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On the third day of the Feynapotter Kingdom delegation's arrival in the Duchy of Southern Balam, Ambassador Princess Ethel met Grand Duke Hobert in his office with mixed feelings.
Her feelings were complicated because she had witnessed three angels swearing allegiance to the "Creator" the day before. Her original perception of Southern Balam was as an equal, but now she looked up to them.
Hobert still wore a hearty smile, and the initial small talk gave the impression of chatting with an old friend after a long absence.
After chatting for a while, Hobert said, "The Feynapotter Kingdom was the first country to send an ambassador to Southern Balam and establish an embassy."
"During the previous civil war in the Duchy of Southern Balam, you did not participate in the joint forces of Feysac and Intis. This is the quality of an ally. I hope we can maintain a good relationship in the future."
Currently, the Loen Kingdom only has an office in Angers. If they send an ambassador, it would be equivalent to recognizing the independence of the Duchy of Southern Balam.
As for Feysac and Intis, their attitude towards the Duchy of Southern Balam has been wavering. Recently, they have often sent people to show goodwill, but once the war in the Northern Continent ends, they will definitely not adopt their current diplomatic policy.
Ethel smiled and said, "The relationship between our two countries will definitely become closer and closer."
What Hobert didn't know was that Ethel's "bet" on the Duchy of Southern Balam had earned her a lot of political resources and gradually given her a certain advantage in the struggle for the crown.
Like most politicians in Feynapotter, the politicians of Feysac and Intis felt that the Duchy of Southern Balam was just a colonial country and did not pay enough attention to it.
During the previous civil war in Southern Balam, the military and parliament of Feynapotter believed that they should form a joint force with Intis and Feysac, but Ethel strongly opposed the idea and did not participate in the opportunistic looting.
Because she was very clear about Hobert's abilities and knew that the country had the "Creator" as its backing.
Later facts proved that Ethel's persistence was correct, which established her image as having political foresight.
A few months ago, when the Duchy of Southern Balam attacked the Highland Kingdom, all the countries in the Northern Continent except the Loen Kingdom breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Southern Balam would not be able to get out of the quagmire of the Highland Kingdom within a year or two.
At that time, the Feysac Empire, which had just completed negotiations, felt that it was unnecessary to continue to maintain a good relationship with the Duchy of Southern Balam. The Intis Republic was even planning a new war against the colonies in the Southern Continent.
The Church of the God of Steam and Machinery also completed its alignment at this time, expressing its support for the Intis Republic.
Only Ethel suggested that at this time, they should strengthen their ties with the Duchy of Southern Balam and negotiate the matter of sending an ambassador.
This point was still opposed by many people in the country, but more than two months later, the Duchy of Southern Balam quickly ended the war, once again slapping those opponents in the face.
It can be said that Ethel's political position in the country is basically based on her "political bet" on the Duchy of Southern Balam.
After reaffirming the relationship between the two countries, Ethel said, "We are now encountering a problem. The war between Lenburg and Masin will be difficult to end in the short term."
"Our strategic department expects that Intis and Feysac will be able to capture Backlund by the first half of next year at the latest. If we don't have any significant achievements before then, we will be very passive during future negotiations."
Politicians are well aware of this, and Hobert is also very clear about the current situation of the Feynapotter Kingdom, but it is different when Ethel says it. This is a political statement and a gesture of seeking help.
Hobert pondered for a moment, then got up and took out a map of the Northern Continent from a bookshelf next to him and spread it on the table.
He pointed to the map and said, "I suggest you occupy the southwest of the Desi County and Desi Bay."
The location Hobert was talking about is in the southwest of Loen. The geographical location of these places is not very important. The Loen army did not dare to station too many troops here when they retreated.
Because the Intis Republic will definitely occupy the eastern part of Desi County and the coastal city of Conant. At that time, the garrison here will become an isolated force.
Intis doesn't pay much attention to this area either. It belongs to the kind of area that doesn't matter whether it is occupied or not.
So this area nominally still belongs to the Loen Kingdom, but it has become an exclave and there is almost no military force here.
Coincidentally, this place borders the Feynapotter Kingdom.
Ethel sighed and said, "We have also made this assumption, but these areas do not pose a threat to the Intis Republic, and they do not border the Feysac Empire."
"It can only threaten the Loen Kingdom, and it is difficult to become our bargaining chip in negotiations with Intis and Feysac."
The hilly area in the southwest of Desi County has always been the front line for Loen to block the Feynapotter Kingdom. After occupying this area, what lies in front of the Feynapotter Kingdom is the vast Tucker Plain.
Hobert smiled and said, "Trust me, occupy this place first, and the Feynapotter Kingdom will definitely benefit from it in the future."
He is very willing to help Feynapotter, because he does not want the Loen Kingdom to become the sole victor in this world war in the future.
Even if Feynapotter immediately defects after Loen starts its counterattack, it will not be able to share much of the spoils of victory.
But it is different to occupy the southwest of Desi County. If Loen wants to take it back, it will have to exchange a lot of spoils of victory.
It doesn't matter whether the Feynapotter Kingdom occupies Lenburg and Masin, it can still attend the post-war negotiations as a victor.
Ethel pondered for a moment before asking, "Do you think the Loen Kingdom still has hope? Or is the 'Creator's' power going to do everything possible to help Loen?"
Hobert seemed to answer Ethel, and seemed not to answer, "That's right, we will send a large number of forces to participate in the Backlund battle at the right time."
Originally, Hobert estimated that the war against the Highland Kingdom would not end until August at the earliest. At that time, after a short rest, they would enter the Northern Continent to participate in the war.
However, under Medici's command, the war against the Highland Kingdom ended cleanly.
This gave Hobert a chance to be promoted calmly, and gave him enough time to ask for a high price, but he would still choose to participate in the war in October at the earliest, when Backlund was at its most critical.
Ethel immediately nodded, "I understand."
In her opinion, if the Duchy of Southern Balam participated in the war, although it would not be able to change the overall situation, the Battle of Backlund would definitely become a protracted war, which would be enough to bring Intis and Feysac back to the negotiating table.
Then the pattern of the four major powers in the Northern Continent would still not change much. The only change might be that Intis would seize Loen's hegemonic position.
With Hobert's words, Ethel felt a lot more at ease.
Then the two people talked about the mutual trade between the two countries. Previously, the Duchy of Southern Balam had opened the South Kerrson area to the Feynapotter Kingdom. Now, Hobert has opened Longtail Island and Angers to Feynapotter.
Other cities still need a series of constructions, and the political and economic systems are not yet sound, so they will not be open to the outside world for the time being.
Ethel was also the first foreign dignitary to visit the Longtail Island Industrial Zone and the Southern Balam Industrial Zone. Ethel always felt a little incredible about these two large-scale industrial parks.
All along, colonies and industrial zones seem to have nothing to do with each other, so when she saw so many industrial zones in the colony, her first feeling was a bit magical.
After a more detailed understanding, Ethel discovered that the industrial system of the Duchy of Southern Balam was even more complete than that of the Feynapotter Kingdom!
This is also the reason why Hobert let her visit the industrial zone, because Feynapotter's industry is the worst among the four major countries, so it is very stable in fourth place.
After visiting the industrial zone, Ethel found that many industrial products could be imported from the Duchy of Southern Balam to avoid industrial dependence on the other three countries.
So, on the fourth day of the delegation's visit, they signed a series of economic cooperation agreements with the Duchy of Southern Balam. Ethel's visit was a fruitful one.
After seeing Ethel off, Hobert began to "wander around" the Duchy of Southern Balam again.
Currently, three mausoleums have been built almost completely. After the Highland Kingdom was destroyed, a new batch of labor was obtained on the construction site, and the first mausoleum will be completed soon.
So Hobert began to look for new places to build mausoleums. Hobert planned to build one of the mausoleums in a pharaoh's pyramid.
The king of the Highland Kingdom called himself a pharaoh, but their pyramids were not the triangular pyramids that Hobert remembered, but segmented trapezoids.
Generally, their pyramids will have the protection of spiritual barriers. Without corresponding clues, even angels will find it difficult to find their location.
Because everyone in Yason City instantly turned into monsters, the royal family of the Highland Kingdom did not have time to destroy the corresponding information. The "Dawn Army" and "Temperance Faction" stationed here have found several pharaoh's tombs.
And they dug out a lot of gold and sealed items!
For the "Temperance Faction", the pharaoh's body is of the greatest use to them. For a long time in the future, the "Temperance Faction" will not have to worry about the ritual of advancing to a demigod.
Hobert chose the largest one with the most comprehensive protection facilities to build... or rather, to transform it into his own mausoleum.
Hobert decided to build the fifth mausoleum on the seabed. When he was in school in the Modern Era, he heard his mentor talk about "undersea tombs".
First, build the tomb chamber on a large ship on the sea surface, and then sink the ship, and the tomb chamber sinks to the seabed.
The air inside the tomb chamber will isolate the seawater, forming a very closed environment.
One of the benefits of this type of tomb is that unless by chance, you can't find it on the sea surface where you can't pinpoint the location based on clues.
In the extraordinary world, Hobert will carry out sufficient anti-divination and spiritual barrier settings to make it difficult for Beyonders to find it.
As for the construction site of the sixth mausoleum, Hobert set his sights on Antarctica.
When he "tampered" with the climate before, Hobert once saw Antarctica from afar and determined that at least a large part of the continent existed in the real world.
So, after Hobert had nothing to deal with, he went to Antarctica alone to explore.
When Hobert saw the massive ice wall from afar, he felt the magnificence of this continent. During the Modern Era, he had only seen some introductions about this continent in documentaries, but after coming here, he realized how beautiful the scenery was.
It was a kind of tranquil beauty, far from the hustle and bustle of humanity, as if it were a pure land for the soul.
Regardless of whether there were extraordinary powers or not, this continent was very peaceful, appearing as if it had never been disturbed by the outside world.
Hobert had heard that the Loen Kingdom and the Intis Republic had both sent survey ships to this continent, but because icebreaking technology was not very mature, they had only landed on the continent and had not established observation stations or research stations.
It was said that the Feysac Empire had corresponding icebreaking technology, but this country was too far away, and there were no colonies nearby, so they had never sent survey ships here.
Looking towards the sky, this continent was still in the polar night, and the cosmos was very beautiful.
But Hobert didn't dare to look too much, fearing the dangers hidden within.
With Hobert's current eyesight, he could see very far even under such starlight.
Even with the obstruction of wind and snow, Hobert could see the tall mountains in the distance. After arriving at the top of the mountain by 'distorting' space, Hobert was somewhat disappointed with the scenery here.
Looking down from here, there was only a white desert, as if there was no life at all.
So Hobert began to look for a place on the mountain to build a mausoleum. Soon, he found a cave in the mountains.
Hobert's spirituality also sensed that there was a weak life form in the cave. He guessed that it was some Antarctic animal hibernating in the cave.
Because he didn't sense any danger, he didn't pay much attention to it. He took a step forward and 'tampered' with his position to inside the cave.
Although there was no howling cold wind, the cave was also very cold. After all, it was the polar night in Antarctica, and there would be no warm places on the entire continent.
Just as Hobert was pondering how to use Beyonder abilities to hollow out the inside of the mountain and create a space to build a mausoleum, he sensed that the weak life form was at the corner in front of him.
Hobert remembered that penguins didn't seem to hibernate. He was a little curious about what kind of creature it would be there? Could it be a polar bear?
He joked in his heart as he passed the bend ahead, and then he got an even more absurd answer than a polar bear: there was actually a person there!
To be precise, it was an ice sculpture standing there. Even though Hobert had become Sequence 1, seeing a person frozen into an ice sculpture in such a dimly lit environment still made his scalp tingle.
Immediately afterwards, he realized two strange things. First of all, this person seemed to still have some vital signs.
Originally, Hobert thought that this should be a Beyonder, and at least a demigod-level Beyonder, otherwise it would be impossible to be frozen into an ice sculpture and still not be dead.
But soon he realized another strange thing. This person was stark naked, but he was holding a water bottle in his hand, and there was a pile of clothes beside him.
After seeing those clothes, Hobert's eyes narrowed. Among them, there was actually a parka!
Yes, it was a polar parka!
This made Hobert's scalp tingle even more, because he was very sure that there were no parkas in the entire Northern and Southern continents!
Hobert had a bold idea: could this be a 'prehistoric' human?
But the question was, why was he still alive?
With these questions in mind, Hobert carefully looked at the appearance of the ice sculpture. It was actually an Asian face.
Before the transmigration, Hobert faced such faces every day, but now he felt a little unfamiliar with such facial features.
Because the people of the Northern and Southern continents have some differences in facial features compared to Asians!
Hobert had never seen a living elf, and didn't know if they had Asian facial features, but Alger, a half-elf and half-human, didn't have any Asian features at all.
He took a deep breath, calmed down, and then realized another strange thing about this ice sculpture.
Judging from the clothes on the ground, his equipment was very complete. If he hadn't taken off his clothes himself, he wouldn't have been frozen to death even in the polar night.
If he had gotten lost in Antarctica and had to wait for rescue here, and died in the process, he should have died wearing clothes, not frozen to death like this.
Hobert swallowed and said, "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Then he smiled: "It would be terrifying if you could talk."
The cold wind outside continued to howl, and the surrounding light was still very dim.
Hobert considered it for a while, and finally decided that since he had encountered it, he should investigate what was going on.
But if he directly thawed this ice sculpture brother, Hobert felt it would be a bit dangerous, so he looked at the clothes at the ice sculpture's feet. There seemed to be a bag in there.
Hobert was about to use the method of 'tampered' with the position to take one of the clothes over and search it, but for some reason, he always felt that if he touched the ice sculpture's things, this guy could suddenly move and stop him.
He sighed to himself: "Having too much humanity is not a good thing."
So Hobert first used the method of 'distorting' space to transfer the ice sculpture to the deeper, invisible part of the cave. Only then did he pick up a piece of clothing.
But the moment he touched the clothing, the clothing seemed to collapse, turning into pieces of cloth.
Even in a cold place like Antarctica, but after thousands of years, or perhaps longer, these clothes could only maintain their current shape.
So Hobert 'tampered' with the flexibility of these items, making them stronger, and then picked up one of the parkas.
First, he saw a few Chinese characters on the parka: Great Wall Station, Sun Zhilin.
Hobert smiled and sighed: "Chinese characters that have nothing to do with the Roselle diary!"
Immediately afterwards, he looked at the small, bright five-star red flag on it, and was stunned for a long time.
Taking another deep breath, Hobert recalled that he remembered that the Great Wall Station was a Chinese Antarctic research station. He wasn't very clear about the specific location, but he knew there was such a research station.
This name tag confirmed the 'prehistoric human' identity of the ice sculpture!
Next, Hobert found some electronic products in the only bag, but when he saw the mobile phone, Hobert was about to put it in his pocket, intending to give it to the researchers for research when the time was right.
But then he thought that without a satellite, having a mobile phone was useless.
After hesitating for a while, he finally put it away, in case he might need it in the future.
Fortunately, there was also a paper notebook in the bag. Hobert opened it and looked at it. They were all some very scattered things recorded randomly, including meeting minutes and some data that Hobert didn't know what they were.
It wasn't until he turned to the last page that Hobert saw something of value: "My phone is out of power, so I have to record the voices in my head in this way.
That voice said: Everyone will die, but they will also usher in a new life.
That voice said: He came from a very far place, but he was frozen under Antarctica.
That voice said: The ice and snow of Antarctica have an abstract meaning.
That voice said: He wants to take advantage of this opportunity to...revive inside me."
When Hobert saw these words, he felt a little disturbed. He knew that 'that voice' was definitely not simple. If he wasn't an angel, he might have already been corrupted by the unknown.
There were two more sentences at the end: "Everything, everything, starts with the abnormality of Kunlun Station!"
"I'm dead...but I don't seem to be dead!"
Closing the notebook, Hobert's first thought was: Is there also an entrance to the 'Chaos Sea' in Antarctica? The staff of the research station were corrupted by the origin. But who is 'that voice'? Could it be the awakened 'Original Creator'?
Hobert also thought: 'That voice' said, 'He came from a very far place,' where did he come from?
Also, what does 'The ice and snow of Antarctica have an abstract meaning' mean?
Hobert shook his head and made some speculations using some of the knowledge he knew: This should be the influence of the Original Creator on the researchers here after waking up.
Perhaps that 'ice sculpture' that has existed for thousands of years is a special case? Is the Original Creator preparing to revive in his body? But no matter what, his current state is already a monster.
Taking a deep breath, Hobert continued to search and found a map of Antarctica in the bag, with the locations of research stations from various countries on the map.
Among them, Hobert found the Great Wall Station, Zhongshan Station, Taishan Station, Kunlun Station, and Qinling Station with the five-star red flag logo. According to the approximate locations, the Great Wall Station didn't seem too far from here.
And Kunlun Station is located in the more central part of Antarctica, quite far from here.
Hobert pondered for a while and decided to go to the Great Wall Station first.
Hobert didn't recognize these electronic products except for the mobile phone, but he still put them away, in case he could use them in the future.
Hobert restored the flexibility of these clothes and destroyed them.
He didn't want that prehistoric civilization to be presented to more people.
As for that 'ice sculpture', Hobert originally wanted to crush him, but just as he was about to take action, he suddenly thought of the name 'Sun Zhilin' and silently left the cave after all.
He explained to himself: Perhaps in the process of investigation, he still needs to obtain more clues from him.
In the vast ice and snow, Hobert relied on the guidance of his spirituality to come to the foot of a hillside.
Logically speaking, it should be the location of the Great Wall Station, but there was nothing here.
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