Munitions Empire

"Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud..." The dense sound of leather boots striking the stone floor echoed in the somewhat empty great hall.

Redman, with his staff officers, his aide-de-camp, the commander of the 3rd battalion of the 1st regiment of the Northern Ridge Legion, and the general who had just surrendered, flanked by a dozen soldiers, walked through the most opulent hall of the Germelin Royal Palace.

The murals here were very famous, having been commissioned from renowned painters at great expense, depicting the story of Gemalin's ancestors achieving a great victory at the Germelin River.

It was after this great victory that Germelin was officially able to establish its kingdom, grow and develop amidst the strong enemies encircling the Germelin Plains, eventually expanding to the scale it was at that day.

Unfortunately, it was all over now.

As they walked, Redman suddenly halted, and everyone stopped, turning their attention to the Great Tang Group's brigadier general who had unexpectedly ceased moving forward.

The former hunter of the Northern Ridge pulled out an exquisitely wrapped cigarette pack from his pocket, took a cigarette from the soft pack, and placed it in his mouth.

The aide-de-camp immediately struck a match smoothly, cupped the flame with his hands, and brought it close to Redman, lighting the cigarette for him.

Redman took a deep drag, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and continued striding forward contentedly and gracefully; then, a series of dense leather boot sounds once again began.

Ever since Tang Mo concocted cigarettes and began puffing clouds of smoke, these things had started to spread on a small scale.

After giving it a few tries, many of the senior ranks of the Great Tang Group had become enamored with this seemingly stylish "hobby."

They began imitating Tang Mo's smoking, and subsequently, the cigarette production of the Great Tang Group steadily increased.

Until recently, many of the nobility and merchants of Brunas began smoking and treating it as a fashion, solidifying the trend of this item "invented" by Tang Mo.

Li'ao, along with the bartenders, Roger, and others started smoking, and even Marcus and Parker learned it quite thoroughly.

However, they all dared not smoke in front of Tang Mo, only in secret, so in the meeting rooms of the Great Tang Group, Tang Mo was still the only one smoking.

The surrendering general followed behind Redman. After handing over commanding authority and letting close to 1000 soldiers lay down their weapons and surrender, he discovered that his opponents numbered less than 500.

To his chagrin, these 500 men had marched forward for hundreds of miles without encountering any significant resistance.

At the same time, he felt some comfort, because at least he was not the only failure in the Gemalin Kingdom...

That's the way people are, as long as one can find a reference worse than oneself, one can indefinitely continue on a path of failure.

So when he learned that the other three defensive sides of the King City had also surrendered without a fight, captured by a few dozen soldiers, the general completely gave up.

Two soldiers leading the way pushed open the heavy doors, and a side hall appeared before Redman.

A number of people gathered there, dressed resplendently, including old men and middle-aged ones. Some were standing, some sitting, but they all turned their gaze to Redman as he pushed the door and entered.

A man of around 50 stood there wearing a crown, watching expressionlessly as Redman walked into the side hall, followed by soldiers armed to the teeth, and approached him.

"Who are you?" The Germelin King, much older than Redman, tried his best to remain calm and asked.

He hoped the other party would afford him the proper treatment due to a captive king...

Previously, the king of another kingdom vanquished by the Leite Kingdom had chosen a tragic way to end his life.

He set fire to his royal palace, burying himself and his kingdom together in ashes—including the king's children and queens along with the palace.

The King of Germelin did not have the courage to burn himself as firewood, so he could only wait here with his ministers for his fate.

At least he could still hope that the Leite Kingdom or, more precisely, the Great Tang Group would treat captives well and grant him some dignity.

"My name is Redman, and I am now the commander-in-chief of the Northern Ridge Legion's frontline forces," Redman introduced himself and then, without any courtesy, flicked the cigarette butt that was between his fingers onto the ground and stamped it out with his dusty boot.

Redman's action caused His Majesty of Gemalin to frown slightly because few had ever behaved so crudely before him.

Even representatives from Shireck's syndicate, managers, and envoys from other nations maintained a basic respect when meeting him.

Yet the man before him was so arrogantly wild, discarding things randomly before him and twisting his foot forcefully upon them...

Seeing this act, the King of Germelin felt as if the other man was trampling on his face, or rather, trampling on his dignity.

"This is the King of the Kingdom of Gemalin! Please maintain the proper etiquette in his presence," the Prime Minister of Gemalin couldn't hold back any longer, the elderly man looked at Redman and reminded him.

Redman let out a cold laugh, turned to look at the surrendered Gemalin General and asked in a drawn-out tone, "Is it him?"

This arrogant gesture infuriated all the ministers of Gemalin present, a few of the truly fearless even wanted to charge at Redman but were firmly held back by their colleagues.

"You!" Despite still feeling apprehensive, the Gemalin King, his chest burning with anger, couldn't help but want to rebuke.

However, before he could make a sound, Redman had already landed a resounding slap on the Gemalin King's face. The slap was delivered in a flash, the backhand strike full of force.

"Slap!" The crisp sound silenced the entire side hall instantly. The noise and curses stopped abruptly, and everyone seemed to be frozen in place, stunned.

"Is it him?" Redman looked at the surrendering general again, asking in a drawn-out tone for the second time.

"Yes!" This time, the surrendering general answered exceptionally quickly and decisively.

The general swallowed his saliva, imagining himself in Redman's imposing position one day, feeling somewhat elated for a moment.

So cool! He thought weakly.

"..." Holding his face, the Gemalin King was in a daze. The stinging pain on his cheek gave him an unreal feeling.

He even felt a bit wronged, because he thought that even if the King of Leite Kingdom himself were present, it shouldn't be, it couldn't be right to slap him like this...

"I am not killing you... because my master, Lord Tang Mo, is preparing to hang you in Brunas! To memorialize our fallen comrades!" Redman claimed dominantly, hand on the pistol at his waist.

He stepped towards the Gemalin King, and with each step he took forward, the other man was intimidated into retreating a step backward.

Only after forcing the King to take five steps back did Redman continue, "You actually dared to have someone kill people from the Great Tang Group… Who do you think you are?"

After finishing these words, he swept his gaze over all the ministers of Gemalin present: "No one can escape unharmed after angering my master! Not even deities!"

"Rest assured, your death will not be in vain; it will serve as a warning to the world, reminding those who dare to raise their guns against the Great Tang Group's people to ponder carefully whether they can withstand the Great Tang Group's retaliation!" Redman grabbed the Gemalin King by the collar, yanked him forward, and pushed him towards the soldiers behind him.

The wolf-like soldiers had been waiting for this moment. They pounced on the Gemalin King, pinned him down, and bound him with ropes.

"You can't... can't treat a... a King this way," the Prime Minister of Gemalin, trembling, stretched out an arm, shouting loudly.

"I can!" Redman's other hand clenched a blood-stained dandelion ring in his palm and said coldly, "And furthermore, my master… didn't say I should bring you back to Brunas."

As soon as his words fell, an aide-de-camp beside him shot and killed the Prime Minister of Gemalin, and everyone fell silent, with no sound to be heard in the side hall.

"Behave! Those who cooperate might live; those who resist will be executed!" Accompanying Redman's order, a dozen soldiers raised their gleaming bayonets, making the remaining ministers of Gemalin as docile as a group of quails.

...

In Brunas, at the headquarters of the Great Tang Group, Tang Mo picked up a beautifully crafted bottle of wine, signaling to Harry, "Do you know what this is?"

"This is our fine wine, sir," Harry recognized the bottle and knew it was the fine wine produced in Brunas.

Tang Mo pulled the cork from the bottle, pouring wine while he continued to inquire, "Hmm, what else do you know? Be more specific."

"Reporting to you, sir, this is Brunas 2-Year, a high-quality distilled spirit we brewed; it's the best product of the Brunas Winery Group, and also one of the most expensive beverages in the world," Harry answered fluently.

Seeing Tang Mo not speaking, he added, "A genuine bottle of Brunas 2-Year is priced at 300 Gold Coins on the market, which is roughly enough to buy a top-of-the-line T-model car."

"But even so, this wine is still scarce. I heard that the real Brunas 2-Year… most of it is still in cellars because everyone knows, once Brunas 3-Year comes out, they will be even more valuable." Since John was the one selling this type of wine, Harry only knew so much.

Tang Mo nodded, handing a filled glass to Harry, "You are right."

He then took up a glass himself, "However, the reason I asked you to say all this was just to remind everyone present, the Great Tang Group is still very young…"

He turned to look at the envoys seated there, smiling confidently, "In a few months, everyone will know… those who offend Great Tang will be destroyed, no matter how far away they are!"

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Staying up late has truly become increasingly inefficient… Playing around and procrastinating… Stuck in a vicious cycle…