“Are you really not going to reconsider?”
Sister Bernice of Lantern Dream knelt before Lind.
This nun, whom Lind had seen in a dream, was now making her fourth visit to him in reality.
However, Lind still politely refused, “No, at least not now. Your doctrine is too radical, and I cannot allow any blatant cults to appear in my territory.”
Lind spoke quite courteously; after all, the other party had shared brain servant technology with him, which could significantly enhance the computing power of his territory.
But this thing was too sinister. Calling the other party a cult was not at all unjust. To these people, humans were merely consumables.
This technology treated people as nodes, and each time it required a large number of people. If Lind took this step, he would only be left with a violent rule, which was simply not worth the risk.
This self-proclaimed Orthodox Goddess cult, Lantern Dream, treated every day as if it were the end of the world, ruthlessly exploiting manpower. But for Lind, the situation had not yet become so critical; at least, he did not see the so-called apocalyptic scene.
“Then at least set up a contact point?”
“You can contact my bards.”
After Lind finished speaking, Lucanus bowed slightly.
“Alright.”
Bernice sighed. The enormous obelisk erected in Graywhite Territory was considered a manifestation of Golden Age technology in this era, and she was eager to establish a cooperative relationship with Lind.
Lind hadn’t denied them opportunities; if they could provide a perfect method for lucid dreaming, he might risk assisting them in cleansing their reputation.
However, the perfect lucid dream was also considered a black box technology for Lantern Dream; they did not understand the specific principles and could only proceed under the influence of the divine revelation lantern left by the Goddess.
Moreover, remote collaborative dreaming also required consuming brain servant computing power.
In short, amidst the mutual pulling, while both sides cooperated, it was not extensive and fell within the usual transactional scope between a typical lord and cultists.
“Lastly, we must remind you that there might be significant changes regarding Augustine in the royal capital.”
Bernice looked provocatively at Lucanus.
“This is information that even your bards cannot obtain.”
“I understand.”
Lind was not surprised; after all, Lucanus was not omnipotent, and possessing intelligence about the Northern Border was already quite exaggerated. In the royal capital, the information was primarily to maintain the basic intelligence system.
“The next batch of supplies will still be at the old place; remember to collect it.”
With this, Lind dismissed Bernice.
Before long, Lena curiously pushed the door open and entered the study.
“You always talk so mysteriously, what are you discussing?”
“Just some business matters.”
After all, they were cultists. In Lena’s understanding, they were objects to be dealt with by Lars Knights. In order to protect Lena, Lind decided to minimize contact between the two parties.
“Alright, enough of that; come look at the drawings I made.”
Lena had drawn a completely simple locomotive that could carry a raw sand container, directly used in the mines.
To be honest, the mine was probably the most advanced place in terms of equipment besides the army and the laboratory. Lind was not worried about overproduction. Not to mention selling to the elves, almost everyone in the territory sensed that winter would soon bring war. At that time, they would only complain that their equipment and machines were not fast enough.
Doug’s issuance of Doug coins was definitely not just to satisfy himself and those nobles. Even if the internal politics were in chaos, as long as he won the war, he would be the only winner. Although the methods were quite crude, Doug had indeed accumulated a large fortune in a short time with these rough paper bills.
“Lind, what do you want to do when the war is over?”
Lena suddenly asked seriously.
It was obvious that the war would not end so quickly. Even if Lind defeated Doug and Lena’s two other uncles at lightning speed, he would then have to face the royal family and the demon clan in war.
Lind only had one way forward.
Perhaps after unifying the Northern Border, he could continue to serve the king and become another Duke Lars, which would be a point five alternative route, but it was evident that this might be more difficult than confronting the king directly.
But Lind still carefully considered a future that seemed impossible: “I might go teach. You probably won’t believe it, but I was a teacher in my previous life, although teaching was a bit watery.”
“I’m not talking about that.”
Lena said with a pout, hands on her hips: “As the son-in-law of the Lars family, can’t you have a little ambition?”
“Huh?”
Lind was somewhat puzzled. He wondered why Lena had suddenly become enlightened. Although there were many radicals and conservatives who thought the radicals were too conservative supporting him, Lena was different from them, essentially belonging to the type who focused on home and family.
Even if they did not have children yet, it was only a matter of time.
“Don’t you want to be the chancellor?”
“Uh…”
Well, it seemed he had overthought it. Lind had to admit that Lena was indeed very intelligent, but her political acumen was always low.
If Lind were to become the chancellor, Klan Augustus would probably lose sleep over it, especially since Augustus III had previously granted too much power to the chancellor in order to counter Duke Lars.
Not to mention that king couldn’t sleep, Lind might not be able to either, possibly even awakening a penchant for killing in dreams.
“My grandfather said that the chancellor is the highest official. He wanted to be the chancellor when he was young, and if you become chancellor, you would definitely govern the country very well, right?”
It seemed that Duke Lars really was quite young in his younger days. However, it was not difficult to understand, as Duke Lars had always harbored unrealistic fantasies about the royal family.
“Well, I will try my best.”
Although Lind really wanted to say, is there a possibility that we could only be higher officials than the chancellor right now, seeing Lena’s expectant gaze, he still affectionately patted her head.
After Lena left, Lind quietly asked, “Can you find out what the royal changes that Lantern Dream mentioned are?”
“It might require some dark lines; I will try my best.”
“Go ahead, the dark lines exist for such times.”
Lucanus disappeared into the shadows and said, “You are becoming more and more like a monarch, as long as it is not in front of the lady. My king, I am very much looking forward to the day you ascend the throne.”
At the same time in the royal capital, Klan Augustus was hurriedly writing something.
“Cough cough!”
Unable to suppress his cough, Klan immediately covered his mouth with his hand, looking at the bloodstains on his hand, Klan’s vision also became slightly blurred.
The attending servant quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe Klan’s bloodstains.
However, looking at the stacks of reform documents, Klan revealed a smile.
It seemed that entrusting the reforms to Lilith was the right choice; she was exceptionally talented, even more so than most of Klan’s siblings.
Although the time was short, Lilith had already grasped all the important industries in the royal capital under the name of the royal family and the church, laying a solid foundation for Klan’s reforms.
Furthermore, with the dual identity of the saintess and future queen supporting her, Klan could hand over most of his power to Lilith.
To be honest, Klan understood his father a bit, because his own actions were quite similar to Augustus III, who had shared most of the power with the chancellor to counter Duke Lars.
Watching the servant carefully wipe his palm, Klan finally made up his mind and said, “Go to my older brother.”
