My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 208

"Gallic? I remember they were wiped out, weren't they? What happened?"

Gaul—an empire that Yang Hao had previously learned of, which had been wiped out after making a pact with a powerful being and experiencing a fifty-year lifespan. Now, although many refugees still linger in the world, that's about it.

It is said that extremely strange conditions still remain on the original territory of the Gallo Empire, but Yang Hao has not been to the site to find out, nor has he had the energy to deal with the affairs within the original Gallo territory before, so he actually knows nothing about what happened at the Gallo Empire ruins.

But now, he might have to find out. Because the Kazdel region, where Lady Therese is located, is very close to the Gallo Empire, and it seems some problems have arisen there...

"Initially, one of our scout teams was searching for underground ruins and possible locations of Originium mines when they entered the former territory of the Gallic Empire. They claimed that the land there was desolate and full of purple crystals they had never seen before. I thought that if they were just scouting, they wouldn't encounter any problems, so I let them move around freely."

Ms. Therese used this sentence to begin the story that followed.

She said that the explorer team eventually followed the winding ridgeline into the heart of the Gallo-Israel Empire—on the mountaintop, they set up an observation post, and while preparing to search for nearby Originium veins or underground ruins to see if they could make some money, they noticed a giant purple mineral in the distance that seemed to be moving on the ground at an extremely slow speed.

The exploration team first observed from a distance with binoculars for a while, and finally they judged that the so-called "movement" was probably just an illusion caused by the sandstorm. They decided to go down the mountain to investigate the condition of the purple minerals themselves, and they did just that.

"The explorer team included a skilled banshee as a master sorcerer, as well as some people with noble Sarkaz blood... They only realized after descending the mountain that it wasn't some kind of [purple mineral] at all, but rather the product of an entire city crystallizing—a crystallized, lifelike city."

"hiss..."

The explorer team was shocked. But their shock could not prevent the misfortune that followed—they were far too close to the purple crystal. The three closest to it were immediately grabbed by an invisible hand on the crystal and crushed into a bloody mess in mid-air, screaming in agony.

The survivors, in a panic, fled back to the ridge with the camera. There, when they observed again, they realized that the purple crystal was indeed moving slowly—though it might not travel as far in a day as a person takes a single step, it was definitely moving.

The surviving explorers discovered that the purple crystal was moving towards the border between Ursus and Kazdel. They didn't know the purple crystal's purpose, whether it wanted to kill the Ursus, the Sarkaz, or both—in any case, they returned to Kazdel as quickly as possible and reported this important situation to Lady Theresis, who then received a request from Yang Hao.

"Haha... I was planning to contact you right away, but your message was faster than my hand—anyway, what should we do now?" On the other end of the communicator, Ms. Therese's bitter laugh, having finished her explanation, sounded so grating to Yang Hao's ears.

"...It gave me a moment to think about it."

This is a very serious problem.

Yang Hao originally thought his greatest enemy in the world was Lord K of Colombia, but unexpectedly, his greatest enemy turned out to be... well, you know...

The final cycle of reincarnation? This psionic being that signed a pact with the Gallic Empire?

I vaguely remember Miss Elegy mentioning to me that this psionic being is extremely greedy... Will it slowly expand outwards and then "purge" everyone in the expanded area? Then I can't let the Kazdel region withstand this monster's advance alone—because it's a threat to all of humanity.

Sigh! I'm no savior... But oh well, at least I have to protect my home.

Having made up his mind, Yang Hao sighed. He coughed lightly twice to bring Ms. Therese on the other end of the communicator back to her senses, then spoke into the communicator:

"In short—I won't leave you to face this common threat alone. But Ursus can't support you right now. Here's what we'll do, Therese, have your people monitor the progress of those crystals from a distance. I'll go there after I've dealt with things in Kazimierz, and then we can discuss the specifics of what to do, okay?"

"...I thought you would be like other countries in history, either happy to watch us fend for ourselves or happy to kick us while we're down." Therese was silent for a moment, then smiled.

"After all, you've learned something from me, and I've taught you something too. I even provided resources to support your company—that's all. And also, Therese."

"Yes? You want me to call you teacher?"

Therese's teasing made Yang Hao's head ache... especially considering his previous guess that she was planning to take advantage of his apparent widower status to blackmail him.

Oh well, let's just consider this a test and a warning for this lady.

"If you want, you can. But Therese, I must warn you—there are some secrets you can keep to yourself, but you can't tell anyone."

"..."

She fell silent. Yang Hao thought she was probably wondering how he knew she had discovered the secret. But Yang Hao wouldn't tell her.

After a while.

"...I understand. But I think you're not just warning me, are you?"

"It's been a test, I suppose. So be it. I'll head to Kazdel afterward—I'll decide how long I stay, depending on the situation."

"Goodbye then, teacher."

Goodbye, students.

...... ......

After ending her communication with Yang Hao, Therese sat in her seat, her heart pounding.

How did he discover that I had discovered his secret? Therese swallowed hard. Was she afraid of something? No, she was excited.

She knew she was never short of spies, but Ursus spies wouldn't be around her—Kazdel was simply too small now, and even her "teacher" wasn't interested in her actions, only coming to "warn" and "test" her...

"...It seems I need to find a way to learn more from you."

Therese has never been one to be bound by formalities—she's practical, and now she's under a lot of pressure from those around her.

So... she might need to consider learning more from Yang Hao, or deepening their cooperative relationship.

Chapter 90

The troubles coming from the ruins of the Gallic Empire left Yang Hao feeling utterly helpless, but he needed to prioritize dealing with matters in Kazimir first. Only after his little colt became the Grand Duchess of Kazimir would he have time to deal with the problems there.

After all, it would be far too difficult for Ursus and Kazdel alone to deal with this thing that was prioritizing their movement—that... psionic entity or purple crystal. Yang Hao needed more allies or vassals, and for now, he needed to firmly hold onto Kazimir as a vassal.

So let's get back to the original question—what should we do now that Kazdel can't provide us with more manpower?

Yang Hao pondered what he could do recently—a covert force that wouldn't expose his identity? Then, after much thought, he thought of someone—

"Monica—is Monica there? Could you come over for a second?"

He shouted at the table in front of him. The women in the room were all confused by Yang Hao's sudden shout—this was Kazimierz! The head maid wasn't here; how could she hear what he was saying?

She really heard it.

"Yes, my lord."

To everyone's surprise, Head Maid Monica emerged from a mirror in the suite. At that moment, Hela broke free from Sonia's embrace, her eyes shining, and rushed to Monica, begging for treats.

Monica seemed to have anticipated this, or perhaps she was used to it? She skillfully took a candy from the pocket of her maid dress and placed it in Hela's palm. Then, with a smile, she told Hela to go and play with Sonia. Amidst Theresa's sudden change in expression and her muttering, "This girl probably saw...", she walked to the empty space on the other side of Yang Hao.

"Sir, may I ask what brings you here?"

Monica smiled and asked Yang Hao. This most loyal head maid was arguably the person Yang Hao trusted most besides Koschche. She was loyal, self-aware, and able to influence reality through the mirror world. Most importantly, she understood Yang Hao's thoughts and would never do anything to annoy him or affect his plans—that was enough.

So... when Monica asked him, Yang Hao just smiled and said:

"Not yet, but I might need you to do something for me recently, okay? Yeah, I'm on call anytime, and I'll contact you immediately if I need anything."

"Oh, I see. I understand now."

She reached out and wiped some dirt off Yang Hao's earlobe. Then, the head maid gave Theresa, who was still muttering to herself, a meaningful look, and nodded to Karina, who was looking at her.

"Lord Koschchet looks forward to your results," she said to Karina, and then left as she had arrived.

.......

After a while.

"Hey boss—is that head maid Monica watching us all the time?"

Theresa, standing beside Yang Hao, muttered something under her mirror as the head maid left. In response to her question, Yang Hao simply shrugged.

"Perhaps. She can appear anywhere through mirrors—I mean..."

"...So everything we did was seen?"

"Anyway, I'm used to it."

Yang Hao had truly gotten used to it—since Monica had that strange quirk, so be it. Sigh, he just wondered how she would report it to Koschche.

"Eh..."

But while Yang Hao was used to it, Theresa was anything she was used to... After all, she was still a normal person. The fact that someone was live-streaming her doing *that* with her boss was just too...exciting.

However, Theresa couldn't do anything to Head Maid Monica—so, with no other choice, she sighed and began to handle her work while chatting with her boss about what was to come.

...

in the afternoon.

Yang Hao has already made some progress on his plans to conquer the Knights and the Business Entity Federation.

Meanwhile, Theresa also said that she received news from her sister and Pavel the Serpent – ​​that she was both welcomed and unwelcome in Kazimierz.

"I understand that the people of Kazimierz probably like you, but those who dislike you are probably the Business Entities Federation and the War Knights, right?"

"No, no—to be precise, the Commercial Entities Federation is actually quite welcoming of my return, since I am, after all, a former commercial spy... But the Conqueror Knights seem to have a lot of opinions about me." Theresa shrugged helplessly. "From what I've received—more than half of the high-ranking Conqueror Knight families don't welcome my arrival. Then, on my side are practical Conqueror Knights like the Nearl family and the Nozl family. Finally, basically all the citizens of the Great Knight Territory welcome my return, but there are still some who, I don't know if they've been paid or what, are complaining that I'll only bring bad luck to Kazimierz?"

"But if you don't come, Kazimierz is doomed—so let's leave it at that. Hmm... We can take this opportunity to extract information from the Commercial Entities Federation and use it for our own purposes. As for the Conqueror Knights, we can win over some of the practical Conqueror Knights, but for now, let's just kill all those Conqueror Knights in high positions."

"Eh? Boss, you're scary... But if you kill them all, people will suspect me, you know?"

"So we'll use Colombian bombs to kill the conquering knights and capitalists of Casimir, and then use Ursus canned food and supplies to win people's hearts."

"Whoa whoa."

She remained silent for a while, seriously considering the consequences of doing so—something that Teresa would also have to go through in the future, so Yang Hao was happy to let her think it over on her own, at most offering advice from time to time.

But a moment later...

"And speaking of which, boss—Mas and Lily have come into contact with the little bat you mentioned before. That Margarita, and her teacher, you know?"

"...Sigh, they're with the Sarkaz mercenaries, it's normal for them to have contact..."

"But Margarita's teacher guessed that Koschei wasn't really dead, and seemed quite unhappy with you—[like talking about a pervert who preys on an unweaned baby], that's what Mars told me."

"..."

I think I know why my reputation is so bad.

Yang Hao looked up at the ceiling, no longer daring to look at the strange looks the girls around him were giving him.

Chapter 91

After some time...

"Hmm..."

"Margarita—eat slowly. Ugh, although I've never eaten anything like this before, this sticky Ursus dessert doesn't look like something you can eat in one bite! Take your time!"

"Uh huh..."

Watching her silly apprentice stuff the sticky, rice cake-like dessert into his mouth and then gasp for breath... Ms. Norsen sighed heavily, at a loss for words.

Not long ago, because of Margarita's prophetic abilities, which brought important information to everyone, the Sarkaz mercenaries and their remnants not only escaped unscathed, but also took the opportunity to attack some poorly guarded Colombian camps and obtain a lot of resources from them.

Meanwhile, the Ursus merchants reciprocated by providing ample supplies to the mercenaries and wounded soldiers. Because of Margarita's great contributions, both commanders gave her the most valuable desserts and money, partly to reward the little bat who had made such a great contribution, and partly to win over this little bat who was destined to become a crucial member of the Blood Demon clan.

And now—Margarita's been eating desserts so much she's practically turned into a fat bat. In desperation, Ms. Northumbery had to send some of the desserts to the nearby hills, where Sanae, lurking there, would eat the rest of the food Margarita couldn't finish. Of course, Margarita's tearful expression afterwards made Ms. Northumbery feel incredibly guilty, but she really couldn't let Margarita eat desserts every day!

If you keep eating like this, you'll really get fat. It's okay if you get fat, but what if you become too fat and people start to dislike you?

Ms. Northumber truly cared deeply for Margarita, but then again...

"Sigh... those capitalists really are brainless. Why did they have to give away an entire district? Now we don't dare to reclaim that area, what are we going to do..."

"Ugh? Waaah..."

"Finish your pastry first, Margarita—you've gained almost a kilogram."

“Wuwuwu?!!!”

Watching Margarita, who was starting to panic and even forget to refuse the food in her mouth because of her weight gain, Ms. Northum sighed again, thinking that the people in Kazimierz were really a bunch of idiots—she was referring to the capitalists of the Business Entities Federation.

These were days that could have been spent slowly at home, but you all actually wanted to go out and stir up some big news. And even if you did stir up some big news, you didn't get anything at all; in the end, you're still doomed.

Sigh! Even if it meant certain death, couldn't you at least have stopped the city in a safe place, so it wouldn't suffer too much damage? But when the Sarkaz mercenaries and their remaining men went to check the attack site, it turned out the place was completely inaccessible...

The radiation there is extremely intense. The protective suits made in Ursus and currently used by the Sarkaz mercenaries and remnants can last for about half an hour in the outer radiation zone, but if they go any deeper, these suits will become ineffective in a very short time.

The Colombians, on the other hand, had better protective gear—Ms. Northum could see from afar that many Colombians were smuggling precious lathes and resources out of the bombed-out city. Sigh, Ms. Northum had truly never seen anything like what these capitalists did... If she had to pinpoint a reason, perhaps it was a scene from a novel?

What kind of story is it where a group of soldiers were sent to the enemy's headquarters because their loyalty was questioned, and as a result, a large number of those soldiers were actually recruited?

Ms. Norson shook her head, thinking to herself that the thoughts of capitalists are truly beyond the comprehension of ordinary people!

...After a moment.

"Teacher, teacher—!"

"Alright, alright, let's have some water and calm down. Sigh... speaking of which, Ursus's landship seems to be arriving soon."

"Eh, eh?"

Margarita took the water bottle from the teacher, took a sip of the cold drink inside, rinsed her mouth thoroughly, and then realized what the teacher had just said. Her eyes widened suddenly, and she almost choked on the blood she hadn't yet swallowed.

Cough cough! The little bat coughed rapidly, while the old bat sighed helplessly and patted his beloved disciple's back.