Odis looked at the two planes in front of him and couldn't help but smile.
Indeed, when it comes to practical skills, we have to look to the extraordinary individuals who follow the "General Knowledge" path.
Two prototypes were produced so quickly, and the welding on the surface of the prototypes was also very beautiful, unlike the classic airplanes that Odis remembered, which were covered with rivets.
Bevis didn't understand what the president meant by "vertical takeoff and landing," and thinking he had misunderstood the president, he asked somewhat anxiously, "Are you satisfied?"
"Satisfied!" Odis smiled. "Let them fly and see."
"Okay." Under Bivis's command, the anti-gravity array on the ground of the aircraft was first revealed and activated. Then, the "Smart Cube" on the aircraft would automatically activate the levitation array inside the fuselage.
The two planes slowly rose, and then rose faster and faster. The smaller plane reached its jet altitude first, and suddenly a bright white flame shot out from its tail, propelling the plane forward rapidly.
This once again made Odis sigh inwardly: "It's a jet plane right from the start!"
After a sudden acceleration, the small plane was quickly pulled up, and with the help of its wings, it flew to an altitude of several hundred meters and began to circle.
After the small plane circled twice, the tail of the large plane began to spew flames. Its ascent was slower, but it kept climbing and soon reached the height that Odis could see at his limit.
Ordinary people, or even extraordinary beings below the level of demigods, would not pay any attention to flying objects at this altitude.
It continued to rise until it reached the clouds and disappeared from sight completely.
Odis nodded in satisfaction: "Not only will the members of this project team receive bonuses, but I will also give them a raise."
Give them extraordinary characteristics!
He smiled and glanced at Bivis: "You are also preparing for the ceremony of ascending to Sequence 5. The research results you have made during this period are enough for you to obtain a Sequence 5 level trait."
Bivis rubbed his hands together with joy. This was a chance to advance to Sequence 5. Even after the war began and all the major official extraordinary organizations were recruiting, such an opportunity was still very rare.
Afterwards, accompanied by Bevis, Odis visited several military research projects and immediately ordered the Ministry of Finance to allocate funds to the research institute, award bonuses to the project leaders and researchers, and provide them with extraordinary benefits.
Finally, Odis assigned some new tasks, such as extraordinary warships and levitation trains, all of which were large-scale extraordinary equipment.
After the tour, Odis convened a meeting of the main officials of the Ministry of Industry to deploy the weapons that needed to be mass-produced as soon as possible. At this time, the entire Remnburg was gathering strength, preparing to fight another battle with the Kingdom of Feneport, so as to take the opportunity to unify the Central and Southern Kingdoms.
Fenneport also seemed to have realized Lenburg's strategic intentions, and began to reinforce their Eastern Army Group, and began to send demigods and extraordinary beings to the defense zone of the Eastern Theater.
Just then, the New Year was about to arrive, but this New Year was very depressing for the people of the entire Northern Continent.
Many people lost their families in the war, and rising prices of necessities, especially food, bankrupted many families during this cold winter, forcing them into homelessness.
After leaving the research institute, Odis inspected the progress of the modified factories and new construction projects in various places, and returned to Azshara on the day before the New Year.
The people of Azshara are still busy with numerous construction and production tasks, and they may not have much time to rest this year.
Odis returned to the presidential palace, dealt with a few backlogged documents, and then went back to his room.
Today is Monday, the day for the Tarot meeting.
As usual, Odis lay down in his armchair beforehand. At three o'clock sharp, his vision was covered by gray mist, and in the blink of an eye, he had arrived in the magnificent Hall of Giants, beside the bronze table.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool!" With Miss Justice's greeting, the tarot session officially began.
After the greetings, everyone looked at Mr. "The Hanged Man".
In recent tarot gatherings, everyone has wanted to discuss the new situation of the current war, so after the gathering begins, everyone often hopes that the members who are directly or indirectly involved in the war will speak first.
Alger the Hanged Man was a Tarot Society member who directly participated in the war. He led his ghost ship and his men to fight against the navy of the Fussac Empire in the Sunia Sea.
"I heard that Rune's ironclad fleet and the main fleet of the Fusak Empire engaged in a fierce naval battle last week," Alger spoke first. "The advantage of the ironclads gave Rune a certain victory, but it is said that one ironclad was damaged and needs major repairs."
At this point, he leaned back in his chair and chuckled, "Without extraordinary power, the ironclad warships would have an even greater advantage."
Even sailing battleships were no match for them.
"The Fool" Klein also agreed with this view. Overall, Rune's technological advantage was weakened in the face of extraordinary power. Otherwise, given the tonnage of Rune's two ironclad ships, they could have easily fought their way in and out of the sailing battle fleet without suffering too much damage.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but glance at Odis out of the corner of his eye.
Klein felt that Odis's development strategy was correct. Since extraordinary power existed in this world, the focus should be on developing "extraordinary technology" rather than simply using extraordinary power or merely emphasizing scientific and technological research.
Combining them together doesn't seem to create any conflict.
Audrey, sitting opposite Alger, asked with some curiosity, "Mr. Hanged Man, how did your battle last week go? Was it relatively smooth?"
"I attacked a port on the island of Sonia," Alger smiled. "The haul was quite substantial."
He was also commended by the archbishop.
Leonard, nicknamed "Star," paused for a moment: "You're still active around Sonia Island?"
"Moon" Emlyn also said, "This must be very dangerous, right?"
Klein watched their discussion quietly, but he had a different opinion.
Alger the Hanged Man laughed: "On the contrary, most of the Fussac Empire's navy is currently fighting against the Rune Navy, and the battle is very intense."
"As long as my attacks are not too frequent and I don't inflict too much damage on them at once, they won't send their fleets to deal with me."
"Because it's not worth it. You all know that the Sunia Sea is also very large. They would need to send at least eight warships to complete a comprehensive search or set up a trap to deal with me."
"These eight warships, along with their corresponding auxiliary ships, make up two fleets."
"At present, it is a very important fighting force for the front line of naval warfare."
This analysis left Leonard and the others stunned. About two weeks earlier, when "The Hanged Man" said he was going to rush behind enemy lines and wage guerrilla warfare in the Sunya Sea, they were worried for him.
Unexpectedly, Mr. Hanged Man made his decision after careful consideration.
Then Alger said to "The World": "There are indeed some elven ruins on Sonia Island. How can I find targets that will be helpful to me?"
At the tarot meeting two days ago, "The World" told "The Hanged Man" that he could go to the ruins of the Elven race to search, as there might be clues to his ascension to demigodhood.
Klein had considered this question long ago, and he manipulated the "world" to say, "Follow the guidance of the spirit."
Then he chuckled hoarsely and said, "This is no joke, because the extraordinary characteristics of the 'Ocean Singer' within you will definitely connect with some elven ruins."
"This connection is between characteristics of the same path, between higher-level characteristics and lower-level characteristics. If you feel it carefully..."
The spiritual realm should be able to provide some guidance.
Alger nodded, finding the analysis quite reasonable.
Odis then thought: Alger's advancement characteristics did not come from Shatas, and whether he could establish a connection with the "Queen of Calamity" was still unknown.
Thinking of this, he said, "I will provide you with an extraordinary item that should be of help to you."
You can use elf hair and blood to create an extraordinary item, which makes it relatively easy to establish a connection with high-level elves, or more specifically, the remnant soul of the "Queen of Calamity".
Alger, the "Hanged Man," immediately asked, "What payment should I make?"
Odis thought for a moment: "Let's accumulate them first, and I'll let you know when I need more people."
For him, such extraordinary items were not difficult to make, and the blood and hair of the elves were easy to obtain.
Currently, in addition to Elf Island having become an autonomous state of Remburg, the actions of Shatas and Mobert have also yielded new results, with four islands inhabited by elves expressing their willingness to submit to Remburg.
This immediately added six or seven mid-sequence Extraordinaries to Lenburg. They have each sent several low-sequence Extraordinaries, firstly to visit Cruz Island, and secondly to conduct official Extraordinary training. Once the training is completed, they will be immediately transferred to Lenburg to become official Extraordinaries.
Alger, who had already served as a henchman for the "Hermits" and reaped considerable benefits, immediately replied, "No problem."
At this point, Leonard asked with some curiosity, "'The Hermit,' I've heard that during the battle between Remburg and Masik, many elves appeared among the extraordinary beings on Remburg's side?"
"Yes," Odis said. "Currently, the Elven race is an important part of the Lenburg Extraordinaries."
He smiled and said, "Of course, this has also brought some trouble."
"The Hanged Man" Alger then said, "I've also heard some discussions within the church. If we weren't fighting the Fussac Empire right now, the Storm Church would definitely launch a retaliatory attack on Lenburg."
He paused for a moment and then said, "I've heard that the elves have some methods to conceal their physical characteristics. Why don't they use them?"
Odis said bluntly, "It was I who didn't let them use it. Since they have openly acknowledged that they are citizens of Remburg, there is no need to hide it like this."
"As for the Storm Church's protests, they are indeed the main trouble at the moment, but they shouldn't last too long, because after Lenburg and Feneport engage in a new round of war, the news that Lenburg has three angels will be confirmed."
"At most, the Church of Storms will only protest verbally."
Klein thought to himself: There are probably more than three angels, aren't there?
He had already sensed at the tarot meeting more than a month ago that Odis had been elevated to the status of an angel.
At the same time, Klein can confirm that Bernadette had already been elevated to angel before the destruction of George III's tomb, and was now a new noble in Remenberg.
Two other dukes were also conferred titles at the same time: Stiano and Constantine.
Constantine Klein knew this; he was an elven prince who had lived from the Second Age to the present, and was certainly an angel.
As for Duchess Stiano, Klein guessed she was probably Odis's messenger.
With four known angels, the protection of the "Lord of Mysteries," and the support of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, this high-level extraordinary being's configuration is in no way weaker than that of the four great nations.
The other members, except for the "priestess" Cattleya, were all taken aback.
They all knew there were angels in Lenpo, but they didn't expect there to be as many as three!
Leonard thought to himself: No wonder Mascherano's country fell in just a few days. Of course, dealing with a country like this probably doesn't even require sending angels.
The other members also felt that they could pray for the Kingdom of Fennepot.
Even Audrey, the "Justice," inwardly lamented: Remburg's strength has been severely underestimated.
Currently, many people in the Loen aristocratic circle still believe that Loenburg annexed Mascherano by chance or through trickery.
In their view, Lenburg's strength was only slightly better than before, and it could barely withstand the attack of the Kingdom of Feneport on its own.
The nobles also believed that President Remburg's policies had seriously affected the normal functioning of Remburg society. Currently, under President Remburg's oppressive rule with the military, social contradictions could be temporarily masked, but if the war ended, Remburg might split apart.
But that's not actually the case. Based on Audrey's observations at recent gatherings, Odis seems to have been actively preparing for battle.
Prepare to take the initiative.
Contrary to outside speculation, Remberg has been trying to build a new defense system and protect itself.
As for the current social system in Remnburg, Audrey did not have an accurate judgment, but out of trust in Odis, Audrey believed that the social contradictions in Remnburg were not as great as everyone said.
Considering the current situation, Audrey believed that Remenberg had the power to change the course of the world war in the future.
Let's leave this topic for now. Leonard cleared his throat and continued, "The war in Wintershire is still very intense, but we have received accurate information that the Fussac army has begun to quietly mobilize forces to Intersea County. I believe that in the near future, the battlefield in Wintershire will mainly be a battle between the Church of War and the Extraordinary Ones of the Church of Night."
Currently, there are three battlefields in Ruen. One is in Winter County, where the Amanda Mountains are the dividing line between the two countries. Between this east-west mountain range and the north-south Minlminsk Mountains, there is a mountain pass tens of kilometers wide. The battle in Winter County mainly takes place in this mountain pass.
Previously, both the Fusak Empire and the Kingdom of Rune had invested a large number of troops in the struggle for this mountain pass. This was because once the Fusak army completely occupied the mountain pass, they could invade the northern hinterland of Rune and would not encounter any further obstacles all the way to Tingen, where the Tasok River and the Hoy River meet.
However, after fierce fighting, the Fussac army did not gain a clear advantage, so they decided to withdraw their forces from here and reinforce the Intersea County.
However, the battle in Winter County will still be very intense, because the headquarters of the Church of the Goddess of Night is located in the Amanda Mountains, which is the main direction of the Church of War. Therefore, Leonard guessed that in the future, the battle will mainly be fought between the extraordinary beings of the two churches.
Then Audrey spoke up: "The pressure on the battlefield in the Intersea County is already very high. If the Fusak Empire sends reinforcements, the defense line in the Intersea County is likely to be breached."
The Intersea County faces the most core industrial and population center of the Fusak Empire across the Intersea Sea. At the beginning of the war,
For Rune, the situation on this battlefield is relatively optimistic, since the Fusak army needs to cross the Intersea and land before they can attack the Rune Kingdom's defenses.
However, after the Republic of Intis entered the war, a large number of troops from the Intersea County were transferred to the western front, which gradually caused the Intersea County to lose its battlefield advantage and could only hold a few strongholds and some defensive lines.
If Fussack's army continued its original offensive, this defensive line could still be held; however, the enemy was reinforcing its troops.
The Kingdom of Rune had no soldiers to send, and the balance of the war was tilting.
"The priestess" Cattleya continued, "The western battlefield of Rune is not optimistic either. Currently, the forces of the Republic of Intis are three times that of Rune's garrison, and the number of extraordinary beings below the demigod level is also three or four times that of Rune's garrison."
"The Remnburg Ministry of Defense has assessed that the western front of Ruhnn may be completely lost in January or February."
Odis paid close attention to the western battlefield of Rune and sent a large number of intelligence personnel and extraordinary individuals to gather intelligence. Cattleya was in charge of this matter, so she was very clear about the situation in the western battlefield of Rune.
Furthermore, she had already consulted with Odis, and was allowed to release some of the intelligence gathered by Lenburg and her assessment of the Rune battlefield at the Tarot meeting.
Rune is also adopting a defensive strategy on the western front. They are currently fighting on the central plateau, but if the western defense line of the Rune Kingdom falls, Rune will not only have to withdraw from the central plateau, but the low-lying Takwell Plain will be completely exposed to the Republic of Intis.
In other words, if the western defense line is breached, nearly half of Rune's territory will be in grave danger.
Especially since those areas are major grain-producing regions, the price of grain in Backlund will rise sharply after the fall of those areas.
With Cattleya's speech over, everyone now has a basic understanding of the current situation on the Northern Continent.
At this moment, Hugh, who had been listening in, spoke up: "In the Southern Continent, the colonial armies of various countries have also engaged in a chaotic war."
The Rune colonial army, which was originally stationed in the main cities of East Bayron, had a very clear advantage.
"However, with Rune withdrawing a large number of elite colonial troops to its homeland, the current situation in the war in the southern continent is not very optimistic for Rune."
Although the battle in the Southern Continent will not affect the Northern Continent in the short term, if some cities in Eastern Bairan fall,
The vast industrial system of the Kingdom of Rune would be unable to function due to a lack of sufficient raw materials.
Several members of the Tarot Club in Rune fell silent; for Rune, the past week had been nothing but bad news.
After a few seconds of silence, Emlyn, "The Moon," suddenly said to Odis, "'The Hermit,' I have something I'd like to discuss with you privately."
Odis paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."
So the Fool set up a private space for them to talk, and listened at the head of the long bronze table.
Emlyn cut to the chase: "Mr. Hermit, does Remburg really intend to accept vampires as citizens of this country?"
Odis thought to himself: So that's what it was about.
He had originally thought that Emlyn would talk to him about this matter immediately after being released, but he didn't expect that it would take him until now.
"Yes," he replied. "You should have heard it just now; the elves are now an important fighting force in Lunburg."
Emlyn then asked, "If the vampires settle in Lenburg, will they also fight for Lenburg?"
"That depends on your thoughts," Odis said. "The main reason the elves joined Lenburg's extraordinary system is because their current leader was once a subordinate of the 'Lord of Mysteries,' and they are willing to fight for him."
Klein was taken aback when he heard this: Wasn't Prince Constantine one of the "Ten Pillars"? How did he become a subordinate of the "Lord of Mysteries"?
Unfortunately, Odis did not explain, but continued: "If the vampires settle in Lenburg, they only need to abide by Lenburg's laws."
"However, you need to have designated personnel to communicate with the Lenburg government. If any extraordinary cases are suspected to be caused by vampires, Lenburg's official extraordinary individuals will immediately communicate with the vampires to understand the situation."
"Apart from that, unless you wish to join the official Extraordinary, you can choose not to fight for Lenburg."
Emlyn slowly nodded. The vampires had also heard that after the elves joined Lenburg, they would have to fight for Lenburg, so their contact with Odis was urgently stopped.
The reason for reconsidering contact with Odis now is mainly because the vampires have obtained reliable intelligence that the extraordinary beings of the elven race have not been discriminated against, have received normal opportunities for advancement, and have confirmed that the characteristics of those advancements were provided by Odis.
This restored some trust in Odis among the vampires, making them feel that he wasn't exploiting the elves.
Emlyn thought for a moment and then asked, "How can I reasonably establish a connection with you in the real world?"
Odis pondered for a moment before saying, "The manager of the Backlund Department Store, in charge of the doll, toy, and sporting goods counters, was an intelligence agent I placed in Backlund back then—"
Emlyn was taken aback: How did "The Hermit" know that I like to buy and collect dolls?
Odis continued, "You can put on a show and report that you've discovered that the manager is from the Remburg branch, and then I'll have that intelligence officer try to recruit you, so that you can meet Rupert, the second mate of the Dawn Sword, through this spy."
"I will have Rupert make the necessary contact with you, and then Rupert will write to me, so that you can contact me through him in a way that will not arouse suspicion."
Klein suddenly smiled from behind the gray fog. In his view, Odis would definitely make this meeting happen.
Because once the vampires actually appeared in Lenburg in their public identities, the subsequent situation was no longer something the vampires could control.
For example, the "Rose School" will likely come knocking, hoping to hunt down some of the characteristics of the "Pharmacist" path.
Given the conflict between Odis and the "Rose School," she will undoubtedly use the pretext of protecting the vampires to attack the "Rose School."
Members.
Will the vampires have to repay the favor later?
In addition, the public must be very worried about vampires, but the Remnburg government will definitely help explain to vampires and may even operate paid blood donation centers to supply blood to vampires.
In Klein's view, supplying blood to the vampires through paid blood donations is far better than the vampires secretly attacking people and sucking their blood.
The former is within a controllable range, while the latter is completely uncontrollable.
When the time comes, will the vampires have to repay the favor?
So even if Odis doesn't ask, the vampires will come knocking on her door to ask how they can help.
After listening to Odis's words, Emlyn pondered for a moment.
Although he still didn't understand why the "Hermit" knew he liked dolls, he had to admit that this way of contact wouldn't arouse the Marquis's suspicion, so he said, "Okay, I'll go to Backlund Department Store tomorrow morning or the day after tomorrow morning."
Odis nodded: "I'll write to Rupert after the Tarot meeting."
Currently, Rupert is the head of Odis's forces in Rune. His job includes, but is not limited to, gathering intelligence, setting up intelligence networks, and recruiting wild extraordinary individuals.
After their private conversation, "Sun" Derrick talked about how they established a permanent camp in Afternoon Town, near the "Giant's Court." As for the next round of exploration of the Giant's Court, they planned to make thorough preparations before proceeding.
Klein then manipulated "The World" to recount the situation in the eastern part of "The Forsaken Lands," and the other members, including Derrick, only then realized that "The Forsaken Lands" was actually so vast.
After hearing the description of the "world", Odis exclaimed, "Silver City is lucky to be so close to the exit."
Derrick took a deep breath. He felt no joy, only an indescribable sense of sorrow.
Because he could imagine the despair of other city-states, who, despite thousands of years of exploration and perseverance, were still very far from finding a way out of the real world.
The conversation about the "Forsaken Land" then came to an end, and Hugh brought up again the war between Remnburg and Fennepot in the territory of Massey.
Although the war ended more than half a month ago, a lot of detailed intelligence is still being passed from Ma Xi to intelligence agencies in other countries.
However, none of this information was made public.
In the immediate aftermath of the war, newspapers around the world were too conservative in their reporting, and there was a great deal of speculation involved.
Taking Rune as an example, mainstream media reports said that Runeburg annihilated and captured 30,000 to 50,000 Feneport troops. Reporters and editors felt that this was to promote Rune's allies. Although the Feneport army was defeated, the losses could not have been that great.
Hugh asked Odis for confirmation: "It is said that the war in Massey completely crushed Fenneport's entire Northern Army Group, and captured seventy or eighty thousand prisoners alone?"
"That's about right," Odis said. "The problem of the prisoners was only completely resolved two weeks ago. I had the Church of the Earth Mother take them all back."
Hugh hesitated for a moment before asking, "Aren't you afraid they'll be rearmed?"
Odis laughed and said, "You don't know the details of the battle, so you don't know that the fighting spirit of these prisoners was completely broken. Even if they were rearmed, they would run away immediately when they saw the Lenburg army again."
None of them had ever seen a battlefield with hundreds of thousands of people fighting, so they couldn't imagine what the war must have been like.
Odis continued, "Especially the tanks, when they were first deployed on the battlefield, demonstrated astonishing power; seventy tanks..."
They wiped out nearly 20,000 cavalry!
"From this day forward, the era of cavalry has come to a complete end!"
At this time, on the battlefield of the Northern Continent, cavalry was still widely used due to its high mobility, usually to bypass enemy lines and attack their logistical supplies.
But with the advent of tanks, cavalry could neither escape nor win battles, making it pointless to continue maintaining such a high-consumption force.
Hearing this, even Klein got goosebumps: 70 tanks! 20,000 cavalry! How can they possibly fight like this?!
He knew that tanks were the nemesis of cavalry, but he hadn't expected them to be this powerful.
After his initial surprise, Hugh quickly asked, "How badly were the tanks damaged?"
Odis smiled and said, "One vehicle was lost."
The casualty ratio is 1:20000!
The other members once again deeply understood what the "Hermit" meant when he repeatedly said, "A new era has arrived." This was a weapon that they still couldn't comprehend, but that didn't stop it from completely breaking the backbone of Feneport's army.
Alger remarked, "The way war is going to change dramatically."
Then he smiled and said, "Fortunately, you don't have a very strong naval force, otherwise the navies of various countries and pirates would gradually lose control of the ocean."
"Only after Rembrandt has its own outlet to the sea will I focus on building a powerful navy," Odis smiled. "For now, it's enough to just keep the current colonies safe."
Aside from sending some extraordinary forces to the colonies, Odis did not rush to incorporate them into a planned economy.
Because Remberg currently only has one port of call, which is leased from Loen, and it needs to follow a route originating in Remberg...
The river that flows through the Ruen River into the sea maintains contact with the colonies.
In Odis's view, under such circumstances, it would be better not to develop colonies, otherwise the wealth plundered from the colonies could be intercepted by Rune at any time.
After becoming president, Odis ordered ships from Remburg on the southern continent to remain in Remburg port pending further orders, and that ships that had already departed should also arrive at Remburg port as soon as possible.
Upon hearing Odis's words, the others recalled the map of the northern continent and realized that Lenburg was going to have to fight a battle with Feneport. This was because if this landlocked country wanted to find a way to the sea, it would have to go either east or south, and it would have to occupy a part of Feneport's territory to achieve that.