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In Backlund's Saint George borough, Melissa, wearing a veiled hat and exuding a youthful aura, hopped down from a rental carriage. She turned and smiled towards the carriage, saying, "Thank you, Tyron. This study tour to Longtail Island was very rewarding for me."
Tyron also got out of the carriage, scratching his head somewhat shyly. "For me, the rewards were also great."
He hadn't expected that his older brother, Hobert, and older sister, Donna, had quietly built such a desirable country in the Rorsted Archipelago.
After a few more words and another farewell, Tyron boarded the carriage and left.
Melissa entered the rented terraced house. As soon as she entered, she saw Benson sitting on the sofa in a daze, holding a letter.
She took off her veiled hat. "Who's it from?"
"Oh, look, our Melissa is back from her trip," Benson said with a smile.
"It was a study tour," Melissa corrected.
Benson still held the letter in one hand and poured Melissa a cup of tea with the other. "Right, a study tour."
Then he asked, "How was Longtail Island? Is it really as good as the rumors say? How did you manage your meals and accommodation for these past few days?"
"It's even better than the rumors. It's… it's full of vitality!" Melissa described.
She took a sip of tea and replied, "The governor's office on Longtail Island took care of all the meals and accommodation for me and my classmates. They promised that as long as university students go to Longtail Island for study tours, they will provide free food and lodging.
"And because of Tyron, we were even invited by the Hobert couple to dine at the governor's mansion. Miss Donna also came."
They were a little too enthusiastic in their hospitality. Melissa strongly suspected that Duke Hobert and his wife already knew she was dating Tyron.
"Hearing you say that, I want to go and see it too," Benson said, touching his slightly receding hairline.
Melissa smiled. "I heard that as long as you have a student ID issued by the Duchy of Southern Balam, you can freely enter and exit Longtail Island. When I get my new student ID, I'll take you."
The relocation of several universities in Loen is now basically coming to an end. In early January, there were protests with professors resigning and students dropping out, but it's said that the resigning professors and dropping students were all escorted to the Southern Continent by the police.
Those teachers and students who had been to the Duchy of Southern Balam once no longer protested, because the environment of the Duchy of Southern Balam was not as harsh as rumored, nor as dangerous and desolate as rumored.
"Maybe I'll be able to freely enter and exit Longtail Island soon too," Benson said, waving the letter in his hand. "This is an invitation just sent to me by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Duchy of Southern Balam, hoping that I can go and serve as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs."
Melissa was stunned. Her first thought was whether this was Tyron's idea, but then she immediately thought that if it was Tyron's idea, he would have revealed some information to her in advance.
Melissa recalled Tyron's reactions these past few days. He didn't seem to know about this.
Thinking of this, Melissa glanced at Benson. "Are you planning to give it a try?"
"Yes, Melissa, this is an opportunity," Benson said with a helpless smile. "Only after becoming a government employee did I realize that the channels for ordinary people to be promoted are very limited.
"And positions such as ministers and deputy ministers are completely prepared for political parties and nobles. Even 'hereditary ministers' are common.
"Sometimes, the commands of those curly-haired baboons are truly laughable."
Benson said very solemnly, "I plan to take a few days off to go and take a look."
Moreover, after school starts in a few days, Melissa will be going to school in the Southern Continent. If he also works in the Southern Continent, the two siblings can take care of each other.
Melissa was very supportive of this. "There's no harm in going to take a look."
At the same time, she planned to ask Tyron tomorrow to see if he knew any inside information.
The next day, Benson put on his formal attire, picked up his cane, and took a rental carriage to the office of the Duchy of Southern Balam in Backlund.
After explaining his purpose, Benson, led by a staff member, went to the "Earl's Light" to take a teleportation array to the Southern Continent.
Benson felt very shocked by this mode of transportation. When the staff reminded him that he must sign a confidentiality agreement, he suddenly thought that yesterday, after asking Melissa if she had traveled to and from Longtail Island by airship, his sister had just smiled slightly and said: No.
At that time, Benson was still wondering, if it wasn't by airship, how could it be possible to travel to and from Longtail Island in just a few days?
Now he finally knew how Melissa had traveled to Longtail Island.
Along with Benson to the Southern Continent, there was also a group of immigrants. They were generally dressed in rags, and some looked like hobos.
After initially being surprised by the teleportation array, Benson quickly regained his talkative nature and started chatting with the immigrants.
He learned that many factories in Backlund currently had no orders, and the factory owners had to lay off many workers, which caused many people to lose their source of income and could not even afford bread.
As for why the factories lacked orders, Benson was very clear. Because the southern coast of Midseashire industrial zone had fallen, Loen's industrial system was no longer complete.
In addition to military supplies, many factories were facing a shortage of parts.
It wasn't that there were no orders, it was that those orders simply couldn't be completed on schedule.
At the same time, Benson realized that the price of grain in Backlund was very cheap. If these immigrants couldn't even afford bread, they really had nowhere to go in Backlund.
The reason why the price of grain was so cheap was entirely because the "Duke's Grain" had released a large amount of grain.
Before the New Year, Benson was still worried that as the war continued, would Backlund face a situation where people with money couldn't buy food?
However, the challenge launched by several major grain merchants against the "Duke's Grain" completely dispelled Benson's concerns.
This business war had been talked about with relish during the New Year. Not long after the "Duke's Grain" opened, the grain merchants began to purchase large quantities of grain from the "Grain Store" at prices lower than the market price.
Many citizens and workshops and factories that needed a lot of grain were afraid that the low-priced grain would be bought up, so they also participated in this buying spree.
At that time, many people judged that the "Duke's Grain" would soon fall into the embarrassing situation of having no grain to sell.
Who knew that soon the "Grain Store" would actually open a night grain sales service, with employees divided into three shifts, selling grain day and night.
Next, the development of the situation became more and more magical. All the granaries in Backlund were filled, and many citizens' homes were piled up with enough grain to eat for a year.
However, the grain of the "Duke's Grain" still did not increase in price and continued to sell grain 24 hours a day.
Except for a few large grain merchants, others or factories gradually withdrew from the buying spree.
The grain merchants also didn't know where the money came from. In short, their purchases continued until a few days before the New Year, and they were always able to receive a large amount of spot grain from the "Duke's Grain".
It wasn't until a large grain merchant declared bankruptcy that this grain war ended.
The reason for the bankruptcy was because the price of grain in Backlund had fallen to the pre-war level due to this business war, and it was continuing to decline.
However, in the early stages of the business war, it was purchased at prices two to three times the pre-war level, which consumed a large amount of funds from the grain merchants and the nobles who supported them.
It is said that later, the grain merchants had no place to store the grain they had on hand, so they rented some cheap factory buildings and piled it up randomly indoors.
Later, they couldn't even afford to rent factory buildings, so they casually built a shed and piled it up in the yard.
However, because the citizens and factories that needed grain also had enough stocks, the grain merchants' grain was unsalable and couldn't be sold even at a discount, eventually leading to bankruptcy.
It wasn't until during the New Year that news came from the colonies that the accumulated grain in the Rorsted Archipelago and East Balam had been taken away by a mysterious buyer.
Without exception, that mysterious buyer required the grain merchants in the colonies to keep the transaction confidential, and if they violated the agreement, they would have to pay huge compensation.
Therefore, when the grain merchants in Backlund sent telegrams and people to inquire about the news, they did not get accurate information, which caused the grain merchants in Backlund to make serious misjudgments.
At this time, everyone realized that the "Duke's Grain" had purchased a large amount of grain in the colonies at extremely low prices and used the Duchy of Southern Balam's ships to continuously transport it to Backlund.
(Because everyone didn't know the convenience of the teleportation array, they thought that it should be transported by the Duchy of Southern Balam's ships, so the major grain merchants didn't notice it.)
Benson inwardly admired the "Duke's Grain's" behavior. While making a lot of money, it also greatly suppressed the price of grain in Backlund.
In fact, everyone knew that after the start of the war, Backlund didn't lack grain. It was the grain merchants who had been artificially creating scarcity, so the price of grain had been rising all the way.
If there had been no "Duke's Grain", the grain merchants in Backlund would have taken advantage of the loss of the southern coast of Midseashire and the panic of the people to raise the price of grain again.
Benson, who knew that the boss behind the "Duke's Grain" was Hobert, now finally understood that the "Duke's Grain's" transportation route was the teleportation array, which was much faster than ships, even faster than airships.
During his chat with the immigrants, Benson also inquired about the Duchy of Southern Balam's immigration policy. After arriving in the Duchy of Southern Balam, they would be given tents, grain, and seeds.
It sounded very good, so good that Benson wondered if this was a scam?
But for people who had already run out of options, taking such a risk was also very worthwhile. If it was just a scam, then for them, it was just the difference between dying on the streets of Backlund or dying in the Southern Continent.
If it was true, then it would represent a new life.
Many immigrants who had previously owned land said frankly that if they could really be allocated land, this time they would never sell their land.
At this moment, the immigration officer not far away said coldly: "No one has the right to buy or sell land in the Duchy of Southern Balam; it can only be leased or rented."
Benson was slightly stunned, then smiled and said, "That's a good idea."
He realized that the method to prevent land annexation was actually very simple, but no one was willing to do it.
Or rather, many times the gentlemen of Backlund knew how to solve the problem, but no one did it, because it would hurt the interests of some people.
As the teleportation array activated, Benson found himself in the Southern Continent when he came back to his senses.
When he saw the large-scale construction in Angel City in full swing, he knew that this group of immigrants had made the right bet. Even without land or food, there were so many workers needed here, enough to give them a chance to survive.
Under the guidance of the staff, Benson met Miss Audrey, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Duchy of Southern Balam, in a small office.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs building has not yet been completed," the beautiful Audrey explained with a smile. "We are temporarily working in this courtyard."
Benson nodded. The office conditions were a bit harsh.
"It just so happens that we are handling a foreign affairs incident today. Let's go to the scene together," Audrey thought, wanting to see how capable the second assistant recommended to her by Hobert was.
Benson picked up his walking stick that he had just put down: "Okay."
Audrey invited Benson to share a carriage, followed by several staff members and guards, each in their own carriage.
In the carriage, Benson praised the large-scale construction of Angel City, believing that the city was very vibrant.
Audrey's first impression of Benson was not bad. First of all, his communication skills were very good, unlike Mr. Dophis, sometimes you wouldn't hear him speak all day.
If she didn't know that he was a "Ferryman" and understood the situation in the Southern Continent very well, Audrey would definitely seriously consider Hobert's intention in arranging this assistant for her.
Secondly, Benson had a certain sense of confidentiality and did not take the initiative to ask what the specific content of this operation was, but only talked about the situation in Angel City.
Only after leaving the large construction site of Angel City did Audrey explain the foreign affairs incident to be negotiated today.
The indigenous settlement is currently being expanded, but some indigenous people in the south came and made a serious protest, saying that the Duchy of Southern Balam had taken away their relatives, and the chief said that they had robbed him of his subjects.
Benson nodded: "I heard a friend mention that it is easy to have conflicts with indigenous people when developing colonies."
After deciding to come to Southern Balam to try it out yesterday, he immediately visited a friend who knew something about the Duchy of Southern Balam, and went to the library to check some information, doing his best to do some homework.
"You may not know the situation here very well," Audrey said with a smile. "Last year…"
She briefly talked about the original intention and process of building the indigenous settlement, because she had also participated in this project, so she was very clear about the affairs of the indigenous settlement and knew the key to this matter, so she explained the matter clearly in a few words.
Only then did Benson realize that the indigenous settlement was really providing living space for the indigenous people, not as his friend said, imprisoning the indigenous people together and letting them fend for themselves on barren land.
At this time, when Benson considered the demands of the indigenous chief again, he immediately realized: "That chief is not protesting to us because we robbed him of his subjects."
Audrey nodded with satisfaction: "That's right. According to our analysis, the chief's request is actually that he hopes we can help him develop his territory for free."
Benson finally understood where the conflict between the two sides lay: "They want us to help them develop, but they don't want to accept our management!"
Audrey simply asked: "What solutions do you have for this?"
Benson fell into deep thought. After more than half a minute, he suddenly smiled and said: "Perhaps we can sign an agreement with them. After helping them develop their territory, they will use some of the products we need to pay off the debt and repay the cost of the transformation."
"We have discussed this plan with our colleagues in the Ministry of Commerce," Audrey said. "They expressed concern about whether the natives can repay the debt according to the agreement."
In fact, the original words of the Ministry of Commerce were: The cost of this development is very likely to be in vain.
Benson realized that Audrey was testing him, so he stopped probing and said the best solution he could think of: "We can invite the chief and his family to hold public office in Angel City."
He smiled and said: "Just tell the natives that this is our rule. If you want us to help them develop, you must let their chief stay in Angel City."
"The reason for keeping this chief is that we don't understand the living habits of the indigenous people and hope that he can act as our consultant and handle corresponding issues at any time."
"If the chief stays in Angel City, it can basically avoid conflicts between the two sides, which is good for everyone. And tell them that we only trust this chief and do not believe in the authority of others."
"If the chief is really unwilling to come to Angel City due to concerns, then his subjects will see clearly the fact that the chief actually wants to fight for his own interests."
"The external conflict of the indigenous people will be transformed into an internal conflict, and they probably won't have time to bother us for a while."
"If the chief's family is really willing to come to Angel City, then it's not a matter for our Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
But it is necessary to send people to quickly occupy that territory and quickly organize a new government to rule the indigenous people.
"This idea is very good. We will use this plan later," Audrey gave Benson a very high score in her heart. The plan she and her team came up with was similar to Benson's idea.
Benson breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that he had passed the interview.
After that, the two people really started chatting casually. In the carriage, you could see rows of tents on both sides of the road. The current construction materials are only enough to build Angel City. The construction of houses in villages and towns may not start until two or three months later.
Before that, the immigrants had to live in tents.
Some are just living in grass sheds, because these tents are all from factories on Longtail Island and Southern Balam. Currently, the demand is too great, and it is impossible to provide enough tents for a while.
However, at least everyone will be living in tents before winter comes.
After arriving at the indigenous settlement, Benson listened to Audrey's introduction to the fish ponds and pastures here, and once again marveled at the ingenious way the government of the Duchy of Southern Balam solved problems.
When he learned that this policy was proposed by Duke Hobert, Benson first thought of his superiors who were like baboons.
At this time, he suddenly realized a problem: The officials of Loen do not understand the lives of ordinary people at all. Can they be expected to propose some bills that take care of the interests of ordinary people?
The subsequent negotiations went as smoothly as expected, successfully transforming the unreasonable demands put forward by the indigenous chief into an internal conflict among the indigenous people.
The chief had no trust in the Loenese people to begin with, so of course he would not go to Angel City.
At this time, the strategic focus of the Duchy of Southern Balam was not in this direction, so Audrey did not use her ability to promote the action of merging that territory.
The indigenous people who had protested before began to question the purpose of their chief, and the chief, who was already selfish, could not explain such things clearly no matter how he explained them.
He ultimately had only one path to take, and that was to use strong measures to protect his authority, but this was destined to gradually lose the trust of his subjects.
At noon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel had lunch in the indigenous settlement. The local mayor killed two fish and a sheep to entertain everyone.
Because the matter was resolved satisfactorily, the atmosphere during the meal was very warm. At least for the next two or three years, the indigenous people in the south would not have time to harass this settlement.
Benson felt very novel about the way of eating stewed fish and stewed mutton. Although it looked very ungentlemanly to eat like this, it tasted good.
Only after inquiring did he know that this was actually an eating method invented by Duke Hobert!
The method is very simple, just have a knife and a pot. The key is the use of spices, which can well remove the fishy smell of meat.
At the same time, this is also significantly different from the rough diet of the indigenous people. Benson thought of an adjective while eating: practical.
In his opinion, everything in the Duchy of Southern Balam is based on "practicality." That advanced teleportation array is actually used to transport immigrants!
If it were in Loen, eight or nine out of ten would be exclusive to the nobility.
And this indigenous settlement has turned the indigenous people who threatened the security of the Duchy into fishermen, herdsmen, and lumberjacks guarding the southern border for the Duchy!
The ingenuity of this design has made Benson sigh in his heart more than once.
What surprised Benson even more was that Miss Audrey actually had dinner with everyone.
It's just that before everyone ate, Audrey's maid Annie scooped out some meat and soup and put it in Audrey's separate tableware.
But this is already very remarkable. If this happened in Backlund, it is estimated that it would be on the major newspapers, and they would speculate whether Earl Hall was going bankrupt.
After lunch, when everyone was about to leave, a fisherman gave Audrey two newly caught fish. After several rejections, Audrey had to accept them.
Back in the office, Audrey asked Annie to give the fish to the kitchen. At this moment, Hobert entered the door: "I heard that you brought back two fish today?"
Audrey smiled: "Your news is really well-informed."
Hobert said to Annie: "Let Bob make one of the fish into fish soup. The fish soup he made last time was very delicious."
"Okay, Your Grace," Annie said with a smile. "I will also convey your praise to Bob."
After the three people took their seats in the not very spacious office, Hobert asked Benson what his impression of the Duchy of Southern Balam was.
Benson spoke about the policies regarding Indigenous settlements, sighing, "If all the colonies had such flexible strategies, we wouldn't have conflicts with the Indigenous peoples."
Hobert smiled and said, "But the nature of colonization dictates that conflicts are inevitable."
Then he spoke about the current difficulties faced by the Duchy of South Balam. Apart from East Balam and Loen's colonies to the northeast, the entire Duchy was almost surrounded by enemy countries, requiring brilliant diplomatic strategies.
Hobert said frankly, "Mr. Benson, I am very impressed with your ability to see the essence through appearances. This is a very important skill in diplomatic work."
After talking for over half an hour, the sky gradually darkened, and the three of them dined in the not-so-spacious office.
Dinner consisted of the two fish Audrey had received at noon, which reminded Benson of the rumors about Grand Duke Hobert. It was said that when the Grand Duke had just become an Earl, his life was quite simple.
Now it seemed that his life was still very simple.
The only difference was that Hobert didn't eat bread, but had the kitchen specially steam a bowl of rice.
Audrey, on the other hand, had a portion of delicious steak, as well as a few cakes she liked to eat.
If one ignored the selection of the steak, these meals were basically at the living standards of the middle class in Backlund.
When Benson mentioned the rumors, Hobert smiled and said, "Only when everyone knows I am wealthy will my lifestyle be something everyone enjoys talking about."
"When I first became a noble, they mostly ridiculed and satirized my lifestyle."
Benson chewed the fish in his mouth, "There seems to be some philosophy contained in those words."
After dinner, the work for the day was over.
Most of the government staff did not have their homes in Angers, and they left one after another by teleportation array. However, only Benson and Audrey, along with the young lady's maid, Annie, and the golden retriever Susie, returned to Backlund.
Emerging from "Earl's Light" and seeing the streetlights in the misty streets of Backlund, Benson felt that today's experience had been very wonderful.
As he bid farewell to Audrey, Audrey smiled and said, "I can see that you don't seem to have made a decision on whether to work in the Duchy of South Balam."
"But tomorrow's work will involve a lot of confidential intelligence or information, so tomorrow morning, you need to give me a clear answer on whether or not you want to work in the Duchy of South Balam."
Benson didn't expect his thoughts to be seen through, and he quickly nodded, "Okay, I will think about it carefully tonight."
Back at the terraced house, Melissa was already waiting for Benson in the living room, "How did it go?"
Today, she had already confirmed with Tyron, who was also very surprised by the invitation from the South Balam Foreign Ministry.
He admitted that he had indeed expressed to Hobert his hope to recommend Benson to work in the Duchy of South Balam, but even his sister Donna had started from ordinary staff positions, and he didn't expect the Duchy to offer a position as Deputy Minister.
Melissa roughly understood that Donna had no work experience at the time, so of course she had to start from the grassroots level, while Benson had extensive negotiation experience, so he was directly invited to serve as Deputy Minister.
As long as she confirmed that this was not the result of Tyron's advancement, Melissa was relieved.
As for Tyron's referral, Melissa didn't think much of it. After living in Backlund, she understood the role of referrals, which was a way of interpersonal interaction where everyone got what they needed.
"Gods above, I still suspect I'm dreaming," Benson took off his coat, hung it on the hanger, and smiled, "There… there, everything feels unreal."
He took the tea his sister handed him, but didn't drink it immediately, instead holding the teacup and falling into thought.
After a long while, Benson suddenly said, "Melissa, I plan to go to South Balam to work. Although the conditions there are very difficult, I feel that I can realize my personal value there."
He said very solemnly, "For me, such an opportunity may only come once."
Melissa smiled, "I support your decision."
When they were in Tingen, Benson had already missed too many opportunities for the sake of this family.
Now that Benson had a pursuit again, she would of course support him.
So, the next day, Benson came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Duchy of South Balam again and expressed to Audrey his willingness to work in the Duchy of South Balam.
Audrey smiled, "Okay, then let's talk about an important task next."
Then she asked the staff to call in another Deputy Minister, whose face was pale and expression cold, looking like a dead person to Benson.
After Dorphis advanced to "Ferryman", he recovered all his previous memories, so he was fully capable of serving as Deputy Minister.
At the beginning of this ministerial meeting, what surprised Benson was that the important task Audrey mentioned was actually negotiations with the Feysac Empire!
Benson once thought he had misheard, "Are you sure it's the Feysac Empire? We, we are enemies now."
The battle between Loen and the Feysac Empire was already very fierce. At this time, the Duchy of South Balam, as a Loen dependency, was going to negotiate with the Feysac Empire?
Benson's first thought was, was Grand Duke Hobert preparing a way out for the Duchy? After all, the current battle situation was very unfavorable for Loen.
The reaction of this new Deputy Minister reminded Audrey of Hobert's attitude when talking about this matter, so she repeated Hobert's words verbatim, "The Kingdom of Loen and the Feysac Empire are enemies, but the King has not explicitly ordered the Duchy of South Balam to become enemies with the Feysac Empire."
Benson opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Thinking about it, it was obvious that there would be no explicit order. The Duchy of South Balam was so far away from the Feysac Empire. At most, the King would ask the Duchy to attack the Feysac Empire's colonies.
Then Audrey began to explain the conflict between the Duchy of South Balam and the Feysac Empire in Pritz Harbor, and Benson realized that the Duchy of South Balam was also involved in the war in the Northern Continent.
In fact, Hobert led the "Specter Empire" to help Loen guard Pritz Harbor. Hobert… or rather, the "Creator" repelled the attack of the Feysac Empire's angel.
After that, although the Feysac Empire's fleet launched another attack, they did not send out an angel, so Hobert did not take action either.
The "Imperial" helped to resist the Feysac Empire's fleet twice in a row, saving Pritz Harbor.
Now that the one-month agreement was up, and another member of the Loen royal family had advanced to "Balancer", Hobert and the "Imperial" withdrew.
At this time, the Feysac Empire's royal family asked the Eternal Blazing Sun Church to refer them, and first contacted Upton, the general manager of "Earl's Light" in the Republic of Intis, to state their desire to negotiate with the Duchy of South Balam.
According to Hobert and Audrey's analysis, the Loen royal family had another angel, which put more pressure on the Feysac Empire.
They needed to transfer back the Beyonders confronting the Duchy of South Balam and put them all into the battlefield of the Northern Continent.
So far, in the colonies of the Feysac Empire, an angel needs to be stationed here periodically to confront the Duchy of South Balam.
As for the Beyonders participating in the confrontation, there are about 120 of them, which is roughly one-third of the Feysac Empire's extraordinary power.
For the Feysac Empire, if this angel no longer needs to come to the Southern Continent, and if most of those Beyonders can be transferred back to the Northern Continent to participate in the war, it will definitely put more pressure on the Kingdom of Loen.
Hobert believed that without enough strength to completely defeat the Feysac Empire and avenge the previous Rockville City, it would be better to simply shake hands and make peace first, and then defeat the Highland Kingdom.
After all, after the war in the Northern Continent ends, the Feysac Empire is unlikely to take the initiative to propose negotiations again.
Currently, it is the best strategic opportunity to attack the Highland Kingdom.
Audrey was worried that if the Feysac Empire transferred this part of the extraordinary power in the Southern Continent back to the Northern Continent, would it cause a large-scale defeat for the Kingdom of Loen.
Hobert analyzed, "Not in the near future."
Currently, in the war in the Northern Continent, the Church of the Evernight Goddess and some members of the Loen royal family are resisting the Church of the God of Combat and members of the Feysac Empire's royal family in northern Loen.
The Church of Storms and the Beyonder forces of the Loen colonies are resisting the Republic of Intis's attacks from the sea in the Rorsted Archipelago.
Some members of the Loen royal family are resisting the Beyonders of the Republic of Intis in western Loen.
The Republic of Intis first overthrew the Sauron family and then assassinated Roselle. It seems maverick and democratic, but the bitter fruit of this maverick is that their parliament finds it difficult to command the forces of the republic.
Or rather, in the extraordinary war, several Beyonder forces lack a common leader.
Therefore, the Intis army has not yet broken through Loen's western defense line.
Before the Church of Steam and Machinery, which has many believers in both the Kingdom of Loen and the Republic of Intis, clearly expresses its position, the forces of the Kingdom of Loen will continue to be worn down, but there will basically be no large-scale defeat.
So Hobert decided that the current diplomatic strategy was: to temporarily negotiate with the Feysac Empire.
Of course, this was a consideration of Beyonder forces. Audrey couldn't explain it too clearly to Benson, and could only roughly describe the current real situation of the war and the overall strategy of the Duchy of South Balam for the next period of time.
After listening to these analyses, Benson sighed, "Grand Duke Hobert is an excellent politician with long-term plans for the future. The Duchy of South Balam will definitely have a good future."
At the same time, he was also very clear that from today onwards, he would also have a brand new future.
… …
In early February, Hobert arrived as scheduled at a desolate valley in the central plateau of the Northern Continent.
Led by a middle-aged woman wearing an Intis-style robe, Hobert arrived at a stone cave. As soon as he entered, he felt many malicious gazes directed at him.
Hobert knew that this was the headquarters of the Spirituality Research Society, the organization his mother, April, belonged to.
The members of this organization were very low-key, seemingly dedicated to some kind of research, rarely initiating any actions in the Beyonder world, and not many people knew of their existence.
Hobert slightly released the majesty of an angel, and immediately, the sound of "thump, thump" kneeling echoed in the surrounding dark stone chamber.
After walking forward for a while, the stone chamber suddenly opened up, and using the space of the cave, a hall with a mysterious atmosphere was arranged here.
April sat inside the hall, on the right of two chairs. The dim firelight flickered, casting her in alternating light and shadow, giving off the feeling of an evil organization.
"Sometimes I still sigh," April stood up, came to Hobert, and looked at him with loving eyes: "You've actually become a young man!"
Hobert smiled and said, "Time is like falling flowers and flowing water, gone and never returning."
April smiled and said, "That's a rather fresh analogy."
She took a deep breath: "In a moment, not only is my advancement itself very dangerous, but you also have to be careful of Spike Antigonus. Recently, his condition has become increasingly strange."
Hobert nodded: "Okay!"
April looked at Hobert seriously again, and then resolutely walked to the altar on the side of the hall, whispered a prayer, then took out the prepared potion, held the "Order Crystal" that Hobert had given her earlier in her other hand, and drank the blood-red potion in one gulp.
In that instant, Hobert felt that the hall had become even darker, as if some power was descending.
"Ah!"
April let out a cry, and a pair of wings, some tentacles, and some bright red plant branches grew from her back.
Hobert immediately "bestowed" these mutations to the rocks of the cave. The rocks swayed and turned into a stone man who jumped down from the rock wall.
Although the mutation disappeared, April's face was still full of pain.
Hobert carefully "distorted" the concepts of April and the stone man, giving April's pain and some negative influences to the stone man.
The stone man swelled for a while, and then grew four more limbs. Finally, it disintegrated in pain, showing how painful April's advancement was.
Then Hobert successively "magnified" April's rationality and "tampered" with the potion's surging, uncontrollable power.
He felt as if there was a force directing the potion to attack April.
Hobert finally understood the reason why April had called him here. This advancement seemed abnormal. There was a force that wanted to use this advancement to transform April.
But April had been resisting, and instead used that force to transform herself in the direction she desired.
Such a big movement, and still in the midst of advancement, April alone would not be able to fight the potion.
At the most critical moment of the advancement, suddenly, Hobert's spirituality sensed something. A middle-aged man in his fifties appeared not far from him.
It was Spike Antigonus, who was suspected of being corrupted by the "Mother Goddess of Depravity" hundreds of years ago.
Hobert immediately reached out and took out the "0-76" Death God Sword from the "Nation of Disorder", while continuing to help April resist the potion's transformation, and guarding against Specter.
Spike glanced at the "Death God Sword" with rust and blood stains in Hobert's hand, and then said calmly: "What's the point of resisting? The great Mother Goddess's transformation of her is a favor to her."
At this time, April suddenly took a deep breath, as if all the pain had disappeared.
Her entire temperament suddenly became very sacred, and her smile became very loving. She asked Hobert: "Child, who am I to you?"
Hobert was about to blurt out "Mother", but saw that Spike was actually prostrating towards April.
Hobert vaguely guessed something and forcefully changed his answer to: "Not long ago, I killed the 'Mother of Sea Monsters' and destroyed the giant stone statue in the elven ruins."
"April's" eyes suddenly turned cold: "So it was you... Ah!"
Her body mutated again, and red maple leaves grew all over her body.
Hobert quickly "bestowed" these mutations away again. April trembled all over with a grimace, before slowly sitting on the chair inside the hall, breathing heavily.
Spike said angrily: "You actually rejected the great Mother Goddess!"
April ignored him and looked at Hobert: "I... I suddenly remembered a lot of things. It turns out my name isn't April, my name is Lilith."
Hobert was stunned: "What the f*ck!"
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