Munitions Empire

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"I'm sorry, I feel that I must fulfill the duties of a subject," said the messenger after a few silent seconds.

Tang Mo nodded slightly and then waved his hand, signaling that the other could leave.

"Shall we?" Harry, standing at Tang Mo's side, asked as he watched the messenger's retreating figure.

Tang Mo glanced at Harry and laughed: "You're quite ruthless now, aren't you? Kill all those who don't surrender?"

He gave Harry a playful kick: "Scram! Give him 10 Gold Coins for his travel expenses and send him off from Brunas! The man's a true hero who'd rather turn down money than betray his former lord. You should admire him, not harbor thoughts of killing him."

"I understand, Teacher." At that moment, Harry preferred to call Tang Mo 'Teacher' rather than 'Master'.

Soon, the envoys from Suthers and the ones from Dorne gathered around, all bent on persuading Tang Mo to abstain from hanging the King of the Kingdom of Germelin.

In this era, the Nobility followed their own set of game rules. Killing a King lightly would greatly displease the other Kingdoms.

All were royal families, all were people who regarded their Kingdoms as their own households, and killing was certainly not something done lightly. This was a consensus and was rarely challenged.

Just like when the attempt on Earl Fisheo's life shook the noble circles and even Shireck was put in a difficult position.

Back then, the suspicions were on the Shireck Consortium, with no concrete evidence. But now, Tang Mo truly planned to execute a King publicly!

To be honest, this was somewhat irregular because Tang Mo was only an Earl in the Leite Kingdom, a "noble of a single generation" with no substantial foundation—an upstart not presentable on the stage of true Nobility.

In the eyes of the royal families of other nations, someone of such a background did not qualify as true Nobility, even if Tang Mo was incredibly wealthy, even if he was a fashion icon, even if he was an arms dealer on par with Shireck, even if he truly had the power to kill a King.

"Please reconsider! This will make many royal houses hostile towards you… and be very detrimental to your business," the envoy from Suthers earnestly advised Tang Mo.

"To avenge a few young people, you brought down the Kingdom of Germelin. That alone is enough to make others wary. There's no need to actually kill a King..." The envoy from Dorne also felt that some things needn't be done so blatantly.

Tang Mo listened to their words and without thinking, immediately replied: "If you were following me, wouldn't you want me to avenge you? To drag out the one who ordered your deaths and the hidden hands behind them and bury them beside your graves?"

His words silenced the two envoys. To be honest, as ministers tasked with missions, deep down they longed for a leader who was powerful and sought justice relentlessly.

When one of their own was wronged, they sought to reclaim what was owed; when one of their own was killed, they sought to repay the bloodshed. Such a person was actually the kind of master many dreamed of following.

They did not need to concern themselves with righteousness, nor did they need to ponder if it was worth it. They just needed to focus on executing orders, knowing that even if they died, someone would naturally take care of everything for them.

And Great Tang… it seemed to be such an existence.

"I want everyone who works for me, everyone who fights for me, to know… to be certain! Their sacrifices, their efforts, their choices... All of it! It is all worth it!" Tang Mo said loudly, his voice so powerful that it drew the attention of other envoys who hadn't approached.

"My people from Great Tang Group! Are not just any turtles or snakes that just any stray cat or dog can kill! Never mind that he's a King! Even if he were the Emperor, if he dares to touch my people, his fate is sealed! Not even a god can save him! That's what I said!" Tang Mo's tone was reminiscent of someone from a certain movie.

"Spread this message!" Tang Mo sat down, taking a wine glass from Wes's hand and downing what remained of the Brunas 2-year in one gulp: "Do you know who those dead were? Every single one of them was from Bolton! Every single one from Strauss! Each of them an elite from the Great Tang Military Academy, capable of commanding the battlefield!"

"I understand." The envoy from Suthers knew there would be no compromise here and could only nod in response: "I will immediately send a telegram back to inform His Majesty the King to issue a statement, denying any royal status to the former King of Germelin..."

This was an urgent fallback plan, aimed at minimizing the negative impact of Tang Mo killing a King.

"I will do the same. I will persuade His Majesty to issue such a statement right away," the envoy from Dorne said with even more caution, bowing slightly as he spoke.

He was from Dorne, but he knew what Bolton and Strauss meant to Dorne. They were Dorne's twin jewels, symbols of Dorne's rise, heroes to the Dornish people, the most trusted by His Majesty the King of Dorne.

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If there had been classmates of the two young military geniuses among the dead, the situation might have been even worse.

If those two highly favored by the Dorne King, whose reputations were soaring, caused trouble, it was possible that the King of Dorne might make the same choice as Tang Mo—killing a king was no big deal.

"Don't make it sound like I plan to kill all the royalty in the world, okay? I am a reasonable person!" Tang Mo's tone softened as he spoke, defending himself: "Go have a drink! Stop bothering me."

The envoys from the two kingdoms bowed slightly and hurriedly exited, realizing that the way the people from the Great Tang Group looked at Tang Mo had changed.

A master willing to protect his own was definitely worth serving. Tang Mo didn't kill a king without gaining something; in overturning the royal table, he managed to solidify the loyalty of the Great Tang Group into a single, unbreakable iron plate.

From today, or rather, from the moment Tang Mo decided to hang the king of the Germelin Kingdom, these elites of the Great Tang Group turned into wolves, mad dogs, bloodthirsty sharks, and vultures circling the sky.

They would charge through fire and water for an order from Tang Mo, and would slay gods for a glance from him.

What seemed like insignificant exchanges of interest and compromises actually harmed the enthusiasm and loyalty at the grassroots level. Tang Mo didn't compromise, and therefore, he harnessed these forces. To be frank, the choice might not be absolutely correct, but Tang Mo made it and there was no turning back.

"Let her come over," Tang Mo said to Harry, who stood by his side.

Harry nodded slightly and then beckoned to someone in the distance; a woman wearing a gorgeous dress approached with a calm stride.

She stopped in front of Tang Mo, lifted the hem of her dress on both sides, and performed a standard noblewoman's curtsy for a social gathering, which looked very proper.

"Sorry to have made Shireck's honored guest laugh," Tang Mo remained seated, and without even introducing himself, directly said, "Harry was supposed to talk to you, but since you kept asking to see me, and I happen to have some time today, I decided to see what Shireck's fearless female envoy came for."

"I am here to seek cooperation," the maid representing Sofia had finally managed to reach Brunas and then revealed her identity in order to meet Tang Mo.

Tang Mo nodded slightly and said to the woman, who could score at least eighty points in appearance: "Of course you're here for cooperation, as you don't need to notify me if you're starting a war."

He was mocking Shireck for waging war without declaration and never playing by the rules. The maid, clearly a skilled negotiator herself, just smiled without dwelling on the topic.

She promptly flattered Tang Mo and after smiling said, "Those shortsighted directors believe that the Great Tang Group is not worth waiting for, so they don't need to go through the hassle of declaring war. But I am here on a mission to seek cooperation for my master; you are an equal partner, so…"

Tang Mo waved his hand, cutting off her argument: "You're mistaken! My Great Tang Group and Shireck are now equals... or rather, enemies. Your master is just one of Shireck's directors, and I... am the owner of the Great Tang Group! It is quite clear that your master doesn't call the shots in Shireck, but in the Great Tang Group..."

At this point, he looked at Wes and Harry standing beside him; both men laughed, their smiles beaming.

"My word is final," Tang Mo turned his gaze back to the woman and stated: "So, what benefit can I gain from cooperating with you?"

"Access to some of Shireck's channels," the woman offered Sofia's bargaining chip: "As long as you're willing to cooperate, you'll soon discover that the channels it would take you years, even decades to establish, will open their doors to you."

"Hahahaha!" Tang Mo laughed uproariously, full of scorn: "Do you think I'm an idiot? You want to white-knuckle my products, make a profit off the margin, and then turn around and control my sales channels?"

He signaled Wes to pour him another drink and then took the glass from Wes's hand: "Do you think I've gotten to where I am today by randomly producing a few lousy guns?"

Wasn't that the case? The maid criticized internally, but her face betrayed no hint of it: "How could that be, Mr. Tang, you're definitely a smart man."

"Then be ready to do business with something real!" Tang Mo didn't refuse the offer of cooperation, but he stated his terms: "You should also have a telegraph machine by now, I've lost quite a few of those recently... Since you can contact your master, go ahead and find out what price she's willing to pay."

"Sofia..." Tang Mo stated a name that took the maid by surprise: "I've done my research on you... and clearly, as you said, Shireck is not united as one!"

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It seems I owe three chapters... Don't worry, I'll make it up slowly.