People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

This is akin to a crown prince overseeing the country, and Dario wields far more power than a typical crown prince. Not only does Carmen trust him implicitly, but his performance over the past few years has also earned him considerable respect within the courtroom.

Whether it was supplies, weapons, or funds he obtained through begging, he never kept any for himself; he donated them all to the court for equipment maintenance, communication system upgrades, and to improve living conditions. Moreover, as a judge with ideals and convictions, he gave away all his wealth, never seeking a single penny for himself!

Money obtained from outside sources ultimately comes from outside. It's only right that you share it with everyone. At most, people will think you're very responsible. But to share even your own savings truly reflects a person's level of moral character.

Especially since Dario had no children and only took on one apprentice. And this apprentice followed him into the ranks of the Inquisitors, going to the front lines to serve his country!

Who wouldn't admire such a person?

Despite the fact that the bigwigs of the Terran nations think Dario is utterly shameless, in Iberia, Dario is practically a moral paragon!

Is it scary? Yes, it's very scary.

A person who has completely abandoned personal morality has reached an impeccable level in terms of "righteousness." This is both a greatness and a tragedy.

People shouldn't make this choice in the first place.

If this were the case in Yan Kingdom, Dario's position, using such methods would definitely be seen by the True Dragon as "buying people's hearts and intending to usurp the throne." Even if everything he did was beneficial to Iberia, he would definitely be suppressed, or even have a reason to be stripped of his position, exiled to the frontier, or even secretly executed.

This is because it is an inevitable precaution and vigilance that those in power must take against their successors.

But Carmen didn't.

Carmen tolerated everything Dario did, whether it was his almost presumptuous orders or Dario using the Iberian name to negotiate collaborations that Carmen probably didn't even know about.

This would be almost impossible for a de facto dictator. But Carmen tolerated her apprentice and even gave him more power.

To this day, few judges in the court have not received Dario's favor. The improved living conditions in the cities under the court's jurisdiction have also made Dario's reputation widespread, subtly overshadowing Carmen's. It's safe to say that even if something truly unspeakable were to happen to Carmen now, no one would object to Dario succeeding her at her funeral.

This was practically a knife to Dalio's throat; if Dalio truly craved power, he could have easily sent Carmen to her doom.

But Dario didn't either.

"If the Grand Dukes of Victoria saw this, they'd probably think it was some kind of science fiction movie, right?"

Talulah remarked.

Ernst nodded.

This extreme mutual trust between those in power and their successors is extremely rare, even across a vast historical record. Ernst recalls that perhaps only the Ming Dynasty's Crown Prince Zhu Biao and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang achieved such a level of trust.

Not to mention now, Carmen is even planning to risk her life to go to the Stutifaira and hand over all power to Dario.

The risks of this move are self-evident. Let alone whether Carmen will return, even if he does, will he be able to reclaim that power?

It's hard to say. Once Dario dons the yellow robe, whether he can take it off is not up to him.

"Mr. Ernst, are we really going to do nothing?"

Laurentina looked at Ernst with great interest.

In her view, power was not important; she was more curious about what Ernst would do.

Is the World Summit really going to just stand by and watch? Is Ernst really going to let Carmen fall into this trap? Is that Deep Sea Bishop really someone Ernst can't handle?

This is nothing like the Ernst that Talulah has been describing to her these past few days.

Ernst smiled.

"Actually, just looking at it like this isn't bad for me either."

“Dalio is a more suitable collaborator for the World Summit. At the very least, he is not as easy to understand or manipulate as Carmen.”

Dario has reached a moral vacuum; his heart is filled with righteousness, his love is only for the country of Iberia, and his belief is only in the survival of civilization. When this situation is taken to its extreme, it becomes another form of political being.

In a more abstract way, he has almost become one with the will of the state, and can be said to be the agent of the will of the state.

To put it simply, he's a Paradox Interactive (P社) player.

As long as it's for the good of the country, he can very naturally choose "ignorance is bliss" instead of "knowledge is power," which would add 2 points to the rebellion level.

A person at this level is invincible because you can't threaten him with anything. But Dalio is clearly not at that level yet; he still cares about many people and hasn't reached the point where he considers people as just numbers.

Otherwise, he would have rebelled against Carmen long ago when his prestige was equal to hers. This shows that he still respected Carmen as his teacher.

Even so, Dalio was a better fit for the World Summit than Carmen. He was cooperative, capable, prestigious, and practically one of their own.

Therefore, the Amayas may actually have made a mistake.

She may have thought that the reason why the World Summit could run rampant in Iberia, doing whatever it wanted—no, why it could act so freely and unrestrainedly—was because of Carmen's approval, the saint's "guarantee," and that the opposition within the Iberian Tribunal was due to Carmen's prestige, which is why they could only stand by and watch the various "too brutal" problems that arose in the counter-terrorism operation.

Therefore, if a way is found to obtain Carmen, the Iberian Tribunal will be left leaderless, and internal conflicts will soon erupt, affecting the entire counter-terrorism operation. It may even launch a counterattack, interrupting the counter-terrorism operation and driving the World Summit out of Iberia.

All I can say is that she had very high hopes and a lot of ideas.

However, she clearly underestimated what the World Summit was, and she also clearly misjudged the relationship between Carmen and the World Summit.

Carmen provided assurances for the World Summit, but more importantly, she exerted control. His personal presence in Granfalo wasn't just about the Iberian Eye beacon, but also about gaining "command" over this counter-terrorism operation.

If Carmen were truly gone, then the World Summit would truly be unshackled. With Dalio in power, the World Summit would truly have "unlimited protection."

Therefore, from this perspective, Ernst had absolutely no need to save Carmen.

"but,"

Ernst paused for a moment,

"To let a member of the Deep Sea 9 cult succeed like this is a bit disgusting to me."

Ernst was very magnanimous; he could tolerate even the deepest hatred until the opportune moment arrived. However, he was also very petty. If someone held a grudge against him and he had the chance, he would hold it against them without holding a grudge overnight!

You think you can just let this go after all these assassination attempts on me?

Trying to pull such a blatant trick on me, thinking you can control me just because you got Carmen? Aren't you underestimating me?

Have you never seen what a "black hand" is?

As soon as Ernst said that, Talulah's eyes lit up, and she eagerly moved closer:

"Then what are we going to do?"

When she was in Sherag, Vina, Hinterlea and the others told her countless times how smart and capable Ernst was!

Upon arriving in Iberia, she did indeed come across Ernst's "anti-terrorism plan." Although she couldn't yet fully grasp its intricacies and multifaceted implications, she could sense its profound complexity.

However, this plan was ultimately too macro-level; both Iberia and the Deep Sea Church were too vast. Scheming against them didn't give Talulah a tangible sense of reality.

She lacks a broad perspective.

But a plan directly targeting Amaya is much more sophisticated, and she really wants to see it!

Ernst glanced at Talulah and smiled.

He knew what Talulah was thinking, but he was afraid he was going to disappoint her.

Amaya played a very crude trick on him, and he didn't intend to use any sophisticated strategies.

A calculated, overt strategy is out of the question. In such a short time, he couldn't possibly devise a scheme directly targeting the Amayas. Besides, a nobody like him doesn't deserve that kind of grandeur.

He has too many cards to play, and now there are so many talented people gathered in the Iberian Peninsula. He has never fought such a rich and powerful battle in his life!

Using their own methods against them, Ernst returned a crude but ineffective scheme to them.

"Send the shapeshifter here and let him have a good talk with Miss Amaya."

The shapeshifter syndicate's ability to transform is truly bizarre; not only can it transform into a person, but it can also gain that person's memories after transforming.

This is why very few people can directly detect a shapeshifter. Because any password or similar thing is ineffective against shapeshifters. To expose their transformation, either they must admit it themselves, or you must possess something that cannot be copied. For example, Draco's special flames, Ernst's blessing from the Jeragund beast, or Skadi's Isamara.

With Ernst's order given, the shapeshifter naturally knew what to talk about with Amaya.

"Since the Deep Sea Church intends to make trouble on the Stutifaira, to set a trap there and drag the Inquisition and us into it, then we will play along."

"Where are they? Let's wipe them all out!"

Chapter 741 You have exhausted your tricks and are doomed to die!

Iberia, coastal caves.

Aurus watched Cicero slowly walk into the cave and waved the letter in his hand.

"Did you receive Amaya's letter?"

Cicero nodded:

"I think it's a trap."

"No need to guess, it's definitely a trap."

Aurus nodded:

"The last time we got together, she told us to hide while she went to cause trouble by herself. So she told us to ambush them on that ship. What else could it be but a trap?"

"I just didn't expect that Amaya would be seen through so easily."

Aurus sighed.

Amaya was the best disguised among them.

She has spent a long time on land, has no signs of being a sea creature, and is a writer of some renown. Her last official appearance was at a Deep Sea Church event a long time ago. Although she has made occasional guest appearances since then, she has always disguised herself. It can be said that she is quite impressive in both appearance and resume, almost flawless.

But she had only been gone a few days when she was already discovered.

When did the Deep Sea Church's disguise become so easy to see through? Those in the Inquisition have been fighting them for decades without a result. How come they seem to have become transparent the moment the International Summit arrives?

"Moreover, this handwriting is from the Amayas, isn't it?"

Cicero also took out the letter from his pocket and handed it to Aulus.

Aurus glanced at Cicero, but instead of taking the letter, he reminded him:

"It's not difficult to fake handwriting."

"But can Haisi's aura, Haisi's writing, and these confidential contents also be forged?"

Cicero said coldly,

"The Iberians didn't even have a concept of what the sea was. They claimed to have fought against the sea for decades, yet they knew nothing about the ocean itself! How could they possibly write about 'birth'?"

Aulus paused, a look of astonishment flashing in his eyes as he looked at Cicero. He then snatched the letter from Cicero and began to read its contents.

[Your Excellency Cicero, the plan is proceeding smoothly. The World Summit and Carmen have fallen into the trap. Ernst Siwaish, the Secretary-General of the World Summit and the initiator of this counter-terrorism operation, will also be involved.]

The nations of Terra coveted the riches aboard the Stutifeira and the technologies inherited from the Iberian Golden Age, and thus risked their lives.

They will pay the price for their foolishness, but I also gained something unexpected. I found His presence near Ernst!

[The first of the primordial beings resides in the hunter who killed Him. Just as we predicted, He is eternally immortal, merely waiting for us to awaken Him!]

【Lord Cicero, our chances are slim; we must change our plans. Please proceed to the Stutifaira. I have already contacted Lord Aulus; I need your combined assistance to lay a trap, capture Carmen and Ernst, save the Deep Sea Church, and awaken the newborn!】

It was written in a very convincing way, with logical reasoning and a clear explanation of the cause and effect. And indeed, as Cicero said, this letter, like his own, was indeed written in Amaya's handwriting.

If they hadn't known that the letter was definitely a trap, they might have actually believed it was written by Amaya himself.

So what if it wasn't handwritten?

"Isamara, the Newborn".

Aurus's face was more somber than ever before.

Just as Cicero said, this was clearly not information that Iberia should know! Not to mention Iberia, which was completely ignorant of the vastness of the ocean and the greatness of its nascent beginnings, even Agor, which was ten or even nine times more powerful than Iberia, should not have known this kind of intelligence!

The Agorians only knew that the Deep Sea Church worshipped the Sealing God, a god known as the "Primordial One," who could directly influence the evolution of the Sealing race!

That’s all!

They had absolutely no idea that there were many [Newborns]! Otherwise, they wouldn't have made the rash decision to send the Deep Sea Hunters to wipe out the [Newborns]! Because that would only enrage the Sea Heir and incite the anger of the other three Newborns!

"Tsk."

Aurus clicked his tongue, his face turning particularly grim.

"You're right. What exactly is Amaya doing? How could she leak this kind of information to the land dwellers?"

It wasn't that Aurus wanted to suspect Amaya; it was that Aurus had no choice but to suspect Amaya.

Because besides Amaya, she couldn't think of any other way the Iberians could have learned this information! How long had it been since they'd touched seawater!

But if these messages really came from Amaya, then it can only mean that Amaya betrayed them.

There is no other possibility. Compromise is impossible! The Deep Sea Cult knows the Deep Sea Cult. Even if it's for the sake of infiltration, Amaya can reveal some less crucial information, but there are some things that absolutely cannot be said!

"At this point, is there any point in dwelling on this?"

Cicero snorted, seemingly expressing his displeasure with Aurus.

Who told him to look so confident just now? Now he's dumbfounded.