Banshees: I'm Finished. (cont.)

In other words, the Babel was merely a side effect; what they truly desired was a strong leader.

The Sarkaz's long history of exile has made them accustomed to the appearance of a 'savior'.

And under their collective unconscious call, one 'savior' after another will always emerge.

This belief might play an unexpected role in extreme circumstances, but at this moment, Maria did not agree with such an idea.

How is placing one's hopes on the existence of a particular person any different from those who fanatically worship Great Beast and crave the power of those in Great Ones?

Therefore, Maria gave a firm response to the girl's somewhat disheartened words.

"You don't need to care about what they think!"

"This..."

"It is a good thing that you have the king's mercy, Theresa."

Maria looked at the girl, her tone firm, "But before you show your kindness, you should clearly realize that you are different from others..."

"..."

"I once heard a Blood Demon say that you frequently appear in various disaster-stricken areas, personally organizing personnel to carry out disaster relief..."

Maria blinked and brought up what Warfarin had told her.

Theresa's eyes were also slightly droopy.

"You... don't you think this is a bad idea?"

Maria's criticism upset Theresa, but she had to admit that Maria's point of view was very direct.

Crowns, scepters, and territories respectively represent the legitimacy of one's identity, the strength of one's power, and the symbolism of one's status.

Now that she has lost her scepter, if she were to relinquish her territory, she would truly be left with only the title of a demon king.

This is fatal to her desire to get things done.

"That's good, Theresa. I'm not denying your kindness... In fact, in my opinion, you are an excellent leader."

Maria spoke calmly, but only offered a few words of praise.

"But... your Kazdel doesn't accept leaders like that... What do they need? They need a strong objective."

"This goal can be long-term, difficult, or even a pipe dream... The only requirement is that this goal meets the expectations of the vast majority of people."

"And the orders you are currently implementing... are all short-term and promising. I don't deny that they have more effect on improving life in Kazdel, but you have only met their material needs, not their spiritual needs."

"Kazdel has been dormant on Terra for far too long; your people need a much-needed boost."

"And that's exactly what Theresis did... He built upon the foundation you laid for him and provided the answer to his spiritual needs."

Maria's words were cold, tearing the naked reality open for Theresa to see.

Theresa is undoubtedly a kind and wise leader, but based on her current performance, she is only suitable to be a deputy in a large organization.

This girl is still far from being a true leader who can guide everyone out of their predicament.

At the very least, Maria couldn't believe that such a benevolent mindset could lead to any outcome.

"But... if we stay here, the members of the Babel will..."

Theresa seemed to have heeded Maria's advice, but she also had many concerns.

The most important of them were the members of the Babel.

A large portion of them are not Sarkaz.

They came to her cause because of their shared ideals, and she had a duty to protect them.

If they remain in Kazdel, the conflict between the two sides will continue to revolve around these individuals.

Theresa didn't want these people to encounter too much danger.

Maria's solution, however, was very simple and straightforward.

"Clear the troops..."

Maria tilted her head slightly, her eyes sparkling.

"Use a sufficiently powerful force to suppress everything... You've been weak for too long; you need to show others your iron fist!"

"But this might provoke resistance."

Kal'tsit, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up.

Her words were serious and hesitant.

"Currently, the only combat-capable organization we can mobilize is the Babel... If we were to organize manpower from it to form a purge force, it would inevitably involve many people from other races... This might not be a problem for us, but within Sarkaz, if the Demon King uses outsiders to suppress other members, it could very well exacerbate the conflicts between them."

"Especially in certain special missions, assassinations are not uncommon, and the other party may very well spread the story that the Demon King distrusts the Sarkaz... This would further damage Theresa's reputation."

"Then let's establish a secret force."

Maria tilted her head, her gaze sharp.

Her thoughts have always been so direct.

Since this team cannot operate openly, they will have to operate underground.

Ultimately, Kazdel doesn't have much infiltration from other countries; its only adversary is the Kazdel Military Committee.

If they can deter the Kazdel Military Committee, then all problems will be solved.

The question is... will Theresa really make that choice?

You should know that this girl was a 'good girl' who was even willing to leave her own capital to avoid the civil war in Kazdel.

Although Maria found this act of kindness somewhat ridiculous, she couldn't deny that it was precisely because of this that so many people gathered around the girl...

"I'm not asking you to make a decision. In fact, what I'm giving you is just a suggestion, Theresa."

Seeing the girl's hesitant expression, Maria roughly understood her feelings. She turned her head again and softened her words, "I know you are kind, but I hope that in the future, your image in front of other Kazdel people shouldn't just be that of a little girl in a dress."

After she finished speaking, Maria fell completely silent.

Theresa was also deep in thought.

Despite all that talk, Maria's core principle boils down to just one thing.

Suppression...

Use overwhelming force to suppress the influence of the Kazdel Military Committee.

This is something they can actually do.

On the one hand, girls still have the greatest influence; on the other hand, although the Babel does not have as many members as the Royal Court, its high-level strength is not particularly inferior to that of the Military Committee.

In other words, Maria's plan for a dark force could potentially succeed.

Only...

Let's discuss this later.

Theresa spoke, it seemed she intended to temporarily set aside the issue at hand.

Neither of the two people in the room spoke; they simply displayed different expressions.

"Speaking of which, Kal'tsit, weren't you just going to take care of something? How come you're back so soon?"

Theresa spoke, her words tinged with doubt.

At this moment, Kal'tsit finally came to her senses and looked at Theresa with a serious expression.

"Rhodes Island ships..."

"Cleanup complete."

The three women quickly arrived inside the Rhodes Island ship.

To be honest, this isn't the first time Maria has visited Rhodes Island.

However, the viewing experience now is indeed quite different from before.

Most importantly, Rhodes Island is not yet populated by many people, and the entire environment has an eerie sense of silence.

The cold metal clings to the surroundings, and the faint dust in the air suggests that it was only recently cleaned up.

More importantly, while the machine as a whole has an ancient feel, its various components appear to be more than twice as advanced as those of modern times.

This surprised Maria.

Kal'tsit, at this moment, also appeared extremely hesitant.

She was unsure whether to continue leading the group forward.

This puzzled Theresa.

"What's wrong, Kal'tsit?"

"... No, it's nothing."

After much deliberation, Kal'tsit gritted her teeth and continued leading the group forward.

At this point, Theresa slowly began to explain the origins of the ship...

"This is the warship we unearthed in Rim Billiton... Isn't it amazing? While everyone else's warships still have many areas that need improvement, we've unearthed this even more advanced technology underground."

As Theresa spoke, her eyes narrowed with a smile.

Even she knew that this contained far too many secrets. The Terra people had developed for countless years to reach their current level of technology, but under Kal'tsit's leadership, they had actually unearthed a warship that had been buried underground for who knows how long, but whose technology clearly surpassed that of the present era.

If this gets out, who knows what kind of turmoil it will cause.

However, Theresa didn't specifically ask Kal'tsit about it; instead, she simply asked if the item was important.

After receiving a positive answer, she also went to great lengths to bring it back to Kazdel from Rim Billiton's territory and carried out a two-year cleanup.

Theresa could certainly sense the hesitation and entanglement Kal'tsit was displaying.

Clearly, even she was somewhat uncertain about this choice.

But Theresa's choice was simple.

She chose to believe Kal'tsit...

Although their initial meeting was complicated by various issues, as they spent more time together, Theresa gradually came to understand that Kal'tsit was not the kind of extreme hater who was targeting Kazdel.

She was simply being driven forward by her own mission.

That's why the two sides can still get together and communicate today.

Kal'tsit was also aware of the Babel's predicament.

Just six months ago, Kal'tsit, as if she had made up her mind, told Theresa something.

She knows someone... who might have a way to solve Kazdel's current predicament.

And that person...

"It's inside this ship."

Theresa continued forward, her eyes sparkling.

Maria followed behind the two, her expression somewhat puzzled.

According to them, the ship had been buried underground for an unknown number of years.

At this point, is it really possible to find any living people among those unearthed?

However, Maria didn't really know much about these things, so in the end she simply chose to remain silent and follow the crowd.

It's worth mentioning that, despite having just been cleared out, Kal'tsit moved around in various places as if she had lived there for many years.

As several still-operating machines performed their checks, Kal'tsit quickly opened a cold room for everyone...

"Tick-tock..."

Unlike other places where some yellow dust and dirt still remained, this place seemed to be sealed off, and everything around it was as clean as stars.

Each instrument remained precisely in its designated position, its screen still displaying certain data.

But these are not the most important things to worry about.

The most important thing to pay attention to is...

"These words..."