Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 378: Diplomatic Corps

An open space outside Storm City was designated as a steel mill and a weapons workshop. It was now a construction site, with workers, carriages, and all sorts of raw materials replacing the open countryside. According to the initial plan, a small steelmaking plant will be built in the short term to facilitate the extraction of raw materials from two metallic mines and the reprocessing of the materials into standard steel.

A portion of the steel produced can be used as blank plates for secondary processing in the weapons workshop, and various types of weapons and equipment can be produced. If there is additional productivity, it will produce suitable cannon walls or ship components for other weapons manufacturers or shipyards. Of course, this depends on the subsequent partners and areas of production.

Most importantly, the mill will lay the foundation for Allen to independently develop and produce war tools in the future.

However, due to the current production conditions, Storm City's steelmaking plant could only use smelting technology. The quality of the steel produced was at the lower-middle level within the empire. However, this standard was already sufficient. After all, the technology of refining with blast furnaces was only grasped by the royal family, and the high-quality steel produced was also a strategic material that rarely circulated in the market.

Of course, the Empire's blast furnace technology was still in its infancy, and they were still able to produce alloys. Compared to the magic energy furnace technology that Earth currently grasped, this was simply like the difference between primitive humans and modern humans. Only by using a magic energy furnace could federal steelmakers produce the outer casing of a magic energy starship. Even the lowest standard of a star-like casing was a superalloy cast from composite materials.

At this moment, the foundations of the factory were nearing completion. The bricks, stones, and other raw materials that had been shipped in succession over the past few days had been prepared for the longest time. Once the foundation was completed, the construction of the factory could begin. As for the most important parts of the steel mill, the furnaces that could be refined at high temperatures, they were entrusted to the Chamber of Commerce in Violet Harbor to purchase them. They were expected to arrive in a month's time.

Alan came to the construction site to inspect. He could foresee that after the steelmaking plant was put into operation, the two raw metal ores under Storm City's control would continuously supply the raw materials for steelmaking. These raw materials will be converted into steel, and the emergence of large quantities of steel will lead to the development of weapons manufacturing. In a year or two, Storm City would become a heavy industrial city on the border. The war chariots and cannons that followed would begin to walk out from here.

He believed that this would bring enough shock to the nobles in the empire.

"Lord Allen." josei

A guard trotted over and reported, "Miss Adele invites you back to the City Lord's Mansion."

"Is there something urgent?" Alan asked casually.

"Yes, a mission from Black Iron Castle has just arrived. I need you to personally receive it."

Ellen was greatly surprised, "The Black Iron Castle's envoy?"

A group of black cavalry passed through the city gates and drove into the streets of Storm City. The inhabitants of the city curiously sized up this group of cavalry, from knights to warhorses, which were mostly black. The armor of these cavalry was pitch black and thick, and they stretched out sharp pricks in many places, like the fangs of wild beasts. Even the horses they stepped off were much heavier than the ones in Storm City.

Even though there were only eight cavalry, it gave off a feeling of a torrent of steel. It wasn't hard to imagine that such a heavily armored cavalry would be a headache-inducing steel lion on the battlefield. However, Sir Sharon's cavalry, the Black Cloud Knights, was only thirty cavalry, with the financial resources of the entire Knights of Pouring Black Iron Castle.

However, on the border, 30 heavily armored cavalry were enough to control the pattern of a local war.

Behind the cavalry was a luxurious carriage. Someone on the carriage opened the window and sighed, "I remember the last time I came to Storm City to deliver Third Miss. In the blink of an eye, so many years have passed. This city is indeed different from before."

There were two men sitting in the carriage. They looked out of the window at a middle-aged man. His face was solemn, and the palm knuckles that stretched out from his sleeves were thick. Even if he sat upright on the side of the carriage, the strong sense of existence would make one feel that the carriage was extremely narrow. Even with this carriage, it was much larger than an ordinary carriage.

Sitting opposite him was a young man in his early twenties. "What's so great about it? Our Black Iron Castle's streets are much wider than this," he snorted with disdain on his somewhat childish face. "Look, their main path is only so small, and you can tell that their pattern is very limited."

"Be careful of your words, Bill. We came with your father's kindness. I don't think Sir would want war to break out because of your carelessness, would he?"

"Got it, Uncle Haggers." The young man changed his seat and said, "Then again, it's just Storm City. If it weren't for your strong opposition, I suppose it wouldn't be us envoys who are here right now, but the army of our Black Iron Fort. I really don't know what you're thinking."

'"Just like I said before in front of your father, since Storm City has experts capable of killing Dick, it should be worth our caution in dealing with each other. You should know that Dick had already used the Boiling Blood Demon Crystal at that time, and his strength was equivalent to a Level 19 Knight."

"So what? I'm already Level 15. Give me another two years and I can kill a Level 19 Knight!" The young man said stubbornly.

The man smiled and was not prepared to continue his meaningless conversation. He glanced out of the window, not knowing where his mind had flown to.

Alan rushed to the City Lord's Mansion before the envoy arrived and led Broy, Lucy, and Regis to receive them. Legg, the leader of the knights, and several important officials of Storm City accompanied him. When Alan saw the Black Cloud Knights, he subconsciously used these heavily armored cavalry as imaginary enemies. It could be imagined that the heavy cavalry would definitely be called human-type tanks on the battlefield before the advent of the war chariot. If these cavalry were all level 10, then the destructive power they could produce would be astonishing.

However, it wasn't that they didn't have a way to deal with them. Even heavy artillery and high-temperature attacks were the nemesis of heavy cavalry. The former was more destructive than the heavy cavalry's armor and had a defensive effect. The latter used the heat conductivity of the armor to deal soft damage to the heavy cavalry.

While Alan was observing the Black Cloud Knight, Lucy knocked him lightly. He came back to his senses, but it was the envoy of the Black Iron Castle who got off the carriage. He was first a tall man, then a proud young man behind him. There was also a carriage behind, and the person who came down was actually the vice president of the Iron Flag Chamber of Commerce, Felos. Seeing that the members of the Iron Flag Chamber of Commerce were also in the envoy group, Alan became interested in the intentions of the Black Iron Castle.

In the reception hall of the City Lord's Mansion, led by the tall man, the entire envoy group gave Allen impeccable aristocratic etiquette. After Ellen returned the greeting, the man smiled and said, "I am Haggers, the founder and current leader of the Knights of the Black Cloud." This time, it was to bring Sir Sharon's goodwill to Lord Allen. Sir Sharon hopes to reach an agreement on a peaceful, mutually beneficial relationship between our two cities, and hopes that Lord Allen will give serious consideration to our proposal. "

Alan nodded and said, "I'd like to hear more about it."

Baron Sharon's meaning was very simple. Through Hagrid, he expressed to Alan his desire for peace, not war. Allen was invited to visit the Bloodstone Wasteland and sign a peace agreement in the neutral land between Storm City and Black Iron Castle. As a sign of sincerity, the Iron Flag Merchant Guild that came with the envoy had brought an order for 100,000 gold coins of equipment, even though the weapons workshop in Storm City had yet to be completed.

After listening to Hagrid's words, Alan did not immediately express his opinion. Instead, they arranged a place for the envoys to rest and settle down, and invited Haggers and the others to attend the dusty banquet in the evening. After the envoy left, Alan glanced at everyone and said, "You can speak freely."

"Sir, Black Iron Castle's attitude this time is very strange." Legg was the first to say, "As far as I know, the Knights of the Black Cloud and Sir Sharon are not peace ambassadors. I always feel that there must be something brewing behind this. And if it's a peace agreement, why go to the Bloodstone Wilderness? It's not our Storm City territory. I'm afraid they'll take advantage of this to the detriment of my lord."

"That place is also not the territory of the Black Iron Castle. If it is not good for Alan, wouldn't it be easier to invite Alan to the Black Iron Castle?" '"I'm not disagreeing with Captain Legg," Lucy said. "But I think Blackiron Castle made this suggestion because they thought that if they were enemies with us, they might end up losing both of us."

"Personally, I don't think they should start a war without a chance of winning, because that would be unprofitable. Unless Sir Sharon is obsessed with personal enmity, or our strength is pulled away by them, that's another matter."

One of Storm City's finance officials also said: "In our current situation, peaceful development is more advantageous than waging war. If Black Iron Castle does not have any tricks, Sir, you may wish to seriously consider their proposal."

Alan listened to the opinions of a few more people and nodded. "I see. You guys go down first. I want to think about it by myself."

In the guest room of the City Lord's Mansion, Hagrid looked out of the window with his hands behind his back. On the sofa behind him, the young man named Bill complained, "I really don't know what's so scary about a city lord like him. He's even younger than me. Could it be that Uncle Haggers and Father are scared of such a brat? Father, forget it, but Uncle Haggers, you have the strength of LV19. If it were you, you would be able to kill a guy like Dick, right?"

"You're right, but what's the point of that? If the most ferocious beasts meet in the wilderness, they won't attack each other immediately. Instead, they will probe first. If they discover that their opponent is weaker than them, then it will be worth fighting. Otherwise, losing both of them will only benefit the Rotting Eagle." Haggers turned around and said, "This is the situation now. We are evenly matched with Storm City and have no value in waging war."