paranoianovel Chapter 223 Everyone is calling for war
Chapter 223 Everyone is calling for war
Chapter 223 Everyone is calling for war
Regardless of the truth of what happened back then, the final result was that the Horn family was trapped in the web woven by the Augustus family and could not extricate themselves.
Meanwhile, the royal family of the Fussac Empire has minimized the challenges posed by the Horn family.
Understanding the history of the Horn family helps explain why it was such a sensitive matter that the old Earl's two heirs became "hunters" one after another.
Since the death of Emperor Roselle, the Kingdom of Rune has accepted the Church of Steam and Machinery to preach within its borders, attracting engineers from Intis who were fleeing internal strife. After decades of development and reform, the Kingdom of Rune has successfully become the most powerful industrial nation in the world today.
While the Fusak Empire did not develop as rapidly as the Kingdom of Rune, it was still quite powerful. In addition, the entire country was a militaristic state, and the royal family, the Einhorn family, had a very strong control over the country. There was no risk of internal division, and everyone was united as one. The title of the number one military power in the Northern Continent was well-deserved.
Therefore, for the past few decades, the Fusak Empire and the Kingdom of Rune have been vying for hegemony over the northern continent and even the entire world.
"Since the old count understands that the Augustus family only uses the Horn family as a pawn to deal with the Fursac Empire at a crucial moment, and that the Fursac Empire has been keeping a close eye on the Horn family, why did he risk letting his two heirs cross the line and become 'Hunters'? Was it coercion from the Augustus family?"
This is the point that Evan can't understand the most. Since he understands his own situation and has no ability to change it, why does he still cross the line?
For hundreds of years, the Horn family had essentially settled into a state of complacency. Although they had not given up their last hope, they had stopped making any further moves.
But if it was the Augustus family's order, why did both heirs die? Could it be that the Augustus family couldn't even protect people on their own territory?
Robert sighed softly and said quietly, "It's all because of fate!"
Evan was completely confused. How did things suddenly turn to the occult? Fortunately, Robert wasn't one to keep things in suspense, and before Evan could ask, he continued:
"According to the old count's own account, when he was young he also had a laissez-faire attitude, doing whatever he wanted, traveling around and indulging in sensual pleasures. However, during a hunting trip, he accidentally met a 'prophet'. The 'prophet' I'm talking about is not the 'prophet' who deceives people on the street, but a Sequence 2 angel from the 'monster' pathway."
This angel of destiny enjoys helping people predict the future and digest potions!
At the old count's request, a prophecy was made about the future of the Horn family: the Horn family would one day return to the pinnacle of the continent, restore their surname, and the time would not be far off.
Upon receiving this prophecy, the old count was very excited. He calmed his mind and devoted himself to studying the world situation. He finally concluded that the future hegemony of the Northern Continent would be contested between the Kingdom of Rune and the Empire of Fusak.
Furthermore, the appreciation of the previous King William Augustus VI made him feel that he was the key person to the revival of the Horn family.
Therefore, the old count reformed himself and devoted himself to helping the former king reform the country, freeing the Kingdom of Rune from its old constraints, winning over Intis and the Church of Knowledge and Wisdom, and using diplomatic means to provoke conflicts between the Kingdom of Rune, other countries, and the Fusak Empire.
The old count was already an extraordinary arbitrator at the time, and he grasped the art of acting too late. Fortunately, the royal family did not realize in time that he had grasped the art of acting, which gave him the opportunity to spread the art of acting.
So he passed on the role-playing technique to his two children and actively collected materials so that his children could become "hunters".
The old count believed that as the Kingdom of Rune and the Empire of Fusak officially became important rivals in the struggle for hegemony over the Northern Continent, the Augustus royal family would change its idle status towards the Horn family. In this way, they could take advantage of the situation to break free from the shackles binding the Horn family and achieve the great revival of the Horn family.
At first, the Augustan royal family did have an ambiguous attitude towards the emergence of the "Hunter" extraordinary member in the Horn family, which further strengthened the old count's determination.
However, after the current King George III came to power, the old Earl was neglected, and both of his heirs ran into trouble one after another.
When the first heir met with misfortune, the old count thought it was an accident, but after the second heir met with misfortune, the old count realized that the Augustus family was against the Horn family having another "hunter" and deliberately left an opening for the Fussac Empire to send people to assassinate him.
Left with no other choice, the old count had to select an heir from among his clansmen. This led him to discover me, who had already entered the extraordinary world during high school, and he began to assist in my growth.
Robert recounted the old count's story in its entirety, a story filled with tragedy.
In his youth, he encountered an angel and received a positive prophecy, which filled him with hope for the future. He then worked hard to achieve this, leaving a significant mark on the history of the Kingdom of Rune.
In middle age, he devoted himself to cultivating his successor, remaining confident in the future and believing that the future would be bright.
In his later years, his ideals were shattered, he outlived his son, and realized that he had spent his whole life in vain, even working for the benefit of the Augustan family.
In the end, for the sake of the family's survival, they still dared not turn against the Augustus family, and could only bow down and choose Robert, the extraordinary one who had passed the arbitrator path, as their successor.
However, to the old count's delight, Robert, his successor, truly surpassed his predecessor, possessing both exceptional abilities and skill. The only pity was that he was not a Hunter-type Extraordinary.
Evan felt that the old count must have despaired of the prophecy by the end, which could be seen from the fact that he didn't react much even though he knew that Evan was an extraordinary person of the Hunter Path.
"The old count once told me that he was so excited by the 'prophet's' prediction that he overlooked the fact that mythical creatures might have a different sense of time than ordinary people, which ultimately led to the death of his two children!"
Upon hearing this, Evan was speechless. It turned out that the old count still believed in that prophecy until his death.
However, perhaps it was because he chose to continue believing in this prophecy that he was able to remain steadfast for so many years after realizing that his plan had killed two heirs, until Robert was able to take over the baton of succession before he died.
However, Evan did believe the prophecy to some extent, mainly because of his self-confidence and because his assessment of the world situation was actually in line with that of the old count.
"The Augustus family may have indeed intended to use the Horn family to contain the Fussac Empire, but this plan was probably halted because of George III's plan to become a god."
Otherwise, the ambiguous attitude of the Augustus family when the old count was training his heir to become a "hunter" cannot be explained.
Robert wholeheartedly agreed with Evan's guess. He had also been puzzled by the Augustus family's attitude until today when he learned that George III wanted to be promoted to "Black Emperor". Only then did he realize the truth and could only lament the old count's "bad timing".
Fate played a cruel joke on the old count. He had calculated everything perfectly, but a huge black swan event still occurred, causing his plan to fail before it could even fully unfold. He had only taken the second step before it was all over.
After recounting the history of the Horn family and the old Earl's tragic life, Robert began to focus on the present, and couldn't help but remind Evan:
"The news of the old count's death will soon reach the Fussac Empire, and they may have already thoroughly investigated everyone and everything around me."
Your becoming a "Hunter" extraordinary will surely come to their attention, and assassins targeting you may even be heading towards Backlund. Be careful and it's best not to leave Backlund.
"Don't worry, as long as it's not a demigod personally attempting to assassinate me, I'm confident I can handle it. You don't need to worry too much!"
In fact, if Evan really went all out and disregarded the risk of exposure, he was confident he could handle even a demigod.
Furthermore, the "Gray Vision" brought by the City of Calamity makes Hunter and Assassin Path Beyonders completely transparent to him, unable to hide at all.
An assassination attempt where the assassin is exposed has a 99.99% chance of failing. If it succeeds, it's not an assassination attempt, but a brutal killing.
However, once an assassination attempt escalates into a violent killing, regardless of the Augustus family's true intentions, they must be punished.
If they ignore this blatant defiance of "order," the edifice of rules and order they have built will collapse.
"Sending Mr. Hope to the Fursac Empire to identify the rats was probably just a pretext, wasn't it? Do you already have designs on the Fursac Empire?"
Now that they had already shared their secrets, Evan went straight to the question that concerned him most: what was Robert's opinion of the Fussac Empire?
Anyway, Evan was very excited when he learned that he had the blood of the Einhorn family.
The Augustus family's idea of using the Horn family as a starting point to deal with the Fursac Empire is brilliant, and Evan also wants to do the same.
Evan originally thought that he had a very high starting point since he had transmigrated to the mysterious world and had the Horn family as his backer, but he never expected that the Horn family had such a secret behind them.
The Fussac Empire has now officially surpassed the Rose School to become his number one treasure, and he can't wait to poach its members.
However, Evan's own Fussac Empire alone is not enough. Robert has much more power than Evan. If he and Evan share the same idea, they will definitely achieve twice the result with half the effort.
"We are members of the Horn family, born with a mission. Some things are unavoidable; rather than passively dealing with them..."
It's better to face it proactively. Since they've already been identified as the enemy, we should plan ahead to avoid being caught off guard later.
Robert never mentioned any ambitions toward the Fussac Empire, but he did emphasize the Fussac Empire and their irreconcilable conflict.
Evan understood immediately and said no more, instead asking about the Horn family's wealth and influence.
Compared to the Fourth Age, the Horn family has fallen into decline over the years, but in the eyes of ordinary people, they are still a family with a thousand-year-old heritage.
A great family that spans generations.
The long duration of existence can indeed bring a lot of accumulation. Although high-sequence items are out of reach of the Horn family, they have accumulated quite a lot of things that can be bought with money, such as low-sequence extraordinary traits.
These extraordinary traits seem useless to Robert and Horn, but if Robert and Evan can participate in the world war predicted by the old count, these extraordinary traits can quickly help them raise an army of extraordinary beings as a guarantee for their survival.
This is good news for Evan. The strength of a high-sequence hunter demigod depends on the strength of his army.
The upper limit is very high, and the lower limit is very low.
"Although we now possess the extraordinary ability to raise an army of extraordinary beings, we are unable to put it into practice because we do not currently have an army that we can control."
Furthermore, to raise an army, one must obtain the approval of the Augustus family; otherwise, they will be labeled as rebels and suppressed—the old count's fate serves as a cautionary tale.
Now that the two brothers have reached a consensus on dealing with the Fussac Empire, they need to make some preliminary preparations. Sending Mr. Hope to plant spies in the Fussac Empire is one thing, but having their own army is an even bigger matter.
"The crux of the problem is how to get George III's support."
The reason the old Earl's plans were thwarted was ultimately because George III was undertaking internal reforms in preparation for the ceremony.
A stable external environment was needed, so the old Earl's actions clashed head-on with George III's plans. But times had changed, and George III had been preparing for so many years that even the most difficult ceremony should be almost complete. George III also had to consider the impact of his deification.
Regardless of whether George III succeeds in his ascension to the throne, a world war will break out.
If the ascension is successful, the Kingdom of Rune will have the support of at least three, or even four, true gods, and will surely begin a war to unify the northern continent.
If the general promotion fails, the Kingdom of Rune will face severe backlash, and all ambitious individuals will attack it as if they had smelled the scent.
Even if George III didn't consider this, the Augustus family would have to, and the biggest threat to the Kingdom of Rune was the Einhorn family of the Fussac Empire.
The most important task now is to remind George III that it's time to use the Horn family as a pawn.
Robert wholeheartedly agreed with Evan's suggestion. He thought for a moment, chuckled softly, and then said:
"Perhaps without even being reminded, my general promotion should have been tacitly approved by George III."
Looking back now, I realize how too easily I obtained the "Law Master" potion recipe from the Augustus family.
If George III truly had the backing of my general promotion, then gaining control of an army shouldn't have been too difficult for us.
The next problem is how to ensure that the army we control is loyal to us and not the Augustan family, and to prevent our efforts from ultimately benefiting Augustus.
Evan had prepared for this problem and had several different plans. He told Robert about his preparations and then said:
"There are many methods, but they can be roughly divided into two types: one is to train a new army, and the other is to reform the military system."
The Fusak Empire can utilize the authority of the Hunter pathway 'Gathering the Crowd' to share their abilities, maximizing the compensation for the airship's inherent shortcomings and making it an independent combat platform, thus giving them absolute air superiority regardless of who they fight.
The aircraft I invested in are absolutely groundbreaking weaponry. With just one demigod ruler through the Hunter path, they could even turn the tables and create air superiority over the Fusak Empire.
You can use your position as chairman of the Military and Intelligence Committee to propose the formation of a new army and the vigorous development of aircraft manufacturing, while I can serve as the first commander of this new army, infusing it with my soul and will.
At this point, Evan paused to observe Robert's reaction. He believed this method was the best, even though it was very difficult, because it was also the most effective.
Unfortunately, Robert didn't offer much commentary, but simply gestured for Evan to continue with the second plan. Clearly, he thought the first plan was a bit too difficult and wanted to hear another approach.
"The defeat in this war in the Southern Continent shows that the command systems of the navy and the army are not coordinated, which makes joint operations a mere formality. The internal divisions within the military are difficult to eliminate in the short term, and there is endless debate about whose opinion should be followed during joint operations."
But the Kingdom of Rune needs to solve this practical problem, and the generals of the Ministry of Defense and the Military Intelligence Committee must be having a headache right now!
Since the problem is difficult to solve in the short term, let's compromise and establish a professional mobile force, directly under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense or Parliament, to be deployed as needed in wartime. Although this doesn't solve the fundamental problem, it can be considered a patch.
This was actually the approach taken by the American Marine Corps in Evan's previous life, always ready to provide support in various locations upon receiving orders.
This approach does not involve the allocation of military spending within the existing armed forces, so it is very likely to gain the approval of the military.
Robert looked at Evan with satisfaction. He hadn't expected that Evan would quickly find a solution to the problem that was giving him a headache, and even provide a corresponding implementation path. It was truly impressive.
Robert thought for a moment, made an assessment, and then said:
"Both of these methods are good. I actually value your first method more, since a newly trained army from scratch is the most reliable. But we can't abandon the second plan. We have two options. Even if the first path doesn't work, we can still take the second one."
As Emperor Roselle said, "Aim high and you'll get low."
Irwin naturally agreed with Robert's decision, but he still had some doubts about training the Air Force into an independent force.
After all, the military suffered a defeat in the war in the South China Sea in the first half of the year, and a major corruption case involving the Ministry of National Defense occurred in the second half of the year. Military spending was definitely cut. The Navy and Army were fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of military funds. At this time, would it be met with collective resistance if the Air Force were to be included?
Robert, however, was optimistic, because this was a major reform of the army, and even if it was just to prepare for the initiation ceremony, George III would give it his full support, not to mention the practical problem of breaking the air superiority of the Fussac Empire.
"In short, you need to keep a close eye on the development of the aircraft you mentioned, as it is the foundation of all the plans."
We need to produce results as soon as possible and generate the corresponding physical products. I need to have something impressive to show before I can propose this military building plan at the Imperial Conference.
Furthermore, you must provide me with the relevant reports as soon as possible. Whether it's a proposal to establish a professional air force or a proposal to establish a directly subordinate mobile force, it must withstand scrutiny and evaluation from all parties!
"Understood, I will submit the relevant report to you as soon as possible."
By the way, to build an aircraft and make it fly, on the one hand, we need to reduce the weight of the aircraft itself as much as possible, and on the other hand, we need a huge amount of energy that is easy to carry and can save a lot of space.
The energy contained in coal is absolutely insufficient, as it takes up too much space. Airships can use coal to boil water and produce steam, but this is absolutely not possible for aircraft. Therefore, phlogiston can only be used as fuel.
However, phlogiston is a strictly prohibited contraband. Without the support of the Ministry of National Defense, how can we obtain the relevant phlogiston for experiments?
The aircraft project I invested in did not receive approval from the Ministry of Defense, so naturally I couldn't obtain the relevant phlogiston.
I managed to get some contraband from MI9, but I won't have much time to use it up. Could you get me some more?
Another thing is that research funding, no matter how much, is never too much. You, being such a big spender, should contribute some too!
Evan seized every opportunity to make a request, as this was the easiest time to succeed.
Robert chuckled, but he knew that Ivan's money had been invested in the acquisition of the Tingen factory. Furthermore, military equipment development is inherently costly, and without the support of the Department of Defense, it would be quite difficult. Moreover, military-controlled items like phlogiston were indeed beyond Ivan's capabilities. Therefore, he readily agreed:
"Okay, I'll resolve the 'phlogiston' issue as soon as possible. I'll have Hope bring you a check later, so use it sparingly!"
Seeing that Robert agreed to pay, Evan breathed a sigh of relief. He had initially paid 30,000 gold pounds for research funding, thinking it would be more than enough. However, the money was not going away as quickly as he expected. Various unexpected problems arose during the research process, forcing Evan to add another 10,000 gold pounds. His cash flow was almost completely depleted.
This made Evan realize that research and development work was not as easy as he had imagined, and that the words of researchers were sometimes the least trustworthy.
Leaving Earl Akhova's mansion and preparing to head to Backlund University, Evan continued to analyze the historical patterns in his mind. The Fifth Era was far too stable compared to the Fourth Era, with all unstable factors suppressed by the Seven Gods Alliance.
But everything is relative. Without upheaval and change, everyone's path to advancement is extremely narrow and difficult to open.
It was no accident that Emperor Roselle was able to overthrow the rule of the Sauron family a century ago. At that time, ambitious people from all over the continent were gathering under Emperor Roselle's spell, seeking change.
Moreover, the world order established by the Church of the True God and the Angelic Family is indeed relatively peaceful, but it has also led to the solidification of the entire world hierarchy, whether in the extraordinary world or the secular world.
This is actually against human nature. People's minds are now restless. In short, everyone is calling for war.