"Isn't there any damage in your state?"

"The whole world would have been turned upside down by the time the terrorists come to attack our state."

"Hahaha... That might be true. Well, the commission from the gold transaction was transferred to your account. My boss wanted me to thank you."

"It's my pleasure. Please tell your boss that he'd be able to touch diamonds in the near future."

"He'll be happy to hear that. Thank you."

"May I ask you a question?"

"I'll answer everything I know."

"Were you aware of the airstrikes on the IS headquarters in advance?"

"I didn't know precisely. But I knew that the world would get boisterous soon. I a.s.sumed that you already knew about this from the CIA, didn't you?"

"No, our chapter was excluded from the operation, so I had no idea."

"We thought you'd know for sure. If I knew that, I would've dropped you some hints. I'm sorry for that mistake. You must have had no time to prepare the necessities in advance."

"The autonomous state of Arirang always saves up years' worth of daily necessities in stock, so don't worry."

"That's great. I'll treat you a nice dinner next time I see you, to make it up to you."

"I'll look forward to it. See you in Batumi next week."

***

The number of Serbian immigrants who moved from the Balkan Peninsula was 210 people of 42 families. Some of them needed a shelter immediately, so Niksic brought all of them at once instead of waiting for the spring.

According to Niksic, those who lived in barren mountains did not receive any benefit from the government.

Although the economic situation of each country in the Balkan Peninsula was not familiar to Youngho, it was still hard to understand that the people were left alone to survive in the mountains without any support.

"Sir Niksic, is it true that they didn't have electricity?"

"I didn't believe it when you told me about the Georgian village in South Ossetia, but in the Balkans, it was not hard to find places where there were no roads. There were only people living in villages devastated by the revolutionary war. Most of the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom who had no connection in Siberia lived in the mountains. I couldn't leave them behind."

"Well, good job. You wouldn't have been able to eat and sleep in comfort if you left them there. They all seem like nice people."

"They are too nice to the point they've been idiots. They never thought of asking the government to support them."

"How is their educational status?"

"They can barely read. Some of the children went to school down the mountain, but they could learn only so much since they had to walk on the mountain path for more than three hours a day to commute to school."

Exhausted from commuting to school, the kids would often doze off in their cla.s.sroom. After returning to their homes, they usually had to take care of their sheep or goats.

Youngho would have felt a pity for their hard life before, but now he had unexpected anger against the Serbian government for not treating the descendants of the kingdom as human beings. He did not know if it was the influence of the ring, but the descendants felt like they were his family now.

The descendants of the kingdom had been living scattered throughout Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Bosnia. But, they were not even given the basic rights as the citizens of Serbia.

"Why were they treated like this? I'd like to submit a formal complaint to the Serbian government."

"Part of the reason was that they lived in remote regions where the administrative power could not reach. Also, their uneducated ignorance played a big role."

"Was the Serbian government okay with them emigrating from the country?"

"They were rather close to none-existence to the government, so the government was not so interested in them. The officials seemed to like the fact that we're taking poor people from the country. But while processing it, they wanted bribes. That's how the people got their temporary pa.s.sports."

Because of the temporary pa.s.sports that the government issued them, they were able to cross the border with Romania.

"Is there still a lot of people who claim to be the descendants of the Serbian kingdom?"

"Well, it's hard to be exact. You could consider most of the people living in Bosnia and Kosovo and Serbia as the descendants of the kingdom."

"Wouldn't it be fair to say that all Serbian Orthodox people living all over the Balkans could be the descendants of the Serbian Kingdom?"

"It's safe to see that way."

"Let's receive everyone who wants to move to the state. We'd have to have at least 50,000 people to build our strength."

"What would the Kazakh government think if we keep becoming bigger?"

"The president told me to prepare for the future and build strength. To do that, it's best to increase the population."

"Can we dream of our own kingdom?"

"He said that he will open the door for us if we're ready. So, Lord Niksic, please stop being stubborn and accept anyone who wants to come to the state. We have a lot of lands, don't we?"

"I will honor you and do as you said, prince consort."

"Plan a migration that would be done over the next several years. If they come in all at once, the state wouldn't be able to handle them."

"I will submit the detailed plan after consulting with Commissioner Kim."

***

The world was plagued by terrorism, but the autonomous state was full of vitality as if it had built a wall against the world.

New factories were being built at the industrial complex by the Arirang Wharf.

The large-scale machine tool plant had already been completed and various machinery parts and s.h.i.+p engines had begun to be manufactured in the state, while the laser amplification technology inst.i.tute was also being completed.

Youngho was excited as the new energy storage system production plant was also under basic construction. A nearby s.h.i.+pyard was also in the final stages of construction for a large dock, while a large block manufacturing plant was beginning to build bulk carrier blocks.

Kim Chun, who accompanied Youngho to the s.h.i.+pyard, suddenly made a tempting proposal.

"Prince consort, why don't we enroll the new Serbian immigrants at the technical school so that they can learn welding skills?"

"Well, can they master such difficult skills when they are barely able to read?"

"Welding is not a theory, it's a skill that's mastered. It's a repet.i.tive task, so once you've mastered it, you don't need retraining."

"They've been ranching their whole life. Would they want to change their profession?"

"Their desire for a new profession is great. I've interviewed a few people on the s.h.i.+p when they moved here, and most of them wanted to get a new job. Especially, younger generations are tired of the profession they had for generations."

"Really? That's great. The manager of the s.h.i.+pyard complained about being short of staff because the number of s.h.i.+p orders is increasing now."

"I've heard about that, too. I'll recruit people who want to learn welding skills."

"Okay. You could consult with Lord Niksic and process it. We need to train high-tech workers if we want to develop our technology."

When Youngho happily entered his office after looking around the industrial complex, Jong-il rushed to him.

"Take your phone with you when you're out, I've been trying to reach you."

"Why? What's going on?

"The IS remnants from Afghanistan have launched attacks in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan."

"According to our agents, they're striking government offices with young people in the lead. It looks like they have chosen the city as a new hub. They're using heavy weapons."

"The Kazakh military must be in a state of emergency."

"The border against Kyrgyzstan is already closed."

As the strongholds of Syria and Iraq were destroyed, the rest of the IS members were trying to infiltrate Central Asia and seize its cities to make new strongholds. In Central Asia, where life was hard with a high unemployment rate, the IS seemed to be an outlet for young people, and many could quickly a.s.similate the fanaticism and become IS members.

No matter what happened, Youngho could never let them cross the Kazakh border.

"Do you think our agents there will be okay?"

"I told them to be cautious, and don't take any action without my consent. If they sense any danger, they'll leave right away from the scene. They'll be alright."

"I'm asking if they're fully armed."

"Don't worry because they have all sorts of things."

"You must have sneaked a lot of equipment behind my back."

"I also took an 8-seater light airplane for them. Sneaking out weapons is nothing."

"Okay, you did a good job. Are there any more supplies you want to give them?"

"I'm going to have to send them some more combat food since the city is paralyzed now. I'll send them on a four-seater airplane for them to use, okay?"

"Okay, tell the pilots to be careful when refueling in the midway. If they run out of gas, they'll have to use a parachute to escape before they reach the destination."

The light aircraft had a range of only 1,200 kilometers, so if people wanted to get to Kyrgyzstan or Tajikistan, which was about 2,000 kilometers from the autonomous state, they must receive intermediate refueling. Youngho wanted to send a jet, but without a proper runway, it was no better than a light plane.

The light plane could land on a flat land without a runway, and the take-off and landing distance were only about 300 meters, so it was more useful than any other type of airplane in Central Asia.

Youngho thought that he would buy ten more light airplanes for this opportunity. This was because great mobility was a shortcut to winning the war. Great equipment was highly advantageous in a war against anybody. He a.s.sumed that the Countryside Force would easily take down the IS at the Kyrgyzstan border and beat the regular Kazakh army force. It was because they received special training, and had no one to be afraid of.