Munitions Empire

Tang Mo clamped the cigarette between his lips and leaned into the flame, greedily inhaling. The air moved, and the flame ignited the cigarette in front of him.

A scorching pain surged into Tang Mo’s windpipe, violently tearing at his lungs. His debonair moment vanished entirely as he began to cough violently, his eyes filled with painful tears.

"Ugh... cough cough cough! I... cough cough cough! Cough! Ah...

Cough cough cough!" His uncontrollable coughing even altered his voice to a terrifying pitch.

Mathews stood up in shock, wanting to come over to help, but Tang Mo gestured with his hand for him to stop.

Tang Mo truly found it embarrassing to admit a fact: he had tried to show off but had genuinely and utterly failed. In the depths of his soul he was indeed an old smoker, yet this young body was incredibly honest.

This matter was not like finding a woman; a first-timer needing only to watch a couple of DVDs from Dongying to become self-taught, able to fake experience somewhat convincingly.

When it comes to smoking, no matter how familiar you are, if your body isn’t prepared, it will give the most honest feedback to your brain as the painful smoke churns in your lungs.

Tang Mo’s violent coughing was his most genuine reaction. He found himself once again experiencing this exciting yet uncomfortable poor experience.

Even a bit of snot flowed from his nostrils at one point, destroying any semblance of elegance he had hoped to enjoy while smoking.

In fact, smoking looks stylish, very handsome, and even gives the illusion of masculinity—all deliberate constructs of tobacco companies. The so-called graceful smoking by women is also an exorbitantly priced advertisement placed within the plot.

A woman smoking is alluring, but when you think about it, is it the smoking action that seduces? What really attracts is her red evening gown, her exquisite face, and her desire-inducing curves.

Is a man smoking a symbol of depth and vicissitudes of life? Not really. Wearing a suit, sporting a gold watch, and blowing smoke rings in a Rolls-Royce—that’s depth; sitting in tattered jeans and a tank top by the roadside next to a bike—that’s destitution...

So, is it the cigarette that leaves the lasting impression? Not at all, it’s the actor’s charisma, the costly clothing, and the seductiveness of his female companion.

As for the cigarettes, they’re just an accessory, completely dispensable. If he were chewing gum, you’d probably think he’s healthy. If he were popping a cherry into his mouth, women would probably scream with their hands over their faces.

In any case, after his first failed attempt at showing off, Tang Mo found ten thousand excuses for his blunder. Finally, as his lungs began to acclimatize to the uncomfortable sensation, he found a hint of pleasure amidst the pain.

For an old smoker like him, this was a familiar sensation, one akin to the taste of home.

"Is this... is this it, Master?" After a long wait, Mathews could no longer hold back his curiosity and asked.

Tang Mo, still savoring the refreshing feeling of his first smoke, caught off guard by the question, wasn’t quite sure what Mathews was referring to.

He looked at Mathews blankly, feeling regret that he could not appreciate the pleasure of smoking.

"Isn’t this some earth-shattering invention?" Mathews continued, still somewhat in disbelief.

"Of course... isn’t this an earth-shattering invention?" Tang Mo held the cigarette between two fingers, coolly exhaling a puff of smoke, savoring as he spoke, "This feeling... do you know how long I’ve been waiting for it?"

It was only then that Mathews realized that the new invention Tang Mo had been looking forward to was nothing but two rather useless trinkets.

But what he did not know was that these two creations of his own would one day become highly sought after by many successful people, and that the original items accompanying Tang Mo soared to unimaginable prices.

As for the rolled cigarettes he had barely looked at, they would soon sweep through the Leite Kingdom and become the favorite daily consumption good of the Great Tang Group’s security forces.

With the outbreak of war, these cigarettes began to be mass-produced and distributed to various battle zones, becoming a comfort to the soldiers’ souls on those hellish frontlines.

At this point, he was indeed a role model of success, akin to the dashing male leads in movies.

He wore a ring with a gem valued at 400 Gold Coins on his finger, a suit tailor-made just for him, and a golden pocket watch in his pocket.

Of course, he had two new valuable toys: a cigarette case and a lighter.

Ultimately, after two minutes of non-stop coughing, Tang Mo found a way to damage his lungs, and he started to enjoy it to the fullest.

If there were a car with a silver angel figure on its hood, then he would have almost reached the heights he had in his previous life.

So, at this moment, Tang Mo was ecstatic. He was still intoxicated by the momentary, unrealistic illusion, hypnotizing himself into a brief peace.

Indeed, there was a moment’s peace.

In the fall of the year 114 in the Leite Kingdom, having completed the assembly and training of his troops and with the support from the Great Tang Group, Leite VII personally led his army eastward. He defeated the neighboring country backed by the Shireck Consortium and completed the full annexation of that nation.

In this decisive battle which sealed the fate of both countries, the Leite Kingdom mobilized a force of 45,000 to face the neighboring nation’s 90,000. Relying on the formidable firepower of the C64 cannons, they crushed the enemy’s main force in one strike and then breached the enemy’s King City.

Following this, the king of the neighboring nation announced his abdication, and was ennobled by Leite VII with the title of Marquis. His entire kingdom became the Leite Kingdom’s spoils of war.

Meanwhile, as this battle was underway, the Suthers Kingdom suddenly launched an attack to the north. With an army of 30,000, they swept across the northern border, annihilating the neighboring country’s 30,000 border guards and then stormed straight to the enemy’s King City, forcing them to sign a peace treaty.

The terms of this treaty were very complex, but there were two particularly striking ones. The first was that the Suthers Kingdom acquired all the territories south of the enemy’s King City, advancing their border right up to the city walls.

The second clause was quite interesting: all the resources within the conquered kingdom had to be operated by the Great Tang Group, with the influence of the Shireck Consortium completely expelled from the defeated country.

But the events were far from over. Seven days after the start of Suthers’ northern campaign, a kingdom called Dorne to the south of the Leite Kingdom mobilized their forces northward, achieving victory after victory, crushing the unfortunate kingdom that lay between Dorne and the Leite Kingdom.

This kingdom could truly be called unlucky, as both the rapidly strengthening Leite Kingdom and the swiftly rising Dorne Kingdom effortlessly partitioned this weaker nation between themselves.

Yes, completely partitioned it.

In just one month, the Leite Kingdom had annexed one kingdom and half of another, nearly doubling its territory. The Dorne Kingdom had also assimilated half a kingdom, expanding its own territory by at least two-thirds.

More importantly, the Dorne Kingdom had gained a land border with the Leite Kingdom, which is what external observers speculated to be the reason they abandoned the more southern neighboring countries in favor of moving north.

At the same time, the Suthers Kingdom also expanded its territory to the north, reaching right below the walls of the enemy’s King City, filling the losses from their previous war.

At least, the land the Suthers acquired was twice the size of what they had lost, and the area included vast pastures, worth as much as the agricultural region south of the Icing Crystal River.

Given the outcome, since the Suthers Kingdom was not planning to antagonize the Northern Ridge again, they could in fact buy large quantities of food from the Leite Kingdom.

In return, they could supply products like furs and manes, providing the Leite Kingdom with ample livestock supplies to compensate each other.

However, the nearly back-to-back expansion of the three kingdoms truly made some more distant kingdoms nervous. They shuddered in fear at the thought of these three nations forming an alliance and continuing to expand their territories.

Similarly, in the three seemingly unrelated but in fact closely connected wars, many amazing talents unexpectedly emerged.

Viscount Romel of the Suthers Kingdom displayed heroic bravery, leading his army on a resolute charge through enemy lines as if he were in a land without opponents, achieving a grand victory in the north and boosting the morale of the Suthers people.

On the Leite Kingdom’s side, talents were even more abundant, with many commanders, whose names were not well known, leading their troops to pierce through the enemy’s defenses, outmaneuvering their opponents in command capability.

It was these impressive commanders that led to the rapid collapse of the neighboring country’s troops, which were better equipped with breach-loading rifles, had more artillery, and stronger forces backed by the Shireck Consortium, helping the Leite Kingdom secure an unprecedented victory.

Similarly, in the Dorne Kingdom, a legend was born—a young commander who led their troops northward and with a final victorious maneuver, completely partitioned the kingdom trapped between the two powers, turned out to be a naval officer.

What was more laughable was that this young commander was not even 20 years old, a genuine prodigy the likes of which are rarely seen.

These dazzling stars suddenly emerged, all coming from what appeared to be the allied three kingdoms, which inevitably led to some fanciful speculations.

Soon enough, everyone learned a startling fact through investigations: the Leite Kingdom housed a Great Tang military academy, and the alumni from there... could indeed be called talented!

After the conclusion of the three consecutive battles, the nearly exposed alliance of the three kings formally took shape. The three nations signed a mutual trust treaty in Brunas, vowing never to betray one another, and to expand their wars outward, back-to-back.

Moreover, the alliance of the three kings agreed that when one party was in a difficult war situation, the other two were obliged to send troops to help. This treaty plunged the neighboring smaller kingdoms completely into despair.

In the end, with the aid of Shireck, a five-nation coalition was also formed. Their purpose was to counter the expansion of the alliance of the three kings.

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