My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 4

"You can take one item for free and come back in 70 days—oh, by the way, the items will change each time you come back. Please consider carefully."

"Then let's choose this one." Yang Hao blinked, realizing there really weren't any normal gifts he could take out. "Could you pack it for me?"

"of course."

Sure enough, I'll have to go to a gift shop outside... and then I can make some minor modifications. It would be better to ask Miss Koschitch for her address when I get home tonight.

That way I can also look for information about her...

He sighed, and after taking the small box from the shop owner's dark hand, he felt the world in front of him suddenly turn pitch black.

In the next instant, he was back on the street. He left in a hurry.

Unbeknownst to him, at the corner of the bustling commercial street, a Duke of Kosiché's serpent scales were watching him closely.

.

Chapter nine

Duke Koschke's Serpent Scales have infiltrated the city and are now gathering intelligence on Yang Hao discreetly.

...

However, the arrival of the snake-scaled creatures naturally aroused the vigilance of the local residents. After realizing who their focus was, some locals naturally began to pay attention to that person as well.

So they have to be quick, and the Duke would better make a decision quickly: either let them gather intelligence and leave immediately, or let them kidnap the person as soon as possible!

"...The Colombian secret police have taken notice of us."

"They've discovered our purpose?"

"Not yet. The outer perimeter guard squad has already engaged in an armed conflict with them at the intersection not far away. His Excellency the Duke's orders are..."

"...Stay on standby. We must continue our mission until His Excellency the Duke issues the next order."

The Serpent Scales diligently carried out the tasks assigned by their master, while the secret police of Colombia, in addition to secretly fighting against the Serpent Scales of Ursus, were also gathering intelligence on them.

Why would these Ursus people infiltrate this city with a border conflict with Bolívar? What is their purpose? The secret police did not discover that the Ursus people's target was a minor official, but it was only a matter of time before they found out.

In short, time is not on the snake scales' side.

As the man at the center of the power struggle between the two sides, Yang Hao, who is also the chief steward of the Columbia Heil brothers, has now bought a small Sarkaz sculpture and a small jewelry necklace at a gift shop. He plans to modify them a little at home before sending them over.

"Sigh! How come I didn't think of that? Although the gift itself is important, the feelings you have when giving it are just as important!"

He muttered to himself, carrying a bag containing the blood of the first vampire from the general store in one hand and a small Sarkaz sculpture and a jewelry necklace in the other. He was unaware that several ghostly figures, invisible even in daytime, were following him; he just wanted to get home quickly to prepare for his contact with Miss Koschitch that evening.

But when Yang Hao got to the street not far from home, he found that the road ahead was blocked.

"Hiss...the gas pipeline exploded?" Yang Hao saw the conspicuous orange sign hanging on the road blocked off by police from a distance. "My house is over there, please don't let it blow up my house..."

Worried that his own home might also be affected by the gas leak, Yang Hao took a few steps forward with a pounding heart and asked the police officer who was maintaining order:

"Hello, officer. My home is just a few dozen meters ahead of this intersection. Could you tell me about this accident—"

"Oh? Isn't this Mr. Yang Hao?"

The policeman squinted, staring at Yang Hao's face for a long while before nodding in realization. As a local, he knew about the scene a few years ago when the manager of Haier had turned the tide.

With the intention of helping him, the policeman took out his phone and looked through the screen. After a while, he looked up and said:

"Your home is not within the affected area, but the gas pipeline in that block has been shut off. Hopefully, your bathroom toiletries are electric."

"Then everything's alright... Was anyone injured?"

“There are a few unlucky Fuenti people who happen to be transporting goods, but it’s not a big deal. The worst one might have his tail cut off—I have to work, so you’ll have to go back via another route.”

"Oh oh."

Why did a gas pipeline leak and subsequent explosion have to happen at this time?

Yang Hao sighed with a headache, turned around, and prepared to take a detour to go back.

Ok?

He blinked, looking at the guy who had somehow appeared behind him... who was probably a secret policeman, and fell into deep thought.

He'd seen these policemen before during the previous workers' strike. But what were they doing here? Wasn't everything peaceful now? The workers were working diligently, and the capitalists were making their profits. Even if someone was causing trouble, they shouldn't be targeting an innocent civilian like him, right?

What are you doing here looking for me? — Ah, maybe I'm overthinking it? Did I simply block your way?

Thinking of this, Yang Hao took a step to the side.

Then he saw the secret policeman take a step in the direction he was moving.

...

Are you looking for me?

"...Please move aside."

"Oh oh."

It turned out to be just my imagination.

After making way for the secret police once again, Yang Hao breathed a sigh of relief, squeezed into the crowd, and slowly moved towards his home from another street.

...

While Yang Hao was leisurely making his way home, the Serpent Scales had already clashed with the secret police for the second time. In this clash, the Serpent Scales gained an absolute advantage, cutting the secret police into pieces and disposing of them in the sewers. However, they then realized that they seemed to have lost track of their target.

"Where's that gentleman?! You've lost him?!"

"...Yes, we lost him. He disappeared into the crowd in an instant, and we lost track of him—he seems to have spotted us."

"Report to His Majesty the Duke immediately. Bring the people on the ground back. We've caused too much of a commotion; we need to go into hiding for now."

The snake scales felt that this mission was probably the most difficult mission in history, bar none.

The Duke wouldn't allow them to be discovered by that gentleman—that was simple, but now it seems he's messed up.

Before the new orders were issued, His Highness the Duke did not allow them to abduct the gentleman by force—this was somewhat difficult, because if they did not abduct him soon, it would become even more difficult once the secret police of Colombia realized their purpose.

But then, this is precisely the most critical point.

The city's secret police have begun to vaguely realize their objective...

In conclusion, it seems that both of Serpent Scale's missions are going to botch.

What should we do? The snake-scale leader sighed wearily, hoping that His Highness the Duke would make a decision soon...

But for now, at least they can hide themselves. Their lurking scales won't be detected by anyone, and as long as they don't continue to expose themselves, there's still a chance.

...

The Serpent Scales decided to go into hiding, awaiting new orders. While searching for the Serpent Scales, the Colombian secret police also turned their attention to the overseer. They had been watching this man for a long time; any ruler with a sound mind knew that those two worker strikes were definitely suspicious. This man was definitely hiding some secret.

Furthermore, the Ursus people's actions have further agitated them. They plan to take advantage of their geographical and personal connections to strike first.

chapter Ten

"...I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen in the next few days."

At 6 p.m. that day, on his way home, he bought dinner. After finally getting home with all the bags, Yang Hao felt a chill run from his tailbone to his head, as if someone was cursing him.

What a strange thing... I haven't offended anyone recently, have I? Could it be that Jack was cursing me while he was being intimate with his wife? That's impossible! Judging from his kidney deficiency, he was probably thinking more about how to end it as soon as possible.

So, who is it? Hmm, Miss Koschke? Doesn't seem like it...?

Lost in thought, he walked into his house. After placing the bags he was carrying on the table in the middle of the living room, he sighed and decided to use the time it took to prepare his bath water with the electric water heater to figure out how to make some minor modifications to the gift.

"...I wonder what kind of gifts the Ursus people like? Sigh, I'll have to go to the library and ask the knowledgeable people there in a while, and also ask them how to get the Duke of Ursus."

Yang Hao was very curious about how Miss Kosichè had obtained the title of duke, and for the sake of his future life, he felt he needed to learn about the customs of Ursus beforehand. After all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do; it would be too strange to be the only one eating rice when everyone else was eating bread.

...But it's too early to think about these things now. Let's prepare the gift first.

"Sigh... While my [Puppet Stage] can imbue some props with special meaning, what does Miss Koschche like?"

Looking at the exquisite Sarkaz statue carved from ordinary stone on the table, he scratched his head and fell into deep thought.

Yang Hao's [Puppet Stage] not only makes it easier to manage human resources, but also has the ability to add [traits] to items.

The abilities associated with [Traits] are diverse, ranging from minor increases in political points to major increases in military command points, and even the level of public support across different social classes when adjusting [Taxation]...

Yang Hao has far too many traits he can inscribe on it—although he can only inscribe one trait at most once a month, and the number of traits he can inscribe varies depending on the trait inscribed.

Therefore, he needs to carefully consider the traits he wants to inscribe... um...

"Should I ask Miss Koschich what she likes first?" With that in mind, Yang Hao didn't activate his [Puppet Stage] ability. Instead, he took out his phone and sent a message to Miss Koschich.

......

Meanwhile, Miss Kosichä had just finished a day's work. She had once again dedicated herself to Ursus, but each task reminded her of how difficult it was to govern the people, let alone keep them in line.

Ursus' territory is rife with natural social contradictions, including those between eagles and bears, rural and urban areas, infected and uninfected, soldiers and police, and the people and nobles... These numerous social contradictions are connected by a spiderweb called "interests," and affecting one of them will affect all the other policies.

Although Miss Koschei was trying to find ways to improve the lives of the people in her duchy, to make her own people strong first, and then to extend the experience gained from her own territory to the various duchies and cities of Ursus—it was easier said than done.

The people themselves are not a monolithic entity; there are different classes, races, groups, and beliefs... If they can unite to resist themselves, Kosiché would even applaud: because it means that the people still have the possibility of uniting and facing external difficulties together.

But they didn't, and they couldn't. The issue of skin color alone could create two factions, and Kosicheans truly couldn't see a future where they could peacefully unite—unless there was a war. If a common external enemy emerged, the people of Ursus could unite now to fight against it.

temporary.

"Moreover, there are contradictions in the natural environment... icy and snowy landscapes, barren farms, and steel machines that are starving to be fed."

While societal conflicts can be temporarily resolved, the conflicts with the natural environment are essentially unsolvable for the people of Ursus at present.

Ursus has a vast territory, but one of the problems with this vastness is that while its borders are too long, its natural resources are not enough to feed everyone.

Although the existence of mobile cities in this world causes the borders of various countries to constantly shift, even so, the natural resources within the Ursus-controlled area are still limited if there are no border conflicts with other countries.

But... in a sense, this is also a good thing. At least if a war breaks out, the people of Ursus will enthusiastically support it—as long as they win, Ursus can continue to grow stronger through the means of sustaining itself through war.

Ursus is a war machine. As long as there's war to fight, this war machine will only grow stronger. But the problem now is how to increase actual control over the duchy while maintaining peace, and how to unite the residents with a common enemy?

【beep--】

Just as Kosicie was frowning and working out her plan, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Why so early today? Miss Koschke blinked, wondering why he was contacting her so early, even before nightfall.

...Let's see what's going on first. With that thought in mind, Miss Koschke took out her phone and found a message from Yang Hao.

Good afternoon, Ms. Kosiché. I'd like to ask if you've ever had any trouble dealing with factional infighting among your subordinates?

Huh? Factional discord among subordinates...? That translates to...

Kosiche frowned. How did he know that he was troubled by the people's problems? What was going on?

But she quickly realized it was just her imagination. He probably just wanted to use this as an excuse to chat with her or something.

"Yes, and we have it now." So Kosiché answered his question quite directly. "Do you have any good ideas?"

I also conveniently passed on my "problem." If this Mr. Yang Hao can solve my problem, then it wouldn't be a bad idea to pay him more attention.

"I see. I understand—could you please tell me your address? If all goes well, I'll send the gift over tomorrow. Hmm, this gift should help you solve that problem, right?"

...Huh? A gift? No...is this for real?

For a moment, Kosichrie was surprised. He blinked, hesitated for a moment, and then sent over his current ducal address.

Chapter 11

Miss Kosichello is troubled by the factional conflict among her subordinates, isn't she? Although it may sound strange, in a sense, "factions" are also a kind of people.

In other words, the quality that enables people to live in harmony can, in a sense, also gradually eliminate factional antagonism. After receiving a precise answer from Miss Kosiché and finding out her address, Yang Hao breathed a sigh of relief and began preparing his gift.

There are three [traits] in front of Yang Hao now. He needs to choose one of them and then carve it into the Sarkaz sculpture.

"Let me see the first one..." He murmured to himself after activating [Puppet Stage], looking at the first trait with bright eyes: "This is... Oh, this is pretty useful? If my workers didn't only belong to one faction, I would want to use it too."

The first trait is one that Yang Hao considers very useful. This trait, called [Cooperative Front], will bring a certain degree of [Friendly] support to each [Opposing] faction.

Simply put, this trait allows Muslims to eat pork and Christians to worship Allah, turning two originally opposing religions into one and eventually merging them into a new sect.

However, to be fair, the efficiency of the [Cooperative Front] isn't particularly high. Yang Hao studied it carefully for a while and discovered that this trait might take more than a decade to take effect, making it a product of slow and steady progress.