"Then how do you think we can acquire those technologies while the other side is on high alert?"
The president's daughter frowned, while the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Industry looked at each other and then looked at the Minister of Political Affairs at the same time.
The old man who looked to be over 70 years old, but was actually not even as old as the baby-faced Miss President, stood up while coughing, but was directly pushed down by Miss President, who comforted him in a amiable manner:
"Little Al, you are not feeling well. You should continue to recuperate at home. There is no need to come here now. But since you are here, I will allow you to sit and talk."
"Thank you, Miss President."
A white-haired old man respectfully calls a baby-faced little girl "Big Sister" - in the Roman Empire this might be a sinful scandal, but in Isgard it is very reasonable.
After all, in this multi-ethnic country, the little girl you see licking ice cream on the street might be an old vampire or a dragon who is over 300 years old.
You think that a 30-year-old human man on the street who has a wife who looks no younger than five is committing a crime, but in fact the criminal may be the wife.
Everyone is used to this kind of thing. Ishgard has gone through a lot of hardships to achieve such a harmonious unity because of the union of multiple races. Here, whether it is humans, vampires, dragonborn or sirens, everyone is equal and respects each other. Even when dueling privately, they have to respectfully call each other "Mr. or Ms.".
So the staff in the conference room just chuckled kindly, and then the old man sitting on the chair coughed twice and said seriously:
"We have two ways to obtain the technology of the steam factory. First, we send our spies to secretly land on the Elucia continent, outside the Roman Empire, and then disguise them as suitable technicians to gain the trust of the Roman Empire officials. Then, they work in the steam factory and find ways to copy or even steal the design drawings or replacement parts.
Second, we should go directly to the regent and invite him over respectfully.
As far as I know, the reforms of the steam factory and the Roman Empire were completed by the regent. If we can gain the regent's gratitude or even "immigrate", it will be just a matter of time before Ishgard becomes the only powerful country in the world."
Political Minister Al's words plunged the conference room into silence.
Later, the generals of the Military Department said that "building a secret port" was feasible, but finding the regent was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"Who wouldn't want to invite such a capable person? If I saw him, I would invite him to stay in my house with the highest courtesy, and then find a few beautiful sirens to serve him comfortably...
But the problem is that we don't even know where the regent is now, let alone finding a needle in a haystack to invite him here - and will the Roman Empire let us bring him here? Impossible, right? They must have secretly put him under house arrest, probably."
"Maybe? I think you've just listened to the exaggerations of those exiled scholars! Maybe the one who was expelled was actually just a substitute, and the real regent was imprisoned in the palace, and he would be used when needed..."
twitter…
For the time being, everyone has agreed to the plan to establish a secret smuggling port on the continent of Elucia.
After all, who wouldn't want something as advanced as a steam plant? Since the Roman Empire would never deliver it, then...
We have no choice but to resort to any means necessary.
The president's daughter stretched and left the meeting room first. She turned into a group of bats and flew outside the test site, looking at the moon in the sky in deep thought.
At the same time, in the Monster Forest on the border of the Roman Empire.
Yang Hao also woke up under the gaze of the early morning sun.
He didn't freeze to death last night, but what about the person in his arms
Before he could get up in panic to check on Theresa, a spoonful of hot soup was handed to him:
"Silly dog, I'm still here. Let's take a rest. We were rescued by the demons."
It was Theresa's voice.
But, the demons
Chapter 17: The Ling Tribe, the bandits of Kagad's followers
Demon people
Hearing these three words, Yang Hao was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that they had unknowingly moved into a "tent" made of animal skins, leaves, clay, earthen bricks, and some wood.
It was full of primitive breath. But judging from the mat filled with unknown fur lying beneath him and the whole bear skin spread on the ground of the tent, Yang Hao judged that this should be the gathering place of some relatively primitive tribes in the Monster Forest.
In the Roman Empire, all non-human races are called "Demons". Even if they are primitive tribes in the Monster Forest, as long as they are not human, the people of the Roman Empire will not recognize them.
So which group of "demons" are rescuing us now
Yang Hao had a headache because there were too many types of demons in the Monster Forest—but Theresa's next words brought him back to reality.
"It's a group of women with antlers."
"Then that's not the one I know."
A woman with antlers? Yang Hao didn't know about the demons with antlers... But for the time being, since the other party saved Theresa and himself, he should treat her with courtesy.
Yang Hao was already thinking about how to express his gratitude to the other party next - but soon he suddenly realized a problem.
"How do you know their language?"
There is almost no clear common language among the demons. Even among the demon tribes living in the same area, there may be dozens of completely different languages.
So Theresa, how do you know what they are talking about
Yang Hao's doubts did not make Mother Teresa remain silent.
She just used a spoon to scoop a mouthful of broth made of bread and unknown meat, blew it a little and put it into her mouth. While chewing the meat, she also scooped a spoonful for Yang Hao:
"Although my Lord's power is waning and he might die any day, I can still use His power to release a "Spirit of Words" technique so that we can talk to each other normally."
"What's your impression of them?"
"It's okay. They originally captured us for revenge. They heard that the peasants in Earl Kagad's territory captured their people for heresy and prepared to burn them at the stake, so the demons here hurried to rescue their people. Then we were rescued when we were hugging each other like a couple in the freezing cold."
"Then why didn't they do it?"
"You mean this? After finding out that we have nothing to do with the Earldom of Kagad and are just poor people trekking through the Monster Forest, these demons took care of us with their own courtesy—
If they hadn't sent us warm clothes and vacated the chief's residence for us to use, we would have died in that cave... By the way, the meat in this bowl of broth was also given to us by them."
“Then we must thank them.”
"The chieftain said that you should go see her after you have rested and dressed. Although she did have bad intentions at first, we hope that we can help her answer a few questions for her kindness in receiving us - probably related to the Earldom of Kagad. Oh, why are you in such a hurry? I'll feed you."
"But I can eat it myself- wooooaa?!"
Mother Teresa squeezed the cooled broth directly into Yang Hao's mouth in an undeniable manner. Facing Yang Hao's resentful eyes, she squinted her eyes and giggled.
…
After putting on his clothes, giving Theresa a routine hug and checking to make sure she had no wounds on her body, Yang Hao walked out of the tent under Theresa's guidance.
The silver suit on the ground had not yet entered the chemical period, and the surrounding temperature was still very cold, but the boots that Theresa bought for herself and the warmth of her palms warmed Yang Hao's body and mind, giving him the motivation to keep moving forward, and also allowing him to take this opportunity to look at the demons around him.
As Theresa said, it's full of "women with antlers."
But it’s not quite right to call them deer antlers—those antlers were not as hard as the ones Yang Hao had seen before. Rather than “horns”, they were more like an organ like “ears”.
And from time to time, their antlers would flash a light green light at the same time... Is this some kind of unknown magical talent
Before Yang Hao could think of an answer, the stone giant operating not far away almost made his jaw drop.
"What is that?"
Yang Hao stared at the nearly seven-meter-tall stone giant with his eyes wide open. The giant was covered with green moss, had no eyes, but had human limbs and extremely thick and flexible knuckles.
I don't know if it has self-awareness or is controlled by someone. In short, it is pushing through the soil on the ground with its crude method, building simple fortifications in a certain direction.
Theresa glanced at the giant and shrugged. "The chief said that it was a Golem, something that had been created by their tribe for generations, and only they knew how to make it."
"These golems are simply invincible monster warriors. Without the assistance of magicians or priests, the Roman Empire's army can only threaten them with siege weapons..."
"But the problem is, this is the surrounding area of the Earldom of Kagad. Although the Earldom of Kagad is not considered a diocesan land, there are many believers here, so there are still many priests who know how to deal with these creatures. Ah - the patriarch is over there, let's go over there."
After being brought before the demon leader, Yang Hao looked at the demon woman in front of him who seemed to be using the antlers on her head to communicate with her own people, and decided to wait until she settled her own affairs.
Soon, accompanied by a nod, some antler women left with their young children, and the demon clan leader finally took the time to look at Yang Hao and Theresa.
"Thank you for waiting for me to handle the matter." Under the influence of the "Spirit of Words" magic that Theresa had released earlier, the words of the demon chief were transformed into a language that Yang Hao could understand.
"I am Narujia, the leader of the Ling tribe. We have lived here for generations and have nothing to do with humans. But something terrible happened a dozen days ago, so I accidentally tracked you down as if you were from Kagad."
Although he was a demon with brown hair and purple eyes, his words were full of politeness and rationality.
Yang Hao was a little flattered - this seemed to be the only polite person he had met in the past year, besides Theresa.
I think this clan leader has taken good care of them. So Yang Hao lowered his head first:
"Thank you for your help. I am... Please treat me and her as people outside the Roman Empire. My name is Yang Hao, a woodcutter. She is Theresa, a nun who believes in light."
"Light..."
The head of the Ling clan suddenly showed disgust on his face. Yang Hao quickly explained that "light" and "the God of Light" were two completely different things. This made the head of the Ling clan look a little better.
Then the chief of the Ling tribe invited them to sit down in a large animal skin tent that looked like a long house in the village.
Then the head of the Ling tribe came straight to the point and said that although she had indeed tracked them for several days with malicious intent in the beginning, now that the misunderstanding had been resolved and she had treated Yang Hao and the other man in a friendly manner, she hoped that the misunderstanding between them could be put to rest.
Yang Hao and Theresa looked at each other strangely: "Chief, there is no misunderstanding between you and me. On the contrary, we should thank you for saving our lives. Compared with this, may I ask if there is any misunderstanding between the Ling tribe and Earl Kagad?"
"This is not a misunderstanding. This is looting! This is hatred!"
The leader of the Ling tribe suddenly became excited again. The antlers on her head flashed a dangerous red light - but soon, the red light turned into a safe green.
She took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down in an unknown way, then she explained the "misunderstanding" between the Ling tribe and the Earldom of Kagad.
This is not a so-called "misunderstanding" at all, but a blatant robbery and massacre.
According to Naruja, the humans on the barren plain of Kagad went crazy for some unknown reason. They shouted "God of Light" and rushed into the Monster Forest like crazy.
At first, the Ling people thought that their neighbors next door might have encountered something bad. The chief happened to be out hunting with his men to store food, so the dozen girls and children who stayed in the village prepared a few pieces of meat for these "guests" and were ready to receive them with the traditional courtesy of the Ling people.
result-
They were taken away.
Those mad humans captured the Ling tribe as soon as they saw them. Those who resisted were hooked by their limbs with sickle spears and dragged away crying.
The survivors at that time hid in the trees and shivered, and all they could hear was them shouting something like "Offer them as sacrifices to the gods at the festival in exchange for a good harvest."
At this point, the Ling tribe leader couldn't suppress his anger at all.
“We have lived in this forest for generations. We have never been to the plains, nor have we harmed any human team. We even provide assistance to those who are lost, and use golems to send them out of the forest!
We didn't do anything! Why would they treat my children and my family like this? They just wanted to show our courtesy to guests from afar! They have no hostility at all!"
The Listening Tribe - It seems that when they are emotionally excited, their antlers will flash with a strange light.
But it is not just an "early warning", it is more like an "organ" that helps the Ling people regain calm.
After another flash of red to green light, Naluga calmed down again.
She apologized to Yang Hao and Theresa - sorry for being "emotional towards innocent people." But at this moment, Theresa asked a question:
"We are human beings too. Why... don't you take your anger out on us?"
"You are not from Kagad, and you do not have the rotten smell of the surrounding humans. You have nothing to do with the kidnapping of my relatives. You should not be blood enemies but guests, so why should I resent you?"
Naluga, on the other hand, was confused by this and tilted her head to look at Theresa with her purple eyes, who was ashamed of what her people had done.
Yang Hao watched their interaction and remained silent for a long time.
He was thinking about the gifts he and Theresa had brought. Even if the Ling people kept most of the gifts for them, they would definitely not be able to reach the border of the Elven Kingdom smoothly with the current food reserves.
What's more, I have to repay the Ling tribe for saving my life. And... Kagad
[The Kagad massacre, the "smog incident" caused by illegal experiments of weapons of mass destruction in residential areas, the sheltering of elves...]
The name of Kagad stung Yang Hao's brain during the trial a year ago. He felt a surge of anger and grievance from the bottom of his heart - the people who framed him were from Kagad.
…
This isn't just about revenge.
It should also be a way to repay the Ling people for saving my life.
It is also to obtain enough resources to go to the Elf Kingdom.
Although he had completely lost his sense of belonging to the Roman Empire and had long since severed all ties with it, Yang Hao still remembered every unjust charge against him.
He didn't want to be a saint, nor did he want to be a great man. Since there were excuses in the world to shut up the victims, this time, it was time for the "victims" of the Roman Empire to shut up.
Thinking of this, Yang Hao smiled, and a sense of revengeful pleasure arose in his heart.
He slowly raised his hand, and after the Ling tribe leader and Theresa focused their attention on him, he said:
"Chief Naruga... I am willing to help you rescue your people. But Theresa and I need to go to the Elf Kingdom to live a new life. Once I rescue your people, please exchange some of your food for them.
how?"
Theresa hesitated as she looked at Yang Hao with worry. In the end, perhaps because she saw the blazing fire in his eyes or remembered the unjust charges against Yang Hao, she sighed and moved to his side. She reached out and grabbed his raised wrist, then said:
"My foolish man has said so, and I agree. Chief Naruga, please believe me, he also has a blood feud with Kagad."