The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

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Kavaleriaki, the capital of Kazimierz, is a very distinctive mobile city.

Because this city is made up of four mobile cities pieced together.

Apart from one urban plot that serves as the administrative center, the other three components of the mobile city are not always fixed—a distinctive pattern that emerged after the establishment of the Business Federation.

As commerce developed in Kasimir, merchants quickly discovered that larger mobile cities could bring higher economic benefits, but on the other hand, they could lead to more serious problems—not only infighting and conflict, but also increasingly troublesome resource supply for cities.

The splicing of the four mobile cities is not only the limit of current technology, but also the limit of supply, because even in the central territory of Kazimierz, the output along the mobile city's travel route can only barely sustain a city of this size.

Therefore, as the largest mobile city in the Kazimierz region, whichever company can establish itself in the [Great Knight Territory] will gain an advantage over the next three years.

Ultimately, at Babel's suggestion, and given the great enthusiasm of the various merchant groups for establishing their own armed forces, they all agreed to adopt the method of knightly competitions—they formed their own competitive knightly orders, and the ranking and battle results of the knightly orders determined who would get the biggest slice of the pie in the future.

Qiao Yelan had already spread the word that Babel Tower would go all out in this Knights Tournament and would definitely aim for a top-three finish.

The outside world is quite interested in Babel's publicity campaign. After all, the importance Babel attaches to this matter must mean that its strategic focus has changed, which is something worth exploring in depth.

Because Babel Tower, which proposed this plan, was not very enthusiastic about the competition and never took its own knightly order seriously, almost just going through the motions. It had very few times achieved a top-four finish in the past dozen or so competitions.

As the leading medical institution in all of Kazimierz, or perhaps even the entire Terra, Babel itself places relatively little emphasis on trade within Kazimierz. More than half of their energy and trade activities are focused on countries outside of Kazimierz.

This time, contrary to usual practice, it is clear that they intend to strengthen their influence and status within Kazimir.

This undoubtedly means one thing—the rumors circulating before, such as Babel's failure to expand its influence abroad and the huge financial losses, so it is eager to consolidate its position within Kazimierz... seem to be not entirely unfounded.

While ordinary people might just treat it as gossip, the members of the business association were quite interested in it.

It wasn't that other members of the business association hadn't gone bankrupt before, and those vacant parts, regardless of whether everyone was satisfied with their meals, at least allowed them to make more money—for ghouls, as long as there were corpses, everyone loved them.

Therefore, they devoted a great deal of effort to overseas investigations of the Tower of Babel.

The messages that came back seemed to corroborate this point—

Letania descended into turmoil, with the conflict between the Elector and the Emperor becoming increasingly acute.

The infighting within Victoria became increasingly pronounced, and at this point, they actively resisted all external factors and forces.

As for Ursus... well, there's really nothing to mention there.

This made the businessmen in the business association not only somewhat gloating, but more importantly, reassured.

It turns out that they weren't the only ones suffering from this Great Depression; the Tower of Babel was clearly also greatly affected, at least in terms of foreign trade, where they all suffered a devastating blow.

However, feeling at ease doesn't mean they'll give Babel any face—everyone's having a tough time right now, and whoever stays in the Great Knight Territory will lose less over the next three years, so they can't let that go.

Therefore, when Qiao Yelan's convoy returned to Kazimierz, it did not receive a very warm welcome.

The first person to greet them was someone that both Qiao Yelan and Kashiena knew well.

Mr. Kane, son of the chairman of the Rose News Associated Press Group.

“It seems like so long has passed since we last met, Mr. Kane. It’s clear that you are now on the path you have chosen after careful consideration.”

Qiao Yelan looked at Kane, her eyes revealing happiness and relief.

"Thanks to you, Mr. Qiao Yelan, I have had several in-depth conversations with my father. Although he is still the same businessman, at least he has begun to try to understand me and is willing to accept my ideas."

Kane looked at Qiao Yelan with gratitude, always remembering the help Qiao Yelan had given him before.

"Did you come to Babel this time to interview me again?"

Qiao Yelan asked, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"No, interviewing you at this time would only cause you trouble—most people will only misunderstand all your words and actions until they fully understand the truth."

Kane shook his head.

He had already investigated Babel Tower's activities outside of the Upper City. Just as Qiao Yelan said, Babel Tower had been secretly distributing Originium Virus inhibitors, and many people had benefited from this assistance.

But as Qiao Yelan said before, there are just too many people who need help, and his mere company simply cannot help everyone.

The involvement of unscrupulous merchants and the black market further exacerbated the situation.

If it were the hot-blooded young Kane of the past, he would have rushed out and given that damned black market dealer a good beating, then written about it in the newspapers and spread it everywhere.

However, after accepting his father's teachings, he realized that his actions would not only fail to help Qiao Yelan, but would also put the Tower of Babel in an extremely awkward situation.

So he's not here to interview Qiao Yelan, since in this situation, Qiao Yelan would only give politically correct answers—which are meaningless to the truth.

At least for now, he doesn't want those who don't know the truth to continue misunderstanding Qiao Yelan.

“I am not here on behalf of any power, including the Rose Newspapers—I am only here in Kane's name to ask you... if you need my private assistance?”

Kane lowered his voice, and it was clear that even this young man, who had accepted the dark reality of politics, still seemed somewhat uncomfortable and awkward when discussing the topic of backroom deals with his "like-minded" friends.

Qiao Yelan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"...Mr. Kane, have you heard something—or have you obtained some evidence?"

"No, Mr. Qiao Yelan, rest assured, if I obtain any information related to the Tower of Babel, I will definitely come to discuss it with you as soon as possible."

Kane quickly waved his hand.

"This time, Kazimierz is facing an unprecedented trade crisis. Foreign business activities have plummeted to a standstill. Too many goods are piling up in warehouses and can't be sold at a good price in shopping malls. Workers' wages have been cut again and again, and many factories have simply stopped production or even put up signs for sale."

“Babel Tower’s business focus has always been overseas, so I think the impact this time will be even greater. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be taking this Knights Tournament so seriously, right? I mean, if you need some help with public opinion, I’d be happy to do it for you free of charge.”

This statement is clearly Kane's true feeling.

The Rose Newspapers had little interest in the Knights Tournament, even more so than the Tower of Babel—because no matter what happened, it wouldn't affect their status.

This time, Babel's shift of focus to Kazimierz will inevitably involve propaganda, and Bain will certainly demand a high price—which is what Kane is worried about.

With his limited knowledge of economics, he certainly knew just how much corporate profit the Tower of Babel's charitable endeavors would consume.

If Babel was able to continue distributing free medicine to the poor while maintaining its own development, thanks to its domestic base and its rapidly expanding foreign trade, then this trade winter in Kazimierz may severely damage Babel's economy.

After much deliberation, Kane realized that the only way he could help Qiao Yelan was by saving her some advertising expenses. He sincerely hoped that Babel Tower could spend every penny wisely and weather this Casimir Depression safely.

“I am very grateful for your kind intentions, Mr. Kane. As you have said, the Tower of Babel is indeed facing some difficulties, but I believe that these difficulties are only temporary and a bright future will soon arrive.”

Kane was somewhat disappointed by Qiao Yelan's words, because these answers were clearly more official than a private negotiation.

The doctor, of course, noticed Kane's expression.

“I’m not just giving you the runaround, Kane. At this crucial moment, Babel can’t afford to give the impression that we have a very good relationship with the Rose Newspaper.”

"why?"

"Because of the previous draft of the 'Infected Persons Treatment Plan,' we were at odds with each other within the Business Federation. I hope we can maintain this situation for the time being, because only when we have people on both sides can a matter be better promoted or rejected."

Qiao Yelan explained.

"But can the Tower of Babel really maintain its current state?"

Kane understood somewhat, but he was still worried about the current situation of the Tower of Babel.

“I must admit that the current situation is indeed not optimistic, but we can hold on for the time being—and the more important reason why I do not accept your help is that Babel must not show weakness now.”

The man said seriously.

"Businessmen are wolves, and the business association is the wolf pack. There is no mutual assistance between them, only the division of prey and ill will towards their colleagues."

"Since its inception, the medical industry, from pharmaceuticals to medical equipment, has always been an enviable business. No one would mind getting involved in other industries, especially profitable ones."

Kane nodded; Qiao Yelan's description was his true assessment of the businessmen.

“Once Babel shows signs of weakness, these people will definitely not hesitate to tear my wounds even wider, forcing Babel to make concessions to them, such as taking a stake—but you have to understand, because of the distribution of those free medicines, the shortfall in Babel’s business profit statements is so large that it cannot withstand any investigation!”

Qiao Yelan's face was extremely serious.

“Once any foreign capital gets a foothold on the board of directors of the Tower of Babel, I will no longer be able to cover it up, and all the accountants of the Tower of Babel will spend the rest of their lives in Casimir prison!”

Chapter 179 The Strange Caprini

After hearing Qiao Yelan's words, Kane fell silent.

He could no longer insist on his own ideas—because Qiao Yelan's reasons perfectly illustrated the current awkward situation of the Tower of Babel.

Because of the external blockade of Qazimir, Babel, which has always relied on foreign trade, has undoubtedly suffered a severe blow. However, if this was only a short-term event, or just a one-off occurrence, the problem wouldn't be so serious...

But this time, it's really hard to say.

As Qiao Yelan said, Babel Tower has been concealing a large amount of its profits and exaggerating its asset consumption in order to free up enough resources to distribute Oripathy inhibitors to the infected in Kazimierz—which, in the current Kazimierz, is almost tantamount to suicide.

"Babel has cut off many of its external channels, leaving only some lingering connections with Letania. I've been desperately trying to bring back external funds in order to survive—and I hope you can keep an eye out for this and make sure it doesn't get reported in the media."

Qiao Yelan gave her instructions.

Kane nodded.

When a large company starts selling off its relationships and assets, it is often the easiest time for other companies to take advantage of its misfortune. Even if it can only hold them off for a period of time, enough for Qiao Yelan to sell what he has at a normal price, it can buy enough variables for Babel Tower.

"I will. I will use all my connections to suppress this information, but those guys definitely have their own channels, so I may be powerless in this regard."

"It's alright, this is enough. As long as we can hold out until the Knights Tournament ends, Babel will be able to weather the current crisis."

Qiao Yelan smiled and nodded, clearly confident about the future.

This confidence also infected Kane, who looked relieved, stood up, and smiled as he said goodbye to Qiao Yelan.

“It’s good that the Tower of Babel is alright—in that case, I won’t bother you any longer. If the Tower of Babel needs to continue its hostile stance towards the Rose Newspaper, then it wouldn’t be good for me to stay here too long.”

After saying that, Kane walked briskly toward the office door.