This sudden attack was quickly subdued under the joint suppression by Cheka and "The Truth".

People only thought that the church and Leia Kingdom were losing the game, sending Demon Hunters for another assassination attempt.

As for those very few key witnesses, Cheka brought Mind Mages to modify their memories one by one.

This was true memory modification, not physical memory modification.

This was also good for these witnesses.

The scene of the Angel killing the Saint's Grandson was too much of a mental shock, replacing the Angel with a Demon Hunter actually made it easier for them to accept.

In the end, this event was only passed on by word of mouth among a very few people, even becoming a kind of urban legend.

It was not that Horn was suppressing speech, he understood public opinion too well, and the power of the masses was large and chaotic.

With Horn's current governance and the cognitive level of the majority of people, the incident of the Angel killing the Saint's Grandson would cause a great shake in the newly established legal principles.

Therefore, only the Cardinal before the Throne, members of the Secret Party, and a small number of key scholars could enter the dungeon where the Angel was interrogated and know the news.

Under the fluorite lamp, the elf Angel was chained to an iron table, motionless as if unconscious.

But if you were to ask whether she was still alive, she had a heartbeat and would instinctively consume water and bread, clearly alive.

However, regardless of the methods used by either the Divination Witches or Mind Witches, none could pry a single word from the Angel's mouth.

"She doesn't have vocal cords." After spending the whole day out having fun with Jeanne, Hilov's face was slightly flushed, "No matter how you ask, you won't get anything out of her."

"No vocal cords but no hands? No eyelids?" Horn asked in a deep voice, "Let her write with her hands, or indicate with blinks."

However, the two Cheka interrogators in charge of the torture only shook their heads solemnly, "She doesn't seem to feel pain, if she hadn't shown voluntary excretion and eating behaviors, we would have assumed she was dead."

Under the reflection of the mercury mirror-like fluorite lamp light, a dozen or so related professionals and senior monks frowned.

Not afraid of pain, no vocal cords, no consciousness, it was simply the perfect secret keeper.

Horn rubbed his temples, feeling quite troubled.

Their understanding of Angels was necessary.

Never mind the mysterious natural structure of the Angel's body, just the Angel's heartblood was an extremely precious treasure.

No matter which Witch or all Witches Horn might marry and have children with in the future, if any problems arose during childbirth, one dose of Angel's heartblood would be enough to save lives.

Not to mention, the Angel's crystalline war sword, the right hand that could use shockwaves, the eyes that released explosive light, the wings that could fly...

The entire body was a treasure, even more so than a Slime.

Just this one Angel could keep the Scales Hermitage entertained for a year.

But as the Pope of the Holy Alliance, Horn had to consider other issues.

Horn always had doubts about whether the deity Miseria truly existed in this world.

Their Holy Path faction's arguments about "God" itself were based on the premise that God was not an entity.

Only thus could they consider God as a vessel to accommodate the policies and promote the ideas he wanted to implement.

If Angels existed, then did the Saint Master Miseria also exist?

Would Miseria allow Horn to dress her up like a little girl as he wished?

If Miseria truly existed, what would his attitude towards Horn be? How would he view the reforms in Thousand River Valley?

If the Saint Master was real, then was the Celestial Kingdom real?

If the Saint Master could send an Angel to assassinate him, did that mean the Saint Master actually had the ability to communicate his wishes to the mortal realm?

Thinking further, could it be that the Saint Master and the church stood on the same side?

Or did the Saint Master truly have his own thoughts instead of being some rule-based existence?

Once the idea of Angels was accepted, all sorts of wild speculations came flooding in.

In the silent dungeon, Catherine suddenly slapped her forehead: "Oh, we forgot, don't we still have Jia Li? Jia Li can read minds, have her read her mind."

"Yes." Jeanne looked at Horn with meaningful eyes, "Speaking of which, Jia Li should be back from Wolfbridge County by now."

"It might not work." Horn shook his head, "Jia Li's mind reading works on ordinary people, but it becomes unreliable with Witches or even Great Wizards, and it's uncertain that it will work on Angels."

"So you know Jia Li well, huh?" Hearing Jeanne's teasing words, Horn felt a slight sweat on his back.

Early on, Jeanne discovered something odd about Moliat with an animal-like intuition.

Only when Jeanne's animalistic mind suppressed her animal-like intuition did Horn get by.

To prevent Jeanne's mental pressure from worsening into Witch's madness, Horn had been guiding step by step, slowly revealing the truth.

Even though he had long known this moment was coming, when it truly arrived, Horn still felt restless: "But we can try every possible way, I'll go pick her up from Shattered Stone Plain, we need to talk anyway."

"I'll go with you to protect you."

Seeing everyone silently maintain tacit understanding, Horn had no choice but to start his self-rescue: "Don't be troublesome, you're still injured, what can you protect me from? Besides, you skipped a whole class after the school started, go to school soon after the Witch Congress ends tomorrow."

"I'm not going to school!"

There was a burst of muffled laughter around, Jeanne glared at everyone one by one, and they then pretended to put away their smiles.

Looking at Horn again, she saw he had already disappeared into the distance.

The next morning, Horn boarded a northbound transport ship, traveling through Hot Spring Castle to reach Cold Spring Castle.

Then, by land, after a long and exhausting journey, he arrived at the gradually cool and refreshing Ladan Castle of Shattered Stone Plain in autumn.

When Horn rode his horse to the green meadow of Ladan Castle, Jia Li was already waiting on a tall horse.

"Why are you in such a hurry to call me back?"

Horn did not answer this question directly but instead asked, "How is the situation on the front line?"

"We've basically controlled Wolfbridge County and are currently proceeding to attack Crow's Rest County."

"Did you face much resistance?"

Jia Li pouted and shook her head, "They did learn to hide in castles, but they forgot we brought twelve-pound cannons with the Iron Fist Battle Group."

"Any new news?"

"If you're asking about us, then no, but I do have a piece of news, though I'm not sure if it's true, it's about the Border Knights and the Blood and Flesh Royal Court."

"What?" Upon hearing these two keywords, Horn reined in his warhorse.

"You've hit the Border Knights too hard. It seems you've noticed the emptiness and infighting within the Border Knight Order, and the Royal Court has launched an attack on their territory, losing several border fortresses in succession."

"Will it lead to an invasion by the Royal Court?"

"I doubt it. These two are a pair of perfect opponents, often advancing as one retreats, then asking for aid and military funds from their own countries."

Though unexpected, it was within reason, and Horn took a deep breath: "I don't know if you've heard, but we've caught an Angel."

Jia Li's riding motion visibly paused, but moments later, she spoke nonchalantly: "Really? What does that have to do with me?"

"She doesn't have vocal cords, and we hope you can go back and read her mind to see if there's anything useful to glean. Besides..."

"Besides?"

"Besides, Patrick has relapsed into tuberculosis from forcing himself onto the battlefield, and it's uncertain if he will survive this winter..."

Jia Li lowered her head and said nothing more.

Back then, Jia Li had introduced Horn to Patrick, hoping Horn would succeed his position and Patrick would retire early and rest.

Little did she expect that four years would pass in a blink, and not only did Patrick not get more time to rest, but he became even busier.

"What's this?"

The sunset turned the deep blue clouds and sky into an orange-red. Standing under this orange-red hue, Jia Li suddenly spoke, pointing at something under her horse's hooves.

"This is an unfinished horse-drawn railway. Although it's short-distance, it can save a lot of time and improve efficiency.

After this battle, we should also think about how to build. In my opinion, the Thousand River Valley should have quite a favorable commercial location.

Doesn't Thousand River Valley mean a gathering of vast river resources?

Not to mention the gap in Mangde County, which can directly connect to Stone Sword Territory. If we can expand that gap and establish Vincent Avenue..."

"What avenue?" Jia Li seemed to hear her father's name.

"Vincent Avenue..." Horn smiled, "In the future, every road and canal in the Holy Alliance will be named after a hero of the Holy Alliance...

Ruo'an, Juanuo, Vincent... Those who have been defamed should also receive their due honor and recognition.

The track at your feet is the Juanuo track.

It leads to the largest nearby pasture, and every area where rivers can't pass will have horse-drawn railways constructed.

From now on, the Thousand River Valley will become a trade hub for the entire eastern continent.

Bear Castle's leather, warhorses, and wool, Stone Sword Territory's gilded wares, amber, ironware, Black Snake Bay's spices, and sugar...

Flower Hill's wine, white sandy ground's glass goblets, River Island's wheat, Dawn Island's fruits...

All will pass through here, and can only pass through here. The five mountain territories will dig tunnels and build bridges to connect to Stone Sword Territory east of the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range.

The Ruo'an Dam will also be rebuilt, and its original name will be restored to Ruo'an.

The four plain counties will dredge river channels, renovate canals, and on the basis of Beixi Path, build Kosse Avenue to connect inland areas not adjacent to rivers.

And various rural workshops, let those town guilds eat shit; I also want to establish flour mills, canneries, furniture factories... 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Moreover, I want to establish a sovereign currency, control exchanges, and ensure the stable operation of the Holy Alliance's economy…"

Horn spoke on and on, but suddenly realized that Jia Li had somehow become dazed.

She stared blankly at the railway in front of her, saying nothing.

Shaking the reins twice, Horn moved his horse forward two steps, arriving beside Jia Li: "We can finally do these things; from now on, the Holy Alliance of Thousand River Valley truly becomes a nation."

"Do these things really mean anything? Aren't you afraid that future officers will become knights, and monks will become nobles?"

"I'm not afraid; those who come after us won't live as long as we do."

"Can you live for two thousand years?"

"Of course not, but those who talk about two thousand years without doing well this year before them, what's the point of thinking about two thousand years?

Didn't you say that everything I do is meaningless? Give me ten years, and you will see the meaning I talk about."

"Will you?" Jia Li didn't look up.

"If we don't try, how will we know?"

She looked at that railway for a long time, then suddenly dismounted and walked towards the partially laid track, step by step.

The golden-red light tousled her hair at her temples, and her white hair was dyed with a layer of pale gold by the strong wind.

Softly approaching the railroad ties, Jia Li reverently lay down, as if nestled in a parent's embrace, pressing her ear to the rail.

The sunset spilled onto the water's surface, shimmering with red-gold light.

Facing the direction of the Ruo'an Dam, the sound near her ear slowly receded.

Even though the clockwork engine had not yet been in operation, and the railway wouldn't be completed for ten or twenty years.

Jia Li could still hear the sound of rumbling; she saw Ruo'an, Granny II, Grandpa, Father, Mr. Juanuo, and Vine all sitting in the carriage.

Loaded with various furs and wools, the Thousand River Valley People proudly held their heads high, and the Black Snake Bay People lay on peat piles basking in the sun.

"I want to build a path where everyone can safely make a pilgrimage..."

"I want the Black Snake Bay People to be able to live normally under the sun..."

"I want Little Treasure to be well, Little Treasure to be well..."

"I want the Thousand River Valley People to say goodbye to suffering and floods..."

"I want everyone to live fairly and equally..."

Jia Li's shoulders began to tremble, her lower lip biting her upper lip, the corners of her mouth turned downwards.

"Hmm hmm..."

She hadn't cried during the bloody battle at Juanuo High Castle, nor had she cried when she lost a hand in Cheese Bay, nor during the flood at Shattered Stone Plain.

But now she stifled her cries in her throat, whimpering like a puppy.

Warm tears streamed down her cheeks onto the cold rails.

(End of this volume)