Yes, Madam Prime Minister

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What he was really worried about was that Mayor Ronan would have another chance to show his face and then take the opportunity to cause trouble. After all, the mayor was nominally the highest-ranking official in the southern district. He, the Baron of Haijin, was different from the city lords of the other fifteen city states. They were the real city lords, nominally the boss and actually the boss, while he was actually the boss, but nominally only the second-in-command.

“Pink, you, no, I’ll go myself.” Baron Gates had intended to send his butler to stop the Lovacs from crossing the river to cause trouble in the South District, but he changed his mind as soon as he started speaking. He wanted to go himself and make sure everything went smoothly.

At the same time, on the other side, Dinia and her group, along with Ronan and Ambrina, were having breakfast.

After they finished eating, Dinia called Ronan aside.

“Let’s go, Mayor,” Dinia said.

Ronan didn't speak, he just nodded.

Needless to say, we went to the place where Baron Gates went.

Soon after, Ronan and Dinia arrived at the bridgehead, where Baron Gates had just met with the centurion.

The centurion and his guards were not wearing armor, but rather carrying short swords and bows and arrows. He himself wore a silk robe that was not brightly colored but was very well-tailored. His hair and beard were neatly combed, and his face showed no sign of menace. If it weren't for his tall and strong physique and large hands, no one would have thought he was an officer.

He wasn't actually from Lovac, but from Dante.

The Lovac Empire had three major ethnic groups. The first was the Lovac people, a nomadic people from the steppes. They were short and stocky, skilled in horse archery, and had lightly armed horse archers. They also knew how to perform wall charges and had a considerable number of heavily armed cavalry. The tribe also had many mages who used summoning magic, and it could be said that their military might was overwhelming for a time.

Secondly, there are the Dante people. Hundreds of years ago, the Dante people were a small tribe that served as mercenaries for the powerful Seri Empire at its peak. They gradually rose to prominence through this. After the collapse of the Seri Empire, they occupied the north. They were not nomadic, but rather semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral, with agriculture even accounting for a larger proportion. They had long been corrupt and decadent, and had lost their fighting power.

Even after being conquered by the Lovacs, they remained the most populous ethnic group within the empire.

Thirdly, there were the Larkin people from the harsh northern lands, a fishing and hunting people who were skilled in combat, but had the smallest population and were considered the lowest class in the Lovač Empire.

"Who are these two?" The centurion turned his gaze to Ronan and Dinia.

Baron Gates turned around and saw Ronan and Dinia, the last people he wanted to see at that moment.

There was no reason for these two to receive the news faster than him, yet they arrived only a step later. Everything was already self-evident: they were the ones who killed the centurion.

It seems he underestimated these two; before he could even make a move, they delivered another blow to his head.

“I am the princess who is about to marry into the empire,” Dinia introduced herself, adding, “We rushed here after receiving a message from the Baron.”

"Mayor of the Southern District," Ronan's introduction was even more brief.

Baron Gates cursed Dinya in his heart for lying through his teeth, but he still nodded to the centurion. If he didn't admit that Dinya had come after receiving his message, it would be telling the centurion that there was something wrong with the princess, which would be tantamount to tearing off the mask on the spot.

The centurion was curious about the two, but he didn't talk to them. He could tell that the relationship between Baron Gate, the princess, and the mayor was somewhat delicate. But he was here to extort money, and Baron Gate was the only baron in the world. He had no interest in a princess who would leave soon, or a mayor who was destined to become a human stamp.

The matter was quickly resolved; Baron Gate promised two thousand gold coins, and the centurion led his men back to the North District.

“Her Highness’s information network is far too extensive,” said Baron Gate.

Dinia feigned fear and took a half-step back. "Sigh, it's all because I'm so scared that I'm so concerned about things related to public safety. If I had someone protecting me, I definitely wouldn't care about this kind of thing anymore." The subtext was clear: if you don't pay me, I'll cause trouble and make you pay to settle things.

"Excuse me, I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now." With that, Baron Gates departed.

After Baron Gates had walked away, Dinia shook her head and said to Ronan, "He's nowhere near as good as you."

"What does this have to do with me?" Ronan said innocently.

“He only knows how to make money, and he’s reluctant to spend it,” Dinia said. “You’re different. You make money, but you don’t care about it. You use money to make as many people as possible your friends.”

“He’s giving you money, that’s aiding the enemy. You’re someone who’s going to disrupt the order.” Ronan said casually, because although he said it, he didn’t really mean it.

“If he gets the money spent right, the new order will still be in his hands,” Dinia said.

That's exactly how Ronan treated her in Xinhai City. She wanted to innovate, and Ronan supported her innovation, providing money, effort, and manpower. But after the innovation was completed, she realized that everything in Xinhai City, from people to industries, had fallen into Ronan's control.

If we use Ronan's analogy of innovation as slaying dragons, then Ronan himself is a dragon skilled at slaying dragons.

Dinia had long had this idea in her mind, but at this moment she truly made it firm and clear: she wanted to be a dragon knight who could ride evil dragons.

Chapter 231: Focusing on the Key Points, Addressing Misunderstandings, and Doing What You Want

That night, Ronan lay alone in a chair in his room, staring blankly at the ceiling.

In the past two days, with his extended contact with Dinya, more fragmented memories have surfaced in his mind.

The images revealed by the fragments of memory told him that the two of them were not simply boss and subordinate; they were very close friends, the kind of people who would drink together alone late at night.

This seems to explain why Dinya understands him so well, cares about him so much, and always finds a way to tease him.

"We need to have a serious talk," Ronan muttered, standing up.

Previously, when the fragmented memories showed that they were in a superior-subordinate relationship, Ronan only viewed it as a performance, but now it's different.

Ronan left the room and knocked on Dinia's door.

Dinia quickly came out to open the door. She was wearing only a silk nightgown underneath and a long trench coat over it. As she walked over, her large breasts, which were not tightly bound, trembled several times. The sheer flesh-colored stockings on her legs were hastily put on, and the wrinkles were not smoothed out. She wore a pair of soft sheepskin flat shoes, one on the left and the back of the right shoe was crushed, revealing the smooth, white heel covered by the stockings.

"Are you asleep?" Ronan asked.

“I’m going to sleep, and I’m even sleeping with your princess in my arms,” Dinia said deliberately.

Ronan remained silent. "I have something important to tell you."

Dinya lifted her right leg, leaned slightly forward, and slipped her fingers into her shoe to put it on. For a fleeting moment, Ronan caught a glimpse of the deep cleavage beneath her chest during that movement.

“This isn’t like you,” Ronan said. From their interactions over the past few days, Dinya wasn’t the type of woman who would seduce men.

"Ha, you think I wanted to? You filthy thing," Dinia said angrily. Heaven knows how long she practiced that move and how many psychological barriers she overcame.

Soon, Ronan and Dinia arrived at a deserted ditch.

“Ever since I met you, some strange fragments of memory have appeared in my head.” Ronan didn’t want to beat around the bush and went straight to the point. “I think you should know why.”

Dinia was taken aback at first, somewhat surprised, but quickly calmed down. Indeed, she had completely suppressed the trial's alteration of her memories with the power of the Primal, and Ronan also possessed the power of the Primal, so it wasn't particularly unusual that he was able to regain his memories.

“This matter cannot be explained in a few words,” Dinia said. “I can only get to the point.”

“Very good.” Ronan didn’t like listening to nonsense either.

"Simply put, you and I are friends, and we are undergoing a trial. We are currently in a dream world generated based on some of your thoughts. This trial will temporarily seal your original memories, preserve your personality and abilities, and then give you memories of this world. For some reason, I did not lose my memory; on the contrary, my memories of this world are fragmented."

"You have amnesia, but you are gradually regaining your memories."

"To pass this trial, two conditions must be met. First, we must be together. Second, you must believe that this world is a dream."

Dinia reiterated what she considered to be the key points.

Ronan was initially skeptical, but asking and analyzing each point was too troublesome, so he asked a question instead, "Since you say we're friends, then tell me, what's my favorite thing?"

Dinya didn't answer immediately, not because she didn't know, but because she found it a little difficult to say. After taking a deep breath, Dinya gave her answer, "Legs, legs in stockings."

Ronan was completely embarrassed, covering his face and rubbing his forehead, speechless. After a long while, he finally sighed, "It seems we really are friends."

Dinia clenched her fist and refrained from making a move.

"Let's get back to the main topic. How did we arrive at these two conditions?" Ronan quickly switched back to the main point; he sensed a murderous aura emanating from this woman.

Dinia loosened her clenched fist. "Before us, there was a couple who took the trial. They failed, and after their failure, they stated these two conditions."

Ronan pondered for a long time. "If this is true, under normal circumstances, this trial would be impossible to succeed, because if the memory is sealed, it would be impossible to realize that one is in a dream."

Dinia didn't reply; she thought so too, as it was impossible to successfully meet those two conditions under normal circumstances.

“To ask another question, why are we undergoing such a trial?” Ronan asked.

“That involves a lot of things,” Dinia began her story. “When we first met, I had a good impression of you, but I quickly realized that you were just a bureaucrat…”

To talk about this ruin, we have to start from when the two of them entered the ruins of the Heidi people together, and from the gardener Tyr's botanical garden, all the way to the New World. Dinia talked for almost an hour, with Ronan asking questions from time to time, and finally they managed to understand the general series of complicated things.

"According to you, this is a trial prepared for the successor, but it is obvious that the natives of the New World are simply unable to complete this trial and inherit something or some power left here, which is very unreasonable."

"To say that this inheritance is specifically reserved for those who possess the power of the original species is definitely not correct, because according to what you mentioned about Gardener Tyr, the original species was stolen by an artificial human, and this relic should be a product of the same period as the high-tech buildings of the early Heidi civilization."

"I think this ruin must have been created by an artificial life form similar to the gardener Tyr, and left to its descendants."

"But according to you, the Western Continent has the Haidi people, but the New Continent only has natives and no descendants of some ancient civilization. This is very strange."

Ronan kept asking new questions, and Dinia was getting confused by them.

Somewhat impatient, Dinia stood up and paced back and forth. "What exactly are you trying to say with all this talk?"

Seeing Dinia so anxious she wanted to hit someone, Ronan stopped analyzing and said directly, "What I mean is, the two people before us, like us, were not originally qualified to take this trial. The so-called conditions for passing the trial may have been misunderstood by them. Moreover, it is unreasonable to tell you how to pass after failing."

"For example, if I design a test, and the first group of people fail, and then I tell them how to succeed after they fail, wouldn't I be crazy? Wouldn't that be like revealing the test information?"

"If I were the designer, I would say this after their failure: It's very regrettable that although you successfully got together, you failed to wake up from this illusion and failed the trial."

Ronan's words made Dinya suddenly realize the truth.

At this moment, she had to admit that even Ronan, who was "amnesiac," was still better than her at analyzing problems.

"So how exactly can we get through this?" Dinia asked, feeling as if she had returned to two years ago, hoping Ronan could give her an answer.

“I don’t know,” Ronan replied, “because we are not qualified for this trial either, and we don’t have the complete and correct mechanism to trigger it.”

“In that case, let’s just do what we want to do,” Ronan added.

"..."

Chapter 232 Adding Sand, More of It, We've Got Met the Bullets

Ignoring Dinya's reaction, Ronan continued, "You know what? I have a dream, which is to become the county party secretary, oh no, the mayor, a good mayor who benefits the people." Ronan said this, almost uttering the word "secretary," which Dinya definitely wouldn't understand.

Dinia was both amused and exasperated. What was a mayor anyway? Was Ronan's dream really that small?

Of course, she didn't know that Ronan was talking about his dream when he was still a successor to socialism. For him, without any powerful connections, becoming the top leader of a small county was an unattainable dream.

“You’re already the mayor of this world,” Dinia said.

"But in this world, I don't seem to want to be a good mayor; I just want to make money and have fun," Ronan lamented.

Dao Le? Dinia couldn't understand it again.

“It’s all about money,” Ronan explained. “Anyway, whether what you just said is true or false, I only want to do one thing right now: be a good mayor.” With that, Ronan extended his hand.

Dinia reached out and shook Ronan's hand. "Let's make this clear, this time it's for real."

“Of course, aren’t I in cahoots with you, bandit?” Ronan said with a smile.

Dinia wanted to refute, but didn't. She, a heroine of the kingdom, had become a female bandit in this world. But for some reason, she didn't feel any aversion to it. On the contrary, she seemed to enjoy being a female bandit.

"Anyway, from now on, we're friends again," Ronan said. "By the way, do you think we're together now?"

“I guess so,” Dignani replied.

Ronan nodded. "Let's go back. I reckon the Baron will give us a surprise tomorrow."

"Hmm?" Dinia asked, puzzled.

"As long as he's not completely stupid, the money and the man will arrive tomorrow." Ronan said this and left.

The next day, Ronan's words proved true.

Corini, another confidant of Baron Gates, a handsome young man with a center-parted hairstyle, arrived at the mayor's residence with three large carts of gold and a group of people.

The money, of course, was the ten thousand gold coins that had been promised before.

There were twenty or thirty people, all of whom were said to come from respectable families, had some physical strength, but lived very hard lives. These were the kinds of people Ronan and Dinia wanted to recruit.

But are these people really reliable? Even Agustina from this world knows that there is definitely a traitor among them. Baron Gates' business is so big, it would be easy for him to coerce a few workers to work for him.

In short, Baron Gates's scheme of adding sand to the mix has failed.

Elena and Alice kept giving Ronan and Dinia meaningful glances, implying that this man was not a good candidate.

Ronan didn't react; he just looked at Dinia.

Dinia simply smiled slightly. "Alright, please thank Baron Gate for my kindness." She had no objections whatsoever and accepted it without question.

Collini bowed respectfully. "The money is for you two men. As for the men, I'll arrange for them to stay. They're at your service at any time." With that, Collini left.

Back at the mayor's residence, a group of people gathered to discuss the matter.

“Mayor, there’s definitely someone involved. At least seven or eight people are problematic,” Alice said. “These people will definitely do things that damage our image under our name.”

Neither Dinia nor Ronan spoke; they were all too familiar with this kind of flag-raising and flag-reversing behavior.

Ronan has done this kind of thing quite a lot, and Dinya has seen Ronan do it quite a lot.

“Ha, in my years of experience, this isn’t just mixing sand into grain, it’s clearly mixing grain into sand,” Yvette said. In her old bandit’s opinion, eight out of ten of these workers were unreliable. If you were to rely on these people to act on behalf of God, it would probably be a matter of days before the entire city’s citizens united to act on behalf of God.

“We’ll just ignore these people and hire our own,” Agustina said. “That dog-like baron will be exposed sooner or later.”

“But even if we recruit people ourselves, can we guarantee their reliability?” Ambrina said. She wasn’t completely ignorant; she knew that Ronan had joined forces with this real bandit and fake princess to seize power. She wasn’t stupid either; she understood Baron Gate’s control over Haijin City.

There are only two types of people available for recruitment in Haijin City: those who have already become baron's dogs and have dog food to eat, and those who want to be dogs but cannot.

Dinia turned around from her closed-eye contemplation and opened her eyes. "The maid is right. No matter who we recruit, they will infiltrate the Baron's ranks. After all, apart from a few of us, anyone in the entire Haijin City can become his man at any time."

After saying that, Dinia looked at Ronan.