The doctor suffers from amnesia, but not complete amnesia.

Chapter Fifty-One: The Ultimate "Businessman"

“I didn’t expect you to reappear in front of me under the name Kosiché—but seeing you now, I think I understand some things.”

Nikolai's eyes held a hint of expectation.

“I am different from Koschei. I am not some Ursus immortal. Ursus is already lucky to have Koschei. Do you really expect a [Sadeco] to appear?”

Qiao Yelan bluntly interrupted Nikolai's fantasy.

"That's true..."

The old man hesitated for a moment, then spoke again.

"So, what brings you back to Saint Eagle Castle this time?"

“I am a businessman, and I have come back for new deals, of course. Vladimir broke the contract, and I will not sign a new one with him, so I will wait until he dies before I come to find new traders.”

Although Qiao Yelan addressed the late emperor by his given name, Nikolai did not react at all, because he had seen this scene countless times with his elder brother.

"Is the new trader... Fyodor?"

“It could be him, it could be you, or it could be Islam Witt.”

The name made Nikolai's face darken, but in the end, he could only feel helpless.

"Do you think highly of him?"

"Of course, I have never seen anyone who can so easily switch between two hostile forces, and even have people from both forces willing to discuss important matters with him."

This is what the man who repeatedly navigated between the countless factions of Terra said.

"That opportunist... he completely betrayed the person who promoted him!"

"So I will be more careful in advance—a prepared betrayal is far better than a betrayal I can't even imagine."

Nikolai sighed again.

He couldn't quite understand Qiao Yelan's purpose—all of Qiao Yelan's methods were helping Ursus embark on a promising and bright future, but when this path reached a critical juncture, Qiao Yelan casually abandoned Ursus, leaving the entire country to fall apart.

"His Majesty told me all this, but I don't understand. Just because the Imperial Guard is being recalled, does that mean you'll watch your decades of hard work go to waste?"

Is it possible that my decades of hard work were all for that one [interior defense]?

Qiao Yelan's words startled Nikolai.

"This, this is impossible! Compared to an internal guard, the Ursus Empire is undoubtedly more important—and my brother is only being recalled temporarily as an emergency measure; once the Ursus War is over, he will be sent back to the Northern Territory!"

He subconsciously raised his voice, but this behavior revealed his lack of confidence.

"To answer your first question: Ursus is not as important to me as the [Inner Guard] that was created. Because it means that I have found the right path - that humanity can fight demons by using demons themselves, instead of having to use the equally dangerous Originium."

"As for your second question, that unit can't be sent back—the reason is very simple: once you've tried hunting with a gun, would you really want to go back to using a spear?"

Qiao Yelan's face was icy cold, and for the first time, genuine anger appeared in his tone.

"The Inner Guard is a symbol of humanity's mastery of demonic power, but this power must never be used for human-versus-human combat, because that would be tantamount to using demons to slaughter humanity!"

"Not to mention that bullshit 'Kingdom' they invented! The essence of that move is to overlap the imaginary space where demons exist with Terra, which is why using Kingdom multiple times will destroy all living things on it!"

"Every time the inner guards use that move, it means this land is taking one more step towards its destruction!"

He slammed his hand heavily on the table.

“I have repeatedly ordered him that, apart from patrolling in the far north, no one in the Imperial Guard should be used for his war campaigns—since he has chosen to obey his desires, why should I care about the country he loves?”

Nikolai looked at the angry man in front of him with cold hands and feet. It was the first time he had seen the man so out of control. Clearly, the late emperor no longer held any affection for him.

"Why did it come to this... His Majesty... He regrets it deeply. He has told me more than once that he wants to apologize to you."

All the glory and fame seemed to have faded away from this study; sitting here was simply an old man who liked to reminisce about the past.

“I know, but betrayal only happens zero times or countless times. I have no interest in bearing the consequences again, so I never intended to come back while he was still alive.”

The old man gave a bitter smile, knowing that everything was beyond repair.

"Since you enjoy reminiscing about the past so much, why don't we chat about it? Ursus has changed a lot in the years I've been away—almost like when I first came to Ursus."

Qiao Yelan leaned back in her wheelchair, quietly waiting for Nikolai to sort out his thoughts.

“I am not Vladimir, and no one in this world can replace him. I am just a bad paperhanger—so I can only do what I can to save my country.”

Nikolai did not deny Qiao Yelan's words. He knew very well that lying to this man was pointless.

"After Vladimir fell, Ursus was shaken to its core, and the Sixth Army rose up and besieged Fort Saint Eagle—but their demand was not to change the emperor, but to force the new emperor to continue the plan to destroy the nobility."

"But they didn't understand that Ursus was no longer qualified to launch the plan at that time—the young people who were originally expected to succeed had all fallen in the Eastern Kingdom, their blood soaked the mountain peak, and the future of the empire was overdrawn in a foreign land."

Nikolai Romanov saw clearly the desperate situation facing Ursus: the empire simply did not have enough middle and lower-ranking officials to replace these nobles, and a forced purge would only lead to greater disaster.

All the nobles would rise up in rebellion, and most of these guys were scoundrels with no moral compass; they wouldn't even mind bringing in forces from other countries to fight this civil war.

At that time, the entire Ursus will be torn to pieces by countless armies led by countless ideologies, and the surrounding countries will unhesitatingly bare their fangs and tear apart the fallen giant bear.

Those who remain loyal to Ursus, however, must fight a civil war in which no one is spared, due to their differing beliefs.

Now we're fast forward to the whole of Ursus playing PUBG.

Therefore, this former closest member of Vladimir's royal family and the most loyal marshal under the emperor stood before the Sixth Army, which had launched a rebellion. While holding the fortress of the Holy Eagle, he mobilized the two armies under his command on the Kazimir front to return to defend the emperor.

Thus, soldiers carrying ideals and soldiers carrying loyalty fought each other on the battlefield, unaware that the bearer of these ideals and loyalty was the same person.

This is the greatest tragedy for a nation.

Everything that happened afterward was recorded in the history book inside the Tower of Babel.

The sixth episode, which launched the rebellion, was completely destroyed in this civil war, while the second and seventh episodes, which served to support the king, also suffered heavy losses.

Adding to that the First Army Group, which was almost completely wiped out in the Battle of Blood Peak, all four army groups loyal to the emperor fell in the flames of war.

So, what will the nobles do when they discover that the late emperor is dead and realize that the strength of their own army has surpassed that of the royal family?

“I can’t think of any other way to save it—Nikolai Romanov must, as the leader of the opposition, unite those nobles who should have been swept into the dustbin of history and confront His Majesty the Emperor head-on, because only in this way can those nobles temporarily give up those ideas.”

The old man spoke calmly about his thoughts, but the despair and torment hidden beneath that calm were unmistakably conveyed to the audience.

Could you ask him a question for me?

"Ask him yourself."

Qiao Yelan stretched out his arm, and under Nikolai's surprised gaze, a black aura rolled out.

Kosiché outlined her own image with black mist and stared at Nikolai. She had always had a question: why had things come to this?

"Grand Duke Kosicche has come too."

Yes, while I don't really care who sits on the emperor's throne, Vladimir is indeed the best emperor I've seen in over a thousand years—so how could Ursus have collapsed to this state in such a short time?

"I cannot answer this question. I am just a soldier. How to govern and manage the country is all up to my elder brother."

Nikolai answered very decisively.

"Actually, this has been my question all along. The empire had always been thriving and had won every war against foreign powers. Although the war with the Eastern Kingdom caused heavy losses to the empire, it did not suffer a true defeat."

“Ursus is vast and has sufficient capacity to sustain itself. We can wait for a new generation of young people to grow up, and the serf reform is proceeding step by step—but why did my brother become utterly desperate after the Battle of Bloodpeak?”

Nicholas remembered that before the war broke out, the late emperor, although ill, was in excellent spirits, and the doctors said he was fine.

But when the news came back that the Great Yan army was pressing in and the war situation could no longer be reversed, the emperor summoned him immediately. He was already emaciated and extremely haggard, and his condition was deteriorating day by day.

“He said to me, ‘Nikola, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have done it, I shouldn’t have recalled the internal guards, I shouldn’t have taken such a desperate gamble…’”

The old man turned his gaze back to Qiao Yelan.

“I think that in this world, only you can understand what His Majesty is saying and can explain the reason for the rapid collapse of the empire.”

"Of course, because this was originally a plan that Vladimir and I promoted together."

Qiao Yelan nodded.

"Let me tell you the truth about Ursus, about how this vast and bloated empire, while maintaining serfdom, managed to mobilize resources sufficient to crush Kazimir and Victoria—"

"Vladimir has been borrowing money to fight the war."

The two of them stared at Qiao Yelan in disbelief.

"What's wrong? Is it weird?"

The man sneered.

"Borrow money? Borrow money from whom?"

"Of course, it's borrowing money from nobles."

But why would nobles lend money to the emperor? Aren't they the kind of people who would rather let grain rot in the granaries than contribute a single grain to the empire?

Qiao Yelan extended one index finger and gently shook it.

“You’re wrong, Kosiché. They’re not stingy, they’re greedy—if their investments can yield returns they never dreamed of, they’ll squeeze every last drop of profit from their territory to invest.”

"So what kind of business investments in Ursus can bring them such returns?"

Nikolai could not describe the expression on Qiao Yelan's face at that moment; a mocking and sarcastic look and a compassionate and saintly look appeared before him at the same time.

"That's of course—war!"

Like clear water falling into a boiling oil pan, Nikolai's heart was instantly filled with turbulent waves.