People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

The behemoth tea party might have to be upgraded to a behemoth banquet!

Filled with anticipation for the increasingly lively future of Sherag, Ya'er clapped her hands, about to order a couple more dishes to encourage the two children to eat more (even though the children might not be younger than her), when Xi, who had been silent beside Nian except for introducing herself, suddenly spoke up, her tone somewhat pessimistic:

"Can you really protect us?"

"[Age] is terrifying. My elder sister said that Sherag has three powerful beasts that can protect us, but why do I only see you?"

Before Xi could finish speaking, Nian, who was struggling with the cheese fondue, changed his expression, quickly put down his fork, and waved his hand, saying:

"Miss Ya'er, Xi didn't mean that. My sister is just socially awkward, the dumbest, and doesn't know how to talk. Please don't be angry—Xi, you are too, what are you saying!"

Xi pursed her lips. Of course she knew that Nian was speaking well of her, but she couldn't help but say it all out loud.

"I didn't mean to question you... I just..."

Ya'er interrupted softly:

"You just want to find some sense of security, right?"

She looked at Xi without a trace of anger at being suspected, only with understanding and a gentle smile.

Xi was slightly taken aback, turned her face away somewhat embarrassed, but still nodded.

She definitely lacks a sense of security.

As the youngest of the twelve talismans of the Holy Lord... cough cough, she is the twelfth-year-old in the film. She loves painting and can create mountains, rivers, and vast wildernesses in her paintings. However, this ability also reflects and fuels her aloof and socially anxious personality. She lives in seclusion in the Gray Qi Mountain outside Gouwu City. If she were to stay at home, she wouldn't step out of her painting for hundreds of years and wouldn't say a word to any human. If her older sister hadn't come knocking on her door and spilled a pot of wine on her painting, she wouldn't have been forcibly dragged here.

The distance between Shelag and Yan Kingdom is more than ten thousand miles, but even so, Xi could still feel the watchful gaze that felt like a thorn in her back. It was as if [Sui] was chasing after her like a shadow, ready to devour her if she relaxed even for a moment.

How can this be considered "peace of mind"?

Your sister said that there are three powerful behemoths guarding Sherag, and one of them is even stronger than a fully-formed [Sui]. This gave Xi a little bit of hope.

She knew that giant beasts had a strong sense of territory, and logically speaking, it was impossible for three giant beasts in Sherag to live in peace.

But she couldn't help but wonder, what if?

If it's true, then the nightmare that relentlessly haunts her, the one that makes her afraid to even close her eyes and dream, will finally cease to be her inner demon?

With this hope in mind, she met Yar, the behemoth who called herself "Yeragand".

But she only saw Yar and Jeragand.

This is not enough.

Xi couldn't help but ask: if Xielag truly didn't have three giant beasts, then why did her sister lie to her? She might as well have stayed in her thatched hut on Gray Mountain, waiting for [Sui] to awaken in her own little world. Why give her a glimmer of hope only to extinguish it later?

But when she actually asked the question and received Yeragand's calm, confident, and gentle smile and heartfelt answer, she felt somewhat ashamed.

Perhaps she really shouldn't have been so... blunt.

Fortunately, Ya'er didn't care about this at all.

He had met many insecure people, from small ones like Valerie, the owner of this café, to large ones like the Duke of Windermere, whom Ernst had met. She held considerable military power and guarded a region. Ernst said that if he were not included, Windermere alone could overthrow the entire Sherag, but she still had no sense of security when it came to her daughter.

But Sherag remains a place that gives people a sense of security, and Jeragand remains a [god] that gives people a sense of security.

Would you like to meet the other members of the tea party?

Ya'er smiled, her voice gentle and maternal, yet with a touch of playfulness.

"Judging by the time, if [Time Sequence] didn't fall asleep on the way, we should have arrived by now."

"jingle."

As if in response to Ya'er's words, the coffee shop door was pushed open by the wind as if by some supernatural event, but none of the customers found it strange.

Or rather, they all seemed to be frozen in time, stopping in their tracks as the gust of wind carried a pocket watch containing an envelope toward the seats where Ya'er, Nian, and Xi were.

"Do not be alarmed on New Year's Eve, for the [Time of Day] and [Sami] have arrived."

Even without Ya'er's prompting, Nian and Xi could sense the immense will contained within the two small objects on the table.

Especially that seemingly ordinary letter.

She had been a forger for years, but she couldn't immediately decipher the structure of the letter. It looked like a letter, it felt like a letter, but it was definitely not a simple letter.

Xi felt this even more deeply.

She could collect anything in her paintings, but she couldn't fit this letter inside.

The power contained in this letter has exceeded the limits that her small world can contain. If He had not actively contracted His power, and had tried to forcefully incorporate it into the painting, the world in the painting would have been directly torn apart by His true form in no time!

No... that's not the worst part.

Xi even had a feeling that if He were to be placed in the painting, the painting would probably no longer be "Xi's painting".

This does not even involve the power of the will within the envelope, but merely the difference in the level of power.

Noticing Xi's gaze, the will within the envelope seemed to glance at her, and that single glance was enough to send a chill down Xi's spine.

Fortunately, the will quickly shifted its gaze and posed a question to Ya'er:

"Yeragand, you...didn't fight?"

"No, we're all good kids, how could that be?"

[Sami] paused for a moment before continuing:

"In that case, there's nothing to worry about."

He looked at Nian and Xi again, his tone full of interest:

"Agent of the Year Beast, I have fought the strongest among you, and he is no match for me. I wonder how you are?"

"Hey hey, you beat big brother, so we're definitely no match for you either!"

Nian hurriedly said.

[Sami] also realized that her words were a bit abrupt and aggressive, so she softened them:

"If that's the case, then accept our protection with peace of mind. If the will of that beast can truly awaken, I don't mind fighting it."

Look, even his self-reference has changed from "I" to "I," suddenly he's putting on airs in front of his juniors.

Ya'er couldn't help but chuckle, but when her gaze fell on the pocket watch, she suddenly remembered something and asked:

"Speaking of which, [Time Sequence], haven't you also absorbed fragments before?"

The [Time Sequence] pocket watch, suddenly brought up, trembled slightly and reluctantly spoke:

"Yes."

He didn't want to get involved in this topic.

After all, everyone present was a behemoth. Having the same identity wasn't scary; the one who was weaker was the one who felt embarrassed. While He [Chronus] considered himself quite powerful, those present were either part of the infamous [Year], or incarnations of the super-behemoth [Sami], or at the very least, Yeragand, fighting on home soil. And He?

how to say......

Too lazy, maxed out all abilities and ran away. One stealth ability is enough to directly infiltrate another world.

Now that Sami is present, isn't it just asking for trouble by letting Him, who isn't very strong in combat, speak up?

But Yeragand clearly had no such concerns, and He asked directly:

"Do you know if there's any way to spit out the inhaled fragments?"

Why don't you ask if spilled water can be taken back?

[Time Sequence] means there are no eyes, otherwise I would definitely roll my eyes at Jeragand.

But Ya'er didn't care. After thinking about it seriously, she asked in return:

"Can't you?"

[Chronology] also considered his own powers and couldn't help but let out a "hey":

"I'm actually pretty good at it."

"So you have a solution?"

"Yelagand asked again. This time, Nian and Xi, who had been somewhat dazed, also came to their senses and cast eager glances at the pocket watch on the table.

A somewhat bewildered [Time Sequence] glanced around, not quite understanding why everyone was suddenly so concerned about this issue.

I'm guessing none of you here want to eat the pieces, right?

But He answered honestly:

"Theoretically speaking, it's actually impossible, because my fragments were voluntarily fused together because I was too lazy to be a hard-working slave to the Sarkaz anymore. The degree of fusion was very good, so they can't be separated."

Nian and Xi's expressions immediately darkened.

[Chronology] But then the tone shifted, and he added:

"However, this is a voluntary situation. If the consciousness generated by the [fragments] is not so willing to re-integrate, for example, if they want to fight for control of their consciousness, want to develop multiple personalities, or simply do not want to integrate... then separating them is not entirely impossible. But it cannot be too late."

"It's like throwing ice into water. The fragments and the main consciousness are essentially the same thing. The fragments are enveloped by the main consciousness, and they will eventually melt and merge. But before they melt and merge, they can still be retrieved. At least if I fully recover, I'm quite confident..."

The speaker paused abruptly, this time not because he didn't want to cause trouble or was lazy, but simply out of doubt.

He gazed at Nian, who had already picked up Xi and was spinning her around in the air in front of the entire café, and a great deal of confusion appeared on the small clock:

Why are those two kids suddenly so happy?

Kal'tsit, your thoughts are quite anthropomorphic, aren't they? (458th move)

Kazimir, the Grand Knight Commander of Kavaleria.

After the World Games, Ernst stayed in Casimir for a few more days.

He had a lot to arrange: the collaboration between Sherag and the Business Federation, his communication with Swire about the super IP "The Chronicles of Erzley," running around with Marna and Viviana, shuttling between the Supervisory Council and the Business Federation, helping them leave Casimir, and so on.

After finishing all these tasks, Ernst finally accomplished his main objective—

Hitchhiking on Rhodes Island's ship.

There was nothing they could do; Rhodes Island's treatment of infected individuals at Plot Zero was still ongoing.

Rhodes Island is already quite familiar with this model: setting up offices, distributing Oripathy inhibitors, recruiting and training operators from local infected individuals, then assigning experienced operators to mentor new ones in these offices, and finally attracting personnel by selling medicines and providing emergency medical assistance through these offices. This allows them to take on security, engineering contracting, and armed escort missions, ultimately achieving economic self-sufficiency for their offices.

In the past, even when they were in Longmen, they could handle these tasks with ease.

But in Kasimir, they did encounter some problems—the Business Federation and the Supervisory Council seemed to be a little too "enthusiastic."

Although the person who planned the "Four-City Meltdown" was a "journalist," and the root cause of the "Four-City Meltdown" incident was the long-term tug-of-war between the Business Federation and the Supervisory Council that led to the rise of ambitious individuals, the direct perpetrator who actually carried out the "Four-City Meltdown" was undoubtedly an infected person.

When the infected were trapped in the energy control room, the fate of the infected in Plot Zero was destined to be even worse.

No, it should be said that when those infected people decided to accept this mission, they had already "sacrificed" their fellow citizens on Plot Zero to fight for a way out for their own future.

They failed, they died, and that was the end of it all, but the infected who "voluntarily sacrificed" themselves on Plot Zero didn't fare so well. They faced belated retaliation from the Business Federation and the Oversight Council.

This is also why Ernst stayed in Kazimierz for a period of time.

Rhodes Island couldn't bear to leave these infected people behind. Although the Supervisory Council and the Business Federation considered it a "breeding ground for crime" that had to be eradicated immediately, Amiya believed that even in the mud, a pure white flower could bloom. Therefore, she resolutely stayed here, even at the cost of clashing with the "Unarmored Alliance Cleanup Team" sent by the Business Federation.

It is unwise for a single company to confront a nation.

Ernst couldn't just stand by and watch his building materials supplier and "the conscience of this land," little Amiya, fall here, so he had to step in again, bringing up the bill that was almost scrapped after a series of unexpected events—the "Infected Knights Participation Bill."

This bill was originally intended by the Business Federation to boost its own reputation, and it took them a lot of effort to persuade the Oversight Council not to vote against it. It's a real shame to waste it like this.

Ernst's question, "We can't just enact a law for a group of people who don't exist," is indeed worth considering by the Business Federation.

When you bestow favors, someone has to receive them. Even if it's just to gain reputation, you have to leave a group of infected people inactive for now, and only move them after you've gained enough reputation.

Out of self-interest, and also out of respect for Ernst, the Business Federation withdrew the Unarmored Alliance squad, allowing Rhodes Island to "identify" the infected population on its own before submitting the list to them.

This is certainly not a death list, but a survival list.

Only those infected individuals listed above can remain in Plot Zero and, under the upcoming "Infected Knight Competition Act," will enjoy the right to become "Infected Knights" as registered infected individuals.

As for the other infected individuals...

I'm sorry, you've been expelled from the Infected list. If you don't want to die, you'd better hurry up and get out of Tier Zero, out of the Grand Knights' Territory, and out of Kazimierz!

After receiving the news, Amiya felt a little sorry for Ernst and wanted to ask him for help again, but Kal'tsit stopped her.

"Ernst has done his best."

"Everything has a price."

The world is unfair. Even if an ordinary civilian committed such a heinous crime, nearly causing massive casualties, the Business Federation and the Supervisory Council would show no mercy. Let alone a group of infected people who were already disliked.

Certainly, a kind person like Amiya would ponder what drove the infected to this point. But the Kazimierz people wouldn't.