"Scotland reaching out to Norway?"

"The Norwegians have put forward harsh conditions and want to drag both us and the European Union Company in. The Scots didn't reject them outright, but they're also talking to the Russians. McTavish is playing a balancing game. We need to up the stakes—Commerce is drafting a proposal: if Norway excludes Mexico from deep involvement in the 'Odin's Eye' project, the United States can hand part of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve rotation contracts to Equinor."

"At the same time," Turner added, "have the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) arrange an 'accidental' patrol in the North Sea, with the route passing close to the 'Odin's Eye' area. No provocations—just show up. Make sure both the Scots and the Norwegians see that the North Sea is not Mexico's backyard."

He walked to the world map, his gaze sweeping over the locations marked as Wind Roll Grass action points: the Balkans, the North Sea, Congo, England… like pieces scattered across a vast board.

"Reyes wants to use technology, capital, and limited force to rapidly reshape the order. What we need to do is slow that process down, make it expensive, full of surprises. Like throwing stones of all sizes into a fast-flowing river, creating eddies and drag."

"And the ultimate objective?" someone asked.

"Ultimate objective?" Turner lit a cigar. "It's to make the world understand that even if the old Overlord has declined, building a new order is anything but easy. It's to push Europe, in fear and division, back into our camp; to force Mexico, under constant attrition, to expose its flaws; to make those rising powers understand that without our acquiescence or a deal with us, their path will be hard. The United Kingdom has fallen, but the game is far from over. We've merely stepped back from center stage, into the Shadow behind the curtain—for now."

...

Mexico City, top floor of the Feathered Serpent Temple.

Victor wasn't looking at the global situation map on the screen; he was reading a simulation report from the Obsidian Quantum computing array. The report projected, over the next three months and under different levels of interference, the probability trajectories of key events such as the Balkans conflict, the Scotland Independence process, England's constitutional reform, and the struggle over Africa's resources.

"The probability of direct European military intervention in the Balkans has dropped from 35% seventy‑two hours ago to 18%," Bramo interpreted the data. "Sanctions and diplomatic pressure are starting to bite, and voices of compromise have emerged inside Serbia. The 'pause the offensive and consolidate the lines' suggestion we passed to the Serbian Armed Forces through Serbia has been adopted. The intensity of the conflict is beginning to decline."

"Good." Victor nodded. "Extend another low‑interest commercial loan to our friends in Serbia for 'post‑War reconstruction', but it must be used to purchase Mexican building materials and engineering services. Let them taste the dividends of peace."

"On the North Sea front, Norway's response is cautious but leaves room to maneuver. McTavish's feelers toward Russia have caught the United States' attention. We've detected a US Navy destroyer heading for the North Sea," Casare reported.

"Have our submarine 'accidentally' conduct a public sonar test in international waters in the Norwegian Sea. The data can 'inadvertently' be picked up by Norwegian or United States monitoring vessels," Victor instructed. "Remind everyone that there's more under the North Sea than oilfields. Also, tell McTavish we can offer development loans that are cheaper and safer than Russia's, on the condition that he pledges 50% of the future Scotland sovereign wealth fund to be managed by our banks."

"In the Africa mining zones, General Kabanggu has accepted our plan and started distributing equipment to other armed groups. The fighting is being drawn out toward the periphery of the concession. But the United States‑backed Liberation Front hasn't stopped its activities; they seem to be trying to cut the mine's external road links." Bramo pulled up the situation map of Congo.

"Have Captain Gals's squad set up a fortified defensive outpost in the core of the mining area under the pretext of 'protecting Mexican engineering personnel', equipped with anti‑sniper and anti‑ambush systems. If the Liberation Front dares to attack the outpost, we'll have every justification to hit back. At the same time, activate Plan B: reach out to officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo central government who are receptive to our mining investments, and offer a 'national development fund' in exchange for the central government putting pressure on General Kabanggu, demanding he 'restore security in the mining area as soon as possible', or else they'll consider 'reassessing the mining license'. Slip another rope around the General's neck."

Victor rose and walked to the window. The city lights spread beneath him like a river of stars.

"We have four weeks until our 'Global Digital Infrastructure and Sustainable Development Summit'. Before then, the objective on all fronts is not to win, but to stabilize—to demonstrate that we can handle challenges on multiple lines simultaneously and can provide a full‑spectrum solution from security to development."

"On the England side, Sarah Kent has secured new funding and is organizing a 'shadow election.'"

Bramo said, "This will further erode London's authority. Do we need to step in?"

"Keep our distance, support from the dark," Victor said coolly. "Let the English thrash around on their own first. A chaotic but not completely disorderly England is more advantageous to us than a unified England that might swing toward Europe or the United States. When they're exhausted and their internal contradictions fully erupt, someone will naturally seek external arbitration… and that's when we'll enter, carrying our package of solutions."

He turned, his gaze sweeping across the core team in the room:

"The collapse of the old world isn't an earthquake; it's a slow landslide. What we're doing now is, on the one hand, creating more fissures in the sliding mass to accelerate its break‑up; on the other, laying our own foundations at the foot of the slope. The process will be noisy, filthy, and people will be hit by falling rocks. But when the dust finally settles, people will see that the old hill has crumbled, and a new Highland has already taken shape beneath our feet."

"Keep pushing. Maintain pressure, stay flexible. The summit will be our key step in shifting from 'challenger' to 'order provider'. Before that, don't give our opponents any chance to concentrate their strength for a full‑scale counterattack."

Orders were issued, and the machine kept running. In different corners of the world, soldiers traded fire in the mud, diplomats clashed in conference rooms, capital surged through hidden currents, and code flashed through fiber‑optic cables. A War with no formal declaration yet present everywhere was shaping the contour of the next era.

And the details beneath that contour were being filled in by the choices, calculations, and flesh and blood of countless individuals.

From the breathing of a French Legionnaire in a rainy Bosnia and Herzegovina night, to the fingers of a Volunteer handing out flyers in a Birmingham neighborhood, to the instant a Mercenary pulled the trigger in the Congo Rainforest, and the hesitation at a Norwegian minister's pen tip in a conference room in Stavanger.

"Is my era… about to arrive?"