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Moreover, regardless of whether I portray Wei Yanwu's story as a successful or failed rebellion, it's destined to offend a group of readers. The reason... well, go ask the screenwriter of *Jiang Jin Jiu* how they hyped up the Great Yan Dynasty. The sheer number of characters is overwhelming. The Earth and Wood Celestial Masters can move mountains and fill seas, the Thunder Celestial Masters can conjure "one less of the three mountains and seventeen peaks" with a wave of their hand, and these top-tier warriors are even systematically taught in schools and the Celestial Master's Mansion in Yan, with a large number stationed on the front lines against evil in the north.

He probably ate the demon's knowledge of the power to become stronger the more people he knew. Of course, it's also possible that the Celestial Master was too strong, so knowing so many demons didn't matter to him.

In short, it's hard to write a story. It's like the Type-Moon authors used to hype up Qin Shi Huang, but then FGO actually used him in the storyline and realized they were being too conservative with their hype. It suddenly left me completely bewildered, and I didn't know how to write a story for a while.

As for the other plot points, the Bolivarian warlord conflicts, the dual rule of Letania, Casimir's obsession with entertainment, and the mysteries surrounding the Agor Sea—there are indeed many other aspects that this book does not cover.

But enough.

More plot details can be added when writing other Arknights novels in the future. I only guarantee that I can depict the plot outlined in my synopsis step by step with high quality and present it to the readers, leaving an impression on them when I finish writing. That's what makes a detailed and excellent novel plot. Blindly adding more elements seems superfluous and unnecessary.

To put it bluntly, continuing to add to the book blindly without an outline would make it seem like I'm trying to squeeze every last drop of value out of the book and make a quick buck.

That would not only compromise quality but also damage my reputation. It would also increase the likelihood of writer's block and other mental breakdowns, and might even prevent the story from ever being completed.

Therefore, I finally chose to finish this book on New Year's Eve, an auspicious day to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.

Some say the ending was rushed, but I don't think so. I feel I wrote everything that came to mind. To say that the ending was unsatisfying or rushed and poorly executed is one thing, but I disagree.

In short, thank you so much to all the readers who have followed me this far! The new book will be released whenever I come up with an idea, maybe tomorrow, maybe in a week or two. But no later than mid-February. In the meantime, I'll write a few side stories based on my ideas.

Once the new book is released, it will be announced in the book's announcement section. We hope you will continue to support us!

Finally, as the first novel to be completed on Hedgehog Cat, I am very happy and pleased to officially announce:

The End of "Miss Wang Weina, Even Your Cousin Isn't Good Enough!"

Finish spreading flowers!

Epilogue Update Preview

There will definitely be more side stories. For example, there will definitely be an epilogue—the wedding of Theresa.

Epilogue - A Day in the Life of the Queen

Epilogue – Reeds, Celts, and Deep Pool

Epilogue – The Return of Mostima

This is the content that has already been arranged. As for the rest of the follow-up discussion, I will write two articles based on everyone's votes and my personal thoughts.

If there are any characters you'd like to see but aren't among the ones listed above, please vote here.

The postscript will be updated a few days later because there are many things to do during the Spring Festival, such as visiting relatives and visiting graves, and also because I want to take a break for a couple of days after it's finished.

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Epilogue 1 – A Day in the Life of the Queen (5K)

Victoria, Londinium, Iron Palace.

For a hegemonic nation like Victoria, defeating a god in a direct confrontation for the first time was naturally a momentous occasion worthy of celebration. To this end, Wayne specially designated the day of the victory as the nation's "Second National Day" (the First National Day being Victoria's founding day), and announced that the Second National Day would be a seven-day holiday, just like the First National Day, for the whole country to celebrate together.

However, the wonderful holiday must eventually come to an end. The seven days passed in the blink of an eye, and today is the first working day after the end of the second National Day holiday.

In the past, Wayne had never really cared about when to start or finish get off work. After experiencing the frenzied competition of his previous life, he now truly enjoyed freedom in his work schedule—he could do what he wanted and not do what he didn't want. Meeting foreign dignitaries could be left to Vina, handling domestic affairs to Kal'tsit, teaching Vina could be entrusted to Theresa, and even other miscellaneous religious affairs, intelligence work, and military deployments could be completely delegated to Patriarch Boudica, the immortal Winster, and Grand Marshal Ernest. But if he wanted, he could also get involved in all of these things, although Wayne rarely did.

But this time was different. It was early morning when Vina dragged Wayne out of bed, at a time when even Theresa was still yawning.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Wayne opened his sleepy eyes and looked at his sister, who was dressed in a formal suit, and asked in a daze.

Vina raised an eyebrow, somewhat displeased, but still patiently said, "Brother, it's time to get up and go to work!"

"Go to work?" Wayne repeated the word, then rolled his eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but Vina grabbed him.

"It seems you've forgotten something, brother. Shall I help you remember?"

Vina said with a half-smile,

"What did you promise me in the palace before we went to Rembito?"

Although the trips to Rembiton were close in time, it felt like several months had passed. It took Wayne a long time to gradually rewind his memories—before returning from Rembiton, he had killed Zul'Miss's clone; before that, he had sent Kal'tsit to maintain order in Rembiton; before that, he had ended the demons inhabiting Rembiton; before that, he had arrived in Rembiton and learned about Ascalon's abilities…

Before that.....

A sudden thought flashed through Wayne's mind, recalling what he had said to Vina: "Don't worry, Vina, I won't bring any women back from Rembiton this time. Really! And when I get back, I'll personally help you handle those troublesome government affairs!"

"Hiss—why did I say such a stupid thing?"

"Wayne muttered under his breath. He noticed the air pressure drop beside him; a vein throbbed on Vina's forehead, and she quickly shook her head."

"How could I say such a stupid thing? How could I forget something so important? I'm getting old and useless! I'll get up right now, I'll get up right now!"

Vina's complexion improved slightly. She raised her head and gently nodded to Theresa, who was still wrapped in the blanket.

Theresa gave a helpless smile, shrugged, pulled the blanket up to cover the lower half of her face, and nodded.

.........

"It's nothing, just a matter of state. I, Wayne, am knowledgeable in everything from astronomy to geography. I have memorized so many strategies for governing a country from my past life. Although I haven't participated in online political debates, I've witnessed quite a few. Besides, I served as regent for a period of time before welcoming back Vina. It's just helping Vina with a day's worth of government affairs, a piece of cake!"

Wayne had thought so, but when he sat down in Vina's office and looked at the mountain of folders and reports in front of him, as well as a whole box of pen refills, he still gasped.

Today is the first day back to work. Local governments across the country have to submit a summary of the complicated affairs during the holiday to Lentinium. This includes everything from holiday budget expenditures to trivial matters. With the power of the nobility essentially nonexistent, these matters have been largely handed over to the local governments. After handling these affairs, the local governments will compile them into documents and submit them for Vina to review.

Vina didn't have the time to review each document individually, so usually, most of these folders would be placed in the "read" box—meaning "not read," indicating they were understood and didn't need further review—and then handed over to subordinates or directly distributed to relevant departments for coordination. This had become standard practice. But this time, Vina seemed to have a wicked plan, completely refusing to tell Wayne about this. Wayne looked at the documents, feeling a chill run down his spine. He wanted to use common sense to read them upside down, but he realized—while reading them upside down would indeed reveal the important information first, the total number of documents wouldn't change.

Left with no other option, Wayne turned to the girl sitting on the windowsill where Theresa had originally been, and said, "Um, Vina..."

"What's wrong, brother?"

"Look at these, aren't they a bit too much?"

"Is it a lot? I review these things every day."

This is a lie. Not only does Vina delegate most of the less important tasks to the cabinet and various departments, but even for the remaining tasks, Theresa enthusiastically comes to help every day. But today, Theresa definitely won't be coming. Vina has already told her; Theresa will probably sleep until lunchtime today.

Wayne was on the verge of tears, and tried to say, "Then won't I have time to play with you?"

Vina's eyes lit up slightly, but she quickly became resolute again, shaking her head firmly and saying, "No need. It's already the best help you could give me by helping me finish these things and letting me rest for a day. As for playing with me, let's do it next time."

She paused, then said somewhat shyly in a low voice, "Besides, didn't you spend the whole day with me? Even though it was work."

Vina didn't ask for much. Wayne brought her back to the palace and passed the throne to her; this was the greatest recognition he could give her. Although the journey had been arduous, Vina never regretted accepting this responsibility, nor did she want Wayne to regret his decision. She and Wayne were cousins, and Wayne's father was a taboo figure within the Aslan royal family, whose name could not even be mentioned, but this did not affect their relationship.

Blood is thicker than water.

Hearing Vina's soft confession, Wayne was also touched.

To be fair, when he first transmigrated, Wayne did treat Vina as a scapegoat. At that time, Wayne faced domestic nobles with their own agendas, a gradually fragmenting empire, the ever-encroaching Lateran Church, and the pressing deadline for his coronation. If he hadn't promptly introduced Vina as the legitimate heir and staged a deception, Wayne's best outcome would be the same as Vina's: bound to Victoria's throne.

He couldn't marry Theresa because the influence of the Emperor and the Prince was vastly different, and such an action would inevitably provoke a violent reaction from the entire Victoria and even Terra. He also couldn't conceal his identity and travel to Columbia, and could only watch as the Loken Tank grew and Rhine Life collapsed in the future. He was even less able to recruit Kal'tsit, build the Tower of Babel, achieve his goals, and save more tragedies.

He may gain greater power, but he will also lose the freedom to choose his own path.

Now, Vina has taken on all of this for her. She's younger than herself and lacks the world-encompassing knowledge of her past life, yet she bears a tremendous responsibility. She never complains of hardship or fatigue, nor does she ask for anything in return. She worries deeply about the dangers she encounters while adventuring outside, and she's genuinely happy to see her return. She threatens war with Colombia for her own safety, and she even overpowers her ministers in the cabinet to push for a military rescue in order to find her.

She asked for nothing in return, because she believed that the trust that Wayne had placed in her by entrusting her with the throne was enough, but how could Wayne ignore what she truly wanted?

She was no longer some tool to take the throne; she was his sister, a sister to whom blood was thicker than water.

"There shouldn't be anything else going on. Rhodes Island won't be arriving in Victoria for another twenty days or so. Where would you like to go these next few days? I'd like to go out with you."

Wayne put down his pen, walked to Vina's side, and gently ruffled her long, fluffy golden hair.

Lionesses don't actually have manes, but the lion king does.

“Vina is a born emperor, she just lacks a good mentor.”

Wayne recalled the comment recorded in the King of Siege's character profile, a comment made by a mysterious figure who had suddenly appeared. Sitting in his current position, Wayne guessed that it might be a remnant of the Unicorn clan from the original storyline, secretly protecting the last descendant of Athrun after Theresis took control of Londinium. It was precisely because of this comment that Wayne made Theresia Vina's mentor; she was sure to be a qualified guide.

But now, the story of King Push has faded away, replaced by the story of the supreme Empress Victoria. Wayne thinks this statement also needs revision.

“Vina is a born empress, but what she needs more is the company of her family.”

She was no longer a solitary lion queen, nor did she have to face the storms brought by Victoria alone. Wayne would be by her side. The sincerity of this vow was no less than the pure white snow of the sacred mountain of Sherag.

"Then I'd like to go shopping?"

"How about I go with you and carry your bag?"

"I also want to see my old friends, Indra, Gawain, and the others!"

"I'll be with you. Don't let my lack of fighting skills fool you, I'm actually a super fighter!"

“I also want to travel. I want to see Siesta, Dosoles, and Sargon, the legendary homeland of Aslan.”

"Okay, I'll go with you. But remember to bring Yelena when you go to Siesta (to cool down the volcano), and remember to bring a water gun when you go to Dosoles (with a water gun you can become a true god, just like 42). As for Sargon... Vina, do you prefer a thin tail or a thick tail?"

Vina blinked in confusion and asked curiously, "Why do we need to bring these?"

Wayne shrugged. "Yeah, why? I don't know, it just suddenly occurred to me."

Siesta and Sargon could be a legacy of the original storyline. Why does Dosoles carry a water gun? Did his sixth sense trigger?

Fortunately, Vina didn't dwell on the question. Her smile remained, but she asked somewhat abruptly:

"When does brother plan to hold his wedding with Theresa? This has been dragging on for a long time, hasn't it? There were some objections in the country at first, but they've all disappeared now. Are you waiting for Rhodes Island?"

Wayne paused, looking at Vina who had suddenly become interested in gossip, hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said truthfully:

"Yes, that's what Theresa and I are planning. We'll hold the wedding after Rhodes Island arrives in Victoria."

"Does Rhodes Island have any special meaning? I heard that the name was found in an ancient book in the lower storage room of that ship," Vina asked curiously.

Wayne pursed his lips: "If we're talking about meaning, Rhodes Island is the home of the Tower of Babel, and besides that, it probably doesn't really have any other significance. However, we all chose that day, probably because we wanted to find something symbolic?"

That was the spoils of war obtained after the first victory over the gods at the Tower of Babel in Rembito. It was the highest achievement attained in the Tower of Babel, built to challenge the omnipotent gods and reach Heaven. It was the result of the first united effort by a group of like-minded strangers. Theresa probably valued this symbolic significance, which is why she chose that day.

Vina took a sip of her bitter coffee, a look of nostalgia and wistfulness on her face.

She didn't like drinking bitter coffee; bitter coffee was Wayne's favorite. She preferred coffee with sugar.

"That's great. It makes me want to try getting married too?"

"Huh?" Wayne was startled, and the hand that was rubbing Vina's head almost jumped up.

Vina laughed, tilted her head back, looked at Wayne, and handed him the coffee cup.

"Why are you so nervous? Do you think I have someone I like?"

"No...right?"

"Yes." Vina nodded seriously.