The Republic of Intis, with its capital Trier.
In the presidential palace conference room, newly elected President Calvin Payne glanced at the generals and senior officials in the office.
He cleared his throat and said, "Now is definitely not a good time to launch a war against Remenberg, and Remenberg must know that too."
That's why Caesar's Port was sealed off.
No one else dared to say anything, because not long ago, Parliament and the courts had just completed their purge of the previous government.
Since the war was lost, someone has to take responsibility. No matter how great the results were in last year's war, none of that will prevent Congress from bringing the former president and his key advisors to court.
Therefore, neither generals nor high-ranking officials dare to say anything now, unless they are out of their minds to advocate for war at this time.
However, if they suggest that they should take the initiative to negotiate with Remenberg, they risk being labeled as "appeasement."
The president continued, "Now that we have developed the 'Extraordinary Puppet,' with the help of the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, we will be able to catch up with Remberg in a few years."
"The last few years have been a critical period, and we may only have this one chance."
"Lenberg is well aware of this, and he will certainly be provoking us like this frequently in the coming years."
The crowd remained silent, but they knew it would be inappropriate not to say anything soon.
After all, the president invited them to solve problems, not to remain silent.
The president took a drag of his cigarette, his face already grim: "I've thought about this for a long time. We can't bear this pressure ourselves."
Otherwise, this year they might only be able to choose, but next year Reimborg might choose to go to war directly.
"Therefore, I intend to make the technology of the 'Extraordinary Puppet' public to countries other than Remenberg."
The generals and high-ranking officials were shocked. This technology had been initiated during the war and had taken more than a year to develop, requiring a great deal of manpower and resources.
At this point, a lieutenant general said, "This is indeed a very bold, but also an excellent strategy."
Another high-ranking official added, "This is tantamount to isolating Remenberg, which is a very good countermeasure, but—"
But how can we explain this to the parliament? How can we explain it to the public?
Those councilors may not be very good at much else, but they are quite good at finding fault and causing trouble.
"There's no need for them to know," the president said. "These executive orders don't need to be submitted to Congress for review."
According to Intis's Constitution, any plans involving national strategic objectives or bills to be implemented nationwide must be reviewed and debated by Parliament.
However, executive orders do not need to be submitted to parliament for review; they are internal government orders.
The plan proposed by the president's aides to publicly disclose the "extraordinary puppet" to other countries is actually a strategic plan and should be submitted to Congress for review.
However, the president clearly intends to exploit loopholes in the system to complete the specific operations of this plan within the authority of the Intis administration.
This is very risky, but it seems to be the best option right now because Congress is unlikely to pass such a plan. The president stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray: "Okay, that's settled then. Meeting adjourned."
Everyone was taken aback. The admiral asked, "Mr. President, how should we resolve the situation at Caesars Harbor?"
"That was a diplomatic incident," the president said, rising to his feet. "Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs handle it."
He thought to himself: Since none of you are willing to speak up, then don't blame me for pushing this matter back onto you.
The Foreign Minister was momentarily bewildered: "Your Excellency, this matter cannot be resolved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alone..."
But the president had already quickly left the conference room.
The others didn't know what to say, since they hadn't been able to help the president solve the problem and had made him talk for a long time.
Just as the foreign minister was about to give chase, he suddenly slapped his forehead. The president had already defined the matter: this was a diplomatic incident, not a military confrontation.
Since this is a diplomatic incident, negotiations and discussions are of course possible. This is not appeasement, but international law.
Azshara New Town.
Having successfully purchased a large apartment, Icarus treated his sister, Edwina, to dinner at the most expensive restaurant in the new town.
The two sat down by the window in the restaurant, where they could overlook the entire new city area and the under-construction New City Second District.
Edwina pointed to the under-construction Zone 2 and asked, "Didn't they say they were going to renovate the old city? Why are they building a new city now?"
"I heard that the renovation and demolition plans couldn't be agreed upon with the residents of the capital, so they simply decided to build a new city." Ikanos had heard some news: "The new city includes the presidential palace, the Ministry of Defense and other central institutions, as well as the residences of official extraordinary individuals, large commercial areas and residential areas, and so on."
Edwina nodded and glanced at the dynamic GG in the restaurant. The extraordinary projector projected very three-dimensional images onto a wall, some of which showed chefs preparing food, and others showed professional food critics explaining the taste of several signature dishes in detail.
Edwina was still a little unaccustomed to this kind of product introduction and GG.
Icarus took a sip of his aperitif and said, "I've heard that there's been another breakthrough in the technology of extraordinary projection equipment, and that this technology is expected to become more widely available to the public within the next two or three years?"
As for Edwina, she knew of a not-so-complex arcane technique that could record and play back events that had occurred in the real world, a technique she could use at Sequence 5.
So she wasn't surprised by the so-called "extraordinary projection" device, but the fact that it could be popularized among the general public was still somewhat beyond her expectations.
After all, in the real world, even if extraordinary individuals possess secret techniques or abilities similar to extraordinary projections, they cannot serve ordinary people, and their numbers are insufficient to display a particular image to all ordinary people.
In Edwina's view, this is a complete revolution, an extraordinary revolution that is entering every household.
Just as she was thinking this, the screen on the "Extraordinary Projector" suddenly changed, and a handsome man dressed in a Remnantburg-style suit appeared on the screen: "Hello everyone, I am your host Evans. I have an urgent news to share with you now."
Edwina paused for a moment, then noticed that several other people around her were just as surprised as she was. However, most of the diners seemed to have gotten used to it, putting down their knives and forks and looking at the host named Evans.
Icarus whispered to his sister, "When there's important news, all the screens in the new city will broadcast it immediately."
He shrugged: "Many newspapers are going to go out of business."
Edwina simply gave a soft "hmm" and then went to listen attentively to the news broadcast by the host.
Evans said, "According to the latest news from the Southern Continent, the main fleet of Midway arrived at Caesar Harbor in Intis at around 9:00 AM this morning, questioning the Caesar Harbor Navy about why they attacked the Lenburg merchant ships."
At this point, the scene suddenly shifts to the open sea. This footage was likely recorded from an airplane, and you can vaguely see Caesar Harbor, where Remenberg's new warships are confronting Intis's sailing battleships.
The host continued, "This was the first time the main fleet deployed an aircraft carrier during the Midway operation, giving the Intis Navy a huge shock..."
The scene changed again, now shooting upwards from the sea. The diners in the restaurant gasped in surprise as they saw a colossal object in mid-air.
That's an aircraft carrier!
Icarus laughed, "This is much bigger than an air command ship! I wonder what new weapons it has?"
He paused for a moment and then said, "It's not just enough to shock the Intis Navy, it's enough to give them psychological trauma."
Edwina looked around at the diners and suddenly realized something: these scenes gave ordinary people in Remburg a very direct sense of Remburg's power.
Before this, the will of ordinary people was basically united by their faith in the gods. However, since the war began last year, people's confidence in Remberg has been increasing. Now, with these propaganda methods, the Remberg government has enough cohesion.
At this point, host Evans continued, "The Republic of Intis is now seeking to resolve the issue through diplomatic means. Let's look forward to a swift resolution."
"President Garr reminded everyone that the international situation has become uncertain again, and asked everyone to pay close attention to the developments of other countries in order to avoid danger to life or loss of property."
Then Evans's image disappeared, and the "Extraordinary Projector" started playing the restaurant's GG again.
However, the diners' conversation all turned to the international situation, with one laughing and shouting, "What 'seeking diplomatic solutions'? Isn't it just that the Republic of Intis is scared and dares not continue military confrontation!"
Many people laughed, but one Intis man said righteously, "The war has just ended, are we going to start a new one? Intis is doing this for the sake of world peace."
Icanos laughed and said, "If it's really for the sake of world peace, why not let Remburg run the western route? I think that way, Intis will definitely make a huge contribution to world peace."
Many diners praised it as a great idea.
There are three safe routes between the northern and southern continents that can cross the Raging Sea, of which the Republic of Intis has always controlled the western route.
If they could seize this air route from the other side, it would be tantamount to cutting off the economic lifeline of the Republic of Intis, and they would certainly not launch another war.
The Intis people argued for a few moments, but seeing that they were outnumbered and couldn't win the argument, and finding the food they usually enjoyed unpalatable, they got up and left the restaurant.
Icarus, as if he had won a battle, looked at his sister Edwina and found her lost in thought: "Edwina, what are you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking," Edwina said, "a new era has begun."
Backlund.
Count Hall, in his carriage, finished reading the front page of the newspaper in his hand, which reported on the standoff between Rembrandt and Intis at Port Caesar.
Intis's handling of the situation was both unexpected and predictable.
For Intis, which already had some independent achievements in extraordinary technology, they certainly did not want a conflict to break out at this time.
However, to the surprise of all countries, Intis would seek a diplomatic solution so quickly!
At this moment, the carriage stopped, and as Earl Hall stepped off, he suddenly remembered the hovercar his daughter Audrey had bought, and the photos taken by the butler who had purchased the car in the new town of Azshara.
Incredibly, the roads in Azshara's new city are now entirely filled with hovercars.
Count Hall, who had just stepped off the carriage, suddenly stopped and looked back at the carriages coming and going on the road outside. He suddenly felt a sense of destiny, a sense that Rune was no longer the center of the world.
He sighed and entered the Prime Minister's residence, where, guided by a servant, he arrived at a small conference room.
Several familiar faces were already in the conference room, including Defense Minister Emilius and Duchess Georgina Augustus.
Foreign Minister Kryseth, Chairman of the Science and Technology Development Committee Granger, and others.
In recent days, they have been meeting frequently, sometimes even twice a day.
After exchanging a few words, Earl Hall took his seat.
A few minutes later, Prime Minister Agushid pushed open the door and entered. As soon as the door closed, the Prime Minister said, "Ladies and gentlemen,"
Intis's collaboration this time is very sincere; they've already given us some technology related to the 'Extraordinary Puppet.'"
Emilius took a drag of his cigarette and said, "I'd rather know when Rune will be able to build an aircraft carrier!"
"Gentlemen! Gentlemen! If that giant enemy floating in mid-air appears in front of the Rune soldiers, please help me figure out how to maintain their morale!"
"Don't get agitated," Foreign Minister Cruces said. "You know we're far behind in terms of advanced technology."
"But once the relevant technologies of 'Extraordinary Technology' mature, given Rune's production capacity, aircraft carriers will be available."
And there will be a lot more.
"But the problem now is that Rembrandt won't be foolish enough to wait for us to build an aircraft carrier."
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds, and everyone agreed with the Foreign Minister's statement.
After everyone calmed down, Earl Hall said, "I think the main topic of this meeting is how to cooperate with Intis!"
Prime Minister Agushid said: "That's right, cooperation is inevitable, and we must concentrate all our resources to catch up with Rembrandt."
"But the question is, will Remenberg let us cooperate? Will they start a new war?"
"You should know that in the war that just ended at the end of last year, Remburg suffered very little loss and is fully capable of launching another war."
Everyone looked at the Minister of Defense. Emilius, regaining his usual serious demeanor, stubbed out his half-burnt cigarette in the ashtray: "The probability of Remburg initiating a war is not high, because their extraordinary strength is not enough to start a war with other countries at the same time."
Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, Emilius added, "But if there is the support of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, then it's hard to say."
Remburg has no shortage of high-end combat power at the angel level. It would have no problem taking on any country, and even with the help of the church of righteous gods in that country, they would still be no match for Remburg.
However, if they were to wage war against two countries at the same time, their extraordinary strength would not be enough, and they would need the help of the Church of Knowledge.
That's how wars are in this world; in the end, it all comes down to the number of angels and demigods.
Agusid wiped the sweat from his brow and continued, "That means there's a high probability that Remnantburg will start a war—"
"Not necessarily," said Duchess Georgina, who had been listening in. "If war breaks out, the Church of the Eternal Sun, the Church of the Storm, and the Church of the Steam will certainly do everything in their power to attack Lenburg."
"The Church of the Goddess of Night is currently incorporating the former Church of the God of War. I heard that several small-scale battles have broken out in Fusak. It's hard to reason with those half-giants who love to fight. This incorporation operation may continue for another year, or even the year after."
"Now the Church of the Earth Mother has become crucial. If they help Remburg, then Intis will have no hope of victory."
Everyone listened very seriously because this was a confrontation of extraordinary forces, a factor that could truly determine the course of the war.
Georgina continued, "The reason I said it's not certain that a war will break out is because if the war of the gods breaks out at the very beginning, the 'God of Knowledge and Wisdom' and the 'Lord of Mysteries' will be fighting alone against the 'Eternal Sun,' the 'Lord of Storms,' and the 'God of Steam and Machinery.'"
"But considering that Yanodis once made a deal with the Church of the Earth Mother, it is possible that he can ask the Earth Mother for help."
"Considering that Yanodis once collaborated with the 'Goddess of Night,' there's a certain probability that this deity will help Remburg."
However, the royal family believed that the "Earth Mother Goddess" was a divine authority that could be won over.
Finally, she concluded: "In terms of divine power, if the 'Earth Mother Goddess' clearly intends to aid Remburg, Remburg will face immense pressure if it initiates a war."
She did explain some things: we also need to consider evil gods such as the "Hidden Sage" and the " Bound God ." If this war of gods breaks out, it will be more thorough than the previous wars. The evil gods' forces are very important.
Moreover, these evil gods will most likely choose to support Intis and Rune. Of course, it's not something that can be said too clearly, as the rulers cannot cooperate with the evil gods.
But her summary does indeed reflect the views of the Ruen royal family on this matter.
Of course, they were unaware that Odis had become the King of Angels.
After listening to the Duchess's analysis, Agushid sighed and said, "That means that before the 'Earth Mother Goddess' or the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess makes a statement, Remnantburg will most likely not go to war—"
Yan shook his head at this point: "How can you make a final decision about something like this based on 'high probability'?"
The Duchess said earnestly, "Don't you all realize that this is the moment to fight for the fate of our nation? Everyone still has the courage to fight. If we win this battle, Backlund will once again become the center of the world."
"If we fail, no one will be able to stop Remenberg's development anymore."
The meeting room fell silent again. Most of them had not realized beforehand that such an urgent moment had arrived.
Aisara, the presidential palace.
Odis glanced at the report submitted by Medici and immediately realized that time was far too tight.
Even if it takes another year or two for the car to improve, Rembrandt's extraordinary power can be further developed, and its extraordinary weapons will have a certain advantage.
But now that the war is over, the advancement of extraordinary power has slowed down.
It's not that the merits are insufficient. Odis has implemented a system of "overdrafting merits" in the extraordinary organizations throughout the country, which means that a general promotion can be made up for later with merits.
Furthermore, each extraordinary individual has a three-day "role-playing vacation" each month, allowing them to seriously summarize the rules of role-playing and engage in sufficient role-playing.
Even so, with the urgency of war threatening personal safety, the rate of advancement for extraordinary individuals slowed down.
Extraordinary weapons have been in full production, but this time it may mean fighting on two fronts, and facing a major power on both fronts.
Unlike previous World Wars, where Remnburg was outside the main battlefield, the fighting there was somewhat different, and even Medici was very cautious.
Besides facing two major powers, the key is also fighting against three churches.
Odis has been considering these past few days whether to continue choosing.
Monday arrived in the blink of an eye, and Odis decided to attend a tarot meeting to hear about the other members' recent situations and see if she could get any inspiration.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Odis's vision was covered by gray fog, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared in the ancient palace.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool," Audrey's voice rang out first.
The people at the tail also stood up and greeted the "Fool".
Meanwhile, "The Fool" Klein realized that Odis's power was even greater than before. Was this because she had become the King of Angels?
Klein was somewhat worried. What if Odis became a true god one day and came to the meeting again? Would he immediately see through the "Fool" and realize that he was only at Sequence 2?
Following this, Klein had new thoughts about the divine gifts of the "Secret Seeker" path.
He had previously learned about Yan from Russell's diary, and that "the hidden sage" was the unique and revitalized divine gift of the "hermit" path.
He originally thought that the "Lord of Mysteries" would most likely have two Sequence 1 traits. When Odis became a Sequence 1, Klein noticed a problem: why did Odis, as a follower of the "Lord of Mysteries," not hand over this Sequence 1 trait, but instead chose to ascend to the next level?
At the time, Klein had two conjectures. The first was that the "Lord of Mysteries" was actually the remnant soul of the "Sage," or a stronger spiritual remnant, embodying the ancient divine nature that does not die but remains.
After Odis Township adopted the first characteristic of the sequence, it broke with this ancient god.
However, now that Odis has become the King of the Dual Sequence 1 Angels, Klein has a new speculation: the "Lord of Mysteries" is likely a god whose essence has been activated.
This speculation arose because Klein Township received information about Source Matter and roughly understood what Source Matter was.
Klein had considered this many times, but ultimately he didn't take the initiative to talk to Odis about his conjecture, after all, everyone has secrets.
If Odis seeks his help, he will do his best to assist, but it's best not to pry into anything too private.
After the greetings and the members took their seats, Emlin Hen, aka "The Moon," spoke first: "Everyone, I'd like to know if the 'Cultivator' and 'The Moon' pathways are any special compared to other pathways?"
After raising the question, he added: "I recently learned that the Church of Mother Earth Goddess also has a different system from other churches, which is divided into two parts: those with divine grace and those favored by God."
"The gracious ones are extraordinary beings who have mastered the pathways of the 'Mother' and the 'Moon', while the favored ones are extraordinary beings who have been favored by the 'Earth Mother Goddess' through pathways other than the 'Mother' and the 'Moon'. Even a papal decree must be countersigned by at least one of the favored ones, otherwise it can be considered invalid."
After Emlyn the Moon finished his brief description, Alger the Hanged Man and the others had some ideas, but at the same time they felt that none of their ideas seemed to touch on the root of the problem.
At this point, Klein, who knew a little about this, posed a question with a smile, posing the role of "The Fool": "Where do you think the 22 extraordinary paths originated?"
Everyone was taken aback. This was one of the three core questions in mysticism, and there had never been a universally accepted answer.
While everyone was considering whether to give their own answer, the "Hermit" Odis said in a relatively affirmative tone: "The source that can be traced back to is the 'original Creator'."
"According to some intelligence from my hometown, 'The Original' created 'The Fallen Mother Goddess' and 'The Desire Mother Tree' after its birth. Then, 'The Original' and 'The Fallen Mother Goddess' gave birth to other outer gods, such as 'The Decaying King' and 'The Watcher of Movi,' etc."
Klein was stunned. Such a thing was possible?
He was another member at the Tarot meeting who knew what the "Fallen Mother Goddess" and "Mother Tree of Desire" were like. The other members were somewhat disgusted at this time. In previous Tarot meetings, they had heard of the "Fallen Mother Goddess" and "Mother Tree of Desire" as "superior divine beings", but they were relatively unfamiliar with this level of divine beings.
Odis said, "I'll have Miss 'Justice' hypnotize everyone in a bit, so you'll forget the names of these gods."
"Because these gods are extremely dangerous, people may only know some information about them and then suffer certain losses." Everyone was stunned, realizing that the names the "Hermit" had just mentioned were all "above the divine level".
Odisren did not give everyone time to continue their speculation, but instead continued, "The vast majority of the 'divine beings' in this world were born at that time."
There are two explanations for how the primordial body came into being. One is that the 'original' body itself possessed those characteristics and source matter.
However, because the properties and source matter are too dense, the tendency of extraordinary properties to split is triggered. "This tendency is a derivative law of the law of aggregation of extraordinary properties. When the properties of a path reach a certain degree of density at a certain point, the tendency of splitting will be triggered.
"The manifestation of this is that no church can gather all the extraordinary characteristics of that path. There will always be some extraordinary characteristics, even characteristics at the angelic level, that are scattered outside."
Upon hearing this, the other members reacted differently. Some had heard of this law before, some had vaguely heard of it, and some had never heard of it at all.
Those who had vaguely heard about it suddenly realized something, while those who had never heard of it were completely bewildered. The fundamental law of extraordinary characteristics actually had an "extension law".
Odis paused slightly and then said, "The manifestation of the 'split tendency' that occurred in the 'original' was the creation and birth of a group of 'divine beings', most of whom possessed extraordinary characteristics through multiple pathways."
The sum of "the beginning" plus "us" probably constitutes most of the extraordinary characteristics of this universe.
"Another explanation is that those characteristics were not in the 'original' body, but after the creation of the world, these characteristics could be controlled, which is why those 'divine attributes' were created."