Rhode Island Park Project

"How can this be?"

“Could it be fake news?”

"This matter still needs to be carefully confirmed!"

After a period of silence, the conference room suddenly erupted into loud noise again.

The man with a small mustache, who had been sitting among the crowd and leisurely drinking tea for a long time, had an expression on his face that had become extremely ugly at some point, while Adams, who was sitting in the first seat, finally grinned.

"Of course, we will seriously verify the authenticity of the news, but... I'm afraid today's meeting will have to be postponed."

Because of Terra's communication problems, all kinds of false news are indeed easy to appear. This is why the Duke of Windermere must return to the Duchy, and even subconsciously planned to return to his capital, Liencarden, before making a formal announcement.

Because only when she actually appears in public can such important information have the force of notarization.

As for the time issue,

It took Luo Hang a week to finally reach the location between the two duchies, but the problem was -

Unlike Luo Hang and his crew's slow-moving disguised transport ship, the Duke of Windermere was riding on the Duke of Windermere's special high-speed ship. The Duke had even confidently said before that this specialized vehicle could be used to escape pursuit from warships.

The difference in performance and speed between the two cannot be said to be small, but can be said to be a world of difference.

Furthermore, the Duke of Windermere was indeed a man of his word. At the urging of his beloved daughter, he immediately began preparing for a press conference upon returning to his duchy. Old Adams also dragged out the schedule almost until the very last moment.

Glancing at the 23:37 in the lower right corner of the screen, there were still two cups of tea before the tenth day, and he finally received the news "within a few days" as Luo Hang promised. Old Adams leaned back in his chair with a sigh of relief, and looked happily at the other people in the room looking at each other in confusion, followed by a shake of his head and a wry smile.

"Could this guy not make things so tense and exciting?"

When you say a few days, how can it really be considered a few days if it’s less than ten days?

However, old Adams still waved to the assistant beside him with a refreshed look.

"Hel me up!"

Dragging his aching waist, Old Adams looked very straight, with his chest puffed out and his head held high, and walked straight past everyone without paying any attention to the plans that others had been working on for almost a day.

Watching the figure disappearing at the door in a swagger, Mr. Moustache finally gritted his teeth.

"Check it for me!"

Chapter 4 Windermere: This man is not simple (k)

That night, while Luo Hang was still enjoying a relaxing night of travel in his own bedroom, many people slept very uneasily, or even could not fall asleep at all.

The results of the investigation into news from all sides came out very quickly, without even too much detailed screening. Under the current situation, the Duke of Windermere, one of the three grand dukes, issued such a heavyweight declaration, and overwhelming reports had already poured through signal stations in various places to the whole of Victoria, and even beyond.

Not only that, at the same time as the Duke of Windermere's declaration spread, some other "special" news also spread at an unusual speed, causing many ordinary people who originally did not want to pay attention to this struggle to join the ranks of those who could not sleep.

——Steam Knight——

This term, which had disappeared from Victoria for several years, once again appeared in front of the Victorians in a way that no one expected.

Initially, the rumors were only spread verbally by the defeated Count Ernst's army, but with the emergence of some fragmentary photos and even videos, looking at the tall metal armor crisscrossing the battlefield on the screen, these rumors, which were originally regarded as just rumors among the defeated army, instantly changed their nature.

Through some shooting angles, many people realized that someone was fanning the flames behind the scenes, but even though some people pointed out that these photos and videos seemed to be deliberately shot, they still could not stop the progress of this surging wave.

No matter what the purposes and demands of the grand dukes, the high and mighty nobles, the Sarkaz and various forces in this turmoil, facing the threat of war, the vast majority of ordinary people always expect the original peace and stability, and miss the once powerful Victoria, the glorious Victoria of the king and the steam knight who dominated the world.

Instead of the current country where war may break out at any time, even the capital has been occupied by foreigners, conflicts and frictions are everywhere.

In this turbulent time, the special terms of the returning king, the returning national sword, and the returning steam knight all came together. For the Victorians who had long lived under various legends—

Faced with the fact that the capital city of Londinium, which had never fallen, was occupied by the Sarkaz for several years, Victoria, which was promised countless glory and pride, has fallen to this day, and the chaos and depression brought about by friction and unrest in various places, it seemed as if everything broke out completely at this moment.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand. Even if you have not experienced the same thing as the Victorians, just put yourself in their shoes and think about it. If the capital of your country was occupied by others, it would not be a change of regime in a civil war, but it was occupied by outsiders and foreign races, and the capable people in power in your own country surrounded it all day long without rescuing it, but instead all kinds of open and secret struggles broke out among each other.

Things like this... Even a small country still has a sense of national and national honor, let alone Victoria, who was once full of glory and almost considered herself the top of Terra.

therefore,

This wave of public opinion had just begun, but the speed at which it expanded had already exceeded everyone's expectations, even Luo Hang himself.

In just one night, countless news reports spread across the Internet and news media of all sizes, seemingly occupying every inhabited corner of Victoria.

"King, sword, and steam knight: do they mean Victoria will return to glory?" - Lien Carden Post

"His Majesty the King has returned with the long-lost Sword and Steam Knight. Grand Duke Windermere supports His Majesty. This was arranged long before the late King's misfortune!" - Sankar Daily

"The Demons Are About to Be Expelled from the Glorious Victoria?!" - Scar River Weekly

"His Majesty the King's Emergence: Top-Secret Information Unknown to the Ordinary People Revealed!" - Blue Dove Magazine

If the Duke of Caster and the Duke of Wellington, who were at odds with the king's orthodoxy, and the conservative territories still imposed certain restrictions on the mainstream media, then in the Duchy of Windermere, the variety of news that was difficult to distinguish between true and false was really overwhelming.

The Rhineland-Paper, which was the official report, was still able to remain rational, but the other tabloids were in a complete carnival.

The Duke of Windermere supports the king's legitimacy. In theory, there is absolutely no problem with this, but in reality, it may have some impact on the lives of people in the territory.

Therefore, when the Duke of Windermere's declaration was first issued, public opinion within the Duchy of Windermere was actually mixed.

However, when the name of Steam Knight, which was almost made into a spiritual belief of the Victorians, was put forward, coupled with the media's hype, the Duke of Windermere almost became the rise secretly arranged by the late king before his death. Various resources, weapons, core technologies and factories of Steam Knight were placed in the Dukedom of Windermere.

Otherwise, how could His Majesty the King, who had been exiled for so long, take back the national sword from Londinium occupied by the Sarkaz, find the Steam Knights, and get the full support of the Duke of Windermere in the first place?

This must have been arranged long ago, and the Duke of Windermere has been secretly supporting it before!

Such a well-reasoned logic, coupled with the newspaper editors' full use of imagination and writing skills, if Luo Hang himself did not know what was going on, he might have believed it too, not to mention ordinary people who knew nothing about it.

Even the Duke of Windermere herself did not expect that with such a declaration, she was still considering how to face the pressure from within the territory. However, in the blink of an eye, the people in the entire territory became unprecedentedly united. Not only did they almost regard the Duke of Windermere as Victoria's savior, but her prestige as the Duke also soared to an unprecedented level.

Although the enemy includes two Grand Dukes, a lot of messy nobles and Sarkaz, the late king also left a backup plan here! The most important thing is the Steam Knight——

For Victorians who have lived in the legend of Steam Knights since childhood, every Steam Knight is a legend who can become a legion by himself!

As long as we have a few more Steam Knights, that means we have several or even dozens of legions. Why would we still be afraid of not being able to defeat others?

And more importantly,

We are the authentic ones! We represent the true glory of Victoria!

……

On the Duke of Windermere's special ship, due to the delay of the press release, the mother and daughter standing at the bow were more than half a day later than originally planned before they finally saw Windermere's most famous capital - Lyon Carden.

But it was different from before. This time, even from a long distance, the mother and daughter could see many ships docked outside the bustling mobile city, decorated with lights and looking very lively.

"What's going on over there?"

The Duke of Windermere couldn't help but ask the adjutant beside him.

"Uh,"

The adjutant was clearly surprised and quickly contacted the others before turning to the Duke and answering, "It was a shipboard celebration organized by some private businesses and ordinary citizens to express their support and celebration for the Duke's correct and just decision and the return of Victoria's glory."

The Duke and Daphne looked at each other, and both mother and daughter had strange expressions.

"How did those people know when we arrived?"

Dai Feien, the intelligence chief, asked tentatively.

"We didn't leak the itinerary,"

The adjutant shook his head. "This event is planned to be held for three consecutive days at a location where His Excellency the Duke will definitely see it if he returns to Lien Carden. It has no specific purpose and is primarily sponsored by private companies. No negative records have been found so far."

This is not surprising. The most important thing for a businessman is to seize opportunities and smell the direction of the wind.

With such a frenzy of public opinion, it is not surprising that these businesses take the opportunity to promote themselves.

The Duke of Windermere shook his head in amusement.

"Is this change in the wind direction also part of your plan, my dear Rhodes Island Operator?"

"We did plan to release the news, but this event was not ours."

Dai Feien's expression and tone were also excited, with a slight but noticeable sense of pride.

It is true that most of the images and information about the armored knights were actively circulated by Luo Hang, and only a small part was taken by the army at that time, which appeared blurry, in order to actively create momentum.

Luo Hang has never been a person who would not fight back when being beaten. Even if he cannot fight the two grand dukes and the conservative army head-on now, he can still make things difficult for these guys.

As for Delphine, the alliance with Rhodes Island was something she had tried her best to promote. If it was just Lord Windermere who made the effort, coupled with the opposition of others, she would also feel pressured.

But now the situation is completely reversed -

Before the Windermere Territory had the chance to really pay anything, it had already received countless honors and support. Although different from the tangible economic and material benefits, her mother's reputation and support in the Windermere Territory had once again reached a new peak. This was an irreplaceable and valuable benefit in politics!

As a daughter, she was able to do something that even her own mother could not do, and it was something of great value and help. Dai Finn had no choice but to hold her head high in front of her mother.

The Duke of Windermere, as a mother, just laughed.

It seems that Mr. Luo Hang is not a simple person, just as she had judged before. No, considering some of the unbelievable things her daughter secretly described to her, perhaps no one can figure out the man's background.

But no matter what, he suddenly became the biggest obstacle to Victoria's return to glory and an imperial flatterer. At this time, old Wellington and his old rival Chester must have been feeling depressed.

This is something to be happy about.

"You guys in Rhodes Island are truly capable. It seems my intelligence chief made the right decision again this time. Those guys in Lien Carden who were waiting for me to come back and cause trouble for me are probably speechless now."

The Duke of Windermere, standing at the bow of the ship, looked at the prosperous city in the distance, with a hint of gloating in his tone.

Where there are people, there is the world of martial arts. No matter which duchy it is, the duke is not the only one who speaks.

Having made the decision on his own, the Duke of Windermere was prepared to face some pressure, but now...

After a little thought, the Duke made a decision.

"Send our boat over,"

The Duke looked toward the bustling venue in the distance. "Since our citizens are so eager to welcome us, there's no reason for us not to respond."

"Yes!"

……

Inside the ship's celebration venue.

"...All the fruit and drinks for this celebration are sponsored free of charge by Skyline Orchard to celebrate Victoria's glorious return. Everyone can line up at the sign to collect them."

When the beautiful film host in a dress was speaking with a microphone on the stage, she suddenly saw out of the corner of her eye that the person in charge who was answering the phone next to her jumped up and ran towards her in a hurry from the stage.

The host was also panicked for a moment, and then after listening to the person in charge's quick explanation, the tail tied with a bow suddenly stood up.

"Latest news! We are here to proudly announce a piece of good news to all the citizens participating in this event!"

The host's excited voice attracted many people's attention, but they saw the beautiful host, who was originally skilled in her job, took a deep breath and then spoke loudly again:

"The special ship carrying the Duke of Windermere is heading towards the return channel we left. Our glorious Duke has accepted our welcome and is about to return to Liencarden!!"

The bustling venue gradually quieted down, and then—

"Oh oh oh!!!"

The sudden cheers were like a depth bomb exploding, surging into the sky like a surging wave.

Many people close to the edge of the deck of the event ship have even seen ships heading towards the passage that was originally reserved only for the promotion of this event and in order not to obstruct traffic.

Everyone rushed to the edge of the deck, and the guardrail was quickly crowded with people jostling each other. As the special ship approached, the Duke of Windermere standing at the bow came into people's sight, and even louder cheers broke out along the way.

"Long live the Duke! Long live Victoria!!"

“Glory to Windermere, to Victoria!!”

"Always support the Duke!!"

What's more, some special questions came to mind amid the cheers:

"If the Steam Knight is here with us, then do I have a chance to become one?"

"What? Dream on. Even if there's a chance, it won't be your turn!"

"If there is a chance, then it is possible!"

The Duke of Windermere stood at the bow of the ship with a skilled smile, passing through the cheering crowd lining the aisle. Delphine, standing next to his mother, also suppressed his excitement and put on a serious look.

Along with countless photos and videos, the topical and dramatic news that "the welcoming activities spontaneously held by the people finally welcomed the returning Duke" immediately made headlines again.