Doctor, I'm really strong!

Given the current level of productivity of the community and the disregard for cost, the Balrog Project would take at least five years to succeed. Considering the mass production issues of various rare materials in Originium Technology, this would directly extend the timeline by more than ten times.

In other words, Project Balrog couldn't have been without a prior plan. Long ago, Columbia must have been conducting similar research, including human experiments and the Super Soldier program. It's just that they later discovered a better implantable material—Balrog Shards.

This thing is actually a branch of the Sarkaz race. The Balrog is a member of the demon race and is the one that best fits the world's understanding of the demon race.

Bathed in flames, with churning lava beneath its feet, this colossal creature, over 10 meters tall, possesses a fiery power capable of incinerating heaven and earth, capable of destroying cities and nations with a mere gesture.

There's definitely some exaggeration involved, but for the ancient nations of Terra, a Balrog of this level was clearly a weapon of destruction; you could think of it as a Colossus from the Valley of the Wind.

Now... do you know how tall mobile cities are? Putting aside everything else, the Type 59 land-based warship is 20 meters tall.

However, in the war to protect the continent of Terra, the Balrogs were almost wiped out, but some things still survived, such as their hybrid offspring (it is estimated that their method of inheritance did not necessarily have to be sexual reproduction, but direct power inheritance could also be possible), and the fragments of them that possessed great power.

Fragments of the Balrog can inherit its power; this is a legend from the Sarkaz, which now appears to be a historical fact.

In the context of modern warfare on Terra, the Balrog is a thing of the past, but in terms of individual combat power, it is still quite terrifying. Just imagine the terrifying scene of the entire map filled with little fire dragons that can automatically regenerate health, attack without cooldown, and have their third skill always active.

It's a terrifying thing for both the enemy and the teammates.

In other words, Columbia had already begun similar research before Rhine Lab was founded, possibly spanning more than a century. As for the Balrog Project, that was after they obtained the Balrog fragments. As for how many they obtained, and whether there were any other successful experimental subjects besides Ifrit, it is unclear. But as things stand, Ifrit is definitely the closest to success and the most valuable one, otherwise Columbia wouldn't be pursuing it so relentlessly.

However, if every use of power is equivalent to destroying a super soldier, the cost-effectiveness is really too low, which is unacceptable to the Colombian military. Even if it is a consumable, it should be used at least four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten times. It would be even better if it could be used a hundred times.

Ideally, the final act would be to reduce the victim to ashes, leaving no trace. This would not only save on post-mortem procedures but also avoid paying disability compensation and causing no trouble for the government—a win-win situation.

"As expected of the scum of America, they are all of the same ilk when it comes to being inhuman. We can't become like that. Let's send them over there, and while we're at it, let's inform Kal'tsit. She's very experienced in this area."

Section 321: The National Conditions Exist Here

(Ah, I'm sealed away, _('?`」∠)_)

In this world, there are always things you don't want to do, but you have to.

For example, attending meetings, and extracting useful information from a bunch of nonsense during meetings.

Liu Jiuli is now on this kind of turnaround. At the Terra Congress in Laterano City, representatives from various countries are giving impassioned speeches, full of nonsense, each one shining brightly, but in reality, they all reveal the same message: "You go first, I'll cover you."

Although everyone shares the same attitude on dealing with evil spirits, it is ultimately a pure expenditure with no benefits. If it weren't for the life-or-death situation, the enthusiasm of various countries would not be very high.

Bolivar, Colombia, Sami, Casimir, the Ursus Empire, the Community, the Eastern Kingdom, and the Yan Kingdom—these countries all have borders in the north, directly facing the threat of evil, and therefore they have been the most proactive.

The countries of Kjerag, Victoria, Letania, Syracuse, Rembiton, Iberia, Minos, and Sargon are somewhat adopting a wait-and-see attitude, but they will still help, the only question is how much.

The current dilemma for everyone is how much money to spend and how many people to send.

The Ursus Empire has already deployed 200,000 troops into Kazimir, making them the fastest to act. The Commonwealth, on the other hand, has been constantly expanding its territory northward, defeating the Demons and Sea Heirs without any dignity, so they don't care. Sami, however, faces the greatest pressure because the entire country is located in the northern part of Terra. Due to its latitude, resource production is a major problem, so it is heavily reliant on food imports. Columbia has provided considerable assistance in this regard, offering cheap or even free food, and reducing or waiving various food debts is also a basic practice.

After all, it was a gate at their own doorstep. Faced with a life-or-death decision, Colombia surprisingly acted like a human being.

Regarding the question of how much troops, money, and provisions other countries should contribute, border countries should naturally contribute as much as possible. We'll help you shoulder the burden, acting as a protective umbrella for you landlocked countries. You have to make sure you pay the full amount, otherwise it won't be fair.

However, non-border countries don't want to be ripped off. Landlocked countries like Victoria hope to pay as little as possible, ideally just a token amount. Although they know this is impossible, every penny saved is a penny earned. Their money doesn't grow on trees, and resisting evil is one of the duties of all Terrans. You can't convert your duty into a price.

However, directly tearing each other apart at the conference would obviously be discordant, so each country is putting on a show, that is, proving that they really have difficulties through various roundabout ways, or hoping to replace them with something they don't need. They are all calculating very carefully.

How boring, this kind of pointless meeting.

Then, Ling reached out and patted Liu Jiuli's shoulder, whispering, "It's your turn to speak now."

"What a waste of time."

Liu Jiuli straightened his Zhongshan suit slightly, then got up and walked to the podium.

All eyes were instantly focused on them, and even those who had been drowsy earlier became much more alert. Other countries naturally attached great importance to the Community, this emerging power on the continent of Terra. Every word spoken by their leaders was scrutinized under a magnifying glass, in case they might discover some earth-shattering secret.

This is the advantage of being a leader of a great power, provided you have the ability to manage such a great power.

After all, this is a large country. Even if it is governed by inaction, it still requires political wisdom. Do you know what "the highest good is like water, which benefits all things without striving" means? It's very difficult.

Liu Jiuli's gaze swept across the conference hall before he spoke seriously: "Gentlemen, we are here to exchange ideas, not to shirk responsibility. We are here to seek common ground, not to argue. This issue concerns the survival of the entire Terra continent and affects everyone present. There is a saying in my hometown, 'Good fortune is hard to give up,' and I know that none of you want to be taken advantage of."

"The problem is, the demons don't care about these things, and no one wants their homeland to become ruins under the demons' feet. We don't want to face our children's questions on some dark night, asking us, 'What were our predecessors doing when the demons invaded?' How would we answer? I hope everyone will think this through before speaking on stage."

"Finally, no matter how much money or food we raise, our community will not take a single penny, because we intend to turn the land of the demons into our territory. That concludes my statement."

Liu Jiuli turned and walked off the podium. The audience was silent. Then, representatives from various countries stood up and applauded, but the expressions on the faces of many countries were complicated.

Because the community already has the ability to carve out territory in the land of the demons, but they cannot leave.

Speaking of which, the community's extreme cold environment survival technology is at the forefront of all countries, and it has even begun to build ports, showing the pioneering spirit of the two great powers of Iberia and Victoria in the past. Liu Jiuli's speech was not about being a sucker, but rather he had the confidence to tell the whole world that our community can shoulder the responsibility.

"After this war against the demons ends, the Community will likely become the new overlord of Terra."

After the meeting, in the Ursus Empire representatives' lounge (which was actually a full-service hotel built around Terra Hall to facilitate the convening of meetings at any time), Speaker Witt said with concern.

"Speaker, the Empire is also implementing reforms. When that happens, we will certainly be no worse than the Community!"

Witt shook his head, his face clearly showing his difficulty.

Those within the family know their own situation. After His Majesty began his reforms, the nobles reacted very strongly. Even though His Majesty had ample reason to deal with the nobles who committed crimes, as long as it was not a serious crime like treason, the other nobles resolutely disagreed with sentencing them to death.

The principle of "nobility are above the law" is the foundation of the Ursus Empire. This land was won by military nobles with their blood and lives. My ancestors fought alongside the founding emperor to establish the empire, so why shouldn't I enjoy this privilege?

At this moment, Nikolai was incredibly envious of the community, because when Liu Jiuli hung these people on streetlights, there was never any obstruction.

Or rather, those obstacles have also become part of the streetlights, truly making it fast, convenient, and efficient.

He was also eager to learn, especially to test whether a nobleman's neck or the guillotine blade was harder.

But he was just thinking about it. Putting aside the fact that he couldn't make a big fuss in such a special time, even if such a reform led to a huge internal strife, he couldn't afford it at all. The Ursus Empire couldn't withstand such a huge upheaval.

Moreover, once the Ursus Empire falls into chaos, the proletariat will inevitably rise up to seize power. The community's largest base is the Far East region of the Ursus Empire. The Ursus people there have never stopped calling for the unification of Ursus and full integration into the community. And as time goes by and the community's overall national strength increases, their calls have long become a foregone conclusion.

Every country knows that the Ursus Empire cannot remain divided into two forever. After the disastrous defeat of the Eight-Nation Alliance, which couldn't even defeat the Community, the various countries are certainly unwilling to send troops to fight the Community again. Now, the Ursus Empire can only rely on itself.

The thought of the more than 1,000 land-based ships of the Community docked on the border between the Community and Ukraine made Nikolai furious.

Currently, within the community, the calls to liberate Ursus have disappeared, but that is the most terrifying thing.

This means that the people within the community have no doubt about the community's ability to liberate Ursus, but are simply looking forward to the community taking that crucial step. Presumably, the Ursus people within the community are already prepared for battle, and as soon as Liu Jiuli gives the order, the steel torrent will instantly engulf the entire Ursus Empire, sending all the privileged classes in this country to where they belong.

The nobility had the pleasure terrace of Louis XVI, while capitalists had streetlights. As the class welcoming the industrial age, they were entitled to die on more advanced industrial products.

Many people within the Ursus Empire are now fleeing abroad. Even though Nicholas has imposed a high asset transfer tax and deployed his internal guards to strictly enforce his policies, many people are still trying to escape, even if it means losing a large amount of their assets.

After all, running away would at most result in losing half of one's wealth, but not running away would mean losing both one's wealth and life.

Despite their resolute commitment to a complete revolution within the community, these people are still very clear about their future.

"It'll be soon, I estimate it will be soon."

Speaker Witte had a premonition that the steel torrent of the community was about to overflow the dam.

Colombian President Ofar shares the same concerns. If we're talking about countries in the world that dislike the Community, besides the Ursus Empire, it's Colombia, a country founded on capitalism. After all, according to the standards of the Community, a large portion of Colombia's upper and middle classes would have to report to the streetlights.

"We must take more proactive action."

"Your Excellency, I understand your meaning and your concerns, but the other city-states..."

"Damn it, at this moment I really wish I had the same power as Liu Jiuli."

Colombia's federal system... well, it should be called a confederation. Due to the unique nature of the mobile city-states, which combine political, economic, and military powers, and the fact that Colombian capitalists prefer small governments, Colombia's centralization is even worse than that of the United States. If Texas in the United States is merely clamoring for independence, then Colombia's mobile city-states could actually break away and become independent, and this has happened before in history.

History not only likes to repeat itself, but it also likes to pay homage to history.

We can use the United States and Colombia as examples here, and we will be surprised to find that Colombia is not as good as the United States in this respect.

Come to think of it, if North America and Asia had been connected by land back then, the United States would now be an inseparable part of China since ancient times, and there would only be one China in the world, so there would be no such thing as "one China and one America".

If the United States wants to confront the community, then it must improve its administrative efficiency. To improve its administrative efficiency, it must strengthen centralization. To strengthen centralization, it must suppress decentralization. To suppress decentralization, it must eliminate the capitalist forces in Congress that represent the various city-states. In other words, the United States is turning its knife against the very foundation of its nation.

Just thinking about it is exciting.

However, this is not wrong. For example, although the emperor is the largest landowner, he can reach an agreement with the common people on the issue of suppressing powerful families. This common interest is enough to transcend class.

Looking across the continent of Terra, Colombia is already considered a very advanced and powerful country, but its political level can only be compared to that of the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Based on President O'Fahr's current understanding of centralization, congratulations to Colombia! Your president has reached the level of the Song Dynasty in terms of political command. Let's give him a round of applause.

As I said before, compared to the vast history of China spanning five thousand years, your petty troubles are nothing.

It can also be translated as, "In the five thousand years of history, what kind of mess hasn't our great China encountered?"

That's the good thing about living a long life; you have a wealth of life experience. Just flipping through history books is full of experience. I recommend Columbia University read some books on the history of Yan Kingdom. After all, even this traitor inherited some remnants of a previous civilization.

Compared to the disastrous situation of the Ursus Empire and Columbia, Theresis was much more optimistic.

"I wish Theresa could do that too."

Therese admired and felt sorry for his sister. The distance between him and Liu Jiuli was the distance between a true idealist and a failed idealist.

As it turns out, it's more convincing to start large machinery and dig like crazy than to wave a stick and shout slogans.

Isn't that what attracts Patriots? No matter how well you speak or how great your character is, if you can't solve real-life problems, it's all just castles in the air. If Theresa had half of Liu Jiuli's achievements, the Kazdel Civil War would have ended in six months at most.

It would have to be under immense pressure on his own, but if Theresa could prove her excellence, Theresa wouldn't mind giving up on her own initiative.

They were fighting for the future of the Sarkaz, not for power, so that the Sarkaz would be slaughtered in a bloodbath.

"Manfred, the Community is almost complete in unifying Kazdel, isn't it?"

"Yes, Your Highness, Kazdel will be completely unified in six months at most."

Manfred sighed inwardly. On the one hand, he was delighted that his compatriots finally had a home to settle down in, but on the other hand, he lamented that the regent could not personally lead the Sarkaz to achieve all of this.

"There is no hatred or conflict between me and Liu Jiuli. I think we can have a good talk."

Chapter 322: The Demons' Counterattack

(A new character will be appearing soon, guess who it is! (～￣▽￣)～)

After three days of wrangling, or rather, after Liu Jiuli's speech, the countries were too embarrassed to continue making a fool of themselves, and finally reached a consensus on the issues of aid and troop deployment.

Colombia has contributed 50,000 troops, Victoria has contributed 50,000 troops, Sami has contributed 100,000 troops, and the Ursus Empire's 200,000-strong army has already arrived and is currently consolidating its defenses. Other countries that are too far away can simply contribute funds.

Do you think that's too little?

The main problem is that the demons' abilities are quite wicked. The troops sent out must be elite forces specifically designed to counter the demons; otherwise, they would just be food for the demons. No country has many of these elite troops. Moreover, the distance must be taken into account. Yan and Dong also contributed money, considering that the community is nearby and they can use the community's transportation system to transport the goods there.

It's no exaggeration to say that if these elite troops were all wiped out in Qazimir, the countries that sent troops would need at least five years to rebuild them. Therefore, there can be no mistakes in command. The command system is a joint command system composed of commanders from the countries that sent troops. Whether there will be multiple commands at that time is anyone's guess.

The community doesn't need to consider this issue at all, because the community mainly deploys air force and missiles.

For Liu Jiuli, the upgraded all-purpose factory can now directly produce medium- and long-range ballistic missiles. This military production system, completely independent of the national economic system, is managed by Yueying. This system spirit has become part of the community's powerful armed forces. Under her control, the new all-purpose factory has become an unmanned workshop. As long as a production order is given, weapons and ammunition will be produced in a continuous stream.