People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

He has yet to reveal that trump card.

That wasn't the great god Yeragand, who was preparing to summon the pivot of heaven in Laterano; that was a tactic of diplomacy followed by force, not his trump card.

The trump card is one that can instantly turn the tide of battle, not one that leads to mutual destruction.

His trump card is aimed at the "King of Carrion Eaters".

The King of the Carrion had long ago made a pact with another "mysterious figure." When the Military Council was defeated in the war, in order to give the Carrion a place to live in the future Terra, their chief, Nezre, would allow Kaleza to lead the Carrion's army to flee to Sami, drink from the "Unfrozen Spring," and become a line of defense against evil!

This mysterious figure, needless to say, is none other than the ancestral father—the deity Sami.

Londinium, Victoria.

The cold wind, not belonging to the core Central Valley, swept across the war-torn wilderness of Victoria, across the battlefields where the warring parties fought bloody battles, and across the "Kazdale City Bomb," a trump card of the scavengers, lingering in the distance.

The wind stopped here, stopping in front of the sharply sculpted, angular "Erafia Man".

The frost in the "man's" eyes slowly dissipated, and beneath his feet, a mobile city had transformed into a sculpture within a toy ice crystal ball.

Sami exhaled a breath of frigid air that seemed to freeze everything. He raised his hand, and the clouds gathered, the temperature plummeted, and snowflakes began to fall one by one over Lentinium at the end of December.

Snowflakes brought a message: the giant beast, Sami, has come to fulfill its promise.

Chapter 872 Wellington: It was just a joke. I've ordered, you can do as you please.

The Victorians lived in a very comfortable environment.

They were situated in the central valley of Terra, a region truly fertile and ideal for the development and growth of civilizations. They had few rivals; the only one who could have challenged them was the Gauls, who opened three instances of their civilization at once, failed to defeat them, and have since deleted their accounts. The Victorians monopolized this region, nurturing a powerful nation that could be considered a hegemon.

But their way of life is also very fragile.

Unlike Ursus, who had to eat potatoes while digging in barren land, and guard against the demons in the north, or Iberia, who had to be on high alert every day due to the threat of the Sea King, and whose mental state was so tense that they were almost neurotic, or Great Yan, who had to fight on two fronts at the same time and also deal with the traditional internal strife of the Yan Kingdom.

Overall, Victoria's life was relatively uneventful. At least for this generation of Victorians, the most intense war they could recall was the Four Nations War.

But the war didn't even reach Victoria's territory; the Four Kingdoms War was fought in Gaul and Letania, and Victoria merely sent troops to participate.

This gave them a fantastical illusion.

They felt that they could leverage their powerful national strength to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over any part of Terra without worrying about trouble.

In Ernst's view, this illusion is absurd, but it is the truth. If a country has not encountered any foreign invasion for hundreds of years and can still point fingers at other countries, it is bound to become arrogant.

Isn't Ernst's previous life's "beacon of democracy" a perfect example? —∠

The difference is that the United States truly has two great ocean barriers: the Pacific and the Atlantic, and beyond that, the iron wall of America! So most countries really can't do anything about it.

But Victoria was different; it had the American disease but not the American life.

Even after Ernst promoted the establishment of the World Summit, which strengthened the ties between the nations of the world, their illness showed no signs of improvement.

The Duke of Caesars believed that the affairs of Victoria were only a matter for the country of Victoria. Her calculations, at most, only considered the impact of the Wellington Rebellion on Victoria, but she failed to realize that Victoria was now firmly bound to this land.

To put it nicely, this is a lack of international perspective; to put it bluntly, it's a narrow-minded approach.

Victoria is not the world; there are countless Victorias in the world. If Wellington's rebellion is so easily overlooked, it will set a bad precedent for the entire world.

Tara was indeed cruelly exploited by Victoria, but Ernst had to “maintain order” before he could uphold justice!

Therefore, this matter was destined not to be simply skipped over with a mere agreement, as Kester had imagined.

Are you worried that the Sarkaz problem hasn't been resolved yet?

It's okay, I've taken care of it for you.

Sami has long coveted the scavengers' fighting prowess. Unlike the Cyclopes who once also inhabited the far north, the scavengers are truly formidable fighters, and fearless in the face of death! Rather than watching them fight to the death with the Victorians, it's better to put them in a more suitable place for "labor reformation"!

[Sami] Of course he knew that the Victorians would definitely have objections to this matter, but just as the Duke of Caesar didn't care about the life or death of the Tara people, [Sami] didn't care about the Victorians' thoughts either.

The contract was signed by Him and the carrion eaters. He gave face and helped the Vitishus Dorians get rid of a sorcery bomb. He has already done more than enough. What more could you want?

Since you believe in might makes right and think that the bigger the fist, the more justified you are, then you can try to choose which is more "appropriate" to offend Wellington, the scavengers, or the Sami.

Since they are unwilling to believe in your compassion, then you should make them fear your power!

Duke of Caesar clearly did not expect Ernst to resort to such underhanded tactics.

Not only was she surprised, but even the unicorn Clovisia, who came with Ernst, was shocked when she saw the snow suddenly falling from the sky.

In the sequence of "abnormal beings," the immortals can only sit at the children's table.

The behemoths possess power, and their lords know some of the legacy and technology of ancient civilizations. But what about the immortals? Apart from being more difficult to kill, the immortals are not particularly special.

Even immortals like the Black Serpent are considered quite capable. However, Emperor Fyodor of Ursus still assigns special personnel to monitor all immortals throughout Ursus.

Do you see him monitoring the behemoths?

On this land, only the Great Yan has the courage and ability to monitor giant beasts. Because they have actually killed them, regardless of how they were killed, just say whether they killed them or not.

Sami's arrival was not entirely Ernst's arrangement, but Ernst also hoped to use this opportunity to explain this principle to Victoria:

Stop focusing on your own little corner of the world with your eyes closed. Open your eyes and look at the world.

The Kazdel Military Council alone nearly routed Victoria. There are quite a few organizations or individuals on this land that are on par with the Kazdel Military Council!

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It's no use if she doesn't accept it.

If you want to be reasonable, then standing behind Ernst now is the Protector-General Unicorn, who acts on behalf of the "Emperor's will," and four of the eight dukes. Even if it were a vote, with the Duke of Fife dead and Wellington betraying him, if four out of six people vote in favor, then Ernst would have absolutely no chance of winning.

But if you're talking about fists...

Sami is right here, and He is going to take away the carrion eaters. Who can stop Him?

Or are you now trying to withstand the pressure from four dukes and the scrutiny of the World's Summit to forge an "evil alliance" with Wellington?

That's awesome! You should try it.

At this point, everything seemed to have settled down. The next step was to wait for the Grand Dukes to gather and discuss the sanctions against the Duke of Wellington.

However, plans can never keep up with changes.

Just as Ernst had finalized the deal, and before the several teams that were fighting the carrion eaters and Wellington's troops had even had a chance to withdraw to their own lines, Victoria received another explosive message!

The Duke of Wellington, who had just been displaying his might and unleashing a fierce attack on the Victorians, suddenly made a mistake that everyone makes—he died.

"That's the way it is."

The man in the grey top hat, responsible for relaying intelligence, knelt on one knee and reported to Kester, Ernst, and all the representatives present.

"The Duke of Wellington collapsed suddenly after commanding the bombardment and was confirmed dead by the ship's doctor on the HMS Gastrill."

"So who's in charge of the Gastrill now? Abrahina?"

Defien couldn't help but ask.

What's going on here? Wellington was AFK for most of the Londinium War, and then suddenly popped up in the final stage. Everyone thought he was there to steal the credit, but he just popped up and wiped out the enemy with one shot. What's there to say?

That one shot hit friendly forces, but it killed him instantly.

Defiance's personality was more like her father's, but even so, she couldn't help but channel the "Duke of Windermere" at this moment, and couldn't help but mutter: 8

"*Victoria swore*, is he joking?"

Throughout history, there has never been anyone who turned against his own side on the battlefield, fired a single shot, and then lay dead!

No, since you're going to die anyway, what are you trying to achieve by doing this? Are you trying to ruin your reputation in your later years?

When asked, the man in the grey top hat couldn't answer Daphne's question; he could only report back in detail:

"On the Gastrill, the person in charge now is [Lavshine]."

Ernst, who was still pondering what kind of abstract operation Wellington was up to, looked up in surprise upon hearing this.

what?

My little stove?

"Miss Lafsini also sent this."

The expression beneath the grey top hat was particularly strange. He pulled a pink envelope from his pocket, stood up, and handed it to Ernst.

Ernst took the envelope, glanced at it somewhat awkwardly, and then opened it.

The letter headline prominently displays a line of large characters.

The Instrument of Surrender!

Hey, what's with all this talk about cannons? We were just joking around. I've made my selection, you can do whatever you want.

Chapter 873 Abrahana Arrives on the Island

Ernst thought a popular internet meme from his past life was quite apt:

The world is like a giant Cainiao Station, where some people bring small items, some bring large items, and some don't even have a code.

It turns out people can actually laugh when they're speechless. He's like a Chu Yunfei-like character trying to suppress a laugh, looking at the "Surrender Letter" in his hand, his lips are practically curling upwards, he's just short of saying:

"You always manage to come up with something new!"

To be fair, Ernst felt that "I can also be a little cunning in manipulating people's hearts!" When he negotiated with Theresis, Theresa, and even Priscilla, he never felt like "What is this situation? I don't understand it at all?" Only when communicating with the Victorians has his CPU overheated several times.

I'm suddenly a little envious of Kal'tsit. Being able to just "ho" and enjoy a good night's sleep isn't such a bad thing!

As for what the letter of surrender said, Ernst felt that his thought process was really hard to keep up with the Duke of Wellington.

What's the point of firing a shot?

At the risk of ruining his reputation, he wanted to demonstrate Tara's military strength, intimidate the Victorians, and then die a natural death and immediately surrender, so as to prevent the World Summit from using this as an excuse and to prevent Victoria from holding the Tara people accountable for these things.

Theoretically, this would indeed work. After all, it was the Duke of Wellington who ordered the bombardment, and the troops below were merely carrying out orders. Now that the Duke of Wellington is dead, the other grand dukes have lost their most direct reason for wanting to eliminate his troops.

After all, the Duke of Wellington's forces weren't entirely composed of Tara people; there were also quite a few Victorians. Moreover, if such a force, along with a high-speed warship like the Gastrill, were unclaimed, the other Victorian dukes would certainly prefer to devour it rather than destroy it.

But to be honest, doing so is really unnecessary.

After all, the Duke of Wellington was alive, and all these things belonged to him. He could naturally use them to protect Tara and slowly seek independence, so why would he need to fight to the death like this?

Unless he knew he was going to die and couldn't wait for the day when he could take things slowly, he had no choice but to take such a quick and easy approach, hoping to take advantage of his status as the Iron Duke and use this betrayal, which was enough to "turn the tide of the war," to "deter" other Victorian nobles.

Regardless, this sudden surrender has clearly shaken the consensus that Victoria had just reached.

Ernst was unable to make a decision immediately.

The others have already surrendered, and the main culprit, the Duke of Wellington, is already dead. Killing those who surrender is an omen of bad luck. There are so many Victorians, and besides professional soldiers, quite a few were forcibly conscripted. You can't just refuse to let them return to their homeland, can you?

These ordinary people didn't genuinely intend to betray their country; they were merely being manipulated by the "ruthless Duke of Wellington."

This is similar to Ernst's approach to the Military Committee issue. There were so many Sarkaz that they couldn't all be killed, so the right approach was to execute only the ringleader Theresis and treat the rest leniently.

Moreover, Ernst had to consider another factor—the person now leading Wellington's remnants was Lavshini.

Their own little stove ran off to Wellington's camp; this search

Wellington himself had always worked with Abrahim, and Lafshinie almost never appeared in public, to the point that everyone, including Ernst, believed that the Duke of Wellington had no direct relative to succeed him, and that his successor must be Abrahim, the red dragon tyrant of Tara.

As for Rafishini, she had to avoid causing trouble for Abrahana as much as possible. So much so that she ended up in Sherag.

No one expected that Abrahana would suddenly disappear, and in her place, Rafishini would take the lead.

What kind of trick is this now? A substitution?

Ernst decided it was best not to associate with the Victorians anymore. He considered himself quite capable, but trying to outsmart an entire nation was a bit too much of a stretch, especially since everyone in that nation was as cunning as a hornet's nest. You really couldn't predict where they would spit out the breath you blew in.

Ernst felt that Wellington might be trying to test his mentality, which was why he sent Raphsini, who was close to Ernst, to replace Abrahana and hand over the surrender document.

Of course, there is another possibility that this surrender document was Rafishini's own idea, but the possibility of that is probably... unlikely.

Ernst rubbed his temples.

Well, it's really hard to say!

After all, this is Victoria, what kind of abstract operation can't they do?

I can’t tell the difference, I really can’t tell the difference!

Who knows what those Victorian cats/dragons/deer were thinking!

Left with no other choice, Ernst had to temporarily disband the meeting.

Everyone's in a bit of a panic. Go back and rest, clear your head.

Ernst naturally returned to his home ship on Rhodes Island.

Kal'tsit led almost the entire management team of the ship out and ended up sacrificing themselves for Little T. Now, the ship is temporarily under the management of Kal'tsit's apprentice, Aya, and Warfarin, who was temporarily transferred from Kerrig.

When Ernst returned, Theresa hadn't yet released the people from the airship. Rhodes Island was still anxiously awaiting news. As soon as he boarded the ship, he was met with Warfarin's questions: