Chapter 261: with translation of chapter title

Three days later.

The newly established auxiliary capital of the Natural Empire, Dawn City.

In Storm Harbor, new Black Stone warships kept sailing in, inviting the royalty and nobility of Kao and Levinde, the dukes and nobles of the five duchies, and representatives of the major forces of the alliance's commoner class, one by one.

Of course they weren't here to sightsee, but to hold a meeting and discuss.

The core topic of discussion was how the Natural Empire should achieve unification.

As for this, Luosen already had a mature plan in mind.

He intended to continue using a steady, gradual approach.

It's not that he couldn't carry out bold reforms; with his current prestige and means, no one could oppose him.

But it would certainly cause great social turmoil.

When society falls into chaos, many administrative vacuums will appear, just like bubbles inevitably forming in turbulent flowing water.

In such vacuums, hidden void lifeforms can easily find openings to exploit and cause trouble.

After all, his plate is big, he has many enemies, so being cautious is never wrong.

The number of attendees was considerable, totaling over a thousand when added together.

At Dawn City harbor dock, over a thousand new electric cars were already waiting; as soon as people disembarked, they were immediately invited onto the cars and taken all the way to Blue Whale Mansion.

As host, Luosen had also been waiting early at Blue Whale Mansion.

As guests were escorted in one by one, he also paid attention to each guest's information.

Among the guests, he saw the Silger royalty led by the Queen of Kao, nine major nobles, and representatives of Kao's major civilian forces, totaling about 150-160 people.

They represented almost all interest groups of Kao.

He also saw Queen Molly of Levinde, the four marquesses, and civilian force representatives headed by Prime Minister Muradi, totaling about 120-130 people.

Then came Aaron.

Although they had no nobility, the Dang family also came, even the former Lion King Salint Dang was present.

He could no longer be king, but he still had considerable family enterprises, earning tens of thousands of Ogres annually, so naturally he would speak for his own interests.

Besides that, there were also many civilian forces such as the merchants' guild and the Mage Guild, numbering over a hundred.

Finally came the noble and commoner representatives of the five duchies: Bohemia, Jamo, Ferdan, Borilan, and Gedwin.

The combined land area of these five duchies is roughly equivalent to a single kingdom, but their combined population is close to 200 million.

With so many people in such a small area, they are consequently very poor.

They are poorer than the overseas duchy of Weilan by several levels, and far inferior to the three great kingdoms.

Even the dukes and nobles, upon arriving in Dawn City individually, feel a sense of restraint like country bumpkins entering the city.

Moreover, this group is especially numerous, over six hundred, placing them at the bottom of the disdain hierarchy.

One can see that the people of the three great kingdoms look at them with undisguised contempt, even if they are civilian representatives.

But Luosen actually likes these five duchies.

Because they represent a tremendous source of developmental drive.

Because poor places certainly yearn for rich ones, and they also want to become prosperous themselves.

All that is needed is slight guidance and providing them with many wealth‑making opportunities; then they can become the engine driving the Natural Empire forward.

Under the guidance of attendants, the representatives from the alliance's various countries quickly took lodging at Blue Whale Mansion, and then were given a detailed itinerary.

The first item on the itinerary was the imperial review ceremony, scheduled for the morning of the next day.

Naturally, people from the same country representing the same interests gathered together.

Kao's greatest interest group is naturally the Silger royalty.

Crown Prince Ryan also arrived; upon seeing the itinerary, he felt uneasy: 'A review, a review—clearly just a show of military might.'

'I want to see what military strength there is!'

He was the rightful first‑in‑line heir to the Kao throne, but Weilan outright eliminated him.

Although he reluctantly accepted it under the circumstances, no one could feel happy about it.

But the Queen of Kao was very interested, for she knew many inside details, knowing that Weilan had acquired many powerful new weapons, yet she wasn't clear exactly which ones, so she was eager to witness them.

Thus she smiled: 'The military force that can repel the Radiant Empire is certainly worth showing off.'

Levinde.

The cabinet members naturally gathered together.

Prime Minister Muradi raised his hand, tapped the schedule, and smiled: 'I've heard that Weilan's first shipyard has astonishing output—it can launch a Black Stone warship in eight days, and it's still accelerating wildly.'

Marquis Nobleton shrugged and sighed: 'All this is being paid for with the Natural Alliance's money.'

These past two years, Weilan has been nothing but a frenzied money‑sucking vortex, growing rich beyond measure while draining every other nation dry.

Yet not letting it absorb is impossible.

Because Weilan's products are genuinely good, especially the electric cars—driving them is truly exhilarating.

Marquis Nobleton himself bought a full five, in various styles.

His sons and daughters each have at least two, plus assorted other vehicles; altogether the family bought over a hundred, each averaging ten thousand Ogres, so a million Ogres vanished outright.

His situation is not special but rather common.

Nowadays, if an alliance noble still drives a smelly, rattling Black Stone car, they'll be laughed at.

Prime Minister Muradi nodded: 'I estimate that Weilan's trade surplus over these two years is over 200 million Ogres.'

This is not total trade volume, but surplus—pure profit.

Upon hearing this, everyone present from Levinde's eyes turned blue with envy, wishing they could take its place.

Muradi smiled: 'If the alliance achieves true unification, then Your Majesty could lead us to earn the coins of the Radiant Nations.'

'By then, the one who will suffer will be Empress Zhuo Ya.'

Levinde

His Majesty the Emperor

Five Poor Duchies

The Emperor could do whatever he pleased, and they would just endure it, offering no resistance.

Amidst all these differing mindsets, time flew by and it was already the next morning.

The review begins, the location is Storm Bay.

The weather that day was also decent—cloudy, nearly overcast, with a fairly strong wind; although it was summer, it remained quite cool.

Representatives from various countries

Salute cannons in rows began to boom.

Then a low humming sound came from the sky.

But only the sound could be heard—nothing was visible.

Just as the representatives were feeling puzzled, a flash of light and shadow flickered in the sky, and rows of aircraft appeared.

Row after row, each with 20 aircraft, making a full twenty rows.

none.

What's even more astonishing is that not only were there many, but there were also several types.

The buzzing swept across the sky, like a swarm of steel bees.

The representatives each raised their heads to look, while simultaneously listening to a five-ring mage explain using the voice of Heaven.

"What is flying in the sky now is the Empire's Third Sky Regiment, divided into three types: Cloud Hunting Hawks, Heavenly Spirits, and Low-altitude Roarers."

This remark startled everyone; they might not understand the aircraft model numbers, but the Third Sky Regiment was still easy to grasp.

One regiment has 400 aircraft, so three regiments total 1200 aircraft.

In other words, Weilan already has that many aircraft.

And less than three years ago, when Duke Weilan first came to Dawn City, he only brought out three aircraft.

Queen Kao sighed softly: "How fast!"

Levinde Muradi also felt moved.

"If just one regiment flew over Bai Jin Cheng, it could probably turn the whole city into a sea of fire." As for the duchy representatives, they were even more stunned, heads raised, mouths open, dumbfounded.

When they were born, vehicles were still pulled by horses, and warriors fought with swords, blades, and magic.

By middle age, steel had actually taken to the skies and lined up.

The world has changed so much it's practically crazier than a dream.

Just then, the voice of Heaven's explanation sounded again.

"Next, we will demonstrate the latest land weapon, the Metal Storm."

"The principle of this weapon is based on the Black Stone cannon, but the cannon has been miniaturized and specialized, finally using rotating barrels to achieve an ultra-high rate of fire of 2000 rounds per minute."

As the explanation proceeded, on a special platform by the dock, a group of strong Four-ring warriors, paired up, carried a peculiarly shaped weapon onto the stage.

After reaching the platform, one warrior held aloft an exaggerated metal tube array with eight tubes.

Another warrior set up a large iron box, then inserted a shiny metal chain into the rear side of the metal tube.

With about forty warriors in total, they demonstrated twenty Metal Storms.

The commentator's voice sounded again.

"This weapon has a range of up to 1500 meters, a single-shot strength exceeding eight rings, and in a barrage it can shatter all infantry charges on earth."

With those words, the Metal Storm erupted!

'Doo—doo—doo—'

A very strange sound.

Twenty circular metal tube arrays sprayed out azure-blue flames together, and flung lines of platinum light toward the distant harbor sea, forming a terrifying curtain of destruction.

The representatives stared, dumbfounded.

Forty people could actually produce such a scale of attack, and strike so far.

If this were a legion charge on the plains, with one side using Metal Storm and the other using traditional cavalry charge, the scene would be unimaginable!

But the crowd's shock lasted less than a few seconds before being interrupted by another astonishing situation.

As the Metal Storm's platinum beams wildly sprayed across the bay, the surface of Storm Bay surged with large amounts of translucent light-shadows.

Within those translucent light-shadows, faint silhouettes appeared.

"It looks like a ship!"

"No, it's a warship!"

"It's a warship guarded by a pure water shield!"

As the light-shadows surged, warship after warship emerged onto the water.

Each emerging warship exceeded eighty meters in length, and was enveloped in a thick layer of pure water shield resembling frosted glass.

Although the shield rippled with wave after wave from the Metal Storm's strikes, it steadfastly blocked the front.

Thus, the platinum jets fired by the Metal Storm were like thick, long wands, lighting up each hidden warship on the sea one after another.

But when did these warships enter the harbor?

No one knows.

What the warships' exact outward appearance is also unknown, because the pure water shield obscures all details.

At this very moment, sunlight pierced the clouds, showering golden light upon the world, and also causing the water-shielded warships to gleam brilliantly.

Gazing out, the surface of Storm Bay actually had over 120 massive steel warships lined up.

At a glance, it seemed like a city of steel upon the sea.

The sight was so spectacular and grand that all the representatives instinctively stood up to watch.

representative

The commentator's voice also became extremely stirring.

What is currently shown is the main battleship of the Imperial Navy, each battleship carrying more than 50 astonishingly powerful new weapons with a strike range exceeding 200 kilometers and an accuracy of 10 meters.

Imperial Navy

When all the missiles detonate, they can turn enemy ships to ash within 200 li.

No names.

As the commentary went on, a light mist rose around the 120 giant steel warships present, and then the light started to bend.

No names.

The 120 warships almost simultaneously disappeared into the bay.

the bay

But just as everyone thought the demonstration was over, a thunderous blast of exploding flame suddenly erupted from the bay.

No names.

Immediately afterward, 120 beams of fire almost simultaneously broke through the mist, shot up into the sky, and, at astonishing speed, streaked across the horizon toward the sea surface at the bay's entrance.

No names.

In the blink of an eye, this terrifying weapon, like a sword, crossed a full five kilometers and violently struck the sea surface.

No names.

Boom~~~

No names.

Flames spread across the sea surface, huge waves surged, and the explosion's commotion was more than ten times greater than heavenly thunder! When the sound reached the review stand, it left everyone stunned.

the review stand

After everything settled, the entire Storm Bay remained silent.

Storm Bay

Everyone watching the review instinctively opened their mouths wide, unable to close them for a long time.

No names.

Wooo~~ wooo~~

No names.

The frightened seagull, not making a sound, cautiously called out a few times, thereby reviving the nearly petrified crowd.

seagull

Splash~~~

No names.

The entire bay instantly erupted with noise.

the bay

The representatives of the various duchies lay flatter, and sincerely took pride in joining the mighty Natural Empire.

Aaron's former Lion King felt his body trembling uncontrollably.

Finally, he knew how Aaron's Lion Fleet had been defeated.

The Lion Fleet's Black Stone warships, upon encountering such warships, could only keep taking hits, unable even to find where the enemy was.

Not losing would be odd.

Kao's crown prince's eyes turned utterly dim.

He fully realized he could never become king of Kao.

The Kao queen showed feeling: "Such an astonishing and creative weapon—no wonder the Radiant Fleet withdrew without fighting."

In the crowd, the Radiant Empire's envoy Erin was naturally there too.

She looked at the distant waves still unsettled, lightly biting her lower lip.

After a long silence, she then transmitted the relevant images back to Mei Da Xilin.

About an hour later, the data reached the Empress's desk.

Upon seeing it, the Empress grabbed the data and went to the partition, calling: "Luosen~Luosen~~~"

The wooden puppet's eyes grew clear, a lively smile appearing on its face: "How about it, isn't this little toy powerful?"

The Empress nodded and admitted: "Indeed very powerful, but just how far can this thing fire? Give me a definite answer."

Luosen gave a slight smile, raising his hand to form the number '1'.

There are many types, but the farthest and most expensive currently can strike a thousand kilometers, delivering a ton of powerful explosive into a 10‑meter radius frame.

The power of these explosives equals 50 tons of TNT on Earth. In another world, its strength is roughly equivalent to a massive explosion spell of thirty thousand Luosen Legendary 10.

With just a 'boom', it's astonishing, like a tactical nuclear explosion.

And this is the might of a war weapon, which no legendary mage can withstand head‑on.

Of course, there are also drawbacks.

The biggest drawback now is that it's not fast enough—it hasn't broken the sound barrier, nor is it stealthy, making it easy to intercept.

But he won't mention these drawbacks, otherwise his deterrence would be cut in half.

Zhuo Ya jumped in shock: "That would mean it could strike straight from the fengbao yang to Mei Da Xilin!"

It can hit, but I certainly wouldn't strike Mei Da Xilin—rest easy.

Zhuo Ya relaxed a bit, thought it over, then couldn't help laughing: "You put on this show—wouldn't the kings and dukes of the Natural Alliance be scared to death?"

Luosen laughed: "That's exactly my purpose—to scare them, so things get done."

All disputes in this world stem from an unwillingness to yield.

As emperor of the empire, Luosen must fully unite the alliance, and on principle he cannot yield at all.

So he can only press his sword to the rulers' foreheads, letting them yield.

(End of chapter)