Chapter 841 — The New Delegation

"Trust me, afterward business will proceed as usual, ambassadors will be dispatched as usual, peace will continue as before, and Typhon and Cecile will remain good neighbors," Gao Yi said with a smile, glancing at Amber. "As for behind the scenes... there have never been few spies infiltrating each other's ranks anyway. Your Military Intelligence Bureau has been sending out outstanding operatives all along, and the Typhon agents we've caught in the Eastern Region and several northeastern provinces... how many is it now?"

Amber rolled her eyes: "Not enough to build a city, but more than enough to staff a mining crew."

"There you have it," Gao Ji said with a smile. "Just everyday business between great powers. Of course, Rosen Augustus will be warier of us than ever before, and in the commercial orders that follow, he'll likely impose certain restrictions too—but what of it overall? Behind the peace agreement, when have Typhon and Cecile ever truly belittled each other? It's simply that before sufficient national interest, everyone understands each other tacitly."

Seeing the thoughtful look on Amber's face, Gao Yang merely let out a soft breath. He said no more, though his mind had already turned to other matters.

Everything he had told Amber concerned only matters between the two nations; on the personal side, however, he could not help wondering what Luoyan Augustus would make of this "wanderer from beyond the realm."

Of one thing he was certain: he could hardly expect a man like the great Emperor Luoyan to cower and tremble before a so-called "wanderer from beyond the realm."

More likely, that emperor of Typhon had never regarded this "ancient hero who rose from his coffin" as an ordinary human from the very beginning. Whether what lay beneath this skin of his was man or ghost probably meant nothing at all to that Typhon ruler.

Because Gao Yang himself held the same attitude—

The Augustan family that ruled Typhon had been entangled with a certain "curse" for two hundred years, and behind that curse one could not help but sense the mental contamination of the gods.

Luoyan Augustus, too, had his own "little secret," and whether that secret was connected to the mental contamination of the gods, and which god it specifically involved, were things that, though they stirred Gao Yang's curiosity, would not affect how he dealt with the Typhon Empire.

Because the interests of the nation demanded it.

"What are you thinking about?" Amber's voice suddenly came from beside him, cutting short Gao Cen Shijian's idle wandering. He turned at the sound and saw a pair of large amber eyes looking his way. "Your expression suddenly turned so grave..."

Gao Cen Shijian spoke from the heart, blurting out what was on his mind: "People who sit in the seat of a ruler often can no longer be counted as 'human.'"

Amber was instantly taken aback, then scratched her cheek. "I mean, I also think that position of yours isn't something a human does, but hearing you say it so calmly leaves me not knowing how to respond..."

Gao Yang: "...That's not what I meant."

"It's more or less the same meaning," Amber said with an indifferent wave of her hand. Then, scurrying two quick steps to keep pace with Gao Song, she muttered, "I say, can't you walk a little slower? Is this what you call a stroll?"

Gao Yang glanced down at his own steps, then at Amber jogging along beside him. "I thought you just happened to be out for a morning run..."

Amber's pointed ears immediately pricked up, veins even bulging at their edges. "...I was trying to keep up with you!!"

Gao Yang: "..."

...

As the freight train from the Typhon Empire raced sunlit toward the White Sand Hills, on the banks of the Gorgon River—now gradually thawing, its waters soon to swell—another train was also rumbling over newly laid tracks across the vast plains outside Pompeii, speeding toward the Southern Region.

The red-haired Asarena sat by the window, eyes wide as she watched the trees and relay posts flash past outside, her gaze full of curiosity.

She had been to this human nation before, to its Southern Region—that was twenty years ago.

Twenty years later, today, everything here held for her a novelty she had never imagined.

And only twenty years had passed.

The dragon-marked witch withdrew her gaze and looked at Sir Golosh seated across from her. "You see, this thing really is much faster than a land dragon..."

The pack beasts the dragonkin had ridden here had all been left in the north; those traditional means of transport had fulfilled their purpose, and besides, they were unsuited to the climate and waters of the southern nation. The Cecilians had prepared more convenient and more advanced transport for their guests. At first Sir Golosh had been rather doubtful of these rumbling machines, but now it seemed the good sir was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"I wonder how the Cecilians managed to build this thing," Sir Golosh said, curiosity in his tone. "If they can run even in colder places, that would be a fine thing..."

"But getting it through the northern mountains won't be easy," Asarena said. "The Holy Dragon Duchy doesn't have much flatland."

"That can be solved for the dragonkin, can't it?" Sir Golosh said with a smile. "The only question is whether the Cecilians will sell the technology, and how—judging by the attitude of that old acquaintance of yours, they seem quite willing to sell these new things abroad, so long as the price is right."

"Sir Golosh, I never knew you were a merchant," Asarena said, looking him up and down. "And when you said 'old acquaintance'... were you implying something?"

Sir Golosh's face was expressionless. "That is your misconception, Lady Asarena."

"I hope so," Asarena said, turning her gaze back out the window. "Ah, we seem to be about to pass through a checkpoint among the mountains..."