Yes, Madam Prime Minister

Page 542

Isabel joined in, using a local instrument, a hand drum she had never played before. While she wasn't exactly a master, she was certainly quite good at it. Although she wasn't a musician like Ambrina, her musical skills were certainly impressive.

As for the others, they could only be listeners, at most shaking the sand coffin like Alice.

Liz was a little disappointed; she could play the flute, but she didn't have one on hand.

Madam Zhao is also a musician, but her musical talents are completely out of place here.

Ronan caught a big fish, had Faith hold the fishing rod, and went into the water to catch it. Holding the fish, which was almost as big as him, he was about to shout a few words to show off when he noticed that someone was singing in front of him, so he could only wait quietly for the song to end.

Lu Jianling was closest to Ronan. She looked at Louise, who was already singing and dancing in front of her, and said, "This is perhaps what the ideal world should look like. What do you think?"

"

"It's too difficult," Ronan exclaimed.

Lu Jianling suddenly seemed to understand Dinia: "The place you can't reach is the place ahead."

“Ha.” Ronan couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s true.”

Chapter 1261 Clothing and Appearance, Popular Support, Let's Eat First and Talk Later

In August, Ronan, along with Lavana, Louise, and Liz, who had completed a new round of enhancements, entered the Rhine region of France and arrived at Cologne, one of its most important cities.

Cologne, a pivotal city on the Rhine River that runs north to south, is divided into east and west sections by the river.

This is a city with an extremely long history, dating back more than a thousand years to the expansionist period of the old empire. At that time, the emperor led his army north and built a military fortress here, confronting the barbarians across the river.

Located at the crossroads of north-south waterways and east-west thoroughfares, Cologne has experienced several periods of prosperity over the past millennium. Its last peak began two hundred years ago when Ronan, who held the title of Marquis of the Rhine, led his army to conquer the Rhine region. Subsequently, he established a coal and steel conglomerate on this land and vigorously developed industry, which led to Cologne's rapid development. This wave of prosperity has continued to this day.

At the head of a large bridge running east to west, there is a large statue of the Marquis of the Rhine, more than five meters tall, modeled after Ronan himself. It was erected by his son, Louis the Younger. Originally located in the square in front of the cathedral in the city center, Ronan later had the statue moved here.

There was no other way; Ronan still had some sense of shame.

Cologne is located at a high latitude. Although it is August, summer, it is not hot at all. The temperature is only 24 or 25 degrees Celsius during the day, and you can even wear a light jacket.

Ronan's attire was as usual: a clean-cut short haircut, a neatly shaved beard, a white shell-button shirt, tailor-made charcoal gray trousers that didn't require a belt, and brown calfskin shoes with rubber soles.

He walked casually down the street with his hands in his pockets.

Louise's pale blonde hair was parted in the middle and braided into a fishtail braid. She wore gold-rimmed diamond and ruby ​​earrings on both sides. She wore a beige long shirt with ruffles on the front and cuffs. She wore a beige long skirt without any trim. Her shoes were nude leather shoes with square toes and heels, revealing her insteps, ankles, and a small section of her calves covered by thin, non-transparent flesh-colored stockings with a silky texture.

She had already run to the front, far ahead of Ronan and the others. Despite being dark-skinned and white-haired, dressed in a way that didn't exude nobility, and bouncing around looking around without any manners, even chatting with vendors at a stall without buying anything, none of the slightly respectable pedestrians or small vendors thought she was a favored maid of a noble family. Instead, they somewhat doubted themselves and thought she was a rich young lady.

Liz looked much more elaborate. Her ginger-red hair was styled in a princess braid, which was a loose, coiled braid. This hairstyle was created by Ronan a long time ago for Ina, based on the hairstyle of a modern European princess in his original timeline who wore a small crown with a hair tie. Two hundred years later, this hairstyle had spread throughout the Western Continent and become popular among the common people.

She wore a white short-sleeved lace V-neck top, a high-waisted light pink chiffon long pleated skirt, and pink high heels with slightly pointed toes. The skirt was so long that only when she took a step could her instep be vaguely seen, along with a layer of milky white, slightly shiny, transparent silk stockings on her calves.

Liz's gait was reserved, so only Ronan, who was standing close by, could see her white stockings.

Although her expression and gait were reserved, her eyes were occasionally drawn to certain sights, and her gaze would linger there. This calm and tranquility revealed a hint of unnaturalness.

To some "old Cologne" residents, it was immediately obvious that she was a "newly rich." In Louise's words, she was just a country shepherdess who had spent a few years in aristocratic circles, putting on a show, but was actually still a country shepherdess who had never seen the world.

Of course, Ronan did not agree with Louise's statement that it was half a joke and half a genuine insult. Liz was not pretending to be anything. Firstly, she was genuinely quiet in real life, while her ferocity in battle was another matter. Secondly, she did not despise her background, but she was afraid of being seen as rude by others.

As for Lavana, she was dressed somewhat androgynously, wearing a custom-made, fitted white women's blouse that wouldn't constrict her chest, black tapered trousers with dark purple stripes, black stockings, and black high heels with red soles. Although her calves were muscular, they were rather shapely, and her ankles were quite slender for her height. With the embellishment of the stockings and high heels, you couldn't tell that she had any muscles at all, except that the trousers hugged her hips quite tightly, making them very noticeable.

She followed Ronan quietly, observing her surroundings—a professional habit she had developed as a servant to a noblewoman from the upper class of Ross.

After a while, the four of them got back together.

“This place doesn’t look like it’s teeming with rebels,” Liz said.

Louise laughed. "Do traitors wear that word on their faces?" "Fool." Liz muttered under her breath. "I mean, this isn't the city center yet, but people are coming and going. Putting aside the people's clothes and demeanor, the key thing is that they're neither lax nor in a hurry. This shows that the economic foundation here is very good, and the economy is even on the rise. There's no mass support here."

"You said it yourself, some people look really anxious, and who are these people? They're artificial superhumans. This group of people are severely oppressed and brainless," Louise began to refute. "Besides, the core of the rebels are those vampires here. Their ambitions and sense of face are not being satisfied, so naturally they want to rebel. They have both remnants of the local old aristocracy and hungry dogs from France."

According to Louise, an "old Parisian," anyone in the Rhine region who wanted to rebel, whether a local or a disillusioned Frenchman, was no good. The artificial superhumans, though pitiful, were also foolish.

If those in power want to rebel, all they need to do is incite these exploited but violent artificial superhumans, tell them that they were forced into this situation, and that it's all the fault of Paristo and his French lords, and then direct the blame at France. They'll instantly gain popular support.

When Ronan heard Louise unconsciously raising her voice, he reached out and pinched her waist, "Keep your voice down."

"Okay, okay." Louise calmed down. "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's find a restaurant to eat at first, and then go order some clothes." As a young lady, how can she not spend some money when she arrives in a new place, especially a big city?

The four of them went to a restaurant in the city center that was doing good business, but the decor was average. Such restaurants usually win customers with the taste of their food.

The first dish served was fish soup, but the fish was so mushy that I didn't really like it. Then, as an appetizer, sausages with cheese and bagels were served; the sausages were quite good.

Then came the main course, a classic German dish: roasted pork knuckle with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. This restaurant's roasted pork knuckle was special; unlike others, it was lightly boiled beforehand, giving it a slightly braised flavor, while the outside was drizzled with a rich, savory sauce that was also slightly sweet, sour, and a little spicy. The sauce was flavorful and cut through the richness, and with the sauerkraut, the whole pork knuckle wasn't greasy at all. And of course, the drink was beer. How could you come here and not try barley beer?

Next came a snack, deep-fried something similar to wontons, filled with beef.

Finally, we finished with a Black Forest cake.

Overall, the meal was pretty good; it had local flavor without anything particularly strange or unusual.

Chapter 1262 The Arctic: Real Combat – Still a Long Way Off

Ronan and the three of them weren't just there for a vacation; they were also there to cultivate themselves.

At night, he took the three of them to northern Greenland, which borders the Arctic Ocean and is an uninhabited area. Looking into the distance, they could see huge white ice sheets floating on the blue ice sea and glaciers in the distance.

In the hundreds of subsequent combat training sessions, Ronan will need to practice the technique of reversing soul transfer in high-intensity battles where he has almost no time to spare. Only the combined form of the three of them can put pressure on him in terms of raw power; no one else has that ability.

Lavana, Louise, and Liz have quite a few goals to practice. First, to further improve their combat power in actual combat. Second, to consolidate their ability to maintain their combined form. Third, to master the new combined form brought about by the new graft as soon as possible.

It was August, the height of summer, and the Arctic was experiencing polar day. While night had already fallen elsewhere, the sun had not yet set below the horizon here.

As far as the eye can see, there is a magnificent ice field tinged with gold and an endless expanse of azure ice sea.

The two sides stood several hundred meters apart.

Lavana, Louise, and Liz skillfully combined their powers, entering the Silverwing Pegasus Black Knight form.

On the other side, Ronan instantly got into character, his entire body enveloped in amber-gold armor, his middle foot standing on a huge floating kite-shaped shield, a small round shield attached to his left arm armor, and his right hand holding a huge longsword.

Without any unnecessary words, the battle began immediately.

The three combined knew that Ronan could attack at both close and long range, but Ronan's long-range attacks were ultimately limited to a single form and had a range of less than 100 meters. Therefore, Louise immediately unleashed an ice storm that rushed towards Ronan head-on, with countless ice spikes attacking Ronan like a dense rain of bullets.

Instantly unleashing a massive number of ice spikes? Of course not. A mage's battle begins before the battle even begins. Louise had already cast her spell long before she even took her position.

They didn't expect the dense barrage of ice spikes to cause any harm to Ronan; all they wanted was to slow down his movements and disrupt his senses.

In the ice storm, Ronan's vision was completely obscured by the white, and all he could sense were the fluctuations in energy brought by the ice spikes.

Meanwhile, thousands of slender, silvery creatures leaped and weaved through the ice storm, using it as cover to rapidly approach Ronan; these were arrows fired by Liz.

Originally, Liz could only fire red and black arrows, but now that they have merged, they no longer just share a base and fight independently as before. Instead, they are truly integrated, which allows the arrows that Liz can fire to have different properties and even be precisely manipulated.

The wide-ranging, all-encompassing attack, originating from both one person and multiple people, combines two elements that are impossible for an ordinary person to achieve, which can greatly disrupt Ronan's traction technique and leave him with no way to dodge.

The purpose of hitting Ronan was not to cause harm, but to lay the groundwork for the next step.

"Interesting, but do I really need to dodge an attack of this magnitude?" As soon as these words echoed in Ronan's mind, he had already disappeared.

To be precise, he was encased inside a giant, spiky, spherical tortoise shell. This spiky shell was made up of dozens of floating shields and dozens of longswords that fit together seamlessly, and it was spinning at high speed as it charged toward the Silverwing Pegasus Black Knight.

Along the way, all the ice spikes and ice arrows were shattered and deflected.

He didn't dodge, but he wouldn't stand there and take the beating either. Having been through countless battles, he saw through the fact that the three of them were planning to restrict him step by step.

"We have made progress, but we are still far from it."

Ronan thought to himself.

The ice storm did nothing to slow down the spiky, spinning tortoise shell, which was already in front of them in the blink of an eye.

The three acted decisively, their silver feathers spreading out to form rings that eventually formed a sphere that enveloped the knight. At the same time, rings of feathers rotated rapidly around the knight in the center, with adjacent rings rotating in opposite directions.

The next instant, the two spinning spheres collided, sparks flew everywhere, and violent waves were stirred up. The ice field below was constantly whipped up by the waves, and the sea not far away was no longer calm.

With both sides channeling their magic, the two spheres spun faster and faster. During the collisions, the spikes on Ronan's spiked sphere kept breaking off and growing back, while the feathers of the three were constantly being knocked away and replenished.

Broken rapiers and flying feathers rained down in all directions, as if the ice field and the sea were being bombarded relentlessly. The ice field shattered and the sea was filled with splashing waves.

"Idiot, this makes things really easy for me." With the two locked in a stalemate and very close to each other, Ronan easily used the scattered broken sword fragments to perform the Reverse Soul Transfer Technique.

The three souls, now merged together, began to encounter external forces of attraction from different directions.

If it were six months ago, this one move would have pulled the three of them apart from their combined state, but they are no longer the same as before.

But if this continues, it's only a matter of time before they break up.

This cannot continue; this is the consensus among the three.

Within the spherical space formed by the swirling feather rings, the horse's head opened its mouth, and a red dot appeared above its tongue. The red dot rapidly expanded, and in the blink of an eye, it had become a red sphere the size of a fist. Then, it unleashed a powerful beam of red light, shattering the feathers in front of it and striking the surface of the spinning, spiked sphere.

This is not an attack, but rather using the reaction force to instantly create distance.

Once they've created some distance, they'll complete their new combined form, making it much harder for Ronan to shake them.

Ronan, of course, gave them no chance to catch their breath, instantly bursting out of the tortoise shell and giving chase.

The three continuously unleashed magical attacks while preparing for close-quarters combat.

But the three of them did not expect that the broken sword, which had been sent flying far behind them by the collision and plunged into the ice field a long time ago, would suddenly attack from behind.

Caught off guard, the golden eagle decoration on the top of the Black Knight's golden helmet was struck by a fragment of the broken sword, which was actually Louise.

The physical damage wasn't the main issue, but the blow severely disrupted Louise's connection with the other two.

With Louise unable to function properly, they were unable to unleash a barrage of precise and cunning elemental magic attacks. Ronan, like a demon emerging from the smoke, instantly broke through the overwhelming barrage and went straight for the already shaken Louise.

Lavana used her feathers to protect Louise, and Liz swung her axe at Ronan. However, at the moment of contact, Ronan transformed into a sword and plunged directly into Liz's chest.

Liz's entire soul was firmly pinned down.

The next instant, Ronan appeared, grabbed the horse's head with one hand, kicked hard with his foot, and with the other hand, he swung the sword stuck in Liz's chest, tearing her off the black horse alive.

In the blink of an eye, the three disintegrated. Liz, who fell onto the ice field, transformed from the Black Knight back into her original form, while the Golden Helmet also transformed into Louise the moment it hit the ground.

Ronan paused in mid-air, looked at the three of them, and twirled his sword. "You were fooled by the most basic feint. Sigh."

Liz clutched her chest and shakily got up. "Again."

Ronan waved his hand, "Save your breath. You've got a hole in your chest, at least rest for a while before talking."

Louise came over and helped Liz up. "Can't we just complete the transformation?"

"What do you think?" Ronan countered.

Chapter 1263 Training Progress, Wieland, Hospitality

Ronan planned to spend the next month with the three of them in the Arctic for a live-fire training exercise every two days.

The second time, the three thought Ronan had been serious the first time, but little did they know that Ronan had gone easy on them the first time.

The third time, they thought they had learned their lesson enough, but little did they know that although Ronan didn't hold back the second time, he wasn't exactly serious either, and they were thoroughly defeated.

On the fifth attempt, the three of them were finally able to prevent Ronan from easily breaking their fusion and create a gap long enough for them to enter the second stage of their fusion state.

The tenth time, again a month later, in mid-September, they finally didn't lose again. They fought for half an hour on the Arctic ice glacier with Ronan, who was in full form and almost unrecognizable, and the match ended in a draw.

At this point, they had progressed to the point where they could serve as Ronan's whetstone.

Later on, Ronan could start using them to improve his skills in using the Reverse Soul Transfer Technique in high-intensity battles, while the only thing the three of them could improve was their pure combat power.

During this month, aside from training, they didn't do much sightseeing. After all, except for the first time, every combat exercise left them covered in injuries. By the next morning, the three of them would be practically wrapped up like dumplings, lying paralyzed in bed, needing assistance to walk, and unable to hold knives and forks properly. On the third day, their injuries had healed, and they had no desire to play outside. They mostly stayed in the house discussing and summarizing the reasons for the previous failure and planning for the next exercise.

So, during this month, Ronan and his three companions simply traveled from the Rhine region, through Belgium, then to the Netherlands, and finally set sail from the Netherlands.

The four are currently at sea and will soon arrive at Wieland Island. Their next stop is Leeds' hometown.

Liz's father undoubtedly has connections with the French company G&A; a visit might be worthwhile, as it could be fruitful.

In mid-September, Ronan and his entourage landed in Weyland.

As the "Britain" of this world, Wieland is very different from the UK. First of all, it is a complete island and some surrounding smaller islands, rather than two large islands and a bunch of small islands.

Wieland is larger than "Britain," a whole size bigger, and has much better natural conditions.

But the feuds and grudges that took place on this island nation of Wieland, which consists of a large island, are no less intense than the messy affairs between England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Even worse than Britain, this island has long been home to four kingdoms. It was once a united kingdom of four nations, but now that it is a republic, the rifts have not been healed; instead, they are constantly deepening.

In this country, although all ethnic groups are nominally equal, in reality, the ethnic group with the medium number of members is first-class, the ethnic group with the smallest number of members is second-class, and the ethnic group with the largest number of members is third-class.

In other words, Wieland's power was still rising, and its colonies were continuing to expand. Even with France blocking its way, its development momentum remained strong. Once this momentum stopped...

Therefore, reverting to a united kingdom would be an ideal outcome, while a less ideal outcome would be to break it into several independent countries.

The red-haired Liz are the third largest race on the island, and also the oldest, with the longest-standing indigenous population. The largest group are descendants of the Venaians who migrated here over a thousand years ago during the height of the old empire. A smaller group consists of descendants of those who flooded into the country eight hundred years ago during the "Great Pirate Era," pillaging and plundering.

Because the Liz group was small in number and maintained their original beliefs, they, like other indigenous people around the world, benefited from the wave of "direct conversion to first-order uprights" back then, becoming the nation's source of extraordinary soldiers.

Not only externally, but also internally.