The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

He said this only because he still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking that with Qiao Yelan's network of connections, he could still find some way to maintain the steam knights' need to change their armor.

However, Qiao Yelan's answer was within his expectations. Those nobles were always ruthless enough, so he wasn't too disappointed.

"In that case, I hope to hire some former steam craftsmen through you. I have a list here, but I was too short of funds before to pay their wages, so I haven't been able to do it."

Charles took an envelope from his pocket, poured out a stack of letters, and handed one of them to Qiao Yelan.

"These people were once craftsmen responsible for the maintenance of armor or the production of certain easily worn parts. The Steam Knights' headquarters itself has some machine tools. Although they cannot produce complete steam armor, they can produce many key parts."

Qiao Yelan took the somewhat old letter, looked at the name on it, and nodded.

"I will do my best—these people will be hired in the name of Babel, but given how closely the nobles guard you, it will be difficult to keep them secretly in your territory, and transporting raw materials will also be a major hassle."

He thought for a while.

"Here's what I'll do. I'll arrange for them to go to a factory in Victoria that Babel Towers operates in, and then find a way to transport the machine tools from your base out. That way, you'll just have to detour through there every time you go on a mission. It'll be much less noticeable than producing directly at your base."

Charles hesitated for a moment, but then nodded in agreement.

After all, it's not a complete production line. Even if Qiao Yelan takes it away, it will only produce some parts. They won't be able to get the real core steam technology—because the Steam Knights don't even know where it is now.

Moreover, as Qiao Yelan said, settling these people and transporting raw materials are major problems. Given the nature of those nobles, they would probably storm in and ransack the place the moment the knights went on a mission.

"Other than that?"

"Apart from that... it seems like there's nothing else missing?"

Charles thought about it carefully and realized that he had indeed managed to mend and repair the entire Knights Order over the past few years.

"Where's the food?"

"I grew them myself. Soilless cultivation technology in mobile cities is so common now, I just took some light bulbs and frames and made a few for my underground warehouse—it's next to a chicken farm."

"What about power consumption?"

"The thermal power plant—after all, it burns high-pressure steam. Those nobles want us to go out, so the supplies in this area are quite sufficient."

Qiao Yelan: ?

"What about the weapons and ammunition?"

"Armor is enough—but that makes sense, in order to reduce the wear and tear on the armor, we do need to equip it with some additional weapons."

Charles also realized there were some minor issues.

"Forget it, keep these things that you've earned yourself. In the end, they're just for making a living, and they're not enough for your daily training."

Qiao Yelan already knew the current situation of the Steam Knights—aside from their steam armor, their lives in Londinium had become regular.

Charles, that housekeeper, is really quite capable.

"Then...Miss Allardy, what should we do?"

"Don't let her go back—that mansion is full of spies and assassins; it's much safer here than anywhere else."

"But what if it's a nobleman..."

"The nobles don't have the guts to openly break ties with you, otherwise why would they resort to such inefficient methods to wear you down? Or are you planning to hand over Aldebaran after just a few words from them?"

"Bullshit."

Charles scoffed.

“I’m just worried that something might go wrong in Parliament—we need to obey Parliament’s orders.”

"Don't worry, although the nobles control the council and boss you around, and will use all sorts of other means to take Alder away—they will absolutely, absolutely not do this in the name of the council."

Qiao Yelan revealed a cold smile.

"why?"

"Because of Aldebaran's status—she is the current Grand Duchess of Cumberland, a true noblewoman, and one of the highest nobility."

Charles still wore a puzzled expression.

Qiao Yelan had no choice but to continue explaining in detail.

“Once the nobles take Alleide away from you in the name of the council, it means that the council’s decision can supersede the will of a grand duke. That is a trampling on the entire noble class—they finally managed to hang their king, how could they possibly find a new master for themselves at this time?”

"I see."

At this point, Charles suddenly realized what was going on.

Indeed, the nobles would not allow such an organization to exist—so they must not start it themselves.

If they try to take Alder away without going through Parliament, then Charles will have to have a serious talk with them about the temperature of the high-pressure steam.

“Just like I said yesterday, as long as the Steam Knights exist, and as long as there are enough knights to deter the nobles, then Alde is the safest place for you.”

Qiao Yelan said in a low voice.

Charles nodded slightly—sweeping away his last vestiges of despair and resignation from his mind.

In fact, it wasn't just him; other steam knights had similar thoughts to varying degrees—the king they served was dead, the officer they served was dead, and the country they served was, in fact, dead as well.

It wasn't that no one left the ranks of the Steam Knights; Count White Wolf, who had fought alongside them and served as both sword and shield for His Majesty the King, simply remained silent and left Londinium.

Those who remain are either harboring resentment or completely lost and have nowhere to go.

They continued to carry out the council's orders, fighting against the most dangerous enemies in the most dangerous areas and worst environments of Victoria—even when armor became a prison and swords became a curse, they still carried out the orders with difficulty and stubbornness.

They no longer cared about life or death.

Charles was like that, the three captains were like that, and the knights who stayed and fought until now are still like that.

Aside from the now utterly ridiculous slogan, "Fight for Victoria," they have nothing left.

Therefore, Qiao Yelan intentionally gave them a reason to live.

"Aldette herself said that she wanted to be like her father, and she really did aspire to be a steam knight—I will do everything I can to support her, medicine, funds, equipment... I can get her anything she needs."

"But you must promise me, Charles Lynch, Your Excellency the Grand Master, that you will train her to be a knight."

Qiao Yelan stared at Charles.

“I assure you, Mr. Qiao Yelan.”

The man solemnly performed a knightly salute.

"I will definitely do it."

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

Qiao Yelan expressionlessly entered the data into the folder.

Victoria's strongest forces are moving along the path planned by Qiao Yelan—

It's shifting.

The loyalty of the Steam Knights was unwavering; even though Victoria was effectively divided, they remained loyal to her.

Those who are selfless and fearless in serving their country are the most unshakeable.

Qiao Yelan cannot turn them into pawns.

Therefore, we need to change our approach, address each issue separately, and tackle them one by one.

For the sake of the country, selfless and fearless.

Then we must make them lose their country, become selfish, and fearful.

The dukes have caused the knights to lose their country, even though they still insist they are fighting for Victoria—but clearly, this cannot fool them.

The first step is complete.

So how do we make these noble knights become selfish and fearful?

Qiao Yelan offered the young princess of the Cumberland family to him.

Allardy's life would become their selfish desire, and Allardy's death would become their fear.

Therefore, Qiao Yelan kept emphasizing that as long as the Steam Knights maintained their organization, Alde would be safe. But the problem was that even if all the Steam Knights died, Alde's life as a pawn would still be safe.

However, Charles Lynch clearly hadn't grasped this point.

He was already intimidated by Qiao Yelan's revelation of his identity as "an old friend of Alde's father" and by what the other party had said. He was in a period of doubled trust due to his guilt. If Qiao Yelan said that Alde was in danger at this time, he would definitely believe that Alde's current situation must be very bad.

Because the nobles had long ago built an information cocoon for Qiao Yelan and the steam knights, a cocoon that covered the sky and blocked out the sun—the information he brought was something the knights could not verify.

A trustworthy person uttered information that could not be verified.

So this is the truth.

All of Qiao Yelan's actions only reinforced his identity, so the longer time went on, the less the knights would doubt Qiao Yelan himself.

After all, he really intended to fully nurture Allardy Cumberland, making her the last and newest Steam Knight.

What is the most important reason for the selection of the Steam Knight?

Combat strength, age, qualifications... these are indeed factors that need to be considered.

But the most important point is—

loyalty.

Years after the deaths of the king and the captain, they remained steadfast in their principles, gritting their teeth and adhering to the code of the Steam Knights, rather than angrily swinging their swords at the nobles and the council. Their loyalty in this regard is beyond question.

Regarding the unusual behavior of the Steam Knights, Qiao Yelan speculated that the Grand Duke of Cumberland, or perhaps the King himself, knowing there was no way to reverse the situation, left the Steam Knights with this order—