Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 324 Dilemma
News of the alliance agreement between the Empire and the Duchy of Tiris quickly spread throughout the entire continent.

It must be said that the rulers of various countries were quite surprised when they learned of this news. Francis's previous visits to the Empire to discuss the alliance agreement had not only caused a great stir within the Empire, but the Kingdom of Krant and the Sasha Alliance were also paying close attention to the progress of this matter.

After all, the Kingdom of Krant and the Sasha Alliance had also signed a military agreement, so if the Kingdom of Krant were to attack Francis, the Sasha Alliance would also declare war.

Francis was an established empire, while the Kingdom of Krant and the Sasha Alliance were both rising powers. Normally, a two-on-one fight wouldn't have been a problem. However, Francis wasn't foolish; he had long ago forged an alliance with the Western European Empire, located east of the Kingdom of Krant.

In this way, the Kingdom of Krant was trapped by Francis, just like the patty in the middle of a hamburger.

The Sasha Alliance is located to the south of the Kingdom of Krante, not bordering Francis, but bordering the Western European Empire. If the Kingdom of Krante's target is Francis, then the Sasha Alliance's target is the Western European Empire.

In terms of sheer size, the Western European Empire is currently even larger than the Empire, but that's to little use. Located in the frigid north, despite its world-leading land area on the map, most of the Western European Empire is permafrost and tundra wilderness, sparsely populated with animals, let alone humans.

This country is so large, but the area of ​​arable land is only about the same size as the Duchy of Tiris.

Even so, the Western Empire of Europe is still known for its fierce and valiant people. Its warriors are all strong and powerful, and they fight without regard for their lives.

Therefore, the Western European Empire is also known as a warrior nation.

In truth, given the state of the Western European Empire, the Sasha Alliance originally had little conflict with it. However, just as the Kingdom of Krant expanded westward, the Sasha Alliance had always wanted to expand southward. Yet, several southern countries were allies of the Western European Empire. If the Sasha Alliance were to expand southward, it would inevitably infringe upon the Western European Empire's sphere of influence.

That's why the two sides had a conflict of interest.

On the current battlefield, Francis and the Western European Empire are attacking from the east and west respectively, trapping the Kingdom of Krant and the Sasha Alliance in the middle and barely maintaining a strategic balance.

However, the reason why Francis was eager to make a move was quite simple.

Because the Western Empire of Europe was unstable.

Unlike Francis, who overthrew the monarchy after the steam revolution, and the empires that reformed their systems under the Queen, the Western European Empire did not implement political reforms during the steam industrial revolution. Instead, it severely oppressed the lower classes. Ultimately, rebellions broke out everywhere, and the Western European Empire's royal family is now a flickering candle, teetering on the brink of collapse.

The Kingdom of Krant saw this strategic window and decided to launch an attack on Francis while the Western European Empire was preoccupied with its own problems and unable to spare the strength to attack from the eastern front.

After all, opportunities for war are fleeting. If the royal family of the Western European Empire falls, that would be fine. But if the Western European Empire reacts and reforms, and then recovers, then for the Kingdom of Krant, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be gone in an instant.

The Kingdom of Krante could see this, and so could Francis. He was also afraid that the Western European Empire would be destroyed, so he visited the empire several times to request the conclusion of a military alliance agreement.

The idea was that if the Western European Empire really couldn't survive, at least the Empire could still be their support.

In the past, the Kingdom of Krant and the Sasha Alliance probably wouldn't have been too worried about the empire, but the current empire is different. Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse; this camel is not only not dead, but it has come back to life and has completely mechanized itself!

The steam industrial revolution began in the Empire, which is currently the most technologically advanced place in the steam industry, and the queen who governs the Empire is also a ruthless person.

If the Empire were to truly join forces with Francis, it would indeed be a major deterrent to the Kingdom of Krant and the Sasha Alliance.

Regarding whether the Empire would ally with Francis, many political scientists and experts from both countries have offered their opinions.

Some believe that, given the history of the feud between the Empire and Francis, the fact that the Empire didn't eliminate Francis before the Kingdom of Krant could act is a testament to the Queen's kindness in helping Francis; it would have been absolutely impossible for the Empire to do so.

However, some people have different opinions on this. The reason is simple: precisely because Francis has a deep connection with the Empire, they will not sit idly by and watch Francis be destroyed by Krant.

The reason is simple: from a historical perspective, Francis was one of the first to break away from the empire, and when the empire declined, Francis rose to become the ruler of the continent.

However, both sides are ultimately of the same origin.

Strictly speaking, the Franciscan nobles who were beheaded back then were all related to the imperial royal family by blood.

Other countries were born and rose to power after this period, and their rulers had little to do with imperial families.

It's like two brothers in a family arguing. Although they don't like each other, they are still family at heart.

But other countries are strangers from abroad.

They are still of different status.

Unexpectedly...

"Truly worthy of being called the Blood Queen."

In the royal palace of the Kingdom of Krant, in a small meeting room, several men in military uniforms sat around a table with solemn expressions.

Soon, one of them spoke up.

“We were watching her choices, but unexpectedly, she handed the choice back to us.”

No one spoke; in fact, that was what everyone thought.

At this moment, the Kingdom of Krant was completely unified. From the emperor to the people, everyone was in high spirits. Even the generals had made bold statements, claiming that even if the empire allied with Francis, Krant would not be afraid at all.

They have the confidence and the courage, but...

If the other party throws the choice back to you, that's a different story.

It's like a fight between two sides. If a strong man stands on the opposite side from the beginning, clearly indicating that he's the enemy, then it's time to fight.

But if this burly man stands by, indicating that he won't hit you unless you provoke him, then... humans will instinctively start to calculate the pros and cons.

Should we really take action?
This has become a question in the minds of many generals in the Kingdom of Krant. In fact, when they first formulated their strategy against Francis, their primary choice was to attack the Duchy of Tiris first, and then flank Francis and sweep him away.

After all, Francis had built his eastern defenses to be incredibly solid in order to deal with the Duchy of Krant, and they were even said to be an impenetrable line of defense.

The Kingdom of Krant also knew that even with its strong and well-equipped army, if it were to confront this so-called "impenetrable fortress" head-on, even if it eventually broke through, the outcome would inevitably be one of heavy casualties.

Clearly, this is something the empire is happy to see.

In fact, similar scenarios had been considered within the Kingdom of Krant, but at that time they were more inclined to believe that the Empire would take advantage of the situation and annex the Duchy of Tiris. They never expected the Queen to pull such a stunt.

To everyone's surprise, Francis would actually tacitly agree to give up this neutral buffer zone.

Now it seems those experts were right. Even if the Empire and Francis have had a feud for hundreds or thousands of years, they were once one family. With an external enemy at hand, Francis probably can't care about anything else.

Krant's generals now face two choices.

Either invade the Duchy of Tiris and drag the Empire into this war, or go and crash headlong into Francis's defenses...

Isn't there any other way?

The war chariots of the Kingdom of Krant seemed to have fallen into a temporary silence due to this sudden situation.

Of course, such national affairs have nothing to do with Li Wei at the moment.

He was more concerned about another "war".

"Good fellow, what a good fellow."

Standing at the window of the clock tower, looking outside, Li Wei's eyes twitched incessantly.

"Is it really that exaggerated? I really didn't expect it..."

Looking out from Livy's tower, you can see a central park not far away, a place where local residents usually come to stroll. Normally it's not crowded, but today, it's packed with people, forming winding, meandering queues that practically fill the entire park!

And at the very front of this group was none other than Li Wei and Eileen's newly opened doll shop!

During this time, Eileen also acquired a doll workshop with good technology but poor management, and then Levi bought a large house next to the tower. After some renovation, reorganization, and manufacturing, the new dolls were launched.

In response, Li Wei placed advertisements in major newspapers to promote the opening of the doll shop "Doll House" and announced that Betty the dog dolls were available for sale as a grand opening promotion, with each Betty the dog doll priced at only 9 shillings and 15 pence.

It falls within a price range that isn't too expensive for most people.

Li Wei still remembers seeing robots in department stores when he was a child; each one cost over a hundred!
His original plan was to attract more customers, but now it seems...

"This is too much..."

Li Wei thought the store he bought was big enough, but the queue actually stretched all the way into the park, filling the entire park in circles!
Thankfully, I didn't let the little guy go down too.

Li Wei silently breathed a sigh of relief. So many people were probably here for Betty the puppy. If they saw her alive, who knows how crazy they would go.

However, Li Wei wasn't too worried about safety. He had already asked Lestrade to send a team of police officers to maintain order, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Ding-a-ling—!"

The intercom rang, and Li Wei picked up the receiver. Soon, Eileen's voice came from the other end.

"Sir, the dolls are selling too fast, they're about to run out!"

"Didn't you prepare a lot?"

Dolls aren't like fruits and vegetables, which have an expiration date. Besides, Li Wei was quite confident in Betty the puppy's appeal, so before the opening, he had Eileen make plenty. In a megacity like Chongqing with tens of millions of people, how could they not sell out?

"Because, because many people want several at once, and now some people are even saying they want a box or two..."

"oh……………"

These are probably scalpers and middlemen.

Hearing this, Li Wei narrowed his eyes.

"That's easy, just say that each person is limited to one purchase."

"Huh? Is this okay?"

It must be said that Eileen is a master at making dolls, but in business, she's no different from a beginner. Generally speaking, people only worry about not having enough customers, not about limiting purchases.
"Of course, I did as I said."

"Ok."

Eileen hung up the phone and hurried off to do her work, while Li Wei stretched, looked at the sea of ​​people outside, then glanced at the little mermaid peeking out of the pond next to him with a disgruntled expression, and shrugged.

"How about we sing some more songs?"

With so many people around, going out would be a hassle, so let's just stay home.

(End of this chapter)