Munitions Empire

"Sss... hah..." Tang Mo comfortably enjoyed the smell of the cigarette, looking down at the development report about Black Dragon Island.

There were now over 6,000 immigrants on the island, and if he worked harder, the total population might rise above 10,000 in a few days.

Currently, these people still almost entirely relied on food transported from Brunas harbor, but they would soon be self-sufficient by next year.

After all, Black Dragon Island was extremely fertile, and developing it was like mining a goldmine. Tang Mo could even roughly calculate that the island could easily support a population of a million.

A road was being constructed on Black Dragon Island, with Roger hoping to connect the newly discovered harbor with the small town he had built upon landing.

Meanwhile, the oil refinery had started production, refining petroleum day and night, turning it into the chemical raw materials and gasoline that Tang Mo needed.

All these were good news, and with each passing day, Tang Mo's initial accumulation began to grow more substantial.

He had stockpiled a considerable amount of gasoline on Black Dragon Island and did the same in Brunas. This laid a good foundation for his future car manufacturing.

In short, everything was developing well for Tang Mo.

A knock on the door interrupted Tang Mo's thoughts. He looked up and instructed with a cigarette in hand, "Come in!"

Li'ao entered from outside, the old man looking quite hale. After all, his Silver Fox Tavern had never been so glorious since the day it was established.

Now, his subordinates were practically running rampant throughout the entire Leite Kingdom, with their influence in Suthers being second to none.

The construction of the intelligence network had far exceeded Tang Mo's expectations, and even in King City of Suthers, Great Tang Group's telegraph machines had begun to be used.

Currently, these devices were not for sale; except for Miss Alice of Northern Ridge who managed to buy two units through personal connections, the rest were all operated by Silver Fox Company.

Sending a telegraph from Suthers to somewhere within Leite Kingdom was charged one gold coin per character—a sky-high price indeed.

But... the users didn't mind the charges at all, and the service was even in such high demand. Not only were the higher-ups of both countries frequently using telegraphs for communication, but some wealthy merchants also used this device to liaise with their branches or subordinates.

However, everyone knew that although the telegraph could provide fast communication to distant places, for Silver Fox Group, there was no such thing as confidentiality.

Aside from some pre-arranged codes, the content sent through the telegraph was transparent, which made Silver Fox Company exceptionally powerful at gathering intelligence.

Any valuable intelligence would be brought back to Brunas for consolidation, then sorted by specialized personnel, and filed for storage.

Now, in the intelligence room of Great Tang Group in Brunas, specifically, over 300 women from Silver Fox Company were managing this task.

They were all women, bound by contracts stricter than indenture agreements, almost never leaving the factory in a month. They organized the documents gathered here, bound them into volumes, and placed them on the tall shelves.

Whenever someone made a request, they could quickly find everything related, sending the relevant parts to those in need.

More than a year ago, Li'ao never dreamed that he, a criminal, could control such a vast dark empire.

He also never expected that his one-time allegiance would lead him to a master like Tang Mo. Now he even felt a little reluctant to return to his homeland because he could become another king without a crown elsewhere.

Most people are like this... If one could become the President of the United States, who would want to go back to Congo to be a village chief...

"Master, about three hours ago, some... people landed at Brunas harbor," Li'ao stood in front of Tang Mo's desk, beginning his report.

"Hmm?" Tang Mo knew that if Li'ao had come to him, it surely wasn't something simple.

"They are Orcs. Armed and began inquiring about things related to us as soon as they landed," Li'ao explained to Tang Mo: "Combined with the intelligence we obtained earlier, after the kingdom of Gales was destroyed by the Poplar Kingdom, the king took his own life, but some of the royal family members disappeared without a trace."

"Gales... interesting, they're looking for revenge..." Tang Mo flicked the ash into the ashtray, a smile emerging on his face, "Tell me, between these Orcs who have come for revenge and my security troops... which are more formidable?"

"They're not even on the same level," Li'ao replied with confidence, "Considering their activities, they haven't undergone any anti-surveillance training. They might have decent combat strength in a direct fight, but they're already fish in the net."

After thinking for a moment, Tang Mo nodded and ordered, "Let them keep inquiring. Have someone keep an eye on them! Don't spook the herd, I want to see how much noise they can make."

"What if they start wreaking havoc in Brunas?" Li'ao didn't leave but asked instead.

"Then deal with them. We don't have time to play with kids, do we?" Tang Mo was silent for two seconds before saying to Li'ao, "If they have the guts to come straight to me with their troubles, then let them come. I do appreciate people with courage. But if they're just here to make small troubles and cause destruction, then they're just trash, and I don't need trash."

"I understand!" Li'ao then exited Tang Mo's office. As soon as Li'ao left, Tang Mo immediately summoned Wes.

"Make sure the Guards keep a close eye on those orcs. If they've come to kill me, let them in and catch them. If they don't come, leave it to Li'ao's men to handle," Tang Mo issued the command directly.

Wes nodded, showing that he had taken note. Then he hesitated for a moment, not leaving right away, but curiously pointed at Tang Mo's cigarette and asked, "Is that thing really so good?"

"You don't understand..." Tang Mo was taken aback, then covered it up with a laugh.

Wes curled his lip, showing a look of not being fooled, but said, "Psh... When you have more of those things, let me try some, will you?"

"Ha! Sure!" Tang Mo suddenly remembered when he was in school, friends hiding in the restroom and introducing each other to cigarettes, like the scene of recruiting underlings. So, his smile grew genuine from the feigned one.

Seeing that Tang Mo seemed to have fallen into some memories, Wes spoke softly and then walked out, "I'm going to take care of it."

Tang Mo subconsciously added another word of caution, "Tell them to be careful, not to let their guard down."

"Understood!" Wes responded as he was about to close the door behind him.

...

"Your Majesty... let me handle such dangerous tasks," Inside the inn, a burly orc implored earnestly to the frail young orc sitting on the bedstead.

"The last time I entrusted you with a task... you let my kingdom fall," the young orc said, wiping the Shireck Flintlock Gun in his hand, without looking up.

His words, though light, instantly reddened the faces of several restless Guards and officers and silenced their clamor.

Then, he continued, "Stop calling me Your Majesty. Our kingdom has perished. Until we reconquer it, there is no 'Your Majesty'."

"But..." Several orc officers and guards were about to speak, but for a moment they seemed unsure of what to say.

"I don't mean to blame you... I know you are all loyal subjects." This former prince of the now-extinct Gales Kingdom soothed his subordinates, "I just... can't contain my own anger... Those who made us lose our homeland, they all must pay!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! They all must pay the price!" Several guards and officers echoed immediately.

"However, our current situation is not good," the prince looked in the direction of the door with a worried expression and asked, "You must have noticed that we seem to be under surveillance."

His intuition was sharp, but even though he had been cautious, he had not found concrete evidence that they were being watched.

Yet, it seemed like everyone around them was watchful, judging them with ill intent, monitoring their every move.

Thus, he spoke with a hint of depression, expressing his concern, "I don't know who is watching us, but indeed, someone is. If they harbor ill intentions, we could be in great danger."

"There aren't many orcs around here; it's normal for us to be watched," an orc officer consoled his master.

"Perhaps, but we can't be too optimistic. Gentlemen, we cannot afford any mistakes now," The prince sighed and nodded.

The rest of the guards and officers looked at him, with a few asking, "So, Your Majesty, what should we do?"

Tucking the flintlock gun at his waist, the prince replied, "The plan remains unchanged. Since we've already found out where that bastard who sells weapons to the Poplar Kingdom has his factory... we move tonight!"

"Yes!" Everyone answered in unison, their voices subdued.

After looking at each person, the prince instructed everyone, "Remember! Each of your lives is precious! I can no longer bear the loss of any more loyal subjects of the Gales Kingdom. So, no matter what, you must preserve your life! Understand?"

"Under... understood..." the orcs hesitated, responding sparsely to their master's instruction.

Once again, with a stern tone, the prince pressed, "Do you understand?!"

"Understood!" This time, everyone answered resolutely.

"Very well!" The prince nodded in satisfaction, "Go prepare some food; we'll wait for those who went to scout for information to return..."

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I owe you all an additional update.