Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

“Indeed, there’s not much difference.” Fyodor smiled.

Ursus's war against Qazimir has always been fought on a national level. Whether it's the Merchant Guild or the Overlords, anyone from Qazimir is an enemy of Ursus. Since Wayne wants to deal with Qazimir, Ursus is naturally willing to serve him.

"To what extent do you intend to go?" Fyodor asked.

After considering for a moment, Wayne replied, "Let's completely reshuffle the Business Federation."

According to Unicorn's intelligence, the Black Iron Grand Master who assassinated Wayne belonged to the Unarmored Alliance, which in turn belonged to the KCCG, or Kazimir Commercial Federation. This organization is the root of the Kazimir knightly competition and entertainment, and is also a group of oligarchic capitalists who usurped power. According to Unicorn's description, the Commercial Federation has effectively wielded influence in Kazimir comparable to that of a government agency. Their spokespeople, in highly urbanized cities like the Great Knight Territory, even have more say than the local government. Even the National Assembly is influenced by them and follows their commands.

In comparison, the Kazimierz Authority, which Wayne had once thought should at least hold power, was truly pathetic. Not only had the Knights' Guild, which they held, been usurped by the Merchant Federation, but the power to confer knighthoods—a powerful tool for upward mobility—was also taken away without resistance. Even getting a word in the National Assembly depended on the Merchant Federation's approval. If it weren't for the Authority still possessing the War Knights, a unique symbol of military power in Kazimierz, the Merchant Federation would probably have wiped them out long ago.

But this wouldn't last. Wayne knew perfectly well that future modern warfare had long since moved beyond the era of heroic figures charging into battle and capturing flags with a single gun. It had entered a phase of all-encompassing warfare, a true test of national strength, characterized by modern mechanization and combined arms operations across land, sea, and air. The legend of the Silver Spear Pegasus, who once rose a second sun on the plains and utterly crushed the Ursus army, would likely remain just that—a legend. When the energy-storing stone cannons of massive war fortresses gleamed with a brilliant golden light, even the real sun would pale in comparison!

Therefore, compared to the doomed Jianzheng Association, the Business Federation, which possesses advanced productive forces but loves to court death and dares to assassinate him now, and doesn't even dare to think about what it will do in the future, is undoubtedly the best target to cut down.

Wayne is not a saint; he always repays kindness and avenges wrongs. He never laid a hand on Kazimir from beginning to end, yet Kazimir, at the instigation of some traitor, launched an assassination attempt on him. This debt must be settled.

If you pay homage to the emperor, you will be allowed to report on your duties; if you do not pay homage, the six armies will move against you!

Wayne wasn't the emperor, nor did he come from the Great Yan Dynasty, but he knew that the best way to destroy commerce was through war. He could use the power of Ursus to crush the Kazimir Business Federation in one battle, and then have Victoria's state-owned capital intervene and acquire it, striving to seize control of Kazimir's economic lifeline and ensure it could never rise again. "I'll focus on domestic development in peace, and if you dare mess with me, you'll regret it when I rise to imperialism."

"Alright, then the goods, cash reserves, gold, etc. of Kazimir will belong to Ursus. I need these things. Ursus's economic reforms lack a solid foundation, and these things can solve our immediate problems. Their businesses and trade will belong to Victoria. As for western Kazimir, Ursus will not interfere. Whether Victoria wants to establish a buffer protectorate there or simply take it all in one go is up to you and your queen sister to decide. What do you think?"

The terms were very generous, and Wayne had no reason to refuse. Moreover, the target was Casimir. As a Paradox Interactive player who made Poland appear and disappear on the map, launching a heavy attack on Poland—a Poland controlled by capitalists—Wayne felt no psychological pressure whatsoever.

But he reiterated: "Victoria will not send troops this time. We will blockade all of Kazimir's economic lifelines and confiscate all of the Commercial Federation's assets in Victoria and its territories. At the same time, we will arrange a plunge in Kazimir's stock on the Londinium Financial Exchange. That's all we can do."

Fyodor pursed his lips and said, "I don't have much of an opinion, but, if I may ask, Wayne, what exactly are you being so careful about?"

Wayne gave Fyodor a meaningful look and said, "I already answered that question from the beginning."

"When you follow my example and get to where I am now, you will find that your enemies are far more than just nobles."

“Some people don’t want to see Victoria grow bigger, or the Aslan royal family continue to expand their power. Even if they could win each other out, for some extremists, seeing others make money is more painful than losing money themselves.”

Fyodor nodded thoughtfully.

......

That evening, State Duma Speaker Islam Witte announced to the entire nation of Terra at a hastily convened press conference that the two most powerful nations in Terra had formally reached a friendly consensus that evening and signed a peace treaty of non-aggression at the Santoro Palace.

Diplomats from other countries warned that the treaty could free up the Ursus Empire to launch another great war of conquest without worrying about Victoria's interference.

As for the primary target of this great war of conquest, the neighboring nation of Ursus and Victoria—Kazimir—is currently experiencing a major upheaval from top to bottom.

On December 30, 1092, the Kazimierz Supervisory Council dispatched the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights, a border conquest knightly order, to the Great Knight Territory, announcing an emergency military administration of the territory. Subsequently, the conquest knights surrounded the headquarters of the Kazimierz Commercial Union. After a relatively minor conflict, dozens of conquest knights officially took control of the National Assembly and engaged in a tense standoff with the Unarmored Alliance, which had mobilized all its forces except for Xuan Tie, at the foot of the Commercial Union building.

In response, a certain Platinum-ranked worker, who wished to remain anonymous, led his female apprentice and ten members of the Unarmored Alliance to confront the heavy armor of the Silver Spear Pegasus, and said with aggrieved but stubborn voice:

"Laugh if you want, I can't see you all wearing masks anyway."

P.S.: Finished writing, finished writing, now I'm going back to sleep.

I'm really going to break my sleep schedule. Ever since I stayed up too late on my birthday, I've been dozing off these past few days. I sleep in the morning, sleep in the afternoon, and sleep at night. I wake up in the middle of the night to write, then finish writing and go back to sleep.

I'm feeling a bit unwell; irregular sleep patterns are really tough. I'll try to get up earlier tomorrow and adjust my schedule.

P.S.: The story has progressed to December 30th, with only two days left until the ceremony! Let's do a character count: the characters expected to appear at the ceremony include: the Reed Sisters, Mandra, Ahmeri, the main characters, the Surtr Mudrock Crew, Theresis, Shining... To be continued... more will be revealed tomorrow!

Chapter Thirty-Four: Promise me you won't work too hard!

"Laugh if you want, anyway you're all wearing masks, Master won't be able to tell!"

Hintraya followed her master's words, only to be glared at fiercely by him:

"There's no need to learn this kind of thing!"

After saying that, he lowered his head slightly and whispered in Platinum's ear:

"You should still remember that, but don't say it to their faces next time. The Silver Spear Pegasus Knights are a group of knights with high principles and professional ethics. Saying it to them like that won't anger them. Instead, it will make them look at you with more respect. At the same time, it will also please the Business Federation and your superiors, making them feel that you are really working hard. Even if it's time to watch the video, you won't be afraid of being accused of going through a rebellious phase."

After saying that, he patted Bai Jin's head, looking like he was teaching her by example and hoping she would become successful, and said:

"Did you understand?"

“Understood!” Hinterlea nodded. Having just joined the Unarmored Alliance and been accepted as a disciple by the Platinum Lord, she naturally remembered every word he said. These were invaluable life experiences!

Although this experience seemed to be teaching her how to slack off? No, she must be mistaken. The Unarmored Alliance is the Night Guardians of Kazimir, a red line that restricts the mad noble knights. Every member of the Unarmored Alliance is an outstanding warrior who has been carefully selected, and the Platinum-ranked are the best of the best. How could such a person slack off? It's simply unimaginable what it would be like for a Platinum-ranked to slack off!

The knights of the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights exchanged glances, tacitly ignoring the interaction between the master and apprentice before them. One knight, clad in heavy armor, coldly stepped forward and said:

"Are you the only ones here?"

Platinum turned around, his face full of righteous indignation, and retorted:

"What? A Platinum-ranked member of the Unarmored Alliance, a disciple I personally taught, and ten elite Unarmored Alliance members—isn't that enough to deal with you? Don't think you're strong just because you're wearing thick clothes! Come at me all at once!"

Silver Spear Pegasus gasped and exchanged a glance.

"He's telling us to attack together? What do we do?"

"Should we all come at once? That's not a good idea. There are only a few of us. Three of us should be enough."

"Wouldn't it seem like we're bullying others if we all attacked together? Wouldn't it be against the code of chivalry for knights to bully the weak like this?"

Finally, it was Rem, the current captain of the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights, who stepped forward and came up with an idea:

"Normally, three of us would be enough, but today is different. The Grandmaster demands a swift and decisive victory, resolving the battle before the Commerce Federation can react. This is extremely urgent and allows no room for error. While chivalry dictates protecting the weak, from the moment we swore allegiance to the nation of Kazimierz, we resolved to sacrifice our own personal interests for this country! After this operation, I will personally apologize to the Grandmaster! So..."

A bead of cold sweat rolled down Platinum's face, his back already soaked with beads of perspiration. His pupils dilated, and he awkwardly but politely extended his hand to remind him:

"My lords, um, actually that's not what I meant..."

“No, I admire your courage!” Silver Spear Pegasus Lem drew his command sword, and the knights behind him quickly formed a standard charge formation within seconds. He stomped his foot, and the Pegasus knights behind him simultaneously slammed their lances into the ground. After two loud thuds of metal striking the ground, the knights, with perfect coordination, raised their lances, aiming at Grandmaster Platinum and the Unarmored Alliance. Lem said, “Under normal circumstances, if you were willing to leave the Unarmored Alliance, I might recommend you to the Grandmaster for the Knights of Conquest assessment if you challenged the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights like this. But these are extraordinary times, so I’m sorry, I must prioritize the mission. Please accept this lance, and let your courage be paved with the highest-level knightly charge!”

"No no no no no no—"

The Platinum Grandmaster nearly collapsed in shock. He almost blurted out that he was leaving the Unarmored Alliance and asking them to take him with him. But then he remembered that if he left, according to the Alliance's rules, he would surely be treated as a traitor and eliminated by the Azure Gold Grandmaster and even the legendary Black Iron Grandmaster. He swallowed his words back. He could only awkwardly take a step back, grab Hinterlea's hand, and toss her aside.

"Run! Hinterlea, promise me you'll learn your lesson and never take work seriously again!"

"Huh?" Before Hintelia could react, Platinum shoved her away, causing her to fall to the ground. As she realized what had just happened and tried to get up, a cold, clear light suddenly shone from behind her.

"Leave them to me. You can go now."

A strange voice came from behind. Hinterlea turned around and saw a blond, leather-clad office worker with a look of disgust on his face. Although his face was full of fatigue and impatience and he did not look strong, when he blocked the way for the Silver Spear Pegasus, the knights, who were said to never stop charging, stopped running for the first time.

“Marna”.

Hinterlea silently murmured the name. He was a member of a collateral branch of the Nearl family, and had vehemently opposed the current Nearl family's Long Rider, Margaret Nearl, participating in the Knights' Tournament. He disdained the tournament and even severely beat the tournament champion, known as the Radiant Knight, for it, demonstrating his formidable strength. Her master, Platinum, had once told him that if he received a mission to assassinate Marner, it meant the Unarmored Alliance wanted him to commit suicide; he should just find a place to bury himself.

I never expected him to appear here and even save the people of the Wuzhu Alliance.

Hinterlea looked at her master, who was being protected by Marna, and couldn't hide the surprise in her eyes.

Seemingly noticing the gaze of the Unarmored Alliance member lying to the side, Marna gave Hinterlea a cold glance, then shook her head without interest and explained:

"I saved you on someone's behalf. Someone doesn't want the Wuzhan Alliance to be destroyed so quickly."

He gave a cold laugh and said:

"This is not good news."

Having said that, he watched the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights walk past him and into the headquarters building of the Business Federation behind him, then turned around and said:

"Come with me. Don't even think about running away, you're too slow."

Platinum pursed his lips, his face showing no joy at surviving the ordeal. He quickly walked to Hinterlea's side, helped the Pegasus girl up, and made no mention of how he had just tricked Hinterlea into slacking off, his wolfish ambitions clearly exposed as an attempt to lead the innocent girl astray. Instead, he spoke in a hoarse voice, shamelessly:

"Go with him."

Hinterlea frowned, but was forced to nod, and asked worriedly, "Where are we going?"

Marna, seemingly having heard the words, replied from afar, "The Victorian Embassy."

Chapter Thirty-Five: Talking corpses? No. The dead must shut up—that's science!

Kazimir, Victoria Embassy.

Grand Master Russell, the Grand Knight Commander of the Overwatch Council, was awaiting a response from the embassy. Victoria had repatriated the Kazimierz ambassador to Victoria on the grounds that Victoria had been the victim of a shameless assassination attempt on the Prince of Wales by the Kazimierz government. But she was truly innocent. He couldn't say he was completely uninvolved in the Business Federation's decision; he was simply unaware of it.

The Commercial Union and the Oversight Council have always been at odds. As the Grand Knight Commander, she has resolutely rejected countless attempts at coercion and enticement from the Commercial Union. Russell knew nothing about the agreements the Commercial Union had reached with any of Victoria's Grand Dukes, or its connection to the recently infamous Deeppool Rebellion. But there was nothing she could do. Many key members of the official government of Kazimir—the National Assembly and the Oversight Council—were members of the Commercial Union. For an official to hire a group of unofficial assassins to assassinate a foreign dignitary—even if the Grand Knight Commander wanted to explain that these assassins weren't acting on Kazimir's behalf and hadn't received any instructions from him, who would believe her?

Even she herself didn't believe it. After all, even a fool could see that the person who attacked the Prince of Wales was Xuan Tie Dawei of the Wuzhou Alliance. It was impossible for him to make a move without getting enough benefits from the Business Federation.

We have to get an explanation from the Business Federation no matter what.

The Grand Knight Commander thought to himself, but at this point, it wasn't about who was right or wrong. Victoria had made her stance clear: Prince Wayne was now on the brink of death, and the most urgent task was to salvage relations between the two nations. Russell believed in Casimir's ability to fight as a knight, but she genuinely didn't think that if Victoria and Ursus joined forces, Casimir could pull off a "pacification of Dudu and suppression of Lu," achieving a second Miracle on the Vistula River. The difference in strength was simply too vast.

"Click—"

The embassy doors opened once more, and the Victoria guards at the entrance, armed with high-precision replica firearms, stepped aside to make way for Russell, allowing him access to the embassy's interior.

"The Ambassador wishes to see you, Your Excellency Grand Knight Commander."

"Thank you." Russell nodded with a dignified yet polite expression, gripped his handbag, straightened his expression, and stepped into the embassy.

In a double-doored room in the center of the second-floor corridor of the embassy, ​​the Grand Knight met the Victorian ambassador to Casimir. The ambassador was sitting behind his desk, stuffing clothes, toiletries, and other belongings into his suitcase, and greeted Russell as he did so.

"Long time no see, Grand Knight Commander. I never expected we would meet under these circumstances."

“Yes, Mr. Black, things are unpredictable.” Grand Knight Russell nodded, his face showing a hint of helplessness and emotion. He was quite familiar with Ambassador Black; both of them were not so traditional conservatives, with their own convictions and a deep concern about the direction of the times. However, they were not anti-intellectual in believing that the times were going astray, but rather they were trying their best to adapt to everything, attempting to understand and once again grasp the context of this stage of history.

Although they weren't exactly best friends, they were all familiar with each other's character, so when Victoria's news was announced, the Grand Knight immediately contacted the embassy.

“I didn’t intend to see you at first. The orders from above were very strict; they demanded an explanation from Kazimir. Londinium was in an uproar. You’ve gotten yourselves into a real mess, Grand Knight Commander.”

Blake paused what he was doing, picked up the thermos on the table, twisted off the cap to drink some water, but then suddenly remembered something, put the thermos down, and continued speaking.

"Actually, I really don't understand. What promises did you receive that made you dare to get involved with Victoria's affairs? Tell me, and I'll see if I'll be tempted too."

Russell gave a wry smile and shook his head: "How would I know? The Supervisory Council was kept in the dark about this from beginning to end—the Unarmored Alliance is under the jurisdiction of the Commercial Federation and was originally intended to deal with the Supervisory Council. Our informants couldn't infiltrate it at all. And this time, it was Xuan Tie himself who attacked His Highness. In all of Kazimir, how many people can track down the whereabouts of an assassin known for his assassinations?"

“You’re right, but someone has to take responsibility,” Blake sincerely advised. “In this kind of situation, I suggest you find someone to take the blame. For example, someone from the Business Federation or the Unarmored Alliance. Let them handle the mess they made.”

Russell nodded knowingly: "I've already arranged for someone to invite the directors back for tea at the Business Federation. Victoria will definitely be given an explanation for this, so, you see..."

“I can’t help.” Blake’s blunt refusal shattered Russell’s hopes. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help; he was simply powerless this time. “You probably don’t know what the Prince of Wales means in Victoria. His Highness is the late Emperor’s son, the rightful heir to the throne. Since the Queen’s accession, she has always shown him great respect, even handing over the scepter from the royal coronation suit to him, keeping only the crown for herself. And that’s just at the royal level. In terms of Victoria’s politics, economy, and culture, the Prince of Wales is even more crucial. The numerous reforms he spearheaded have significantly alleviated domestic social conflicts, his policies toward Colombia have brought Victoria a fortune, and the nationalization of enterprises was a stroke of genius.”

"He used the country's money to support the company, then used the company's money to revitalize the market, and then used the market to create jobs, provide medical security, social security and other benefits. He even indirectly solved the widely publicized problem of infected people through Rhine Life. The monthly drug rations and large-scale construction projects ensured that infected people had at least life and a job. It is said that he also plans to register infected people and establish a special medical insurance policy for them."

"In all of Victoria, apart from the nobles he has repeatedly purged, almost no one does not think highly of His Highness the Prince. Otherwise, why do you think that when Shenchi started this incident, although it seemed to cause a great uproar, Victoria was actually as stable as Mount Tai? Because no one wanted to rebel! Shenchi could not sway a single commoner except himself. They probably know that as long as His Highness the Prince is around, Victoria will not fall into chaos, which is why some people want to frame the Prince through assassination."

Blake sighed deeply: