I! Cleaner!

"..."

Watching Leon, who had just finished speaking and was now bouncing around, middle-aged Joshua truly felt a bit numb.

This "Little Baskin" of unknown origin seemed like someone sent down from the heavens specifically to disgust him; his years of hard work had been destroyed in just thirty minutes.

Now the rebels he'd personally established not only had nothing to do with him anymore, but judging by the look in their eyes, they were already considering whether to take him down. If he delayed any longer, it was questionable whether he could even get away.

...

"Phew... I admit you won!"

Glaring at "Little Baskin" across the table, the middle-aged man, who had lost miserably, gritted his teeth and said,

"But don't think it's over. When these fools following you hit a wall and realize how unrealistic your talk is, they'll betray you just like they betrayed me today!"

"You're wrong. Today, in this room, nothing happened that had anything to do with betrayal."

*Rubbing his heart that still throbbed with phantom pain, Leon resisted the urge to grimace.*

He shook his head and, with a solemn expression, continued to speak piercingly,

"You couldn't bring them the results they wanted, nor could you make them agree with your ideas, and you couldn't give them a future worth expecting. Of course, they wouldn't choose to follow you.

Or, if you insist on using the word betrayal, it's not them who betrayed you; you betrayed them first."

"..."

"I won't talk to you about this!"

Knowing that his way with words wasn't even worthy to tie the shoes of the person across from him, the middle-aged man, who realized he had lost the upper hand, decisively abandoned debating with Leon. After taking a deep breath, he clenched his fists and rationally negotiated,

"Little Baskin... whether you really are Little Baskin or not, I'll just call you that for now.

If you really are, as you say, prepared to save this country, then you must follow my instructions, lead people to raid the Boarding Tower, kill those Crolock Kingdom scouts, and destroy all data concerning the Kingdom's mines!"

"..."

Not expecting that even at a time like this, middle-aged Joshua would still think about attacking the Boarding Tower, Leon, who knew he came from the future, couldn't help but frown and ask,

"Why?"

"I can't say!"

Upon hearing Leon's question, the middle-aged man couldn't help but scowl and replied darkly,

"The more I disclose about the future situation, the greater the impact, and the quicker I'll die! Understand? Also, since you're so smart, why not figure it out yourself?"

"..."

*That insufferable attitude... confirmed, this guy was absolutely Joshua.*

Looking at the middle-aged man before him who obviously needed a "favor" but insisted on putting on airs and talking down to him, Leon couldn't help but smack his lips in exasperation.

*Since yesterday, he had felt a sense of familiarity, and the reason he didn't associate it with Joshua was because back then, "Sir Nathan" appeared to have decent emotional intelligence and seemed kind and courteous.*

*A person like that could never be connected to the Joshua in the Royal Palace, whose brain started spinning inside his skull at the slightest shake of the head.*

But now it appeared that after personally experiencing the country's downfall and family breakup in the future, this guy seemed to have matured quite a bit. Even though he would reveal his true nature when irritated, he at least learned how to put on an act in normal times.

Hmm... his words needed to be carefully considered.

Following the train of thought suggested by middle-aged Joshua, and pondering the potential scenarios, Leon squinted slightly and said,

"You mean the scouts discovered a highly valuable mineral deposit, and that the Crolock Kingdom would go to war against the Kingdom in the future just to obtain those minerals?"

"That's not what I'm implying!"

The middle-aged man snorted at Leon's words, instantly denying his speculation, yet he subtly raised his hand to smooth his hair, showing Leon that his temples had turned a shade whiter.

*Suddenly aged... so I guessed it right?*

Faced with the intelligence Joshua provided at the cost of his life, Leon couldn't help but furrow his brow slightly, vaguely understanding why he suddenly wanted to attack the Boarding Tower.

...

If there were to be a ranking of the twelve countries in this world by overall strength, the Kingdom could only rank around seventh or eighth, whereas the Crolock Kingdom, known as the City of Machinery, was steadfastly aiming for first or second place.

That micro-nation with a population of only a few million and an area merely half the size of a Kingdom county boasted a level of mechanical capability that surpassed other kingdoms by at least a hundred years, with the vast majority of work already taken over by machines.

However, the intense mechanization induced an almost pathological craving for energy. In addition to the most basic coal and petroleum, there was Thunderstrike Mine, unique to Thunderstorm Country Vandastone, concentrated whale blubber processed from the whaling ships of Thousand Sails Maritime Country Sayo, and the feathers of the solar bird from The Refraction Kingdom Riviere...

Anything capable of providing energy would immediately catch their attention, and they would demand to purchase it by force. If it could not be obtained through conventional means, they wouldn't hesitate to start a war.

Even the Sky Clippers that traversed the skies, along with the Boarding Towers standing tall in the territories of various kingdoms, were technologies "shared" without charge by the Crolock Kingdom to achieve their goal of energy-seeking.

What they offered in exchange for bestowing the "power to conquer the skies" upon the major kingdoms was the guarantee that scouts sent by the Crolock Kingdom would move unimpeded, allowing them to obtain intelligence on various mineral and energy sources promptly. This demonstrated their enormous demand for energy.