Munitions Empire

The sunlight shone on the clean streets of Brunas, and below the traffic lights bustled a busy crowd. Just looking at the scenery here, it hardly differed from a modern street.

Even more so, it seemed to possess a more modern air than those quaint European streets—because when Brunas was being built, aesthetics were not taken into consideration.

Here, eighty percent of the buildings were the most basic rectangles without any sense of design, constructed quickly and easily under the principle of utmost practicality, and thus a completely new city was laid out at once.

So, the art students of Brunas were utterly despairing. What they learned seemed completely at odds with everything before their eyes.

"Excuse me, is this the registration office for the World Industrial Expo?" A woman who was sitting behind the counter, bored as she tended to her nails, heard this inquiry and looked up to see a middle-aged man dressed in traditional nobility attire.

Seeing the woman look up at him, the man removed his hat and asked more politely, "Excuse me, is this the World Industrial Expo registration office?"

"Yes, may I help you with something?" The female receptionist revealed a well-trained smile and asked with equal politeness.

As this was the world's first such Expo, there weren't many individuals coming to register for a booth. So, to encourage registration, the receptionists were all selectively beautiful women with exceptionally good attitudes.

The Viscount, dazzled by the girl's sunny smile, nervously introduced himself, "Uh... yes, that's right, I come from the small town of Shulkova, and, and I am a Viscount there, my name is Koss Reiner."

"Viscount Reiner, might I inquire what brings you here?" The receptionist still smiled, revealing two cute dimples, looking utterly sincere.

Still somewhat nervous, the Viscount stuttered, "I, I would like to apply, yes, apply for a booth to showcase my latest invention."

"Oh, could you describe your invention? We need to make a rough judgment to see if your invention qualifies for a booth at the venue," the girl said in a matter-of-fact manner, "Sorry, but since our booths are indeed limited, we must screen applicants to ensure we choose the most promising, greatest inventions to display."

Although there was actually an abundance of space, Tang Mo couldn't allow his first Industrial Expo to become a joke.

Therefore, some screening was necessary, at the very least to ensure that what was placed on the booth wouldn't be too preposterous.

What if they accepted everyone, and someone presented a scheme like turning water into oil or a perpetual motion machine? Would Tang Mo expose it or just let it pass?

"I, I understand, but I assure you, my invention definitely deserves a spot at the exhibit," Viscount Reiner stated with conviction about his creation.

The young woman was herself quite curious, as she knew that the innovations on display at the Expo were highly impressive and advanced: "Oh? Could you tell me about it?"

"Of course, of course! I have invented a device that allows people to fly into the sky!" When speaking of his invention, the Viscount became less flustered and spoke with more fluency.

The girl raised her eyebrows, her voice full of skepticism, "Hmm? Fly?"

"Yes, fly!" the Viscount nodded in confirmation.

The receptionist continued to inquire, "An airship? A hot air balloon?"

After all, these were the only things she knew of that could fly.

"No! Not that kind of floating flight! It is true... free and unhindered flying!" To make the girl understand, the Viscount even gestured with his hands.

"Are you joking?" Of course, the receptionist didn't believe there were any machines that could fly in this world.

The Viscount strove to prove himself, "No, of course not! If you would help me, I could complete my design! Believe me! Just... just give me an opportunity."

The girl felt this was beyond her ability to handle, so she swiveled in her chair, turned half around, and called out to a colleague in the distance, "Could you, please fetch Mr. Mishe over here..."n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Soon, a young man named Mishe, in charge of this area, approached; he appeared to be only about seventeen or eighteen years old, looking much younger than the receptionist at the window.

After listening to Viscount Reiner's words, the not-quite-graduated Mishe turned to the receptionist and gently instructed, "Please invite this gentleman upstairs for a cup of tea!"

"Yes!" The receptionist at the window promptly acknowledged.

"Tha-thank you." Viscount Reiner, somewhat flattered, also heard the instruction and immediately expressed his gratitude with reserve.

Once they went upstairs, Mishe then turned back to his assistant and continued with his instructions, "Let Laili have a good chat with him and don't let the atmosphere get too awkward! Understand?"

Laili was a great beauty, adept at socializing, borrowed from a bar to handle reception duties. She was the type who could maintain conversation all day without it ever becoming awkward, as that was her job.

The assistant immediately went to make arrangements, "Yes! My lord."

After arranging everything, Mishe, with his assistant, walked over to the telephone, picked up the receiver, turned the hand crank to generate power, and spoke, "Hello? Switchboard? This is the expo registration office... yes, please connect me to the town hall..."

Although he studied technical courses at school, which was why he was put in charge of the registration office, he really didn't understand anything about aircraft because that was an absolute secret within the Great Tang Group hierarchy and beyond his level of clearance.

Therefore, unable to rely on what he had learned to discern aircraft technology and worried about missing something urgent, he had no choice but to seek out an expert in the field, tough as it was.

After he had explained the situation to the person on the phone, he could only wait obediently with the receiver in his hand for a response.

Unfortunately, even within the Great Tang Group, the number of people with access to airplane technology was extremely few, and most were on Dragon Island, so finding such a person was not easy.

After a long wait, when Mishe was about to assume that the phone line had been disconnected, a somewhat distorted female voice, tinged with static, came through the receiver, "Speak."

"Good day, madam. I am looking for an engineering technician who is an expert in mechanical design and knowledgeable about all types of flying machines," Mishe reiterated, gripping the phone receiver.

If the voice had been a man's, he might have just gone ahead and said it, but a woman's voice made him uncertain again.

The response that came from the other end of the line was, "I'm Yulin, Mishe, you can report now."

In an instant, Mishe unconsciously straightened his body, lifted his chin, and greeted loudly, "Good morning! Senior! It's like this, just now, a minor nobility from out of town came to me, claiming he has designed a machine that can make people fly..."

"Have you confirmed it?" Yulin, having already heard about the incident en route, asked calmly for confirmation.

"I couldn't discern... I didn't study that specialty..." Mishe admitted, somewhat embarrassed.

Yulin was silent for two seconds on the other end, then commanded, "Understood! Keep an eye on him! Don't let him leave... I will arrange someone to go over."

"Yes!" Mishe once again stood ramrod straight and answered loudly, then, as if performing a ritual, hung up the phone meticulously.

"My lord, what was that about?" The assistant looked at Mishe, puzzled and curious about who was on the other end of the phone.

Mishe straightened his clothes, "Let's go, together, to have a chat with this Mr. Reiner."

"Which senior was on the phone just now?" Driven by curiosity, the assistant couldn't help but ask the question.

Mishe glanced at him, resigning himself to explain, "Ask less! Who else do you think could scare me like that?"

"Eh... can't be..." The assistant paused, realization dawning that probably only the school's 'Your Majesty' could inspire such reverence from Mishe.

...

"Yulin, what's the matter?" Seeing Yulin enter, Tang Mo put down his pencil and asked with a smile.

On his drafting table lay the blueprint of an airplane, evidently more complex and advanced in design.

Experience tales at empire

Yulin immediately reported, "The expo registration office has just sent a message, someone claims to have developed a machine that can make people fly."

"Hmm?" Tang Mo was taken aback; he had not anticipated that the secret weapon in his hands had been similarly devised by the natives of this world!

If what they had was indeed an aircraft, then that person could truly be described as a genius!

You see, it had been Tang Mo who had driven the technological development of this world, which was highly asymmetrical. People here had barely grasped the basic technical principles introduced by Tang Mo, let alone developing new technical talents.

Even Shireck, a high-tech conglomerate in this world, could now only barely modify automobiles with Tang Mo's covert support. Could someone really have designed an airplane? Tang Mo was highly skeptical.

On one hand was skepticism, on the other, endless curiosity. Tang Mo was indeed eager to know what kind of person could be so formidable as to create an airplane without any help!

"I've already had someone secure the individual. Do you need me to go and take a look?" Yulin asked.

Tang Mo pointed to his coat, "Hmm... no need... I'll go and see for myself."