Munitions Empire

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"Tap, tap, tap..." The hurried footsteps echoed through the beautifully decorated corridor, as the stern-faced maid, holding a stack of telegrams, rushed through the hall and pushed open the door at the end.

She walked to the bedside and spoke to the woman who was hugged left and right on the bed, with flaming red hair, "Ma'am, the news has just been confirmed... Dorne has defeated the Kingdoms of Xilun and Taren."

The woman lazily withdrew her lotus arm from underneath her naked companion, scratched her fluffy red hair, and asked in a drawn-out voice, "So, does that mean the news from a few days ago is all true?"

Indeed, there had been news that the Dorne Kingdom had achieved a comprehensive victory and had defeated both Xilun and Taren.

But this news had not been confirmed, and it seemed too fantastic to be true, so Sofia could only choose to wait for the real, confirmed news to arrive.

Now, the news had arrived.

The maid nodded slightly and continued, "Yes, ma'am! It has been confirmed, the fleet of the Taren Kingdom has indeed been annihilated."

Because the decisive naval battle took place at sea, and the war had interrupted the message transmission channels from Hotwind Port, the news had only now been verified and delivered to Sofia.

There was no helping the delays in the intelligence system, which had always been like this; people of this era had grown accustomed to such speeds of news dissemination.

On the other hand, telegrams from Brunas were faster and more convenient—only Sofia dared not trust intelligence from a single source, particularly from the single source of the enemy.

As a decision maker, she feared that the Great Tang Group might employ deceit, spreading false news to influence her decision-making and strategy here.

Only to hear the maid continue, "The news came from Brunas, where a large number of slaves are being sent to Northern Ridge. Among these slaves are sailors from the Taren Kingdom."

Sofia rose from the bed, draped on her silky robe, pulled a chair towards her, and sat down, her curves distinctly outlined, "It really is... a bit hard to swallow. What else is there, go on."

With the navy fleet destroyed, the Taren Kingdom had basically been knocked out of this war, and even if the Dorne Kingdom did not attack it on land, it was utterly incapable of resisting the fleet of the Great Tang Group.

Thus, it was only a matter of time before this kingdom fell to Great Tang, or to put it another way, was completely absorbed by a kingdom controlled by Great Tang.

"Additionally, the ground troops of the Xilun Kingdom, a 50,000 strong army, have all surrendered to Dorne and became captives. If there are no accidents, the news of the Taren Kingdom's military's defeat should also be true," the maid reported in a calm tone that was neither sad nor happy, offering a simple overview of the course of the battle at Dorne.

This included a series of maneuvers by Dorne's twin heroes, though not accurate and detailed, but information gathered from the fleeing troops from the Taren Kingdom still corroborated some facts.

At the very least, this battle had surprisingly quickly determined a victor, with the Taren Kingdom's naval debacle accompanied by an army that made an astonishing retreat over a thousand miles...

As she listened to her maid, or rather her capable assistant, report on these events, Sofia's face grew increasingly grim.

Normally, her mood had been quite good these past few days, as she had seduced a female baron, and the two were in the midst of a "passionate affair," naturally full of romance.

Unfortunately, bad news after bad news of the war kept coming, until now, Sofia felt that Shireck's council had completely lost control of the outcome.

So, irritated, she grabbed a perfume bottle and smashed it on the floor, letting it roll into a corner of the room, "...I had considered defeat, but I hadn't expected... defeat to come this fast, or to be this devastating."

"Ma'am..." The woman on the bed cried out in alarm, awakened by the noise.

"There's a little trouble with business! No matter!" Sofia said without turning back, and sure enough, the woman didn't dare to ask any more, hurriedly dressing in her underwear and fleeing the bedroom with her clothes.

"Ma'am!" Only after the woman left did the maid continue.

Sofia gestured with her hand, "I'm fine! Just a bit of a headache... The current situation is already very unfavorable for us."

She got up irritably, pacing through her opulent home, muttering under her breath with grinding teeth, "We have nearly lost the five kingdoms fully controlled by the Great Tang Group, and the national power of these five kingdoms is now quite strong."

Indeed, the trade alliance of five nations, almost completely out of Shireck's control, was indeed rising in strength day by day.

Even the Songmu Kingdom, the last to join and not very powerful in terms of national strength, was undergoing its industrial revolution due to the acquisition of a large number of mechanical devices.

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Not to mention the Poplar Kingdom, which has annexed most of the Gales Kingdom, as well as Suthers, Leite and Dorne—the four kingdoms that likewise swallowed up their neighbors.

With either direct or indirect support from Tang Mo, all these kingdoms have begun to digest the spoils of war and are starting to perfect their own institutions, gradually transforming from outdated kingdoms into more advanced and powerful capitalist empires.

Once these nations complete the restructuring of their domestic affairs, they will possess the potential to overwhelmingly outrun their neighboring countries and, at the same time, will further weaken the influence of the Shireck Consortium.

"Moreover, we have now effectively lost the Kingdom of Gemalin, Xilun Kingdom, and Taren Kingdom... As for the Poplar Kingdom and the Rosewood Kingdom... and the Phalak Kingdom... that will depend on whether we can manage them..." Sofia, with a troubled look, paced back and forth in her bedroom.

"Milady, be careful of the glass..." Out of concern that the barefoot Sofia might be hurt by the shards of the perfume bottles, the maid cautioned her.

"Have someone clean it up!" Sofia startled, then continued barefoot toward the balcony, pushed open the floor-to-ceiling windows, and walked up to the railing.

As she made her way, her mind was occupied with how to strategize, to possibly keep the remaining three kingdoms intact, or at least not to have them gobbled up by the Great Tang Group in one bite.

In the end, after long contemplation and without any particularly good strategy, she opened her mouth in some annoyance and cursed, "Damn it, we've just lost control of three kingdoms at once, and we're losing a huge market! In the future, we will be increasingly unable to shake this rival, the Great Tang Group."

"Then, Lady Sofia, what should we do next?" The maid, who had never encountered such a thorny issue, could only earnestly ask her mistress.

In fact, she was capable and had the authority to deal with minor issues herself—but recently, there had been an exception; for any matters related to the Tang Group, she found she could no longer cope and had to leave them to Sofia to resolve personally.

"There aren't many good options! Go to Brunas for me," Sofia, after pondering for about a minute, suddenly instructed her confidante.

"Hm?" The maid was taken aback because it had been a long time since she'd been sent out on any mission, as ordinary opponents neither required nor warranted her involvement.

Normally, a Shireck executive could handle issues within a kingdom; the Shireck Consortium was too large to need the council's members to deal with trivial matters.

But now, it seems... it wasn't just a so-called 'normal situation.'

Sofia turned to her most capable subordinate, instructing, "Have a good talk with that Tang Mo, tell him that not all is unanimous within the Shireck Consortium, and there are those who are still willing to converse with him earnestly... "

She knew she didn't need to elaborate; her subordinate would grasp her meaning. So she waited a few seconds for her aide to adjust to the sudden travel arrangement before continuing, "Then, try to make him understand that money... cannot be earned by one person alone, and sometimes having a rival can actually make business more lucrative."

"You mean?" The maid roughly understood Sofia's intention, but she still wanted to confirm the details with her mistress.

Sofia smiled, a breathtakingly beautiful smile filled with confidence and pride, which left the maid utterly enchanted, "I don't mind becoming his adversary—an adversary who collaborates behind the scenes, yet competes on the surface! As long as it's profitable, I'm willing to concede a portion of the profits... "

"Then, what shall we want in return?" Understanding Sofia's intention, the maid inquired.

"Warships! Brand-new warships, steel warships! And also merchant ships! For this, I am willing to covertly assist and cede the Poplar Kingdom, the Rosewood Kingdom, and the Phalak Kingdom to the Great Tang Group."

"What if he doesn't agree?" the maid asked worriedly.

Sofia's expression turned cold, and with a chilling look in her eyes, she curtly responded to the maid's concern, "If he doesn't agree, then we'll just have to protract the conflict until the Great Tang Group's supplies run short, until we ourselves are fragmented, and nobody gains any advantage from our mutual losses."

"But..." the maid looked at Sofia with concern.

She knew that dragging things out required capital, and if the Great Tang Group could quickly resolve the remaining belligerent nations, then the initiative would completely shift into the hands of the Great Tang Group.

So, the basis of the negotiation seemed to hinge on whether the war could continue. If the war were to end, then Shireck's desire for new warship technology, or for the oceans, would merely be a pipe dream.

Sofia looked into the distance with a hint of resignation and sighed softly, her demeanor softening as she said, "I know! It all depends on whether the Poplar Kingdom, the Rosewood Kingdom, and the Phalak Kingdom can withstand his next... assault!"

"Go!" After a few seconds of silence, Sofia, looking towards the distant sunrise, spoke, "Once you get to Brunas, send me a telegram."

"Yes! Your subordinate understands!" The maid gave a small bow and then left the room.