My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 137

"Yes."

Monica looked at her parents with some confusion.

She felt like she had just experienced some discomfort.

so, what happened?

As Yang Haocong stepped out of the back seat of the car, she frowned and decided to have a serious talk with him tonight.

...... ...... .......

At 6 p.m. on the 19th.

When Yang Hao returned to his palace, Monica was preparing dinner for him and Koschei. In the room, he saw Koschei lying motionless on the bed, wagging his tail.

He instinctively held his breath, wondering, "Is this girl, who looks like a young girl, really my wife?" He carefully walked behind her and gently touched the base of her tail.

"—Huh? I thought you were asleep..."

Then, the next moment, his dirty hand was wrapped directly by Koschei's tail. Facing Koschei, who had just gotten out of bed and was looking at him listlessly, Yang Hao quickly explained with an awkward laugh that his action was unintentional, while sitting down next to his wife to carefully examine what had happened to her that day.

She looked tired and haggard, but it was unclear why. While expressing concern for Koschich's condition, Yang Hao gently lifted the exhausted Koschich onto his lap, holding her as easily as a rag doll.

Faced with her husband's concern, Koschche merely revealed the sinister smile that she had often shown in front of Yang Hao long ago:

“My dearest husband...do you know what kind of crisis our territory is facing because of this civil war?”

"Huh? This..."

What's going on?

The Duchy of Koschei is still doing well, isn't it?

Yang Hao swallowed hard and quickly checked the puppet stage interface—he found that the Dukedom of Koschche was indeed steadily rising in status. There was absolutely nothing to worry about...

Ah, it's not that there's no chance, but it's just... the possibility of losing the civil war? It's only a one percent chance, so there's not much to worry about, right?

Koschke, is it because you've discovered something strange?

Yang Hao rubbed his wife's cheek with a strange expression. After finding that the kitten didn't seem angry, he relaxed and placed his chin on Koschitch's head. Then, he closed his eyes and comfortably enjoyed the fluffy touch of her cat ears flapping on his cheeks.

"So what happened?"

"...Specifically, His Majesty the Emperor has decided to use our territory as the breakthrough point to completely destroy the Sherlock Holmes nightclub? And if there are no unforeseen circumstances, His Majesty the Emperor's army will pass through our duchy and then fight a decisive battle with Duke Nicolai's army."

"Huh? Isn't this... a good thing?"

Isn't this a fantastic opportunity? If His Majesty the Emperor can end the civil war as soon as possible, Yang Hao can quickly implement economic reform policies for the Ursus Empire and then intervene in the war between Colombia and Casimir.

So, isn't this good news?

Yang Hao pinched the base of Kosichee's tail in confusion, but then she grabbed his manhood through his pants with her hand. He then obediently stayed put and didn't touch her.

"But the problem is... my dear Yang Hao? Does Her Majesty the Emperor feel that our city's supply capacity cannot meet the needs of her army? So, Saint-Germain Fortress will also move with her army. So, in order to provide supplies to Her Majesty the Emperor's army, Saint-Germain Fortress will 'reasonably' be pieced together with our city, right?" When Kosiché said this, the sinister smile on his face was no longer just gloomy, but deeply dark!

And she even called out Yang Hao's name—how long had it been since Koschke had called Yang Hao's name? She remembered it perfectly, down to the second—but now, she really couldn't hold back...

This was especially true after noticing Yang Hao's bewildered expression, as if to say, "Isn't this good news?"

She sighed heavily, then uttered her last words softly:

"Darling, if you think this is good news... please think about it: if Saint-Germain Castle continues to be pieced together on the edge of our city, blocking all four of our cities from advancing or retreating, do you think this is good news?"

"Ah, this..." His expression gradually changed.

"And don't forget."

Kosicie gripped his manhood tightly and dropped a bombshell:

"If His Majesty the Emperor were to announce the merger of Saint-Germain-de-France with the Duchy of Kosiché... do you think you could hide at home and escape His Majesty's wrath?"

At that point, it won't be as simple as Yang Hao staying at home to hide from His Majesty the Emperor; he'll have to find a way to go out and hide from His Majesty the Emperor.

"Ah this..."

His face was deathly pale, and he was trembling all over, realizing the seriousness of the situation.

Chapter 45

7 month 20 day.

To prevent His Majesty the Emperor from actually driving the Shanhaiguan-Shengjunbao directly to his home, Yang Hao had no choice but to immediately consider ending the civil war in the Ursus Empire ahead of schedule and achieving victory.

But saying he would start considering it immediately is actually a problem. Even with the assistance of the invincible puppet stage, there are some things Yang Hao can't accomplish. Even if he clicks on the national policy tree and resolutions, it won't work because those things are grayed out and "unselectable" until the specific time arrives.

"Hmm...this won't work...that won't work either."

Let's take the total number of soldiers as an example—Yang Hao currently has about 700 political points, which he may have painstakingly saved up, or he may have been given them after completing certain tasks. In any case, he needs to spend these 700 political points on more practical things, so he will almost certainly not use them to end this civil war that could benefit the duchy and the Ursus Empire prematurely.

And the more important problem is that even if he wanted to use it, there was nowhere to use it.

Aside from his [Messenger Function], which allows him to spend 500 political points to provide a city with a powerful, delay-free communication network, the remaining political points are either used to hire troops or to incite refugee riots. The former is meaningless to Yang Hao, as he is currently slowly building up his army, striving to shift from a defensive posture to one that can assist His Majesty the Emperor in his main offensive. Furthermore, although he is eager to end the civil war as soon as possible, he is not in such a hurry that he must end it immediately. In addition, training troops and profiting from the war will also bring him benefits. Therefore, he has no need to spend political points to hire a group of mercenaries who will disband soon, unless he is extremely bored.

As for the issue of triggering refugee riots... well, Theresa said that Duke Nikolai is desperate for a "suitable" excuse to use his people as food supplies for the army... considering that the population structure of the Ursus Empire is already somewhat fragmented... well, let's just forget about it?

.....

So, after looking around, Yang Hao couldn't find anything he could adjust. He could only pin his hopes on the [events] he might trigger by wandering around.

Of course, he wasn't just wandering around aimlessly.

After informing his wife and head maid beforehand, Yang Hao went to R'lyeh and, amidst the strange looks from the younger generation, borrowed their matriarch. He took Sonia for a stroll through the streets of the Dukedom of Koschie, focusing his inspection on the following areas.

The first area—without a doubt—was the region where the infected were concentrated. He needed to go there to see for himself the progress of Ms. Kal'tsit's research, and also to check on how the infected were doing.

...

Because he was traveling incognito, Yang Hao's arrival did not cause much of a stir in the area where infected people congregated.

The police officer who conducted the check was quite surprised, but said nothing at Yang Hao's prompting. Suppressing his excitement, the officer completed the security check for Yang Hao and handed him and Sonia the highest quality infection-proof equipment. The officer then bowed to him and continued with his work.

"It seems Mr. Yang Hao, you are indeed very popular here." After leaving the checkpoint, Ms. Sonia murmured to Yang Hao with a smile. She gently wiped some stains off Yang Hao's clothes, then followed him to their destination: "But more importantly... what brings you here?"

"To see what I can do." He rubbed his nose and smiled helplessly. "Right now I'm like a headless fly with nothing to do... I have a lot of things that I can't do until His Majesty's army arrives, so I have to find something I can do."

"You could have been resting properly, sir. If I remember correctly, you often said you were exhausted before you went home, didn't you?"

"That's because..."

"because?"

"No...nothing."

"I can't exactly say it's because of your breasts and your 'service' that I was so tired before I got home, can I?" Yang Hao muttered to himself. His mother, Sonia, knowing what he was thinking, simply smiled and allowed him the right to grumble. They continued walking, and on their way to the research institute, Yang Hao paid particular attention to the living conditions of the infected.

how to say?

The infected people walked the streets with happy smiles. Although this could not be called "happiness," with the economic crisis still ongoing and civil war looming, being able to feel happy made them among the happiest people in the country during this period.

Although they are still struggling to make ends meet, at least Yang Hao's policies are not bad.

"Sigh, there really are a lot of unemployed people."

"The unemployed... well, although I don't know much about things inland, the unemployed in the city means..."

"Yes, that means they might have a hard time surviving in our city and become part of the chaos. Besides, they are indeed a rare source of cheap labor—so naturally, I have to find a way to give them a job."

"...So I guess I'm not really suited for these kinds of jobs after all?"

"So this is my job. No matter how much you take care of me, Sonia, you can't take my job away from me, can you...?"

"To be honest, I do want to?"

"Ah ha ha..."

Sonia wasn't particularly sensitive to political matters, and naturally, she wasn't much more sensitive to issues of people's livelihoods and the economy—she didn't understand how beneficial and stable providing jobs for the unemployed would be for a territory. She also didn't understand the current appeal of the Koschei Duchy to the Infected, or the inverse relationship the Infected had with the Duchy, so she felt a deep regret that she couldn't offer any help in securing employment for her child.

However, Yang Hao didn't want Sonia's mother to really turn him into a useless person... So, after refusing Sonia's mother's care and saying something that didn't really mean him, Yang Hao and Sonia arrived at the gate of the research institute in the infected area.

This is a three-story building that doesn't look luxurious at all; well, at least it doesn't look like a research institute at all.

"I hope everyone inside can work well."

Muttering this, Yang Hao showed his identity to the Gaul guard and then led Sonia into the research institute without any hindrance. In the institute's lobby, they saw Mr. Grovazier slacking off.

Chapter 46

"Lord Yang, Lord Yang Hao—"

Mr. Grovazel slacking off was something Yang Hao hadn't expected. Although he was surprised, he didn't say anything—after all, as long as you guys are alive, that's all that matters. You can do whatever you want; it won't affect the 1045 industry research he's currently working on in his research slot, so everything is fine.

"Sit down, sit down, can you eat the corn chip in your mouth first?"

Therefore, Yang Hao did not condemn Mr. Grovazel. After letting the Wendigo scholar sit down properly, he directly stated that he had come to see the state of the institute—after all, no matter what Kosiché allowed, he still needed to understand the actual situation, right?

Faced with Yang Hao's explanation, Mr. Grovazel, feeling quite embarrassed, hastily chewed and swallowed the cornflakes in his mouth, and said:

"Ms. Kal'tsit is conducting research upstairs. I come down from time to time to help out and learn some scientific research knowledge in the process. As for the research institute, it has been running for about ten days, but in essence, due to the lack of manpower, our research on the Oripathy cure is progressing extremely slowly."

"Slow and steady wins the race. It would be a miracle if you could solve a disease that has plagued the world for over a thousand years. Take it one step at a time—come on, show me all the facilities in this research institute."

"Yes."

Mr. Großwazel led Yang Hao and Sonia around the small but complete research institute. Through his explanations, Yang Hao finally obtained more detailed information than the hints from the [Puppet Stage], and also learned about a new event.

"In short, this is the last facility on the first floor of the research institute... Ms. Kal'tsit doesn't allow us to go up and disturb her while she's conducting research, so..."

"Oh, that's fine then. Hmm... in that case, I'll go look around somewhere else first—I'll leave the work here to you."

"Yes!"

He left the research institute with Sonia, and as they walked home, he observed the emergence of the new event with a strange expression:

[Event: The Emergence of the Infected Research Institute]

With your wife's consent, Ms. Kal'tsit has built a research institute in the infected community of your territory.

You unexpectedly discover that this research institute can be used not only to research life-saving drugs, but also to research many other things...

What are you planning to do?

Let's research drugs.

'Perhaps we can research weapons made of Originium...'

...

In summary—because of the research institute established by Ms. Kal'tsit, Yang Hao now faces two choices.

The first option: Have Ms. Kal'tsit's research institute focus solely on pharmaceuticals and avoid any research related to weapons.

There's not much to say about that—from then on, the research institute focused solely on medical supplies. Whether they could develop good medicines without Yang Hao's interference was another matter entirely.

Moreover, this was the least risky but also the least rewarding option, so Yang Hao naturally skipped over this consideration.

The second option, however, is much more interesting.

'Originium weapons.' To be precise, they are 'Originium contamination weapons'... It's quite shameful to admit, Yang Hao did have a similar idea when he was in Columbia, but at the time, it was just a thought, and then he put it out of his mind for the sake of making a living and Margarita.

But now... his mind had somehow recalled it again. And after thinking about it for a while, he realized that it was actually a highly feasible plan...

"Hmm...it's highly feasible..."

After all, how should I put it?

Let's organize it.

First of all, Originium is a common energy mineral in the Terra world, the culprit behind Oripathy, and most importantly, no one in this world can completely live without Originium, right?

Secondly, the contamination of Originium is very simple - as long as the dust-like Originium covers a block, all the families in that block who have not sealed their doors, windows, chimneys, or wall gaps will become infected - and the infected are the lowest class in most parts of this world, often oppressed, and even unable to live in cities, and can only make a living in dangerous wilderness. Doesn't that make sense?

From this, we can derive a formula:

Originium = a common and readily available necessity.

Originium powder = Highly dangerous material produced by grinding Originium

Those infected with Oripathy caused by Originium are considered the lowest class in this world, and by most countries as a group that is "dangerous and worthless".

Originium powder + refining = a cheap and dangerous weapon that can create a large number of infected.

Therefore, the above formulas combined mean that Yang Hao can use Originium Dust to create weapons and generate a large number of infected people in other countries. These infected people can then disrupt the regimes, livelihoods, and societies of hostile countries, while simultaneously generating huge profits for the Duke of Koschche and the Ursus Empire.

Moreover, this isn't just theoretically feasible; he could actually create such a thing anytime, anywhere—and the Terrans seem to have never imagined someone would be so ruthless as to develop a weapon they desperately want to avoid, so most countries currently lack any protective measures against this type of weapon...