My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 119

"That's right. This is also His Majesty the Emperor's intention."

“I understand…but sir, if you intend to burn down the council, you need to understand that Saint-Germain Castle simply cannot find any combustibles that meet your needs…unless you intend to include ordinary cooking oil and wine in the count, otherwise—”

"Wine? That's fine. But tell me where you get high-proof alcohol."

"...It's...over there at the Chamber of Commerce. And if you need to find more high-energy combustibles, I recommend you go to this person."

The fire chief recited a string of numbers and an address. Yang Hao frowned, realizing that the address seemed unusually close to His Majesty the Emperor's palace.

"Who is that? Why would he open a bar so close to the palace...?"

Less than 600 meters from the palace, there's a bar that only opens at night and has people with "special" appearances... The owner of that bar must be someone important.

When Yang Hao asked him about it, the fire chief simply shook his head, saying that he knew nothing about it except that he had once been a high-ranking official in the court of the previous emperor.

...

Oh well. The bureau chief did his best to provide this intelligence.

Thinking of this, Yang Hao shook hands with the fire chief once again, just as his first task of burning down the council was now complete.

Chapter nine

"Mr. Yang Hao?"

"Now that the fire department's work is done, let's head over to the police station... Let's take care of the two easiest tasks first, then we can come back and rest for a bit before worrying about this afternoon's work."

...

Yang Hao is a man who is passionate about his work and is indeed very proactive.

Even though he's not using the [Puppet Stage] to assist him right now because of the different circumstances... no matter what, this man is working hard for his job with his passion.

Of course, occasionally, while on his way to work, he would have a sudden inspiration to handle another task—

Just like now, half an hour later, after he had discussed the matter with the police chief and ordered them to block all roads leading to the Imperial Council on the day of the incident... he received a message from the Puppet Stage: Rabbi and the infected had arrived in Kos Village. They needed further instructions.

Shortly after receiving the message, Yang Hao bid farewell to the police chief. He had also received information about the bar from the police chief, but without actually going to see it for himself, he still didn't know what the bar was used for.

However, it's still daytime now, so let's talk about the details later tonight.

“Let’s go, let’s go back now.” Re-entering his family car, Yang Hao gestured to the Templar Knight driving towards the palace, then turned to Sonia and said, “And Sonia, they’ve arrived at Kos village. I need some information from you so I can plan their next steps, okay?”

"Huh? Ah... I understand." Sonia was somewhat surprised, but ultimately showed her compliance. She sat down beside Yang Hao, head down, her terrifying meat saw still resting on her lap. "So, what kind of information do you need?"

"Information about the monsters you are fighting—I plan to have my workers build defensive walls and fortifications on the stone land along the coast that has already been constructed."

"Yes."

As the convoy moved along, after a moment's thought, Sonia began to seriously explain to Yang Hao the enemies her clan would have to face.

In short, they are a group of enemies that are [huge in size] and have the ability to [contaminate the mind], and they only appear from the direction of the ocean. Occasionally, a group of [their own kind] who have been mentally contaminated into cultists will also become their enemies, but overall, the number of monsters in the sea is the largest, and the ocean itself is what they need to be wary of.

"Simply put... our crazed kin won't cause us much damage. What we need to be more wary of is the threat from the ocean itself."

"Hmm... I understand now. The workers' first step is to build coastal defense facilities and a mental health sanatorium, right? But we don't have any doctors here... so we also need to establish a remote communication node..." Yang Hao nodded thoughtfully. He realized that the deep-sea hunters were under immense pressure, and if he wanted to acquire a large number of deep-sea hunter units for combat in the future, his top priority was to find a way to provide them with a place to recuperate.

However, Sonia seemed to have never heard of such facilities... Her understanding of Yang Hao's arrangements was both one of knowledge and confusion: she understood the arrangements for coastal protection facilities, but was confused about... the matter of the mental health center.

"Um, what do you mean by a mental health center...?" Sonia tilted her head, asking Yang Hao with a puzzled look. "Does it mean... building a hospital over there?"

“Yes, it’s actually a medical facility to bring people who are about to go crazy back to normal… but it can also be called a hospital.” Yang Hao confirmed Sonia’s guess, then sighed heavily: “But we only have two well-trained doctors here—one is the medical team from Koschke, and the other is Ms. Kal’tsit who just joined… Neither of them can go to work on the coast, so we can only choose remote psychological counseling. But this requires a lot of investment.”

"Remote psychological counseling...?"

"It is a medical technique that uses conversation or venting to help patients whose mental stress is on the verge of collapse to return to the real world."

This is a common facility in Yang Hao's hometown—after all, no matter which world you're in, there are plenty of people on the verge of collapse due to work pressure or something similar.

However, the state and government certainly cannot let those mentally ill people run around unattended and ignore them—letting their families watch is a helpless measure, but if they really want to treat mental illnesses, they still have to rely on the corresponding sanatoriums and hospitals!

Yang Hao's plan was to build a sanatorium near Kos Village to make do, but he didn't know how to handle remote communication. In today's technologically underdeveloped world, all he could rely on was Originium Arts... Wait a minute?

He thoughtfully opened the interface of the [Puppet Stage], and there he seemed to have found something good...

[Event: Construction of the village of Kos]

You plan to build defensive facilities along the coast of Kos Village, and also plan to build a sanatorium within Kos Village to treat deep-sea hunters suffering from severe mental stress.

However, the world's terrible long-distance communication network has put your plans at great risk—in order to avoid these risks affecting your arrangements during the wars and events that will last for a long time, you decide to try to find a solution using the invincible puppet stage.

'No, are you just praising yourself?'

Effect: Enables the 'Messenger' function.

...

Let's put aside for now what kind of nonsense this self-proclaimed ability is.

This so-called "messenger" function... ugh...

The mention of messengers sent a chill down Yang Hao's spine: Had the messenger he sent to Margarita ever returned? Had he already died in some remote corner?

At the very least, bring back Margarita's reply and the local specialties! He grumbled inwardly, but his body betrayed him as he clicked on the new interface.

He then noticed that this was a very powerful and amazing ability that could overturn the world's communication network.

For no other reason than that all areas covered by his [Messenger] ability can enjoy the convenience of an instant communication network with almost no delay!

The only problem is...

It takes 500 political points to cover a city.

Upon seeing this, Yang Hao's heart clenched.

chapter Ten

He's desperately short of political points right now—although he hasn't used many policies that consume political points lately, he's only managed to accumulate less than 1 political points so far...

This means that covering a city with a [messenger] would cost a full 500 political points... Is this really worth it?

Yang Hao wasn't unable to understand what it meant for communication to be readily available... but he was heartbroken about the expense!

"So expensive..."

"Mr. Yang Hao?"

"No, nothing... Sigh, I think I have an idea. I'm going to take a nap... Wake me up when the car arrives, okay?"

"Yes."

He sighed and told Sonia to wake him up when the time came. He then pretended to be asleep and planned to take a good look at this so-called "messenger"... just how powerful this "function" that shared the same name as a certain profession in this world really was.

But then again... huh? Why is my head tilted to one side... and what's it resting on? Um, Ms. Sonia? What are you doing?

Feeling the soft touch of the place where he was resting his head, his eyes rolled around... but in the end, he didn't open them.

Messenger Function:

1. Covering each city requires 500 political points and unlocking the city's "LAN functionality".

The first point is easy to understand: after Yang Hao spent so many political points, it won't be in an awkward situation where it's unusable; at least it will give you a local area network to use... and what was it showing up again? A [Communication Tower Wonder]? Hmm? And it's free?

What a spectacle...hmm...this doesn't seem like a bad deal, does it? At this moment, Yang Hao's stingy and frugal mindset has changed somewhat.

[2. Within a local area network, you can freely customize the "Messenger APP," monitor all messages sent by users of the software, and build a new "intelligence department" around this.]

The second point... well, this allows for extensive monitoring of the daily lives of the people within one's territory... and in a sense, it can also nip some rumors that might harm the duchy in the bud. More importantly, this will be an extremely powerful ability later on!

When his own "messenger" is spread throughout Ursus in the future, and even Ursus's official intelligence agents have to use his convenient software for communication... hehe, in a sense, at that time, Ursus will be like a naked girl to Yang Hao.

He could then observe every part of her body however he wanted with his eyes. And it wouldn't just be observation; he could also see countless weaknesses hidden from the world, and use them to achieve his desired goals...

It does sound a bit perverted, but what's wrong with a man being a little perverted? If Yang Hao hadn't been perverted enough back then, would he have gone to Koschche? Impossible—

So, he didn't care if he thought he was even more eccentric. Just based on the second feature of the [Messenger] function, Yang Hao felt that the 500 political points he would have to spend on a city in the future were worth it.

"Um..."

"...ah."

Ms. Sonia, what happened to you? I was just turning my head excitedly, why are you making that strange sound?

Yang Hao didn't pay much attention to it. After making sure he was in a comfortable position, he continued to observe the third characteristic of the [Messenger]—its most core characteristic.

That is--

[3. Once two or more cities are integrated into the Messenger Network, everyone using the Messenger communication software on that network will enjoy delay-free communication services—you can freely customize the price of the communication service and impose the following restrictions based on your needs:]

One card per person

Monthly payment restrictions

No blind spots in surveillance restrictions

Network restrictions specifically for espionage

Internet integration restrictions.

wait.】

Communication without any delay.

Network access conditions can be customized.

And new business opportunities, and most importantly, the existence of the internet!

Let Yang Hao explain one by one.

Firstly, communication without any delay means that Yang Hao's [Messenger] will be the first communication software in Terra that can contact the Gorgon Alliance in Ursus with a communication time difference of less than one second, making it international and usable within the province!

This will attract the attention of numerous foreign messengers, caravans, and even mercenaries. Because people in these three professions understand what an uninterrupted communication network truly means... It means a wealth of business opportunities, it means intelligence dissemination will be less risky in terms of time, and more importantly, it means that Yang Hao, with absolute control, can obtain information and a vast amount of intelligence from this world through the text messages they send and receive daily.

So there's nothing more to say. Based on this alone, even if you asked Yang Hao to sell his butt to His Majesty the Emperor right now, he would still have to buy this feature!

The second point—the customizable network access conditions—is actually similar to the SIM cards in Yang Hao's hometown.

An ID card can only be linked to one SIM card. As long as that SIM card is still in use, it means convenience for the user, but for the new intelligence department of the Duchy of Kosiché in the future, it means complete surveillance.

If in the future—and Yang Hao meant in the future, when mobile phones become commonplace in Ursus, when apps like food delivery appear on mobile devices—then he can clearly know each resident's preferences, their monthly fees, and their usage patterns... and use that information to determine a more suitable pricing standard so that the Dukedom of Koschche can earn more money!

However, this didn't actually have a significant impact on Yang Hao. What he cared about was that having the right to freely customize network access conditions would make people's lives more convenient and happier, greatly benefiting the stability of his territory and also stimulating more industries to meet the growing population's needs.

...Thinking about this, he was already very excited. He couldn't wait to buy the [Messenger Function] right now and use it directly in the Duchy of Kosiché—but it was still too early. At least, he should wait until he got home and discussed it with his wife, right?

It's not that he's hesitating! It's just that ever since Koschke came, he's consulted him on all important decisions... and he feels he should do the same. Besides, it can strengthen their relationship, so what's wrong with waiting a little longer?

As for the third point, it goes without saying.

The Internet system, which relies on the Messenger function, will, at least in the future Ursus Empire after the civil war ends, be the most powerful force for improving people's livelihoods, developing technology, and adjusting the focus of the military industry!

After all, there are just so many things that the internet system can do!

For example, when Yang Hao was in Colombia, the local area network he could access, called the "Intercity Network," was limited to a specific city. In that case, if he wanted to read pornographic books, he could only read those within that city's intercity network. If he ever became interested in Kazimir's flattery, besides engaging in dirty dealings in that city's underground market, the only other thing he could do was go to Kazimir and see if there were any books he could buy.

However, in the case of the internet—if Colombia and Casimir are connected by the internet, he could comfortably lie in a chair in Colombia's westernmost city and read books and resources from Casimir's easternmost city via the internet!

The internet enables the flow of most information between cities, allowing users to understand what is happening in regions hundreds of kilometers away. This is undoubtedly extremely important for scientific research, industry, and commerce.

Moreover, the internet offers benefits not only in terms of people's livelihoods, scientific research, industry, and commerce, but also in the military field.

Not to mention... as the owner of the [Messenger Function], when the Ursus Empire merges into the Internet, when all of Ursus's lifelines take the shape of the Internet, and when being separated from the Internet means only half-dead and suffering in agony... Yang Hao, the husband of the insidious Duke Koschche, will become the biggest beneficiary of this network.

By then, he will have control over all the vitals within the Ursus Empire. At that point, the money he'll earn through the internet could make the Dukedom of Koschei the wealthiest place in the land; the infected from its slums might even become millionaires somewhere else—more importantly, by then, he will be the local emperor of the Ursus Empire. A local emperor whose word is law, and even the Emperor wouldn't dare contradict him.

He couldn't wait to see that day arrive! He imagined himself rebuking the Crown Prince and defying His Majesty the Emperor! But he also knew that this was a long-term benefit... and the scene he was imagining might not happen for another fifty years.

Fifty years is fifty years... I'll become an immortal in the future, so I have plenty of time to command and wait for the benefits to come.

Moreover... if he really planned to adopt a daughter with Kosiche in the future and have a happy family life... he really needed to leave something for his future daughter, assets that she could work hard for.

Oh well, fifty years it is.

He sighed softly, his excitement keeping him awake, so he could only close his eyes and rest amidst the swaying of the vehicle.

Chapter 11

It's around 11 p.m.

When Yang Hao awoke from his dazed, hallucinatory state, surrounded by Kosiché, Monica, and Margarita, who was huddled in a corner with teary eyes, he found himself seemingly back on the outskirts of His Majesty the Emperor's palace in Saint-Germain.

"Forehead..."

What was that dream all about? He tried to shake his head, but found that his face seemed to have touched something very soft. He opened his eyes blankly and looked in the rearview mirror. He saw that his cheek was resting on Ms. Sonia's shoulder, and it looked like it was about to slide down and rest on her breast.