My wife is an immortal black snake.

How come you, Paul the snake-scaled one, are visiting Theresa with a little pony from the Creed?

"--grown ups."

"Forehead..."

Looking at the bewildered little pony standing in the ward, the little pony lying on the bed too afraid to look at them, and his own seemingly upright but actually somewhat uneasy snake-scaled Paul, Yang Hao scratched his head, indicating that everyone didn't need to be so reserved. He then led Sonia to sit down in a corner of the room.

"I thought Teresa would be bored lately, so I came to check on her. But now it seems it doesn't really matter whether I come or not," he said, rubbing his nose and sitting down in a chair with a smile.

Faced with Yang Hao's joke, the three people present all wore strange expressions. Teresa looked bewildered and slightly anxious, while her companion looked bewildered and somewhat amused. Paul didn't say anything, but judging from his strange expression, his inner thoughts were probably not much better.

Sonia's mother, who had come with Yang Hao, looked at Theresa with a scrutinizing expression.

Um...

Yang Hao originally thought the atmosphere would continue to be awkward.

But just as he was about to say something, suddenly, Theresa's companion opened his mouth and said:

"Although I don't know if it's appropriate to say this now, boss, an acquaintance of mine in Casimir suddenly told me that the Colombians have started to make moves in Casimir."

"what?"

Yang Hao was stunned.

...... ......

Even as Yang Hao was out, Koschie's daily workload showed no signs of decreasing. She handled all this heavy work alone, just so her husband could have some time to rest and relax.

But now, she felt she had to...bring him back. Because she had discovered something huge, something completely unexpected...something that was even forcing them to end the civil war as soon as possible, otherwise the future would be unimaginable, and all plans would be disrupted.

"Sure?"

"Yes, Lord Cosichè, Columbia has begun military suppression of Casimir... Their state government's army is approaching the border of Casimir, and there have even been border clashes in many places."

"A common tactic of the Colombians. I suspect there were quite a few Colombian civilian casualties in those border clashes, weren't there?" Seated on his throne, Duke Cosice smirked as he watched the Serpent Scales rush back from afar. "And then? How much do you know about the army's numbers?"

"No. We couldn't infiltrate their army... but we observed that Columbia, in addition to its own state government troops, also brought some prisoners from its prisons."

"Cheap cannon fodder. What else?"

“They might declare war on Kazimir in two months—given the intensity of their usual border skirmishes.”

"Alright then. You go back and rest first, I'll handle it."

"Yes."

Snake Scales left the audience hall. And just after Snake Scales left, Head Maid Monica appeared behind Duke Koschche with a serious expression.

"Lord Kosiché, should I inform Lord Yang Hao now?" she asked. She knew the seriousness of the matter, because neither Lord Kosiché's nor Lord Yang Hao's plans had anticipated that the Colombians would declare war on Casimir so quickly—and it was only July!

Even if Colombians started training soldiers in April of this year, it's impossible to turn a group of civilians into battlefield fighters in just three months, even including mercenaries. This is truly...unexpected.

Thinking about this, Monica shook her head, thinking that such an important matter would probably be better handled by Lord Yang Hao.

But unexpectedly, Kosiché did not intend to bring Yang Hao back immediately:

“No, he finally gets a chance to relax, I’ll wait for him to come back. But until then, Monica, prepare lunch for us in the reception room. I don’t think my dear and I will be able to rest from noon to this afternoon.” Her face was somewhat gloomy. “Besides, the progress of the war now depends on the speed at which His Majesty the Emperor advances… but even if she advances very quickly, it will still take a year or two to complete the long siege. Not to mention, Casimir’s army may not be able to withstand the Colombian invasion—if they are completely invaded by the Colombians within five months of the start of the war… then our plan will be completely ruined.”

"Yes."

Although Kosichä herself didn't believe the Kazimirs were so pathetic as to surrender after only three months of being declared war on, ever since her husband used his wealth to persuade Creed, one of Kazimir's most elite commercial spies, to defect... well...

She even doubted whether her previous judgment had been wrong. After all, Kazimir's current situation was quite unusual.

They had an army, a skilled and powerful army, a formidable force known as the "Conquering Knights"—but their numbers in Kazimierz were dwindling.

In their place came the "Arena Knights," reeking of money's corruption. The disparity in strength between Conqueror Knights and Arena Knights was as vast as the difference between an actor on stage and a trained soldier—though this varied depending on individual skill, it was true in most cases.

Not to mention that Casimir is still a country with slavery. Capital, slavery, and a "race" saturated with the stench of money. These three factors could directly lead to the complete collapse of the Casimirians in the face of a Colombian invasion. Knights fighting bravely on the front lines to defend their homeland, while capitalist corporations in the rear betray the country for profit—Kosice has seen this kind of thing far too often.

Even so... the Casimirs should be able to hold out for six months to a year after declaring war on Colombia, right? Just as Duke Kosiché was pondering this, another Serpent Scale who barged into the audience hall interrupted her thoughts, along with the maid's hesitant yet suggestive words.

"Sir! You should take a look at this!"

They both looked up at the serpent-scaled man, who was holding a piece of intelligence. Monica paused for a moment, then immediately took the intelligence and handed it to Duke Koschche.

Kosiché frowned as he examined the intelligence report in his hand—it seemed to be about the civil war at the Sherlock Holmes nightclub, but no matter what happened, his Serpent Scales shouldn't be this agitated.

In the end what happened?

She looked at the words above, puzzled.

"The nobles of the Sherlock Holmes nightclub have begun to create large numbers of soldiers from the corpses of commoners, and His Majesty's army is already blocked by countless corpses."

Then, she crushed the sturdy love letter in her hand.

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

Koschke thought she had seen everything. She had seen kings and generals sacrifice tens of thousands of people for a grand goal, and she had also seen princesses and princes sacrifice their own relatives to protect their people.

But the scene of killing one's own people for a civil war that is destined to fail, and then using their corpses to make countless soldiers just so that one's pleasure will not end so quickly.

She really had never seen it.

I was even incredibly angry about this.

"I even thought that no matter how crazy they were, they wouldn't go so far as to kill all their own people..."

The intelligence report that Koschche crushed contained details of the actions of a nobleman at the Sherlock Holmes nightclub.

Generally speaking, that was the count who was closest to His Majesty the Emperor's main force.

He killed almost all the people in his territory, turned their corpses into fighting units that resembled living corpses, and sent them directly to the front lines to die, leaving not a single one to protect him.

Koschke's Scales was also incredibly confused at the time—after all, logically speaking, if you did it to save your own life, it would make some sense. But you weren't doing it to save your own life, or even to resist His Majesty the Emperor's invasion, yet you simply killed your own people and turned them into soldiers to send out—what was your purpose?

Even if it's to delay the army's advance, you should be running now, not feasting in the banquet hall!

They couldn't understand what was happening, and even the Serpent Scales themselves couldn't suppress their rage. The Serpent Scales killed the defenseless Earl and burned every part of his body until not even ashes remained. But even that couldn't change the fact—the fact that in an earldom with a population of perhaps 30, more than 25 people had been killed.

"...this?"

Monica, after observing from the sidelines, was also stunned. She truly couldn't understand the thinking of those madmen, and more importantly, why didn't the people show any sign of resistance when faced with such annihilation...?

Monica looked at the snake scales still kneeling on the ground not far away, hoping that the snake scales could provide a reasonable explanation.

Facing the third head maid in the entire Dukedom of Koschie, besides Lord Koschie and Lord Yang Hao, who had the authority to give them full orders, Snake Scale did not hesitate and told them everything she knew:

"The city's control tower possessed a flesh-and-blood structure similar to that of the Nikolai Duchy's city control tower, but compared to the Nikolai Duchy's control tower, that count's control tower appeared to be more sophisticated. Under the influence of that flesh-and-blood structure... it seemed that the people living in that area would gradually lose control of their bodies and become bloodthirsty, beginning to have the urge to cannibalize others."

"...Huh? This..."

"And they would be unable to refuse the orders of the flesh-and-blood building's owner. They would squat on both sides of the street like beasts waiting to be slaughtered, waiting for death. In order to kill them as quickly as possible, the count even modified a kind of wagon, adding saber-like structures to the sides of the wagon... As the wagon moved, the people on both sides would die. Then some deformed mutants would use some kind of Originium Arts to turn the corpses into living soldiers... We don't know the rest, that's all the information we have."

"Didn't you find any information in the count's room?"

“Head Maid, no. The count even chewed up his pen and ate it—his room was so clean that not only was there no paper, but even the wax on the wooden floor was licked clean.”

"...I've spoken with Lord Kosiché. Now, please go back and get some rest."

...The head maid, on behalf of the already furious Lord Koschke, sent the snake scales back to rest.

After this group of snake scales left, Head Maid Monica gently patted Lady Koschei on the shoulder, indicating that she should go to the reception room to rest for a while. Knowing that she did indeed need some time to calm down, Koschei agreed to her suggestion without hesitation.

A few minutes later, in a secluded meeting room within the audience hall.

"...Monica, please help me get my darling back as soon as possible—I think we need to resolve this issue quickly and reach a conclusion. As soon as possible."

"Yes."

Sitting on the sofa, sipping ice water to calm his mind, Koschke gave Monica this order. After receiving the order, Monica disappeared from the meeting room—she was only going to inform Yang Hao to return early, so her trip was quick.

Naturally, Koschei wasn't worried about how she would get another glass of ice water after finishing it. Right now, she really needed cold drinks, really needed these icy liquids to calm herself down—after all, the aristocrats at the Sherlock Holmes nightclub were just too much!

She could accept the motive of those nobles killing their own people to satisfy their appetites, and she could also accept that they sold out their people to survive, forcing them to face the tracks of the landship with their own flesh and blood.

However, the immortal black serpents could not accept this action—that they killed all their people just for fun, without even a purpose, and then sent the soldiers they created out like paper flowers to be thrown into a fire.

In some ways, even the Originium Bugs are more thoughtful than these nobles! At least the bugs know that they eat to survive, but what about them?

Have they gone so far as to lick wood wax and eat fountain pens? These people are risking their lives; what are they doing all this for?

Watch for fun?

Black Snake felt an extraordinary headache coming on... really. She used to think she had lived for over a thousand years, what hadn't she seen?

But reality dealt her a harsh blow: there were really many situations she had never seen before.

"We need to end the civil war as soon as possible... darling."

She murmured to herself.

If the civil war is not ended soon, the Ursus Empire will face not only the major issue of losing the opportunity to turn Kazimir into a puppet, but also the serious matter of losing the opportunity to turn Kazimir into a puppet.

More importantly, it may face the most devastating population crisis in its history, triggered by its own aristocracy.

If the civil war isn't ended soon, the nobles of the Sherlock Holmes nightclub are absolutely capable of killing all their subjects and turning them into puppets.

This is no longer something that can be empathized with from a biological perspective.

They have become something even stranger.

so...

"...Please. We really have to end this war."

She sighed. While feeling utterly exhausted, she was also grateful that she now had someone she could rely on.

Chapter 55

When Yang Hao rushed back, it was already past 11 a.m. on the 25th.

Sonia followed, along with Paul. However, Yang Hao didn't let them into the reception room. Instead, he told them to wait in the audience hall before rushing into the secret reception room within the audience hall:

"Koschche! I heard—"

"Yes, just like Monica told you."

Sitting on the sofa, Duke Kosiché stared grimly at the crushed newsletter on the table before her. Behind her, Monica, the head maid with an equally gloomy expression, nodded, helped Lord Yang Hao undress, and wiped the sweat from his face with a cool, damp towel before serving him a drink to calm him down.

After Yang Hao calmed down by drinking water, Koschche slowly said:

“It seems we can’t keep waiting any longer… my dear. It’s not just about the Kazimierz situation, but also those scum from the Sherlock Holmes nightclub… we have to deal with them before they kill more civilians—after all, once they start, they’ll start again.”

"The first earl set an example, and the rest of the nobles will follow suit..."

Yang Hao put down his water glass and shook his head: "But we don't have enough military strength... Now that His Majesty the Emperor's main force is also restricted, what should we do?"

"...I really can't think of many other solutions. So I can only rely on you."

"This seems to be the first time Kosichek has been so blunt about relying on me."

He made a small joke to try to ease the awkward atmosphere in the meeting room, and then, a moment later, Koschke, who got up and sat down next to him, gently flicked his cheek with his tail.

He innocently rubbed his cheek, which had just been slapped, while Head Maid Monica thoughtfully brought them more cold drinks to calm them down. They sipped their drinks, lost in thought, and after a moment—

Yang Hao sighed.

“We need more troops. But the speed and quality of training soldiers in the Duchy of Kosiché is not satisfactory right now.”

"That's right..."

This is a harsh reality. Even with Yang Hao's previous government reforms and economic reforms, and even after stealing several landships from the Duchy of Nikolai along with their equipment and factories, the situation remains the same.

After all, how should I put it? The Duchy of Kosiché is like a giant still in its development stage. Yang Hao prioritized developing its left leg, the aspect of people's livelihood, while temporarily setting aside its right leg, the military aspect. This has allowed the Duchy of Kosiché's economic recovery to far surpass that of other provinces, but it has also essentially left the territory's military development completely stagnant, much like it was a few years ago.

Yang Hao had originally planned to slowly develop his military over the next year or two before the civil war began. However, after all the events caused by Kazimir and the nobles of the Sherlock Holmes nightclub... he no longer had time to wait. He had to resolve this civil war as quickly as possible, otherwise Ursus would face not just a simple problem of population decline—but a much more brutal problem: a severe shortage of people.

Even if he wanted to speed things up, Yang Hao didn't have any way to do so right now. Training soldiers took time, producing equipment took time, and gathering resources took time. Besides hiring mercenaries, how else could he quickly improve his military strength? Although Yang Hao wasn't opposed to using political points to recruit temporary mercenaries from the [Resolution],... recruiting was one thing, but the cheap mercenaries were useless, and the expensive ones were unaffordable. He was pleasing neither side, and Yang Hao couldn't employ them long-term—what was he to do?

Are there no good mercenaries to hire in the real world? Yang Hao racked his brains, thinking hard, and then in the next instant—

"...Kosiché, I want to ask...about mercenaries?"

"Mercenaries? Where are you going to find mercenaries in Ursus right now? Wait...?"

"We can't find mercenaries in our country... but aren't there plenty abroad?"

He remembered—[Kazdel's Sarkaz Mercenaries]...this inexplicable resolution, and it wasn't using political points, but rather exchanging ordinary territory resources for mercenaries.

What are their data?

Yang Hao quickly checked the mercenaries' data. Kosch and Monica exchanged a glance and then quietly waited for Yang Hao's decision.

During Yang Hao's inspection, the Sarkaz mercenaries were found to be a highly skilled group adept at localized strategic deployments. While they might not be a match for regular armies in a full-blown direct conflict (as the Kazdel region is currently extremely poor, resulting in only average equipment and capabilities for their troops), they were still a trustworthy force for localized conflicts or for infiltrating larger armies for strategic coordination.