As Odis pondered, he realized his thoughts were wandering further and further away, so he brought his mind back to the problem at hand.
After having an overall plan, Odis summoned Mandy, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of Commerce to work together to develop a detailed plan.
Backlund, Pesfield Street.
With his handsome face and blood-red eyes, Emlyn White quickly left the damned street.
He was finally released by the Church of the Goddess of Night, and now he craved human blood, seeing the young men and women on the street...
They couldn't help but swallow hard.
However, Emlyn still managed to endure it and return home. He told his parents he was safe, then immediately went to the blood storage box, poured a glass of fresh blood, and drank it all in one gulp.
Just as his thirst for blood had been slightly eased, the Marquis's messenger arrived, inviting the viscounts and barons in Backlund to a ball.
Emlyn was already looking forward to the ball that evening, thinking about the fresh blood he would get from the Marquis.
The White family's blood was obtained through "bloodletting therapy," and it was mostly the blood of patients.
The Marquis's family, however, runs a hospital and a blood donation center, making the blood of healthy people even more delicious.
In the evening, Emlyn arrived at the ball venue, holding a glass of bright red blood, and chatted idly with the other vampires.
Although other vampires would still secretly ridicule Emlyn, laughing at him for becoming a servant of the Church of the Earth Mother and for being imprisoned by the Church of the Night Goddess for so long.
But now that Emlyn is a vampire viscount, they won't, and dare not, openly ridicule him.
During a casual conversation, Emlyn received some startling news: President Odis Gard of Remnburg had signed a decree recognizing elves, giants, and vampires as legitimate citizens.
Moreover, this decree has been published in the newspapers, and it is said that elves have already contacted President Lenburg. The balls that the Marquis has been hosting these past few days have all been about discussing this matter.
The vampires in Remenberg are already considering whether to contact the Remenberg government.
But fearing this might be a scheme by President Lenburg, the entire vampire clan is now discussing the matter and searching for members who can establish contact with President Lenburg.
Emlyn paused for a moment: Was this just my imagination? Releasing me at this time felt like they wanted my help to contact the "Hermit"?
However, after thinking about it carefully, he realized that apart from reselling the knowledge he had traded with the "Hermit," he didn't seem to have any other connections. The Marquis shouldn't suspect that he knew the "Hermit."
At this moment, the Marquis appeared on the second-floor terrace and gave a speech for the ball. First, everyone praised the progenitor, and then, as everyone guessed, he talked about his contact with Odis Gar.
He glanced at Emlyn before saying, "You can also use your friends' connections. Our vampire network is so extensive, we're sure to find a way to contact Odis."
Emlyn immediately understood: the Marquis hoped to use his "secret channels"—the Tarot Society's channels—to see if he could contact Odis.
He found it somewhat amusing: You would never guess that Odis Gard is actually one of the members of my "secret channel".
After speaking with several people recommended by Azshara and Odis, he gave them new appointments and officially began the process of transitioning to a "state capitalist" economic model.
This model is basically a replica of the "Five-Year Plan". Only after establishing an extraordinary industrial system will Odis open up investment in the "extraordinary industries" to the public.
Aside from some core technologies that will remain confidential, Odis is willing to provide some civilian technologies to private companies at low prices, allowing ordinary people to participate in this massive industrial transformation.
This transformation immediately sparked widespread opposition within the country.
There will certainly be dissenting voices, because what Odis is doing is taking control of the factories from the wealthy and using their money to convert them into factories where Odis works.
After that, the factory had little to do with them anymore, so it would be strange if there were no objections.
Foreign ministries from various countries sent telegrams accusing Odis of disrupting commercial order and telling him that if he did not return the property, they would impose an economic blockade on Rembrandt.
Odis had his men search, but there was no telegram from the neighboring country of Masik.
They are currently at war with the Kingdom of Fenneport, and may genuinely be too preoccupied to deal with the fact that their merchants' assets are being effectively confiscated in another country.
Odis saw this as unacceptable and immediately instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to find a way to bribe the nobles and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mascherano to ensure that a telegram condemning Remnburg was sent.
The foreign minister was stunned when he received the order and didn't come to his senses for a long time.
Only after being repeatedly reminded by the president did he agree and go to carry out the president's order.
Two days later, Masik finally sent a telegram of condemnation.
Odis immediately ordered his men to hurl insults back, the harsher the better! They should aim to enrage Maximus!
When Mascher's foreign ministry received the telegram from Remberg, it was stunned: Why is he singled out to criticize me?
It's worth noting that some small countries in the central and southern regions with populations of only a few hundred thousand sent telegrams of condemnation to Remburg, but Remburg did not respond in any way.
While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to hurl insults at Mascherano, Odis sent troops to implement the restructuring plan, making his meaning clear: follow my instructions and you can still have up to 10% of the shares; if you dare to resist, you will have nothing.
Immediately, waves of opposition against Odis swept through Remnantburg.
Odis took the opportunity to purge most of the nobles, stripping them of their titles and even confiscating their ancestral property.
At the same time, Odis ordered the royal family to bestow the titles of duke upon three men with the highest honors: Bernadette, Elbera, and Constantine.
The Reimbau royal family also took this matter very seriously, even more so than when the king ascended the throne.
As for the wealthy, Odis wasn't so harsh; he simply locked them up in prison for a few days to keep them quiet, without confiscating their properties or carriages.
However, all the money in their company and their bank deposits have been frozen.
Of course, the bank originally had no intention of cooperating, but Odis simply took over the bank completely and gave the Ministry of Finance a detailed plan to restructure the bank.
The banks that were privately owned were reorganized into four state-owned banks.
Thanks to Odis's plan, the bank reorganization went very smoothly, and they were soon able to carry out some business such as freezing deposits.
After only a dozen days of struggle, the voices of opposition within the country completely disappeared.
These people were no match for Odis, and within just two weeks, they lost their voice.
A large number of impoverished nobles and wealthy individuals and factory owners whose assets had been confiscated fled the country. Odis did not stop them, but only issued one order: after they fled, their assets would be completely nationalized.
Before this, their assets were only confiscated; if they were obedient, they could still be given some back gradually.
But now, fleeing abroad is tantamount to giving up ownership of assets in Rembrandt.
It took about another week for Odis to stabilize the situation. At the same time, as the first batch of military factories completed their initial renovations, they immediately received many orders and earned a large amount of foreign exchange.
Once people made money, they felt at ease, and Remburg quickly returned to normal production.
Moreover, the renovation work created a large number of jobs.
Odis then ordered that the states no longer maintain state guards, and that all the dismissed guard members participate in the reconstruction work.
In fact, most members of the state guard are not professional soldiers. They usually perform other flexible work while completing their assigned training tasks and other military missions.
Because the state guards' income was insufficient to support their families, they were now being sent to work as construction workers, where one job would be enough to support their families.
Therefore, although the process of disbanding the state guard encountered some resistance, most of it came from the officers of the state guard. Under Odis's iron-fisted policies, these people became ordinary construction workers before much happened.
With state governments no longer needing to support their state guards, their financial situations will improve.
Once the transition was largely completed, Odis began his state visit to the Kingdom of Rune.
Before his departure, he visited various places and urged them to complete the reconstruction tasks on time.
The southern part of the Furious Sea is an island that is not marked on most nautical charts.
The fairy Shatas and her husband Mobert have been living on this island for more than half a month.
The two of them are working on a collaborative project between Odis and Prince Constantine, visiting elven tribes on some remote islands in the Raging Sea and the Misty Sea, persuading them to move to Elf Island or Crus Island.
If all else fails, just making contact and taking a few people to Cruise Island would also be fine.
The island elves were indeed not very welcoming to the Shatass couple, but because the couple were both Sequence 5s and traveled on a ghost ship with crew members who were all "extraordinary puppets," the island elves had no way to deal with them.
So they can stay if they want, but they have to build their own houses and find their own food.
These challenges were no problem for the two Sequence 5s. They quickly built a cabin, making it even easier to find food. As long as Shatas went "out to sea," the two of them could eat for several days.
After settling down, they came into contact with more elves and used the medicine provided by Odis to cure many of their illnesses. Gradually, the elves stopped rejecting these two outsiders. Starting a few days ago, some elves had already secretly come to inquire about the changes in the outside world.
When the chieftain of the elves on the island realized he couldn't stop them, he went to find Xiatas and Mobert and asked them what they wanted to do.
"Your island is too barren," Mobert said with a smile. "Of course, because it is in the tropics, food is relatively abundant, but other resources are very scarce."
Shatas replied, "Believe it or not, I don't want my fellow countrymen to continue living such a miserable life, so I will do my best to provide you with some help."
"If possible, we can start some trade in the future, exchanging some of the island's specialties for the medicines and industrial products you urgently need."
"If you wish, I will take a few of your people to see a human island inhabited by elves."
The dark-skinned, wrinkled chieftain took a deep breath and said, "We once tried to trade with humans, but it attracted pirates and human traffickers. It is said that many nobles in the Northern Continent are eager to have a few elven servants."
Mobert was slightly taken aback: "Many of you don't even have cabins, is it because you have to fight pirates for a long time?"
That's easy. Just raise the "Mysterious General" banner and see who dares to come here.
"That's for another reason," the chieftain said. "After a long battle and many deaths, we finally deterred the pirates and human traffickers from coming here."
"That's why we're very resistant to trading with humans."
Shatas had no choice but to say, "It's not a trade with humans, but with elves."
Then she exclaimed, "The world is undergoing drastic changes. If we don't seize this opportunity, we may forever live in a corner of this world, being hunted by humans as some extraordinary creature with extraordinary characteristics."
"Ultimately, it will perish completely."
These words moved the clan chief somewhat, but he quickly regained his composure: "If you can help us solve a problem, I might consider making a deal with you first."
Seeing that things had taken a turn for the better, Mobert immediately said, "Tell me, let's see if we can resolve this."
If they cannot solve it, they can also ask Odis for help.
The chieftain then explained their predicament: the island was hit by a hurricane every month.
The hurricane was so powerful that it was beyond the capabilities of even a Sequence 6 or Sequence 5 Extraordinary.
There are currently two "Wind Chasers" on this island, and there used to be an "Ocean Singer," but after a long period of investigation, they could not find out why hurricanes occur, and could only attribute it to the volatile climate of the raging sea.
Because of the frequent hurricanes, the mansions on the island are just a few caves, but the island's mountainous terrain is limited.
There are only a few caves, and most elves are too lazy to even build their own cabins, because no matter how well a cabin is decorated,
They will all be blown away by the following wind.
Mobert immediately looked at Shatas, who shook her head, indicating that she had not noticed anything wrong with the nearby sea.
The clan chief said, "Based on past patterns, a hurricane is expected in a day or two. If you can resolve this issue..."
Let's talk about what comes next.
So Shatas and Mobert immediately set sail and circled the surrounding waters, but they did not find any strong convective winds in the vicinity.
That night, Mobert wrote to Odis, explaining the situation and asking him to come and see what was going on.
Odis quickly replied: The root of the problem has been found; when the hurricane comes, pray to the Lord of Mysteries and the problem will be completely solved.
Furthermore, once the communication work on the island is completed, Shatas can attempt to advance to "Disaster High Priest," as the Elven race has prepared the ritual.
Upon seeing the simple letter, the two couldn't help but look up and glance around, realizing they hadn't sensed Odis's presence at all.
The following morning, Shatas, who had been observing the surrounding sea, suddenly noticed a change in air pressure in the eastern sea area. She said to Molt, "A hurricane is coming."
The elves on the island also sensed the approaching hurricane and quickly moored their boats, taking their belongings with them as they hid in caves.
Meanwhile, the extraordinary members of the tribe headed to the eastern side of the island, hoping to mitigate the damage caused by the hurricane.
They had tried countless times before. The "Wind Favored Ones" did not have enough power to change the course of the hurricane, but they could reduce the damage to the island when it made landfall.
In particular, it is important to protect the fishing boats in the harbor, as fishing is the main way for most elves to obtain food.
Soon, dark clouds filled the sky, followed by a sudden increase in wind force, which sent leaves flying and branches breaking. Before you knew it,
People will be blown over.
The elven chieftain, along with several extraordinary individuals, coldly observed the dark clouds before them—if those clouds were people.
They wanted nothing more than to pounce on him and bite him to death!
At this moment, a hurricane formed, and the dark clouds were stirred up by an invisible force. The seawater was blown up by the hurricane and splashed onto the island where the elves lived like water. Huge waves had just hit the shore, but before they could fall, they were blown away by the wind.
Between the sky and the ground, it seemed that only the sound of the wind remained.
At this moment, the chieftain and several extraordinary elves saw Shatas and Morte walk against the strong wind onto the beach in front of them.
Just as the extraordinary elven was about to offer a word of advice, the clan leader stopped him with a gesture.
They watched silently as Shatas used her abilities to try to withstand the strong winds blowing from the sea, while Mobert knelt on one knee devoutly and prayed softly.
Amidst the whispers of the wind, the chieftain and several extraordinary beings likely overheard each other's prayer: "The essence of knowledge, the field of mystery."
You are the radiance of all civilization;
It is a beacon of truth that dispels the unknown—
Afterwards, Molt prayed to the great "Lord of Mysteries" to stop the hurricane in front of him and completely resolve the cause of the hurricane.
Those extraordinary individuals had never heard of this title, but they wouldn't stop them unless the title "Lord of Storms" was being recited.
The next instant, a clear light suddenly appeared in the hurricane, and a majestic figure was reflected in the clear light.
On the hooded cloak of that imposing figure, mystical symbols emanated a sacred light and floated around him.
Holding a lantern in one hand, as if dispelling all confusion and ignorance, and holding a long cane in the other, as if ready to fight against all ignorance and irrationality at any time.
The extraordinary elven beings stood there, seemingly forgetting to breathe.
These people had never seen gods before, only seen descriptions of them in some tattered ancient elven texts. They could never have imagined that the descent of gods would have such a powerful impact on people.
Even Shatas and Mort were stunned. They didn't expect that the "Lord of Mysteries" would respond to Mort's prayer after only one prayer!
They saw the lamp in the "Lord of Mysteries" emit light, and then the wind stopped, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sun shone on people's faces again.
In the "wilderness of knowledge".
Odis, wielding the "Gus Staff" and the "Hermit" card, easily "dispersed" the nascent hurricane.
The underlying theory behind the disappearance of hurricanes is that Odis took away the elements that could generate hurricanes from the surrounding information, and thus the hurricanes dissipated.
Although Odis is already an angel, this operation can only be completed relatively easily in the "Wilderness of Knowledge".
If Odis had been there in person to solve the problem, things would not have been so easy.
Last night, after receiving Molt's letter, Odis looked through the "True Vision" in the "Wilderness of Knowledge" and discovered that the cause of the hurricane here was not factors such as airflow or sea conditions, but rather the folding of space itself.
He speculated that this was a consequence of the merging of the real world and the underworld after the fall of the "Emperor of the Underworld".
The surrounding space can be viewed as a sheet of paper. This is the edge of the raging sea, the boundary where the two spaces merge. It's like a blunt knife cutting through a sheet of paper, easily creating wrinkles on both sides of the blade.
This is equivalent to creating a corner-like area on the sea surface. When the wind blows here, it can easily swirl around. However, because this fold is similar to an ordinary space, it is difficult to detect.
When the winds gather there strong enough, a hurricane will form.
This is the root cause of the problem.
Odis had already devised a solution. He stretched out his cane and pointed at the wrinkled space. The space instantly transformed into a stream of information. Odis modified some of the "parameters" in this information, turning the curved space into a "flat surface," thus smoothing out the wrinkled space.
The ability to transform things into a flow of information and to achieve one's own goals by modifying some key symbols in the flow of information is only acquired at the Sequence 1 "Knowledge Emperor".
After sequence 2, you can only add information to the information stream, and it is difficult to flexibly modify the information.
Therefore, Odis decided last night that it would be more convenient to solve the problem in the "name" of the "Lord of Mysteries".
After smoothing out the space, the information flow returned to real space, and Odis immediately withdrew his power and disappeared from people's sight.
On an island in the southern part of the raging sea, inhabited by elves.
It was only a dozen seconds after the "Lord of Mysteries" disappeared that Molt was the first to react, and immediately began to fervently praise the "Lord of Mysteries".
He had never considered worshipping any deity other than his ancestors, but now things were different; he felt he was a devout follower of the "Lord of Mysteries."
The other elves also knelt on one knee, worshipping the place where the "Lord of Mysteries" had disappeared.
After a long pause, Molt stood up and said, "The Lord of Mysteries has completely solved the problem for you."
The clan chief quickly came over and asked, "What kind of deity is that?"
"That was a benevolent deity." Mort, who didn't know much about the "Lord of Mysteries," said evasively, "We two were sent by this deity's chosen ones to save the elves from their plight."
"This chosen one of the gods has also made a public statement, expressing his willingness to accept elves, giants, and vampires, all of whom will be granted normal human citizenship."
The chieftain asked cautiously, "Can we also pray to him?"
"Of course," Molt smiled. "I've heard that many people now pray for the power to perform ritual magic."
The patriarch took a deep breath: "Very well, we will pray to this great being later and offer our loyalty."
"
If the elves didn't have those ancient texts, they wouldn't have had any particular thoughts, but they were very clear about the difference between having divine protection and not having it.
Therefore, when they encounter a deity who is willing to help them, they are very willing to become the deity's believer.
Mobert and Shatas exchanged a glance, surprised that the problem was solved so easily.
East of Rembrandt, on a speeding steam train.
This was President Remenberg's special train; it was the second time Odice had traveled by diplomatic train to Backlund.
When Odis took office as ambassador to the Kingdom of Rune, he also traveled by diplomatic train along the same route to Backlund.
However, this trip was of a higher standard than the previous one. First of all, the train was more than twice as long as before, and the departure and arrival timetable of this special train was kept completely secret. In addition, there were a large number of extraordinary individuals in the guard, who were the most elite troops in Remnantburg.
In addition to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the accompanying entourage included several high-ranking officials such as the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Defense. All the accompanying officials were half a rank higher than the ambassador.
After Odis responded to Mobert's prayer on the special train, her consciousness returned to the train.
He estimated that the problems on that island should have been largely resolved.
Odis, in his carriage, watched the scenery for a while, when he heard a strange prayer coming from the "Wilderness of Knowledge".
After ascending to the angel realm, he could hear the prayers of the "Wilderness of Knowledge" in the real world and see who was praying to the "Lord of Mysteries." Moreover, even in the real world, he could provide corresponding responses through several "intelligent puppets" specifically designed to automatically respond to prayers.
After making the corresponding spiritual connection, Odis's consciousness was still in the real world, but she also saw the scene of praying to the "Lord of Mysteries".
It turned out to be the chieftain of the elves from that island who was praying, hoping that Odis could help them shatter the extraordinary properties.
Back then, the elven tribe on this island not only had a "Sea Singer" but also several "Wind Beloved".
However, they currently only have two "Wind Favorites" left, and neither of them dares to continue upgrading, because the only remaining "Ocean Singer" trait in the entire race already contains several "Wind Favorites" traits.
This is because several "Wind Favorites" used this "Ocean Singer" trait to advance, and because this trait has never been destroyed, those "Wind Favorites" potions remained within the "Ocean Singer" trait.
Using such characteristics for advancement is easy to get out of control. In addition, they already have several "Navigator" characteristics in their "Wind Favorite" characteristics. Perhaps it won't be long before they dare not advance to "Wind Favorite" in general.
If an extraordinary organization remains in a relatively closed state, it is easy to cause this phenomenon, eventually leading to a situation where the level of extraordinary individuals becomes lower and lower, and eventually there are only "low-sequence" extraordinary individuals.
Because extraordinary materials at this level are relatively easy to obtain, even without using the extraordinary traits of the race, one can try to go out and find the corresponding extraordinary materials.
This is why there are many extraordinary organizations in the North and South continents, but they generally cannot exist for very long.
Because their characteristics cannot be destroyed, once the leader dies, it may be impossible for them to be promoted to the same level as the leader.
With this in mind, Odis instructed the "intelligent puppet" to respond to their request and shatter their special characteristics. In this way, the island's strength should increase significantly very quickly.
As I was pondering this, the special train slowed down and pulled into the station, where it would take a short break at Glarus station.
Local officials had already received word and were waiting there to see the president off.
Odis got off the train and offered a few words of encouragement to the officials who came to see him off. He then walked around the platform and listened to the local officials' report on the eastern region of Remburg.
A dozen minutes later, Odis returned to the train, and the special train started moving again, heading east.
A few hours later, the train crossed the border between Rune and Lunburg. As planned, the special train stopped at a small station on the Rune border, where guards and officials of the extraordinary from Rune were already waiting.
The official extraordinary being of Rune, accompanied by diplomats, boarded the special train to report to Odis on the security plan of the Kingdom of Rune.
Rune attached great importance to Odis's state visit.
Firstly, it's because Rune only has this one ally now. Although he can't help much in the current battle, having this ally proves that they are not alone.
Secondly, the Royal Family of Rune attaches great importance to Odis, or more precisely, to the two angels of Azshara. They even consider the disruption of George III's ascension as if it never happened.
It would be best if the two angels from Lenburg could help Rune. Therefore, the protocol for Odis this time was very high, almost equivalent to receiving the kings or presidents of the other three great nations, including Intis and Feneport.
The general security plan of the Kingdom of Rune was that their train was in front, followed by Odis's special train, and the two trains were not far apart.
Meanwhile, a Sequence 5 leader and several elite Extraordinary individuals were sent by Rune to protect Odis on her special train.
Upon hearing this, Odis thought to himself, "Do I need your protection?"
Of course, these are things you can only think about in your heart.
After Odis agreed to their plan, the two trains departed one after the other.
Evening came quickly, and Odis had dinner brought to his room.
From the moment he set off, he had a bad feeling, and his prophecy indicated that his train would be attacked after entering the territory of Rune.
Therefore, Odis usually intended to be alone so that he could react quickly and unaffected when encountering unexpected situations.
Not many people know about Odis's ascension to the throne, at least not the royal family of Rune, otherwise their etiquette for welcoming Odis would be even more elaborate.
Even after dark, the train continued its journey forward. Outside, there was an endless plain, dotted with occasional clusters of lights, creating a tranquil rural night scene.
Odis had just admired the night view of the plains when, as if sensing something, he looked up at the sky. Immediately afterward, countless fireballs rained down from the heavens, and the enemy's extraordinary attack began.