At the royal security area, where royal military production plants were concentrated, the government and military officials and domestic and foreign reporters, including Youngho, were watching the test-firing of missiles.

Looking at the missiles flying at supersonic speed, everyone clapped his hands in awe.

In fact, Kazakhstan had been licensed to produce advanced weapons such as fighter jets and helicopters, but this was the first time that all technology from projectiles to key components had been transferred.

They were pleased to see the result of it.

In a way, it was also an unconventional move to invite domestic and foreign reporters to reveal the test-firing scene.

It was Kazakhstan's pride to disclose both internally and externally that the current fastest cruise missiles would be produced in Kazakhstan. On the other hand, it was also a protest aimed at China.

It was a warning that Kazakhstan could produce unlimited weapons that could target mainland China at any time.

Still, it was announced in front of domestic and foreign reporters that those weapons would be used only for defense, not attack.

Such an announcement also implied that Kazakhstan would not use the advanced weapons if China did not use them in the event of a border dispute.

Usually, these weapons were supposed to be kept as hidden weapons, but revealing their power to the public meant that Kazakhstan would keep them only as a deterrent to war.

China must have noticed Kazakhstan's innermost stance quickly.

The message of refraining from using missiles, which could be seen as weapons of mass destruction, was a warning that China should not use such weapons in local warfare, such as border disputes.

The Russian-developed cruise missiles could fly at supersonic speed, so it could not be stopped by a decent air defense network.

The supersonic missile, named Kalibr, had already been deployed in action. It was launched at a secret Syrian rebel cave base 1,500 kilometers away from the sea, completely destroying it without a single error.

Kazakhstan now had its own missiles, which it was considered better than any other Western missile in speed and precision.

The fact that Russian-provided missiles were to be produced in earnest meant that Sukhoi Su stealth fighters and next-generation tanks would also be produced soon, which had drawn keen attention from overseas as well.

There had been various predictions and speculations about why Russia recently decided to empower Kazakhstan.

Le Monde, a leading French daily newspaper, published an article titled "The Honeymoon of Russia and Kazakhstan," saying that the era of the New Cold War had arrived in Central Asia.

As this was from a newspaper company that usually did not publish provocative articles, it attracted global attention.

The intelligence service, which had been screening global news every day, also made a fuss about the ridiculous article.

"They've written pretty good fiction. What's up with that?"

Youngho did not pay too much attention to this article mentioning the new Cold War since continuous Western attention on Central Asia and Uyghur was important.

"The new Cold War era? It's encouraging war. They're trying to use the tensions in Central Asia to sell their weapons."

Park Jong-il was concerned about the problematic article.

"What's the matter when it's us that want to start war? And I will reject French weapons even if the government offers them for free. Then Putin will be sorry."

"It's good that Le Monde is setting the mood, but isn't the expression that 'the New Cold War era is here' a little bit off?" Shouldn't you protest strongly against it?"

"Protest for what? Make it keep writing fiction. A lot of interest in Kazakhstan is proof that it's an important area."

"I'm saying that's not what they intended. Haven't you read the full article? It describes how French weapons are better than Russian ones at the end."

Most countries had little interest in the well-being of Central Asia.

The French newspaper was probably aiming to use the tension between Kazakhstan and China to promote its own interests.

It was only natural for a country to seek its benefits from another's war.

Kazakhstan also absorbed nearby countries into the federation and generated profits by taking advantage of the chaos in neighboring countries, such as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Ultimately, it was for Kazakhstan's national interest.

Youngho liked France's aggressive attitude through the media since it was at least doing it openly.

Likewise, the reason that the EU at the recent European Union leaders' meeting in Brussels adopted the joint statement was probably intended to take a step toward the future.

It would be in the interest of the European Union to empower resource-rich Kazakhstan.

If Uyghur became independent, China would lose that much power, and that would be in the interest of the European Union.

That way, European necessities, which were suffering from encroachment by Chinese goods, would have a breakthrough.

"What are the reactions of the other countries?"

"Most European media outlets argue that Kazakhstan is bleeding excessively to keep China in check. They are raising concerns that this might cause our economy to falter."

They were worried about Kazakhstan's economy. Rather, they would welcome it.

If government funds were exhausted due to huge defense spending, Kazakhstan, which had been cutting back on its mineral resources, would further increase its exports.

More exports would lead to lower prices, and European Union countries that relied on imports would automatically benefit from it.

If the tension between the two countries did not spark a fire in Europe, those countries would hope that this atmosphere would continue.

"Raising concerns? Ha! Europe will only benefit from the confusion in Central Asia. Anyway, it's fine since it was our wish that we'd be at the center of the news."

When a war broke out, countless neighboring countries would benefit from it.

However, it would be very disappointing for Europe to know that the Kazakh royal family had enough money to wage war.

***

Youngho persuaded the Kasim government to significantly increase the export volume of minerals, oil, and gas.

Of course, it was just a temporary increase in exports, but European Union countries excitedly welcomed it, thinking Kazakhstan was increasing export volumes after failing to cover its huge defense spending.

Although the unit price of exports was still at the previous level, they were even adjusting the volume of imports expecting that the prices would fall soon, which made Youngho laugh.

It was because their intention was so obvious.

In a highly competitive situation, the misfortune of another country was other countries' happiness.

Still, European Union countries had been accepting all of Kazakhstan's increased resources so far because their mineral resources were so poor.

Otherwise, they could miss the chance to buy resources at cheaper prices later.

This was if they fell out of Kazakhstan's favor by being ignorant when it was having a difficult time, Kazakhstan might control the volume of exports by country.

At times like these days, ignoring a country with resources could be a disaster.

This was an era where resources were national power.

Given that Arab countries dominated the world with crude oil as their weapons.

Youngho had been staying in Astana these days to check the economic situation.

So, he had tea time with Prime Minister Kasim everyday.

"Your Highness, as you have predicted, the European Union is very conscious of us. Thank God our plan worked."

Kasim was worried that the unit price of exports would fall as the volume of exports increased.

However, European countries were continuously digesting export volume without any complaint, so he was feeling relieved.

Once the resource price went down, it was difficult to raise it back to the previous price.

Even if the production cut policy was established, production would have to be made at the expense of losses due to the volume already contracted.

"I think we should give them hope for the time being. They're probably going to try to slowly adjust the volume expecting the unit price to go down."

"Then we'll have to say we'll start to reflect adjustments for next year's exports."

Having been the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan for years, Kasim had become a great businessman as Youngho now.

"Please also tell European countries that we don't have enough government budget. That way, they'll trust our promise."

"Hahaha..."

"And I've recently received reports of unusual movements by the Chinese military, and I'm hesitant about how to deal with it. According to a survey conducted by the intelligence service, more Chinese troops are being added to the Uyghur area. It seems that China has noticed something. So, we are planning to delay our action into Uyghur a little bit, so please explain this situation to the military. The troops had been looking forward to it day after day receiving intense training, I'm afraid they'll be disappointed."

"We'll get a lot of complaints about this. They were looking forward to crossing the border soon."

It was normal to be afraid of war, but Kazakhstan's military seemed to be looking forward to it.

Considering Central Asians' aggressive temperament coming from their nomadic nature, it was natural.

Even at the time of Imperial Russia, the Russians established fortress cities in various places because they were wary of Central Asian people.

Even with Russia's powerful force, the Kazakh people were not suppressed easily with their belligerence and bravery.

In fact, some of the nomads were like bandit groups who used to plunder others.

For them, there was no choice but to barter or plunder to save grain.

Their fame also shone in the Battle of Stalingrad, the current Volgograd, during World War II.

At that time, the force that led to the victory of the Volga River battle was not the Red Army, but the conscripts of Kazakhstan.

So even now, the Russian government often praised Kazakhstan as a blood alliance, as countless soldiers from Kazakhstan were sacrificed in the Battle of the Volga River.

The German troops lost their fighting spirit due to the recklessness of Kazakhstan's soldiers, who jumped into their enemies like fire moths as if their lives were nothing.

The nomadic people were belligerent and brave because their lives resembled Mother Nature.

Such genetic factors had been ingrained in their DNAs as they had lived for thousands of years in the lives of constantly fighting against Mother Nature and caring for livestock and family members from predators.

As they always had death by their sides, they had a unique conception of death.

Nomadic people thought that only things that moved were alive and that they were moving because they were alive.

The sun, moon, water, wind, birds, and animals were all alive because they moved.

Stopping movement meant death.

Livestock or people who were injured while on the move were no longer able to move, so they had to get out of the party.

It was because others in the party could risk their lives if the groups' travel was stopped due to the injured person.

That meant taking death naturally, and they did not give much meaning to death as death only meant one that stopped moving.

The reason why Kazakhstan's soldiers were brave during World War II originated from the nomadic mentality that they should move constantly.

To remain motionless and still was to be a failure waiting for death.

And because even death was accepted in nomadic ways, there was no fear of bullets or shells, and they were able to jump into enemy positions like fire moths.

Youngho was confident that Kazakhstan's soldiers with this nomadic temperament would win against China no matter how many high-tech weapons it mobilized.