Chapter 473: The Empire’s Dilemma

Time is precious.

Belic took out a mechanical pocket watch and took a look.

This is a sophisticated and advanced product of goblin technology. Only the top goblin engineers can polish every piece and gear to make the movement of the pocket watch accurate and stable.

Some people always say that goblin inventions are rough and simple, but it is precisely because of these cheap and usable things that more people can master them.

Expensive and delicate things are the privileges of the imperial dignitaries.

The time is 17:31.

When the sun sets.

The imperial delegation arrived outside the royal city of the Resurrection Kingdom.

The army led by the Skeleton Knights came to greet them. They were silent and silent.

Belic saw that a huge vehicle was driving on the field, with thick smoke on the front of the vehicle and rows of bone rollers behind the vehicle, plowing the ground evenly.

He squinted his eyes.

The farm tool [Kenya] is also one of the targets this time.

The imperial delegation was solemnly received by the Resurrection Kingdom. Although there were minor frictions between the two sides in the past, the trade and exchanges between them have never stopped.

The only thing that has changed is the status between the two.

In the past, the Resurrection Kingdom was considered a barbaric and stupid land of the dead, a pasture and farm behind the empire, but when it was favored by the God Yao, everything became completely different.

In just a hundred years, the Skeleton Kingdom, which used to be submissive to the empire, has become a rising civilization in the limelight.

The Resurrection Kingdom has trained a fearless skeleton army, sitting on vast fields and grasslands, self-sufficient internally, and exporting a large amount of food, leather and meat externally.

Because the skeleton mercenaries are cheap, orderly, and have an excellent reputation, they have even begun to undertake some local standing military defense tasks for vassal civilizations.

The Resurrection Kingdom bypassed the empire and directly traded and communicated with other vassal civilizations.

The empire protested and condemned many times, and the gods remained silent.

That was a place covered by the divine power of the God Yao, and the gods had no right to interfere.

After the [Anvil Federation] was integrated into the Resurrection Kingdom, it made up for the shortcomings of smelting and mining, and the rise of this young kingdom was unstoppable.

However, the empire fell into great turmoil.

First, the mysterious explosion of [Iron Dock] and [Sweet City], the sudden impact and arrival of the other world, made the two cities disappear.

This indirectly led to the death of the Iron Duke, the owner of [Iron Dock].

Later, the new Duke was poisoned, and the entire duchy was taken over by the empire. The only heir, Ferric Baron, went into exile in the Resurrection Kingdom, and the title of Iron Duke was almost dead in name only.

On the other hand, the Spice Count who controlled [Sweet City] suffered a great loss of vitality and lost the sugar-making town, which made the Spice Count lose the monopoly on sugar products, and his heir also died in the Sweet City incident. Today, the Spice Count has become the last force among the seven electors, and is in danger under the power of the emperor.

This incident is called the "Fortress Explosion", which directly caused the mutual distrust between the electors and the emperor, resulting in open and covert confrontations between each other, and the separatist regimes became increasingly serious.

At that time, Belica discussed with his friends: "Anyway, they are not good people, whoever dies will die a good death."

The friend said: "Then what situation is good?"

"Of course it is like now, the more chaotic the better."

Belica grinned: "I just want to have some fun. It would be such a good thing to witness the collapse of an empire."

Not long after, Belica was found by the apostle.

"The empire wants to hire you to work for them, you should prepare."

"It's an honor."

Belica obeyed the order obediently.

Although he was working for the empire, he was not an empire person, but from [Wind Realm].

The Fengxing Realm is a place where tempering technology is really good. Those who can mix here are elites from all walks of life. However, no matter how good the technology is, it must be tested in actual combat.

Facing the empire's foreign minister, Belica raised his head and chest, put one hand on his shoulder, and said solemnly according to the imperial etiquette: "For the empire! Loyalty!"

Then, he became a technical officer of the empire's invention department.

The technology of the invention department usually refers to goblin technology, construction engineering, smelting and casting, or mechanical design.

Belica is good at stealing.

He is a rising star in the stealing world of the popular world.

When he came to the Resurrection Kingdom, Belica's imperial mission was to steal two things.

The manufacturing technology of [Ken Ya] and the formula of the magic potion [Heart Pill].

...

The defense of the Resurrection Kingdom was like a vain in his eyes. Belica collected the complete technology of [Ken Ya] through on-site investigation, consultation, and visits, and even made a small model and handed it to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As for [Heart Pill], this is not something that the Resurrection Kingdom can produce. The magic potion developed by the Yao clan was only delivered as a finished product. The pharmaceutical process is very complicated and the local area does not have the production conditions.

Belica's work was completed so easily, which made him feel a little empty.

The rest of the time is to count the days to return to the empire and then collect the reward.

Belica likes goblin technology, especially high-precision props.

The mechanical pocket watch he held, the silver wine flask that could hold three kinds of wine in layers, and the belt that could hold various small tools were all high-end products made by goblin inventors.

This time the reward was a clockwork motorcycle. As long as he wound up the spring, he could ride the handsome motorcycle and speed across the fields and roads.

A few days later, Belic participated in a formal meeting between the two countries.

Nominally, he was a technical officer of the Invention Department and attended the meeting as a staff officer.

King Raymond also participated in the meeting in person.

The Empire's Foreign Minister was very humble and said with a smile on his face: "... There are some bad voices and rumors now, saying that His Majesty the Emperor is ill, and there are also rumors that the "Fortress Explosion" was a man-made accident caused by the Empire. These are all nonsense. His Majesty the Emperor hopes that the Resurrection Kingdom can continue to support the Empire and continue the normal trade between the two sides."

The Skeleton Emperor sat at the top and said "hmm".

"Then, Your Majesty supports His Majesty the Emperor?"

"Of course."

"Before in the Imperial Capital, there was a rumor..."

The minister pinched the parchment roll and planned his words: "It is said that there is a powerful external force that is interfering and influencing the electors and even affecting the final direction of the Empire's internal affairs. Your Majesty, what do you think of this?"

"I haven't heard of this."

King Raymond shook his head.

The minister said cautiously: "You mean, the Resurrection Kingdom should not have anything to do with this?"

Raymond's dark eyes turned to the minister, and his voice became low: "You foreign ministers like to say that we are some external force, interfering with the internal order of the empire, and all problems are attributed to the Resurrection Kingdom."

The king raised his bony fingers: "I can say nothing, and then you will think it is tacit consent and arrogance, and you will be unhappy."

"The Yao people never interfere in the internal affairs of other worlds and civilizations, not in the past, not now, and not in the future."

The minister wanted to say something several times, but was interrupted, and finally the king left the table directly.

Seeing the dilemma of the empire's diplomacy, Belic couldn't help sighing,

This huge empire has indeed lost its majesty.

When returning, the Twin Snake Empire brought back a skeleton army of 5,000 people through diplomatic trade, which will be used to supplement the garrison of the imperial capital.

The Resurrection Kingdom also sent a delegation to visit the empire, and Belic was given a new mission.

"You will be their guide and entourage."

The Foreign Minister pointed at the two people in the distance and said, "Keep an eye on them, remember their every move, and then tell me."

"No, this is different from what we agreed."

Belica protested.

"You have no right to refuse."

The Foreign Minister said coldly, "Either do it, and then go to the Ministry of Invention to get a car, or go to the mining area to dig coal."

"..."

The situation is stronger than people.

Belica could only curse in his heart.

Shameless!

When the Empire breaks the rules, it is much more brutal than the swindlers and thieves in the popular world.

...

The two people that Belica was following, the leader in yellow clothes was called Yazdan, and the other was a long-eared rabbit man called Baiding.

Both of them came from the Sand City of Yao Country, and were reporters of the [Dibaoguan].

The job of a reporter is to visit everywhere, send the collected events of all sizes back to the Dibaoguan, and then publish them in the form of paper newspapers so that more people can see them.

Yazdan gives people the feeling of being cold and unapproachable, like a stone with a human form.

The rabbit man Bai Ding is friendly and talkative.

They have a special powder called [Mint for Refreshing Mint], which can easily eliminate language barriers.

"Mr. Belica is a minority, but he can serve as a technical officer in the Imperial Invention Department. It's really amazing."

Bai Ding smiled and said, "What kind of inventions are you engaged in?"

"What I make is relatively unpopular, tending to be door locks."

Belica replied.

As a battle-hardened thief, dealing with various door locks is a necessary basic skill.

"Which lock is safer? I've heard of iron locks and wooden locks, but I don't quite understand the difference."

"It depends on the environment in which it is used."

Belica made a famous gesture: "If it is a door lock, then wood, stone, or metal can be used, as long as it can prevent people from opening it. The key is to make people retreat. If they really want to break in, unless it is a stone room with an iron door, it will be knocked open by external forces."

"If it is a lock for storing containers, or a lock for locking people or objects, it needs to be strong and delicate. At present, the reed lock is still the best to use."

"This is also a technology with a long history. Through several or more than a dozen reeds, a specific shape is formed in the iron lock or copper lock, and only a specific key can open it."

"But the lock is a man-made product after all. As long as it meets someone who understands the principle, it will always be opened. The key to this tool is to lock the lock for a short time and design ideas."

"Amazing! Mr. Belic is really an inventor who has studied deeply!"

Bai Ding admired him.

Belica smiled faintly.

In the fiercely competitive fashion industry, this is just a basic course to stand out.

"In addition, I also have some experience in knife grinding, small hook locks and iron and copper wire making. These tools are planted in a delicate..."

"Really? I heard that the Yao clan is still at a bottleneck in the research of copper and iron wires. Do you really have such technology?"

"Of course, copper and iron drawing technology, although it is a bit complicated to operate, is actually not difficult."

...

Both sides had heated exchanges along the way.

The knowledge of the collectors is very broad, and Belic also benefited a lot from it, and obtained a lot of information that he had never had before.

After arriving at the capital of the Twin Snake Empire, Bai Ding suddenly said: "Mr. Belica, I can assert that you are the genius scholar that the Yao people dream of. Are you willing to go to Yao Country or the Resurrection Kingdom to be a scholar?"

"..."

This is really outrageous.

Belica refused sternly: "I am a technical officer of the Imperial Invention Department, and I serve the Empire."

The main reason is that he is not a scholar, and his background is not clean. If he was found to have stolen the technology of the Yao people in the past, he would be finished.

"Then are you willing to become our special guest reporter?"

Bai Ding still refused to give up: "Becoming a reporter, you can open a column in the "Shacheng Dibao" to tell the situation on the Empire side, and you can also explain your non-confidential technology and experience in lock picking or related aspects."

"Each issue of the Dibao is watched by 100,000 people. A top scholar like you really shouldn't be so unknown."

"Isn't this too bad?"

"Of course, we will pay you the highest standard of remuneration for each issue of your article!"

Bai Ding found Yazdan and quoted a price that no one could refuse.

Belic immediately said: "Since you are so enthusiastic, I will write it reluctantly. If it is not good, please don't mind."

Write an article, and the newspaper will give a box of heart-saving pills.

According to the market price of heart-saving pills in the empire, just reselling one pill can exchange for a clockwork locomotive! There are 3 pills in a box! These are all hard currency.

The Yao clan is indeed rich and powerful, much better than the stingy Twin Snake Empire.

Belic felt a little complicated.

It's just.

How can I, an elite in the theft industry, become a columnist?