After some thought, Levi didn't refuse. Zenith told him not to casually expose his Ultraman identity, and he gladly agreed.
In this world, as long as Zenith didn't intervene, the number of opponents who could force Levi to transform was infinitely close to zero, so it didn't matter whether he transformed or not.
He would find out what the truth was. The Marley Empire, The Rumbling—Levi would figure out the meaning behind all of it.
"Is this the joy of being a Riddler? It turns out that standing from a god's-eye view and saying things others don't understand is so interesting. No wonder those who play with prophecies like to make up cryptic judgments," Zenith mused aloud.
The Scout Regiment returned inside the walls completely intact, an unprecedented first. There were no cheers from the public, but Levi believed that day was coming soon.
Days passed one by one, and Zenith's territory gradually perfected itself. Roads crisscrossed the landscape, bustling with the sounds of a thriving settlement. A towering wall was even erected on the outermost perimeter, isolating the inside and outside into two completely different worlds.
When late autumn arrived, the royal capital nobles who had originally sold the land to Zenith finally remembered that there was still such a massive plot of land that hadn't been taxed.
"Food, taxes, and labor. With such a long time to rest and develop, we should be able to squeeze quite a fortune out of that sucker."
A twenty-man squad from the Military Police Regiment set out after receiving the nobles' orders. Their goal was to scrape wealth equivalent to one-tenth of the nation's total tax revenue from Zenith's territory.
It had to be said that the hearts of these nobles were truly black. They had probably already made up their minds to do this the moment they sold the land.
"...Can someone tell me why, inside Wall Maria, within the King's territory, someone dares to build a wall to enclose a piece of land? What's the difference between this and open rebellion?"
The squad leader was shocked. This Zenith had some serious nerve. Did he really think the Military Police Regiment were pushovers? They might not be able to deal with Titans, but couldn't they deal with a measly little merchant guild?
After walking along the wall for a long time, they saw a magnificent city gate that rivaled the royal capital's. Armed guards stood on both sides.
The leader rode his horse forward, carrying the unique arrogant posture of the Military Police Regiment, and demanded condescendingly,
"Which regiment do you belong to? Who gave you the right to build a city within the walls?!"
The two gate guards gripped their rifles tightly, their eyes firm. "We belong to the SPW Autonomous Zone City Guard Regiment. Building a city is the people's right to self-protection!"
Seeing the Military Police Regiment about to force their way in, the two men directly leveled their weapons. "Ahead is the territory belonging to the people of SPW. If you want to enter, please apply in advance. If you force your way through the city gate, the guards have the right to counterattack in self-defense!"
The leader's face turned livid with anger. Since when did a merchant guild's private armed force dare to speak to them like this?
More than twenty guns were raised one after another. Before the atmosphere between the two sides dropped to the freezing point, a man looking like an officer walked out from inside the city wall, his tone amiable.
"Since you are from the Military Police Regiment, you can naturally enter and exit freely. May I ask your purpose?"
The leader's expression softened slightly, but his tone was still unkind. "We came under orders. You just need to take us to Zenith. You have no right to ask about anything else!"
"Easy enough."
The officer smiled and led the group inside. "Lord Zenith instructed us long ago that if people from the Military Police Regiment came, we must be sure to *heavily* entertain them. Gentlemen, please come with me."
The word 'heavily' was deliberately emphasized. This officer led the twenty or so Military Police soldiers, preparing to take them on a tour of the entire territory.
"Because the territory is very large, we have divided the interior of the SPW Autonomous Zone into five major areas. The outermost layer is the military zone, responsible for potential armed conflicts from the east, west, south, and north."
The Military Police leader didn't take it seriously. *What kind of soldiers could your small place train? You actually have the nerve to call it a military zone?*
But he soon changed his mind. Riding his horse forward, he quickly saw straight cement roads and cars speeding along them.
"What is that? A carriage that can move without horses??"
"It's just an ordinary means of transportation."
Following the cars, they soon saw a red-and-blue military exercise in progress, featuring semi-automatic weapons, fully automatic firearms, self-propelled artillery, and tanks.
Looking at those infantry-tank coordinated exercise formations, the deafening roar of artillery, and the mobile turrets, the men of the Military Police Regiment felt their legs shaking like leaves.
*Seriously, bro, what is all this? Aren't we still in the black powder era? Do you want to take a look at the flintlocks on our backs?*
"Of course, we all advocate peace, so don't worry too much."
The officer patted the Military Police leader hard on the back, then led them to the nearest train station.
"The next part of the itinerary isn't very suitable for horseback riding. We've built a railway within the territory to facilitate the transport of resources and personnel."
A massive steel dragon crawled across the earth, letting out a strange woo-woo whistle as it sped into the distance.
"Heading into the hinterland from here, we will pass through the industrial zone, the agricultural zone, the commercial zone, and the SPW headquarters in sequence. If we take the train, we should be able to tour everything within a day."
Inside the swaying train car, the Military Police leader saw what a generational gap in civilization looked like. Factories belching thick smoke, wheat fields stretching as far as the eye could see, and unimaginably tall skyscrapers.
SPW had brought the Industrial Revolution to Paradis Island. Iceburst stone was good stuff; this highly valuable special energy source could be seen everywhere on this medieval island.
In just under a year, the territory had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Eating was the most important matter in the world. Only by solving the food problem could they proceed to the next step of development. But the thing was, the wheat seeds provided by Zenith ripened once every six days.
Conventional wheat ripened twice a year, which meant that under the same cultivation area, the grain yield here was thirty times that of other regions in the kingdom.
With an abundant food supply and climbing the tech tree without any detours, the entire territory was completing technological updates and iterations at an unimaginable speed.
There might still be some flaws in the development of the civilian sector, but the military sector was absolutely on par with the current standards of modern countries around the world.
"Sir Military Police, is it too hot in the carriage? Why are you sweating so much?"
The officer thoughtfully called over the train's service staff. "Attendant, please prepare some clean towels and whiskey on the rocks. These Military Police friends don't seem quite used to our train environment."
Looking at the twenty-plus fidgeting Military Police soldiers, the officer casually asked again, "By the way, what was your purpose for coming here again? I recall you haven't told me yet."
The leader swallowed hard. *If I say we're here to extort wealth, we'll be shot to pieces, right?* The gap was too massive. If a war really broke out, SPW marching into the royal capital would probably be easier than taking a stroll outside.
Ignorance breeds fearlessness. These soldiers, who were used to acting arrogantly in the royal capital, rediscovered true fear in this very moment.
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