OR1-EP4: Prelude to the Millennium (3)

When McNeil first set foot on the soil of the Britannia Empire, he would not have imagined that he would be involved in a civil war of true proportions, and play an integral and important role to the victor throughout. Now, the two sides had been divided, and it was up to them, outsiders with many questionable motives, to get out of there before a new conflict arose between the two sides.

"It looks like we're fleeing back to EU after a hasty mess." Father Alexandros Palaskas was displeased with the schedule. In his anticipation, he still needed to observe in depth the changes that had occurred in the Britannia Empire, especially the changes that had occurred in every aspect of society after Emperor Charles had defeated the Magnate Noble Group. However, it seemed that the EU did not intend to give him the time for a free expedition, and the news from Paris demanded that all relevant groups operating in the Britannia Empire return home as soon as possible, citing security concerns. They had no excuse to resist this order and had to decide to leave the Britannia Empire in a few days.

After the civil unrest, the Britannia Empire was plunged into fear, Emperor Charles was eliminating those noble families that participated in the rebellion one by one, many families regardless of men, women, and children were all killed, this kind of bloody method completely deterred other groups that secretly planned to do something wrong. Given that the Britannia Empire was still in the aftermath of the civil unrest today, Emperor Charles did not send an emissary to say goodbye, but instead, it was Bradow von Breisgau who went to the airport in his personal name to see off the EU delegation that had traveled from afar.

"You can visit EU a few more times in the future if you have the chance." McNeil shook Bradow's hand in a friendly goodbye, "I think knowing more about your opponents will help clear up misunderstandings."

"Definitely." Bradow smiled and said to McNeil, "I may not have the chance now, when we settle down here, I would also like to go to Europe to discuss business cooperation with you."

In fact, McNeil didn't have any business at all; he had been a hobo with no legal status so far. However, if he had maintained his cooperative relationship with Governor-general Herzog, perhaps he could still pose as someone else's name to greet the honored guests from the Britannia Empire next time.

The airplane left Pendragon and headed towards Paris across the ocean. Pendragon and Paris were like two different worlds, though both shared similar prosperities, the former clearly denoting an insurmountable hierarchical line, the latter hiding that line in the corners of the city. McNeil was eager to travel to Paris, but he gave up for the moment the idea of staying there for a few days when he thought of the mission he had been entrusted with. He had been commissioned by Governor-general Herzog to solve the South African problem and make the Britannia Empire suffer as much as possible from the mess, and now that he had not accomplished much of the task at hand, and there was still a big problem of how he was going to deliver his message to the Governor-general when the time came, there was no reason for McNeil to continue wasting his time halfway across the world. The airliner made a stopover in Paris before continuing on to South Africa.

Alexandros Palaskas got off the plane in Paris and said he had to travel to Rome next to see the Pope.

"Although I hope that the Church gives the civilians some courage to revolt ... however, the Church in the Britannia Empire is not likely to do so in any case." The priest, despite not wanting to admit this fact, reluctantly spoke the truth, "Mr. McNeil, it would also be best for you to come and work in Europe as soon as possible. What about in Africa, while you may be able to easily become a local hegemon, your life is also limited. We have many opportunities here that we would like you to try."

"Without getting into that, will you be promoted to Bishop when you return?" McNeil avoided asking the priest a personal question. There wasn't any clergyman who didn't want to be a bishop, and Palaskas was already in his thirties, and it wasn't like his ambition was simply more than just being a bishop-he would always think in terms of the Church itself. Moreover, the contemporary Church may need this kind of diplomatic dynamo who can both maintain a relatively neutral position and intervene appropriately in major events.

"The opportunity ... may be there." The priest said awkwardly, "I may have the opportunity to fill in for a certain Bishop Emeritus... Good luck, McNeil. May the Lord bless you."

In the era McNeil lived in, the influence of various other religions in human society had gradually been replaced by the NOD Brotherhood, and thus McNeil was surprised for a moment to be unable to tell whether the priest's blessing came from a sincere place or was just a polite greeting.

In the afternoon, the plane began to fly to South Africa, and McNeil planned to rest for the night and then go back to the Governor-general the next day to resume his mission. Before getting on the plane, he bought a newspaper at the airport, trying to learn from it any news related to the South African region. However, judging from the recent news reports, the situation in South Africa was not optimistic, and it was said that the conflicts between various different groups had intensified again, and McNeil, who was far away from home, was unable to find out the real reason that triggered the new round of chaos from just a few words. Where there were people, there were factions, and perhaps the African Britannians were also imploding because of the civil strife in their spiritual homeland-perhaps the infighting had begun long ago.

"I hope that emperor keeps his word." McNeil muttered, "We paid accordingly."

In a subsequent revision of the secret treaty, Emperor Charles endorsed the EU's terms. In return for the support of the royalists on the part of the EU, Emperor Charles agreed to order the cessation of the Britannia Empire's espionage activities in South Africa, while the EU would further assist the Emperor in eliminating the opposition nobles who were in hiding. In the process, Emperor Charles missed the real point: the bigwigs who intended to use the opportunity to abscond to the EU. They had already fled to the EU embassy when the civil war broke out in Pendragon and were escorted out of Britannia by the EU, and it would probably take another half a month for Emperor Charles to realize that the EU had pried away from him technological talent and key figures with classified information that was important to the Empire. Everyone believed that cooperation with Emperor Charles would benefit the EU's business interests in Britannia, and now they waited to reap the fruits of their victory.

However, uneasiness still brewed in McNeil's chest, and this uneasiness increasingly irritated his nerves after the airplane took off. McNeil believed that Emperor Charles was not an idle man, that monarch who was equally strong on the outside as he was on the inside was not likely to let EU rake in a large number of benefits from the Britannia Empire for nothing and own up to it, Britannia was surely planning an all-encompassing retaliatory plan.

"Emperor Charles, in his own name, gave orders to the relevant departments of the Empire ... However, in the past, the Empire also suffered from the situation where the nobles went their own way and had their own set of small squads. Neither the Emperor nor Bismarck Waldstein ever said exactly which department was in control of South African affairs, and assuming that the preparation and execution of these missions were attached to a nobleman who has gone up in smoke, we are dead in the water." Michael McNeil suddenly felt a little alarmed, "His men can't receive any new orders ... damn it."

Michael McNeil just got off the plane and rushed towards Old Jake's place, he hailed a cab, hoping to arrive faster. Unexpectedly, there was a traffic jam halfway there due to a car accident, causing McNeil to decide to walk. To his relief, Old Jake was sitting at home, safe and sound, sorting out old newspapers.

McNeil greeted the old man, who rushed out to meet him.

"I thought you had moved." McNeil looked at the much tidier interior, "It's time to move, this place is so badly policed."

"That's right, there was a robbery two days ago, and the police haven't caught the criminals so far." Old Jake looked at all the clutter piled up in the hallway, "By the way, I remembered a piece of good news-someone approached me two days ago, saying that they would go to the Governor-general's Mansion to meet that Governor-general as soon as you return."

McNeil smiled awkwardly, "Maybe it wasn't good news, it was the release of a new mission."

Following McNeil back to the EU were a number of collectibles that he had handpicked to bring to his friends. These were currently being sent to Adalbert Herzog for deposit by McNeil at a moment's notice, and it was assumed that Major Herzog would be surprised to receive a bunch of packages he'd never even heard of in an inexplicable way.

McNeil was in the house looking through the newspapers, the dates on them indicating that they should be old news from a long time ago.

"Can't you sell them out?"

"No, the wind has changed." Old Jake sighed, "About a week or so after you left, the Governor-general's Office issued several orders in quick succession, these restrictions were mainly on the books and newspapers, saying that they were to prevent any hostile forces from propagating statements against the EU."

McNeil exclaimed, although he guessed that the Governor-general might take strong measures, but then the public's dissatisfaction with the Governor-general would greatly outweigh the hostile forces that had yet to show their true colors. In the long run, the Governor-general's own credit would be thoroughly exhausted, and the EU's rule in South Africa would be on shaky ground.

He took off the upper half of his leather Jacket and sneezed again. While the northern hemisphere was moving into summer, the southern hemisphere was already approaching winter. McNeil, who had failed to adapt to the climate change, had unsurprisingly caught another cold.

"Nobody protested?"

"Why no one? There are people! There were a lot ..." Old Jake described the scene colorfully, "It's a shame you weren't there. The streets were already crowded with people, but they were honest after the Guardian Corp sent out the cavalry and tanks. I heard that a few young men were run over by the tanks ... Who cares?" Speaking of this, Old Jake depressedly opened a bottle of beer that was sitting beside the table, "That night the Governor-general made a sternly worded speech saying that until the crisis was removed all necessary measures would be taken to defend the safety of EU South African citizens. I see that most people don't believe him and some are planning to impeach the Governor-general."

If the problem facing Governor-general Herzog was nothing more than an impeachment, then McNeil wouldn't give a damn about the other side, knowing that the Governor-general had far more means than he did to deal with the open fire. But with the core issues of South Africa still unresolved and the status of the natives up in the air, the African Britannians had already begun to rally to try to defend their legal rights.

Early the next morning, McNeil rushed to the Governor-general's residence. The guards at the gate knew McNeil and let him through after informing the internal guards. Governor-general Herzog had no pressing business at hand that day, and was in his office examining a small, delicate emerald sculpture. When McNeil came striding into the office, the Governor-general himself hastily stood up and invited McNeil to take a seat on a couch off to the side.

"I have received the gift you sent me." The Governor-general set the sculpture aside, "While it may not be much to my liking, I was going to accept it anyway since you took such a risk to bring the collection back to EU. I'll tell you the good news first, I'm sending someone to distribute the pension according to the address those people left behind at the time, so I won't bother you with this matter."

"Thanks a lot." McNeil looked at the Governor-general gratefully, "The citizens will remember your kindness."

"Where's the favor?" The Governor-general chuckled to himself, "They've forgotten all about it. I did nothing more than take some necessary action, and everyone accuses me of being the bloody Ivan of our time. McNeil, you have stayed in the Britannia Empire for so long, I'm sure you haven't come up empty-handed, have you?"

Governor-general Herzog's purpose could be realized in two ways, one was for the Britannia Empire to voluntarily soften and withdraw from South Africa, and the other was for the Britannia Empire to fall into a much larger scale of civil unrest and thus have no time to spare. McNeil had planned to create havoc, but he could not remain indifferent to the suffering of the Britannian commoners, and war itself was a far more stifling affliction than the oppression of the nobility. So, he reported to the Governor-general that the emperor had decided to cease all spying in South Africa.

"Excellent, I hope the emperor, who abhors lies, will keep his word." Governor-general Herzog clapped his hands in satisfaction, "You have done all of us South African citizens a great favor, Mr. McNeil. While it may not have had much of a positive impact on the current rather dire situation, I would like to thank you for your dedication to the process." The Governor-general squared his shoulders and put on his official voice to thank McNeil, "If there is anything you need done, you can entrust it to me. There's nothing in South Africa I can't handle."

McNeil pulled a check from his coat pocket.

"I'd like to get the pension distribution done first."

The Governor-general froze, he hadn't expected this payment from McNeil in any case.

"It's not a pleasing job, McNeil." The Governor-general said softly, "Our staff sometimes gets beaten up by the families ..."

"That's why I should be put in charge of this." McNeil couldn't hear the slightest wavering in his tone, "Those staff members had nothing to do with this, and it wouldn't be fair to subject them to blame that doesn't belong to them. If you trust me, leave the whole thing to me. I owe them my life, and I don't suppose there's much chance of returning it, so I should at least do something that I won't regret."

TBC

Chapter Notes:

While destroying the central imperial power of the Britannian Empire looks like a more favorable option, the EU does not ignore the influence of the Chinese Federation. Once the Chinese Federation attempts to intervene in the Americas, the collapse of the Britannian Empire could be a disaster for the EU.

There is very little that an individual can do to make a difference in the tides of the times.