Munitions Empire

Brunas, the open sea.

Atop the mast of a sailboat, a young sailor squinted his eyes, watching the billowing black smoke on the sea’s surface.

He did not know what it was, just that it was also moving forward, and at a speed much faster than their ship.

Because the black smoke was advancing in the direction of their sailboat, and the source of the black smoke was moving rapidly forward, much faster than the sailboat he was on.

The Flying Fish sailboat was an infamous swift vessel around here, designed to outpace pirates with its speed, ensuring the safety of the cargo.

Therefore, this cargo sailboat was renowned for its speed, nearing 30 kilometers per hour! But in front of that tumbling black smoke, the speed of this sailboat seemed somewhat insignificant.

Recently, among sailors, a legend had been circulating that near the port of Brunas, a monster had been seen. Its speed surpassed the fastest warship, and no one had ever seen the true face of that monster.

It was said that any sailboats that had seen the monster were sunk by it, and the sailors were eaten. So, that black-smoke-emitting monster always appeared and disappeared mysteriously, causing much concern among many.

The official authorities at the port of Brunas were even alarmed, dispatching two armed merchant ships to patrol the sea where the monster appeared, warning approaching merchant vessels to leave quickly.

But because the ocean was so vast, there were always passing merchant ships that slipped through, seeing the billowing smoke on the ocean surface but unable to catch up with the owner of the black smoke.

The sailors who could navigate the oceans had more or less an adventurous spirit. Many times, they really wanted to see this mysterious, never-before-seen "monster."

And at this very moment, the sailors on the monster, or rather the sailors aboard the Great Tang Group’s first steam-powered ironclad warship, were operating the most powerful warship in the world, cutting through the churning waves.

Their warship was sailing on the ocean, with two chimneys emitting pitch-black smoke. Seagulls circled the bow, and the wooden deck reflected a warm glow under the sunlight.

A slave sailor from the Poplar Kingdom, who had regained his status as a civilian, wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking out towards the distant sea’s surface.

Life on this ship was truly blissful. They had warm water to drink, plenty of vegetables, and even combat was much more relaxed and leisurely than on other warships.

After all, naval battles were still divided into boarding actions and cannon duels. And whether it was boarding or firing cannons, the Great Tang Group’s steam-powered ironclads clearly crushed the entire era’s existence.

First of all, in cannon combat, these warships featured entirely enclosed gun turrets, with all gun positions safely under the protection of steel plates, obviously much safer than those wooden hulls.

Soldiers fighting in this environment naturally became more composed; they could focus more on aiming and firing, rather than observing their surroundings.

And in boarding combat, if a wooden sailboat ever got close to an ironclad, it would face the furious strafing of twin Maxim heavy machine guns...

An enemy sailor who could withstand such firepower and board for combat would probably have to be a T800-level terrifying existence.

This man, who had regained his civilian status, now knew there were so many beautiful scenes in this world, and there were so many advanced and bizarre things.

For the first time, he learned how interesting sailing could be, and for the first time, he realized that naval combat could be so romantic!

Yes, big guns and larger ships are always a man’s romance! When the enemy has only muzzle-loading guns, and you can equip breech-loading guns, war is indeed a romantic and fun affair.

That’s why Americans love war so much, why they are so eager to wage war—using an F-22 to bully an SU-27 or even a MIG-21, everyone loves this game mode...

The Great Tang Group’s ironclad warship is currently in the trial phase, adjusting its own equipment, testing the limits of its performance.

During the tests, the Navy soldiers of the Great Tang Group’s security forces operated the warship and sank a pirate ship.

The pirates had intended to flee, but they desperately discovered that the "burning" ship, emitting thick smoke, the likes of which they had never seen before, traveled at double or even triple their speed!

Then, when the enemy fired from a great distance, far beyond their common knowledge and understanding of naval battles…

After the long-distance shelling, before they could react, they were sent to the bottom of the sea by explosive shells.

How could a wooden sailboat possibly withstand the bombardment of explosive shells, and how could the naked eye outmatch the crushing superiority of a scope?

As for living conditions, this elf sailor even dared to swear to the gods that he had never experienced such a comfortable life at sea.

He shared quarters with only twelve other sailors of the same rank; by previous standards, this was already a luxury suite at sea.

In the past, on sailing ships, sailors, especially slave sailors, had no chance of having their own bedrooms. They were crammed in with the cargo and couldn’t even lie down to sleep.

Now, they had a comfortable hammock, and on one side of the fixed hammock was a personal locker where they could store their personal belongings, such as the long-distance allowance issued by the Great Tang Group to all sailors.

This was unimaginable in the past, not to mention they could now eat navy rations that had been specially reinforced while at sea.

Each navy standard ration included dried meats or fish, as well as dried vegetables and fruit—yes, fruit!

In order to ensure the sailors’ vitamin intake, Tang Mo made it mandatory for all navy sailors to eat at least one orange a day.

Additionally, vegetables like carrots were also dried and stored in abundance in the spare compartments, giving those sailors adrift at sea a sense of kindness and warmth from the upper echelons of the Great Tang Group.

When it came to navy rations alone, they were a grade better than the army’s, so everyone’s spirits were high, and they trained hard.

Most importantly, the warship was fitted with lighting, something previously unimaginable! Light bulbs, a novel innovation, were omnipresent on the warship.

With lighting came more time, so the sailors on this warship acquired an exciting new benefit: education!

They utilized their off-duty time to learn many practical skills, stocking up on technology for life after they retired.

Some of these sailors learned mechanical principles, enabling them to repair steam engines and other equipment aboard the warship. Others learned about electrification, handling strong and weak electrical systems, striving to become qualified electricians.

In short, this was a huge modern warship, as well as a modern school, and every sailor aboard was also a high-tech talent with limitless potential for the future.

Compared to their contemporaries, they indeed were high-tech talents. They had seen optical sights, experienced semi-automatic loading machines, and been exposed to the most advanced stargazing instruments and equipment.

They had also witnessed what a ventilation system was like on their own warship, learned what a telegraph was, and what constituted communication and automatic weapons.

With their grasp of modern naval warfare, each one of them was many times more experienced than their peers, an experience sufficient to make them the favored children of the era.

Inside the bridge, a sailor looked at the pressure gauge in front of him and reported loudly to the captain standing by his side, "The power system is all normal!"

"The steam engine is stable!" Another sailor yelled from the other side.

They had been continuously testing the limits of the warship and discovered, after their cautious experiments, that relative to their meager perception, the warship could practically be described as limitless.

It was like someone who had used a feature phone all their life suddenly switching to a Huawei P30; to them, this phone was simply the ultimate next-generation device, requiring a lot of time to figure out all its features.

Before seeing this warship, if someone had told them it was possible to communicate with distant land across the boundless sea, they would have laughed and mocked the person for being insane.

From inside a pipe communicator, came the voice of a sailor Petty Officer from the lower deck reporting, "The hull structure is all normal! No abnormal noises!"

Looking at the warship speeding at full throttle, the first officer also said to his captain, "Slight waves over the bow, no problem! It won’t affect the main guns firing!"

The captain nodded slightly. Today’s sea conditions were very good, so his warship was without any problems—these days, his warship had undergone a series of tests, proving its superiority.

At this moment, more uplifting news came through the communication pipes from the lower deck in a calm yet exciting tone, "The electrical system is normal!"

And in the telegraph room behind the bridge, a telegraph officer took off his headset and shouted, "Telegraph communication… clear!"

Everyone became excited. The third test had been entirely successful, and what they needed to do now was to send this good news back to Brunas.

The war was over, and the Shireck Consortium could not restore its system within the Leite Kingdom in such a short time—the time was on the side of the Great Tang Group.

The vessels sent to scout Black Dragon Island were likely returning. If they too brought back good news, then the plan to migrate to Black Dragon Island and secure the island would begin to be implemented.

Everything was progressing in a favorable direction, everything was unfolding just as Tang Mo had planned.

"Change course! Prepare to return to port!" The captain stood at his command post, full of pride as he gave the order to return, "Send a telegraph to the boss, tell him! Our sea trials were extremely successful!"

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Thank you, Emperor, for the reward! I’m very grateful for Your Majesty’s support all this time.

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