People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

Therese pursed her lips, her weariness deepening.

"Go ahead, tell me the good news."

Feeling somewhat heavy-hearted, he asked.

The pardoner bowed slightly: "The dead souls have given the reason for their restlessness."

“The most volatile part of them has recently been experiencing some unusual restlessness.”

Theresis narrowed her eyes and asked incredulously, "Violent? A Balrog?"

“Yes, the Balrog, or more precisely, the Royal Balrog.” The Pardoner nodded.

Generally speaking, when a soul returns to the embrace of the Sarkaz souls, there will no longer be a distinction between you, me, and him, and the distinction between races will no longer be so obvious.

Of course, there are always exceptions. Some souls are preserved due to special circumstances, or they simply do not return to the general population.

For example, the soul fragments of various demon lords remained on the Black Crown, becoming part of that mysterious crown, and were passed down among the demon lords. Or consider liches; they weave their souls into threads and store them in caskets in another dimension, where there is no concept of time or space, and therefore no aging or death. Thus, the vast majority of liches possess immortality.

The extinction of the Balrogs, the Royal Balrogs, is a faded legend from distant history, its origins traceable back to the Second and Third Kazdel eras. Since then, Kazdel has been destroyed and rebuilt thousands of times, and its history has long been lost.

Theresis knew about the Balrog Royal Court, but as a member of the younger generation of Sarkaz, he had never actually seen a Balrog of the Royal Court.

Why are they restless?

"According to the answer given by the dead souls, one of their brethren will be resurrected."

Resurrection, yet another resurrection!

Theresa is going to be resurrected, and the Royal Court Flame Demon is going to be resurrected too. Who will be next?

What's happening to Terra? Why does everyone want to be resurrected, and why can everyone be resurrected?!

Why don't you just tell me now that the Witch King is going to be resurrected, Sargon, the King of Kings, the Nightmare Khan, and even the legendary Creator?

He felt a throbbing pain in his head. Chairman Therese rubbed his temples, but felt a few strands of hair fall lightly with his movement.

I'm losing hair; it seems I've been under a lot of stress lately.

Getting back to the main point, Therese looked at the pardoner with some confusion:

"What kind of good news is this? A resurrected Royal Fire Demon isn't necessarily under the control of the Military Council; it might even be won over by that woman Kal'tsit. After all..."

Therese didn't explain it here, but the absolutist understood what he meant.

After all, the Demon King's authority still rests with Kal'tsit. And the Balrogs have historically been known for their unwavering loyalty to the Demon King.

The last Royal Flame Demon General died fighting to protect the Demon King.

“Theoretically, that’s correct. But Your Highness, this is, after all, a combatant of royal court level.”

"Times have changed. He may have indeed served the Demon King in the past, but his ruler at that time was an outstanding Sarkaz Demon King. And what about the Demon King now?"

The pardoner smiled slightly:

"We are not without a chance. And even if we cannot get the help of this Royal Flame Demon, at the very least, we cannot let our enemies get it, can we?"

Therese pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Even if a Sarkaz who has returned from history is unwilling to pledge allegiance to the Military Council, he should still be given a dignified send-off by the Sarkaz."

"Moreover, we can also explore who resurrected him and what technology was used..." the absolutionist reminded him.

He left much unsaid. The power of a Balrog, the body of a Balrog, the memories of a Balrog—these were all immense temptations for the scholars and pardoners of the Sarkaz.

Therese finally made up her mind.

He stood up, and the pardoning official immediately stepped forward, volunteering:

"Please entrust this matter to me, Your Highness the Regent..."

"Do not."

A straightforward rejection shattered the pardoner's illusions. The pardoner, with his dragon-like appearance, raised his head to look at Theresis, only to see a mocking smile on Theresis's face.

The Regent raised his head and said:

"A resurrected royal court is worth my personal visit."

"Tell me where he is, Master of Forgiveness!"

"So His Highness the Regent wanted to go in person, then it's fine (nmsl)."

His smile was somewhat stiff, veins throbbing slightly on his forehead, and he uttered incantations, "Master of Pardons, heed my command!"

"He is in Colombia, His Highness the Regent."

P.S.: Getting an IV drip is really uncomfortable, especially the anti-inflammatory medication; I feel sleepy as soon as I start. I had part of the drip in the morning and part in the afternoon, so I ended up sleeping a little at noon and then a little in the afternoon. Everyone, please take care of yourselves!

Chapter 178 Saria: He collapsed before I even exerted any force

Columbia, Trimont, Rhine Life General Office.

"I will keep an eye on this."

Seria nodded to Palvis and watched the elder leave the office.

The matter of the Flame Demon's physical body is indeed a problem. Levi's request is reasonable, and Saria can only try her best to meet his demands within the scope of her authority.

Yes, unlike in the original timeline, this time, Saria not only knew about the Balrog incident, but also personally signed, approved, and appointed Levi to take over Parvis's project, transferring Ifrit's management from the Structural Division to the Originium Life Division.

This was a decision she made out of necessity.

Just as Christen said in the original timeline, every research enterprise in Tremont has intricate connections with the Colombian military. The Balrog Project will not happen regardless of who is in power at the time or who signed the research agreement. As long as the Colombian military remains interested in the power of the Balrog, the Balrog Project will inevitably proceed.

This time, because Christen was away in Sherag, leading the Dome Research Station project that she had been longing for, she temporarily handed over the management of Rhine Lab to Director Saria, with Muerses and Yara assisting from the side. Therefore, the one who truly led this Balrog Project was none other than Saria herself.

Refusal is impossible. No matter how powerful a research company is, it is ultimately situated above Tremont. As long as it still considers itself a Columbia company, the Columbia military has countless ways to force Rhine Lab to accept this mission.

Saria deeply loves Rhine Lab, and she wouldn't risk causing Rhine Lab losses by refusing to execute the Balrog Project. She will only do everything in her power to keep the project under her control and minimize the possibility of unforeseen events.

"Perhaps if Christensen were here, she would have the courage to refuse such a troublesome matter outright. But she might not actually do it."

Saria sighed.

It's too late to realize now that this is such a troublesome task.

She has already put in a lot of effort to ensure that the Flame Demon Project proceeds smoothly, safely, and under her control without any unexpected incidents.

These skills include, but are not limited to, dealing with troublesome tabloid reporters, gossip reporters who pry into private affairs, spies from rival organizations who try to uncover scientific research results, and mysterious metal agents.

It's certainly embarrassing to twist someone's head off like that. Even someone as strong as Celia rarely does things that are tantamount to murder and arson. After all, Colombia is still a society governed by the rule of law!

But to be honest, that whole thing was actually a misunderstanding. The agent who called himself "Tin Man" and Saria talked on and on, and his final demand was actually to "stop the Flame Demon Project."

Terminating the Balrog Project isn't out of the question; Saria herself doesn't really approve of such unethical experiments, but you have to come up with a solution. Terminating the Balrog Project means offending the Columbia military, and since the Melander Foundation wants to stop it, they can't just put all the blame on Rhine Lab, can they?

But the "Tin Man" fell silent the moment the plan was mentioned. Saria, being so intelligent, immediately realized that terminating the Balrog Project probably had nothing to do with the Melander Foundation; it was simply the Tin Man's personal idea.

Saria naturally couldn't agree to that. She didn't even want to continue the conversation and immediately tried to leave. But unexpectedly, as soon as she stood up, the Tin Man grabbed her shoulder, as if he was going to resort to force if reason didn't work.

Who is Seria? She's the Rhine Boxing Queen, the Colombian Trimont Women's Boxing Championship winner, the most skilled fighter among scientists, and the most scientifically accomplished among boxing enthusiasts!

In order to get rid of the tin man's entanglement cleanly and efficiently, Saria immediately turned to the side, flipped her hand, locked her throat, and twisted gently!

With this combo, even a 200-pound Victoria strongman would be thrown to the ground on the spot.

But to her surprise, the twist she had deliberately weakened to avoid injuring herself still had an unexpected effect.

Seria found it difficult to describe the scene.

If she had to give an evaluation, she felt like she was watching the Nastia Engineering Department operators tightening screws.

With a gentle twist, the tin man's head flew off like a screw. Before Saria could even figure out what was happening, the tin man's body collapsed to the ground.

Is it really that silky smooth?

Before Saria could even be surprised, she smelled an exceptionally unpleasant odor. Looking down for a closer look, she saw that the junction between the tin man's neck and head was covered in black, oily substance.

It has to be said that Horhaya's sudden quip actually came true. The tin man's neck really does get lubricated with e-cigarette oil.

Saria was a decent person, and seeing that she had inadvertently dealt a severe blow to the top agent of the Melander Foundation, she had no intention of fleeing the crime scene. She packed up the tin man's head and body together in a box and carried it to the Melander Foundation.

The reception staff at the Mehran Foundation were quite puzzled. What business did the acting head of Rhine Life have suddenly come to the Mehran Foundation?

Then, Saria dumped the loose parts from the box onto the ground, creating a clattering pile that startled everyone present.

"Ms. Seria, is this a new invention of your Rhine Lab?"

“No, this is your Tin Man,” Seria said. “I’m sorry, but he had a little accident. I’m bringing him back. If the Melander Foundation wants to sue me, please send the summons to Rhine Life, and I will respond.”

The final result should be clear to everyone.

The tin man wasn't so easy to kill; he successfully swapped bodies that hadn't been lubricated yet, and Saria naturally wasn't prosecuted for it.

But this incident was enough for her to realize that the Flame Demon incident might involve unexpected troubles.

Saria doesn't possess the same boundless imagination as Christensen; most people perceive her as a reliable conservative. This also means that, faced with these troubles, she doesn't actually have very effective ways to break the deadlock.

All she could do was follow the established path. While reassuring the researchers at Rhine Lab who had reservations about the project, she insisted that Levi lead the Balrog Project and select a suitable host to separate the Balrog fragments from Ifrit's body, thus reducing the suffering of the poor girl.

And this plan has now reached its most crucial step.

Once a suitable host body is found, the Balrog can be separated. Then, she can directly hand the separated Balrog over to the Columbia military, helping Rhine Lab get rid of this trouble completely.

But where can we find the body for this?

"Sareya?"

A mischievous call woke Saria from her reverie. Vayvan looked up at the table, where Muirsey's water clone was floating above the water glass.

The lively water droplets depict the fairy girl's every smile and frown, with lifelike details, just like a real person.

"What's wrong, Muels?" Seria asked.

Muirses grinned, revealing a bright smile:

“Saria, I was just thinking about what Palvis asked earlier.”

Why must the prototype be limited to humans?

Saria frowned: "You mean... Yes, indeed, if we're talking about animals, there are far too many animals with physical strength far superior to humans, and they wouldn't be difficult to find."

Most importantly, there's clearly no "sacrifice problem" involving animals that Celia would dislike. Colombia's current left-wing sentiment isn't as strong, and there won't be any mindless vegetarian movements to stop Celia from hunting a powerful pack animal or tusked beast.

"That's a good idea. Why didn't you tell Palvis earlier?"

"Saria asked curiously."

Muirsey stuck out her tongue: "I just thought of that myself."

This means they don't want to talk about it.

Muirsey was somewhat wary of Palvis, the head of the structural engineering department, whom she didn't have a good impression of in some ways. Although he was a colleague of Muirsey's from the early days of Rhine, she had never truly understood him.

Seeing that Muirsey was unwilling to say more, Saria could only shrug:

"Then I will convey this proposal directly to Director Levy."

"Mmm!" Muirsey nodded, then quickly changed the subject, "Saria, Christen sent a letter."

Saria paused in her tracks: "Does she have any other plans?"

"She said that Prime Minister Ernst came to Colombia, apparently to look for his secretary. Although he said he didn't need Rhine Life's help, he still informed you in advance."

"It means that if we happen to run into them, we can also help keep an eye out for them."

Saria nodded: "That's only to be expected."

Meanwhile, on the other side, in Trimont, Colombia, at the quarantine checkpoint entrance to the city.

The last time Ernst came here, he was amazed by the speed at which this avenue had changed, but when he arrived this time, a fork in the road had already been built.

Head straight to downtown Trimont, where the city’s science council and security agencies are located, and where the annual Trimont business fair is also held.

Turn right to the Science Park, the incubator for a host of emerging research companies in Tremont. Many of Terra's renowned scientists were born there, and many technologies that benefit the people were invented there. However, large companies such as Rhine Lab and Beach Umbrella are no longer located in that park.

They have their own industrial parks on the left-hand side of the main road, which are larger, have more complete facilities, and have a better environment. This is why capital has a special fondness for these cash cows.

However, what truly caught Ernst's attention at the fork in the road was not Tremont, who had changed his appearance once again, but a large robot standing at the intersection with a towering and majestic presence.

"Welcome everyone to view the latest masterpiece by Miloski, the Lady of the Lantern!"

"Dulin-258 Super Robot!"