Chapter 476: Hawk Faction Probing

After Zhang Qiu began working at the embassy, Harry spent several relatively boring days. Until one day in mid-August, she told Harry quite happily, "I have a relative who is a consul here in London. He invited you to visit the embassy. I think it's quite interesting—he's a rather superstitious fellow."

"Your relative?" Harry was slightly interested, but not much. "Is he a wizard too?"

"Yes. If you count carefully, he's about my grand-uncle, but outside the five degrees of mourning," Zhang Qiu said, suppressing a laugh. "I suspect he was driven out of the country. It would be hilarious if you could hear his speeches."

"Alright." Adhering to the idea that being idle is still being idle, Harry said, "I'll go meet him."

Regarding how Harry would enter the embassy, although he did not hold a position in the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry had passed the "Merlin Agreement" and granted him an honorary rank of General during the signing of the Super-Wizard Power Treaty last time. Therefore, this could be considered a minor official visit. When Harry learned of this, he hoped it would not affect the Prime Minister's European strategy.

Soon, under Zhang Qiu's guidance, Harry met the old man named Zhang Mingyuan. He was gaunt, his face covered in deep furrows, and a small copper coin was tied to the end of his sparse beard. Most striking was a pale red vertical scar in the center of his forehead, clearly an old injury from his youth.

"Young friend, a rare meeting indeed. Truly, the younger generation is to be feared," Zhang Mingyuan shook Harry's hand enthusiastically. "I heard you are the successor of the Heavenly Gang Armor of this generation. Truly rare. Your ancestors must have been people of the Divine Land..."

Harry immediately understood why Zhang Qiu couldn't help but laugh that day. He could only try his best to maintain decorum and whispered, "Let's sit down first, old sir."

"Good, good. Young friend, I heard you and our little Qiu are engaged. You count as half one of our own, so let me tell you the truth about this world. Don't be fooled by those barbarian heresies!"

Harry agreed politely and perfunctorily, while actually glancing quietly at Zhang Qiu. Sure enough, she and another girl were sitting at a table not far away, pointing at them while covering their mouths and giggling.

"Don't look at how the human race is flourishing now, spread across the world. In reality, in ancient times, ten thousand races stood tall. If not for the Great Calamity of Wizards and Demons, we would still be living under the Demon Court..."

He held Harry's hand and told a long string of prehistoric legends that were half-incomprehensible. Finally, Harry summarized for him: "Do you mean that ancient China was once ruled by intelligent magical creatures? Are you sure it was all kinds of animals, and not just fairies or something else—"

"Not just ancient China, the whole world!" Zhang Mingyuan shouted, eyes wide. "The evidence is right before the eyes of the world. Don't many Muggles now discover that the world was not so loose in the past, but belonged to the same continent? It was precisely because Gonggong knocked down Mount Buzhou, causing the sky to tilt to the northwest and the earth to sink to the southeast, that the prehistoric world shattered. Then there was Nüwa patching the sky, and the Sages reorganized the universe, re-dividing the shattered prehistoric world into the Four Great Continents, only then did we gradually have the world of today."

"That is true." Harry nodded. He had heard this theory, but it was too long ago; it seemed like even dinosaurs didn't exist back then.

"Sigh, although the human race is flourishing, we have been separated ever since. Looking at you, you must have lost the records. It is truly regrettable," Zhang Mingyuan looked heartbroken. "If you lose the techniques, you can slowly develop them again, but forgetting one's roots is failing the sages."

"Young friend, since you know the truth of the world, why not return to the country with me to worship the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and acknowledge your ancestors!"

Harry tried hard to pull his hand away, but the old man's strength was immense. He could only cast a look of help toward Zhang Qiu.

"Uncle, there's no rush for this, no rush," Zhang Qiu hurried over to help Harry escape. "He still has things to do. When I have time, I'll take him back..."

Under the old man's muddled gaze, Harry left with a sheepish smile. He complained tactfully, "Your uncle's theory is too shocking; it really gave me a fright."

"Yes, I was shocked the first time I heard it too," Zhang Qiu said while pulling him toward another place. "Maybe because of the Avalon incident, many people think that is the real Avalon appearing in the world. This has led some people in the country to start digging through their own myths and legends, and those wizards are racking their brains trying to prove that the myths are all true."

"If you ask me, he's just playing dumb." Another girl joined them, and Zhang Qiu introduced her to Harry, "This is my new friend, Lin Shuanghe."

Harry smiled politely at her, maintaining the appearance of listening.

"The older generation of the radical faction is always obsessed with conquering the myths of the world. For this, they spent great effort to find the prehistoric legends to endorse themselves, just to argue for this legitimacy," Lin Shuanghe said seriously. "The new generation of the radical faction often scoffs at this claim. We will more pragmatically consider how to carry out simple and effective expansion before Master Xuanjun comes out of seclusion."

"And the conservative faction?"

"There is only one conservative in the whole country, and that is your Master."

However, if one only treats the so-called prehistoric myths as old legends dug up to embellish the legitimacy of rule, Harry felt it was a bit too arbitrary. He asked cautiously, "Could these possibly be real? That is, a super civilization existed in ancient times? Don't Master Xuanjun and Tang Nade have several archaeological achievements?"

"I think the existence of a super civilization is beyond doubt. That might have been a civilization created by wizards and Muggles together after breaking the Statute of Secrecy, because Master did indeed unearth many things from it—both clever tricks of wizards and Muggle technology," Zhang Qiu nodded very seriously. "But that absolutely cannot be related to prehistoric legends."

"Even if the prehistoric times were real, it makes no sense that only historical materials were passed down while all the technology was lost. Everything we have now started from the Zhaozong era and developed bit by bit," Lin Shuanghe said very rationally. "Perhaps the inspiration for many of the technologies came from Master Xuanjun's excavations, but it is inseparable from the research and practice of the Academy of Sciences."

"Speaking of which, Master Xuanjun first proposed taking Yingzhou after he proposed the steam engine and built iron ships. There were quite large casualties back then. By the second time they landed on the island, Muggle technology alone had already far exceeded their imagination. I don't know if lifting the Statute of Secrecy can promote a new round of military revolution." Lin Shuanghe kept stealing glances at Harry while saying these things; clearly, she wanted to fish for information from Harry.

But she was destined to be disappointed, because the Ministry of Defence had not looked for him to this day, and the Prime Minister had only congratulated him and Zhang Qiu on their engagement in a private capacity, without mentioning anything they might be interested in.

"By the way, when you invaded Yingzhou, did you find any excuse for war?" Harry asked.

"They attacked us first. They fought for many years, and there were records even in the Hongwu Dynasty," Zhang Qiu said relatively objectively. "Because of long-standing grievances, it was very convenient."

"Unlike now, after we have closed the country for so many years, there is a feeling of drawing a sword and looking around in confusion. We can only say that whoever hits me next, I will hit back," Lin Shuanghe added.

"But if you want to take advantage of Master Xuanjun's seclusion to carry out limited expansion of a military adventure nature," Harry began to fish for information from her in turn, "you can't just counterattack whoever comes, right? If Yanayev moves south, that's a topic worth discussing, but if some tiny European country sends a small boat to harass the border, do you intend to travel thousands of miles to fight them too?"

"Yes, so how to incorporate the country you actually want to fight into the invading enemy is also a matter that requires a lot of operation."

Harry began to ponder who exactly the people of the Celestial Empire wanted to choose as their target of attack. Perhaps this was a difficult question for him to answer, because he was completely unfamiliar with the map of East Asia. However, if using reverse thinking, Lin Shuanghe and Zhang Mingyuan did not invite him without a purpose, then what they wanted must be related to Britain. So it was either moving north to oppose the Soviets, or wanting to go see the Ganges.

After knowing the answer, he decided to end this conversation that was hidden with sharpness but meaningless.

"If what you are aiming at is the South Asian subcontinent, I think this has nothing to do with us. First of all, they have long been independent. Secondly, even if we pretend to propose some plans, it is unlikely that these people will cooperate. You must know that at this time, they are still relatively inclined toward Yanayev," Harry said helplessly. "And after that side became independent, Britain has no ability to go to the Asia-Pacific region, unless we hitch a ride with the White House. But clearly, you don't have the possibility of crossing the Pacific to fight them, right?"

Lin Shuanghe was taken aback. She did not expect Harry's reaction to be so swift. She took some time to cover up her emotions, and then said somewhat unnaturally, "He is still a Commonwealth country at this time, right? Then what if it is another Commonwealth country, for example, Australia?"

"Miss Lin, from the perspective that Master Xuanjun may come out of seclusion at any time, I think your adventure plan will definitely not involve the ocean. Compared to a large island that may not be finished in time, it is more pragmatic to gnaw off as much land as possible. This is the first point. Next, the upper echelons of Britain are clearly more concerned about Europe and the Yanayev issue. It is unlikely that they will get involved in this muddy water. We have no interests in the Asia-Pacific at all. This is the second point. Finally, I want to say that my foundation is still in the Wizarding World, and I do not have much influence on the decision-making of the Muggle world, so it is useless to tell me these things."

Zhang Qiu shrugged and summarized, "Look, I told you, you can't always count on others to be stupid. Coming here to lobby Harry is not as good as sending an envoy to die in their house." ===== CHAPTER 477 =====