People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

He simply couldn't bring himself to say those words.

Because the other side seems to really have that ability.

For nearly three minutes, Quintus stared at the Preserver in the sky, unable to utter a single word.

Three minutes of thought calmed him down a bit. Thinking it over carefully, it seemed the other party wasn't bluffing; they were definitely just putting on a show!

This is Iberia, the territory of the Inquisition. Although Saltwind is remote and not directly under the Inquisition's jurisdiction, it is still Iberian territory. How dare these Colombians openly declare that "Saltwind will cease to exist tomorrow"?

Isn't the court going to do anything about it? Is Carmen useless? Or have they all already surrendered to the World Summit?

He admitted that it was indeed ridiculous for the Deep Sea Church to pin its hopes on the Inquisition to stand up under such circumstances, but wasn't what he said the truth?

Those who know you best are often your enemies. The Deep Sea Church's understanding of Carmen y Iberia, who led the Inquisition in its resistance for decades, likely far exceeded his own imagination. He knew how unyielding that iron-willed man was; how could he possibly allow the Colombians to act so recklessly?

It's definitely a bluff!

Quintus gritted his teeth. He was the Bishop of the Deep Sea, not someone to be intimidated. This boomerang was not going to hit him on the head!

He strode towards the dilapidated church atop the cliff. There, and within the underground caverns, he intended to summon Hai Si, spreading the news to the other bishops of the Deep Sea Church, so they could prepare for a counterattack!

He also needed to immediately contact the mole within the courtroom and have them pressure Carmen to exaggerate the atrocities committed at the Colombian International Summit—no, the International Summit—and seize this opportunity to ruin Carmen's reputation, ideally forcing him to step down! And then expel the International Summit from the country!

And that damned "Preserver" that gave him such a fright. Should we contact the other bishops, gather our men, and give him a big beating while he's landing?

If we can seize this thing, who among the nations of Terra can stop the Church of the Deep Sea?

The more he thought about it, the more energetic and confident he became, and the faster he walked. In the distance, the outline of the church was already appearing. He had never felt this distance was so long, nor had he ever felt so eager to get there!

Unbeknownst to him, high above, inside the Preservator, Columbian soldiers had already set their sights on him.

"Sir, someone did indeed head towards that church," the soldier monitoring the surveillance reported.

"Fire." The officer who had just cursed had regained his composure and said calmly.

The soldier was slightly taken aback: "Aren't you going to capture them alive?"

“Sending mech soldiers over there is too much trouble. They also have to maintain order in the safe zone. The Deep Sea Cultists in the city are putting up a desperate counterattack. Although it’s not strong, it’s disgusting.”

The officer curled his lip; it was truly disgusting. Hai Si's limbs, mutated human corpses—could those guys even be considered human?

"The Deep Sea Cultists are mostly extreme fanatics; there's no way to persuade them to surrender. Let's just eliminate them."

"Go all out. I heard the Sea Siege can evolve, let's blast them to smithereens and see how they'll manage to evolve to level 3."

The soldier immediately saluted: "Understood!"

Soon, the cannon barrel began to glow with magical light.

In the distance from Saltwind City, Goredia silently watched the space carrier in the sky, then looked at the cliff church that the cannons were pointing at. The next second, a deafening roar rang out, and the cliff and church that were just in sight were transformed into an empty precipice, leaving only a sky full of shattered rocks that flew away like a meteor shower, most of them falling into the sea and a small portion crashing into the city.

A thoughtful expression appeared on her face. After pondering for a moment, she wiped her eyes, glanced again at the enormous object in the sky and the cliff, and then pinched her cheek.

"hiss--"

There is pain.

it is true.

She couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating smile.

When did Agor's technical governor and war architect need to use this method to determine whether he was in a delusion?

Honestly, it would be so embarrassing if my friends and mother saw me like this.

However, it's truly unbelievable.

Dude, I just made a prediction a few days ago: your land-dwellers' technology is several levels behind Agor's, and you've conjured up this weird, grotesque thing. What's going on?

Think again about the declaration made by that space carrier before it fired its guns.

"The World Summit?"

She pondered softly for a moment, a slight smile playing on her lips.

"It seems I underestimated the boy next to Skadi."

"It seems there's no point in continuing to hide. We might as well make direct contact with them."

She wasn't really afraid that one day the flood would wash away the Dragon King's temple, and she'd be mistaken for a terrorist and wiped out!

Chapter 735 A Delightful Victory: A Pleasing Result

"The counter-terrorism forces are making rapid progress, which is very encouraging!"

Carmen didn't often praise others. This resolute old man always had a furrowed brow and a worried expression, as if a thousand-pound burden was weighing on his heart, making it hard for him to even breathe. His voice was also muffled.

This time, however, he didn't hold back his praise at all, and a rare smile bloomed on his face, even smoothing out his wrinkles.

Since its establishment, the anti-terrorism base has achieved frequent victories and reaped abundant rewards in just half a month, and the situation in Iberia has become much clearer!

This isn't Ernst bragging; it's the absolute truth!

The initial counter-terrorism operation at the base was fraught with difficulties. Led by Grand Inquisitor Dario, with Junior Inquisitor Elene as his adjutant, the Iberian forces, consisting of ten inquisitors and five hundred disciplinary soldiers, launched a raid on the eastern coastal cities of San Rogo, Asdenia, and Sania. Their first mission was ambushed by the Deep Sea Church. Fortunately, surrounding troops arrived in time to rescue them, allowing them to barely escape unscathed. While the main force of the inquisitors suffered no losses, the disciplinary soldiers lost over fifty men, a disastrous start and a major setback.

But precisely because of this, these three cities were designated as the first primary targets in the counter-terrorism operation.

While the Deep Sea Church was still gloating over their victory over the Inquisition, they had no idea what awaited them next.

The shapeshifter infiltrated and gathered intelligence, compiling a list of the city's ambushes, defenses, and members of the Deep Sea Church within a single day. This fully demonstrated the terrifying power of a full-power shapeshifter, one of the conceptual gods.

Subsequently, the Ursus counter-terrorism forces, which had been dispatched to provide support, launched a counter-terrorism operation that resembled a ghost story.

Nearly a third of Saint Rogo's population disappeared overnight. No one knew what had happened, only that when people woke up the next morning, countless people were found dead in their homes, their faces filled with terror. Meanwhile, the judges had entered the city unharmed and began to take over the city's defenses and clean up the corpses.

Asdonia had some prior warning and increased manpower at the city gates, also arranging for sentries to patrol at night. However, that night, when black snowflakes suddenly fell in a coastal city in the south of Terra, a place where snow had never fallen before, they were unable to react immediately beyond surprise and confusion.

Then, they stopped responding.

The courtroom went through the formalities again. When they arrived at the third city, Sania was under martial law. The city's surface was covered with strange, eerie blue patterns, and all the ordinary people in the city—those who had truly been classified as shapeshifters—had disappeared without a trace. The entire city was in a state of high tension.

Then, that night, the silent black snow fell, and the sentry post was knocked on.

"Hush-huh-"

"Your name is on the list, sir."

The three cities fell in one fell swoop, and the recapture of lost territory was a great success. The entire Iberian Tribunal was immersed in excitement.

This may be their biggest victory since the Great Quiet!

Although this victory was not their main attack, everyone in the court knew that it was because Carmen and Ernst had reached an agreement. Going back further, it was Carmen who agreed to send Dario to Iberia to bring Iberia into the World's Fair. Going back even further, it was Carmen who, when everyone was still completely unaware of Ernst, listened to Kelsey's advice and sent someone to the World's Fair, giving the then-unknown Ernst face.

Everything in the world is interconnected; cause and effect were formed long ago. It could be said that Ernst's visit was partly to repay the favor Carmen had shown him.

After all, everyone knows what the situation was like in Iberia at that time. For Carmen, under such circumstances, to listen to Kal'tsit and send her apprentice and her apprentice's apprentice to Shelag was truly unexpected by everyone, including Ernst himself!

At the time, the World's Fair lacked momentum. Although the arrival of Iberia was not as eye-catching as that of the other major powers, just like Sami sending Typhon as a representative, their mere presence was enough to give Ernst face.

returning a Favour many times more.

Of course, what pleased the court most was not Carmen's foresight, but the tangible land itself.

Battle reports may be deceiving, but the front lines won't. No matter how eloquently the accounts of a disastrous offensive and a victorious retreat are presented, they cannot change the fact that Iberia was in a dire situation back then. But what about now?

City after city, place after place, the judges finally woke up one day and no longer had to worry that the battle lines had been pushed to the gates of Perdoni!

Isn't that enough to make us happy?

Not to mention, progress in other parts of Colombia is also encouraging! There are also quite a few ragtag groups that, although not registered at the World Summit and not belonging to any country, are helping Iberia to fight against the Deep Sea Cultists.

Most of these people are Sarkaz.

Although no one said it outright, everyone knew very well that this group of people was attracted by Mr. Ernst's reputation!

Ernst did not take credit for this, nor did he boast about it. He simply submitted a proposal at the meeting, requesting that regular troops and the tribunal establish special supply points in various "war zones" of Iberia for these ragtag troops to resupply, rest, and seek assistance.

Incidentally, he also sent someone to find a reporter from the Rose Newspaper.

This matter must be reported, and it must be reported thoroughly.

Whether it's the World Summit's impressive achievements or the united efforts of the Terran nations, these are all excellent examples of positive energy! Furthermore, the newly established Kazdel Sarkaz are actively integrating and forming volunteer groups to support their allies. Isn't this also a great opportunity to improve the Sarkaz's international image?

There are countless newsworthy stories here if you just want to. If you don't seize the high ground of public opinion, someone else will. Ernst doesn't know if the Deep Sea Church understands this, but he has no intention of giving them any chance to struggle!

Of course, besides these, he also had many things he wanted to discuss with Carmen:

"We are all naturally happy about the success of the counter-terrorism operation."

He nodded in agreement, then changed the subject...

"However, Your Excellency Carmen, you must also be aware that while these cities have been reclaimed, Iberia may not have the capacity to govern them. You must be prepared!"

There are only so many judges in the courts. Even if one judge were sent to each city, there wouldn't be enough to go around in all the cities of Iberia.

In this situation, Ernst realized that the court's past extremely strict, even somewhat idealistic, method of selecting talent was no longer viable.

If a person is only considered qualified when they can actually draw and fire a hand cannon, then Iberia will never be able to improve its administrative efficiency.

Because the people you selected are indeed "loyal and honest," but their efficiency is too low, and their quality varies greatly.

Ernst didn't want to get too involved in other countries' politics, but Iberia was too special. It was the front line of Terra's fight against Haisi, and it wasn't as powerful as Yan. If they finished their counter-terrorism campaign and Iberia lost the land again in less than two years, it would be a laughing stock.

Therefore, Ernst should mention it briefly, but only briefly: [Search query: 九司.兒》泗=弎零珷]

“I know that loyalty is more important than anything else in Iberia. But what you are about to face cannot be solved by loyalty alone.”

Noticing a slight change in Carmen's expression, Ernst added:

"If you do have concerns, you can try looking at the Punishing Army."

That's all Ernst has to say. It would be impolite to say anything more.

He knew what Carmen's concerns were. Anyone who cares about national honor would not want to hear a foreigner casually comment on their country, let alone give it a bad review.

Moreover, Ernst was absolutely right. Iberia wasn't even facing a shortage of talent, but rather a shortage of manpower.

They couldn't even dream of having someone like Ernst, who could gather a bunch of SSR-level talents, nurture them slowly, and then entrust them with important tasks. They didn't even have enough ordinary, usable people!

This is troublesome.

Carmen was a staunch conservative, and she bluntly told him that any talk of civil service exams or external recruitment was pure nonsense. It would be a miracle if he accepted that.

Therefore, Ernst had no choice but to settle for second best and offer him another option.

When a country needs reform, two groups often become the main force of the revolution. The first is the intellectuals, because they generally accept new ideas, learn new culture, and possess a certain degree of progressiveness. The second is the army.

The disciplinary army was an organization added after the reorganization of the Iberian National Church into the Inquisition. In old Iberia, there was only a defense army, not a disciplinary army.

The reason for establishing such an army was that the problems faced by the tribunal were not simply national defense issues, but also religious ones. Under these circumstances, the remnants of the National Defense Army, whose faith was not devout enough, were not so trustworthy.

The creation of the Punishment Army can be seen as a natural consequence. However, as an army, their role extends beyond mere military function.

If Carmen is indeed short-handed and cannot let go of considerations regarding religious devotion and national loyalty, then the Punishing Army would be a good talent pool.

Carmen did not answer Ernst's question, but instead looked serious, seemingly lost in thought.

Ernst didn't need to know whether he understood or accepted it; his intention had already been conveyed. Besides, the current counter-terrorism operation was not yet over, so bringing up these things was indeed premature; it was merely a matter of taking precautions.

After getting up and saying goodbye to Carmen, Ernst also prepared to return to his room.

It's time for our daily Skadi Q&A session again. Lately, with Laurentina, who's a bit crazy but not completely insane, joining the group, Ernst hasn't had to suffer as much. At least sometimes, when Skadi only answers with a single noun, Laurentina enthusiastically provides an explanation.

Even if I explain it, they might not understand.

Humming a tune from "Spring Snow in the Courtyard," Ernst pushed open the door to his temporary residence.

However, to my surprise, there was another pair of long high-heeled leather boots among the shoes placed in the entryway.

Chapter 736 Goredia: Heavenly soldiers, please come this way~

"Greteia, Agor's Technical Administrator, Deepsea Hunter War Architect, Captain of the Second Squadron of the Deepsea Hunter Force, and also Laurentina's captain."

The tall woman in front of him, a rare sight in Terra, took off her black gloves and extended her hand to Ernst.

Ernst politely returned the handshake. Gloria's hands were cool and smooth, without the calluses that often form on the hands of someone who handles weapons for extended periods. Ernst could feel her strength, but she only gave it a tentative, or rather, genuinely polite, handshake before releasing it.

Ernst was less surprised and more puzzled by this person's arrival. After Gladys finished introducing herself, his first reaction was not to look at Gladys's teammate Laurentina, but to look at the usually silent Skadi.

Skadi's face held a clear sense of bewilderment. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, meeting Ernst's gaze.

"Skadi, didn't you say..."

"me"

Ernst chuckled. Good heavens, to see Skadi stutter to the point of being unable to speak was truly a remarkable sight.

However, judging from her appearance, she probably didn't know what was going on with Graceia either. Since that was the case, Ernst would take matters into his own hands.