“Doctor Kal'tsit, Leithanien is already pressing us.”

“I know, Amiya. This is urgent, you can take Rhodes Island and leave first.”

Feigning a tough demeanor, she watched Amiya depart. As the door closed, the old cat slumped weakly into her seat.

She was quite old, but thanks to the Pre-civilization's biotechnology, her body had barely worn down over ten thousand years.

She didn't believe what she had seen recently was merely an illusion caused by excessive stress.

Hadn't Theresa already left?

How could the Doctor, who should have been repairing damage in Chernobog, appear here?

Most importantly, why was she wearing that woman's clothes and holding hands with the Doctor?

“I know, M3, I won't scare myself.” Kal'tsit glanced at the black crystal beside her, wondering if she should go to that place to confirm.

“You're right, if I wake her up prematurely, everything will be over.” Kal'tsit dismissed her previous thought, deciding she should continue her investigation in Trimounts.

But even so, she couldn't help but prepare for the worst.

She took over Theresa's body, and as the Demon King, tied the Doctor to her... With a roar, M3 suddenly appeared, tearing the Sarkaz novel on the table into shreds.

“Thank you, M3.”

After some commotion, Kal'tsit also gathered her spirits, preparing for the upcoming operation.

Currently, the biggest suspect remained Rhine Lab.

However, due to the intervention of the Columbia military, Saria's personal connections were no longer very useful.

Just as she was pondering countermeasures, Amiya knocked on the office door.

“Amiya, what happened?”

“Doctor Kal'tsit, this is bad. The Columbia government just filed a complaint, suspecting us of tax evasion.”

Amiya suddenly felt a flurry of question marks appear on Kal'tsit's face.

Kal'tsit was also completely bewildered at this moment. Rhodes Island had always operated legally within Columbia's territory.

Even if there were some minor illicit activities, they were conducted outside the national borders and not subject to the Columbia government's jurisdiction.

“Have they taken any action?”

“A high-speed warship has blockaded Rhodes Island's exit route, and the Trimounts government has dispatched a National Guard unit to take over the boarding ramp.”

“Anything else?”

“They demanded to send a working group to board and conduct a financial audit. Rhodes Island members leaving the ship must report in advance—and that was all.”

Kal'tsit immediately wondered if it was Columbia's pharmaceutical competitors causing trouble.

Forget it, she'd go. She hadn't done anything wrong anyway, so she should be free again soon.

---

At a hot dog stand outside Trimounts Port.

Xing Chen, Theresa, and Tin Man were eating while observing the government's actions.

Columbia's military police had completed the blockade of Rhodes Island's docking area. Except for those approved for external procurement, other personnel were only allowed to return to the ship and forbidden from going out.

“Your Highness, have you and Lord Kal'tsit had a falling out?”

“Revenant, I just… didn't want to provoke a conflict with Rhodes Island.”

Theresa said helplessly. Tin Man then turned his gaze to Xing Chen, “Then may I ask what your relationship is now?”

“Just ordinary friends.” As the Sarkaz Demon King, she was still too embarrassed to directly say “boyfriend” in front of her ancestors.

“Really? Can an ordinary friend make a Demon King so obedient?” Tin Man smiled as he looked at the two. They were both ancient beings, so he could easily see through such things.

Xing Chen originally thought that since the Sarkaz parents died early, troublesome things like meeting the parents shouldn't exist.

But there were indeed many Sarkaz elders. He estimated that he would have to go through the process again, from Theresis to the King of the Rot Eaters.

“If you think it's more reasonable for me to be her ***, then you can understand it that way.”

He wasn't a Terra native, so his status on Terra didn't really matter. What mattered was how Theresa viewed him, and what was needed to achieve their goals.

“*Sarkaz expletive* What are you saying?!” Theresa punched him directly on the shoulder.

It seemed Theresa couldn't accept suddenly having a ***.

According to YJ's script, all the Demon Kings seemed to be ascetic.

But then again, for a Demon King, what's wrong with having a few ***?

“So you wanted to send Lord Kal'tsit away to prevent her from disturbing you two.”

“Indeed, I didn't want her to disturb us, but it's not about our personal relationship, but a plan to unbind the Sarkaz.”

Tin Man rarely returned to Kazdel. Perhaps compared to the orthodox Sarkaz, the Sarkaz in Columbia had more hope.

This reminded Xing Chen of a real-world example, where they also did very well in the early stages.

It's just that now they're back to being universally condemned.

“By the way, how is the research on the aircraft coming along?”

Xing Chen and Theresa both didn't want to dwell on personal emotional issues, so they tacitly steered the conversation towards work.

Tin Man put his pipe in his mouth and took a deep puff, looking at Theresa, the young Demon King, with amusement, then slowly said,

“I found an agent from the Foundation who can manipulate wind, but her Originium Arts are completely insufficient for your requirements.”

“Is it the one who specializes in tornadoes?” Xing Chen roughly guessed who he had found, “I think we should abandon the route of individual Originium Arts.”

“Using Originium industrial methods? That might require redesigning an entire system.”

“Do it as soon as possible. We are about to go to Ursus, and I hope you can get everything done before we return.”

“That's no small challenge.” Tin Man took another puff from his pipe, and mist leaked from various crevices in his body, “I'll do my best to urge them.”

After speaking, Tin Man pulled up his trench coat, paid for Xing Chen and Theresa's meal, and then left.

Xing Chen also clearly understood how difficult the development of aerospace industry was. From catching up to surpassing, his country spent decades and generations of effort.

And for him and Theresa to sort everything out in Ursus, it wouldn't take more than two years at most.

“Theresa, do you want to go see Kal'tsit again?”

Xing Chen didn't know when they would encounter the old cat next, or if their statuses would be adversarial.

Theresa shook her head. She had played a significant role in the tax evasion investigation.

Moreover, for the benefit of the Sarkaz, she had to do some very extreme things to other countries.

She felt that she no longer had the right to meet the inheritor of Babel's spirit as the leader of Babel.

“Alright then, take one last look at Rhodes Island, prepare to deal with the Imperial Guard, and then we should depart.”