The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

"You really are as adept as ever at using such plans—the rise of Kester was precisely because Father followed your plan, ultimately stepping over the corpse of the previous border duke to establish the present Kester Territory."

"Now, you have come here again, bringing me the same plan once more—I too will step over the corpse of the Duke of Scafford and lead Castle into an even more glorious era!"

Ok?

Qiao Yelan's expression hardened.

Damn it, Qiao Yelan! What exactly did you record?

What is this all about now?

"...Which incident involving your father did you mention? What kind of plan did I prepare for your father at that time?"

"Ah, indeed, you've probably forgotten as well."

The Duke of Caesar picked up his teacup and took a sip of the now-cold tea to calm his burning heart.

"At the beginning of this century, Colombia was still a colony of Victoria. When those Colombians rose up against Victoria's rule and defeated the army of the then-Border Lord in the field, they eventually gained complete independence."

“My father seized this opportunity, annexed the border dukedom, and in negotiations with Colombia, the two sides secretly finalized the border line. The Caste family sent troops to ‘reclaim’ some territory, thus laying the foundation for the current situation.”

Qiao Yelan remained silent for a while.

"Didn't Emperor Victoria and Parliament send troops at that time?"

"So this is your plan? They don't want to fight on two fronts—the Gauls' emperor was waging war against Victoria at that time."

...That's something I'm capable of doing.

Chapter 110 Qiao Yelan Doesn't Believe in Coincidences

The situation described by the Duke of Caesars is indeed consistent with Qiao Yelan's methods.

You have the right to choose, but I decide the options.

However, what puzzled Qiao Yelan was not how this situation came about, after all, he was not without an alias in Gaul—if Vladimir hadn't been involved in the situation himself, he probably would have discovered that his life trajectory was almost exactly the same as that of Corsica I.

In the eyes of other countries, Gaul was a "sudden rise," and Corsica I was a figure who appeared out of nowhere, possessing almost unparalleled military prowess.

In reality, this was simply because Victoria was already corrupt and decadent, the Duke of Gaudottin was incapable of fulfilling his duties, and Iberia had no interest in developing the land and focused all its energy on the sea. Therefore, Babel needed a regional continental power to emerge in the Krasde Inland Sea region to stabilize the situation in the region and connect with Sargon to the south.

Unfortunately, out-of-control ambition destroyed everything – Corsica I ultimately abandoned the responsibilities entrusted to him and turned his attention to Letania in the north.

—Laytania, which was studying the subspace rift in the Vidunia region at the time.

Then there is no more then.

Qiao Yelan wasn't concerned about Gaul, but rather—Colombia.

"So, do you know who was in charge of facilitating communication between your father and the Colombian side back then?"

The Duke of Caesar gave him a surprised look.

"Who else could it be but you?"

Indeed, who else could it be but himself?

However, once those words were spoken, things got interesting—

Because Colombia has the smallest representation in the current archives of the Tower of Babel, and it is also the region with the sparsest network of relationships within the Tower of Babel.

Even in countries as small as Sami, Babel established numerous observation posts; and even in countries as isolated as Sherag, Babel maintained deep trade ties with the Shiva'ish, one of the three great families.

Only in Colombia, where Babel has retained very few means of control.

The only arrangement comes from Syracuse, which we discussed earlier. Babel funded a family named Texas to set foot in Colombia and recently planned to fund another family named Rossetti to expand their influence.

This was already somewhat unusual—you see, compared to western Colombia, Bolivar, located at the westernmost point of the continent, was simultaneously funding both the National Guard under the "democratic government" and the resistance organization [the real Bolivarians], making money from both sides and having connections everywhere.

Babel's penetration into Colombia seems to be less than its penetration into Sherrag.

If this is because Colombia is a relatively young nation and the focus of the Tower of Babel's work has never been there, then what the Duke of Custer said today undoubtedly refutes that fact.

"So, can I assume that you agree to this condition?"

"—Can't you stay here for a few more months?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

"It's alright, at least we still have tonight."

Qiao Yelan: ?

"Just kidding... I couldn't keep you back then, and I didn't have the courage to stay by your side. Now, it's even more impossible."

She touched her face with a hint of sadness.

Beneath the exquisite makeup were deep wrinkles, and the white strands of hair, adorned with elaborate headdresses, were clearly visible.

A lie that can't fool yourself only adds to your sorrow.

The woman looked at Qiao Yelan, who was even younger than he had been back then.

"Immortality...how terrifying is that, teacher?"

Qiao Yelan remained silent.

“I lied. It wasn’t that you refused to give me the secret to immortality back then, but rather—I was afraid.”

"Whether it's losing your memory and dying and coming back to life again and again, or carrying your memories and wearily walking towards an endless future, it's all too frightening."

The Duke of Caesar sighed softly.

“You told me the story of the devil—do you remember the last words spoken by the immortal who made a deal with the devil?”

"Time, please stand still in this moment."

Qiao Yelan said softly.

“I don’t know why you’re living such a painful life, but I know it must be something very important—I will help you, teacher.”

"......Thanks."

--------------------------------------------------

“PRTS, list the range of my activities over the past two hundred years.”

Qiao Yelan raised a question that she had previously overlooked, but realized after talking with Kester.

How long should he sleep? And how long can he move around after waking up?

The record is displayed on the screen.

The time spans are roughly the same; their active period is around 15 years, while their dormant period is five years.

I woke up earlier this time. If I had slept a little longer, according to the stone coffin, my age would have been reversed, and I would have been in the golden stage of life, around 20 to 35 years old.

It's a bit strange.

As a PhD in biology, he certainly knew that twenty years old was indeed the time when physical development was complete, so choosing this point was not wrong.

The problem is, what he needs is not a mature body, but an active mind.

If Qiao Yelan himself had chosen this age range, it would be 25-40 years old. A fast and active mind is what he needs; as for the body...

He didn't think there was anything wrong with sitting in a wheelchair.

However, this actually confirmed his earlier guess—

The person who digs a hole for themselves is very likely not just their previous self.

The Duke of Caesar has already proven this point—the time she spent with him, the period when he was her teacher, was more than twenty years ago.

This is even more troublesome.

He sighed.

This means that PRTS may have betrayed them earlier, and that they discovered the signs much earlier and had already started digging a hole for their future selves.

"Pull up the catalog and access all files related to Colombia."

A long list of directory searches popped up in front of Qiao Yelan's eyes.

"Only list the activities that Babel has carried out and is currently carrying out in Colombia."

The table of contents instantly shrunk to a tiny section.

Qiao Yelan stared silently at the subheadings in the table of contents.

Sponsorship Records of Independent Resistance Organizations

Columbia Special/Grace Student Aid Program

Columbia Research Foundation Program

Family Pioneering and Penetration Plan

Supplement to the Family Pioneering and Penetration Plan

That's all.

This is quite unusual given Qiao Yelan's style and Babel Tower's consistent behavior.

Colombia's rise in recent years has been particularly remarkable—in just sixty years, from technology and education to industry, its economy and national strength have caught up with those of top-tier Terran nations.

Meanwhile, the enemy even managed to invade Bolívar, destroying the Singas dynasty, which had been a colony of Letania, and installing a puppet democratic government as its source of raw materials and dumping ground for its products.