Chapter 912 - 136: Contacting the German Emperor
Yesterday’s Giant Ship World, Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
At this moment, Vienna was in winter, a heavy snow had fallen, the entire city was clad in silver, a thin layer of ice formed over the Danube River, and steam locomotives spewed thick smoke, traversing through the swirling snowflakes.
Compared to the northern capital established to appease the Northerners, Vienna, originally Austria’s capital, was far more prosperous.
These days, the old Emperor’s mood was heavy.
Not because winter had arrived and another batch of subjects would lose their lives to the cold.
In this era, it’s quite normal for people to freeze to death every winter.
His worry was due to the increasingly tense situation in Europe.
Recently, the powder keg that was the Balkan Region finally exploded, Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece formed the Balkan Alliance, declaring war on the Ottoman Empire.
For Franz, who had seen the Ottoman Empire, an old adversary of the Habsburg Family for centuries, reach the gates of Vienna, there wasn’t any affection, yet watching the Balkan Region, under Pan-Slavism and Tsarist Russia’s support, repeatedly tear flesh from the Ottoman Empire was concerning for Franz.
After all, large numbers of Slavs lived under the rule of the Bohemian Crown Lands, Illyrian Crown Lands, Galicia-Lodomeria, and Hungarian Crown Lands. The Tsar considered himself the protector of all Eastern Orthodox Church believers, the savior of all Slavs.
Even though both parties were still part of the Holy Alliance, and before Debang was just the Austrian Empire alone, Franz always had a fear of the Eastern aggressive giant.
Having obtained Texas’ White Crystal mine sources, Debang’s greatest deficiency was remedied, thanks to a large literate population, their recent development could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.
But the French grew their own power even faster!
Back then, when France had just annexed Spain, the old Emperor did not see it as a threat. Looking at it superficially, France had gobbled it up with pleasure, but everyone knew that Spain was a muddy swamp, with barren and arid mountains everywhere, inconvenient transportation, strong regional separatism, and quite rebellious mountaineers.
Even when the almost invincible Napoleon had set foot there, he suffered great losses. Franz and his advisors once thought Spain would become a bloodletting pit for France, sooner or later draining the last drop of French blood.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as wished.
Perhaps because previous Spanish Kings like Isabella II had ravaged this land terribly, or frequent wars made Spaniards crave for a strong person to end it all, or maybe Pan-Latinism had an influence.
In any case, when the crown fell onto the French King’s head, the Spaniards’ rebellious spirit did not show much effect, rebellion occasionally happened, but most people became obedient subjects.
This was not just about adding a territory with more than ten million people, it was also about the Spanish colonial regions, although few, were well-developed, belonging to the kind of golden egg-laying hen, incomparable to what Debang occupied— "East Africa", "Southwest Africa", "New Guinea".
Numerous and once unclaimable lost Spanish colonies provided claims that France quickly embarked on a path of expansion.
New Granada, Central American Federation, Spanish Cuba, Spanish Philippines, La Plata, one colony after another was brought under control, becoming the resources for France’s revenge against Debang.
The British, who had a great setback in Texas, had to face the threatening Russian Bear sharpening its claws toward India in Central Asia, while also confronting the rampant overseas expansion of the Fasci Federation, managing struggles on both fronts.
Both due to insufficient naval power and lacking strategic footholds in South America, Debang wanted to intervene but lacked the capability, and above all compared to the overseas isolated British, the old Emperor worried more about prematurely triggering the European War he desperately wanted to avoid.
Now, the world had mostly been divided up, except for that large country in the Far East, the world had all been brought under Europe-led order.
The era of savage expansion by European powers ended, to continue they’d have to gnaw at tough bones, that is, attack each other, or rather, the reason they had previously expanded power at any cost was for this day.
The sensitive international situation made powder-keg tensions grow between the Franco-Russian Treaty and the Anglo-German Alliance two major blocs.
Franz knew well, Debang and France’s destined confrontation would replay.
Though had defeated France once before, Franz never underestimated this Habsburg Family’s old enemy.
In the last Austrian-French war, Napoleon III hadn’t even mobilized all of France’s war potential before suffering total defeat, yet soon after the French proved their army remained unparalleled through a War of the Spanish Succession.
"Franz, Your Majesty."
"Who’s there!"
The old Emperor abruptly raised his head, assessing his surroundings.
Nearby, the Royal Personal Guard and attendants looked at each other puzzled: "Your Majesty, nobody just spoke."
Franz furrowed his brows, knowing well it wasn’t an illusion he experienced, yet the Divine Artifact of Royal inheritance he wore showed no special reaction: "Heydrich, have the Royal Advisors come over immediately."
Once more, the voice echoed, this time it was a familiar female voice.
Viviana, from a world apart, saw the familiar elder through the vortex before her, her eyes moistening: "Your Majesty, it’s me, I found a special way to contact you."
"Anna?"
The old Emperor’s face showed a trace of delight.
"Your Majesty, who are you speaking with?"
Some people began to worry, after all, the Habsburg Family had consecutively produced several emperors with unstable minds. Some rebellious individuals with ulterior motives even openly declared that the Habsburg Family were just a bunch of freaks born from close-relative marriages.
"You all may leave."
He waved his hand, dismissing the crowd: "You heartless girl, it’s been so many years and you never thought to send even one letter?"
Prior to this, Viviana had written a letter to Franz, explaining the reasons behind many matters, for instance, she was on a mission last time, so she could only stay briefly in Texas and couldn’t return to Debang to visit him.
"Since that time, I haven’t returned..."
She looked at the old emperor’s face, which had many more wrinkles than when they last parted. The once vigorous and spirited old emperor now appeared aged and decrepit.
She suddenly understood the feeling Cherina had when seeing her own father back then.
"Communication across worlds?"
The old emperor did not show any surprise, considering that Yesterday’s Giant Ship was originally a mythical creation. A crossing-world connection seemed insignificant compared to the legendary Tower of Babel, which was said to lead to Heaven.
"Yes, Your Majesty, my captain would like to have a word with you first."
The old emperor was slightly surprised: "Very well, I wish to see who it is, the legendary Master of the Tower of Babel, who took you away from my side."
"Your Majesty, it is an honor to have this conversation with you. As you are aware, I come from another world, from an era still in the Middle Ages."
Franz nodded slightly: "What should I call you?"
Losa found it amusing as he glanced at the somewhat tense Candle Knight across from him, thinking that the young woman couldn’t possibly believe he would actually claim to be Franz’s ancestor, right? It was merely a joke.
He chuckled softly, saying: "You can just call me Losa."
"So Mr. Losa, what do you want to discuss with me?"
Franz’s tone was quite composed, but his feelings were not. After all, it was the legendary great creation that could traverse timelines, the secrets it held could drive even the most powerful Legendary Mage insane.
"A European War is about to break out, in two years. If you wish to delay to reorganize and prepare your forces, it would be best not to let your successor, Archduke Ferdinand, wander around the Illyria Region in two years."
"Will the European War really break out?"
Franz asked back.
Although the majority of insightful people had already anticipated a major war in the future, in reality, many still believed that the Allies and the Allied Powers were evenly matched, perhaps forming a stable stalemate for ten years or even longer.
"Absolutely certain."
Franz breathed a light sigh: "Thank you, this is very useful information."
He paused, then continued: "Perhaps it’s a bit presumptuous, but I would still like to know, in the end, who wins and who loses this war?"
"Your Majesty, this answer is meaningless even if I tell you, because the timeline will change. In the timeline without my interference, Texas would already have been destroyed by now. In this new timeline, even I cannot say for sure, and that’s why I haven’t given you a definitive start time for the war."
"I understand."
Franz smiled and did not continue to pursue the matter.
The answer was indeed meaningless, for even if the historical line would not change, he would not abandon his efforts just because it was a "predetermined outcome."
"So Mr. Losa, are you intending to help us Debang like you helped the Texans?"
"Yes."
Franz was silent for a moment, then still asked: "Is it simply due to personal likes and dislikes?"
The legendary divine existence suddenly having personal likes and dislikes, even if it was in his favor, made the old emperor somewhat uncomfortable.
"Perhaps because in the world I come from, I also bear the surname Habsburg."
It was now the German Emperor’s turn to be surprised.
In Franz’s understanding, Losa’s so-called world should belong to another timeline.
"So you are actually... an ancestor of our Habsburg Family?"
"Sort of, I am the second son of Werner I."
The old emperor was so surprised he was at a loss for words; who could have imagined that the one who took away his princess would turn out to be his own ancestor?
Still, it was Losa who broke the stalemate, laughing as he said: "Your Majesty does not need to worry about our relationship. For those who frequently traverse timelines, it’s unnecessary to be concerned about generational rank. Just consider me a close younger relative."