls thought they could have a better life by joining Leitania."

"What a dream!"

"We must send out troops to suppress the riots and rebellions in Gaul as much as possible."

"When necessary... the army and guards are allowed to use violence to suppress!"

"It doesn't matter if we drive our chariots into the streets and answer these Gauls with guns!"

"I agree."

"I agree too."

The dukes had no objection to suppressing the Gauls.

To them, the Gauls, whose country had been destroyed, were not worth their attention at all. They could neither start any riots nor launch a rebellion.

They just need to provide a steady supply of blood transfusions to the Victoria Empire, just like the infected slaves in Ursus' mines.

"What remains is to try to gain cooperation from other countries as much as possible."

"If the Emperor of Leitania is unwilling to stop his conquest, then it won't just be our country that will be threatened."

"I think there must be other countries willing to cooperate with us to fight against Leitania."

However, just as the Duke of Normandy finished his words, a cautious knock on the door interrupted the conversation.

In the Imperial Parliament, anything that the guards considered to be serious enough to disturb the meetings of the eight dukes must be extremely urgent and important.

"Come in."

The door to the meeting room slowly opened, and a fully armed guard saluted in the most standard military posture, and replied respectfully:

"My Lords, outside the parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs from Casimir wants to see you."

"He said he was coming on behalf of Casimir the Fuhrer to pay a friendly visit to Victoria."

"And... further strategic cooperation."

Chapter 55 The Outbreak of World War, Zvonek or War

[In just one month, Bolivar received exciting good news. ]

[Except for the area occupied by Colombia, Hildegard has already captured the entire territory of Bolivar and has begun to further digest and consolidate it.]

[This war will end very quickly. If all goes well, Bolivar will restore full order within a year.]

[But not long after, some not-so-good news reached your ears. ]

[Casimir and Victoria signed a non-aggression pact in the Imperial Diet.]

[According to news reports, the two countries agreed in the signed agreement that if one of them is invaded, the other will send troops to reinforce.]

[The reactions of the two countries have proven that your raging ambitions have been fully exposed among the top leaders of the countries.]

[They will no longer sit back and watch you annex other countries’ territories with an attitude of “appeasement”.]

[This will inevitably have a huge impact on your next plans. ]

[——But all this can no longer affect you. ]

[Now that Bolivar has been captured, the troops are in high spirits and have abundant energy reserves.]

[The weapons and supplies produced by the military factory every day are enough to equip half of the army. The stockpiled spare supplies are already covered in dust in the warehouse.]

[All preparations have been made. Your next target is the country closest to you that has long been wary of you.]

【Casimir.】

[Bolivar and Letania are separated by several countries. If you want to achieve trade and strategic material exchanges, there are only two routes. ]

[The first is to pass through Victoria, Kjerag and Columbia, using the already well-established railway transportation between the two countries to complete the handover. ]

[The second is to build a nearly straight cross-border railway to Colombia and Bolivar through Casimir in the northwest of Leitania.]

[Once this railway is completed, it will not only mean that Letania and Bolivar will be able to exchange resources and troops. ]

[It also means that no matter how we attack Colombia from both sides in the future. 】

[The situation in Leitania is still not good, and we need to retreat to Bolivar in the future. ]

[This nearly straight high-speed railway will bring huge convenience. ]

【Therefore, Casimir must be the next target to be destroyed.】

[Of course, you didn’t tell everyone your ambitions so directly. ]

[Although the top leaders of each country are well aware of each other's ambitions, you don't want to become the target of public criticism from the people of Casimir so soon.]

[Therefore, you only choose to ask Casimir for a fortress city near the border between the two countries.]

【Zvonek.】

[This is a fortress city on the front line of the confrontation between Casimir and Leithania. ]