OBS Chapter 390 Disagreements, Cooperating with Grisha
Chapter 390 Disagreements, Cooperating with Grisha
Chapter 390 Disagreements, Cooperating with Grisha
When Audrey heard Evan's suggestion, and based on her understanding of her older brother, although she was very reluctant, she could only admit that Evan's judgment was indeed very sharp, and that the suggestion was not superfluous at all.
Her elder brother, Lord Hilbert, was the kind of person who was narrow-minded but had an excessively high sense of self-esteem.
Although her second brother Alfred had never said it explicitly before, Audrey knew very well that his departure to the South was definitely driven by her eldest brother Hilbert.
Count Hall's intentions haven't been revealed yet, so everything is still fine.
But once Alfred was transferred back to Backlund from the South, Hilbert gradually realized the truth: he would never sit idly by and admit defeat.
Furthermore, given that his older brother isn't particularly bright, he could easily be taken advantage of by bad people.
Having experienced many things, Audrey is no longer the carefree noblewoman she once was. She has come to fully realize the omnipresent dangers of this world and the darkness and cruelty of human nature.
Having personally experienced the "Robin Hood" operation and gained a deeper understanding of the Kingdom's government policies and their disastrous consequences, Audrey was no longer naive.
She was certain that if cracks appeared in the Hall family's inner fortress, countless flies would swarm in, which was something Audrey absolutely could not allow.
In a mere instant, Audrey made up her mind: she must keep an eye on her brother and prevent anything extreme from happening. Wasn't this one of the two original reasons I became an Extraordinary? To protect my family and eliminate potential threats!
A few months after becoming an Extraordinary, she finally became someone who could silently provide a protective umbrella for her family, fulfilling her original aspiration. However, Audrey felt no joy whatsoever.
Because she never expected that the first threat she was targeting, the first hidden danger she was guarding against, would be her own older brother.
Audrey felt like fate was playing a cruel joke on her.
Although Audrey was furious at the cruel twist of fate, she would not run away from it. Instead, she wanted to face it head-on and confront reality.
She will do everything in her power to make things turn out as well as possible, but when things become irreversible, she will not hesitate.
Because of her experience attending tarot gatherings over the past few months, she has become deeply convinced of her own and her father's judgments, and firmly believes that if the Hall family does not want to be overturned by the great waves of the times in the future, it must adapt to the trend of the times and respond proactively!
Audrey hesitated for a moment, then quickly recovered and said to Evan with a slightly apologetic tone:
"Sorry, I was just spacing out. Thank you for your valuable feedback!"
Evan, however, paid no attention to Audrey's gratitude.
"It's nothing. You were just too attached to family ties to think of it for a moment."
But you're so smart, you'll figure it out sooner or later even if I don't remind you.
Audrey smiled and did not deny Evan's praise. Instead, she talked about the government statement published in yesterday's evening paper and today's morning paper.
"The government has pledged through newspapers to strengthen epidemic prevention and control and crack down on hoarding and speculation. Does this mean that our actions during this period have been successful?"
Like Audrey, Fors, and Hugh, they believed that it was their "Robin Hood" operation that had completely overwhelmed the government, forcing them to surrender.
Evan smiled and repeated what he had told Fors and Hugh that morning to Audrey. Audrey was just as dumbfounded and didn't know how to comment.
After a long pause, Audrey gave a wry smile and said somewhat dejectedly:
"I thought there were some good people within the Kingdom of Rune government who were using our actions to overturn previous decisions!"
I never expected it to turn out like this. This is truly disheartening!
?
Unlike Fors and Hugh, who had only a superficial understanding of the government's internal workings, Audrey was well aware that their previous actions were not enough to make the Kingdom of Rune's government easily change its national policy.
So when she discovered that the Kingdom of Rune's government had indeed spoken out in the newspapers and changed its national policy, she thought that there was still a large group of people within the government who disagreed with the previous national policy. They used the "Robin Hood" operation as a variable to stir up trouble and overturn the previous policy of accumulating wealth.
This conjecture greatly excited Audrey, as it gave her, who was extremely disappointed with the kingdom's upper echelons after learning the truth, a glimmer of hope—not all the kingdom's leaders were corrupt, and there were still many righteous people fighting against it!
But now Evan's words have shattered the glimmer of hope that had just been rekindled in her heart.
The country she loved so deeply was so cold and ruthless.
Is it really as Emperor Russell said, that there is an irreconcilable structural contradiction between the upper and lower classes of the country?
Is there no other way out for Rune besides internal GM intervention and external interference?
Audrey's eyes were glazed over, and she murmured to herself in pain.
Evan remained silent. Although he wanted to say yes, these were not questions he could answer casually.
He was also somewhat taken aback by Audrey's ideas, because in the original story, Audrey had never thought of these things.
In any case, based on the currently deciphered content of Lord of Mysteries, Audrey has always appeared as an innocent and naive young girl, just not quite as naive as some might think.
My months in Backlund caused so much trouble and exposed so much of the dark side of the royal family and government to her that Audrey actually began to think about class conflict.
Isn't this a bit too much of a leap? Will Audrey ultimately betray her class?
Evan was shocked by Audrey's change and once again felt the direct impact he had on the original character, which made him feel a little uneasy.
Even the female character with the most screen time in the entire book has been affected to this extent, and it's unknown how the future plot will turn out.
Although Evan had already prepared for major changes to the later plot of Lord of Mysteries when the true creator descended and Grisha was born.
But Audrey's performance still made him somewhat uneasy and stirred a sliver of affection in him.
At this moment, Audrey realized her slip of the tongue. The word "GM" had become a taboo in the various kingdoms after Emperor Roselle overthrew the Solonian dynasty and established the Republic; it was not something to be uttered in public. Therefore, she quickly changed the subject:
"Is there anything I can do to help in dealing with the actions of the Fussac Empire?"
Despite her disappointment with the government of the Kingdom of Rune, Audrey remained hostile to the Fusak Empire.
Audrey was still able to distinguish between this simple friend and foe relationship!
"You don't actually need to get involved in this matter. You should trust the people in the Kingdom's government. They have been fighting against the Fussac Empire for many years. Although they were ambushed for a time, they are definitely not lacking in countermeasures."
That's true. Anyway, according to what Evan learned from Robert, the government of the Kingdom of Rune very skillfully came up with a whole set of response procedures after realizing they had been tricked.
From Evan's perspective, their response was very thorough, and it would be difficult for the Fusak Empire to cause any significant trouble.
After chatting for a while longer about what would happen next, Evan got up to leave, and Audrey stood up to see him off. Standing by the French windows, watching Evan's departing figure, Audrey frowned slightly and hesitantly asked the golden retriever beside her:
"Susie, does Baron Evan look down on me?"
Susie, who wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses around her neck, looked up at Audrey in surprise, because she hadn't expected that her feelings would be so different from Audrey's.
"No way? Why would you feel that way?"
"Baron Evan just mentioned that my father and Earl Robert agreed to have him be the knight at my coming-of-age ceremony. He seemed very reluctant and even offered to resolve the matter as soon as possible."
Isn't this a clear indication that he deeply dislikes me?
Audrey was also somewhat surprised that Susie's feelings were different from her own, so she looked down at Susie with some surprise.
"Is that so? I have a feeling he really likes you, and it's precisely because he likes you so much that he doesn't want to get too close to you and wants to actively distance himself from you?"
Susie also had some doubts about herself, but her previous experience with "mind reading" quickly solidified her judgment.
The psychologist Audrey and the mind reader Susie stared at each other, neither willing to back down, each convinced that their judgment was correct.
The world situation has developed in a dazzling and overwhelming way over the past few days.
First, the Fusak Empire suddenly expressed goodwill towards the Kingdom of Rune, willing to set aside the sovereignty dispute over Ayoun Island and develop friendly neighborly relations with the Kingdom of Rune.
This news really shocked countries around the world. Is this still the same Fussac Empire that believes that whatever I seize is mine?
What exactly happened between the Fusak Empire and the Kingdom of Rune?
Could this significant shift in the Fussac Empire foreshadow a easing of tensions in the world?
Will this cause a major shift in the global landscape?
Just as intelligence agents from various countries were fully utilizing their undercover forces in Backlund to gather relevant information.
News of the Kingdom of Rune's rejection of the Fusak Empire's goodwill at the Fusak embassy has spread throughout the entire Northern Continent.
This momentous news was instantly transmitted around the world via telegram.
Because the Kingdom of Rune blocked the news, governments around the world knew what had happened before the people of Backlund.
Immediately, the Kingdom of Rune issued a statement saying that the Fussac Empire had deceived them. Prime Minister Agushid delivered a passionate speech in parliament, denouncing the Fussac Empire's treachery and declaring that the Kingdom would definitely defeat the Fussac Empire with its own sword and reclaim Ayoun Island.
Then, a large number of rumors appeared in Backlund that the government of the Kingdom of Rune refused aid from the Empire of Fusak because they wanted to use the plague to kill workers as punishment for the large riots that had occurred some time ago.
This illogical and unbelievable rumor caused a huge uproar among the Backlund workers, nearly triggering a second Backlund riot.
Thanks to the experience of the Backlund military and police, and their prior preparations, the riot was nipped in the bud. In addition, the government of the Kingdom of Rune took this opportunity to once again mobilize the army into the city to strongly control the epidemic, crack down on hoarding medicine merchants, and stabilize medicine prices, thus fulfilling its promise.
Therefore, this incident did not escalate further in Backlund.
However, the political scene in the Kingdom of Rune was not so peaceful. Prime Minister Agushid became the last scapegoat, voluntarily submitting his resignation on the grounds of poor epidemic prevention.
Moreover, although the situation within the Kingdom of Rune has been somewhat calmed down, the Fusak Empire has not given up easily, or rather, they never expected to accomplish anything significant within the Kingdom of Rune.
After the situation in Backlund calmed down, the Fussac Empire immediately launched military provocations from both its land and sea borders.
Because the Kingdom of Rune refused the aid of the Fusak Empire, the Fusak Empire gained an unprecedented moral advantage.
They even tore up the agreement concerning Ayoun Island without raising any diplomatic concerns, and other countries around the world even showed a subtle support for the Fussac Empire.
After all, the Kingdom of Rune has yet to provide a reasonable explanation to the world, only spouting empty rhetoric and platitudes that the Fusak Empire lacks sincerity in negotiations.
In short, the Kingdom of Rune suffered a major diplomatic defeat in this contest and could only feign death.
This was still a setback in the diplomatic arena. Due to the military actions of the Fusak Empire, the situation in the Kingdom of Rune escalated suddenly on both land and sea borders, with constant friction between the two sides and even several near misses.
The deteriorating border situation has also affected trade within the Kingdom of Rune, further exacerbating the Kingdom's financial woes.
However, although the situation seemed to have become very tense, almost all the high-ranking officials of the Kingdom of Rune knew that the situation could not deteriorate further.
Although the Fusak Empire's objective was very clear, they did not really want to attack the Kingdom of Rune. They only wanted to stall the Kingdom of Rune, prevent the Kingdom of Rune's government from solving its financial problems, and weaken the Kingdom of Rune at the lowest possible cost.
However, this situation was completely unacceptable to the Kingdom of Rune. Therefore, the strategy of inflicting heavy losses on the Fusak Empire through small-scale wars and breaking the Fusak Empire's slow and gradual approach was officially put on the agenda of the Kingdom of Rune's government.
In order to eliminate as much interference as possible when taking action, the Kingdom of Rune sent its new Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance to Intis to discuss the issuance of Rune national bonds in Intis.
Meanwhile, an organization called the "Salvation Army" suddenly appeared in the Southern Continent and began to operate extensively, targeting the notorious cult, the Rose School.
This kind of thing should have aroused great interest among the countries of the Northern Continent, leading to active intervention.
The contest between the Kingdom of Rune and the Empire of Fusak attracted the attention of all the countries in the Northern Continent, so much so that the contest between the Salvation Army and the Rose Cult truly became the first war in the Southern Continent without the participation of the Northern Continent after the opening of the Raging Sea Route.
"I've essentially helped Grisha hold back all the nations of the Northern Continent. Now, who dares to say I'm not a true chosen one of the Creator?"
Evan looked at the newspaper in his hand, flicked it with his finger, and said smugly.