Doctor Amnesiac, but not completely amnesiac

"What else can we do if you don't agree? Miss Aledai is in such a situation now. At least she can be absolutely safe if she stays with us!"

"But I'll have to take it to the battlefield when the time comes!"

"Not everyone has to go to the battlefield. Leaving a few people to protect her doesn't mean the others can't complete their mission! Those nobles asked us to go out in full force just to wear down our armor. In fact, the entire Knights Order wasn't needed for those missions."

"All right!"

Charles roared.

The three of them fell silent.

"I know you all have a lot of concerns, and I also know that Qiao Yelan can't completely believe it yet - but he is right about one thing, that is, Aledai's current situation is definitely not optimistic."

"So this time is different from when we just came back. At that time, we kept Aledae away from us to avoid being liquidated. Now it has been proven that the nobles do not have the courage to liquidate us and only dare to slowly grind us down. So, keeping Aledae with us can better guarantee her safety."

The three of them nodded slightly.

"Tomorrow, the man said he would bring Miss Aledai here. That is the best proof to test whether his words are sincere. If he is really the former friend of the head of the group, then Miss Aledai must know him and will be quite close to him. On the contrary, if he is a speculator who uses coercion and inducement to persuade Miss Aledai, then we must be prepared to snatch Miss Aledai away by force."

Charles relied on his amazing wisdom to come up with a perfect way to verify it.

The captains all nodded in admiration.

"Let's all get ready."

The three of them left one after another, and Charles just looked at the closed door and sighed softly.

"I hope...you are not that kind of person, Mr. Qiao Yelan."

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The next day, Charles finally put his heart back in his stomach when he saw Aledae holding Qiao Yelan's hand tightly and looking at him with a mixture of desire, admiration and timidity.

There is no doubt that any discerning person can see that little Aledai really trusts Qiao Yelan, and subconsciously wants to hide behind the man - unless she trusts a familiar elder, it is impossible for a girl to do such a thing.

Mr. Qiao Yelan is indeed an old friend of His Excellency the Captain!

Charles showed what was probably the most genuine and sincere smile he had seen in the past few years, and walked up to greet Qiao Yelan and Aledae.

"Welcome to the Steam Knights' station, Miss Aleda, Mr. Qiao Yelan."

"Thank you for meeting me, Mr. Charles."

Qiao Yelan nodded in thanks, then turned around kindly and squeezed the girl's hand.

"Little Alede, don't be impolite."

The girl then stumbled as she bowed to Charles.

"Thank you for meeting me, Mr. Charles."

"Oh, well, little Allardy is very good."

The old man smiled and wanted to touch Aledae's little head, but the girl dodged and ran behind Qiao Yelan.

Hmm? Why is there a sound of something cracking?

Qiao Yelan looked at Charles, who was standing stiffly in place, with pity.

"Mr. Charles? Are you okay?"

"Okay? Ok, yes, I'm fine."

The current leader of the Steam Knights said with sadness.

"Alede, this is the leader of the Steam Knights, and your father's former subordinate, Sir Charles Lynch. Come on, call him Uncle Lynch."

"Uncle Charles."

Charles corrected righteously.

"Hello, Uncle Lynch."

Allarday greeted nicely.

Hmm? Why did I hear the sound of something cracking again?

Chapter 123: The Taken Away Foundation

It was not until Charles brought Aledea to the steam armor warehouse that had been strictly preserved that the girl let go of Qiao Yelan's hand for the first time and looked at the armor with fascination.

"Mr. Charles."

Qiao Yelan called out softly and then made a gesture.

Charles nodded, and he and Qiao Yelan quietly retreated a little and came to a more secluded corner.

"I need to apologize to you, Mr. Qiao Yelan. I never fully trusted you until today when you brought Miss Aledai here."

"I understand your fear, Mr. Charles. After all, in such an environment, you are accustomed to questioning others first. This is your way of protecting yourself and your subordinates, and it is also your freedom."

Qiao Yelan just waved his hand.

"Trust is always a gradual process. I won't lose my temper with you over such a small matter."

"Thank you for your generosity - we can now discuss the employment contract."

"What do you need? Compared to gold pounds, I believe that you need real materials and manpower more. Similarly, your acquisition channels cannot compare with the Tower of Babel."

Charles nodded. He had raised the price so high before because he thought that the Steam Knights were having trouble purchasing. Many things had to be purchased on the black market, so the price was naturally not comparable to the normal market price.

——Until now, poor Charles still feels that the price he offered was a little too high.

So Qiao Yelan didn't mind reducing costs a little bit.

After all, providing materials directly is much cheaper than providing funds.

"What we need urgently now is steam armor, a complete set, spare parts, everything."

"I regret to inform you that all factories and production lines related to steam armor production in the entire city of Londinium have disappeared - including the workers."

Qiao Yelan expressed his powerlessness in this regard.

"I can probably only buy some from collectors, but I'm sure you understand that this won't solve any problems."

Charles sighed.

He said this only because he still had a bit of luck in his mind. He thought that with Qiao Yelan's network of connections, he could still find some ways to meet the steam knights' demand for replacing their armor.

However, Qiao Yelan's answer was within his expectations. Those nobles were always ruthless in their actions, so he was not too disappointed.

"In that case, I hope to hire some former steam craftsmen through you. I have a list of names here, but I was too tight on funds before, so I couldn't afford to pay their wages, so I haven't done it yet."

Charles took out an envelope from his arms, poured out a stack of letter papers from it, and handed one of them to Qiao Yelan.

"These people were once responsible for the maintenance of armor, or they were craftsmen who produced certain easily worn parts. The Steam Knights' base has some machine tools. Although they cannot produce complete steam armor, they can produce many key parts."

Qiao Yelan took the somewhat old piece of letter paper, looked at the name on it, and nodded.

“I will do my best - these people will be hired in the name of Babel Tower, but with the strictness of the nobles guarding you, I am afraid that they cannot stay secretly in your base, and the transportation of production materials is also a dammit.

He thought for a while.

"How about this? I will arrange for them to go to a factory of Babel Tower in Victoria, and then find a way to transport the machine tools in your base. This way, every time you go on a mission, you can go through there. It will be much less noticeable than producing directly in the base."

Charles hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed.

After all, it is not a complete production line. Even if it is taken away by Qiao Yelan, only some parts are produced. They cannot get the real core steam technology - because the Steam Knights don’t know where this thing is now.

And just as Qiao Yelan said, settling this group of people and transporting the production raw materials are both big problems. Given the nature of those nobles, it is estimated that as soon as the Knights go out on a mission, they will rush in and confiscate the house.

"Other than that?"

"Other than that...it seems like there's nothing missing?"

Charles thought about it carefully and realized that he had really patched up the entire Knights Templar in the past few years.

"Where's the food?"

"I grew them myself. The soilless cultivation technology in the mobile city is all over the place. I pulled out some light tubes and racks and made a few of them myself in the underground warehouse - there is a chicken farm next to it."

"What about power consumption?"

"A thermal power station - after all, it uses high-pressure steam. Those nobles want us to go out, so we have enough supplies for this."

Qiao Yelan:?

"What about weapons and ammunition?"

"Armor is enough - but you're right, in order to reduce the wear and tear of the armor, you do need some additional weapons."

Charles was also aware of some minor problems.

"Forget it, keep these things you earned on your own for now. After all, they are just for supporting your family. In fact, they are not enough for your daily training."

Qiao Yelan already understood the current situation of the Steam Knights - apart from the steam armor, their life in Londinium has been put on track.

Charles, the housekeeper, is really good at what she does.

"So... Miss Allarday, how do we do it?"

"Don't let her go back - there are only spies and assassins in that mansion. It's much safer to stay here than anywhere else."

"But what if the nobles..."

"The nobles don't have the guts to break off relations with you, otherwise why would they resort to such inefficient means to wear you down? Or are you planning to hand over Aledae after they say a few words?"

"Bullshit."

Charles scoffed.

"I'm just worried that something might happen with the council - we need to obey the council's orders."

"Don't worry. Even though the nobles control the parliament and boss you around, they will use all other means to take Aledae away. But they will never, ever do this in the name of the parliament."

Qiao Yelan gave a cold smile.

"why?"

"Because of Aledae's identity - she is the current Grand Duke of Cumberland. She is also a genuine aristocrat, and one of the top aristocrats."

Charles still had a puzzled expression.

Qiao Yelan had no choice but to continue explaining in detail.

"Once the nobles take Aledae away from you in the name of Parliament, it means that the decision of Parliament can override the will of a Grand Duke. That is trampling on the entire aristocracy. They finally hanged the king above them. How can they find a new master at this time?"

"I see."

At this point, Charles suddenly realized.

Indeed, the nobles would not allow such an organization to exist - so they could never start one themselves.

And if they want to intervene and take Alledhe away without going through Parliament - then Charles will have to have a good talk with them about the temperature of high-pressure steam.

"Like I said yesterday, as long as the Steam Knights exist, and as long as the number of knights is enough to intimidate the nobles, Aledae will be safest here with you."

Qiao Yelan said in a low voice.

Charles nodded gently, sweeping away the last bit of self-destructive thoughts of waiting for death from his mind.

In fact, it was not just him. Other Steam Knights had more or less similar thoughts - the king they were loyal to was dead, the superiors they were loyal to were dead, and the country they were loyal to was actually dead.

It’s not that no one has left the ranks of the Steam Knights, and Earl White Wolf, who once fought alongside them and served as the King’s sword and shield, simply remained silent and left Londinium.

The remaining people are either holding their breath or are so confused that they don't know where to go.

They still carried out the orders of Parliament, fighting in the most dangerous areas and the worst environments of Victoria, against the most dangerous enemies - even if their armor became cages and their swords turned into curses, they still carried out the orders with difficulty and stubbornness.

They no longer care about life or death.

This was true for Charles, the three captains, and the knights who stayed and fought until now.

Apart from the now ridiculous slogan "Fight for Victoria", they had nothing.

So Qiao Yelan intentionally gave them a reason to live.

"Alede herself said that she hopes to become a man like her father, and she really aspires to become a steam knight. I will spare no effort to support her. I can get her potions, funds, equipment... everything she needs."

"But you have to promise me, Charles Lynch, Master of the Knights, that you will train her to be a knight."

Qiao Yelan stared at Charles.

"I assure you, Mr. Qiao Yelan."

The man solemnly performed a knight's salute.