The bright sunshine cast over the vast earth.

But Louis, looking down at the Fearful Eye from the sky, realized that the angled sun couldn't project sunlight directly to the depths of the earth.

This is truly absurd.

Given the diameter of the Fearful Eye, to make sunlight unable to reach the deepest part, just how deep must this world-class hole be?

Louis dared not think further.

At that time, he asked the accompanying officials from the Monet Kingdom.

They came from both East and West Monet Kingdoms, but due to the Cosmic Serpent, they rarely came together.

To put it this way.

After the capital of the Monet Kingdom was bombed away, the last time the two countries stood side by side was when humanity's three major nations were preparing to form a defensive and offensive alliance. The Monet Kingdom, having already split, could not sit at the table due to comprehensive strength and was forced to unite.

But now, one Cosmic Serpent directly made them set aside their prejudices.

Louis inquired about the situation from the Monet Kingdom and learned about their recent observations, obtaining related intelligence about it.

The response from the relevant side was that the two countries only had about 4 minutes to observe the state of the Cosmic Serpent.

These 4 minutes weren't the time spent in combat between the Monet Kingdom's strongmen and the Cosmic Serpent.

It's the time at noon when the sun rises to its peak, nearly vertically illuminating the bottom of the Fearful Eye.

Louis did some simple calculations, further refreshing the crust thickness of the Star Continent.

At that moment, a realization suddenly came to him.

The Star Continent wasn't like he previously imagined, as a planet.

It was highly likely it was a "flat world" that did not exist in the previous life.

Because the Fearful Eye is just too deep.

How vast is the area of a mountain range?

To only be illuminated for 4 minutes every day at the deepest part—the crust is simply too astonishing in thickness.

Using this crust thickness to inversely deduce the area of the Star Continent, and comparing it with the area distribution on the existing map, it can be deduced that the current map's area and the "planetary" radius of the Star Continent have a considerable deviation.

Under such circumstances, there are two possibilities.

First, the existing map of the Star Continent hasn't been fully recorded, and there is broader land outside the map.

Second, this world is a flat world, so many conversion formulas from the previous life are inappropriate here.

There are rumors that the Underground City is not suspended in the void like a demi-plane.

The real Underground City is hidden beneath the unbelievably thick land of the Star Continent.

Originally, he thought this idea was too absurd, but after witnessing the Fearful Eye, he somewhat understood the group's thoughts.

...

Recalling the situation discussed with the officials dispatched by the two countries earlier, Louis pinched his brow.

His keen spiritual power detection already identified the identity of the person outside the door.

It was the official from the West Monet Kingdom who had previously shown him the Fearful Eye.

At such a time, their sudden visit, leaving behind the people of East Monet, Louis could pretty much guess their intention.

William, in charge of guarding the door, tapped gently and said:

"Your Highness, the people from West Monet invite you."

Louis said in a deep voice: "Tell them, if it's related to East Monet, there's no need to invite me specifically; I have only one purpose for being here."

William said "understood," and the outside fell silent.

Not long after, there was a thump-thump-thump of three gentle knocks, and Louis knew William had returned: "Enter."

William opened the door, bringing in a fruit plate and some pastries.

"Your Highness, it's late. Have some food and then you should rest."

Louis sighed and said: "What do you think the situation is now? They're almost on the brink of national ruin, yet they still consider how to take advantage for their country."

William nodded understandably and said: "As long as it's an intelligent species, such things are never absent."

"Indeed, I actually know, but seeing this firsthand is still quite frustrating."

The idea of West Monet is straightforward.

They seize this opportunity to quickly merge the two nations into one with strong foreign powers.

Louis also clearly knows that from the perspective of the Ense Empire, pushing the two nations to merge positively impacts Ense's future situation.

But while Ense can, it doesn't mean Louis must act.

Now his vision extends far beyond a single nation.

Small countries can focus on the happiness of their citizens, but large nations must also focus more on rising powers.

Whether the Abyss or the Underground City threatens Ense or not, Ense can only follow this path.

Because the result of not rising is dismemberment.

Countless historical experiences tell us that no major nation once abandoned rising was not dismembered by external forces.

And a dismembered nation has no citizen happiness to opt for.

If you don't want to be the group dismembered, you can only seek a world position with an identity of a major nation.

The responsibility a major nation should bear cannot be escaped.

The affair with the Monet Kingdom is bound to happen, not something Louis can ignore by not coming.

Under these circumstances, based on the Star Continent perspective, Louis doesn't want to get involved in the internal conflicts of the Monet Kingdom.

He turned his head towards William and said:

"William, why do you think I wouldn't even meet them face to face?"

William pondered and patted his head before saying: 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

"Your Highness, you should be worried about giving West Monet Kingdom too much expectation, leading them to have bad ideas or even deliberately creating false impressions for East Monet Kingdom, eventually dragging Ense into the quagmire."