Munitions Empire

In the pitch-black night, a line of dark figures reached the exterior wall of Great Tang Group’s Factory No. 1. Signaling to each other by moonlight, they scattered and crept towards their respective targets.

The young Orc Prince, carrying a Longsword, scaled the courtyard wall with the help of several subordinates, then understood why he felt the night was exceptionally bright.

The factory was wastefully illuminated deep into the night, though it was unclear how many candles were lit inside the plant.

He was extremely envious of such luxury and equally jealous of the Kingdom that had the wealth and technology to own a factory like this.

If the Orc race had such a factory, his Gales Kingdom wouldn’t have been destroyed, and might even have triumphed in the war with the Poplar Kingdom.

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as what-ifs in this world; his Kingdom had now become history, and he was not here to be astonished but rather to destroy everything.

He intended to shoot the unscrupulous boss who provided technology to the Elves, then burn down the factory in vengeance. After that, he would take flight, seeking a chance to reclaim his kingdom.

But as he stood facing the dazzling, star-like compound, he again felt his own insignificance.

A deep reluctance made him want to recoil. He didn’t want to destroy this place, for he felt it was more important than even his ancestral land.

"Your Majesty... you can’t talk during an operation... you’ll be discovered!" The guard captain panicked briefly before lowering his voice and, while keeping an eye on their surroundings, spoke to his master.

This was not their Imperial Palace; this was the enemy’s yard. If they exposed their location prematurely, they might be met by hundreds of guards wielding weapons!

"I plan to talk to the people here. If they’re willing to help us, just as they helped the Elves... I think we can cooperate..." The Orc Prince fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke.

"Your Majesty! At a time like this... You..." The guard captain thought the Prince had gone mad, changing plans suddenly during such an operation was preposterous.

Even if they were willing to change the plan, how could they notify their counterparts who had dispersed? If they abandon the plan here while others start their action, how would that be accounted for?

So, with no other option, he tried desperately to persuade: "It’s too late now, the others are definitely ready to move. Even if we scatter now to find them, it will surely be too late."

"I think you can give it a try," suddenly, a man’s voice spoke from a place very close to them.

Everyone was startled; they weren’t aware of why there would be someone so close to them, brazen enough to speak without even a hint of concealment.

"Who!" The two guards were shocked. But before they could finish, a dagger was pressed against their necks.

Neither dared to move, incredulously discovering that it was the bushes nearby that extended arms, holding daggers to their necks. If it wasn’t witchcraft, it had to be a miracle.

And the Orc Prince finally confirmed the source of the voice to be a shadow less than two steps away from him. He had always assumed the shadow was a clump of vegetation, but only now did he realize it was a man holding a rifle.

The muzzle of the rifle had been aiming at him for a while, ever since he had been crouched there thinking.

What surprised him even more was that the rifle was wrapped with leaves, making it appear like a tree branch.

The camouflaging wasn’t flawless, but aided by the night’s cover, the group of Orcs had not realized they were surrounded until the other party spoke.

The five of them were now encircled by at least 20 individuals, with no fewer than ten gun barrels pointed at them, making them afraid to even twitch.

"You should be thankful for what you said just now," said a refined man, emerging from the underbrush and gesturing with his hand. A searchlight suddenly came on atop a nearby tall building, making the surroundings as bright as day.

All the Orcs were dazzled by the blinding light, avoiding it and squinting for quite some time before their eyes adjusted.

"If you hadn’t given up your disruptive plan just now, you and your subordinates could have been shot dead in a few seconds," the officer, with his hands behind his back, walked up to the Orc Prince, gesturing for him to drop his Longsword.

The Orc Prince complied, discarding his weapon and then, as requested, raised his hands.

The other Orcs followed suit because they had seen, not far down the road, their compatriots kneeling on the ground being searched by a troop dressed in grey-green military uniforms.

The soldiers’ garb was unfamiliar to the Orcs; in contrast to other nations’ multicolored military attire, the enemies who had captured them could almost merge with the night. It was unclear whether they wore this attire specifically for the night or if it was their regular uniform.

What was even more frightening was that, after switched to guard mode, these soldiers actually drew their bayonets first thing, attaching them to their rifle muzzles and coldly pointing them at the beastmen who had been disarmed...

"Mr. Wes! All the orcs are here, not a single one missing. Their weapons have been confiscated." Seeing another man approaching, the leading commander saluted respectfully before reporting loudly.

"Well done! Tighten the security, hand this person over to me, and lock up the rest." Wes pointed at the orc prince and ordered his subordinate commander.

"Yes, sir! Commander!" The officer saluted again in response.

"Who are you?" Once permission was granted, the young orc prince stood up, and while escorted by four guards, he followed behind Wes, asking as they walked.

"Me? My name is Wes. I’m the chief of security here." Wes introduced himself, "And you, should be the fleeing heir from the Gales Kingdom, the current exiled king, Gales IX."

"How do you know everything." Gales IX was stunned, then looked incredulously at the back of Wes.

"Actually, this wasn’t my investigation. A friend of mine is in charge of intelligence gathering, I just casually asked him about it." Wes remembered his recent conversation with Li’ao and a proud smile appeared on his face.

He still quite enjoyed the feeling of having everything under control. At this moment, he also understood the purpose behind Tang Mo’s construction of the intelligence network.

Being able to perceive everything clearly before the enemy even made a move, wasn’t that just too satisfying?

"My god... What is this thing..." When Gales IX entered the lobby of the Great Tang Group office building, he was astounded by the sight in front of him.

It was the first time he had seen such a magnificent chandelier, or rather, the first time he had seen such a bright lighting system!

This chandelier was made up of 9 bulbs, and in fact, it wasn’t all that luxurious—it was just that anyone seeing this kind of lighting system for the first time would be overwhelmed by its bright and dazzling presence.

Even Leite VII had been completely won over by Tang Mo’s invention after witnessing electric lighting in his own Royal Palace.

He immediately invested in retrofitting his Royal Palace and deliberately added electric lighting to his main activity areas.

Of course, for this set of electric equipment, he had to pay the electric subsidiary of the Great Tang Group 200 Gold Coins every year for electricity and maintenance costs...

And upon learning of this device, the King of Suthers immediately spent almost the same amount to get himself an office and a bedroom with electric lights—for these two rooms and some corridors, he also had to pay 200 Gold Coins every year, no deception intended.

However, compared to the telegraphic exchanges between Suthers and the Leite Kingdom, this astronomical electricity fee could be considered cheap.

Because in just one month, the two kingdoms sent more than 1,900 words of telegrams, with a total fee of 1,780 Gold Coins paid—this was after a discount from the Great Tang Group.

In short, if you want to enjoy the convenience of modernization, you have to pay extra...

After passing through the corridors illuminated by electric lights, Gales IX finally met Tang Mo. He stared in surprise for a long while before confirming that the other party wasn’t joking with him.

"I never imagined you would be so young." Ultimately, after musing for over a minute, Gales IX was the first to express his admiration.

"You are quite young as well." Tang Mo was not seeing an orc for the first time, as he had seen many orc sailors in Brunas.

To put it frankly, orc men are so ugly they could be described as abstract. Their teeth were extremely unhealthy, and their protruding jaws made them look like disabled people with severe joint disease.

And they weren’t as strong as the orcs Tang Mo was familiar with from games; they were only slightly stronger than humans.

For instance, the frail orc prince in front of him wasn’t necessarily taller than Tang Mo. Some robust humans could completely overpower most orcs in strength, although it was said that there were some very strong individuals among the orcs capable of reaching over two meters in height.

They might not be strong, but they truly were ugly. It was almost unheard of for human or elf women to marry orc men; it seemed their aesthetic standards were on a completely different plane.

However, the females of their species were entirely different—the beautiful orc women definitely exuded exotic charm. According to Tang Mo’s understanding, they were like the cat-eared girls of this world.

From an evolutionary perspective, orc females had obviously evolved more thoroughly than orc males and better matched Tang Mo’s aesthetic preferences.

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