Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 471

In Ronan's original timeline, state-owned enterprises concentrated human, material, and financial resources to the greatest extent possible within the country, implementing the idea of ​​controlling the nation's lifeline while concentrating resources to accomplish major tasks.

However, this world of Seris is the Seris that Ronan has modified. Some of his state-owned enterprises have the goal of expanding abroad. They are state-supported forces that exert their influence outward and are highly aggressive.

Of course, as the old saying goes, Seres' home country is the largest market in the world. It is always easier and more profitable to exploit its own people than to exploit them from abroad. So, this kind of state-owned enterprise is probably not a good thing internally either.

According to some information relayed by Madam Zhao, before Ronan fell into a deep sleep, many years had passed, and things were no longer quite what they should be. Some of those involved, both internally and externally, had long since broken away from Ronan. The top leadership of the Republic was still decent, and although a major state-owned enterprise was not owned by a single family, it had begun to become family-run and corporatized.

Alice took a sip of black tea. "So it turns out this potion was developed by the Seres. I thought it was a French company."

"Whether it is or not, it's not certain yet. Anyway, once Ross's business is over, we'll go to Seris," Ronan said.

At the same time, in a corner of the garden.

Ambrina is tending to the flowers and plants with Ajata.

“Agata, we may have to leave before winter arrives.” Ambrina’s tone was calm, and her hands moved without the slightest hesitation.

Ajata was taken aback. She loved flowers and plants and had a somewhat aloof personality, making her stand out from the other noble ladies who enjoyed attending various parties. Ambrina was her first friend since she was old enough to understand things, and she was completely at a loss when her friend suddenly announced her farewell.

"Why?" Ajata asked, stunned.

“There’s no reason why, we just need to do something,” Ambrina replied.

Ajata sniffed, calming herself down. "Although I can't see clearly, I can tell that you are all very powerful superhumans. Why don't you enjoy life?" In her opinion, high-level superhumans could completely ignore everything and live freely.

Ambrina stood up and stretched. "There are always people who can't sit still and want to do something."

“Mr. Ronan is going too far,” Ajata said. She felt that Ambrina was someone who liked a quiet life, but Ronan was not cooperating at all.

Ambrina put her hand on Agata's shoulder. "Ha, he's not the only one who can't stay still."

Ajata stood up and looked at Ronan. Seeing him so intimate with several other women, she still couldn't understand it. There are many women who don't mind their husbands having mistresses, but she had never heard of anyone being as close as sisters with their husband's mistress.

She didn't know that Ambrina's relationship with her sisters wasn't actually that good. "Is he really that charming?" Ajata couldn't help but ask. She thought that apart from being handsome and strong, Ronan was just so-so.

“Of course,” Ambrina replied confidently. “You are able to be carefree here now because of some people, while I was able to be carefree before because of him.”

Ajata fell silent. She rarely cared about such things before, but after Ambrina expressed her concerns last time, she inquired about it. Although her father, mother, and brother all said there was nothing to worry about, she wasn't so foolish as to not realize that they were just trying to comfort her.

How much longer can this garden last?

Ajata doesn't know, and doesn't want to know.

Chapter 1092 The Problematic Married Woman Bodyguard, Technology Diffusion, Tracking

Outside the garden, Ajata's female attendant, Lavana, stood guard.

Ravana is very tall, nearly 1.8 meters, with some soft, Eastern-style facial features, fair skin, brown eyebrows, and emerald green eyes. Her face isn't exactly stunningly beautiful, but after looking at her without makeup from different angles several times, she becomes quite pleasing to the eye.

Her flaxen hair was tied in a fishtail ponytail. Over her tight-fitting top was a leather breastplate, which was printed with the double-headed eagle pattern representing the old empire. It was actually not defensive and was just a decoration. She wore a short skirt, dark brown opaque stockings, and black boots. The boots and the hem of the skirt were directly exposed, covering her knees and a small part of her thighs. Her calves were clearly muscular.

He carried a small cavalry shield, only twenty centimeters in diameter, on his left arm, and held a long-handled crescent-bladed axe upside down in his right hand.

Lavana was dressed in the style of the old Imperial Guard, but she had neither the imposing air of a strong woman nor the cold and stern demeanor of a soldier. Her temperament was more like that of a professional woman who was conscientiously performing her duties.

Lavana is from the Kazakh Khanate.

Although the Kazakh Khanate was nominally independent and still colluded with Seris, it actually did many of the things that Rus' vassal states did.

The steppe people weren't fools. They knew that Seris was ultimately out of their reach, and the Rus were a bad and powerful neighbor to them. They could offer less tribute, but they absolutely could not stop offering tribute.

More than a hundred years ago, Seris recruited barbarians and transformed them into superhumans as superhuman soldiers. Later, Suleiman enslaved the Rag people, and then the Kingdom of Fas recruited natives of the New World. Falek's unique transformation technique, which combined totem enhancement and magic, was already widely known.

The diffusion of technology is inevitable, and the technology has been updated and iterated many times.

Those who were transformed were naturally some "backward ethnic groups".

This method has two advantages. First, it's cheap. Even with the increase in superhumans and intense competition, those from one's own country are still too expensive, and their obedience and loyalty are truly inferior to those of less advanced, foreign races. Second, it allows for the assimilation of young and middle-aged people from other races, and even the cultivation of their representatives.

Lavana was transformed by Rose's relatively outdated technology, without...

If things don't go as planned, the best I can hope for in this lifetime is to reach the second tier.

These past few days, she has been feeling restless from time to time.

The reason lies with her husband.

The Rus' people in the Kazakh Khanate preferred to recruit civilian couples because, although their army's single soldiers were brave and hardworking, their discipline was very poor. This was a major reason for their defeat that they summarized forty years ago.

Lavana and her husband were a typical example; the man served in the army, and the woman served as a servant to noble ladies.

Two years ago, Lavana's husband was wounded on the battlefield, losing an arm and suffering a serious leg injury. Although the compensation was meager, as a superhuman, he could still find many jobs, earning more than the average person even doing manual labor. Moreover, Lavana herself had a decent salary, so supporting their son and daughter, or even living comfortably, was not a problem at all.

However, her husband was unwilling to work and spent his days drinking and gambling, and their family soon became very poor.

Lavana had no one to confide in, and she worked rotating shifts, including day and night shifts, so she often had no time to pay attention to her husband. Their relationship deteriorated, and she endured this torment for over a year, nearing a breakdown. Just recently, she learned about a drug by chance.

Her husband was originally unable to transplant magical artifacts, but this potion changed everything.

She was worried that there was something wrong with the medicine, but she really wanted her husband to get better and return to his original state. Without much hesitation, she made a decision, borrowed some money, bought the medicine, tried it herself, and found that there were no adverse reactions. Then she had the surgery done through the black market.

At first, everything went well. My husband fully recovered, not only physically, but his entire mental state improved.

However, just a few days ago, my husband got into an argument and a fight with someone, and then he started to become agitated.

The drug dealer told her that it was just overuse of her strength, and that after another injection of an inhibitor, she would have no problem if she didn't overuse her strength in the future.

But at that time, Lavana had no money at all.

The other party said that all she needed to do was to do something within her power at the right time. Lavana wasn't stupid, and she didn't believe such a thing at all. However, the other party then told her that she was just an accident, and that they had found many people who would implicate her even if she didn't do it. If she did do it, she could also take her husband and children with her through their channels.

Lavana did not agree, and the other party did not force her, but simply left a secret contact method.

At this moment, in the garden.

Ambrina suddenly spoke up, "By the way, what's wrong with your female guard? She seems a bit slow."

"Ravana? I don't know, but she's never been one to talk much."

Ajata responded casually, saying that she didn't dislike Lavana, but she didn't like her either, because Lavana was quiet and far less likable than the other female guard.

Ambrina was momentarily speechless. She had brought this up because she wanted to ask about Ravana.

Since it has been confirmed that Lavana was the one who caused the withering of a certain southern flower, she must have used medicine. However, since Lavana herself did not have any magical devices implanted, the inference that she was tempted to increase her strength and thus colluded with the person behind the medicine dealer is not valid.

"You don't know about her?" Ambrina asked again.

“She’s an employee, not someone who’s served my family for generations.” Ajata asked, puzzled. “Why are you asking this? Is there something wrong with her?”

"No, it's just that she seemed a little strange."

Ambrina brushed it off, not telling Ajata because she was confident she could protect her and also to prevent her from doing anything that might alert the enemy.

Ajata immediately dismissed it, saying casually, "She's always been like that. Not to mention me, none of her colleagues or the other servants in my household know her well. However, she is usually serious about her work, and sometimes her quietness is an advantage."

Ambrina quickly changed the subject, talking to Ajata about applying unique flower shapes to jewelry design. Ajata immediately forgot about the previous topic.

Despite the conversation, Ambrina was already planning to tell Ronan about it later. She needed to investigate this woman named Lavana secretly, hoping to uncover something. After all, Lavana had seemed normal a few days ago, but she had suddenly changed and her condition was not quite right. There was probably something going on.

That evening, after dinner, Lavana relieved another female guard and then left the manor, heading straight home.

Zhao Yingqi then secretly followed, while Ronan kept his distance at a greater distance.

After all, there was a possibility of a big fish appearing. Although Zhao Yingqi, who was at the fifth level, was very strong, Ronan still came in person to ensure that nothing went wrong.

Chapter 1093 The Husband, Very Sober, Between Life and Death

Let's rewind to an hour before Ravana's shift change.

Ross is a sparsely populated place, but not so in St. Petersburg, the capital. The Lavana family’s residence is not particularly far from the estate where Ajata lives, but the houses here seem rather small and crowded compared to the residences of other commoners.

Her husband, Soloayu, also comes from the Kazakh Khanate, a khanate formed by the mixing of different ethnic groups.

He was of higher birth than his wife. Although he was not of noble birth, his father was a brave man. His family had three herdsmen. Today was the first time he had cooked, and he had prepared it well in advance of dinner time. He made fried meat patties and mashed potatoes for his son and daughter. He put too much salt and pepper in, but his son and daughter were still very happy. The two children had not eaten meat so heartily in a long time.

After watching his son and daughter happily finish the meat and plenty of potatoes, leaving their plates spotless, Soloayu smiled and sighed, ruffled their hair, and said, "Tell Mom that Dad went drinking tonight, and tell her not to wait for me."

The joy on the daughter's face from eating meat vanished instantly, replaced by terror. For the past two years, every time her father drank, he would have a huge argument with her mother, then kick open their bedroom door. He would sit on the floor of their room, his eyes red, like a wild beast about to lose control, babbling incoherently in a string of words she couldn't understand. He would be furious one moment, then sad the next, constantly repeating the same things, which terrified her.

The son mustered his courage and asked hesitantly, "Father, could you..." He wanted to persuade him, but the words caught in his throat.

“Son, don’t worry, I won’t brag like a good-for-nothing about how brave I am anymore, nor will I shout like a pedant that I want to kill this person and worship that person.” After saying that, Soloayu got up, put on his old military uniform that no longer belonged to him, put on the medal he had earned with one hand and one leg, and left home.

He is perfectly lucid now.

He knew very well that he had put his wife in a dilemma.

In the past two years, he has completely lost the image of the warrior who faced a pack of wolves with his mortal body. He is now just a useless person who only makes his children worry and disappoints his wife time and time again.

He couldn't let his wife get stuck in a quagmire because of him.

Soloayu first went to the black market to retrieve his pre-ordered items, then had them loaded by a quack doctor. After leaving, he carefully followed his wife step by step, finally managing to reach the location.

As he continued to move forward, he also adapted to this new power that caused him pain, while gradually regaining his lost sharpness.

An hour later, the destination was in sight.

At this time, his wife, Ravana, should have just finished get off work and be home in about twenty minutes.

This area was once a swamp, and it was filled in during the expansion after the capital was established here. Now it is a settlement mainly inhabited by Kazakhs. Soloayu's destination is the center of this settlement, a temple.

Unlike Ronan's original timeline, where the Kazakh Khanate had largely converted to Islam, the Kazakhs in this timeline originally possessed various beliefs, including animism. However, apart from the original religion, all others have been eradicated and eliminated through human intervention by Rus'.

The reason is simple: only primitive beliefs are conducive to transformation.

Upon entering the temple, one is surrounded by bone carvings, an important medium in Kazakh primitive beliefs. The carvings include bones of cattle, sheep, horses, camels, and even human bones.

The temple was large, but at night there was only one guard inside, making it seem very empty and quiet. Soloayu entered the temple and went straight to the only side hall that was still lit. Pushing open the door, Soloayu arrived at his destination.

There were five people sitting inside: four short and stocky, and the other tall and thin.

"Oh, it's you. Here to buy suppressant drugs?" the tall, thin leader asked. "No, I'm here to kill you all," Soloayu replied coldly.

Four short, stocky men stood up abruptly, raising their guns. The tall, thin man sat down, looking puzzled, and made a pressing motion with both hands to signal his men not to act rashly. "I think I understand what you mean, but I can only say you've lost your mind. I suggest you get an injection of suppressant. To be honest, killing us won't solve anything, and besides, you can't do it."

Soloayu sneered, "I am extremely calm now. As long as I make a big enough commotion, it will definitely attract an investigation. Once I have killed you all, we will have a way to avoid being implicated."

The tall, thin leader laughed loudly, "Haha, I never expected there to be such a clever person as you among the nomads. Well then, come on."

The words had barely left his lips when the battle began.

In the blink of an eye, four short, stocky men were killed.

Soloayu was originally at Tier 1, then Tier 2 after the transplant surgery, and Tier 3 after recklessly installing a new weapon. Now, with his full power unleashed, his strength is approaching Tier 4.

The tall, thin man, whose men were all dead, was a third-tier cultivator, but he remained unfazed. "A stray dog ​​dressed in tattered clothes, asking for death." He tossed off his coat, revealing his upper body. In an instant, his slender frame, which had previously been ribcage clearly visible, transformed into a muscular man, turning him into a burly giant.

He wasn't transformed; he was a genuine practitioner of the Seris cultivation method. His mutated and enhanced body organs, combined with bizarre spells, made his body nothing more than tough and fast. His spells were also simple, but they far exceeded the resistance of his current level.

Soloayu had just wiped out the firepower that the other four relied on.

Withstanding Solois's fierce charge, the leader sidestepped, kicked Solois away, crouched and sprang up, creating a large crater with spiderweb-like cracks in the ground. In a flash, he was already close in the air. "I'll tear you apart, you stray dog!" he said, grabbing Solois's left hand that was releasing the magic cannon. He then slammed him to the ground with a powerful tug, tearing Solois's left hand off.

But the moment Soloayu was grabbed, he had already poured all his energy into it. As the leader ripped the cannon off, his arm exploded along with the magic cannon, blasting the leader away and breaking through the multiple defenses on his body.

Before the leader could recover from the brief dizziness of the explosion, Soloayu wielded a two-handed axe with one hand and cleaved it down, creating a huge, deep wound on the leader's body. Blood gushed out wildly, scattering like a blood moon in mid-air.

At this moment, not only was Soloayu's life force rapidly draining away, but his rationality was also rapidly eroding. He would lose his rationality if he overused his power, and he had overloaded himself by transplanting and installing one, forcibly advancing to the next level. Not only did he forcibly advance to the next level, but he also had to burn his life force, which further aggravated his loss of rationality.

This loss of reason doesn't necessarily mean becoming insane; it could also mean becoming stupid.

The leader clutched his wound, which was impossible to conceal, and prepared to retreat. He had underestimated the opponent's reckless strength. However, if he could just hold on for a while, the opponent would perish on his own without him having to lift a finger.

Just then, a beam of light pierced through the leader's temple.

Chapter 1094 The Old Man, A Failed Yet Successful Experiment, Father and Son

The leader collapsed to the ground with a thud. The next instant, an elderly man with silver hair tied up high in a swearing knot, standing upright, and dressed in a Seres-style black warrior robe embroidered with purple dragons, appeared in the side hall of the temple. He looked at the dead leader with disdain and said, "It was a mistake to let my clone reside in a piece of trash like you." Before he finished speaking, a jade humanoid statue flew out from the wounds on the leader's corpse and burrowed into the old man's body.

With only a sliver of reason remaining, Soluayu, who couldn't hear the old man's mutterings at all, launched an attack on him without hesitation. He didn't know who the old man was, but there was no doubt that his casual killing of the old leader was closely related to the already dead leader.

Solo lost an arm and lost his balance. He seemed about to fall at any moment during the high-speed impact. The speed beyond his own limits caused the still bleeding left streak of his left arm to leave a trail of blood in the air. His scarlet eyes, like red spotlights, formed two red lines as he moved at high speed.

The next instant, the old man simply flicked his hand, and Solo's chest felt as if it had been struck by an invisible, transparent, giant steel ball. His muscles, bones, and internal organs collapsed and caved in, forming a round crater. He flew backward like a cannonball, crashing into a huge pillar and embedding himself inside it.

Looking at Solo and finding that he was still unharmed, the old man's white eyebrows twitched slightly. "Ha, so it was the test subject from back then. I didn't expect that a failed creation could actually have its successes. What an unexpected gain."

Within the Kazakh Khanate, many people were secretly manipulated by the organization he led and turned into experimental subjects.

The experiment wasn't complicated. If they can have magical plants and magical animals, and even cultivate large livestock that have fused with the bloodline of magical animals, then why can't humans do the same?

However, the experiment was unsuccessful because even humans with a stable and combined demon bloodline could not be born with innate talent. Although their physical abilities were much stronger than those of ordinary people, their efficiency in cultivating extraordinary power actually decreased after being endowed with artificial talent.

In the path of cultivation, a hybrid is not as good as a purebred.

What use is having physical abilities slightly superior to ordinary people? Such abilities are utterly insignificant to superhumans; even a non-superhuman can surpass them.