Chapter 763 - 43: Unfurling the Banner

[Johnny: Want to crown a new king for yourself? This person is really interesting...]

Most books talk about how people from different countries overthrew feudal systems, how they sent away kings or divided the king’s power, ensuring nobles and kings could no longer do whatever they wanted, making power no longer flow through their blood as if some people were born to control others.

Christopher certainly knew about this history, and his educational level was far superior to Johnny, who was illiterate and didn’t read.

Not only did he read more books than Johnny, but his innate intelligence was also higher, with deeper and denser brain grooves according to Cyberpunk World’s standards.

It was precisely because of this that he understood the gap between himself and all of Latovia compared to the outside world, not to mention Lille:

Lille’s importance far surpassed the entire land of Latovia and the people living on it; it was he who brought opportunities to this land, breaking its stagnant state.

The overthrowing of kings, slave masters, and so-called capitalists is based on the premise that the overthrown are not only powerful but also capable of creating a better world. If there’s only violence, society will regress after the overthrow...

Because the gap between people is too vast, even if Lille doesn’t want to control them and wishes to discuss equality, there simply couldn’t be equality.

Individuals should have self-awareness, and Johnny lacks it...

But Christopher is the opposite.

He understands why Lille emphasizes educational level and knowledge reserves, but the gap is evident: all the people here have a huge gap with Lille, aside from passion.

The gap is so large that even if Lille wanted to relinquish power like a Saint who doesn’t care about authority, various individuals would emerge to fill the power vacuum. At that time, who can ensure those filling these gaps would be better people?

There’s no better choice than Lille, so whoever fills the void would not be as good as letting Lille directly control these powers.

For Christopher, the conclusion is simple and counterintuitive; blindly applying modern systems doesn’t suit Latovia.

Once the Grand Duke of Latovia is overthrown, literacy rates would plummet globally, and living standards would return to medieval times.

The global situation doesn’t allow Lille to improve here step by step; using high technology would inevitably lead to the scenario Christopher imagines...

These considerations are beyond Johnny’s understanding; in his view, the world will become better once it is free.

Does Lille realize this?

Christopher doesn’t know, but he believes Lille must have considered it; he just wants to express his thoughts.

"...We need a king. The situation in Latovia is different from any country in history!

We need a strong, kind, calm, wise king like you, just as we’ve never encountered these situations before. We also need something unprecedented... a Philosopher King."

Lille looked into Christopher’s eyes, his face showing no change.

But inwardly, he sighed, because it was true: you cannot expect a group that lived at a medieval level just a moment ago to overthrow a king and leap directly into modern society, let alone fully absorb science, technology, and humanistic ideas beyond modern standards.

With Brain-Computer Interface, learning time greatly reduces, but it still requires time.

Thinking of this, Lille withdrew his gaze and looked at the projection device on the wall:

"I have my judgment. Tell me about the enemy’s situation."

Even though Lille didn’t make any judgments or express his thoughts, Christopher felt relieved.

Because no matter what, he believes Lille must be thinking ahead...

In any case, it must be a future worth dedicating their lives to.

...

"Our reconnaissance soldiers got information that these armaments were likely transported from the east and north, and during this time, the battle intensity in surrounding zones has decreased. The enemy’s influence is strong."

"Weapons mainly include standard military firearms—primarily AK rifles, which are easy to use and cost-effective."

"In addition to these, there are conventional bulletproof vests and Hand Grenades."

"What worries me is that considering the situation in the surrounding countries, they might secretly send in professional Mercenaries."

"These are conventional forces. Besides, there are reports indicating the Grand Duke... no, Vladimir’s subordinates have appeared as some kind of metal giants."

Vladimir, the Grand Duke of Latovia, initially held merely a baron title, but recently suddenly became a grand duke. Maybe he got carried away, or perhaps the mindless tyrant was promised such rewards by his supporters; anyhow, he is now a grand duke.

As for the metal giants, according to images sent back by the reconnaissance team, these are the early versions of "Death Warrior" and "Rhino Man," improved ground combat units, each possessing combat capabilities of several main battle tanks with a much wider operational scope.

Christopher’s face turned somber: "Based on our intelligence, to avoid European Union sensitivity, these modified equipment were brought in gradually, and they are local people.

Most are... Latovians unwilling to obey."

[Johnny: Forced Prosthetics modification, aren’t they afraid of cyber psychosis occurring and the people inside turning into Cyberpsychopaths?]

This is the cunning aspect of the villains from Marvel’s side: the people inside are already Cyberpsychopaths, but their mode of control can cut off the signals of the Prosthetics users themselves...

Unlike Atlas Group’s military technology, Rocksen and Hydra’s single-person armament technology leans more toward fully mechanizing humans, merely utilizing the nervous systems in their bodies to maintain the computation needed for equipment coordination.

In other words, people inside largely serve as human computers.

"... Our technicians believe we can directly target Vladimir Family’s castle, eliminate that guy, seize control, and then deal with other issues."

"Raid?" Lille shook his head, "We won’t raid."

As he spoke, he manipulated the strategic map to zoom, showing dozens of military camps and villages under Vladimir’s control and surveillance.

Lille could absolutely control this new body to break through the defenses of Vladimir Castle and eliminate the grand duke inside.

But people can only liberate themselves.

"Gather the people, distribute weapons to everyone willing to take up arms under my banner and attack, provide knowledge and tools to everyone willing to live under my banner.

We will advance head-on into every military camp, execute every puppet submitting to the Vladimir Family, and rescue every person who refuses to yield...

Unfurl my banner upon this land, awaken the people of this land, tell the whole world—

Latovia has a new king."

"As you command, Your Majesty!"