Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

The general's office on the top floor of the Army Department is decorated completely differently from the reception room. Everything is based on practicality and necessity, with no other complicated decorations except for the huge map of Orentia on the wall.

General Leopold was sitting behind his desk, looking at Dr. William in front of him.

Lieutenant Colonel Graham stood to the side, holding a pen and paper, taking notes on their conversation.

"...Dr. William, I won't bother with the formalities; people are tired of hearing them all the time."

Admiral Leopold got straight to the point.

"I have only one question: as a key figure in the weapons cooperation between the Republic of Edric and the Republic of Orentia, and a renowned weapons expert in the Federation, why didn't you report your itinerary through the proper diplomatic procedures, and instead came to Monsoon Port by ship in a private capacity?"

"You should know that if something really happens to you in Orentia, Orentia will be plunged into a huge crisis, both in terms of cooperation between the two countries and in terms of public opinion within the Federation."

Dr. William gave a wry smile, looked at Admiral Leopold, shook his head, and said, "I think you know far more about Edric's current situation than I do, don't you?"

Leopold raised an eyebrow, neither confirming nor denying.

"Edric was originally a city where each city governed itself independently, with only a city-state council that was more of a formality than a real power. In addition, with the rise of Protestantism, there is a growing trend of civil war between Protestant cities and those that follow the Holy Church of the Empire."

"They all want to do everything they can to win over their own factions, and someone like me who doesn't have any clear inclinations is naturally the target of both sides' efforts to win me over... But I have no interest in this politics at all; I just want to do my research properly."

"Sigh... Sometimes remaining neutral is the most dangerous thing, because both sides will see you as their enemy. I only regret that I realized this too late."

As Dr. William finished speaking, he picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and his eyes were full of exhaustion and helplessness.

"They all think I'll forge new weapons for the other side, some kind of game-changing, earth-shattering weapon, as if I were Tarn, the 'God of Destruction' under Alistair... It's ridiculous."

At this point, Dr. William sighed, feeling a deep sense of powerlessness.

"I submitted my application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to go to Orentia for exchanges more than once. I thought that I would be fine once I left this place of trouble. But in total, I received the same reply seven times: 'approval is temporarily suspended'."

"It was only after that I realized that someone didn't want me to leave Edric at all."

He chuckled self-deprecatingly and shook his head. "The Holy City-States in the north are afraid that my defection to Orentia with the technology is just an excuse to turn around and help the Protestant City-States build weapons to fight against them. The Protestant City-States in the south think the same way, as if I were a big warmonger."

"Every application I submitted became evidence for their suspicion of me. It's really funny that the two sides, who were originally irreconcilable enemies, reached an astonishing agreement because of me."

"Six months ago, my forging workshop was set on fire in the middle of the night, and two apprentices on night watch died on the spot. Two months ago, I was on my way to give a lecture at the university in Coal Ash Fort when I was shot in the street. If my guard hadn't taken a bullet for me, I would have been a corpse on the roadside long ago."

"I have nowhere else to go in Edric, so I have no choice but to resort to this..."

He looked up at Leopold, his eyes full of sincerity, "I research firearms and improve forging techniques so that Edric and the entire Federation can defend their borders and resist the oppression of the Empire, not so that they can use the weapons I make to fire at their own compatriots."

Graham, who had been keeping his head down taking notes, wrote down everything Dr. William said clearly as his pen flew across the paper.

Leopold listened in silence until Dr. William finished speaking, at which point he slowly opened his mouth.

"Doctor, Edric's current situation is ultimately due to the Valencia Empire pulling the strings behind the scenes. What they want is not for any faction of Edric to be in power, but for Edric to remain divided and inflicted with internal strife."

"It is simply not in the Empire's interest to keep a major arms-producing nation at peace..."

Leopold's words were loaded with meaning, and anyone with eyes could hear it. If it didn't serve the interests of the Empire, would it serve the interests of the Republic of Orentia?

"Sigh, who doesn't understand this? It's all just greed... What bullshit religious conflict, it's all just business!"

Dr. William nodded sadly, heartbroken at the state of his hometown.

After his grief subsided, he looked at Sophie sitting beside him. Sophie immediately understood, opened the box, and revealed the gun inside.

"Ah, I recognize this. This must be the repeating gun your design bureau advertised when attracting investment, right?"

General Leopold quickly recognized the gun and was somewhat surprised. "Our War Department contributed a considerable amount of funding... I didn't expect that a prototype would be produced so quickly?"

"No, no, no, the gun isn't the point."

As Dr. William spoke, he glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Graham standing to the side, "The blueprints inside the box are the important part..."

"Graham, go check on their statements. If everything's alright, let them leave."

Leopold understood and glanced at Graham, who also wisely left the office.

Before Graham closed the door, he vaguely heard sounds coming from inside.

"...This is a weapon of war from a new dimension...armor...airship...I still need to test...sites...manpower...hope..."

"Tsk tsk... He just got assassinated, and now he can already talk about research... These Edric people really are workaholics."

Graham uttered a highly stereotypical remark, whistled, and sauntered downstairs.

As soon as he reached the lobby on the first floor, an officer from the logistics department rushed up to him, carrying a thick roster. He saluted him and said in a somewhat anxious tone, "Lieutenant Colonel Graham!"

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic?"

Graham stopped in his tracks.

"Reporting to Lieutenant Colonel, all the statements of the army officers have been completed. After verification, the contents match up and there are no major problems. They are all waiting in the waiting room on the first floor now."

The logistics officer quickly flipped through the roster in his hand and reported to the leader, "I came to ask you if we should arrange for the Army Ministry's official carriages to transport them back to the officers' quarters on the outskirts of the city in batches?"

Graham waved his hand dismissively, "Don't bother. There are only a few public carriages. Even if they keep running back and forth, they won't be able to deliver everything by nightfall."

"Besides, there might be people in there whose families live in Monsoon Harbor. They might want to go home and visit first. We can't just force them into the dorms, that would be too much trouble."