A Person on Terra, Out of Books

PS: Waiting for PCR results in the cold wind, it's really cold.

PS2: Please vote!!!

Explanatory Chapter

Opening a separate chapter to address some frequently asked questions.

First, the timeline. The original timeline had the end of the Kazdel civil war and the Doctor's storyline too close together. Three years isn't enough time to do anything, so I've moved up the end of the Kazdel civil war and the appearance of some characters. (I mentioned in the first chapter that this is a world highly similar to Arknights.) 10

Then there's the issue of education, mentioned in chapter six.

One of the driving forces behind the protagonist's rise to power was seeing young Sarkaz who could only speak Columbian. This was the most profound impression he had. The next day, when he gained power, this was naturally the first thing he thought of. Time was tight, and the impression was too strong. 3

Many people have said this is incorrect. Before I state my conclusion, let me first describe who the protagonist has under him. They can probably be considered a group of tribal leaders from the feudal era. Would they dare to strike the king with a heavy blow right after he ascended the throne? Of course not, especially since these are Sarkaz who obey the royal family. 1

The plot I arranged was that after various tribal leaders expressed their opinions, the orders were carried out. However, when it came to the common people with genuine problems of survival, the true results emerged in chapter 19.

I wrote it very clearly: not many children went, and their families still needed labor! (Perhaps some people won't even read this far, so I'll summarize it for those who do.)

Then there are chapters 25 and 26. This is where the fighting spirit is high.

Esteemed sirs! This is different from our situation! You can't just copy it blindly!

I checked the map of Arknights, and Laterano's land area is three times that of Kazdel! Three times! Moreover, after fighting external wars, Sarkaz fought a civil war for three years. The country was in ruins. Any casualties suffered by Theresia or Theresis were Sarkaz casualties. And what losses did Laterano suffer? 11

At a time when this civil war had just ended, Laterano was larger than Kazdel, and its population should also be larger than Kazdel's. In all aspects, Laterano was definitely better off. As for the international environment, there's no need to even mention it. Whether they helped Sankta or not is unknown, but they certainly wouldn't help Sarkaz. 3

In such circumstances, the protagonist wanting to restore peaceful relations is like saying to a weaker enemy who has wronged me, "Let's have a truce."

The plot I arranged is that the Pope agreed to restore peace, but how it was done had to be in line with the Pope's status.

He asked the protagonist to go personally, which was to save face. Otherwise, it would seem like he was incapable. With face saved, his conditions could be lightly stated.

And on the protagonist's side, going as the weaker party to seek out the stronger, you still expect them to be magnanimous? To consider your dignity? Do you think everyone is like us?

For those who want to fight at this moment, winning every battle but losing the war in the end, what's the point?

Finally, I have a question: where did you find the description of the Bloodfiend Grand Duke's combat power? I really couldn't find it. You say he alone could do this and that, but I truly have no concept. Did I miss some setting? I'll catch up tonight, please point me in the right direction!!!

PS: I will improve. The situations in chapters 6, 25, and 26 will not happen again. 22

Chapter 35: The Next Generation

Saint Petersburg, the capital of Ursus, is sacred and inviolable to all Ursus citizens. Located at the center of this mobile city is the Empire's center of power – the Imperial Palace.

It is guarded by elite Ursus Guard soldiers, and anyone who trespasses will be killed by them. However, today is different. Someone has instructed them not to react to the scene before them.

Two ordinary-looking old men slowly passed through the Guard checkpoint. Under the soldiers' watchful eyes, they ventured deep into the Imperial Palace, passing through various ornate buildings, and finally arrived at the door of a room surrounded by opulence but extremely simple within.

"Let them in."

The soldiers guarding the wooden door stepped aside. The two old men entered the room, where they could directly see a spacious balcony. On it, there was only a solitary lounge chair, on which an old man was reclining.

"Your Majesty, the Emperor."

The two bowed deeply. The old man on the lounge chair slowly sat up and gestured casually to them.

"There's no one else here, so let's dispense with the formalities. These old bones might get twisted. Be careful."

"Your Majesty jokes. Your health is excellent."

"You two are also quite energetic. You've been accompanying Feodor and doing a lot of things lately."

The atmosphere in the room immediately froze. One of these two was the Minister of Finance of the Imperial Council, and the other was the Crown Prince's tutor.

The old man standing by the lounge chair watched them for a moment, then suddenly chuckled. "I asked Feodor to gather Originium. I didn't expect him to be unable to get it domestically and then ask Kazdel for it... His actions were quite decisive. The offensive on the front lines was not affected at all."

"Your Majesty! Since you know those people deliberately made things difficult for the Crown Prince, why did you indulge them and allow these obstacles to be added?" 1

Feodor's tutor ventured to ask. Although the room temperature was adjusted to be very comfortable, fine beads of sweat glistened on his forehead.

The Emperor did not answer him. He slowly walked around the room a few steps, stopping beneath a large oil painting depicting him in his youth.

"Compared to that time... has that much time passed? Time really flies. We... probably don't have many years left, do we?"

The two were greatly alarmed and lowered their heads, not daring to speak. The old Emperor, seeing their reaction, asked, "Minister of Finance of the Imperial Council... do you have any suitable candidates?"

"...Yes, there is a young man, Islam Vitt. He is the one who reached the trade agreement with Kazdel, earning considerable tax revenue and improving the living conditions of the people."

"Then let him take the position."

"Yes."

The old man dared not object.

"How about Kazdel?"

The old Emperor posed another question. The other replied, "Sarkaz have been at war for years and fought a civil war. Minister Vitt said that place is very backward. He didn't see many young and middle-aged adults there. The new leader of Sarkaz is a very young Sarkaz who seems to favor peace."

"Is that so... How is the land there?"

"Minister Vitt said it's all desert unsuitable for cultivation."

"I see..."

The old Emperor was a bit disappointed. Ursus was also a country lacking arable land. He sighed wistfully.

"You two... you weren't here today, right? Take some money and go to Columbia. We are all leaving soon; it's time for the next generation." 1

A mine on the Ursus ice fields has been temporarily closed. Many mines like this one are operating today. The miners inside were either taken onto transport ships by the Sarkaz or pushed into the excavated mine shafts by the guards.

On the border of Kazdel, Warfarin and the Doctor were ready. They would conduct a thorough health check and infection screening of His Majesty's cargo. If anything was unsuitable, it would be handed over to the Absolver for final recycling.

The miners who arrived in Kazdel disembarked the gangway with trembling legs. No one was whipping them from behind to hurry them along, which for a moment left them bewildered and uncomfortable. They instinctively gathered together, nervously surveying their surroundings.

Sarkaz medical personnel in sealed suits had to use loudspeakers to remind the crowd, who resembled dried corpses, "Doctors, over there! Teachers, over there! Craftsmen, follow me!"

At the checkpoint for physical examinations, a Pero man tightly held his child, his hand instinctively shielding the Originium crystals on the child's face. He looked at the muscular military doctor before him and asked nervously, "What do you want me to do? Dig mines? I'll do it, but can my child not go?"

"Dig mines?" The Sarkaz doctor holding a magnifying lens looked at him strangely. "Weren't you a teacher before?"

"Yes, yes, I was a middle school math teacher."

"Then you're here to be a teacher, why would you dig mines? And don't block your child, I need to examine him! Move your hand!"

The man nodded repeatedly, his face filled with a dreamlike, hesitant expression.

"I'm here... to be a teacher? To teach students?"

Physical examinations, cleaning, receiving medication, and then the oath to renounce Ursus culture, renounce Ursus script, and pledge to integrate into Kazdel. The entire process proceeded in an orderly fashion, with no one showing hesitation on their faces, only eager clamor.

After completing these steps, they would be assigned to their respective positions. These individuals would improve the various deficiencies Kazdel currently faced.

"Your Majesty, what do you intend to do with so many children you've purchased?"

The Absolver bowed. He understood Theresica's intention; these professionals from various fields were indeed useful, but he was puzzled why there were so many orphaned children among them, especially since they were all infected.

"After all, only a minority of the Shapeshifter race can achieve perfect transformation. If these children learn Sarkaz culture, wouldn't they be Sarkaz with the appearance of other races?"

He spoke of his vision, "They will complete their education in Kazdel and then be sent to other countries. Columbia and Victoria should both be suitable."

"Your Majesty's vision is very far-sighted."

The Absolver expressed his agreement but also voiced a concern, "However, they are not Sarkaz after all. If they betray us, won't all our efforts be wasted?"

"That's hard to say. There's no such thing as a guaranteed profit. Besides, these are matters for the future. Let's focus on the present for now."

In just a few days, Kazdel had replenished its professional personnel significantly, greatly alleviating the shortage of doctors and teachers. The military factories, in particular, gained over 40 technical sergeants from the Ursus army, who effectively advanced the reverse engineering of Ursus equipment production technology.

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Chapter 36: Shifting Situation

The country of Ursus, in Theresica's heart, was currently quite favorable. Kazdel had obtained a large amount of foreign exchange through trade with it, and its conflict with Kazimierz presented a golden opportunity for Kazdel.

While Theresica gathered information on the Ursus-Kazimierz war through regular channels, she also ordered Shapeshifters to transform and infiltrate the still-uncleared battlefields, secretly transporting Ursus soldiers' corpses back to Kazdel.

Upon receiving these bodies, the Absolver began his experiments, stripping them of their memories and knowledge. Although the Absolver's techniques were still unstable, often resulting in the loss of a large amount of information, Ursus had plenty of soldiers and therefore plenty of corpses!

Through the Ursus-Kazimierz war, Kazdel quickly understood the composition of the Ursus army. Coupled with the accumulation of information during this period, Theresica began to consider something.

Military reform!

Theresica approached Manfred and the Military Council. After several days of discussion, they decided to conduct an experimental adaptation within the Sarkaz army to create a unit for frontal combat, while the remaining soldiers would continue to employ the Sarkaz's customary combat methods.

A squad would consist of 13 people, including a squad leader and a deputy squad leader, three Sarkaz warriors wielding semi-automatic personal crossbows, four Sarkaz equipped with Ursus heavy shield guards, and four soldiers using the Sarkaz's original melee weapons.

Four squads would form a platoon, with an additional magic support strike team and a drone reconnaissance team added within the platoon.

Four platoons would form a company, with a flag-bearing sentry, two communication operators, a mess hall crew, and a three-person first aid team added within the company.

Four companies would form a battalion, with an engineering and technical platoon responsible for equipment maintenance and a long-range communication group added within the battalion.

Three battalions and one magic strike battalion would form a regiment, with a regimental command post, a logistics company, and a field hospital added within the regiment. The magic strike battalion would consist of two assault magic companies, one positional sorcerer company, and one support company.

Four regiments would form a division, with the division being a theoretically independently combat-capable unit. A command headquarters, two division-level magic strike battalions, a severe injury rescue group, and an additional logistics company would be added within the division.

The experimental adaptation plan involved two divisions. Considering that most soldiers lacked education, their combat methods would be divided into two parts. Shield guards and melee soldiers would form a front line to block enemies, while marksmen would provide direct support, either eliminating the enemies in front of them or waiting for the magic support from behind to arrive.

These two divisions would later act as each other's opponents or face the Sarkaz's traditional forces, engaging in continuous joint training. Theresica wanted to use this method to see if suitable officers could be selected from the army.

Just as Kazdel's first military reform began, the war between Ursus and Kazimierz suddenly ended anticlimactically.

At this point, all of Kazimierz's defenses had been breached, and the knights were forced to retreat into their knightly territories to make a final stand. Although they had paid a heavy price in casualties to reach this point, the Ursus attacking forces still retained considerable combat capability overall. The tall buildings of the Grand Knightly Territory could be seen by Ursus soldiers through their binoculars.

However, while all troops were awaiting orders to attack, the Ursus army group did not receive the horn call for the next day. All soldiers were ordered back to their country by the Emperor. Then, to everyone's surprise, Ursus suddenly declared war on the East!

This caught not only the East off guard but also Ursus's own troops. The troops stationed on the border simply received orders one early morning to cross the border and advance into the East.

Despite not understanding why, the Ursus border troops faithfully carried out the Emperor's orders. Soldiers and officers excitedly discussed what expressions the Eastern soldiers' faces would have during such a surprise attack.

But a more shocking event occurred: the Ursus forces' advance was blocked. Their surprise attack was successful, but after initial setbacks, the East, like Kazimierz, rapidly rebuilt its forces with vast resources, and resistance never ceased. However, the Ursus forces, lacking supplies, were forced to retreat back to the border.

The Ursus Emperor was furious, cursing the military for not having scouted the East's ability to secretly gather so many resources. He immediately executed several high-ranking noble generals, who were his old comrades who had fought alongside him on the battlefield.

The old Emperor did not want to admit his failure and ordered the Fifth Army Group to continue the offensive, with a general who was one of the Emperor's 'old brothers' with a rich record of victories in command. But to everyone's astonishment, this general was ambushed by the East multiple times, causing heavy losses to the Ursus army group.

He pleaded that intelligence had failed, but the old Emperor showed no mercy, directly ordering his execution. It seemed the old Emperor felt this was not enough; under the pretext of punishing the disloyal, he stripped many officers and generals of their identities, threw them into prison, and sentenced them to death.

The list of people to be tried was long, and when the old Emperor opened it, its end trailed onto the ground. That night, the old Emperor's physical condition rapidly deteriorated, and his consciousness became blurred. But in his final moments, he regained his senses and issued two decrees.

One was to immediately cease hostilities with the East, and the other was to confirm Fyodor as the successor to the Ursus Empire's throne.

Uttering these two statements seemed to exhaust the old man's last strength. He then passed away, holding his son's hand.

Theresica received the message the next day and immediately ordered the Banshee to deliver his personal request to meet Feodor.

All of Terra was abuzz with discussions about what changes Ursus would undergo and where the new Emperor would lead this vast nation. Would he, like the old Emperor, wage war everywhere, or would he pursue previous ideals?

It was not easy to make a definitive judgment.

But just as newspapers in various countries were still printing stories about the departure of the old Ursus Emperor, Victoria also broke astonishing news.

The powerful Victorian Empire suddenly erupted into civil war. The Lion King was placed on the guillotine, the Duke of Cumberland perished, and the royal heir's whereabouts were unknown. The remaining Grand Dukes within the country all claimed to support the royal lineage, forcing the Steam Knights into conflict with each other, with flames of war spreading across the entire nation.

All of Terra was stunned. Such immense changes arriving in rapid succession within just two days truly required some time to process.

Columbia made the first move. Federal troops crossed the border and set foot on Sargon's territory. The Leithanien independence movement erupted, and local Victorian garrisons were frequently attacked by residents.

The existing situation in Terra was about to change.

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Chapter 37: Shockwaves

Regardless of external opinions, the citizens of Ursus regarded the old Emperor as a divine ruler. He was the one who brought Ursus its strength, and this was the foundation for the nation's confidence and pride in any situation.

With the old Emperor's departure, the vast nation abruptly halted all external activities. All eyes were fixed on the current transfer of power. At this time, the Banshee dispatched to Ursus returned, bringing a reply from the new Emperor, Feodor.

Besides lengthy pleasantries and expressions of gratitude, the letter contained nothing of substance. It merely mentioned a desire for a formal meeting on the diplomatic stage in the future.

"What do you think of the new Emperor?"

Theresica asked curiously. The Banshee was a Sarkaz over a hundred years old and had undoubtedly met many people.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, I couldn't discern anything. The new Ursus Emperor's expression was stiff and pained, making it impossible to make an accurate judgment under such circumstances."