Doctor, I'm really strong!

Liu Jiuli: "Does being like this all along necessarily mean it's right? Can't it be changed? Long, long ago, there was no difference between humans and beasts, but in the end, humans created civilization, drove out the beasts, and dominated the world. Our civilization will continue to move forward and challenge one unknown territory after another. In this process, I believe there is one thing that has never changed, and that is everyone's deep-seated yearning for a better life."

Koschke: "So?"

Liu Jiuli drew a circle with his hand: "We have always been on the road to pursuing perfection, hoping that this world can be like our dream. Countless idealists take that step, whether right or wrong, slowly but firmly changing the whole world. We can never draw a complete circle, but we can infinitely approach that limit. As long as tomorrow is just a little bit better than yesterday, the future is worth looking forward to."

Kosiché narrowed his eyes slightly. He read something in Liu Jiuli's eyes, something he knew all too well: faith.

This man, whom even God fears, possesses a faith stronger than his own, and he firmly believes that this path is achievable and that he is on the path to realizing his faith.

But that's not the scariest thing. Kosiché's intuition tells him that Liu Jiuli may have actually seen such a world, or a similar world, a world that he described as imperfect but constantly striving for perfection.

Does such a world really exist? Does such a country really exist? Apart from religious myths and scriptures, Koschke could not find any existence in his memory that matched up. If such a possibility really exists in the world, then its existence must represent a miracle.

Kosiché couldn't help but ask, "Even if you can't see it?"

Liu Jiuli smiled slightly: "Humanity's greatest creation is the inheritance of faith."

Kosiché fell silent, recalling something from the past, something Peter had said when he was still a stable boy.

"If I could become a nobleman, I would make sure everyone has their own horse, and then they can pull a sled and live freely on this snowy plain!"

The boy's dream was so simple, but when he was able to do it, everything else became insignificant.

Luxurious palaces, vast cities, powerful armies, lavish banquets—the young grooms were gone, replaced by Peter I, Emperor of the Ursus Empire, hailed as the most groundbreaking monarch in the history of the Ursus Empire, the great founding emperor.

The boy's dream was once so beautiful, but in the end, what he left the world was an aggressive Ursus Empire, a barbaric army so large that it frightened the surrounding countries, and seven million Ursus people who sacrificed their lives for his empire.

When he came to power, the total population of the Ursus Empire was only 30 million. When he died, the country's population was less than 27 million, a net loss of 3 million people. Three million strong and healthy young men directly led to the Ursus Empire rarely waging war against other countries for more than a century after his death. That was truly the most un-Ursusian page in the history of the Ursus people.

Admittedly, his greatness is still celebrated today, but people of that era do not remember him.

The dragon-slaying hero becomes the dragon, and the dragon was originally the dragon-slaying hero.

Through historical images reflecting the present, even the most ancient deities cannot be certain whether the young man before them is a true dragon slayer or a new evil dragon gradually growing scales.

But now...

Kosic raised his glass to Liu Jiuli and said, "A salute to you, idealist."

Chapter 90: In the Name of Steel

After dinner, Black Snake arranged a guest room for Alexei, while he and Liu Jiuli still had things to discuss.

Kosic asked bluntly, "Why did you bring the Crown Prince here?"

Liu Jiuli asked with amusement, "You don't know?"

Kosiché rolled his eyes. "I have no idea what you're thinking."

Liu Jiuli snapped his fingers: "It's nothing, I just felt that you would accept him, and then a lot of interesting things would happen."

Kosiché frowned: "That's it?"

Liu Jiuli: "What else are you expecting?"

Kosich: "So you never cared about whether the Crown Prince would cooperate with me from the beginning, right?"

Liu Jiuli shrugged: "I just brought him here to take a look. If you don't like it, I don't mind taking him away. At least I won't kill him before he does something stupid."

Kosiché: "Because of sympathy?"

Liu Jiuli shook his head: "Because he shouldn't have died in the first place."

Kosichek: "I understand. If he deserves to die, you won't hesitate to do it, right?"

Liu Jiuli smiled, then changed the subject: "Do you want some?"

Kosiché said meaningfully, "Normally, I am the neutral Duke Kosiché."

Liu Jiuli didn't say anything, he just watched Kosichek perform.

After realizing that Liu Jiuli had no reaction, Kosiché could only smile wryly and say, "You've come to me like this, it wouldn't be right for me to refuse."

Liu Jiuli: "Are you just here for fun, or are you really doing this for Ursus?"

Kosiche's lips curled up slightly: "I love this land, but along with love, one should also have some personal hobbies."

Liu Jiuli chuckled and snorted, "Even if this hobby involves rivers of blood, you'd still be happy to indulge in it."

Kosiché tapped his temple and said, "You know a lot about Ursus, but there's something different about it. You're quite the oddball."

Liu Jiuli: "You can guess all you want. If you guess right, I'll admit defeat."

"You've really handed me an interesting card; it's the most interesting card I've ever played."

Kosiché's face was beaming with interest, like a child who had just acquired a favorite toy.

That evening, Liu Jiuli left the Duke's mansion in Kosiché and flew towards Chernobog.

On the way, Yueying asked, puzzled, "Why give the eldest prince to Kosiché? If we have him, wouldn't that be like holding a powerful claim?"

Liu Jiuli: "That's true, but I don't need that kind of forceful claim."

Moon Shadow: "Because it doesn't align with your principles?"

Liu Jiuli: "If one day, a completely different country is to emerge on the land of Ursus, then that country will have absolutely no connection with royalty or nobility."

Moonshadow: "I understand, you want... that's difficult."

Liu Jiuli laughed and said, "I can't help it, I just want to give it a try, whether I succeed or not."

The next morning, Liu Jiuli, upon returning to Chernobog, convened an internal meeting of the Red Guards, primarily to discuss the direction of their future work.

"The Ursus Empire can't afford to worry about us in the short term, so we need to focus on development. The stronger we are, the easier our work will be and the fewer difficulties we will encounter in the future."

Everyone present was eager to know what was going on, but no one spoke up, and those who were qualified to speak wouldn't ask now.

One of the key topics of this meeting was to change Chernobog's name.

"Why change your name?" Broken Bones asked, filled with doubt and curiosity.

Liu Jiuli: "Because this is a brand new beginning, we want to use a new name to reshape this city."

The crowd exchanged glances, then Patriot asked, "What's the new name?"

Liu Jiuli smiled slightly and uttered four words: "Iron Gorilla".

Steel, one of the most widely used and toughest metals, is the foundation of one of the greatest inventions in human history.

Patriot nodded; he approved of the name, very Ursus-esque.

The Ursus executives present all showed expressions of approval. A few, though not entirely understanding, didn't see it as a matter that required bargaining, so they followed suit and agreed.

From that day forward, Chernobog became history, and Steelgrad stood tall on the earth.

The subsequent meeting content was basically the same old stuff: talent development, economic policies, military expansion and preparedness, and so on.

Why do we still need to expand our military and prepare for war?

Only those with a sharp sword in hand can look forward to peace, and this is especially true for peace between nations. Just as you are driving on the road, you know you are clear-headed, but you cannot guarantee that other drivers around you are equally clear-headed.

What followed was a series of administrative reforms, which were basically enhancements on the existing foundation. Anyone could see that the Red Guards had begun to possess state functions; they were essentially a state within a state of the Ursus Empire.

The same system was naturally applied by Liu Jiuli to Longmen's Future Technology Company, which operated under the guise of a company but did national business and possessed national-level power.

It's just one final push away.

The Red Guards, Future Tech, and Rhodes Island form the current triad structure. However, Future Tech is subordinate to the Red Guards, while Rhodes Island is an ally. But given their current close relationship, they could easily be considered family. In fact, Rhodes Island's representatives were even given the privilege of being seated directly at the meeting.

After the meeting ended, Talulah stood up, wanting to have a detailed talk with Liu Jiuli. Kal'tsit had the same idea, but they were both a step too late, and Ling approached Liu Jiuli first.

"Jiuli, I need to talk to you."

"Is it urgent? If not, I need to go and inspect the construction progress of the new reactor."

The Originium reactor leak that occurred in Chernobog gave Liu Jiuli a very direct understanding of the instability of Originium technology. As a result, he asked Kroos and a group of researchers who could use it to come up with the latest version of the stable Originium reactor.

Price is not an issue, but stability is absolutely essential!

The name Chernobyl was already considered unlucky, and now that it has a new name, the shadow of the past remains. We hope that one day we won't experience a Chernobyl-level surprise, or that would be disastrous.

The Soviet Union was so vast, yet Irongrad was just one city.

Ling said solemnly, "It's very important, do it immediately!"

"Okay, let's go to the office."

Ling followed Liu Jiuli to his office. After closing the door, Liu Jiuli asked, "What is it?"

"Have you come into contact with those things?!"

Ling's voice was filled with anxiety and worry, and he raised his voice several octaves.

This puzzled Liu Jiuli: "What contact?"

If we're talking about truly taboo beings, all I've done lately is become close with Black Serpent. Would an enemy I could easily kill be considered a threat? Or has Ling discovered some hidden Black Serpent conspiracy?

Ling stepped forward, placed both hands on Liu Jiuli's shoulders, and loudly questioned, "First it was Jie, then it was you! Is that path really that attractive?! It's just a few pages of paper, and you yourselves don't even know what it is! Why? Why!"

Liu Jiuli was silent for a moment before replying, "Although you are a riddle teller, I should know that you think I know something I shouldn't know. Jie, um, what did she do?"

Ling gritted his teeth, slowly lowered his head, then withdrew his arms, turned around, and said in a somewhat suppressed voice, "She once wanted to overthrow the Yan Kingdom."

Section 91: Reaching for the Forbidden One

Subverting state power is a serious crime no matter where it is committed, and Liu Jiuli was greatly surprised.

I never expected Jie to have such a revolutionary idea. You can't judge a book by its cover... Wait, I've never met her, so I don't know what she looks like. Never mind then (lies down).

According to the event's storyline, Jie is already in the KIA state, having passed away. His second brother, whom he had never met, who cut himself into minced meat to use as a chess piece, has fallen into a state of depression because of this incident and has obvious self-destructive tendencies.

Incidentally, as fragments of the year, the names of the twelve brothers and sisters were all chosen by Jie.

This shows that Jie was a very thoughtful person. Such a person may seem ordinary on the surface, but one day he might suddenly make a big news story that will make the news.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Jiuli asked, "Why did Jie do this?"

"Because of a book, or rather, not just because of that book."

Ling's expression was very complicated. As the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day. Trying to change a person with just one book is no less difficult than getting Miki to control her sphincter muscles. But if all sorts of problems had already accumulated before that, then when a spark happens to land on the powder keg, an explosion is just a matter of moments.

Liu Jiuli: "Could you explain in detail? I'm completely confused right now."

After much hesitation, he finally nodded and told a story that no one else knew.