Munitions Empire

"To hold out for five days... the question is whether or not we can actually last five days," muttered King Leite VII of the Leite Kingdom, his face grim as he looked at the telegram in his hand.

He had already mobilized almost all the troops in the Royal City. Two legions were already on their way to reinforce the border, and he was about to leave the Royal City himself to go to the real frontlines.

At this time, his greater concern was the vulnerable Royal City, where only the last legion remained to hold the fort, with the rest of the troops being far away.

"Your Majesty, although there's only one legion left, it is the most elite unit with the best equipment, so there's no need to worry too much," the old Prime Minister said, attempting to reassure him.

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The troops at the border must be saved, and the defenses of the Royal City must not be relaxed carelessly. This place was the foundation of the Leite Kingdom, as well as King Leite VII's true base of operations.

If he had any confidence left, it was in this Royal City of Leite. As the king, he had managed the city for so many years and had accumulated some strength.

Nevertheless, he still looked at the old Prime Minister with lingering worry: "You know what I am worried about."

As his stronghold, the strongest power in the Royal City was naturally himself, but in recent years, another force had emerged here that could not be underestimated.

This force was the Great Tang Group. If Shireck had once stood toe-to-toe with the King in the Royal City, then the Great Tang Group now had the same capability.

On the surface, the Great Tang Group had countless supporters, all of whom had tied their interests to the Great Tang Group and would naturally waver at critical moments to stand on its side.

In secret, the entertainment division under the Great Tang Group, along with the power of the Silver Fox Company, were also quite formidable—the organization was tightly run and possessed a vast amount of military arms.

If these forces stirred trouble after he left the Royal City, combined with the Great Tang Group's accumulated power elsewhere, all Tang Mo would need to do is call to arms, and King Leite VII might as well announce his abdication.

It was a classic case of making bridal clothes for someone else; hence the king of Leite hesitated, still undecided about leaving his Royal City even now.

The old Prime Minister knew what his king feared most was the safety of his Royal City, so he spoke, "Your Majesty, things are much simpler than we think. Your worry is completely unnecessary. Tang Mo won't take the opportunity to attack the Royal City. Although he is greedy for wealth and indulges in pleasures, he does have his limits.

If he truly desired a country, or wanted to expand his territory, he certainly had better opportunities."

"Oh?" clearly, King Leite VII did not wish to place his safety on such an ephemeral notion as a man having limits in his actions.

Therefore, the old Prime Minister continued to explain, "Whether it was blockading the Poplar Kingdom or helping Northern Ridge defeat Suthers, he had the chance to cultivate his own forces and seize more land at those times."

Indeed, Tang Mo had many opportunities to expand his territories. If he wanted, he could even directly claim a piece of land.

No one would refuse his demands, especially when the Great Tang Group was willing to pay a price; people were willing to do something in return.

The old Prime Minister went on, "But he didn't. He would rather develop Dragon Island than invade a country. Hence, this old servant believes he is not fond of expansion."

"Keep talking," urged King Leite VII, feeling the old Prime Minister's analysis seemed correct and commanded him to continue.

After receiving the king's command, the old Prime Minister immediately carried on, "In fact, I believe he prefers construction! Rather than occupying some rich land, he likes to build a new city, and Brunas is the best proof. The previous Brunas was just a small town, and he developed it into what it is now."

He did not say this because he had received benefits from Tang Mo. After all, he was an official with a strong sense of professional ethics.

He was indeed loyal, always serving the kingdom, or rather, serving Your Majesty. This time was no different, and every word he said was sincere.

He truly did not believe Tang Mo would take advantage of the situation to do something rash, as it would be a foolish choice that would be strenuous and unrewarding.

From his understanding of Tang Mo, he would not choose this time to exacerbate the internal conflicts within the Leite Kingdom, allowing outsiders to take advantage of the situation.

If Tang Mo really wanted the Leite Kingdom, he wouldn't let his fleet sail south, nor would he keep his security forces at a relatively low number.

All he needed was to develop his own troops normally and then wait for a situation like this to consume the Leite Kingdom more efficiently.

On the other hand, in a situation with external enemies surrounding, it was clearly not a good idea for Tang Mo to strike at the Leite Kingdom's heels himself.

Thus, the old Prime Minister was not worried at all that Tang Mo would make a move to attack the Royal City; he continued to assure his king, "Frankly speaking, if we also gather nearly a million people in the Royal City, just the plague and other problems alone could cause the city to collapse."

"You mean to say, Brunas is now better than the King City?" the King asked with dissatisfaction and indignation.

He knew all too well that there were hardly any places in the world better than Brunas now.

The development of Brunas was clear for all to see, and it had surpassed the growth rate of Leite Royal City a long time ago.

Even Wolf City, thanks to the railway, shadowed the Royal City in size, showing signs that it might surpass it.

This caused the King great anxiety, yet he had no good solution at hand and could only stew in his own frustration.

The old Prime Minister, although aware of his King's bristling jealousy, still spoke the hard truth, "Though it's hard to admit, Your Majesty, Brunas is indeed more prosperous and grander than the King City, isn't it?"

"What you say...makes sense," the King finally conceded, nodding in agreement with the Prime Minister's words.

Seeing that the King was persuaded, the old Prime Minister continued, sharing his idea: "Even, if he is willing to build a better city, we could exchange the King City for it!"

The King was taken aback, then looked at him, asking with some confusion, "What do you mean?"

Since this was one of his most trusted subordinates, he didn't get angry but hoped for a reasonable explanation. Had it been someone else, he would have been enraged and would have started to question their loyalty.

But the speaker was the Prime Minister, a loyal supporter of the King since the days when the Shireck Consortium reigned supreme in the kingdom, so the King knew the Prime Minister wasn't speaking nonsense.

Sure enough, the old Prime Minister explained: "King City is too close to Brunas. Once Brunas continues its growth and expansion, King City will, like the small towns surrounding Brunas now, be drained of its sustenance and eventually wither away."

The aged man, who had always planned for the Kingdom's prosperity and wished for it to thrive, shared his vision: "Instead of considering this when it's too late, why not give King City to Tang Mo as a favor now? In return, we can find a city further east, move the capital there, and get what we deserve from Brunas."

Upon hearing this suggestion, His Majesty began to seriously contemplate the matter. He often reviewed the development of the King City, and he had noticed that its growth had indeed slowed recently.

According to data from ten years ago, many factories and workshops had been built around the King City, which theoretically should have led to a significant population surge.

However, the reality was that due to the mass migration to Brunas and Dragon Island, the population growth in the King City over the past two years had been nearly nil...

To say that this data was entirely unaffected by the influence of Great Tang Group's Brunas and Dragon City would be false.

Clearly, the expansion of Brunas and its demand for population had indeed caused the King City's development to come to a standstill.

Now, the suggestion put forward by the Prime Minister could indeed solve this problem. As long as there was enough distance from Brunas, it would not be able to affect the development pace of the King City.

The King, hesitating, saw that his Prime Minister's advice had an effect and continued to suggest, "For example, we could have Tang Mo promise to build the new King City into another Brunas, large in scale, bustling with population... and also... filled with many high-tech workshops...

While we, on the new land, can distance ourselves from the Great Tang Group and take control of our own development path."

Hearing the Prime Minister say this, His Majesty was indeed tempted and asked with some anticipation, "Do you think he would agree?"

"I believe he will consider it! And as long as he considers, he won't find the idea of attacking the King City to be a profitable venture," the old Prime Minister said smilingly to King Leite VII.

This was his true aim, to make Tang Mo realize that the King City had its price and there was no need to rush!

If Tang Mo accepted this price, he would definitely not risk the collapse of Leite Kingdom to plot against Leite Royal City at such a time.

"You... make sense," said King Leite VII, his mood lifted as he addressed the Prime Minister, "After I'm gone, I'll leave this place in your hands, Prime Minister."

The Prime Minister bowed slightly and promised, "Your servant is willing to guard the King City for Your Majesty and will not let it fall into anyone's hands."

"I believe you!" Leite VII reached out to help the Prime Minister up and said, "Find someone to go to Brunas and have a good talk with Mr. Tang... about the price of the King City! As long as his offer is fair, what does moving the capital matter!"

After all, the expansion of his Kingdom would always extend eastward, and moving the capital to the center of the Kingdom was undoubtedly better than being next to Brunas, wasn't it?

"Yes!" The Prime Minister bowed again in agreement.

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