People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

Theresa was not the first person to propose this ideal, but she was the first to let Ascalon know about this idea, leading her onto this path and taking the first step.

She left very early, so early that Ascalon was once lost on this path and could not find any hope.

But now, she has found direction again, found a new guide, and watched him go quite a distance.

From a closed snow-capped mountain to an open snowfield, from a makeshift organization to a central figure on the international political stage, from a backward district comparable to Kazdel to the gradually prosperous Tukarim, she watched him achieve this, listened to his story, witnessed the country's transformation, and personally interacted with the changed people. Finally, she confirmed her thoughts.

Although there have been changes, although it is no longer the Sarkaz implementing it, and although there are still many doubts in her heart, she is certain that this is the continuation of that ideal in reality, and she loves this ideal enough. Therefore, even if Theresa changes and makes corrections, she will not change with her.

Because she has a new object of admiration, not some substitute. As Kal'tsit said, this would be a desecration of both Theresa and him. Idealists who die halfway through their lives, and those who strive to turn their ideals into reality, cannot be described as substitutes.

Even though Ascalon couldn't yet name this idea, she would follow Ernst as long as he didn't change his mind. Moreover, she firmly believed that one day she would fully understand what Theresa and Ernst were thinking.

That day will come.

So, it's time to make peace with the past.

Ascalon plunged the hidden blade in his hand.

There was no sensation of being pierced by flesh, nor was there any spurting of blood.

The hidden blade pierced a wisp of black mist. Though called mist, it was exceptionally solid, possessing its own volume upon impact, and even emitted a sound!

"Traitor, step back!"

"You who stand in the way of our revenge, the Sarkaz are ashamed of you!"

Ascalon's figure dissipated, only to re-emerge a short distance away, his eyes filled with astonishment and doubt.

"Is this a dead soul?"

She had spent the end of her childhood in Kazdel and worked for several years in the Military Council, the governing body of Kazdel. She knew a little about what the dead souls eternally burning in the Soul Forge looked like.

Why are there dead souls on the Sarkaz airship?

She already found it strange that Ernst hadn't leaked the airship technology, so where did the Sarkaz get the technology and time to build an airship like the Sherag?

Now it seems that this is not a thing at all. Could this airship be...?

A bold guess popped into Aska Balun's mind. Without hesitation, she raised her hand and stabbed to the side. (Part Two)

A crack was cut into the wall of the airship, but the interior was not filled with mechanical pipes; it was solid.

This thing isn't a mechanical structure at all; it's a giant furnace. It doesn't have a central control room; the dead souls are its control terminals!

Without hesitation, Ascalon picked up the communicator and immediately sent a retreat signal.

The three of them still have a chance to sabotage the sophisticated airship control system; after all, the more sophisticated the machinery, the easier it is to break.

But this thing is a shell controlled by a large undead spirit, so neither she, Logos, nor Misery has the ability to dismantle it.

This powerful undead spirit is comparable in strength to the Lord of the Royal Court, and its resilience far surpasses that of an ordinary Lord of the Royal Court!

Compared to it, even a Ducart is fragile! Even if it really explodes, it can still split into three smaller ones, making it impossible to kill them all!

The three of them don't have time to waste. Once Theresis returns, along with the dead souls, it's very likely that none of them will be able to escape.

This discovery is enough!

Ascalon glanced one last time at the ready-to-fight Manfred, then shattered the glass of the outer wall, leaped into the air, and turned into mist.

Manfred's expression remained serious.

The undead spirit warned, "Kid, she's gone."

“I know.” Manfred nodded, glancing at the window where Ascalon had left, and sighed softly.

"Aren't you happy to be alive? Why don't you just die and come join us!"

“No need for that.” Manfred waved his hand, indicating that the dead soul didn’t need to pay attention to him. “Let me stand here for a while.”

He felt a mixture of relief and wistfulness.

Ascalon has changed, and she's become better; she seems to have finally found what she's been looking for.

Unfortunately, that thing didn't allow her to return to Kazdel.

Incidentally, the threat of death had just passed, and his legs were still a little numb.

Ascaren beat him so much in the past that he developed PTSD. His plan to overcome the trauma of bullying has failed again.

Chapter 569 Scored twice

Kjerag, the venue for the World Summit.

The spacious hall was resplendent with gold; all preparations were complete, and all the hard work was about to bear fruit. Representatives from various countries had gathered here, and the first World Summit would officially convene tomorrow, February 28th, 1095 in the Terran calendar.

Ernst and Vina arrived at the venue ahead of time. At Ernst's instruction, the venue for the World Summit was designed in many ways similar to the United Nations General Assembly Hall: the overhead view showed a fan-shaped hall structure, the front row of seats were for the delegations of each member state, and each country had a table and microphone to facilitate speaking and discussion.

Because Terra has fewer member states, each member state's area is more spacious than a UN seat, providing ample space for representatives or delegations to sit and discuss matters.

Here, I must specifically mention the Ursus Empire; they played a significant role in the integration of the nations of Terra. If it weren't for their expansion and annexation, Terra would likely have had many more small states like Kerrigan.

Following the member states in the front row are the locations of the various independent city-states, international organizations, and agencies under the World Summit.

While independent city-states are not so common in Terra today, some still exist as a major component of the nation.

For example, Siesta's mayor, Herman, affiliated Siesta with Colombia in order to secure Colombian protection in various fields, particularly independence in the three major areas of diplomacy, administration, and economy. And indeed, at least so far, Colombia has not directly interfered in Siesta's affairs. When introducing various countries and factions, the Terra Geographic Atlas often lists the coastal city of Siesta as an "independent city-state."

Similar to it is Dosoles in Bolívar, also known as the "City of Two Suns". Dosoles is a coastal resort city in Bolívar, independent of the Singas dynasty, the coalition government and the real Bolívar people. Its position is similar to that of Siesta.

However, due to the long-term civil war in Bolívar, the Singas dynasty, the coalition government, and the true Bolívar people have failed to truly unify Bolívar. Therefore, although Dosoles, the "black heart of Bolívar," has never claimed to be an "independent city-state," it does indeed possess a completely independent administrative system. Mayor Candela Sánchez has even stated that Dosoles belongs to the whole of Bolívar and not to any "part of Bolívar," and has always maintained relatively independent diplomatic power.

With none of the three factions in Bolivar having gained an absolute advantage, and it seemingly impossible for them to elect a representative like Victoria had done in the short term, Ernst rejected Dosoles's application to participate in the Universal Summit on behalf of Bolivar, but approved Dosoles's application to participate as a "city-state power".

Bolivar and Ernst have not yet received any news of their participation in the World Summit. They are also one of the few countries that have not yet established a diplomatic mission in Sheraq. If nothing unexpected happens, they will likely be absent from this World Summit.

As for international organizations on par with independent city-states, such as the World Summit's subordinate agencies, that's easy to understand.

The Terra International Human Rights Council, represented by Hermer, falls into this category, as do several other organizations Ernst plans to establish in the future, such as the "Terra International Health Organization" and the "Terra Sakaz Affairs Committee," etc.

The biggest difference between these international organizations and those sitting in the last row who only have the right to listen and have no right to speak without a special invitation is whether they are "official".

Organizations like the Presbyterian Church of Mount Rhodes, Rhodes Island, and Blacksteel International are naturally not official. They may be invited to participate in international summits and speak, but if no country invites them, they are not qualified.

That's why you're not qualified, you're not qualified.

There is a lot of room for maneuver here. Ernst also knows that rules are rigid, but people are flexible. He specially opened up this area and naturally informed all countries in advance.

Everyone agrees, and the reason is simple.

There are some things that are not easy to say, even in the capacity of a nation or even in an "official" capacity.

At this time, these large corporations invited to speak are the best mouthpieces, able to put forward proposals that may not be so pleasant to hear or may damage their image, but are indeed useful, for countries to vote on.

Some people may find this troublesome, but in the end, doesn't the final vote also show our attitude?

But in fact, there are differences, and they are significant.

After all, the risks involved in making a statement and taking actual action are naturally different.

At the very tip of this fan-shaped conference hall is the podium.

A large lectern is set up for leaders and representatives from various countries to speak. Behind the lectern hangs a dedicated large screen to display the proposals submitted by various countries, show the voting results, and play some videos. On both sides of the large screen, the flags of the World Summit and the flags of the speaking countries are projected, so that those who are prone to dozing off at the meeting can at least see which country is speaking at a glance when they wake up.

Yes, this was Nasti's suggestion. It is said that the inspiration came from an annual meeting of Rhine Life: when Seria was on stage seriously summarizing the past year's development, analyzing industry trends, studying new-era scientific research methods, and giving all employees a pep talk, Christensen encountered this situation.

She fell asleep.

Then I was woken up by Saria.

Feeling a bit groggy after waking up, I instinctively stood up and started to walk outside.

Then she was stopped by Seria.

After regaining her senses, she was given a speech and then pushed onto the stage by Seria to deliver it.

But Christensen didn't even look at the speech prepared by Saria. After walking onto the stage, she stared at the audience for a few seconds in silence, and then said into the microphone:

"The meeting is dismissed!"

Ernst could imagine how dark Seria's face must have been at that moment.

And Christensen is really tough.

Emotionally, Ernst didn't think such a blunder could happen at an event like the World Summit, but rationally he told him it wasn't entirely impossible.

Who knows, Colombia might elect a vice president who's taking a nap someday?

Hopefully, this thing will actually come in handy someday.

After checking the summit venue one last time and confirming that there were no problems, Ernst breathed a long sigh of relief and patted Vina on the shoulder:

"Thanks for your hard work."

"Not at all."

Vina shook her head and smiled.

"I feel full of energy."

"In the past two days, I've seen more important figures than in the previous twenty years combined. The Queen of Letania, the Grand Knight Commander of Casimir, the Grand Commandant of Yan, and our acquaintances: my aunt, Duke Kast, Miss Ning of Yan, and Mr. Dario of Iberia."

"I am delighted to meet these people as the host of this event."

Vina uttered many familiar names; they had all once been high and mighty. Vina knew them, but they might not have known Vina, especially after King Aslan was hanged and deposed. Vina had thought she would never have the chance to come into contact with these people again in her life.

In the past, she probably would never have imagined that one day she would shake hands with them as equals, say "welcome" to them, and receive a smile, whether sincere or insincere, as someone who was not "the heir to the Victorian throne."

In this world, some people seek fame, some seek profit, and Vina is the greedy Aslan. She is very mature and wants everything. This respect, this recognition, these things she has earned with her own hands, can ignite the pride in her bones.

But if she had to choose one thing, she felt that she probably wouldn't have any other choice.

"Ernst?"

Vina suddenly called out.

Ernst, standing next to her, turned his head and asked, "What's wrong? Is something amiss?"

Vina opened her arms to Ernst as a gesture.

Ernst coughed. "We're working now."

“But I didn’t call you Prime Minister just now, and you still responded.”

Vina gave a sly smile.

"That means you also think we can take a break now, right?"

Ernst: ""

I'm just used to you calling me that.

Ever since Ernst's last visit, Vina has become bolder. Recently, whenever the two of them go out alone, Vina always makes sure to hug at least one of them before letting Ernst leave.

Ernst really wanted to say that this was wrong. During regular working hours, we decent people don't do things that have nothing to do with work.

But Vina was very determined; to be honest, she took the initiative, and Ernst was indeed somewhat unable to resist.

"Besides, don't you think so?"

Vina looked up at the hall, which was illuminated by soft lighting.

"Here, in this sacred place, the fruit of our sweat and hard work, if we don't do this, it's like coming to Sherag without visiting Silverheart Lake, going to Laterano without eating dessert, or visiting Kazimierz without watching the Knights' Tournament—we'll feel a sense of regret that our mission is not accomplished."

What kind of strange sense of mission is this? Why do you have this inexplicable sense of mission?

Ens/Transfer Group: He gave Vina a helpless look, with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

There's absolutely nothing I can do about her.

Ernst opened his arms and tried to hug Vina, but unsurprisingly, he was instead hugged by the arms.

There was no way to fight back, after all, the opponent was a lion, and I didn't have the divine power of Enya.

After trying to reassure himself, Ernst silently felt the girl's warmth until the doors of the venue were opened again.

"Ernst, Ernst, Holheimia said you're here."

Some excited voices rang out and then stopped abruptly. Vina opened her eyes, looked at Defiance standing in the doorway, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, it's Daphne. What's up?"

"Did I come at the wrong time again?"

Dai Feien's voice lowered, and she pouted, asking with a hint of grievance.

Why did she say "again"?