Munitions Empire

In another corner of the world, a dwarf clad in a fur coat pushed open the door and entered the room. He tore off his coat, revealing the luxurious clothing underneath.

"I've brought the things you wanted," he said in a hoarse voice, then grabbed the cup prepared for him on the table and took a big swig.

He slammed the cup down on the table and said, "This Quick Gun, known as the K1, was born in the human world, but they have no intention of keeping it a secret; they're openly selling these weapons."

Outside the window, heavy snowflakes drifted down. This was a northern kingdom, even further north than the Poplar Kingdom, and likewise, it was a colder realm, even chillier than the Poplar Kingdom.

Here lived the cold-enduring dwarves, who established their nation on abundant mining and animal husbandry. Half of the world's forged gold, silver, and copper coins came from the dwarves' lands.

The elderly dwarf sitting there glanced at the somewhat outdated K1 Quick Gun hanging on the wall and asked, "Are you sure they're willing to sell us a lot?"

He found it hard to imagine that such advanced weapons, even more so than Shireck Firearms, would be sold without any biases.

Like the previous arms dealer, Shireck, which was also an empire constructed by humans, it wasn't until the very end that they sold weapons to other races.

As a result, humans occupied almost all the best land, leaving dwarves with no choice but to honestly cultivate the desolate wilderness in the north.

The once valuable ore was squeezed into a cheap export commodity, as the saying goes: Even gold in the hands of dwarves is no different from gravel.

The dwarf wiped his long beard, nodded, and said, "Absolutely! I spoke with a man named Tang Mo, the inventor of this weapon. He didn't want to come here, but he was willing to sell us these weapons."

"Did you see it?" the old dwarf, fearing that his son had been fooled, asked urgently.

The dwarf smiled. The journey here had not been easy. To the south, the Poplar Kingdom was expanding like mad, and though they did not share a border, it still put considerable pressure on the dwarves.

It was from there that they obtained their first K1 Quick Gun and realized they had fallen far behind in terms of weaponry.

Although the dwarves had their technology, they still couldn't manufacture cartridge cases. So, they had to make good use of their intelligence network to find out what they could, and finally got an idea.

Then, the dwarves dispatched their trade caravan, which, after enduring many hardships, finally reached Brunas and met with the fabled Great Tang Group.

He boasted to his father, "It's indeed that weapon; I've brought back 1,000 K1 Quick Guns, identical to the one you're holding."

"What about the bullets?" the old dwarf, somewhat excited, turned to his son and asked.

The son who had just rushed back from Brunas replied with a smile, "100,000 rounds! Isn't that a lot? He made it a condition that I had to buy them."

Hearing what his son said, the elder dwarf furrowed his brow— he sensed something unusual in his words: "What do you mean?"

"I gave him 200,000 Gold Coins, and he sold me the entire production technology! Can you believe it? I think he's a good man, an incredibly good man," his son said candidly, "To buy the technology, he required me to first buy 100,000 rounds…"

The old dwarf didn't quite catch on at first; he, too, realized that the other party had evidently offloaded some unwanted goods on him.

There was no helping it, though; the other party controlled the production technology for the bullets. Without a way to replicate it themselves, they were at the mercy of another's pricing.

Suddenly, a realization struck him, and he stood up from his seat, grabbing his son's shoulders, "Are you saying he transferred the technology to you?"

"Hahaha!" His son laughed triumphantly, "Yes! Here are the blueprints, the technical specifications, steelmaking parameters, weapon manufacturing methods…"

Upon hearing his son's words, the old dwarf felt a wave of relief. The other party had sold him this perfect rifle and new bullets for a mere 200,000 Gold Coins.

The price seemed exceedingly fair, almost embarrassingly so. If it were Shireck, those technologies might well have cost him at least one million Gold Coins.

Even now, he was mentally calculating how to cultivate this honest and sincere friendship, waiting for an opportunity to properly invite this greedy human for a drink. In his eyes, this greedy, foolish Tang Mo was practically a friend to dwarves.

However, just as he was thinking about extending an invitation, his son continued, "Also, he said he has machinery that would enable us to produce 1,000 K1 Quick Guns every day…"

"What did you say?" The old dwarf was stunned, then burst into exclamations once again, feeling he had never been so flustered so many times in his life.

His son had a tendency to startle him by not willing to say everything he wanted to say all at once.

Moreover, this time his son had gone to Brunas and seemed to have gained a lot—he had become more confident and also a bit more… cheerful.

As his son looked at his excited father, he repeated his words, "I'm saying, this Mr. Tang Mo plans to sell his production tools to me as well. I signed a contract with him, owing 400,000 Gold Coins, and I also bought the blueprints for his production machinery."

While saying this, he recalled the young man who always had a hearty smile on his face.

It was the first time he felt that in this world there was a human being who truly wanted to help Dwarves out of their predicament and make them genuinely strong.

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The young man had also taken him to a factory workshop powered by steam engines, let him ride on a train, visit the Northern Ridge mines, and see the modernized mining fields using steam engines.

Without a second thought, he signed a series of cooperation agreements, mortgaging five iron mines and five copper mines, borrowing 500,000 Gold Coins from the Great Tang Group to purchase various mining and production equipment made by Great Tang machinery.

In addition, he ordered two sets of wireless telegraph machines from the Great Tang Group at 50,000 Gold Coins each, a rare and absolutely valuable commodity.

Of course, he also formed a deep friendship with the young man called Tang Mo and even received a T-model automobile, which clearly was a fine piece of work, as a gift before he left!

The old Dwarf was extremely pleased with his son's performance, extending his hand and patting his son's shoulder twice more in encouragement, saying, "You've done well! Damn it! You're a genius! All these things are excellent! They can make our kingdom strong and prosperous!"

"There's an old Dwarf engineer there who was also very kind to me. I think we should send a delegation to Brunas… to stay there permanently, so we can maintain a long-term cooperative relationship with the Great Tang Group." Having witnessed the power of the telegraph machine, this Dwarf had become a fan of the Great Tang Group.

"You're right, I'll go tell our King right away… I believe he will definitely agree with your opinion. This is fantastic, really fantastic!" The old Dwarf was enamored with the thick blueprints, gently brushing over the paper as if caressing an unparalleled treasure.

The clear orthographic projections, precisely marked data, material requirements, and the complex technical parameter annotations excited him to the point of becoming tongue-tied.

His son waited until he reluctantly looked up before continuing, "I told you you'd like it… Look what I brought back! A gift for you!"

When he pulled his father out into the courtyard, a T-model car with a layer of white snow settled on its roof was parked there.

The old Dwarf had no idea what it was, so he asked, "What is this?"

"This is a T-model car! It can run without horses! You just need to add some alcohol to it!" his son introduced with a sense of pride.

While they were talking, the car door was pushed open from inside, and a human girl, not particularly pretty, jumped out of the car.

"Who is she?" The old Dwarf asked, somewhat puzzled, upon seeing the stranger.

"They… are the hope that I've brought back for our kingdom," the son of the old Dwarf said with a smile as he introduced her.

Along with his voice, the car door on the other side was also pushed open, and another young man crawled out of the car.

He was a bit chubby and looked even bulkier in his thick clothing. He took off his hat and nodded slightly to the old Dwarf, "Hello, sir, I am a friend of your son!"

"We! Are here to help you set up the first batch of modern factories… technical experts," the girl rubbed her hands together, exhaling a breath of air as she introduced herself.

"Introducing myself, I am a specialist in steam engines and electrical technology," the young man said, scratching his head with slight embarrassment.

"To be more specific, I am a doctor," the girl continued, "I minored in wireless during university…"

"They can help us restore the production workshop of the Quick Gun K1," the Dwarf's son explained.

The old Dwarf immediately had an epiphany and warmly stepped forward to welcome them, "I'm so pleased to meet you in such chilly weather! Come in and let's talk, children! The warmth of the Ice Cold Kingdom's Dwarves can melt snow and ice!"

"Thank you!" the girl fluffed the curls by her ear, with a plain dandelion ring on her finger.

"Can I see the iron smelting equipment first?" asked the young man with the matching ring, impatient and following behind everyone, with a timid voice.

"No rush! Now that you're here, enjoy our bear meat and ice wine! Hahaha!" The old Dwarf was in such good spirits that he even forgot to look at the car, heading back into the house instead.

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