Munitions Empire

That afternoon, while the soldiers stationed on the battered walls of Taren King City were carefully nursing their barely-better-than-swine-feed meals, a group of enemy troops from distant warships landed.

He didn't even dare to touch the Shireck Flintlock Gun next to him, letting the flame in front of him scorch the old container.

Inside the container, the pasty food was bubbling eerily, emitting a somewhat nauseating smell—this meal, whose time of the day was unrecognizable, was it lunch or dinner?

Even the lowest-ranking seamen on the Great Tang Group's battle ships wouldn't want a taste of such trash. A sailor carrying a K3 rifle frowned down at the clueless soldiers of the Taren Kingdom, with undisguised disdain.

"Where's your commanding officer?" The elf sailor was wearing a very ordinary cap with a visor, and in the center above the visor was the emblem of a dragon.

"He's, he's behind, behind that rubble, over there... The opposite side of the rubble, it's less likely to be hit by cannon fire," the soldier replied with honesty as if he were answering his own superior, revealing everything willingly.

He spilled the beans, all without any need for threats or intimidation, reporting the location in great detail and even explaining the reasons for their placement there.

"Go get him to come here!" The elf sailor waved his hand impatiently and pulled out a well-packaged flatbread from his pocket, handing it to the soldier: "This is no food for humans; take this as a reward! Hurry and call someone!"

"Yes! Yes!" The Taren Kingdom soldier took the flatbread and nodded his head eagerly before running towards the ruins, clutching the bread.

He didn't even bother to pick up his battered Shireck Flintlock Gun, which looked as though it might not even work anymore.

Soon the soldier returned with an officer. The officer also seemed to have given up hope, not even bothering to bring his service pistol or longsword as he walked over.

"I hope you can deliver a message for me to your king..." Finally, the elf soldier guard addressed the approaching human official.

The officer rubbed his hands in a sycophantic manner, "Of course! Of course! Not a problem at all... truly!"

He naturally felt a fearful respect towards the terrifying seamen disembarking from the warships, obeying them like a domesticated dog.

Behind the officer, the soldier who had been given the flatbread was wolfing it down, savoring the best thing he had ever eaten.

The flatbread was delicious, not only hefty in size but also salted and flavored with green onion, which seemed almost unbelievable. In Taren Kingdom, even officers might not get to enjoy such delights.

...

In the Royal Palace, the wall-defending officer who had come to deliver the message was standing aside as if he had hypnotized himself into a statue. Normally, with his status, it would be difficult for him to stand here and listen to the court's top officials debate such significant matters.

But he was directly involved, so no one dared to send him away. They just had him wait there until the king and the ministers came to a decision for him to report back.

The hated monstrous warships lying at sea had finally sent envoys to declare their demands.

But these demands, heard by the king and his court within the great hall, were nothing short of an intolerable mockery and disdain.

With a somewhat bemused expression, the Prime Minister repeated the message conveyed by the officer, "They only gave you two choices, one is to die by a random gunfire in the palace… The other is to go to Brunas, to live incognito as a wealthy man."

Each time these options were mentioned, they caused the king to shiver uncontrollably, both from anger and fear.

Eventually, King Taren the Tenth, with a facade of fierceness but an inner frailty, vented his frustration and roared in desperation, "Bastard! Who does he think he is? He dares..."

"Your Majesty! He really dares!" A minister, somewhat embarrassed, interrupted the King's outburst, well-intentioned in reminding his sovereign, as they had just received shocking news.

A special envoy from Shireck had taken the risk to enter Taren King City, bringing with him several messages that plunged King Taren the Tenth and his ministers into utter despair.

The first piece of news is that the King of Germelin was hanged in Brunas! This matter is absolutely true, the Great Tang Group has completely gone mad, they have even overturned the rules of the game among the nobility, and this has caused shock within the circles of the nobility.

The second piece of news is that the Shireck Consortium is negotiating peace with the Great Tang Group. According to the terms agreed upon by both parties, the six countries involved in this war will all fall under the sphere of influence of the Great Tang Group, and the Shireck Consortium will no longer operate within this sphere of influence.

The former news shattered the illusions of Taren X and made him fully realize the danger he faced—this was a real threat to his life, not just a game!

The latter news equated to telling Taren X that the Shireck Consortium had given up on him, would no longer support him, would no longer provide him with supplies... It was as if his hopes of continuing his defense had been utterly dashed.

Taren X's train of thought was interrupted, at first he was slightly stunned, then his whole demeanor seemed to worsen.

He waved his arms furiously, cursing loudly, "Bastards! Bastards! Even if I die here, if I commit suicide here, I will not surrender! I will never surrender!"

"Your Majesty, please reconsider! If you continue to act recklessly, the situation will become even more passive!" Many ministers present immediately began to persuade him.

To be frank, they were all willing to surrender, because their lives had completely changed over the past dozen or so days.

First, they and their families were confined within the Royal Palace, which had brought disastrous changes to the lives of these ministers. Trapped with their entire families within the Royal Palace, what kind of situation was this?

So in reality, these people did not have the determination to resist till the end. They simply hoped the war would end quickly so they could take control of the respective regions and resources.

The utterly outraged King Leite VII similarly interrupted the others' advice, his smile not reaching his eyes as he retorted, "What do you mean? As the King of Taren, as a King! Am I not even allowed to choose death? I would rather die and pin the infamy of treason and slaughtering nobility on that surname Tang bastard! He won't get away with it! He will be despised by all kingdoms!

He will be hanged! Hahaha! Hahahaha!"

In fact, when he was shouting these words, he was also feeling apprehensive, for he knew that the Great Tang Group had apparently never hesitated to kill an emperor...

However, to continue to hold out, he still pretended to be resolute, insisting that he would fight to the death...

But soon, someone threw cold water on him again, "Your Majesty, the army is in complete disarray, and this place could be breached at any moment! You have to think about your own safety!"

Another minister stood out and began to persuade him, "Yes, Your Majesty! Sometimes retreating is not shameful, especially when the other side has promised to give you a large sum of money..."

By surrendering, at least they would still have their own wealth and luxury, whereas resisting to the death would bear no benefits. If they did not persuade their King to surrender now, when would it ever be time?

"Is this a problem that money can solve? Huh? I am a King! I am a King! This is my kingdom! Everything is mine!

Mine!" Seeing that so many people were advising him to surrender, King Taren X of Taren Kingdom had almost become reckless.

The ministers, who had almost lost all respect for him, uncompromisingly exposed Taren X's last shred of dignity, or rather, they revealed his most glaring wound, "But all of this will no longer be yours soon! Your Majesty! If you continue to hold out, this place will collapse and fall very quickly, and you will lose your life..."

"..." Taren X, who had been contradicted, didn't even manage to scold the other before he was left stunned and silent.

"Think carefully! It's becoming unsafe even to step out of here! The whole King City is now in chaos, we have no chance of waiting for Shireck's reinforcements... Surrendering might be your best choice!" During his moment of distraction, even more ministers seized the opportunity to join the persuasion effort, seeing that the King seemed at a loss for words.

After dismissing everyone, a dispirited Taren X sat on his royal throne, his face a picture of despair as he looked at Prime Minister Taren, who was not too far from him.

"What's your opinion? Prime Minister... Should we continue to hold out here... or... or... or..." He struggled for a long time, unable to say the two familiar yet strange words "surrender."

"Defending... is not the solution... We hold out, but we must have hope to do so. The soldiers defending the city and their commanders, many of them have already heard about Shireck's betrayal... With hope already gone, expecting these hopeless defenders to fight to the last man for you is clearly unrealistic," the Prime Minister seriously explained to Taren X.

"So... there's really only the second path to take?" Taren X still seemed somewhat reluctant.

"From my perspective, the other side hasn't given you an option... From the beginning to the end, you've only had one wise choice," the Prime Minister answered earnestly.

"Sigh..." After a long silence, Taren X's resigned sigh echoed in the somewhat empty hall.