The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

Fremont rolled his eyes inwardly; it sounded as if he had taken advantage of Herhunzoren.

However, he was now determined not to speak. Seeing that Qiao Yelan was no longer in danger, he turned around and walked towards his tower.

"Wait a moment, Professor Fremont, could you please bear witness for me tonight?"

"It's really troublesome."

The old lich walked back, cursing, and stood behind Qiao Yelan.

"Thanks for your hard work, Outcast, but I hope you won't need to load that bullet again in the future."

"My career ended on something I thought was worthwhile, but in life, it's not impossible."

The old angel waved his hand cheerfully, glanced at Kosiché, and turned to walk towards his team's dormitory.

"Please, Your Excellency, if you do not mind, please come to my humble abode."

"Can't we finish talking now?"

Kosicie glanced warily at Logos standing next to Qiao Yelan. She found that this androgynous young man posed only slightly less of a threat to her than Fremont.

"Sorry, it's just too cold in Vidonia in October—and I was sleeping just now."

"Who cares if you sleep or not..."

Kosich suddenly realized what was happening and looked at Qiao Yelan, who was sitting in a wheelchair wrapped in a blanket.

"You're not wearing anything again?"

"Uh, sure."

Logos coughed awkwardly, and Fremont rolled his eyes.

The woman sighed, thinking to herself that this guy still hadn't broken this strange habit.

"Okay, okay, let's go to your bedroom and be frank. Let's finish this quickly and get it over with. Given my position, I can't stay in such a sensitive place as Vidonia any longer."

"no problem."

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

Dressed neatly, Qiao Yelan sat at the table, poured Kosichie a glass of hot water, with Fremont standing beside her with a cold face, and Logos standing outside the door, not letting anyone near.

"Then, Your Excellency, may I ask why you are so eager to contact me?"

Qiao Yelan asked calmly, as if she had no idea what had happened.

"Don't pretend with me, you definitely know what happened in Lungmen and Chernobog."

Kosichrie stared at Qiao Yelan.

"Or are you planning to renege on your promise? We agreed that I would introduce you to Crown Prince Vladimir, and you would help me control Lungmen."

“That was a deal made fifty years ago, Kosichev. Vladimir has gone from Crown Prince to Emperor and then to his grave. We have been helping you in secret for fifty years, providing you with everything from supplies to personnel.”

"Just a few years ago, in order to keep Marquis Boris of Chernobog in line and ensure his continued support, we sent the best research team from Babel, composed entirely of students personally taught by Dr. Kal'tsit—and now you're accusing me of reneging on my promise?"

Qiao Yelan crossed her arms and supported her chin.

Do you really think I look like an honest person?

Chapter Twenty-Two: Sold Out and Still Helping the Others Count the Money

Kosiche fell silent, because if they were to really discuss it, it seemed that he was indeed in the wrong.

Just as Qiao Yelan said, for a full fifty years, the other party had almost always granted her every request, and the people she introduced to the other party all went from crown prince to emperor, and from emperor to the grave, and were even regarded as one of the greatest monarchs since the founding of Ursus.

She also played house with the people of Da Yan in a mobile city for fifty years.

I haven't even played it yet; I was just kicked out by a bunch of young people.

Fremont's lips twitched slightly. Only this guy could talk about the changing of emperors in various countries every day—although in a sense, this guy really could decide the succession of the throne.

However... once the contract was made, he could stick to it for a full fifty years even if it resulted in losses—this guy really hasn't changed at all, still keeping his word.

As for what Qiao Yelan was thinking...

He was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

No, this guy really knows nothing about economics?

Who told her that transporting goods to the only designated foreign trade port of the Great Yan Dynasty was a losing proposition?

Whenever Kosichrie said she needed supplies, because of her identity and the fact that her actions were to expand Ursus' territory, it was as if she had obtained a green channel in Ursus. Not to mention contraband, even sending weapons and ammunition was given the green light all the way, and no one would check her at all.

The same goes for Longmen. All the nobles and wealthy families in the Great Yan Dynasty rely on this one port to import Western specialties. Since they want to do business, isn't it normal for them to transport some things from here to there to sell?

Thieves never leave empty-handed... no, merchants never leave empty-handed either.

Why is it that even though Lungmen is a mobile city of the Great Yan, the Great Yan has not reacted to Koschei's actions?

Can't they find it? Or are they simply outmatched?

It's all nonsense. It all boils down to one thing: if Lungmen settles down and is controlled by the authorities, how will they make money?

The taxes collected here each year are so high that even the Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty turns a blind eye to this situation—because he knows very well that even if he puts a lot of effort into controlling this place, the tax revenue he can collect in the end might be far less than it is now.

This is not a matter of ability. In fact, the more honest and loyal the officials are, the less tax revenue they can collect, because the tax revenue in Longmen does not grow from the ground, but is given willingly by the imperial relatives, wealthy families and merchants!

When the Great Yan royal family discovered that smuggling caravans from Longmen could even procure some of the supplies and technology that the Great Yan desperately needed, they completely abandoned the idea—this is why successive emperors didn't care about this area at all; they only prevented certain key domestic goods from flowing out, as for other things...

These people are all my Great Yan royal family's brothers, sisters, and friends—they deserve a tax increase!

As for the name of that incredibly powerful smuggling caravan, well, that can be left to chance. I just vaguely remember their surname was Ba, and their name was something like Pagoda...

And why didn't Ursus suspect anything or care?

His Majesty Emperor Vladimir was still counting on the share dividends Qiao Yelan gave him as start-up capital to fund his military campaigns against neighboring countries.

Otherwise, why would the war launched by the nobles against the Eastern Kingdom by Ursus when the late emperor was critically ill lead to domestic turmoil and a precipitous drop in the army's combat effectiveness?

Because during that war in Ursus, not only did they need their own people to die, but they also needed to exploit their own people to pay for the military expenses...

So, rather than delivering supplies to Kosichrie, Qiao Yelan was more like shaving a few hairs off her thigh so she could continue stirring up trouble in Lungmen, and then everyone could happily slack off together.

In fact, most of the time, Qiao Yelan would buy some supplies from Da Yan after selling all her goods and send them to Koschitch—because transporting goods of equal weight and volume from Ursus was less profitable than selling them from Da Yan and then buying the supplies Koschitch needed to ship back...

It was through such blatant smuggling that Babel Tower made enough profits to drive every major country in Terra crazy. Even if Herhunzoren were to be resurrected, he probably wouldn't be able to resist the urge to rob Qiao Yelan.

This is the true pillar supporting Qiao Yelan's various plans.

Meanwhile, because commercial smuggling in Lungmen was in full swing, no one cared about the whereabouts of all the goods here—in fact, no one could do that. After all, if they had time to supervise these things, why didn't they try to find a way to get more goods to sell?

So no one would have noticed that a lot of supplies and money had flowed to a wasteland south of Longmen.

That wasteland once had a illustrious name—

Kazdale.

It was through this trade route that Kal'tsit was able to rebuild Kazdel right under everyone's noses, transforming it from a wasteland into an industrial park and grain-producing area, helping Theresis regain the dignity of the Sarkaz race.

Kosichrie had no idea that the reason she was chosen to enter Lungmen was because Babel needed an extra shadow to obscure their support for Kazdel—and the entry of a renowned and ambitious Ursus into the mobile city of Great Yan would undoubtedly attract everyone's attention and prevent them from turning towards Kazdel.

“As you know, every investment should be worthwhile—you should have noticed that the Great Yan Prince named Wei Yanwu also has merchant caravans supporting him, such as the Swire family represented by Adams Swire. They have become one of the top companies in Longmen by taking advantage of Wei Yanwu’s influence.”

"But what about you? The support Babel Tower gave you should be no less than the Swire family's support for Wei Yanwu, right? But what did we get in return? Let's not even talk about the returns. At least in Lungmen, with your support, we should be able to stand on equal footing with the Swire family's Taikoo Group, shouldn't we?"

Qiao Yelan sighed, taking advantage of Koschche's economic idiocy to continue bullying the honest man.

"...Then let's sign a new contract. You help me return to Lungmen, and then—uh, what do you need me to do?"

For once, Kosicci relented.

She was indeed a Grand Duchess, and she had a territory in Ursus, and a very large one at that—but it was a barren, frozen wasteland. Although it had some minerals and a population, it had never really developed due to Ursus's poor infrastructure, and she had never really cared about her own territory, always busy with the expansion of Ursus.

So at this point, she realized that she really didn't have many cards left to play.

Especially after Ursus was no longer able to support her due to the turmoil, and even a minor Marquis Boris dared to boss her around, she realized her own weakness.

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Transaction

Qiao Yelan just stared at her until Kosichek started to feel a little uneasy under her gaze.

Anyone would get nervous facing a guy who hasn't changed at all since fifty years ago—Kosichä himself would need a new body.

Uh, it seems the technology to create my body was also given to me by this guy...

"The Tower of Babel doesn't need your assistance right now—but I do have a small need that I would like Your Excellency's help with. Of course, I am quite confident in the resources I can control, and meeting your requirements shouldn't be a problem."

After putting enough pressure on the other party, Qiao Yelan slowly spoke.

"You said."

Koschke himself didn't realize that he felt relieved after learning that Qiao Yelan still needed his help.

“I need a formal identity to visit the Holy Eagle Castle and discuss business matters with the nobles, and perhaps His Majesty the newly enthroned Emperor—I think the identity of [Grand Duke Kosiché's Plenipotentiary Deputy] would be quite appropriate.”

“I will use your status and position to facilitate my actions. Of course, I also guarantee that I will not smear you or do anything to harm Ursus.”

"this one?"

The Grand Duke asked, somewhat surprised.

"Of course, there's more to it than just this one thing, but we'd better discuss it one by one—I need you to think about this and send a note back to Saint Eagle Castle to announce my identity to the Council of Nobles and the reason for my visit to Saint Eagle Castle."