While St. Attila was showing off his might in sunny Tulum Harbor, Joe was clinking glasses with Salian at Hydra Palace.

Salian, who is over forty years old, looks even younger than Gorkin who fought in the Rann Corridor because of his strong personal strength.

On weekdays, Salian, who is described as a 'granite sculpture' behind his back, is a little excited at the moment, his face is a little red, and even the iron-gray hair, which has been meticulously groomed, has a few messy strands of hair hanging down from his forehead, dangling in front of his slightly fanatical eyes.

He held the crystal glass and shook it gently, so that the crimson wine hung a faint layer of crimson on the wall of the glass.

He gushed excitedly towards Joe.

Joe's previous 'deal' had been promised by Mata XIII, and in the name of Salian, a formal 'cooperative deed' had been signed with the Ritu family represented by Joe.

The royal family contributed to protect him, and at the same time paid Joe a symbolic cash of 100 million gold marks, thus receiving 50% of the compensation Joe received from the Super Junkers in the Ruhr region.

The fifty percent of the shares were placed in the name of Sallian.

To be more precise, this fifty percent of the shares can be regarded as Salian's 'personal property'.

This is a huge fortune, and the 'compensation' given by dozens of Super Junkers is worth more than the astronomical 'swag' of the Whispering Forest Club.

Those 'stolen goods' are 'dead things' and 'floating wealth'.

And this compensation is an 'asset', an 'industry', and a 'living wealth', which can bring hundreds of millions of profits every year.

This money, Salian has a lot of use.

In particular, among these 'industries' are steel mills, foundries, various factories related to the production of ordnance, and various raw material mines. From the mining and transportation of raw materials, to the processing and refining of raw materials, and finally manufactured into various finished products, and even sales channels, everything is available.

Combined with the drawings Joe had dedicated to Salian, and the huge profits he could make every year in the future, Salian had a lot to offer.

Money, industry, and the Imperial Army's support for Salian gave him more power and more influence over his reach.

"Joe, you gave me a huge surprise, really, I didn't expect you to think of such a way to cooperate and swallow the bait that those bastards gave you in one gulp." Salian couldn't hold back his joy, and kept complimenting Joe with a smile on his face.

"You don't know...... You need to know...... This cooperation is also a very meaningful thing for me. Salian looked at Joe very seriously: "These industries, and the profits they bring in the future, and the power they burst out of themselves...... It's valuable to me, to those who are loyal to me. ”

Joe had already drunk more than two dozen glasses in a row under the constant toast of Salian.

At the moment, he was a little drunk, and asked Salian very bluntly: "It seems that you ...... And your ......"

Joe pointed to the ceiling above his head, "You're short of money?" But it shouldn't be...... As a member of the Imperial Family......"

Salian was also a little drunk, and he simply sat down on his desk, shook his legs, and complained loudly: "Ah, Joe, you don't know...... You can know that the Delen Empire was not poor. ”

"I was poor, but since my grandmother came to the throne, over the decades, the empire has become stronger and richer, and the annual taxes collected are astronomical. The treasury of the empire, very rich. ”

"The royal family, there is no shortage of money. The royal family was all over the empire and had many industries. Although they are all very traditional, old-fashioned industries. For example, mountains, forests, manors, mines, etc...... But these old-fashioned industries are the most stable industries, and the water is flowing for a long time. So, the royal family is also very rich. ”

"However, the empire is so large and the benefits are huge, but the annual expenses are also very huge. It was an astronomical amount that scared me when I thought about it. ”

"Just in the last twenty years, in the last twenty years when the empire was the most powerful in history, more than five, maybe seven or eight years? At the end of the year, the treasury was almost depleted, and a large amount of money had to be withdrawn from the private treasury of the royal family. ”

"Spending money is like running water, so, in recent years, the empire has been crazy to open up colonies, crazy to war with its neighbors, crazy to grab new land, why is this? In order to earn more gold marks, earn more resources. ”

"You see, it's not just the Empire, it's the powerful countries in Metland that have enough strength are basically doing this. It's just that the nature of the empire is placed here, and we show ourselves more directly, more prominently, and with more radical means...... Well, or rather, we're more rude, direct, and shameless! ”

"We wanted to beat you, and we did...... Unlike the Ice Sea Kingdom, the Gallic Republic and the Holy Sia Kingdom, they still have to find excuses to go to war? Oh, what a boring thing! ”

Salian gulped down the glass of wine, grabbed the bottle on his desk, and poured himself another glass.

Joe blinked desperately, looking at Salian in bewilderment.

Such a huge empire, such a huge tax ...... Although the empire fought in the northwest, the northeast, and the southwest, it also fought with several vassal states of the Lucian Empire in the east.

But...... It also seems that it will not be enough to drain the finances of such a powerful empire.

"In short, the treasury of the empire is very tight, and the private treasury of the royal family is also tight, and sometimes, even the private treasury with some top-level Teutonic has bottomed out...... Ah, what a damn it. ”

"So, we, the royals, are actually quite ...... Distress. Sarian's face turned slightly red, and he coughed dryly: "So, I won't help that unscrupulous old guy hide anything...... He was profligate, and his money was spent where he shouldn't, and with it, my brother Conrad, and I were very ...... Distress. ”

Joe nodded vigorously.

He remembered the poor traveler's cheque that Salian had pulled out when Ferdinand blackmailed Salian outside the headquarters of the Royal Bank.

Tsk, the royal grandson of the dignified empire, His Royal Highness the Prince who has an actual fief, can't even take out a million gold marks on his body...... Oh, can you believe it?

"So, what about the money?" Joe asked Salian in surprise.

"yes, what about the money?" Salian drank it all again, then poured himself another glass of good wine. He raised his glass, shook it, and smiled playfully at Joe: "When you have a golden star on your shoulder, well, become a Guards Legion or even ...... The big names above the major general of the Royal Knights, you will naturally know. ”

Joe's face darkened and he rolled his eyes at Salian.

Salian giggled, quickly put down his glass, then turned around, pulled out a humidor from the pile of papers on his desk, pulled out two cigars, and tossed one to Joe.

Joe and Sallian were drinking fine wine and smoking cigars, and the Sallian's office suddenly became full of wine and green smoke.

With a cigar between his fingers, Salian waved his hand and squinted at Joe: "As the Prince of the Empire, I have a lot of means...... Legal, or illegal, to grab terrible profits. ”

"But where the Empire has laws, there is absolutely no way that Grandmother will allow us to do whatever we want."

"You really helped me a lot this time...... With these outputs, with these industries, I can do a lot of things that I wanted to do before but didn't have the energy to do. ”

"Joe, you are a very nice little fellow, you deserve a higher status in the Empire, you should contribute more to the Empire. But...... You are now a police officer...... Oh, hell, it's not that I look down on the Ministry of Police, but rather, the contribution of the Ministry of Police to the Empire is simply too limited. ”

"What else can I do besides knighthoods and those decorations...... It's to give you a better path. ”

Joe looked at Salian inexplicably.

Salian just smoked, drank, and talked to Joe about the geography and cultural customs of Tulun Harbor with a smile, but he didn't talk about serious things.

After more than an hour of such rambling conversation, there was a knock on the door of Salian's office.

Salian jumped off the desk, he dropped the cigarette butt in his hand, patted the cigarette ash on his body, put away the smile on his face, and in his sunken eyes, the two dark gray eyes revealed the usual cold and even fierce glow of daily life.

"Come in!"

The door to the office quietly opened, and several court officials cautiously approached with a group of maids.

The maids pushed in a dozen four-wheeled carts with cork dolls from tailor shops.

These dolls were seven feet seven or eight inches tall, with large shoulders and round waists, and their size was far beyond ordinary people, but they were exactly the same as Joe's body outline.

The doll wears a dark gray army uniform.

There were more than 30 uniforms in total.

There are regular clothes, training clothes, and several sets of large dresses made of excellent materials.

"A first-year student at the Imperial Military University, Joe von Witu, a Major of the Empire, a midshipman of the War Planning Department of the Imperial War Department, and a second class confidential secretary in the office of Prince Salian von Hyderaborg of the Empire...... Well, and the Grand Knight of the Honorary Sword and Shield of the Royal Order of the Empire, and the Centurion of the Knights of the Imperial Knights of the Navy. ”

Salian stood in front of Joe and smiled at the stunned Joe: "The Knights of the Great Sea are the Royal Knights directly under me, with a total of 10,000 people, and it stands to reason that the centurion of the Knights of the Great Sea should also have the rank of colonel...... You, are a special case. ”

"Because of your merits, I award you the Order of the Defender of the Black Forest in the name of the Duke of the Black Forest of the Empire!"

Salian smirked triumphantly, he reached out and gently patted Joe's shoulder: "Okay, boy, take off this layer of black dog...... Ahem, ahem...... Take off this police uniform and change into the uniform of the Deren Imperial Army, the most powerful and glorious army in Metland. ”

"I still think you're better suited to wear a military uniform."