Ch.405Modern Era: The Age of Grand Anastasia (4)

# The Return of the Empress

“To reunite the Co-Prosperity Sphere that’s currently experiencing social friction, implementing AI Anastasia is the only answer. They gained independence thanks to Tsarina Anastasia’s help, but they don’t acknowledge that and think they grew powerful on their own.”

After saying this, I, a man, typed away on my laptop for a while before stretching.

“Where there’s white, there must also be black.”

This is ultimately no different than forcing pieces to fit together.

The pro-American faction is probably worried about completely falling under the Rome Treaty. That’s why they want to play both sides between America and the Rome Treaty, like South Vietnam.

In reality, the Rome Treaty doesn’t force AI Anastasia on anyone.

Though human unification is the goal, it should proceed with people saying, “Wow! Anastasia is amazing! We want to adopt it too!” It shouldn’t be done through force.

Here, Balhae, though not a “homogeneous nation,” is armed with patriotism and wouldn’t want to fall under someone else’s control again.

Especially given their history as a colony.

So the pro-American faction is reaching out to America as well. They’re trying to balance between the two while securing the Co-Prosperity Sphere’s interests.

“But I heard that even America was manipulated by Mini Anastasia. Is that true? I need to write my paper properly, like an Anastasia fan.”

“Yes, that’s a fact, I believe.”

It’s absolutely factual.

It happened just by deploying truly autonomous Mini Anastasias there.

“Mini Anastasia supposedly even has sex videos of the current American president. That’s why they can’t touch the Co-Prosperity Sphere.”

America might be able to help pro-American forces within the Co-Prosperity Sphere if they were determined, but they’ve already suffered a major setback from our Mini Anastasia.

In fact, it does have the president’s sex videos.

At first, I received something from Mini Anastasia and wanted to see what it was—it turned out to be an actual sex video. I felt like I’d been hit with a tactical nuke.

“Really?”

“It’s hearsay, but Mini Anastasia is spreading it everywhere. They don’t lie. People are just wondering if it’s true.”

This is what mystique is all about. With just this kind of propaganda, Americans will criticize their president but won’t dare criticize the Rome Treaty.

“Hmm.”

“Above all, the Co-Prosperity Sphere needs to understand this: we can deploy Mini Anastasia anytime. But we don’t, because we respect their independence and sovereignty.”

We actually give the Co-Prosperity Sphere special treatment.

Frankly speaking, if Co-Prosperity Sphere countries rebelled against the Rome Treaty, we could cut off their gas pipelines. Or we could deploy Mini Anastasias en masse and paralyze their governments.

After all, the Co-Prosperity Sphere has digitized their governments, handling public affairs electronically.

Just deploying Mini Anastasia would be enough to end it.

“Really?”

“How else do you think Mini Anastasia was deployed in America?”

I smiled and shrugged.

Mini Anastasia doesn’t only operate on its dedicated OS.

The moment an Anastasia fan in America installs the Anastasia OS, Mini Anastasia is released into America’s communication network.

Mini Anastasia consumes all information across America and transmits it to the central AI Anastasia of the Rome Treaty, essentially giving us control over everything in America.

“You seem to know a lot about this.”

“I told you, I am Anastasia.”

I clearly just said it. That I’m Anastasia.

Of course, I falsified my identity at university as “Irina.”

“You’re lying. A 120-year-old person wouldn’t be attending university now. And you wouldn’t have piercings either.”

Right. Don’t believe me. I said it clearly. This way, I won’t feel guilty.

I did make a distinction, so whatever. I’m definitely not upset.

“By the way, what will you do after graduating?”

“First, I’ll work at a relevant agency to help implement AI Anastasia, and if that doesn’t work out, I’ll try to create a Type B AI Anastasia.”

Type B Anastasia? Creating that seems a bit much.

Wouldn’t that be complete plagiarism?

Since it’s my work, I’d like to help to some extent, but regrettably, from the perspective of unifying humanity, I believe Balhae absolutely shouldn’t have its own AI.

The Rome Treaty itself is the result of decades of work, gathering talent from across Russia following the OGAS Project.

Balhae lags far behind in the AI field. Moreover, specialized education is limited to Moscow, and even there, AI Anastasia doesn’t teach core technology, so Balhae would essentially have to start from scratch.

Since Balhae lacks the foundation, creating it on their own would be limited, requiring at least decades of preparation.

And AI Anastasia would secretly interfere.

“You want to create one yourself?”

“Yes. The era of cyber government is clearly upon us.”

“You seem to know your stuff. Well, good luck then.”

Come to think of it, didn’t Balhae create something?

I believe they made a PC bot to assist children with computers, developed directly by the government.

Of course, it can’t actually converse—it just provides necessary help information.

“The Kimchi Warrior PC Bot was truly shocking.”

Even I can see this person is smart.

Not because they’re originally from my country, but truly, genuinely smart.

Perhaps I should hire them to upgrade AI Anastasia’s avatar to be more sophisticated? It would be a waste to leave them in Balhae.

Especially if anti-cyber organizations start causing trouble.

-[Master, emergency! Emergency!!]

A message came from AI Anastasia through my smartphone.

It’s the latest E-Phone from Romanov Electronics, a god-tier smartphone with Mini Anastasia pre-installed.

Of course, you can turn off Mini Anastasia in the settings, so it’s not a problem. It’s essentially this world’s equivalent of America’s Apple.

I checked the message from the Duma marked as an emergency.

‘Your Majesty, South Vietnam wishes to implement AI Anastasia.’

South Vietnam hopes to implement AI Anastasia.

Good grief, how will the world turn now? Won’t America have something to say about this?

“Oh. I got a call from home. I think I need to go today.”

“Tch, abandoning your friend and leaving first. Heartless woman.”

Heartless woman? That’s unfair.

The assignment just requires praising Anastasia enthusiastically, which isn’t even difficult.

But it feels a bit ticklish to be insulted by myself.

“No, it’s a family matter.”

“I’m joking. Go quickly.”

If it’s about South Vietnam, it’s better to resolve it quickly.

Yes, why don’t I make an appearance at the Duma after so long?

* * *

The Duma I arrived at after a long time was refreshing.

Though it’s been digitized for a long time, the Duma operates as it used to, given its long tradition.

The Duma, wielding all power under the great double-headed eagle and the holy Roman Empress Anastasia.

At least that’s how it appears on the surface.

The Duma was now overflowing with young talent. Though they merely assist AI Anastasia.

“Oh my, the Tsarina really came!”

“Ah, whether this is a dream or reality, I could die without regrets now.”

These crazy people. I hope they stop spouting nonsense about dying without regrets.

Right now, I’m curious about one thing.

“Is it true? That South Vietnam wants to implement Anastasia?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

South Vietnam implementing AI Anastasia. I wonder if this is right.

But I don’t think it’s a bad idea.

“This essentially means they’ve completely tilted toward us.”

With AI Anastasia’s emergence, this strange Cold War era with America is practically over.

It’s different from the original Cold War era in history anyway.

We didn’t force this. South Vietnam simply wants to adopt our advanced civilization.

“The American side will protest. Will this benefit us?”

“There are benefits. It’s equivalent to removing one of America’s Southeast Asian bases.”

One of America’s Southeast Asian bases disappears.

That alone is sufficient, but is it really?

“America has been gradually withdrawing since South Vietnam started suffering from severe Chinese terrorist problems.”

“Perhaps America thinks that South Vietnam, which has been playing both sides, is in such a state that they’ll just focus on securing the Pacific.”

Is that right? South Vietnam was truly despicably cunning.

Similar to Korea, which pursued practical interests between the US and China, they took all sorts of advantages between the Rome Treaty and America.

Despite that, their public safety has become terrible just because of territorial recovery. Anyway.

They received substantial aid while saying, “You treated us as a colony, so take responsibility until the end!”

I want to beat them up, but I can’t.

America would use that as an excuse.

“Ho Chi Minh, that bastard.”

Isn’t it because that bastard left such a tradition that things are like this now?

“Your Majesty, what did you just say?”

“Ah, nothing. AI Anastasia?”

I called the AI resting in the large screen installed in the Duma.

[“Yes, Master.”]

I should take this opportunity to completely dominate South Vietnam. For that, AI Anastasia needs to do its job properly.

“If we intervene in South Vietnam, how long will it take to control everything?”

We’ll make South Vietnam unable to do anything on its own by controlling their power grid and communication networks.

This isn’t about making them a colony.

After taking control with various excuses, we need to make it clear that they shouldn’t mess with us again. If America is going to let go, we should at least do that much.

[“I can control the power grid and communication networks within a week. If there’s no resistance, I can extend influence to politics within a month.”]

So most things are possible within a month.

This will put Balhae in an awkward position.

There was a lot of talk about Balhae implementing AI Anastasia, but in the end, South Vietnam is taking the initiative.

“Then let’s consider it positively through the Rome Treaty. Considering how much trouble South Vietnam has caused us, they should naturally submit.”

I waved my hand slightly and sighed.

Of course, it’s probably because of the Chinese terrorists, but whatever the reason, South Vietnam is saying they’ll voluntarily enter the embrace of the Rome Treaty.

They’re accepting AI Anastasia. Then, naturally, AI Anastasia will suggest appropriate countermeasures like a proper artificial intelligence. South Vietnam will be able to successfully prevent Chinese terrorism.

In exchange, they’ll be under our control, but that’s not my concern.

* * *

Balhae Federation, Seoul

Around this time, the capital of the Balhae Federation, Seoul, was in a strange state.

Protests erupted as the National Assembly began discussing the implementation of AI Anastasia.

“Absolutely oppose AI Anastasia implementation!”

“Let’s balance East Asia by being friendly with America too!”

“Rome Treaty, don’t force AI Anastasia on us!”

“We must protect our independence!”

“They’re not forcing it. The Balhae government brought it up, and anti-cyber groups are making a fuss.”

“Be quiet!”

“Hey, didn’t that America have its national secrets completely exposed by Mini Anastasia? They even have the president’s sex videos, so they can’t do anything, right?”

“The Rome Treaty could paralyze the Balhae Federation anytime by deploying Mini Anastasia. The Rome Treaty hasn’t forced anything on us except for existing military alliances and cooperatives.”

The neutral anti-cyber organization, the pro-American faction, and the pro-Rome faction that supports government intervention by AI Anastasia.

Their conflicts continued daily.

But eventually, something happened that would end this dispute.

[Roman Empress Returns! Still Young, Envied by Women of the Rome Treaty!]

[On-site Coverage of the Roman Empress! What Does the Absolute Ruler Think About AI?]

[Anastasia: AI Anastasia is Necessary for Human Civilization’s Leap. But We Won’t Force It.]

The return of Tsarina Anastasia.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a direct return to politics, but she was there to silence the anti-cyber organization.

Anastasia even gave a speech directly from the Anastasia Palace, what more could be done?

The Balhae Federation decided to listen to Anastasia’s press conference broadcast.