Aisara, Presidential Office.
Odis looked out the window at the carriages coming and going in the courtyard and asked Mandy behind him, "These kinds of things, like confiscating property and stripping power, should be done by a 'loyal minister'."
"Go find a few people who are hardworking and capable, but not very sociable, and I'll talk to them."
He specifically instructed: "Don't even consider the radicals in Remnburg. They are either people who came with us from Backlund or people from Cruz Island."
Mandy thought for a moment before saying, "I have a few candidates. After further vetting them, I'll bring them to you for review."
Odis hummed in agreement, glanced at Mandy, and asked with a smile, "What are you worried about?"
Mandy bluntly stated: "Your actions will bring severe turmoil to Remburg."
"In particular, a large portion of the factory being renovated is owned by foreign businessmen, which will displease foreign nobles and wealthy individuals, and they may even send people to demand compensation."
"I know," Odis smiled. "The extraordinary benefits are now being demonstrated. As long as the extraordinary institutions remain in order, the foundation of the entire nation will not be shaken."
"As for foreign investments, you don't need to worry. As I've said before, we're in a time of war, so we can use some tough measures."
If we miss this opportunity, we don't know when the next chance will come.
The Kingdom of Rune is currently at war with the Fusak Empire and the Republic of Intis, and has neither the time nor the resources to deal with these matters.
Moreover, even if they had this idea, they wouldn't offend Odis at this time, so they would pretend they hadn't heard the merchants' demands for the time being.
Fenneport is at war with Mascherano, and if they were to intervene, it would give Odis a reason to send troops.
Or rather, Odis would be delighted if Feneport or the "Southern States" sent people to confront him. Odis might even deliberately provoke them and then use that as a pretext to launch a new war of expansion.
Once the preparations are complete, even if they are extremely cautious, fearing to anger Odis, Odis will still accuse them of disrespecting him and send troops to attack.
Thinking of this, Odis smiled sincerely and said, "Go ahead and do it. I'll cover for you."
If things really get out of control, we can ask Adam for help to get everyone to support President Reinburg's reforms.
However, unless someone maliciously instigates it, mass incidents generally do not occur.
After all, Odis's systems were beneficial to ordinary people; the real turmoil was in the country's bureaucracy and the wealthy class.
Therefore, as long as Odis stabilized the upper echelons of the country, the system of "state capitalism" could be implemented.
The fear is that these people will use their influence to misinterpret Odis's actions to the public.
If that were to happen, Odis would not hesitate to act decisively.
"Oh, there's one more thing," Odis said. "We need to secretly build an anti-bureaucratic organization. The system I'm promoting is very prone to fostering bureaucracy and local interest groups."
Mandy paused for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "These systems haven't even been implemented yet, how do you know there will be such consequences?"
Is it all based on deduction?
Odis said, half-jokingly, "As a high-level extraordinary being, you can obtain knowledge that is beyond your imagination."
"You may find these systems very novel, but to me they seem like things I've talked about with my friends countless times."
We've certainly discussed this countless times, such as during our late-night talks in college, although our remarks back then were somewhat naive.
But it is true that after repeatedly analyzing certain things, and then learning some targeted knowledge, one can gain a mature understanding of the things that were repeatedly discussed at the time.
Mandy paused for a few seconds, then said, "I understand."
She paused for a moment and then said, "But—but I don't think the officials from Rembrandt will seriously carry out your plan."
"I've already spoken to them," Odis said. "If they can't do it, we'll find someone else."
"Through the training and appointment of the Cruz Islanders, you should have noticed that officials do not necessarily have to be nobles. Ordinary people, once they have enough knowledge and experience, can also be fully competent in these positions."
"Of course, there were indeed some instances of embezzlement and bribery, but the nobility did do it too, and their methods were more 'standard,' even legalizing bribery to some extent."
"Otherwise, if there were no benefits, why do you think nobles would insist on holding those official positions?"
Mandy nodded: "I understand."
She realized that this was the president's way of eliminating the last vestiges of aristocratic influence over the country.
Although the radicals had relatively advanced ideas, they were, after all, aristocrats, and their stance prevented them from truly obeying the president's arrangements.
After seeing Mandy off, Odis entered the "wilderness of knowledge" again.
After the "intelligent puppet" made a detailed plan, Odis immediately convened an emergency meeting, at which time the financial report had not yet been completed.
At this moment, Odis had just entered the "Wilderness of Knowledge" when he received a financial report prepared by the "Intelligent Puppet".
Odis glanced at it a few times, then smiled and said, "Very good, I'll give you a few days off."
However, those "intelligent puppets" remained staring straight ahead, showing no reaction.
In terms of work ability, they are about the same as Odis, but they usually seem rather dull.
"Forget it, you guys don't know what a holiday is," Odis said. "Let's go back to making semi-automatic rifles. Some orders are quite urgent."
After saying this, Odis returned to the real world with the financial report. After examining it closely, he realized that he did not currently have enough money to complete the renovation process.
In the "extraordinary industrial system" constructed by Odis, most precision instruments such as machine tools have to be produced in the "wilderness of knowledge". Therefore, the first thing to be renovated is the military industry. Weapons such as semi-automatic rifles and extraordinary machine guns are produced in the real world to free up enough production capacity in the "wilderness of knowledge".
The key issue is that the military industry consists of private companies, some of which are even foreign companies.
This is what Odis couldn't understand the most. How could a government with such a strong backbone not have control over key resources like military supplies?
Even the materials used to make those machine tools had to be cast in the "wilderness of knowledge" because the casting technology in the North and South continents was not yet advanced enough to cast materials for some key parts.
So the "Knowledge Wilderness" was bustling with activity at this time. Odis had built an industrial park there, which mainly sent raw materials and steel into the "Knowledge Wilderness" and produced precision machine tools and various weapons when they came out.
This has already saved a huge amount of costs for Odis's plan, but the Remnburg government's current fiscal deficit is close to 300,000 rupees!
The reason why the deficit was described directly in gold pounds is because the money previously borrowed by Lenburg was mainly from the Kingdom of Loen, so the debt had to be repaid in gold pounds.
Most of these deficits were lent to Remenberg as war aid.
This is aid from a major power; the aid funds must be used to purchase weapons, supplies, and so on in Rune.
The previous Remnburg government had already spent most of that money, and thus established an army of about 30,000 men, fully equipped with Rune weapons.
Currently, in addition to this well-equipped new army, Remnantburg's army also includes two army groups. One army group consists of the garrison that was previously withdrawn from the south and was reorganized with the garrison in Azshara after the withdrawal.
This unit has about 60,000 troops and is fairly well-equipped.
However, the soldiers who survived the previous wars were mostly veterans. They had rich combat experience, but don't expect them to fight desperately for the Reimborg government.
There is also the Northern Army Group in Remenberg, mainly responsible for defending the Republic of Intis in the north, which has about 20,000 men.
Such a large-scale, modern army has put a strain on Rembrandt's finances, making it unlikely that the country can repay its debts on time.
One of the main purposes of Odis's upcoming state visit to Backlund was to see if he could renege on the 30...
A debt of tens of thousands of pounds.
And these dozen or so troops, as well as the state guards of each state, will definitely have to be disbanded.
The "extraordinary puppets" are far more powerful than these armies, and they don't need to be paid or provided with logistical support.
However, this needs to be done step by step, because there are not enough "extraordinary puppets" at present, and a large number of troops need to be deployed in the north and east. However, they have changed from the original main force to the current auxiliary force.
Another major expense is the "Extraordinary Legion" that Odis is currently building. Although the "Extraordinary Puppets" are a product of a one-time investment, the cost has dropped to around 50 pounds after mass production began.
In addition to exceptional weapons and troop carriers, the average cost of an exceptional soldier is around 100 pounds.
Generally, 5,000 extraordinary puppets make up an "extraordinary legion," and such a legion is worth 500,000 pounds!
However, their combat effectiveness was undeniable. One and a half legions drove away Feneport's nearly 200,000-strong army, and the entire battle did not result in the loss of more than 200 "Extraordinary Puppets".
Because of the enormous cost, Odis currently only has two legions. The third legion will be even more expensive. He plans to build an armored legion, which will require the production of at least 500 extraordinary tanks.
Currently, Odis's main source of income is the money he earns from pirates on Crus Island and arms deals with other major powers; the money he has saved up is long gone.
Investments in Vote State have begun to yield returns, but those are mainly in industry and agriculture, and the tax revenue is simply not enough to fill the gap.
After some thought, Odis decided to have the factory owners in Remnburg bear the cost of renovating the factories.
Remburg wasn't short of money; rather, its money wasn't in the hands of the government or the common people, so it could only be in the hands of nobles and the wealthy.
In the future, they can also bear the initial costs of the "extraordinary industrial system," at which point they will be basically squeezed dry.
However, a large sum of money is still needed to manufacture extraordinary weapons. For Odis, the only strategic opportunity is this year of world war. After the war ends, it will be more difficult to launch an expansion war.
If we wait until we have sufficient funds to expand, it may take three or four months, or even six months.
At this moment, Odis suddenly remembered the treasure left behind by the Tudor Empire that Rosell had found in Remnburg!
On several occasions when he was in financial difficulty, Odis considered digging for that treasure, but he gritted his teeth and persevered.
This time we really have to dig deeper, because this financial hole is too big.
Having made up his mind, Odis went to the "Wilderness of Knowledge," found the map drawn by the Great, and combined it with his recent understanding of Remnantburg, quickly determined its exact location.
Finally, Odis looked at the passage written in simplified Chinese left by Roselle. At the end of the passage was a prophecy by Roselle: More than a hundred years from now, someone who has had a similar experience to mine and is on good terms with my lovely daughter Bernadette will use the treasure.
The prophecy was quite accurate. Odis was a time traveler, and he did have a good relationship with Bernadette. The key point is that he really needs this treasure right now.
After thinking about it for a moment, Odis decided to take the map and find Bernadette to tell her about the treasure.
This was to prevent a situation where, if she met Roselle later and the father and daughter compared accounts, they would discover a treasure, only to find that Odis had already emptied it all by the time Bernadette found it.
At that time, Odis, who "knew but did not report" the truth, was in an awkward position.
After meeting, Odis first talked about his financial difficulties, and then mentioned the treasure he had found in Backlund.
Bernadette was quite surprised when she heard Odis's translation, but she then said to Odis, "Then let's go and dig up the treasure, otherwise those things are useless buried there."
Bernadette didn't care much about money.
Odis nodded: "You come with me, and all the sealed artifacts there are yours."
Bernadette laughed and said, "What would I need so many sealed artifacts for?"
"How about this, I'll choose three items, and you can have the rest."
Odis was a little embarrassed: "You should take more."
He mainly needs the valuables inside.
"That is the treasure my father left you," Bernadette said.
This made Odis even more embarrassed, as he had not only taken Roselle's treasure but also won over his daughter.
Since they hadn't yet seen what the treasure looked like, Odis didn't stand on ceremony any longer and decided to discuss dividing the treasure after they arrived. The two discussed it briefly and prepared to head to the treasure immediately.
Together they transformed into a stream of information, flying towards the location indicated on the map in this way.
Upon arriving at the designated location, Odis thought to herself: Flying this way is not as fast as using the Vermilion Bird. I will have to use the Vermilion Bird for future travels.
Following the map, the two quickly found a cave. At the end of the cave was an extraordinary mechanism, but there were Chinese characters on the top of the cave instructing visitors on how to open it.
Although more than a thousand years have passed, the extraordinary mechanism is still usable. Once opened, a passage appears in front of it.
As you can see, there were once many extraordinary traps along this not-so-wide passage, but they were all destroyed by Russell.
After walking along the passage for a while and turning a corner, a stone door appeared. The door was open, and you could see gold piled up everywhere inside.
After passing through the stone gate, the two seemed to have entered a sea of gems and gold.
Even Odis, who had seen a great deal of money before, was overwhelmed by the wealth before him and realized how ignorant he was about money.
This gold and jewels are enough to allow him to create an armored legion and equip two more legions.
However, he did not immediately put these treasures into the "Wilderness of Knowledge," but instead patiently explored a nearby stone chamber with Bernadette.
It contained many sealed artifacts that still had effects. Just as Odis had predicted, there weren't many good ones left among Roselle's sealed artifacts; they were either somewhat useless or had strong negative effects.
Odis looked around and smiled, "The Abraham family is one of the great noble families of the Tudor Empire, and their support for Tudor is unquestionable."
Because there are several sealed artifacts from the "Apprentice" path here that Odis currently needs, building a teleportation array requires an extraordinary "Traveler" trait.
However, this method and this sequence are quite scarce, and although Odis has been trying to purchase them, the supply still cannot meet the demand.
The reason why the teleportation array on Elf Island will not be completed until next week is mainly because there was just a clue about the "Traveler" trait, and the transaction is expected to be completed this week.
Bernadette casually picked out two demigod-level sealed items, then frowned and said, "There's nothing good here. Take the rest if you need them."
This time, Odis showed no mercy. With a wave of his hand, all the sealed artifacts flew into the "Wilderness of Knowledge".
Just as the two were about to leave the stone chamber, they noticed that even without the sealing artifact, the spiritual energy here was still somewhat abnormal.
Generally speaking, if there is a sealed object, the spiritual energy within a certain range will become abnormal.
In other words, there might be hidden compartments or similar places here, where a sealed artifact might be stored.
Odis activated his "Eye of Secrets" and indeed found a hidden compartment in the wall.
The extraordinary mechanism above seemed to have been destroyed as well. Odis easily opened the hidden compartment. The compartment was not large, but what was inside made Odis pause for a moment.
It was a rectangular, bluish-green object. I couldn't tell what material it was made of; it looked like jade, or perhaps quartz.
To Odis's surprise, the item was decorated in an oriental style, with elements such as fire and swords, but the carving was rather crude and lacked any lively spirit.
There are three Chinese characters in the middle: Heavenly Maiden.
Odis was taken aback. It was just "drought"!
How could there be something with Chinese characters in the treasures of the Tudor Empire?
In front of this item was a thick parchment. Odis took out the parchment and opened it; it was written in simplified Chinese, which must have been left by Roselle again.
With Bernadette by his side, Odis translated and read aloud, "Congratulations on finding this place. Before you lies the most important item in this treasure."
"These three words have given me some very bad thoughts. If your experience is similar to mine, I think your thoughts should be similar to mine as well."
"This was one of the motivations that drove me to search for the Western Continent back then, but I failed, so those conjectures can only remain conjectures."
"I've carefully studied this 'blue jade plaque.' This is a name I've suggested; you can call it whatever you like."
Odis thought to himself: How verbose.
He cleared his throat and continued translating: "After research, I discovered an astonishing secret. It seems that the 'Blood Emperor' Tudor has made contact with a certain being in the 'Western Continent' and obtained the corresponding knowledge through a kind of secret ritual, which was then used to create this jade tablet."
"This jade tablet itself isn't particularly powerful; it can only cause severe drought within a hundred kilometers. If you know what 'drought' is, then I don't need to explain—"
Odiston explained to Bernadette, "The earliest record of Han in our world is that she was the daughter of a god, with great attack power. Later, in a fierce battle, she lost most of her divine power and could only stay in the human world."
According to legend, wherever she appears, a severe drought will occur.
Odis continued reading, and the next sentence on the parchment read: If you don't know what drought is, I'm too lazy to explain it to a foreigner.
This sentence, of course, doesn't need translation. He continued reading: "This jade tablet possesses the power of a curse. It should be that the 'Blood Emperor' obtained the corresponding knowledge through a secret ritual to make this jade tablet, and then prayed to that person in the Western Continent for power."
"I learned from the ancient books in this stone chamber that Tudor had tried many times to establish contact with that being in the Western Continent, but he was never able to get the other party to descend. Tudor also sent fleets to search for traces of the Western Continent more than once."
"This is understandable, after all, in the Fourth Epoch, they were the most isolated and helpless party."
"As for those ancient books, I've taken them back as collectibles, so you don't need to bother looking for them."
"Although I said on the map that the purpose of 'Blood Emperor' Tudor in burying this treasure is unknown, there are still some speculations."
"I think Tu Feng has realized that he is bound to fail, and he may have foreseen that he can make a comeback with the help of that being in the Western Continent, so he left a portion of his wealth for the restoration of his country."
"This treasure has been buried for over a thousand years and has never been used, which means that Tudor has never had any chance of being resurrected."
"Therefore, I thoroughly investigated the entire Intis. Only in the underground of Trier was the aura of the 'Blood Emperor' Tudor suspected to have been discovered. However, I foresaw that if we tried to resolve this hidden danger, it might actually lead to danger, so I ignored it."
"This jade tablet is more important than its ability. Carrying this jade tablet will make it relatively easy to navigate the underground of Trier."
Find and enter the 'Mirror World'.
"I've been there a few times, and it wasn't a great experience. I wouldn't recommend going too often."
"Finally, when you find this place, the myth that belongs to me (actually, it's 'brother,' Odis made an 'optimization' when translating) will either have come to a temporary end, or I will have become an existence on par with the Seven Gods in this world."
"No matter what happens to me, please accept my financial assistance and try your best to investigate the situation in the Western Continent. If you find anything, please let me know in time, or burn paper money at my grave."
"If I really want to express my gratitude, then I'll thank my daughter. Consider it a small favor that her father has accumulated for her."
After reading the contents of the sheepskin, the two of them remained silent for a while.
Bernadette wanted some peace and quiet, so Odis gave her that time.
A few seconds later, Bernadette seemed to come to her senses: "Give me this jade pendant. If you need it, ask me for it."
Odis nodded: "Okay."
After Bernadette took the jade pendant, Odis handed her this parchment as a keepsake.
Bernadette put away the jade pendant and parchment before asking, "Where exactly is the Western Continent?"
"According to some information I have received, that should be the hometown of your father and me," Odis said. "I mean, the geographical hometown."
"But during the First Era, it seems that a powerful being sealed the Western Continent, severing the connection between the Western Continent and the real world."
Bernadette slowly nodded: "It seems there are some powerful beings in the Western Continent as well. Could it be that the extraordinary figures there are gods beyond the 22 Paths?"
Odis pondered for a moment before half-jokingly saying, "I've spoken with Medici about some history of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods."
From there I learned that Medici seemed to have been inspired by something during the Quaternary period and did things that did not reflect his true intentions.
"According to his later recollections, he believed that he had been contaminated in some way, and that this contamination most likely came from the Western Continent."
Bernadette paused for a moment, then immediately understood what Odis meant: "'Blood Emperor' Tudor's' unique and special characteristics of advancement come from Medici!"
"It's possible that the contamination that Medici suffered from transferred to Tudor!"
So, was the "great being of the Western Continent" with whom Tudor established contact a form of contamination?
Odis nodded and said, "Tudor has definitely been affected."
He paused for a moment and then said, "As for whether it is a form of pollution, that is actually open to discussion."
"Because according to information I learned from other sources, 'above the gods' is not just about mastering the uniqueness of complex numbers and the characteristics of sequence 1; it also requires something called source matter."
"The general theory is that uniqueness gives the true god authority over a small realm, while primordial matter gives the 'above the gods' a 'symbol' of a large realm."
For example, the authority of the "God of Steam and Machinery" is "the light of civilization brought by knowledge," and the former "sage" symbolized the sum of all knowledge in the universe, which is knowledge itself.
The authority of the "reader" approach lies in "learning knowledge," not in "the nature of knowledge."
Odiston paused for a moment and then said, "And it seems that most of these source substances were sealed in the Western Continent by that powerful being during the First Epoch."
Bernadette immediately thought of the "Law of Convergence of Extraordinary Characteristics!"
She speculated, "Is it the uniqueness of the 'Red Priest' that attracted the corresponding source essence sealed in the Western Continent, but because Medici didn't utilize the power of the source essence properly, it created something like pollution?"
Odis nodded: "I think so too."
Bernadette took a deep breath: "After becoming an angel, I've had the same feeling many times as when I first became an Extraordinary being."
Several times I felt like I no longer recognized the world.
"That's normal," Odis said. "After all, angels represent a qualitative leap for humanity. In ancient times, angels were already 'divine,' possessing long lifespans and abilities closer to divine miracles."
Bernadette smiled and said, "It seems that this is because you're still getting used to being an angel."
After chatting for a few more minutes, Odis went out and hauled all the valuables into the "Wilderness of Knowledge," and they returned to Azshara together.
Once no one was around, Odis entered the "wilderness of knowledge," lay down on the gold, and stretched.
He couldn't help but laugh, "No wonder dragons love to sleep on things like gold coins, it feels really nice!"
However, these things were just passing through Odis's hands. He lay down for a short while and then summoned the "intelligent puppet" to register them.
Odis then returned to the real world and prepared to establish four caravans to sell gold and gems in the capitals of the four great nations.
We are currently in a state of war, and the price of gold continues to rise. If we sell gold now, it will be snapped up very quickly, and the money will be used to purchase a large amount of spiritual materials from various places.
The reason why "extraordinary weapons" are so expensive is mainly due to the spiritual materials they contain.
Currently, only a portion of these spiritual materials are obtained through cultivation by Odis, but the scale of cultivation is not yet large enough, and most of them still need to be purchased.
However, it is important to negotiate the deal beforehand, understand the reserves of spiritual materials in different regions, and then purchase them simultaneously to avoid the situation where the price of spiritual materials worldwide immediately increases after large-scale purchases are made from one country.
Odis estimated that his purchases would likely drive up the prices of various herbs and spiritual materials, potentially making them scarce commodities within a year or two.
In a year or two, Odis will no longer need to make large purchases, as he has already begun cultivating spiritual materials in a desert in northwestern Remburg.
In fact, planting in the desert is the most effective use of the land.
In any case, it all happens within a certain area, concentrating the spiritual energy of that area to allow spiritually imbued herbs to grow. If it were on a normal hillside, within a few years other plants would become scarce, thus disrupting the food chain of the region.
This could create new deserts.
It would be better to choose a desert location for planting.
However, this kind of planting is a bit more expensive, and the first problem to solve is the water issue.
In response, Odis drew on the experience of "locking the border of the Taklamakan Desert" and developed a complete planting process, and prepared to send a portion of the army to plant the crops first.
We could raise their wages, and once the land and water there are restored, we could encourage them to move their families there so they can continue cultivating spiritual herbs after their military service.
In Odis's "industrial system," there will always be a great need for spiritual materials. Once they have a new source of income and don't have to fight, it will be easier to talk about disarmament.