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Chapter 919: Repay the Great Chief's Kindness

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"Now will you admit that I'm qualified to fight the demons?" Lorgar felt refreshed all of a sudden.

"I've never denied your ability to fight against them. In fact, even an ordinary woman who's unable to tie up a chicken will end up being involved in this mighty war, albeit behind the main defensive line." Roland reiterated his concern. "I only objected to your desire to fight them by yourself. If the Sleeping Island witches had come any later, without Nightfall's Seed of Symbiosis, you would have been buried in the Western Zone Cemetery by now."

"But if I hadn't gone that deep into the Barbarian Lands, Neverwinter would never have received the news about the incoming demon army," Lorgar retorted.

"I can reward you for a good result but I still wouldn't ever approve of your wrong behavior because of it." Roland shook his head. "What I'm happiest about in your actions this time is your bringing the message back to Neverwinter instead of fighting the enemies alone in the Barbarian Lands. Even if you were to ask me this same question again, I would give you the exact same answer. No, I don't want you to go to fight the demons by yourself. I'll ask the sentries to step up vigilance from now on, in the case that you might someday come back to the city more dead than alive."

"What?"

"This is the great chief's command!" Roland remained unmoved. "Let's talk about your reward first."

"Well..." Lorgar found that the look on the great chief's face was far more serious now than when he had been touching her ears. "That's fine."

"There are three types of rewards. You may choose between gold royals, Chaos Drinks, or a piece of equipment custom-made for you."

"The first two choices are easy to understand, but what's the last one? Is it some kind of iron claw or steel tusk for me to use in my wolf form? I had previously considered obtaining this kind of weapon back in the Wildflame clan. However, when I transform back into a girl, these weapons that are inconvenient to carry will become a burden for me." Lorgar thought to herself.

She raised this question to Roland.

"I don't have a specific design for the weapon in mind right now, but I can tell you that it'll be a mighty firearm that can dramatically improve your combat capability," Roland explained. "Ashes told me that you could transform selective parts of your body into their wolf form while in your human form, and that in this half-animal form you would have half of the strength of a God's Punishment Warrior. Since this equipment is specifically designed for the God's Punishment Witches, I think it'll also suit you."

This firearm mentioned by Roland reminded her of the fierce weapons used by the First Army to destroy the oasis watchdog. She remembered that Lightning also had such a weapon. It was indeed powerful, but it also depended on the operator's skill. More importantly, she knew that it used a very special kind of "bolt" that could only be produced by Neverwinter. She believed that the great chief would never give her any of these "bolts", as he would never allow her to leave the city on her own. Without these "bolts", this firearm could only be placed at home as a showpiece and would not give her much help.

After all, it was just a weapon. Compared to this external force, she had more faith in her own teeth and claws.

After a little thought, Lorgar said, "Can I choose to join the Witch Union?"

This choice was completely beyond Roland's expectations. He was surprised and replied, "Yes, you can, but earlier you told me that..."

"I changed my mind." The wolf girl wagged her tail. "Both the gold royals and the Chaos Drinks will be used up one day and I've no other special skills besides my fighting ability, so I think I'd better join the Witch Union. As a member of the Union, I'll get gold royals and free drinks every month, right?"

"Well... yes, that's right."

"In addition, I've promised Lightning and Maggie that I'll explore all of the Barbarian Lands together with them. Since both of them are members of the Witch Union, it'll be more convenient for me to take action with them after I join the Union. Under such circumstances, you wouldn't stop me from going deep into the wasteland, right?"

"Ahem, you're technically right, but you still need to place your own safety as your most important priority."

"Then this is the reward I want," said Lorgar. "I'm sorry I rejected your kindness before."

"Well, it's up to you." Roland laid out his hands and shrugged.

"Now, do I need to sign a contract?" she asked with a solemn face.

"Of course, Wendy will tell you everything later." Roland stood up. "I'll ask the kitchen to send you something to eat. Have a good rest first. You'll have many chances in the future to thank Nana and the other witches."

Having seen Roland leave the room, Lorgar's ears drooped and she lay back down on the bed.

There was one thing that she had kept a secret from Roland.

It was the genuine reason why Lorgar finally decided join the Witch Union. She had not been attracted by the free drinks and the gold royals.

As a Mojin, she was more convinced by facts than words. From the very beginning, she had doubted Roland's promise to the Mojin people and had refused to trust a nobleman from a northern kingdom. She had believed that she would one day return to the Wildflame clan and become Roland's enemy again when he ultimately betrayed the Mojin. Besides, Roland's comments during their first meeting had indeed irritated her. She had never anticipated that he would show any concern for a Divine Lady of a Mojin clan. Even though the conflict between the Mojin people and the northern king had already been resolved, her suspicion of him still remained.

However, her opinion of him had begun to change.

During the Symbiosis period, the Witch Union kept telling her that she only needed to hold on a little longer to get Nana's treatment, since they had already sent a number of letters to appeal to Roland Wimbledon for help. Back then, she would never have expected that the great chief, busy recovering his territory, would send Miss Nana back from the Northern Region of Graycastle only for her sake.

In Lorgar's memory, it was an exceptionally long journey from Iron Sand City to the Endless Cape, and Roland's kingdom was several times larger than the Southernmost Region. Given that, she had suspected that it would take at least one or two months for Nana to return to Neverwinter.

However, the great chief had sent Nana back in time. Surprisingly, despite being a healer of great importance to the army, she had turned out to be the first witch to be sent back from the north. With this in mind, Lorgar found that it was hard to doubt Roland's sincerity.

Even Maggie had to fly for three days to take a round trip between the Northern Region and Neverwinter. If the great chief did tell her the truth, that meant Nana had come to her rescue the moment she had arrived at the city. Such kindness would make any warrior in the Southernmost Region willingly take an oath of allegiance to the lord.

Lorgar could hardly be regarded as a professional warrior, but she was a pure Mojin.

Faced with the facts, she wondered, "Why not believe in the great chief more?"

...

Roland left the bedroom and went downstairs to the reception hall on the first floor.

The guards at the gate opened the door, and all the people inside the hall stood up simultaneously at the sight of the king.

Before he arrived back at the Western Region, Lightning had brought his convening order back to Neverwinter. He steadily stepped into the crowded hall while taking a glance at everyone assembled before him.

There were more than 50 people here, including the City Hall department heads, the commander of the Garrison of the First Army, the representatives of the Witch Union and Sleeping Spell, the governor of the Longsong district, and the Senior Witches of Taquila. They wore various kinds of facial expressions. Some seemed to be bewildered by the unknown enemy and some showed unmasked hatred towards the demons, while most of them looked solemn and serious.

The war was close at hand, no matter whether they were prepared or not.

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Chapter 920: The War Plan

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

After Roland took a seat, the people in the hall bowed before sitting down.

Under his leadership, the small and remote Border Town had rapidly developed into a major city. Roland could clearly see that he had become a spiritual leader in the eyes of the conference participants. He had never felt anything like this when he had given lectures to students at a primary school or when he explained his designs to his clients. All the people who attended this meeting were not only listening but also preparing.

They were always ready to execute his plans and orders.

He had a sense of achievement from seeing his administration bear fruit. Three years ago, only a few people in the castle had served him wholeheartedly whilst all the local nobles had ridiculed him. Now, however, he had a splendid team to assist him.

He went straight to the point. "Neverwinter can't allow demons to take root on the Fertile Plains, especially somewhere so close to our border. Although the enemy came a little earlier than expected, we've also made rapid progress recently. We've recovered the lost regions and can now focus on fighting the demons." He paused to glance around and said word by word. "Our next goal is driving the demons out of the Taquila ruins. We must do our utmost to achieve this goal. Do you have any questions?"

"No, Your Majesty!"

Everyone responded in unison.

Even Barov who usually preached against wars did not raise any objection since he was aware of the fact that most refugees came to the Western Region for the good order, capable king and safe environment. If the demons set up a base at Taquila and then kept harassing Neverwinter, the people would be terrified and even flee the city. Without enough population, City Hall could no longer sustain the development of Neverwinter. He learned this lesson from the decline of the Eastern and Southern Regions.

"So let's talk about our war plan and policies now. Any department can share their ideas."

"Your Majesty, I think the top priority is relocating the industries in the north of the city as soon as possible." Barov was the first one to stand up and reply. "The people outside the city wall are the ones most vulnerable in the face of the demon invaders. Even when we finish constructing the new wall to protect the people, the flocks of sheep and herds of cattle will still hinder our troop deployment in the north. It's just like what happened when the whole city was placed under the strictest martial law." He paused to eye Wendy. "Due to the alert, the city gates remained closed, which blocked the transportation of wheat seeds and forest resources. Fortunately, City Hall had done everything in its power to minimize the impact."

Roland had already learned this from the previous reports. As Barov mentioned it again, he could not help looking at Wendy. Surprisingly, she seemed peaceful and undisturbed. He thought she must have meant it when she said that she would take full responsibility.

"Not everything in the north can be relocated. We can use paddle steamers to carry wheat seeds, mushrooms, and other resources into the city via the Redwater River. However, we can't move the North Slope Mine to another place. Additionally, it'll cost us a lot to rebuild the Furnace Area." Roland decided after a moment of pondering. "We should increase our vigilance over the mine region so that we'll be able to fight back when the Devilbeasts attack. As for the alert, I need to elaborate on this issue. When the city is under martial law, we need to evacuate the idle personnel on the streets and in the market, but all the factories must resume production and keep working from today onward until I give a new order."

"I see... I'll make a list of the properties and business we can relocate, and report back to you." Barov immediately changed his tone since he realized that Roland did not want to place blame on Wendy.

"By the way, please include land-use planning in your report." Roland knocked on the map behind him. "Now that the threat in the Great Snow Mountain has been ruled out, all the area in the west can be used. With the help of Leaf, Misty Forest can serve as a natural barrier protecting our left flank."

On the map, the Barbarian Land could be divided into three parts. From left to right, they were: Misty Forest, Neverwinter grassland and the Impassable Mountain Range. Misty Forest looked like an inverted triangle, occupying almost half of the Barbarian Land with its vertex located at the snow mountain of the Western Region. The Redwater River that originated in the mountain and flowed through the border area of Neverwinter could be considered one side of the triangle whilst another side started from the vertex and headed to the Dragonspine Mountains in the north. This triangle formed a large buffer zone for the city.

At present, Leaf could cover the entire western section of the Redwater River and thus provided a safety net for the concrete boat platoons to transport coal and forest resources back to the city.

Aware of the situation there, Barov readily accepted Roland's request. "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, I think we need to tell the public about the demons' origin as soon as possible," Wendy said. "Otherwise, our people will easily get panicked when seeing them suddenly. As you usually say, propaganda job is the most vital part of our administration. If we don't work to control the public opinion, some evil-minded people may take advantage of the people's fear."

"I agree," Alethea who appeared on the light curtain added. "Although common people have limited personal ability, together they can form a noteworthy strength. Fear resembles a whip. Most of the time, it's daunting, but it can also be used as a driving force for us if we handle it properly."

The early appearance of the demons disrupted Roland's original propaganda plan which was scheduled for after the unification of Graycastle and his enthronization ceremony. He thus chose to leave this problem to Barov. "You decide the content and the propaganda means by yourself. Remember to make sure that all the subjects understand that demons are enemies of the whole humanity and that we'll fight against them till death. Meanwhile, you should emphasize that in the face of guns and cannons, demons are nothing different from demonic beasts, no matter how hideous they look."

"As for the rumor mongers and troublemakers," Roland sneered and looked at the two police chiefs, Vader and Rene Medde, "I think I don't need to tell you what to do with them."

They hastened to nod. "Of course, Your Majesty."

Once Neverwinter finished discussing the wartime order and the related policies, Pasha raised a question which was likewise the greatest concern for everyone. "How are you going to attack the demons near the Taquila ruins?"

"The safest way is to set up artillery positions near it to destroy the demons' Red Mist supply equipment." Roland measured roughly on the map with his fingers. "Now our Longsong Cannon can hit targets 10 kilometers away. After some adjustment, it'll shoot even farther. Without Red Mist, the demons in the ruins will quickly die."

Roland did not brag about his weapons at all. Considering the operational convenience and the limited transportation capacity, he had not adopted 152mm caliber for the first generation Longsong Cannons. As a result, they could not match an ideal cannon whose caliber was 152mm in many respects. However, he was able to quickly convert them by enlarging their chambers and using separate-loading ammunition instead of fixed ammunition. By doing so, their range would be remarkably increased even if the other parts of the cannons, such as the barrels and wheels, remained unchanged.

"Got it. Your Majesty, the Taquila witches are willing to fight this battle for you."

Taquila survivors were undoubtedly the most aggressive ones in the Battle of Divine Will. They would take the lead without any hesitation when combating demons.

"But, I still need to solve a few key problems to implement that plan." Roland shook his head. "Without adequate preparation, it's hard for us to gain a foothold when faced with an attack from the demons." He retracted his hand and flicked his finger at the spot of the North Slope Mine. "The first issue is how to solve the transportation problem."

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Chapter 921: The Locomotive Era (Part Ⅰ)

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

The North Slope Mine of Neverwinter was going to witness a great event.

A new railway linking the ore stacking yard and the furnace area was being cleaned for the last time.

Different from the iron coated wooden rails in the mine, the new railway was wider and could support heavier cargo loads. It was made of pure steel and looked very heavy. The amount of steel used to build it was enough to make the armor and swords for a regular knightage, but now it was fixed on the ground and exposed to wind and rain. Any lord of this era would think of this construction as an enormous waste of iron and believe that only a spendthrift would leave metal to rot like this.

When Roland led the conference participants to the ore stacking yard, most of the officials were astonished by the railway and begun to stir since not every department in City Hall knew the details of what it was. The officials from the Longsong Area stood agape while fixing their eyes on it. It impressed everyone with its imposing size and its aura of strength, even if most of them had no idea what it was used for.

They would never believe that their king who had greatly surprised them so many times during the past years was a spendthrift, but they could hardly recover from their shock. In their view, laying cast steel bars on the ground was no different from using gold royals to pave a road.

This was cast steel which could be sold at a high price in any city.

However, Neverwinter could afford to build such a railway.

After the blast furnace for ironmaking and the converter for steelmaking were completed, Neverwinter's industrial foundation no longer relied so heavily on the witches' power. The converter still needed Anna to heat and melt the iron for the first step, but it was much more advanced than the "Star of Steel". It could be called a miracle in this era.

The smelting industry of the North Slope Mine had also been significantly upgraded due to the reconstruction efforts made by the Ministry of Construction. With the help of Lotus, they had taken bold actions to blast away the ceiling of the mine. By doing so, they had made part of the mining area a huge open pit and most of it was an iron mine.

Neverwinter's steelmaking industry had stepped on a brand new stage in the last year. In Graycastle, its monthly steel output was greater than all the other cities' combined.

This result was within Roland's expectation. He took it for granted that modern factories would be far more efficient than blacksmiths. Otherwise, he would not have worked so hard to create the industrial equipment.

As for the railway here, it was part of his experiment of using a railway to connect the mining area, the smelting area, and the wharf.

As the narrow-gauge rail did not differ from the broad-gauge rail in terms of material usage and load-carrying capacity, he made 1.5 meters the standard railroad width. The number was easy to remember and building roadbeds for this width of railroad was within the reach of Lotus' ability. The sleepers were cut out of wood logs and the ballast was from rubble collected during the mine reconstruction. The railway looked exactly like a railroad in modern times.

But it was still a half done project. Because no factory had been involved in this project yet, Anna had used her Blackfire to process and install the railway for the experiment by herself. Since the Graycastle unification war, the construction of the other half of the railway had remained suspended.

To further satisfy the officials' curiosity, Roland instructed the workers to unveil something that was placed at the end of the railway. When the canvas, which was dusty and covered with fallen leaves was removed, the people saw a black steel vehicle standing right in front of them.

"Your Majesty, is it a... steamer carriage?" Petrov, the governor of the Longsong Area, stuttered in amazement.

Roland was not at all surprised by Petrov's thought. With more and more steam engines being put into use in Neverwinter, the officials were getting familiar with these cumbersome, but powerful machines and even actively adopted them in some traditional fields, such as irrigating the farmlands and loading and unloading cargo on the wharf. Given that, they immediately recognized the steam engine which was shaped like a barrel and installed in a steel frame in the main part of the vehicle.

In the beginning, the factories producing steam engines and the accessory equipment had only been able to handle orders from Roland, but now they could also handle some requests from City Hall. City Hall's orders usually had special demands, but the factories could easily meet them by changing the combination of gears, shafts and engine holders.

Roland considered this change to be a good start. The people of this era were becoming more proactive in creating things.

He thought that the reason why Petrov called the vehicle a steamer carriage was that the concrete boats driven by steam engines were called paddle steamers.

It sounded like an acceptable name but Roland did not want to give up the naming rights.

After all, it was a vehicle of era-making significance.

From its birth, it had a profound influence on the world, even though its first prototype was slower than a horse-drawn carriage. It had many different shapes and engines during its development, but its name remained unchanged.

"It's a train." Roland corrected Petrov. "It's the key to solving the transportation problem."

"Do you mean that you want to build a railroad like this one across the grassland for a... train?" Barov had a hard time getting his tongue around the new word. "What if the demons suddenly attack the workers and cause trouble for the railway construction project?"

"First of all, I want to build two railways side by side to ensure a smooth flow of traffic. Secondly, I'm not proposing building a railroad across the grassland. I intend to build one that starts from the Misty Forest and then turns to the east at a spot near the Taquila ruins." Roland told everyone his plan. "By doing so, Leaf can protect our railroad system from the demonic beasts during the Months of Demons every year. As for the demons... it's a close contest between us. Any place we can get to by train can be our battleground since the train can transport enough cannons and shells for us. Even if the demons manage to destroy some sections of our railroad system under heavy shellfire, we can still solve the traffic problem by building and repairing the railways at a higher speed."

He had discussed the construction speed problem with the Advisery Department. They found that they could build the railway sections between the Misty Forest and the Taquila ruins faster than the sections on the grassland, despite the former being longer than the latter. This was because the former sections were located in the forest controlled by Leaf. With her help, the weed and vines would clear the ground for the construction workers, saving them the trouble of doing it themselves, which was tremendously helpful to them. She could also create slopes for water drainage and structure the forest to help Hummingbird transport the construction materials.

Lotus would be in charge of building the roadbed for the railways. The Ministry of Construction would send workers to pave the ballast, install the crossties and railways, and Anna would seamlessly weld the metal parts together. With everyone working together, they would be able to complete the railway sections between the forest and the Taquila ruins before the end of the winter. When that happened, the Taquila ruins would be within the range of the Longsong Cannons.

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Chapter 922: The Locomotive Era (Part Ⅱ)

Translator:Transn

Editor:Transn

"In just half a year... Will it really be possible for us to extend the railway deep into the Barbarian Land?" Hearing Roland's plan, Barov, who had already witnessed many "miracles", still widened his eyes in disbelief. "It took the Ministry of Construction more than half a year to complete an ordinary road linking the Border Area and the Longsong Area, and this Kingdom Main Street was less than one-fifth of the distance between the forest and Taquila. Are you sure that Mr. Karl will be able to complete such a task?"

The officials began to whisper among themselves. The Kingdom Main Street was the first large-scale construction project Roland had initiated after Longsong Stronghold merged with Border Town. It had employed about 2,000 workers and had been considered a waste of resources by many people back then. Now this new railroad project was even more unbelievable. Considering its limited construction period, many officials believed that it would be an impossible mission, even if all the workers in Neverwinter were to be hired for this project.

Karl Van Bate, the Minister of Construction, remained silent and seemed to be racking his brain for a proper solution.

Roland was clear about their concern. At present, there were many ongoing construction projects in the city. They were justifiably worried that the expense of this railway project would be too enormous for the city's limited resources. However, in fact, as compared to the road's cement pavements which needed high-quality materials and roller compaction, the railway's roadbed building and ballast pavement were much easier.

As for the final step of installing the rails, it only looked complicated, but it was actually the fastest step of the entire construction process.

Roland had watched Anna's demo of welding the metal parts with Blackfire. She could weld a bar to two tracks at once, and the average time for welding each joint was less than 10 seconds. In comparison to the traditional bolts or the hot-melting connections used in the modern world, her ability not only substantially improved the wielding quality but also saved a lot of manpower and material. Roland felt that her work couldn't be any more perfect.

The experimental railway in front of everyone was an almost seamless rail made by Anna. To compensate for the distortions that could be caused by thermal expansion, there were still invisible gaps left in between the tracks, but on the surface, they were seamless. This meant that when the train was running on these tracks, the passengers inside it would not experience the frequent shaking or hear the constant clatter that were part of modern trains.

Anna had finished welding this section of the tracks in just half a day.

This was why Roland made the construction period for the railroad project so short.

Leaf probably needed only five days to place the crossties and rails in a section of a given length, while the workers used to take 10 days to build and pave a roadbed of an equal length. Meanwhile, Anna needed just one day to weld the same section of railroad. She had ample time and was able to take it slow. Maggie could take her to work in the morning and bring her back to the castle in time for lunch.

Roland did not want to explain the details of the witches' abilities to the officials, since not everyone knew the witches well. Meanwhile, he predicted that the construction period could be even shorter if he could find some relevant witches from Sleeping Island who were willing to offer help for the project. However, he had not yet had a chance to ask Tilly about her witches' abilities, since he had gone straight to the wolf girl and then to the meeting immediately after he had arrived at Neverwinter.

Seeing Roland ignore Barov's question, the officials turned their eyes to the train.

In contrast to the seamless rail, which appeared very futuristic, the train itself seemed to be an antique. Its steam locomotive was divided into two parts. The front part consisted of a fourth generation steam engine and a transmission device, and the rear part was a coal car. A driver's cabin was located between these two parts, from where the drivers could control the speed of the train, add coal to the boiler, and blow the steam whistle.

Due to the interruption caused by the Gyaycastle unification war, this steam locomotive was still just an unfinished prototype, yet it was already much better than the first generation steam locomotives of the world where Roland had lived before. Its steam engine adopted crankshafts instead of flywheels and drive belts. Instead of gears, which could easily get stuck, a mechanical linkage which moved seamlessly was utilized to connect the wheels on both sides of the locomotive to the engine.

Roland had simplified his design for the locomotive as much as possible. As a result, it looked as if he had just patched all the main components together. When compared to a modern train, it had numerous defects. It had no mechanical brake and needed manpower to turn the capstan to stop the train. As the drivers' cabin was on the connecting beam that linked the front and rear parts of the locomotive engine, the drivers would be disturbed by the constant shaking and vibrations caused by the steam engine when driving the train. It was not equipped with any electrical device, so the drivers and the other workers on the train had to blow the steam whistle or shout to each other to communicate. However, it was already the best design possible based on the current technological capabilities of Neverwinter.

He had to build this prototype first, and then gradually improve it, just like what he had done with the first generation steam engine.

"Your Majesty, what's the carrying capacity of this thing?" Kyle Sichi, the Minister of Chemical Industry, asked with curiosity. "Is it any higher than that of a concrete boat?"

"I think its cargo capacity should be almost five or six times that of a concrete boat." Roland was satisfied seeing the surprised looks on the officials' faces. "But this is just the beginning. With technical progress, it'll be able to carry cargo which needs 100 concrete boats to transport at once."

"A, A hundred?" Barov swallowed hard. As the City Hall Director, he was well aware of the meaning of the number.

"So... what about its speed?" Petrov asked in a trembling voice.

"I'm not sure. I'm still waiting for the test results, but it definitely won't be slower than a concrete boat."

In this era, horse-drawn carriages and some other pack animals were the principal forms of transportation on land. On the bumpy and soft ground, their transportation efficiency was low. Besides, carriages did not have any rubber tires or any other kind of shock absorption measures, so their wooden wheels often got shattered by the repeated shaking on the road. Under such circumstances, the Kingdom of Graycastle used ships as the main mode of transportation. In the inland rivers, the steam-powered boats, which did not need to move with the help of the wind, quickly outshone the traditional sailing ships. Given that, in the view of the officials, the concrete boats were already extremely fast and efficient carriers.

Hearing that a train would be able to travel faster and carry more cargo than a concrete boat, they fell into silence.

They instinctually wanted to deny such a possibility but felt reluctant to do so, since they were afraid that it might turn out to be true. Seeing the bewildered officials, Roland could not help but feel proud. If he had told them such a thing two years ago, he would have been regarded as a lunatic. As the war was fast approaching now, and he had failed to improve the boats, he wanted to use this new invention he built to boost his subjects' morale.

After all, he had not exaggerated the strength of the train.

After all, the steam engine was only the first generation of industrial power sources.

Once the trains could be equipped with internal combustion engines, they would become the dominant mode of transportation on land.

"Your Majesty, could you please show us how it works?" Barov asked after a while.

"Yes, but not now. It still lacks some key components. We need another week to complete it." Roland shook his head.

"According to the plan you gave to the Ministry of Construction before the unification war, you intend to use the railway to connect the mine to the wharf, right?" Barov asked.

"Yes." Roland sensed that Barov had something else to say.

"Such a powerful vehicle will boost our people's morale and greatly help the City Hall in our war propaganda work," Barov spoke out his idea. "Is it alright to let all your subjects witness this incredible scene on the day of the train's test run?"

Roland immediately understood what kind of propaganda effect Barov wanted to achieve and was pleased to see that his City Hall Director had learned to guide the people's opinion during these years.

"As you wish," he smiled and said.

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Chapter 923: A Deliberate Provocation

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

A shrill alarm rang and grabbed everyone's attention.

"Woo—woo—"

Everyone stood agape.

It was the highest alert again!

Wendy was the first one to recover from the shock. "Your Majesty, please retreat to the castle right now!"

However, Roland did not move since he was greatly surprised by Tilly and Ashes, who came close to him swiftly after hearing the alert. The Extraordinary stood in front of them and Tilly grabbed his wrist.

He felt something as cold as a metal around his wrist.

He looked down and saw the ring on Tilly's finger shining a bright blue light. Obviously, she was ready to fly with him down into the mining area in case of emergency.

Somehow Roland forgot about the danger and focused his mind on Tilly.

Unlike Nightingale who trusted him wholeheartedly, Tilly had not yet recognized him as her brother.

She was too smart to be deceived.

She called him brother just to maintain good relations with him.

In fact, there was still an invisible barrier between them, and because of Tilly's attitude, Ashes always seemed a little restrained in front of him. He was unable to explain to Tilly that what Prince Roland had done to her back in the palace had nothing to do with him. Given that, he had lied to her and never expected much from her. However, now he felt relieved.

He found that he had already won her trust and recognition as an ally, even if she might still have a doubt about his identity.

"Yes, this place is too close to the city wall at the border. Your Majesty, please leave here as soon as possible!"

"Guards, where are the guards?"

"Come, clear the way for His Majesty!" The officials also came to their senses now and started to shout.

The people' voices, together with the alert, turned the scene into pure chaos.

The noises recalled Roland from his reflections. Seeing such a tense situation, he could not help knitting his eyebrows and thought, "Maybe the frontier guards have already spotted some demons?"

He looked to the west and was lost in thought. "Now that Sylvie is on the watch for demons, the alarm can't be false. And the frontier guards' highest alert must be about the demons. I heard that they should remain dormant for some time since they don't have enough Red Mist. Did their supplies arrived at the Taquila ruins recently?"

He wanted to go to the city wall to have a look personally, but he quickly gave up the idea. He did not want to increase the burden for the frontier guards since Nightingale and the main force of the First Army had not arrived yet.

When they walked down the North Slope Mountain, he summoned Wendy and said to her, "Regardless of the situation, send me any news from the City Wall as soon as you receive it."

"Yes," Wendy promised with a solemn face.

...

Watching the enemies approaching quickly, Sylvie felt her hands were wet.

It was not the first time for her to see demons, but they still made her feel stressed out.

"One, two, three, four, five, six." She counted the number of the Devilbeasts who were flying toward Neverwinter in a horizontal line. In the Eye of Magic, every detail of the enemies was clearly discernible. Just like Alethea had mentioned, not every Devilbeast took a Mad Demon on its back. Two of them looked just like pack horses and carried bone vessels which looked like bumps on their backs.

She zoomed in and saw the Red Mist surging inside the bumps.

Obviously, they were their mist tanks for this long-distance raid.

But... why are the demons launching an attack so early?

For the moment, they should stay close to the God's Stone mineral vein at the Taquila ruins, waiting for the Bloody Moon.

Sylvie was bewildered by the sudden appearance of the demons. Fortunately, the frontier guards' quick response made her feel relieved. They had already removed the cannon covers and gotten ready for the combat. If the enemies continued to fly in this direction, they would come within the cannons' range in seven or eight minutes.

"Miss Sylvie, someone called to ask which direction the enemies were heading for. And if they plan to enter the city, can you estimate which blocks they will fly over?" The guard who was in charge of communication asked.

In order to transmit the information about the enemies' situation on time, Roland had moved the wind-up telephone prototype, which had been made in the backyard of the North Slope Mountain, to the city wall. Apart from the telephone line linking Neverwinter and Longsong Stronghold, it was the first telephone line in the city. Limited by the length, the telephone at the other end of the line was installed at the entrance of the Third Border City. Roland had arranged two guards to assist Sylvie in communication and had sent two God's Punishment Witches to protect her.

"Road No.5 or No.9," Sylvie wiped the sweat from her hands. "But they may also fly toward the square. There're still some people left behind."

She was worried that once the Devilbeasts rushed into the crowded market, the consequences would be disastrous.

"I got it." The guard picked up the phone and repeated what Sylvie had to the person at the other end of the telephone line.

"Wait!" Sylvie suddenly raised her voice. "They're ascending!"

"Are they planning to fly over the city wall?" The guard was anxious.

"But they slowed down at the same time. Now the guards on top of the city wall should be able to see them directly."

Before she finished her sentence, she heard the vague noise of gunshots coming through the phone.

The guards of the city wall were elite soldiers of the First Army, who had taken part in the snow mountain exploration. They remained calm at the sight of the demons. Several teams took turns to fire and tried to maintain a low rate of fire in an attempt to conserve bullets.

At this moment, Sylvie noticed a problem.

For the guards, hitting targets in the sky was much harder that shooting down some demonic beasts or God's Punishment Warriors on the ground.

As they were unable to predict the enemies' movements in the sky, they had no idea which angle they should use. As a result, the Devilbeasts remained intact after several rounds of firing and now they were only about 150 meters away from the city wall

They stayed more than 100 meters above the ground and thus the guards had to lift their barrels to aim at the enemies. The soldiers drastically increased their firing rate, but still failed to hit any target.

At the moment, the Devilbeasts stopped flying forward and hovered in the sky.

The Mad Demons' arms were swelling rapidly.

"No!" Sylvie could not help crying out. "Inform the guards to retreat from the city wall as soon as possible!"

"What?" The guard was confused. "Retreat?"

Unfortunately, it was too late. The demons had already thrown their bone spears. In the blink of an eye, four beams of white light came down to the city wall and struck at the defenseless guards. The wall built by Lotus was unable to protect them from attacks coming from the sky.

Beyond Sylvie's expectation, instead of launching the second round of attacks, the demons only emitted some weird noise after their arms withered and threw several animal skins down. After that, they turned around and flew toward the grassland. That was where they came from.

This sudden attack ended just as suddenly. After a while, they disappeared over the horizon.

Sylvie could not bear to see the situation of the city wall. The guards who got impaled by the bone spears were dead. No matter how hard the other soldiers shook them, they would not open their eyes again. The blood coming from their wounds formed a pool of blood under their bodies.

The animal skins left by the demons were slowly falling through the air, turning out to be pictures.

The most striking one among them was a portrait of a big wolf.

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Chapter 924: An Old Trick of the Demons

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

"What's the meaning of these things?" Roland asked in a deep voice while looking at the animal skins on the table. His face was expressionless.

The demons had launched a surprise attack on the city wall and had left behind a provocative message. However, now was not the time for him to react to this provocation. Furious as he was, he still tried his best to keep control of himself.

The officials nervously glanced at each other, but none of them dared to answer the king's question.

No one wanted to further irritate the enraged king by vocalizing the meaning of the self-explanatory pictures.

Undoubtedly, the big wolf was Lorgar.

The other pictures depicted common people who were down on their knees, a witch who was tied up, a city wall that was on fire, and the ruins of a city littered with corpses respectively.

They looked like quick, crude drawings, but they were still easy to understand.

This series of pictures was a threatening ultimatum.

The demons wanted Neverwinter to hand the Wolf Girl over to them, and they asked the common people to lay down their weapons and surrender. Otherwise, they would totally annihilate the defenders and burn down the city.

Roland glanced around and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself down. He found that the officials had lost a lot of their fighting spirit, and some of them even looked terrified. Fortunately, none of them tried to advise him to give the witch to the demons.

"Your Majesty, this isn't just a threatening letter from the demons. It's a trap!" In the middle of this stressful atmosphere, a beam of light suddenly appeared and expanded next to a wall and then Pasha's voice rang in his head. "Sylvie has told me what happened. Never believe anything the demons say. It's another one of their old tricks."

She sounded anxious as if she was worried that the king might make a hasty decision.

Roland immediately comprehended the implications of her statement.

"Did something similar happen to you before?"

"To be exact, it happened to a lord of the common people," Pasha said seriously. "During the first Battle of Divine Will, the demons used this trick to create a divide between the common people and the witches. That was how they nibbled the Land of Dawn away step by step."

The ancient witch continued to explain the "trap".

"During the first Battle of Divine Will, the demons not only acted aggressively on the battleground but also plotted against the withes. They often lured a lord of a city to hand over the witches to them in exchange for postponing the attack on that city. Back then, the common people and the witches lived together peacefully. Though the witches were only a minority, they did not have to hide their abilities. As a result, they could be recognized easily."

"Hoping to survive the war, the cities where the witches were in a weak position usually chose to make a deal with the demons. As a result, many witches who had just returned from the battlefield were caught or executed by people of their own cities. In such a situation, the estrangement between the witches and the common people was gradually aggravated, and then, after a complete betrayal, the witches broke irretrievably with the common people."

"In the middle of the first Battle of Divine Will, two major cities located in the central part of the Land of Dawn built two coalition forces to fight against the demons. One of the coalition forces was controlled by the witches, and the other one was led by and consisted of the common people. During a fierce battle, the common people's army surrendered to the demons all of a sudden. The witches' army withdrew but was besieged by their former ally. The common people even used weapons made of God's Stones of Retaliation to fight them." "The witches were exhausted and had lost more than half of their warriors during the previous battle against the demons. They resisted strongly but still lost. After that, the leaders of the witches were beheaded in public, and the common people sent some of the remaining witches to the demons while enslaving the rest of them."

"The Union named this incident the 'Red Betrayal'. We consider it a profound lesson for us. From that day on, the witches and the common people have grown apart."

"The cities that surrendered to the demons did not survive as long as they had hoped. Forcing the common people to betray the witches was just the first step of the demons' plans. If the demons' outposts were close enough to the cities, they would never hesitate to conquer them. The Lord who initiated the 'Red Betrayal' was no exception. He followed the demons' orders and helped them in building mist storage towers and outposts. He even provided them with intelligence services. However, in the end, he couldn't enjoy his old age in peace. It's said that he was imprisoned in his castle by the demons and was starved to death. There were also some rumors that said that he was killed by a group of vengeful witches when he fled his domain after finding out that the demons planned to eliminate all of humanity. After the first Battle of Divine Will, human beings lost the Land of Dawn and most of our domains became uninhabitable. Since then, the sight of the Red Mist on the horizon had become a lingering nightmare."

"The Witch Union rose from the ashes of this defeat and became the ruler of the Fertile Plains for next few hundred years."

At the end of the story, Roland heard a shocking rumor from Pasha.

"There was also hearsay among the witches in the upper levels of the Union, according to which the demons learned this trick from the human beings themselves."

"What did you say?" Roland asked and then quickly realized that Parsha only told the rumor to him.

All the officials in the hall looked startled, wondering why the king raised such a question.

"It was rumored that long before the beginning of the first Battle of Divine Will, back when the demons were no different from beasts, some person got in contact with them and taught them knowledge," Parsha said in a low voice. "A few people believed that this explained why the Senior Demons looked like human beings, but the Three Chiefs thought it was absolute nonsense and forbade the people from talking about it. As a result, only the witches in the upper level of the Union still remember this rumor."

Roland held his breath and tried to talk to the ancient witch through his mind, "Do you believe it?"

"I'm not sure." To his surprise, Pasha was uncertain about the rumor. "If it's true, then it means that we have to be extremely careful when communicating with the demons."

After a moment of thought, Roland asked Parsha about a specific detail of the rumor. "Was the person in the story a witch or a common person?"

Parsha sighed lightly. "Some people said it was a witch and some said it was a common person."

"What an unreliable rumor," Roland thought.

He agreed with the Three Chiefs of the Union on their decision to stop the rumor. After all, no matter how the demons came about to become the enemy of all of humanity, they still had to guide their followers to defeat them. He changed the subject. "If a lord remained unmoved by the demons' offer, what would they do?"

"They'd keep harassing him, or even send an army to the city to besiege it until the lord surrendered," Pasha said. "This old trick had proven to be very effective in conquering small towns and cities."

"Do you mean to say that the demons will come back again?" Roland sneered. "Barov."

"Yes!" The City Hall Director stood up immediately.

"Soothe the subjects first, and then we'll hold a memorial ceremony for the soldiers who died in combat. It's the best way to raise the spirits of the mourning people." Roland stressed each word with due strength. "As for the demons, I'll let them know that things are different now. This isn't the first Battle of Divine Will anymore."

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Chapter 925: The Air Defense System

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

Roland had mentioned several problems that needed to be solved. The lack of an air defense network was as big of an issue as the transportation problem.

The importance of achieving air supremacy stuck in his head. He had learned this lesson from the history of the wars in his previous world. An army who had the aerial advantage was always able to launch an attack from any point at any time, and before the invention of the radar, no one on the ground was able to detect enemies coming from the vast sky, let alone defeat them. Bearing that in mind, he planned to enhance his army's air defense capabilities as soon as possible. Otherwise, he would never be able to build an artillery position near the Taquila ruins.

He guessed that after Lorgar's escape from their pursuit, the demons had probably had flown to the border of the Western Region several times to investigate, and they would have likely concluded that most of the residents of Neverwinter were common people. That was why they thought they could repeat the old trick that they had used in the first Battle of Divine Will.

The demons' investigation teams had somehow managed to avoid the sentry posts in the Impassable Mountain Range as well as the God's Punishment Witches who had gone deep into the Barbarian Land. If Sylvie had not taken over the scouting job, the frontier guards would not have been able to detect the approaching demons until they came near the city wall.

The battle on the city wall had highlighted what was lacking in the current technology, and proven that the sky had already become the biggest vulnerability in Neverwinter's defensive line.

After all, the people in this era could hardly imagine aerial forces, let alone countermeasures for aerial attacks.

Roland had been pondering over the air defense problem ever since the moment he had seen the demons with their flying Devilbeasts, but he had never expected them to come to the city so early. He had not started the development of air defense weapons yet, or even finished building the Impassable Mountain ground defense line and the telephone network.

The fact that the frontier guards had not been able to shoot down any demon or Devilbeast during the earlier incident did not surprise him at all. It had been his decision to use revolving rifles to fill up the blind zones of the machine guns and the cannons for now, and they had proven to be quite effective in suppressing enemies on the ground. However, resulting from the low pressure in the bore, a revolving rifle had a relatively short range and a low accuracy, which became a very serious defect against airborne enemies. Furthermore, its hit rate was low and its firepower was limited, since each of its cartridges could only contain five bullets. Last but not least, it had no suitable tripod or aiming tool for targets in the sky. With these defects, it could hardly serve as an ideal ground-to-air weapon.

He felt that he had better begin to replace all the revolving rifles with bolt rifles.

It was already part of his plan, but Anna was unable to mass-produce that many parts that were necessary for the large-scale production of the bolt rifles. Given that, he had only equipped the sniper team with bolt rifles for now. Fortunately, the workers had started to get familiar with the operation of the new machine tool which was put into use recently, and they were already able to assemble rifles on their own. Once they could improve their work efficiency and guarantee the quality of the products, the output of bolt rifles would be substantially increased.

Though bolt rifles could shoot farther and more precisely than revolving rifles, they could hardly serve as ground-to-air weapons. Their rate of fire was even lower than the revolving rifles, and their tracer ammunition, which had a complex structure, was not easy to manufacture, especially when the ammunition production line was already working at its full capacity. Even if he began to focus on tackling the key problems for the mass production of bolt rifles now, he would need several months to achieve this goal. By the time he succeeded, the Months of Demons would already be over.

Under these circumstances, he decided to create new ground-to-air firearms as the primary air defense weapons and use the bolt rifles to assist these new weapons in a fight.

Based on the existing technologies, he was not able to equip his army with any kind of high-tech fire control system, so his only choice was to create a hail of bullets to stop the enemies in the sky.

The easiest way of achieving this effect was to convert some of the Mark I type heavy machine guns into anti-aircraft machine guns, which had been a tried and tested solution in the modern world's history and would not increase the burden on the manufacturing and logistics sectors. A Mark I type HMG equipped with an aiming tool and an adjustable tripod would be able to shoot low-flying enemies out of the sky.

In any case, his Mark I type heavy machine guns were easy to convert, as he had planned for the air defense usage in advance and had equipped them with air-cooled barrels instead of a water-cooled casing when designing these machine guns.

A heavy machine gun was well-suited for hitting long-range targets, while also having a remarkably high hit rate at shorter ranges. It fired its shells extremely fast, and thus had overwhelming firepower. With these features, they could effectively suppress the spear-throwing Mad Demons who rode the flying Devilbeasts. If the city wall had been equipped with two such converted Mark I type machine guns before the previous skirmish, the outcome would have been very different.

With this plan in mind, after he concluded the meeting, he immediately headed for the Arithmetic Academy instead of returning to his office.

This new academy was located to the south of the Castle District, next to the chemistry laboratory. Most of the researchers working in the academy were the former Astrology Association members. Being venerated as a school of sages, it had recently been attracting quite a lot of the talented citizens who had just completed their primary schooling. It received almost 20% more job applications than the Alchemist Workshop next door.

Roland speculated that the frequent explosions and accidents in the lab might also have played a part in discouraging prospective job applicants.

Astrologer of Dispersion Star welcomed him in the main hall.

After bowing to the king, the Chief Astrologer began heaping praise upon the profoundness and beauty of mathematics.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me for nagging you. That book you gave me, 'Analytical Geometry', must the deities' work! I had never imagined that I'd be able to see the world so clearly with my mind instead of my eyes. Even if I were to one day become dim-sighted from old age and lose the ability to observe the starry sky, I would still be able to describe the world just as clearly as before. For example, now I can even describe your wavy hair, your clothes, and even your boots using numbers and symbols..."

Fearing that he would go on and on, Roland interrupted him. "Have you mastered all the knowledge in the book?"

"I can't say I've mastered all of it, but I did master most of it." Dispersion Star calmed himself down and continued. "In the past six months, apart from the calculation missions you gave us, we've been working on a huge project. We recorded the stars' celestial coordinates and our previous observation results in the mathematical language. Now we can be sure that the Star of Extinction, the Bloody Moon in your words, always stays at the same spot in the sky. It doesn't move at all."

Roland had once paid close attention to the Bloody Moon, whose coming was said to herald the beginning of the Battle of Divine Will. Now that the demons had already begun to take action, he no longer had any interest in the star.

"I've come to give you a new mission. You'd better finish it as soon as possible." He said explicitly. "It's not a pure math problem like the previous missions. You need to solve a practical problem for the First Army."

"Do you mean creating something like the cannons' firing table?"

"It's more complicated than that," Roland shook his head and said. "You need to work with the craftsmen to produce a tool which can predict the movement of a target in the sky. You'll need two equations to describe this kind of movement. One describes the horizontal displacement of the target and the other describes the vertical displacement. I have a general idea of the design, but you have to determine the specific parameters through more detailed measurement and calculation."

What Roland wanted was an aiming tool for the new ground-to-air machine guns that could determine a target's distance and forward direction in the sky. With these parameters, a soldier could adjust the weapon to get the proper high angle and advance angle, and then riddle the flying enemy with bullets. This aiming tool was a manually operated mechanical device rather than a piece of electronic equipment, so all that the shooter needed to operate this weapon would be an accurate firing table and some basic knowledge of mathematics and geometry.

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Chapter 926: Quitting Math for Dummies

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

The anti-aircraft machine guns were just the first step to enhancing Neverwinter's air defense capabilities. The most effective way to protect the city's airspace was still building a functional air force.

Back in the days when the Union had ruled the human world, witches had guarded the skies.

A small number of witches endowed with a flying ability, as well as a few Extraordinaries wearing Stones of Flight, had performed this air defense task. They had been recognized as the strongest warriors of the Union, and thus their status had been higher than that of the other combat witches in the Blessed Army. According to Pasha, throughout the history of the Union, all the Three Chiefs had always been former members of this air defense troop.

As for the common people who did not have the talent to use magic power or the Magic Stones, the only solution was to create a kind of machine which could serve as their wings. When that happened, they would be able to get rid of the constraints of gravity and fly up into the sky.

In order to dominate the battle in the air, Neverwinter had to build up its own air forces.

To achieve that goal, Roland needed to create airplanes.

This was no easy job, as it involved tackling many technical problems at the same time. He was not familiar with aircraft design, and even the structure of a biplane from World War I was complicated enough to give him a headache. He was able to get away with the simplified power transmission systems and braking systems of the train for the initial prototype. However, the flight control surfaces of a plane could not be half-assed and had a much lower tolerance for error. More importantly, he had never flown a plane and thus had no idea whether the mechanical devices he created would work or not.

Fortunately, he could choose another kind of aircraft—the glider.

Wendy, who was able to sense wind direction and wind power accurately, could work as his test pilot. With the help of Lightning and Maggie, who could ensure Wendy's safety, he believed he would be able to write a flight manual for the operation of the gliders without risking anyone's life.

"Your Majesty." Astrologer of Dispersion Star spoke, interrupting Roland's thoughts. "I understand what you mean. The Arithmetic Academy will make this aiming tool for you as soon as possible."

"Good." Roland nodded in satisfaction. He was happy to be able to talk to this astrologer, who could immediately understand his intentions. He felt that it had really been a wise decision to bring the whole Astrology Association to the Western Region.

As a school of sages, the Astrology Association also required hands-on practical ability just as the alchemists did. The astrologers were not only excellent at mathematics but also good with their hands. Since no blacksmith knew how to make a telescope, they usually designed and assembled the telescope parts by themselves.

Just as Roland was about to leave, he noticed that Astrologer of Dispersion Star still seemed to have something to say.

"Is there anything else?" Roland asked.

"Here's a thing I can't figure out, Your Majesty." The scholar cleared this throat by coughing several times. "I don't understand why there's the word 'Intermediate' on the cover of the book, 'Analytic Geometry', and on every cover of the mathematics books you gave me."

Roland chuckled. "That's the thing you want to ask?"

"Please forgive me for being so bold, if it's a thing can't be disclosed." Different from Kyle Sichi, Dispersion Star had stayed in the old King's City since his birth. He had served several kings and was always on his best behavior. However, Roland could tell from his eyes that he was just as curious as the Chief Alchemist.

Roland could not help but smile while recalling that he had used "Intermediate Chemistry" to lure Kyle into working for Neverwinter. In order to get his hands on the book, Kyle had recruited students, given lectures, and even taken up the post of Minister of Chemical Industry. Nevertheless, Roland felt that he would not need to repeat this carrot-and-stick trick on Dispersion Star.

He explained plainly, "It's because there's a book called Advanced Mathematics. It's not just about geometry or arithmetics. It's advanced mathematical theory. You can imagine the primary and intermediate books as the trunk of a tree and advanced mathematics as the top of the tree. But this book is much harder to understand, so it has another name."

"What might that be?"

"Quitting Math for Dummies," Roland answered with his hands laid out in a shrug.

Obviously, Dispersion Star did not understand Roland's implication. He stared blankly at the king, and then he said, "Your, Your Majesty... I'll never give up, even if I have to spend the rest of my life to grasp the theory! Could you please show me..."

Seeing the sincere look on the scholar's face, Roland somehow felt a little embarrassed about himself, since he had regularly dozed off in his advanced mathematics class. He cleared his throat and said, "Of course. After finishing this project, you may come to the castle to get the book."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Dispersion Star knelt and replied with excitement.

...

After that, Roland left the Mathematics Academy for the backyard of the North Slope Mountain.

Apart from the anti-aircraft machine guns, he intended to make some special weapons for the God's Punishment Witches.

After having spent several months together, he was firmly convinced about the Taquila survivors' burning desire to wreak havoc upon the demons. Neverwinter had to fight the demons to survive, but the Taquila witches just wanted revenge. In the hearts of the ancient witches, the demons had been the source of their pains for the past hundreds of years, the enemies who had killed their families and friends, and the nightmare they longed to get rid of.

Roland felt that it would be a complete waste for these mighty warriors to use only swords and spears to fight the demons. He also noticed that they were able to fight with weapons that were too heavy to carry for conventional soldiers. This meant that he could equip them with fiercer firearms and turn them into high mobility heavy battle units.

His initial plan was to design a portable Mark I type HMG for the God's Punishment Witches, whose ammo box could be carried in their backpacks. With these weapons, the God's Punishment Witches would become mobile fortresses. Once they encountered a pack of demons, they could immediately turn them into Swiss cheese.

However, now he had changed his mind.

Some heavy machine guns were going to be converted into anti-aircraft machine guns, and a new variant of the Mark I guns would soon begin production on a large scale. In the near future, the bullet consumption speed would be incredibly fast, but based on the current efficiency of Neverwinter's bullet production, he could not ensure the supply of ammunition for so many guns. Under such circumstances, even if he were to manufacture 300 guns for the God's Punishment Witches, they would not get enough bullets to be able to achieve the target effect of a walking fortress

To solve this problem, he needed to create a powerful and simple weapon that used fewer bullets while also being easy to maintain.

He quickly sketched the outline of the new weapon on paper.

It was a grapeshot gun, a gas operated weapon with a 40mm caliber.

The prominent advantage of a grapeshot gun was its wide killing range and the long-distance shots resulting from the enlarged caliber. It shot automatically and its shooter did not have to be very accurate. It could help the revolving rifles and bolt rifles in suppressing the enemies who managed to break through the cannon blockade line. It could also be adopted in a sneak attack. In such a battle, the grapeshot gun shooter could take the initiative to approach the target.

Judging from the demons' fighting methods in the second Battle of Divine Will, they were still in the era of cold weapons. In a direct encounter, they usually fought hand to hand instead of throwing spears.

Given that, Roland was confident that the God's Punishment Witches equipped with automatic grapeshot guns would be able to give them hell in a close combat fight.

...

Five days later, Sylvie spotted some Devilbeasts again.

The number of enemies had doubled this time. Twelve Devilbeasts, looking like a dark cloud in the sky, were flying towards Neverwinter.

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