The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

“The nobles will be laughing their heads off—they'll have a perfect excuse to use their army to wipe out all of you thorns in their side, and make Miss Aldey a complete puppet.”

All three squadron leaders became withdrawn, fully realizing how politically naive and ignorant they were.

"Your Excellency Qiao Yelan, what do you mean...?"

Charles wiped his sweat; he dared not say that he and the three captains had almost the same idea—the same kind of stupidity.

"Sending Aldean in is what I really need to do—the nobles will realize that Aldean Cumberland is not a doll to be manipulated, but a Grand Duchess with the entire Steam Knights backing her up, and the highest fighting force in Victoria standing behind her."

Qiao Yelan calmly described his plan.

"Only in this way can Allarde escape the fate of becoming a pawn."

Charles nodded.

"The problem is that we cannot defy the mission given to us by the council. If our main force goes to carry out the mission, and some nobles are willing to take risks, Miss Alder will be in danger."

“Take Alder with you on this trip.”

Qiao Yelan's answer was simple and straightforward.

"this--"

"Without Lentinium, I have room to maneuver. Babel Tower has connections in many places through the trade of potions. We also have several outposts in Victoria, and we will establish more in the future—whether it's providing you with logistics or taking care of the wounded and Aldebaran, we can handle it all."

"How are you going to do that? That's not something a small outpost with just one or two people can accomplish."

Charles asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Accompanying the delegation are two Saktas, one of whom is former Cardinal Oren, who just stepped down as Cardinal of the Seventh Papal Court a month ago and is now traveling with me as the [Messenger of Nations] - he will apply to the Victorian Parliament to establish a communication point for the [Messenger of Nations] within Victoria."

Qiao Yelan said it casually.

"And Babel Tower was one of the members who were previously authorized by Laterano as a specially invited enterprise of Laterano to participate in the establishment and base construction of the [Messenger of All Nations] system."

Charles had certainly heard of the Messenger of Nations, but he hadn't expected Lateran to be so determined to push for the establishment of this system.

"But given Victoria's current political situation, can he really convince Parliament?"

Qiao Yelan's eye twitched slightly.

"Never mind that—I can guarantee to persuade the council."

The man nodded. Seeing the other party's confidence, he was willing to believe this unfathomable Mr. Qiao.

“In that case, we are certainly happy to welcome Miss Aldebaran.”

“Very good. I will bring Alede with me tomorrow, and at the same time, we will sign a formal employment contract.”

Qiao Yelan nodded.

"it is good."

Charles is a man of few words.

So Qiao Yelan left, and after seeing Qiao Yelan off, the four of them returned to Charles's office.

"You just agreed?"

"What else can we do but agree? Given Miss Alde's current situation, staying with us at least guarantees her absolute safety!"

"But we'll have to take it to the battlefield!"

“Not everyone has to go to the battlefield. Leave a few people to protect her, and the others can still complete the mission! Those nobles only demanded that we all go to the battlefield to wear out our armor. In reality, those missions don’t require the entire knight order.”

"All right!"

Charles yelled.

The three of them fell silent.

“I know you all have a lot of worries, and you know that Qiao Yelan can’t completely believe it yet—but he’s right about one thing: Aleide’s current situation is definitely not optimistic.”

"So this time is different from when we first came back. Back then, we kept Aldey away from us to avoid being purged. Now it has been proven that the nobles don't have the guts to purge us, they only dare to slowly wear us down. So keeping Aldey with us will better guarantee his safety."

The three people nodded slightly.

"Tomorrow, the man says he will bring Miss Aldera over. That will be the best proof of whether his words are sincere. If he is really a friend of the commander, then Miss Aldera must know him and be quite close to him. On the contrary, if he is an opportunist trying to persuade Miss Aldera by coercion and bribery, then we must be prepared to forcibly take Miss Aldera away."

Charles, with his extraordinary wisdom, came up with a perfect way to verify it.

The team captains all nodded in admiration.

"Let's all get ready."

The three filed away, while Charles simply watched the door close and sighed softly.

"I hope... you're not that kind of person, Mr. Qiao Yelan."

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

The next day, when Charles saw Allardy holding Qiao Yelan's hand tightly while looking at him with a mixture of longing, admiration, and fear, he finally felt relieved.

Without a doubt, anyone with eyes could see that Little Alde truly trusted Qiao Yelan, and even subconsciously wanted to hide behind the man—a girl would never do such a thing except for a trusted and familiar elder.

Mr. Qiao Yelan, you are indeed an old friend of the Commander!

Charles wore what was perhaps the most genuine and sincere smile he had shown in years as he went up to greet Joe Yelan and Allardy.

"Welcome to the Steam Knights' quarters, Miss Alleide, Mr. Joe Yelan."

"Thank you for your welcome, Mr. Charles."

Qiao Yelan nodded his thanks, then turned his head kindly and squeezed the girl's hand.

"Little Aldebaran, you mustn't be rude."

The girl then gave Charles a hesitant bow.

"Thank you for your welcome, Mr. Charles."

"Oh, good, little Aldebaran is such a good girl."

The older man grinned and tried to pat Aleide's little head, but the girl dodged and ran behind Qiao Yelan.

Hmm? What's that cracking sound coming from something?

Qiao Yelan looked at Charles, who stood frozen in place, with pity.

"Mr. Charles? Are you alright?"

"Okay? Okay, yes, I'm fine."

The current commander of the Steam Knights said with a heavy heart.

“Aldey, this is the Grand Master of the Steam Knights, and also your father’s former subordinate, Lord Charles Lynch. Quickly, call him Uncle Lynch.”

"Call him Uncle Charles."

Charles corrected him righteously.

"Hello, Uncle Lynch."

Alde greeted her sweetly.

Huh? Why do I hear something cracking again?

Chapter 123 The Removed Foundation

It wasn't until Charles brought Allardy to the previously strictly preserved steam armor warehouse that the girl finally let go of Qiao Yelan's hand and stared at the armor with fascination.

“Mr. Charles”

Qiao Yelan called out softly, then made a gesture.

Charles nodded, and he and Qiao Yelan quietly retreated a few steps to a relatively secluded corner.

“I need to apologize to you, Mr. Qiao Yelan. I never fully trusted you until today, when you brought Miss Alder.”

“I understand your concerns, Mr. Charles. After all, in this kind of environment, it’s natural to question others first. This is your way of protecting yourself and your subordinates, and it’s also your right.”

Qiao Yelan simply waved his hand.

Trust is always a gradual process, and I wouldn't get angry with you over something like this.

"Thank you for your generosity—we can now discuss the employment contract."

"What do you need? I believe you need real supplies and manpower more than gold pounds. Also, your acquisition channels are no match for the Tower of Babel."

Charles nodded. He had asked for such a high price because he assumed the Steam Knights were having serious procurement problems. Many items had to be purchased on the black market, so the prices were naturally much higher than at regular markets.

Even now, poor Charles still feels that the price he asked for was far too high.

Therefore, Qiao Yelan didn't mind reducing the cost a little more.

After all, providing supplies directly is much cheaper than providing funds.

"What we urgently need now is steam armor, a complete set, parts, everything is missing."

"I regret to inform you that all the factories and production lines related to the production of steam armor in the entire city of Londinium have disappeared—along with the workers."

Qiao Yelan expressed his helplessness in this regard.

“I can probably only acquire some from collectors, but as you probably understand, that doesn’t solve anything.”

Charles sighed.