The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

This is a normal rise to power process, unlike the militaristic game of musical chairs that Qiao Yelan played in Ursus. Columbia's path has no risk of disaster; they are the ones truly taking the right path to advancement.

Even Qiao Yelan himself wouldn't dare say he could achieve such speed—after all, this isn't a matter of conspiracy or open scheme; it's simply basic national production.

Unless he dares to fully integrate PRTS into the overall management of a country, he cannot help Igor's country rise in this way.

Why didn't I ever question this before, or even do any testing or preparation?

During the Colombian War of Independence, I was clearly active on the front lines, and my involvement went far beyond simply providing financial aid, yet I left no trace of it.

In his previous life, he used the Syracuse mafia families as his shield to advance his infiltration of Colombia, but progress was always slow and the Texas family's position in Colombia remained stagnant.

He opened the supplementary plan.

The content is still unremarkable, nothing more than bringing in a new family, more manpower, more funds, and having the two families check and balance each other for better control.

It's still just small-scale stuff. If Qiao Yelan is hoping that the two gang families can get close to the upper echelons of Colombia, he might as well continue to send money to those two foundations and pray that his sponsored gacha pulls will yield an SSR character.

He casually clicked on the first scholarship fund, and what came into view was a list of people who had applied to the scholarship fund after the Columbia SAT exam this year.

He glanced at them, but the person in first place caught his eye a few more times—because the other person was only thirteen years old.

"Kristen Wright...that's a name that evokes a lot of nostalgia."

From his age to his surname, Qiao Yelan piqued everyone's interest.

He opened the application form.

The application description was very brief: both parents deceased, no income—if it weren't for her age, this description would be considered utterly inadequate in a scholarship application process that's practically a competition of who has the most miserable situation.

Qiao Yelan was a little disappointed, but he noticed that there was a hyperlink to the parents' names that the other party had written.

After clicking, a new file appears, and unexpectedly, this file is located on the next line in the main directory.

The Wrights were the recipients of funding from the Babel Tower's research fund in Colombia.

The couple's main research area is...

"Building rockets?"

Qiao Yelan's eyes widened.

Moreover, the design and the product description...

Wait, why is Terra still building V2 missiles?

Moreover, this direction is not accepted by mainstream academia?

He suddenly realized something was wrong.

"PRTS, retrieve all current information in Terra Aerospace."

Drones, helicopters...

What about the rocket?

It's not 105, not 107, and definitely not 132—

Is that the big, thick rocket that can reach the highest speed in the universe thanks to its sexy parallel thrusters?

What the hell?

They have computers, they have cell phones, and they've even managed to build a fleet of floating warships—

—You're telling me you've never been to space?

Damn it, have you guys never ridden in a convertible before?

Qiao Yelan sat in the chair, dumbfounded, unable to describe the confusion he felt.

This is simply incomprehensible—even after all these years, no one has ever thought of or imagined such a thing.

Then why did Qiao Yelan never point it out?

He may not know anything about rockets, but he could at least point you in the right direction, right?

What do you mean?

So all these years I've been scheming against people and haven't cared about anything else?

This is wrong, this is definitely wrong.

Qiao Yelan was certain there was something wrong with this, but the bigger problem was that this didn't seem like a hint her past self had left for herself.

He backed up step by step, returning to the very first screen, staring at the photo of the thin but determined girl.

The mouse cursor scrolled down and clicked on the "Pass" button.

The fact that this name appeared before Qiao Yelan at this time, whether it was a coincidence or not, meant that Kristen Wright deserved to receive this scholarship.

"Triumph Polytechnic University..."

After approving the application, Qiao Yelan used this term to find all the scholarship applicants at Trimont Polytechnic University.

The best way to hide an egg is to put it among a group of eggs.

Unfortunately, he discovered that besides Christensen, there was only one egg.

“Saria, eighteen years old... Well, you’re lucky, young lady—perhaps you can thank Miss Christen when you have the chance.”

Qiao Yelan also clicked "Approved" on the application form.

------------------------------------------------

"You actually stayed here last night?"

Mr. Shaoqing was surprised to see Qiao Yelan come out of his room early in the morning.

"...If I remember correctly, I came back in the afternoon yesterday. Did none of you leave work on time yesterday?"

Qiao Yelan narrowed her eyes.

The other party chuckled dryly. They all assumed that Qiao Yelan had spent the whole night pouring out her heart to the Grand Duchess again—since their boss had gone to be honest with the client, there was no need for them to keep enduring it, right?

"The talks with the Duke of Caesar have concluded."

"The talks are over!"

"Any questions?"

"No, no, no problem. I just feel like we finished talking so quickly—would you like to talk for a couple more days?"

Shaoqing asked tentatively.

"Don't worry, with me watching over things, absolutely no one in the delegation will dare to gossip behind your back. You can talk freely and without fear."

Qiao Yelan now has serious doubts: was this guy bribed by the Duke of Caesar, or was he simply willing to do anything to slack off?

"It's a routine seven-day visit, and we leave as soon as the time is up. We still have three duchies to visit, and it's already April. If we delay a little longer, we can go back and celebrate the Qixi Festival directly."

Wouldn't that be even better? You can take a vacation right after you finish your trip.

Shaoqing coughed awkwardly and swallowed his words.

"Understood, I will pass the notice on, and everyone will be ready before departure."

"Oh, right, tell everyone to prepare some warm clothes."

Qiao Yelan gave her instructions.

"The Duchy of Windermere is not a good place now."

Chapter 111 Simple but Effective

Lienkaden, a major town in northeastern Victoria, is the capital of the Duchy of Windermere.

This mobile city has witnessed too many wars, and everyone would think it is a cold steel fortress—but it wasn't until the members of the delegation set foot in the city that they discovered that it still has a unique sense of warmth and life.

The banquet was as usual, but this time most of the attendees were dressed in military uniforms rather than in glamorous aristocratic attire. The banquet was also more serious than the previous three banquets hosted by the Duke of Victoria—or rather, more fraught with ulterior motives.

This is a common situation in wolf packs when the alpha wolf grows old.

The coup that occurred in Londinium in 1072 did not involve all the grand dukes, nor did it involve everyone who opposed the emperor.

No Duke of Victoria respected the Duke of Normandy, and he himself was happy to watch from the sidelines with schadenfreude.

The Duke of Wellington claimed he had not received any orders to transfer, and the tense international situation and border crisis at the time seemed to provide ample justification for his neutrality.

Grand Duke Cumberland remained loyal to King Aslan—but sadly, his most elite steam knights were not in Londinium at that time, nor by the side of the man they served.

Like the Duke of Cumberland, when he learned of this, the Duke of Windermere led his army south to defend the king—only to be blocked by the armies of several other dukes and unable to advance an inch.

When news from Lentinium arrived, the Grand Duke of Cumberland and the last King of Aslan had both been beheaded. Alone and helpless, he could only lead his shattered army back to his territory.

After that, he fell seriously ill, and his condition has not improved to this day; in fact, it has only gotten worse.

Meanwhile, his publicly acknowledged successor, his daughter Amphilis Windermere, did not yet possess sufficient prestige to command the nobles under his command.

So when Qiao Yelan discovered that there were three people waiting for him in the negotiation room, he was not surprised at all.

"Long time no see, Your Excellency Windermere."

"It's been a long time, Dr. Qiao Yelan."

A long-absent smile appeared on Grand Duke Windermere's haggard and aged face.

It is clear from the way he was addressed that Grand Duke Windermere was not someone who knew nothing about Qiao Yelan.