Munitions Empire

"Achoo!" Tang Mo rubbed his nose and, frowning, looked toward the bustling construction site and then toward the wilderness not too far away. He felt like someone was watching him, hidden in the shadows with malicious intent, akin to a poisonous snake.

"Medicine isn't cheap these days, you'd better be careful," Roger said from behind Tang Mo as he watched several smokestacks being built higher and higher in a spiraling fashion. He reminded Tang Mo.

Tang Mo nodded but took another look at the distant wilderness and replied, "I'll be careful. However… do you have the feeling that someone is watching us?"

"No feeling. This is the wilderness, who would be out here watching us for no reason?" Roger shook his head and answered.

Wes, who stood to the side, glanced at Tang Mo and then toward the distance, a hint of alertness appearing on his face: "I too sense danger, vague though it may be... Maybe, we are being watched."

"It could be people from the mayor's office, or other nobility, or Shireck's men, or even those sent by information brokers collecting rumors…" Wes analyzed, "Whichever it is, we should be prepared for any outcome."

"That's why I had factories built on the perimeter and training grounds and bases inside… Always better to be cautious," Tang Mo said in a muffled voice while still rubbing his nose.

"All this pomp and circumstance, no amount of care will do when such a thing cannot be helped," Wes shrugged helplessly and sighed, "You are building a city, how could you possibly keep it unseen."

"I don't expect them not to know," Tang Mo quirked his mouth, "I just hope they find out later rather than sooner."

"In fact, them sending someone to watch you now is already a sign of their sluggish response and being behind the times," Wes admired Tang Mo for his various cunning schemes of bribery, deception, disguise so skillfully performed that even an old hand like himself was left agape.

"I do envy these people with big families and businesses…" Tang Mo sighed, walking towards another part of the construction site with a sense of resignation.

His development had just begun, and while some issues could be solved using his "golden hand," others could only be accumulated over time.

For instance, training talents—his "golden hand" couldn't help with that. He had to take to the field himself, teaching those soldiers who knew nothing about adapting to a new combat environment.

Similarly, he didn't have an intelligence network spread out in every corner like Shireck's established syndicate, thereby rendering him practically blind even with eyes open.

To compensate for this shortcoming, on the one hand, he had the school children help gather intelligence during their time off, and on the other hand, he could only rely on bribery to encourage those in the know to as much as possible delay the spread of rumors.

Fortunately, this world had neither the internet nor camera phones, allowing him to use time differences as an advantage to secure a bit more time to react or prepare for his expansion.

Tang Mo's factory kept expanding, and he had established a new chemical production factory for making smokeless powder that might be needed in the future.

At the same time, he was constructing a bullet manufacturing facility for producing more powerful and advanced metal-cased ammunition in the future.

These factories were huge, occupying vast areas, and along with the storerooms and employee dormitories being constructed at the same time, the roads connecting these buildings stretched as far as the eye could see upon completion.

With the soon-to-be-operational steam engine workshop, Tang Mo's original workshop space had expanded to five times its original size!

Of course, the number of workers he commanded had also grown to more than ten times the original number! When he had gone to see Baron Stela, he only needed to support 200 workers, but now, he needed to support a whopping 3,000!

Most workers were currently moonlighting as construction craftsmen, and Tang Mo knew that many of them were capable of other tasks.

If it were in the era he lived in before crossing over, these versatile, willing to work overtime, low-paid workers would be treasured by any boss.

But now, their existence indeed brought great pressure to Tang Mo. He needed to create more income quickly to support these people.

Shearing wool from just Count Fisheo would likely strip the earl bare—hence Tang Mo had been trying to sell more technologies recently.

A brand-new, improved cement technology had already been put into production in Brunas, who was very satisfied with this new building material; Tang Mo was also able to secure some production capacity to support his new factory construction.

This was also why Tang Mo could quickly lay out construction for so many factories: he was able to get large amounts of cement at a low price!

Another partnership with a businessman from Brunas was unfolding; Tang Mo offered the technique for sun-drying and boiling sea salt and squeezed a substantial amount of money from that salt merchant.

As a result, having to purchase industrial salt and also ensure the intake of salt for 3,000 people, Tang Mo had to spend a portion of the money he had just earned.

Anyway, no amount of money was ever enough for Tang Mo, so there was truly no need for some nonessential items to appear.

Tang Mo didn't build new walls, which directly caused the secrecy level of his factory to plummet to almost zero.

Because he continuously expanded, taking up more land and constructing more buildings, he himself wasn't even sure where to build the walls of the factory.

On the other hand, he simply didn't have enough workers to build such a long wall while constructing several buildings at the same time.

So, he gave up on building the wall altogether, considering that his factory was planned to keep expanding northward, right up to the boundaries of Vicious Forest. By then, he would just build walls along the forest.

But although he gave up on the walls, Tang Mo didn't abandon secrecy. He split the new recruits brought by Tagg into twenty squads, with two assigned to patrol the perimeter each day.

They were temporarily not issued Quick Guns, but equipped with bows and Longswords instead. However, Tang Mo didn't expect much from them; their only task was patrolling.

The real core defensive force consisted of the twenty-odd regular Soldiers from Northern Ridge brought by Tagg and the two squads led by Luff Bernard who were out training.

Of course, those hunters and farmers from Northern Ridge, the ones not patrolling, were all punctually training at the new training grounds by the seaside. The training regimen was drafted by Tang Mo, led by an officer selected by Tang Mo, named Redman.

Under Tagg's training, these Soldiers were gradually taking shape. At least now, when they gathered together, they were no longer as disorderly as a swarm of flies.

Watching a patrol squad with bows slung over their shoulders and Longswords in hand, passing through the distant wasteland, Tang Mo felt unusually at ease. He redirected his gaze, focusing on the concrete foundations that had been leveled.

These foundations could ensure machines remained level, which was beneficial for improving the precision of the machinery. To make the factory floors more durable, Tang Mo had also purchased some stones for reinforcement.

Meanwhile, at a spot past where the patrol squad had just moved through, behind some inconspicuous weeds, Beiji was motionlessly holding a monocular and watching Tang Mo's every move.

"If we hadn't come here, we wouldn't have known that someone was building such a large workshop in Brunas," remarked Beiji with a cold laugh while surveying the distant construction site through his monocular.

"Heh heh heh heh, those fools will never know that the factory they're building with so much hope will ultimately just help Shireck build their house," sneered an attendant next to Beiji with a sly expression.

Shireck didn't lack competitors, and there have always been those who challenged Shireck, aiming to monopolize an industry, naturally facing up-and-coming rivals all the time.

Over the years, the number of competitors that Shireck eliminated or absorbed using underhanded methods was truly countless.

In a sense, Shireck no longer bothered with conventional competition to take down those fledgling new challengers. With just a simple move beyond the law, it could plunder other people's workshops and destroy everything they had painstakingly built.

"I have to admit, this guy hugging Count Fisheo's thigh is somewhat smarter than the other fools," Beiji put away his monocular: "Look at the hunters that just passed by… they're probably disguised as members from the Northern Ridge Legion."

"They are in disguise?" The attendant seemed puzzled and looked towards Beiji for an explanation.

"Just from their marching formation, one can tell that these individuals are more trained than even the regular Soldiers from Suthers. Since they've received training, how could they possibly be hunters?" Beiji felt as if he had seen through everything.

"So, what do we do now?" whispered the attendant.

"We go back… bring more people, and turn this place into another workshop for Shireck!" said Beiji mercilessly.

In the distance, Yulin handed a note to Tang Mo at the construction site; upon opening the note, a smile spread across Tang Mo's face.

He handed the note to Wes, then instructed Roger, "Roger, make a trip to Brunas for me, take 5 Gold Coins to our dear Sheriff… to thank him for everything he's done for the law-abiding citizens."

Then, he turned to Wes, "Can you find them and resolve this trouble?"

"Beiji… an old acquaintance. A thug of the southern Kingdom, I've encountered him before, just a big name with little substance," Wes handed the note back to Tang Mo, his hand resting on his Revolver on his hip: "He wasn't a match before, and now… he's even less of an opponent."

"I'll leave it in your hands," Tang Mo said with a satisfied smile, "get some men from Tagg… and don't mess it up!"