I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 472 The Power of Industry

Chris was watching the drama unfold.

Now that he is a king, he can no longer run around, so his greatest pleasure now is to hide in his study where he is all alone and watch the players' battles against the snake people through live streams.

Chris found this incredibly entertaining, and when the three giant poisonous salamanders burst out of the water, he sat up straight, watching with even greater concentration.

This live stream is way more exciting than any movie.

When the three-headed poisonous salamander died and the players started pumping water again, Chris paid even more attention. He knew all too well what would happen next... For this final battle, Rem had made a special logistical supply request to the rear.

The scale of the supply was so large that, apart from Chris, the Department of Military Affairs dared not approve it.

So far, the Holy Expeditionary Force and the Railway Corps have not used this batch of supplies; clearly, they intend to save it for last, that is, now… Chris is extremely concerned and expectant about this.

……

Byron Thorne stood on a mound that had dried slightly due to drainage work, his old priest's robes stained with mud making him stand out from the sleek or wiry players and soldiers around him.

Passersby, whether players or members of the Railroad Guard, ignored Byron standing there. Everyone was busy and had no time to pay attention to a nobody.

The smell here was unpleasant, so much so that Byron put a makeshift respirator on his face, but it didn't help much and was more of a psychological comfort.

Because the air was filled not only with the stench of deadly poison, but also with a deeper, more soul-chilling filth, like invisible tentacles, stirring his keen senses as a former priestess of the Earth Mother Goddess.

He could "hear" the writhing of countless snake-men's life force emanating from the depths of the building. They were intertwined, not like a scattered, defeated army, but rather exuding a fanatical and unsettling sense of order.

"It's not a desperate struggle..."

Byron's chapped lips moved, uttering whispers that were almost audible only to himself, his brows furrowed tightly.

"They are contracting, they are gathering... they want to drag us in."

In his spiritual vision, the black building resembled a huge, still-beating evil heart, not only a convergence of snake-men's lives, but also a vast, cold, hungry evil god's will residing within it, resonating madly with the souls of countless snake-men.

That will is being nurtured, strengthened by countless desperate and fervent prayers and sacrifices.

A terrible thought pierced his mind like an ice pick.

street fighting.

The Serpent People intended to use the complex, narrow, dark, and trap-filled structure of their lair to minimize the Holy Expeditionary Force's firepower and numerical superiority, and to inflict the most brutal attrition.

Is the snake-man trying to harvest the lives and souls of everyone who died in their lair, in an attempt to perform a sacrifice?

Oh, that's quite possible. Their lair itself is a huge altar, and the lives that die on the altar can be considered as sacrifices.

From this conclusion, Byron deduced an extremely terrible ending... He was almost certain that if the war went against them, the high-ranking snake people, who were entrenched deep within their lair, would never surrender at the last moment.

They will not hesitate to offer the lives and souls of all surviving snake people in their lair as a final sacrifice in an unprecedented and massive evil ritual, attempting to forcibly tear apart the veil of reality and directly summon their slumbering or distant other-dimensional evil god or a powerful avatar to this world!

At that time, what they will face will no longer be an army of mortals, but a true divine calamity that could sweep across the entire region!

Byron felt a chill creep up his spine, which even temporarily dispelled the sweltering heat of the swamp.

He felt he could no longer remain silent.

Although he had been stripped of his official priesthood and banished to the front lines by His Majesty, he could not stand idly by and watch such a disaster unfold.

He turned around abruptly, took long strides, and trudged towards the direction where the player commanders were gathered, not even caring that the mud splashed up and dirtied his robes.

With an unusually solemn expression, he went directly to the frontline commander, who was excitedly gesturing about how to bombard the area with heavy artillery the next day.

"commander!"

Byron's hoarse voice, yet with an undeniable urgency, interrupted him.

His ambitious plan, which was being announced, was interrupted, and he turned his head away somewhat displeased.

"What's wrong? Can't you see I'm busy devising a battle plan? Tomorrow I'll give it a central attack..."

"We cannot launch a direct assault, much less bombard its core area on a large scale!"

Byron said eagerly, pointing towards the lake.

"I just found out that it's a huge altar, and all the snake people in the swamp are inside, at least several thousand of them. They're not defending themselves, but preparing for a final sacrifice!"

He quickly and clearly explained his findings and concerns.

"...If we exert too much pressure from the outside, or rashly venture into its deepest parts, it may prompt them to initiate the ritual ahead of schedule. They intend to use the lives and souls of all their kind as fuel to summon their god!"

Upon hearing this, Iron Will and the other player captains who had gathered around slightly suppressed their excitement and revealed thoughtful expressions.

They may not be afraid of death or powerful monsters, but they are still quite wary of plots like "summoning evil gods," which involve the game's underlying mechanics and could potentially trigger large-scale catastrophic events.

"Summoning an evil god, how big is it? Is it easy to defeat?"

One player asked curiously.

Byron was momentarily speechless at the question, barely suppressing his anger.

"It's not a question of whether it's easy or difficult to fight. It means we may be facing a terrifying entity that cannot be killed by conventional force, and could even contaminate the entire area, causing the mission to fail completely. We must stop the ritual from being completed!"

Iron Will stroked his chin, remaining silent as he pondered something.

Another player, who seemed more composed, spoke up.

"It's better to believe it's true. If he's right and summons a world boss, our small group is definitely not enough. If we fail the mission, we'll lose a lot of contribution points and reputation. We need to change our strategy."

Byron breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw that they had taken his words to heart, and immediately added something.

"We must organize an elite squad to break in as quickly as possible, find and destroy their core altar before the snake people complete their ritual, or kill the high priest presiding over the ritual. External firepower can be used for suppression and clearing, but we must never directly attack the core area where the altar might be located! We must be fast!"
I can participate; I can be of use as a last resort.

Upon hearing this, Iron Will turned to look at Byron. There was something in that old man's words... He was probably prepared to sacrifice himself.

Previously, when players fought in the Civil War, they also fought against the High Priestess of the Earth Mother Goddess, and knew how much destruction such a religious figure could cause when she fought desperately in the end... Of course, after fighting desperately, the High Priestess also did not survive, which is also very reasonable.

The players exchanged glances, then looked at Heart of Steel, the commander here, whose opinion was paramount.

"actually……"

Iron Will hesitated, and after considering it several times, he said.

"The shelling can be cancelled, but going in is completely unnecessary. From the beginning, we never intended to go in and kill the snake people."

"Huh?" Byron was stunned.

If you're not planning to go in, why are you using a steam pump to pump water from the lake?
……

Byron's question was quickly answered, but the answer sent chills down his spine, making him even more uneasy than when he sensed the will of the evil god.

Multiple steam pumps, like tireless steel behemoths, roared and worked continuously for a day and a night.

By the afternoon of the following day, the level of the nauseating dark green slime in the lake had dropped by nearly one-fifth, revealing a more grotesque black lakebed riddled with holes and slimy creatures, as well as the twisted, snake-man's lair structure that looked as if it had been dredged straight from a nightmare.

With most of its structure exposed to the damp air and the faint morning light, it resembles an evil monument built of bones and resentment.

During this time, distorted ripples appeared on the surface of the lake below, which made the players very excited. However, the giant poisonous salamanders at the bottom of the water may have known the previous lesson, and they did not rise to the surface to be attacked for a long time.

This is extremely disappointing.

During this period, the engineering players in the rear demonstrated amazing efficiency.

A makeshift road, though simple, was sturdy enough to allow heavy horse-drawn carriages to pass through, and was quickly paved from five kilometers away to the vicinity of the lake.

What Byron was surprised by what was brought along the same route next.

That wasn't more soldiers, nor was it siege equipment.

It was barrels and truckloads of sealed metal containers.

The workers carefully transported the iron drums in by horse-drawn carts and neatly stacked them in a temporary storage area that had been cleared out and quickly covered with a waterproof shed.

The iron drums were painted with simple numbers and some chemical symbols that Byron couldn't understand, and they were transported directly to different locations in the lakeside fortifications.

Near these metal drums, a new, pungent chemical smell quickly began to fill the air, mixing with the existing stench and creating an eerie atmosphere.

The railway guards received orders to keep a close watch on the mountains of iron barrels, their eyes filled with confusion and a hint of instinctive vigilance.

Equally puzzled, Byron found Ironheart directing the deployment, pointing at the iron barrels, his voice trembling slightly.

"Commander, what... what are those things? What are you trying to do?"

Iron Heart turned his head, glanced at the iron barrels, and explained in a calm tone.

“Old Byron, you’re right. A direct assault and bombardment of the core area are too risky and could prematurely detonate that sacrificial ritual.”

He paused, his gaze falling on the more exposed nest structure, a cold smile curving his lips.

"Therefore, we stick to the original plan, delete the original shelling procedure, and get straight to the main task."

"theme?"

Byron's ominous premonition grew stronger.

"What theme?"

"Snake-Man Barbecue".

"Iron Will" is a concise and to-the-point expression.

"Those barrels contained the most flammable and explosive stuff that the Kingdom's industrial department could get its hands on, along with some highly concentrated sulfuric acid."

The pumps will not stop; we will continue to pump the lake water low enough that our people can safely approach the main ventilation shafts and weak points of the nest.

He gestured with his hands.

"Then, we went to the sulfuric acid. There were obvious underground caves under the lake. The water inside couldn't be pumped out, so we used concentrated sulfuric acid to kill whatever was inside."

The day after pouring the sulfuric acid, we dumped flammable and explosive liquid directly into the lake, and then set it on fire…

Byron was stunned, a chill running from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He imagined the horrific scene: deadly concentrated sulfuric acid pouring into every crevice and hole of the nest like acid rain, mixing with the remaining moisture underground, instantly releasing terrifyingly high temperatures that carbonized and corroded all living things in extreme agony.

The flammable oil that then surges in will soak every inch of bones and remains. Finally, the fire will be lit, and the flames, strong enough to melt gold and corrode stone, will burn and explode wildly in the sealed lair, completely erasing the snake people, the altar, and even the evil will itself from the physical level!

This was not a battle; it was an industrialized, ruthless, and utter extermination.

An absolute destruction that requires no heroic charge, no knightly duel, but only pumps and ignition!

"This...this will completely defile this land, and the Mother Goddess will be furious!"

Byron blurted it out almost without thinking, his instincts as an earth priest instilling fear in him of such a radical alteration of the earth's veins and environment.

Steel Ambition gave him a strange look, seemingly unable to understand his concerns.

"Enraged? After the fire is done, have the railway corps bring over some soil and lime to fill the lake, or directly introduce seawater to flush it out. After two or three years, the place will be fine."

Even if something happens, it's still stronger than when this place was still a swamp.

His words were cold and pragmatic, as if he were discussing how to deal with a pile of industrial waste, rather than a piece of land that had once nurtured life.

Byron was speechless.

On the one hand, he couldn't refute it; on the other hand, Byron realized that he had no right to object.

The drainage project continued smoothly, and the snake people hiding in the castle in the middle of the lake remained calm and composed, having anticipated the water pumping.

After all, the players have been using steam pumps to do this to the swamp for almost half a year now. If the swamp creatures had even a tiny bit of sense, they would have figured out how the players would treat the sticky lakes they depend on for survival.

Just because the snake people anticipated what the players would do doesn't mean they could stop them.

They didn't even dare leave their nest to destroy the steam pump.

The reason is simple: steam pumps may seem precious and rare, but they are only precious in the early stages.

After winter last year, in the gradually industrializing Kingdom of Bagnia, the production line of steam pumps started up, and there were so many of these things that players of the Holy Expeditionary Army especially liked to use them as bait.

At first, the snake-men didn't realize this and often fell for it. But after many snake-men warriors died, they realized what was happening and stopped being so easily fooled.

Yesterday's three monsters were their last attempt. After failing, the snake people gave up on stopping the enemy from draining the water.

However, the snake people were well aware of the drainage, but they had no idea what the players would do to them afterward... The snake people knew nothing of the power of industry.

(End of this chapter)