Miracle Card Shop: All My Cards Can Be Actualize

Of course, how could he say that out loud? Could he? That's why the representative could only endure the grating words and force a smile. Yes… smile. As long as he smiled, the other side wouldn't slap him in the face outright or unleash a full verbal thrashing.

"I understand your frustration and where you're coming from, Mr. Veneziale, but please consider our family's influence. In Country A, we can help you expand the reach of the Order of Ember very easily! I believe we could even achieve the goal of replacing the Hightower when the time comes. Our family would also give special consideration to selecting a prime site for you to establish a branch of the Order of Ember in our country…" The representative continued without pause, while Russo maintained his polite, unchanging smile.

At the bar nearby within the guest room, old man Ragnar was drinking whisky with Dimitri Romanov, who had come as a guest. He started,Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Seriously, I thought you were in Russia right now leading your soldiers. To think you'd come here to hide. I'm disappointed in you, Dimitri." Old man Ragnar spoke with mock disappointment, teasing the Tsar of Russia.

"I was in Russia…. until two hours ago, old man. Don't slander me!" Dimitri retorted, annoyed. "I have a teleportation portal connected to my castle. I can come here to drink and enjoy my fine whisky in the morning and then head back to enjoy vodka in my palace by evening every day!"

"Speaking of coming here…" The tsar glanced at old man Ragnar. "What did you think about this place the first time you arrived?"

"Hmmm… to be honest… I think I've grown numb to that Daniel kid's absurdity." The old man thought back to the day he first arrived in Elpis and continued. "But… in all my wildest dreams… I never imagined that kid would build something like this above our heads in orbit without anyone being the wiser, not even a hint of its existence." Ragnar remembered the scene: a small continent-sized mothership floating in orbit above the Earth.

Ragnar wasn't a scientist, but at least he understood that if an object of that size floated this close to Earth, there should have been some disturbances, changes in gravity, rising sea levels, something like this.

But in the end… nothing changed. This could only mean one thing: the invention called the Gravity Drive must have been active all the time, preventing those effects from impacting Earth.

"There are only two scenarios in my mind that explain how Daniel could pull this off. The first is that his technological advancement, including his counterintelligence, has become so powerful that the entire world remains unaware of this thing floating above their heads… or…" Ragnar's tone turned serious, his face solemn as he paused.

"Or?" The tsar glanced at the old man, sensing a growing tension in the air.

"He just pulled this thing out of his arse!" The old man grinned teasingly, shattering the seriousness of the moment.

The tsar wanted to slap the old man across the face, but he knew better. Ragnar was stronger than him, so Dimitri could only imagine slapping this damn old goat in his mind.

But who would have thought that the old man's tease was spot on? That was the truth. Daniel had actualized Elpis in the three days that he went to the Sultanate of Aqaba. From there, he went to the space station and actualized the whole thing on the orbit himself.

— Meanwhile - Qing Empire —

Within the Qing Empire's imperial palace, a heavy atmosphere hung in the air as sensational news was being broadcast. The people watching the news in the conference room looked as though they had swallowed flies.

Fortunately for the empire and the royal family, they held absolute authority and had already issued a ban on this broadcast. Thus, the program never reached common households, sparing the general populace from the moral outrage it might have caused.

"Those damn peasants! They eat my food, and now they dare to piss on my face!? How dare they!?" the crown prince roared in anger as he watched an interview with the deserters.

"You said you had it under control! Why are they still acting so pathetic? Why are they breaking the spell and showing the world such a disgraceful sight!?" The crown prince pointed accusingly at Golden Scale, who sat at the long table not far from him.

"Please don't be angry, Crown Prince," Golden Scale said, raising his hand to calm him. "Allow me to explain.

"We didn't raise the power of the spell to its maximum output because we feared it would cause permanent damage to the brains of those affected. Please understand, the suggestion spell, even at its peak power, is not a brainwashing spell.

It won't make someone loyal to you unto death while preserving their personality, intelligence, and independent thought. Instead, it imposes a singular, overriding command that takes precedence over even a being's survival instinct." He paused, letting his words sink in, before continuing.

"In conclusion, using the spell at maximum output would turn our soldiers into machines driven by nothing but hatred to killing and destroying New Atlantis, unable to do anything else. They would be useless in wars against other nations as well," Golden Scale stated firmly.

Hearing this, the crown prince didn't flinch; instead, he smiled.

"That's exactly what I want! Useless peasants who can't do their jobs properly aren't worth keeping. Even if they die, I can recruit more soldiers! We have billions of people in this empire. The number of deaths in that bombardment is nothing more than a drop in the bucket! Considering the sheer numbers of these lowly trash, we can always recruit more.

"The important thing is winning against New Atlantis and succeeding in neutralizing Daniel Emberweave. Once we gain access to his technology, the Qing Empire will become the number one power in the world! If one million meat shields can't do the job, then we'll send two million! If two million fail, we'll send ten million!" The crown prince's eyes glinted with ruthless determination.