My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 194

“Sigh…we finally have some time alone together,” she said. “So I don’t really want to talk about work during our rare time alone…but darling, the reason you’re so eager to deal with the Colombian… [nuclear threat] is actually largely because Little Bat and your friends are in Casimir, right?”

She looked at Yang Hao with bright, piercing eyes, and Yang Hao looked down at her. After a moment, Yang Hao felt the cat's tail, which was wrapped around his thigh, seem to be reaching towards his underwear. He quickly said that his wife was absolutely right.

"Hehe, you've never really let go of that little bat. If she knew, she'd be ecstatic." She rolled her eyes, then stuck the tip of her tail inside Yang Hao's pants. She rubbed her tail against his manhood, feeling it gradually become more alert, then chuckled mischievously, "But are you prepared to tell her about your family situation? Well, while I don't mind, I think that little bat will probably be very curious about why so many women are so close to you."

"hiss..."

"Are you ready?"

"...I guess so. But to be honest... I might go to Kazimierz then—not just to see her, but also for Theresa and our plans."

"Well, just be careful, okay? Take Sonia and Hela with you, they can protect you."

"I know."

"And promise me—you won't go to dangerous places, okay?"

"...I swear."

He rubbed his wife's cat ears, then closed his eyes, ignoring the stimulation coming from his crotch like a living Buddha.

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

10 month 3 day.

Because the plans concerning Kazimir need to be brought forward, Yang Hao is unusually busy today.

He first went to Theresa's office and made detailed requests to her: "All Sarkaz mercenaries and remnants on the front lines must evacuate immediately if they discover any changes in the enemy's equipment or if the enemy is preparing to drop bombs."

“Ah, well—I understand what you mean, boss, but the problem is, how are we supposed to tell if they’ve changed weapons? The on-site report says there’s ‘yellow smoke everywhere,’ and we simply don’t have the ability to break through the smoke’s visual blockade to find out what they’re doing.” Theresa blinked dryly, wondering if this was too difficult for the troops on site.

"Right now, we're basically all hiding together in the poison gas. We can only start fighting when we collide with each other or when a Colombian landship arrives, right?"

"...Then let them try their best—to evacuate immediately if any special circumstances are noticed, okay? Sigh...how could I have forgotten about that..."

"So boss, what exactly happened?"

Looking at the confused little pony and then at the pile of books on politics and military affairs on her table, Yang Hao sighed. After lifting her onto his lap amidst her gasp, he began to explain the matter of nuclear weapons to Theresa.

As he explained, Teresa's face gradually turned pale—after all, if there were no accidents, the first place Colombia's nuclear weapons would have to be detonated would be Casimir, right?

No matter what, Kazimierz is Theresa's hometown, and she certainly wouldn't want to see her hometown bombed into a wasteland, really.

"However, Theresa, you don't really need to worry too much about this. The Colombians don't know the actual function of those things, so as long as we proceed step by step and improve the plan, we should be able to get through this period safely."

"...But what you're saying, boss, is still too outrageous...How could there possibly be a weapon designed solely to destroy the enemy—and their cities and population along with them?"

"After all, all weapons are designed with only one question in mind at the beginning—how to make them more efficient. Although nuclear weapons are not the most efficient weapons in my mind, it must be mentioned that if it is simply to increase one's own strength, or to directly pollute a large area of ​​enemy land to achieve the purpose of destroying them—dirty bombs are indeed a good choice."

"...So what should we do with those weapons?"

“I’ll handle it. Theresa, you focus on your publicity and work in Kazimierz now, okay? We’ll need you next.”

"Yes..."

The little pony in Yang Hao's arms nodded obediently, indicating its willingness to follow Yang Hao's orders.

Meanwhile, Yang Hao was also considering how to deal with the impending nuclear attack—after all, even a dirty bomb would be terrible if it were to hit Margarita's location directly.

what can we do about it?

After thinking for a while, he decided that if all else failed, they could take the initiative and try to get those nuclear weapons to explode within Colombian territory.

Chapter 57

After finishing his work with Theresa, Yang Hao went straight to the Oripathy Research Center where Ms. Kal'tsit was located and assigned the surprised woman, who was just about to start her work, a task that needed to be carried out immediately.

“So? Mr. Yang Hao, please speak slowly.” This was the first time Ms. Kal'tsit had seen Yang Hao so nervous and anxious, so she didn’t refuse outright. She simply asked Mr. Yang Hao to sit down, have some tea, and rest for a while before continuing, “And then? What kind of work is it? I need to know what it entails before I can help you with your research—of course, if it’s something I’ve never seen before, or something extremely difficult to accomplish, I can’t guarantee that it can be completed quickly.”

“Then I reckon you’ll be busy for quite some time, Ms. Kelsey—to put it bluntly, the Colombians have unearthed a highly radioactive mineral that can contaminate the ground for decades. Now I need you to figure out a container made of lead that can hold them. My requirement is that it must completely isolate the interior from the exterior when closed.”

"...Radioactive, ore? Something similar to Originium?"

“No.” Faced with Ms. Kal'tsit’s furrowed brows and probing question, Yang Hao simply shook his head, indicating that it was not Originium at all: “That is—uranium. Uranium-235, a Pandora’s box.”

"...I've never heard of these things."

"So I've prepared some information for you."

Yang Hao took out the information about uranium-235 and dirty bombs that he had prepared beforehand from his pocket and placed it in front of Ms. Kal'tsit. Ms. Kal'tsit frowned and carefully read the information for a while. Yang Hao could see that her face was gradually turning ugly—this seemed to be the first time Kal'tsit had shown such a bad expression here, not even when she learned that the Colombians had used poison gas to attack civilians in Kazimierz.

“…I think I understand what’s going on.” She handed the document back to Yang Hao, her face contorted with extreme distress. “The Colombians are truly insane. They have no idea how terrifying a precedent they’ve set… Once one country takes the lead in using these weapons, other countries, through espionage, will try every means to develop them… I can already imagine the future scenario of various countries attacking each other with the nuclear weapons you mentioned. It will be a scene of widespread suffering and death for everyone.”

"But what's worse is that only one country possesses these weapons and resources."

“I understand. I will find a way to develop lead containers that can hold those ores immediately. But Mr. Yang Hao, I need your promise that you and your territory will not be the first to use that weapon unless necessary, is that alright?”

“I’m not stupid enough to use those weapons to attack precious people and land. But Ms. Kal’tsit, aren’t you worried that I might be the first to use nuclear weapons in the future?”

"...I do have concerns in that regard—but the development of your territory gives me confidence that you will not become that kind of person."

“Alright. Then I’ll leave it to you, Ms. Kal’tsit. Once we acquire uranium-235 resources, we will send them over—I hope you will have made progress by then.”

Kal'tsit's trust in Yang Hao was based on Yang Hao's achievements in his territory. Kal'tsit had never seen anyone like Yang Hao, who was willing to work for the well-being of his people, develop technology, and improve people's lives, while also being willing to reform his own government and provide assistance to people who were not even in his own city or territory.

Therefore, she was willing to believe that Yang Hao was a good person, based on the premise that he had already achieved numerous results—but then again, Ms. Kal'tsit's trust might not necessarily be a good thing for Mr. Yang Hao. After all, he understood the principle that unwarranted expectations only bring more harm...

Now that Lady Kal'tsit trusts him, if he were to betray her trust in the future, would this aloof researcher still remain in his territory?

After leaving Ms. Kal'tsit's research institute, he stood on the street, looked up at the midday sun that was already high in the sky, and sighed as he felt the intense heat it brought.

"Okay, now some people are researching lead containers to hold future nuclear waste... and then what? I remember that while the Ursus regular army's equipment can withstand poison gas, its protection against radiation is still too inadequate..."

"Yes, Lord Yang Hao. The equipment of the Ursus regular army can indeed resist the attack of poison gas—but it should not be very resistant to the nuclear radiation you mentioned."

"Oh, Monica? You scared me."

"I think it's okay."

Monica suddenly appeared behind Yang Hao, and after helping the silly master who was standing in the street sunbathing back into the car, this loyal head maid began to introduce Yang Hao to the military equipment of the Ursus regular army—more precisely, to see how many levels of [environmental damage] those military equipment could withstand.

"As for the chemical defense equipment that the regular army is currently equipped with in large quantities, it is absolutely capable of withstanding the poison gas in Casimir. After all, there have been no negative reports about the equipment we sent there as aid. So I think we can acknowledge its strong protective capabilities when facing the poison gas in Colombia."

She sat down next to Yang Hao and spoke, then, on Yang Hao's behalf, ordered the driver to take the car directly back to the Duke's mansion. Afterward, the maid sighed and, in a sorrowful tone, recounted to the man beside her the terrible state of the equipment.

"But the problem is that the regular army's chemical defense equipment is not effective against Originium contamination. Moreover, Lord Yang Hao, Originium is also radioactive. Although I don't know whether its radioactivity is stronger or weaker than the nuclear radiation you mentioned, I think our current equipment is probably no match for the effects of nuclear weapons you mentioned."

"Yes... that's the problem I'm facing now. After all, theoretically, the best material for shielding against nuclear radiation is lead, but equipment made of lead..."

"Sir, can't your Martian military factory produce NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical) protective equipment?"

"It's not impossible, but with one factory producing pure gold and another currently producing uranium-235 on a yearly basis... I'd still prefer to try and find a cheaper alternative within our duchy, or perhaps in His Majesty's St. Arthur's Castle next door. If there's truly no alternative, then I'll set aside a factory to produce equipment..."

"I understand. Could you tell me specifically what material the clothes should be made of?"

"Haha...I don't know about that, except for lead."

Yang Hao wasn't a professional nuclear energy researcher. Back in his hometown, he only had a basic understanding of how nuclear radiation kills the human body and that lead-based protective gear could indeed offer some protection against radiation. But—that didn't mean he knew what those radiation protection suits were actually made of!

Um... what exactly is polyethylene?

Polyvinyl chloride?

Yang Hao really didn't understand... He could only hope that Lady Kal'tsit could help him climb out of this kind of technology tree after obtaining uranium-235 in the future—especially now that the research slots in the Duke of Kosichä's territory were occupied by industrial research in 1045, he really could only rely on Lady Kal'tsit!

But then again, besides lead, it seems like there's no other radiation protection equipment available in our territory.

Um, does that mean Ms. Kal'tsit will be researching dangerous radioactive materials without any protection?

This won't work, will it? While we could have the Martian military factory produce some protective suits for immediate use, don't we have a better way to solve this problem once and for all?

We can't rely on Mars technology for everything in the future!

Yang Hao was quite conflicted, but just then—he suddenly realized something.

The Duchy of Koschche has a separate research slot.

Does this mean that the Ursus Empire also has its own research slots?

If we had that, wouldn't we be able to start them researching the basic technology tree related to nuclear energy right now?

This... should be able to work, right?

Yang Hao swallowed hard. He decided to take a gamble on this, really.

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

After returning to the Duke's mansion.

Yang Hao approached Her Majesty Catherine, asking her to grant him the authority to control all scientific research talents in the Ursus Empire—in other words, he wanted to obtain an official position.

"what?"

At that moment, His Majesty the Emperor looked at the nobleman who was nodding and agreeing with him with a look of astonishment, thinking to himself, "You already have my empire, why don't you just arrange a position for yourself? Why come to ask me now?"

"Didn't you see I just finished my meal and was about to go back to rest?" Although His Majesty the Emperor was inwardly complaining with surprise, in the end, this powerful woman still gave Yang Hao what he deserved—a rather awkward-sounding position: the [President of the Research Department] of the Ursus Empire. And it was only after obtaining this position that Yang Hao could finally truly appreciate all the technological advancements of the Ursus Empire.

But then again...

"Your Majesty, is it true that our army is still using equipment from 1005?"

"Huh? You know, replacing standard equipment is a lot of trouble. Not to mention that during the previous economic crisis, we simply didn't have the money to develop new equipment."

"So, Ursus achieved the title of the world's number one military power with equipment from 1005 years ago?"

"Hmm? What's wrong with that? Our neighbor Yan country hasn't changed its equipment much either. With everyone's military equipment developing at roughly the same pace, if everyone stagnates, aren't we still number one in the world?"

"That makes sense..."

It's 1042 now.

The standard equipment used by all the regular armies of the Ursus Empire was developed and officially put into production in 1005, making it nearly 40 years out of date.

Then, the Ursus Empire, with equipment nearly 40 years out of date, became the world's number one military power?! Ursus Empire, you're so powerful—aren't you?

Isn't it because other countries are just too weak and incompetent? Kazimir, you are also a nation of knights, a military power! Why is it that even with the best knightly equipment, you can't defeat our Ursus Empire?!

Isn't that really strange?

Yang Hao was completely bewildered, and just as he was doing so, Empress Catherine, who was eating dessert, shrugged and dropped another bombshell on Yang Hao's mind:

"However, Colombia is an outlier among the countries in this land - they have a large number of research institutes developing new technologies, whether for use in cities or for use in warfare. They are more technologically advanced than us, which is a fact that we must face."

"Ah, that's true..."

"However, Colombians love money. They love money so much that they're willing to conduct their research in other countries if you offer enough money..."

"But the problem is, Your Majesty, we have no money!"

"So it all depends on your efforts, my lord."

"hiss..."

No matter how hard I try, I can't possibly transport a huge amount of cash over here all at once, can I? Besides, while my economic policies can improve the economy, they also require a lot of money to complete the reforms themselves.

It's true that the Ursus Empire will be in a delicate balance for the next decade or so—poor but just enough to meet the needs of the nation and its people. But if you want me to find a way to make more money during those years, and without being able to wage war? Then you might as well sell me out—I'll be making money while bedridden, really.

But then again, are there really people in this world interested in a king who has to sell his body to make money? Probably not, right? On another note, I wonder how much money Ms. Therese has made... With the Kazimir authorities also employing Sarkaz mercenaries, she's probably made quite a bit of money too, hasn't she?

I need to go to Kazdel and figure out how to make some money back...

He sighed, sat down on the sofa in the Emperor's bedchamber, and began to study the intricate technology tree of the Ursus Empire and...

For some reason, two of the tasks were locked, leaving only one research slot available for this important matter.

Hopefully, the Ursus Empire's research slots will bring me some surprises—with that thought in mind, Yang Hao opened the first page of the research slots, only to be so shocked by the mess inside that he almost threw up yesterday's dinner.

Chapter 58

[Technology Options: Regular Army Equipment in 1042]

The equipment of the regular army in 1042 allowed the Ursus regular army, which had been outdated for 37 years, to use modern weapons.

Technology Options: Civilian Technology in 1042

By 1042, the technology for civilian use should at least have allowed the mobile cities of the Ursus Empire to keep up with the times, right?

[Technology Options: 1042....]

......

all in all--

The Ursus Empire's technology tree is incredibly weak.