My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 68

Chapter 150

"In conclusion, Mr. Grovazel, if you have friends who wish to work in a more promising territory, please contact them—I believe that with your personal experience as a basis for evaluation, they will be able to objectively judge the differences between our territory and other territories."

"Yes, I was just planning to invite my friends from the university over. But Mr. Yang Hao, I still have many questions about the 'work-for-relief' program..."

"Ask away, you can ask anything. Just don't make it too long..."

how to say?

Yang Hao had actually underestimated Mr. Großwazel's thirst for knowledge. As a scholar, he was extremely eager to learn about Yang Hao's "work relief" plan and couldn't wait to understand all the intricacies of this policy.

The problem is that Yang Hao actually learned this policy from his own country, so if he were to explain it, it might cause some trouble.

Fortunately, the serious and meticulous head maid immediately noticed Yang Hao's reluctance. Ignoring Mr. Grovazel's enthusiasm as he excitedly took out paper and pen to record his thoughts, she took two steps forward before Yang Hao could reluctantly extend the conversation, indicating that Lord Yang Hao had other matters to attend to. Let's leave it at that for today.

“Mr. Grovazel, Lord Yang Hao still has to inspect some matters concerning the handling of criminal noble prisoners today. So, could you perhaps trouble Lord Yang Hao with your curiosity another time?” she said in a simple and straightforward tone, while still being mindful of Yang Hao's feelings and the previous polite words, and also avoiding damaging the budding relationship between him and Mr. Grovazel. “I think you and Lord Yang Hao will have many opportunities to meet in the future.”

“I see. I understand.” Mr. Grovazel’s disappointment was undisguised. Perhaps it was related to his Wendigo status? “I understand Mr. Yang Hao’s difficulties at work. Well then, let’s have a long talk another time, sir.”

However, in the end, he still personally saw Yang Hao and the head maid off from his office with respect.

After leaving the Duke's research department, Yang Hao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that if Mr. Grovazel really wouldn't let him go, he probably wouldn't be able to return to his palace until after 11 p.m.

"Thank you, Monica. It's so good to have you here..." As Yang Hao walked towards the side gate to catch his ride, he expressed his gratitude to Monica while pondering what to do next.

“I know you’re not good at handling these things. But then again, I think I understand why you haven’t given Miss Margarita an answer yet?” Monica smiled slightly, indicating that it was her duty, and then changed the subject to Miss Margarita.

"Oh, that's—you understand, right?"

Yang Hao was quite embarrassed by this, but he did admit his mistake. But how to put it? Some things can't be solved simply by admitting a mistake... It's like most people know that mocking others is wrong—but if you could actually run 100 meters through a hail of bullets with your fists and then knock someone unconscious with a single slap, wouldn't you also mock their unparalleled marksmanship?

As for Margarita... she was, after all, Yang Hao's first love. Although now he realizes he deserved to die for ever having romantic feelings for a blood demon girl whose age, in retrospect, might not even be 10, it's not surprising that, as a typical Earthling, he made a mistake regarding immortals without knowing they existed in this world...

And it's first love, after all. It's bittersweet, and even if you miss it, you can't forget it. This is especially true given that Yang Hao truly invested his most sincere feelings for Margarita over those four years—which is why he was able to defeat Margarita and why he was determined to give her a real answer after she grew up, matured, and came to him in person.

Yang Hao didn't want his relationship with Margarita to end in regret. He wanted to treat this naive girl with care and sincerity. And fortunately, his wife understood his feelings and was willing to give him and Margarita a chance.

Yang Hao sighed, "I really don't understand what good deeds I did in my past life to have such a wonderful wife in this life..." With Monica's help, he sat in the back seat of his usual car.

"Yes, of course I understand. But sir, perhaps Lady Koschie doesn't mind that you have multiple... partners. But she definitely wants to have the vast majority of your affections to herself. So please think carefully."

Sitting in the back seat with Yang Hao, Monica sighed as she reiterated some of Lord Koschche's bottom lines to him beforehand. She truly didn't want the two adults' relationship to break down after she passed away. If she could live a very, very long time, she was willing to dedicate her entire life to maintaining their family.

However, she considered it merely wishful thinking. After all, if the method to immortality were truly found, it would certainly be used on Lord Yang Hao first, in the event of the loss of everything else. As a lowly head maid, she only wished to witness everything under the trust of the two lords.

"...I know that very well too. Sigh..."

Yang Hao sighed heavily, indicating that he had taken Monica's reminder to heart.

......

4pm sharp.

When Yang Hao arrived at the Lille Tavern with his maid, Monsieur Napoleon was hunched over the counter, looking at the bill that had been delivered to him with a headache.

This is the first time since the Knights Templar were founded that they have destroyed a valuable civilian building—the fourth time if you count the previous three.

Although the Templar Knights' master was merciful and only made them bear the cost of building their own base and selecting its location, there is still a compensation payment owed for this fourth destroyed noble mansion...

Although this compensation is intended for the residents of the neighboring apartment building who were accidentally injured in the bombing, the total amount, even when pieced together, is still enormous...

“Mr. Napoleon, it seems you are quite worried about the reparations.” Yang Hao’s voice suddenly came from outside the door. “I remember that just rebuilding your base is enough to keep you busy. If you have to pay another large sum of reparations, the Templar Order’s finances will probably be in trouble.”

"Ah, sir—"

"Alright, alright, no need for formalities. I'm going to give you a new task now, and then I'll give you the corresponding payment based on how well you complete it. But before that, what about those prisoners?"

"We obtained some intelligence during the interrogation and discovered that the weapons that the naughty boy was smuggling were produced by the military factory of the neighboring Duke of Nikolai."

"Oh huh?"

Yang Hao raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "Is this Duke Nikolai going to become the captain of our Kosiché Duchy's weapons transport brigade?"

Weapons capable of triggering that level of Originium detonation must be numerous.

He got excited because he seemed to have found a convenient excuse for condemnation and insult.

Chapter 151

So far, what exactly has the Duke of Nikolai done for the Duchy of Kosice?

Assassinating Yang Hao's wife is a crime!

Smuggling weapons within the Duchy of Kosiché is a crime!

Colluding with Kazimir—although Yang Hao may have done it in a certain sense, flattery and treason are two different things, so Duke Nikolai is guilty!

And most importantly, he turned out to be a cannibalistic psychopath?

This is a very serious crime!

Moreover, there are still many crimes that have not been discovered. The more crimes there are, the higher the priority for Duke Nikolai to be purged!

Moreover, Yang Hao's side could also have his secret forces find a lot of evidence of the heinous crimes committed by Duke Nikolai. He could at any time politically insult Duke Nikolai as a piece of shit, and then use the insult as a pretext to declare him an enemy, and finally launch a war against the Dukedom of Nikolai with the support of the people.

But—the Duke of Kosiché is now gradually recovering from the negative effects of the economic crisis. Launching a war at this time, besides being a waste of resources and manpower, would likely drag us into a quagmire from which we would have no way to escape... And then again...

"Hiss... Mr. Napoleon, I need you to record all their evidence—save their lives, they must live as witnesses until the day they appear in court, understand?"

"Yes, sir. Besides that, there are other things—although it's confirmed those weapons originated from the Duke of Nikolai's territory, they were very clever. Duke Nikolai could easily escape the charge by claiming that 'my nobles accepted bribes and acted on their own'..."

"So we can't take action yet. We have to wait for more decisive evidence to come out before adding it as icing on the cake—but it's good news that we can annoy them. Let's leave it at that for now."

While the smuggled weapons found by Mr. Napoleon and his men were indeed smuggled goods that had leaked from the army of the Duchy of Kosice... the problem is, all Yang Hao and his group can condemn is "why equipment belonging to the Duchy of Nikolai ended up in the hands of rebels in the Duchy of Kosice." The Duke of Nikolai could easily shift the blame onto his subordinates, finding a scapegoat among his nobles to take the fall.

In a sense, if Yang Hao really intended to use this excuse to start a war with Duke Nikolai, apart from making things difficult for the other side, the war might not even break out. Before any troops were even mobilized, the Imperial Diet would have to intervene and mediate: "Isn't it just a stupid nobleman who took it upon himself to support the rebellion of the nobles in the neighboring duchy? You've already killed them, so don't worry about such trivial matters!"

His Majesty the Emperor would certainly be happy to see his dukes fight amongst themselves; he would rather they kill each other than unite against him. Unless a nobleman really does something too outrageous—otherwise, His Majesty the Emperor certainly wouldn't be the first to step forward and issue any public condemnation.

The political turmoil was making Yang Hao extremely annoyed, and the fact that his own territory was still recovering from the economic crisis forced him to slow down his declaration of war. He had originally thought he could have a good, hot war with Duke Nikolai right now, but now it seemed that he should stick to his original plan and invite a noble from the other side's territory over first.

[Event: A disgusting trivial matter]

Your Gauls have discovered evidence of the Nikolai Duchy's destabilizing arms smuggling activities against the Kosice Duchy, but this cannot be used as a pretext for declaring war, because the Duke of Nikolai has a hundred ways to interrupt your pretext for war and have the Imperial Diet conduct a public review.

You can only treat this as a trivial matter to annoy Duke Nikolai. But then again, if he can smuggle weapons into your territory, why can't we?

We found the rebels in the Duchy of Nikolai and then supported them!

'I heard that the rebels in the Duchy of Nikolai recently acquired a new batch of Kosichean weapons...'

Effect: Activates the resolution: Search for rebels in the Duchy of Nikolai (10 days)

...

Well, it's not all bad.

Under the strange gaze of Head Maid Monica, Yang Hao, who had returned to his car and was about to head to the Lubyanka Grand Hotel to check on the ponies, suddenly became excited.

What could be more enjoyable than giving someone a taste of their own medicine? Even in those romance novels with blonde-haired protagonists, isn't the most exciting part about turning a blond-haired young man into a blonde girl and then falling in love with her too?

Therefore, Yang Hao immediately decided to pass the resolution, not for any other reason than to annoy Duke Nikolai.

"Sir... please have some self-respect." Monica sighed helplessly, covering her face. "Please don't make that kind of expression in public..."

"Huh?" Is my expression weird? Yang Hao touched his cheek in confusion, and after realizing his smile had vanished, he nodded awkwardly and relaxed slightly. "Ahaha, it's okay, it's okay, only you'll see it here anyway..."

"Yes, yes. But please have some self-respect. What will you do if I'm no longer here?"

"Ouch..."

Yang Hao smiled helplessly, remembering the mirror he had retrieved from the House of Lamentations. Perhaps it could...?

...But let's leave it for now. I'll ask Monica if she has similar thoughts later. After all, not everyone desires immortality—especially if they don't have family or friends around them.

... .....

Some time later, at 6 p.m., when Yang Hao brought Monica to Theresa's office, Theresa, the lazy little pony, was slumped in her chair with a pile of intelligence they had gathered in front of her.

"Little pony, how's work?" Yang Hao looked at Theresa somewhat awkwardly, especially when he noticed that Theresa was covering her bottom with one hand, looking embarrassed. "What's with those deep-sea hunters?"

"Oh—here it is. But boss, is the budget...?"

"It depends on your performance."

Yang Hao sat on the sofa, reading the documents that Theresa handed him as she stood up. Monica, standing behind Yang Hao, looked strangely at the spot Theresa had just covered with her hand—she seemed to have figured out what Yang Hao had done when he came over earlier...

Chapter 152

"Hmm...so these people are...hunters from the coastal region?"

“If my sisters are not mistaken, that should be the case. But our intelligence database may not be accurate either—after all, Kazimierz is a landlocked country, and the information we have about the coast is just hearsay.”

"So, you conclude that those unusual weapons are intended for use against large enemies?"

"That's what the intelligence says. But in reality, it's only natural that an axe could smash an ordinary soldier in two—as are the chainsaws and greatswords."

Yang Hao carefully reviewed the intelligence compiled by Theresa. He frowned, realizing that the [Deep Sea Hunters] group was indeed quite formidable.

Not only because they come from the world's most mysterious coastal region, but also because of their identity as "hunters." According to Theresa, they seem to excel at fighting large monster units—in other words, their weapons, all their combat skills, and all their training are specifically designed to combat monsters.

"Furthermore, according to the intelligence from the Serpent Scales, they once fought a group of infected creatures about 50 kilometers away from this city. As a result, the directional markers disappeared, and the bodies of those infected creatures were crushed into trenches created by weapons. Even if they wanted to separate them from the soil, it would probably be impossible."

As Theresa spoke, she leaned closer, ignoring Monica's twitching eyelids. She pointed to a few lines of small print on the intelligence report, seemingly giving Yang Hao a serious progress report, but was she actually harboring some ulterior motive?

Who knows?

"Hiss... that force..." Yang Hao frowned. He simply couldn't imagine what kind of immense force could have been used to carve a trench two meters deep into the hard rock, completely mixing the corpse's flesh with the dust and rubble...

Moreover, the materials and casting techniques used in those weapons—aren't they a bit too sturdy?

“Those deep-sea hunters seem to have some kind of weight problem. At least when they step onto some of the more fragile wooden or lightweight structures, the ground collapses unnaturally…” Theresa continued to explain. “But putting all their problems aside—we can be certain that those deep-sea hunters aren’t interested in this city. They’re just looking for someone or something in this city.”

"Oh ho? Do you have any clues?"

"No. Even when they speak, they do so very softly. The youngest and most obtuse of them can still make sure my sisters react when they get within 50 meters. If they didn't know that weapons cannot be used in civilized cities, my good sisters would probably already be injured or killed."

"...It's a tough nut to crack, but if they're just looking for something, let's leave it for now. Just continue monitoring them."

"Yes, yes—so boss, considering how hard we've worked, well, you know what I mean?"

"...Monica."

Yang Hao threw the intelligence report on the table and looked at Theresa, who was demanding funds from him with a self-righteous expression. Well, this works too. Now that the funding system has changed from "pay first, then work" to "work first, then pay," they should be given some corresponding rewards based on the progress of the work.

So, how much money should I give?

Yang Hao accepted the check and pen from Monica, the head maid whose expression was inexplicably grim. He hesitated, unsure what number to write down. Just as he hesitated, Miss Theresa suddenly gave him a look of "aha!"

"Oh right, boss, you forgot something last time."

"..."

This woman is actually using that incident as leverage?! Doesn't she realize she's the one who'll lose face afterward?!

Just as Yang Hao was about to laugh out loud with disdain—he suddenly felt the stern gaze of the head maid behind him. He blinked dryly, realizing that the problem might not be as easy to solve as he had imagined.

As Miss Theresa took out a crumpled ledger from the drawer, Yang Hao's lips twitched. Trying not to recall what had happened that day, he signed a relatively large amount on the check.

"...Keep that ledger yourself. Don't add anything strange to it next time. And don't do it again."

The ledger was definitely out of the question. Although Koschke already knew what was going on, Monica...you agree, right? If possible, Yang Hao still wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible...

Secondly, this also serves as a warning to myself—if Theresa tries to do anything with this again, I can simply refuse and then...

"Oh? Yes, yes, yes—so, boss, I heard that the Gallic pastries at the Lille Tavern are only sold to the Duke's Palace? The prices there are a bit expensive. Could you bring me one next time you go? I'd like a discount."

"...Fine."

The pastries over there are only 1.5 times more expensive than regular Ursus desserts, right?! Do you really need to be so stingy for a small discount? But then again, have some of the "illegal" Gauls protected at the Lille Tavern already found jobs at the Duke's mansion?

Congratulations, congratulations indeed! Yang Hao was pleased with himself for his previous feats, completely oblivious to the murderous glare Monica was giving Miss Theresa...

...

[Event: The Search of the Deep Sea Hunter]

Deep-sea hunters, possessing immense strength and trained to fight certain colossal monsters, have arrived in your territory and are searching for their targets.

You don't know what they will do, nor do you know their affiliation or intentions, but you have still obtained some information through the intelligence gathered by your subordinates.

'A group of humanoid monsters.'

Effect: You can now view part of the Deepsea Hunter's panel.