Magic Industrial Age.

Chapter 535-533: The Glorious Empire Enters the Scene (Bonus Chapter 10)

As it turned out, the Verdun battlefield not only didn't escalate into fighting, but didn't escalate into fighting for many days. Instead, a unique magical weather battle unfolded.

The allied forces' use of magic to influence the weather did indeed hinder the Empire's offensive, which infuriated the Imperial Crown Prince.

However, despite his anger, he also had to find a way to solve the problem first!
I don't know who gave him the idea, or if he just had a sudden inspiration—you can control the weather with magic, but I can't?

Therefore, he also gathered a large number of mages, set up a super-large magic circle, and then mobilized elemental power to counterattack.

If you want it to rain, then I'll unleash a fierce wind and blow the dark clouds away.

If you want snow, I'll bring a giant fireball and evaporate all the moisture in the air.

Whether it's something to say or not, the back-and-forth banter is quite lively.

Moreover, there was no such unique scene in the history of wars in the Old World.

Weather warfare is inherently a clandestine operation behind enemy lines, primarily intended to slow down the enemy's movements. However, unexpectedly, it allowed both sides to complete a battle of offense and defense.

At this stage, the coalition forces still have the upper hand.

The reason is simple: they have a stronger foundation, can draw upon more mages, and can seize more elemental power.

Meanwhile, after repeated back-and-forth fighting, the ground at Verdun became soaked with water and turned into a swamp.

Even though the magic tank has ample power and its tracks have obvious off-road capabilities, the problem is that it weighs a whopping sixty tons!
When the ground turns into a muddy swamp, even a magic tank can easily get stuck and unable to escape.

It was many days later when the Empire realized that it could not defeat the Allied forces in weather warfare, and that the situation would only get worse.

During this period, the Allied forces finally had ample time to amass a large force at Verdun.

In fact, the Bonaparte royal family planned the first railway here and assembled a construction team to lay the tracks amidst gunfire.

In March of the new Divine Calendar year 316, the Empire's attempt to quickly attack and capture Verdun was thwarted.
However, the empire did not abandon its plan and continued its fierce attack here.

On the other side, at the Flower Territory, Luo Yi also received her three sacred skills, as well as corresponding cultivation artifacts.

DeepBlue immediately included it and initiated an adaptive optimization task based on Loy's physique.

Without Deep Blue's improvements, Luo Yi wouldn't dare to cultivate, and this time, it will also take some time.

However, some preparatory work can already begin.

For example, the various precious magical materials needed for cultivation,
For example, a special potion for dissolving strange objects needs to be prepared.
Of course, the cultivation of the Azure Divine Wood wouldn't be complete without the oldest tree needed. After much deliberation, Luo Yi asked the King of Fury, Silas, to make a trip deep into the Sky Dome Mountains.

This is the only remaining intact primeval forest in the entire Old World; if you want to find precious tree species that have survived for a long time, this is the only place to go.

Correspondingly, Roy resumed trade with the coalition and began receiving their orders again.

Luo Yi even managed to allocate an extra batch of guns and ammunition to send over without affecting other orders.

However, when the coalition's order actually arrived, Maruna came looking for her, not because there was too much, but because there was too little.

Yes, it's much less than Roy estimated!

Moreover, what they need are processing machinery and meditation potions, while the actual need for guns and ammunition is pitifully small.

Although Luo Yi didn't care much about the orders from the three giants of the coalition, he still needed to find out if someone was stealing his business.

Therefore, Lloyd mobilized all his connections, including but not limited to Ang's brotherhood, Grand Duchess Afra, and the old Freud family.

Even Baron Miller.

That's right, he suspected that someone within the empire was involved in arms trafficking.

This is quite different from what Luo Yi did.

An independent entity outside the empire, with its own autonomy, selling its own products, is beyond reproach by anyone.

The other is blatant treason.

As long as the news gets out, even if Hohenzollern III secretly orchestrated it, a group of people will be nailed to the pillar of shame and die a horrible death.

The problem is that after investigating, the empire seems to be fine, and its internal loyalty remains high.

Hohenzollern III represented the pinnacle of centralized power; even cabinet ministers rarely dared to voice dissent, and he could almost make decisions with a single word.

On the contrary, the intelligence organization inherited from the Faceless Killer Ulysses has made great gains.

News from the Kingdom of Sardinia indicates that the ports on the west coast seem to have welcomed many ocean-going warships from the Glorious Empire. Apart from some goods being sold to foreign buyers, most of them are shrouded in mystery.

Often, once the goods arrived at the port, nobles would intervene, clear the area, and then transport the goods away.

Their actions were quite secretive, and even with some investigations, there was no accurate information at this stage, but it had already given Luo Yi some ideas.

So Loy summoned Grand Duke Carlisle again, and after a series of coaxing and deceptions, finally got the man to tell the truth.

Indeed, the Allied Forces have already made contact with the Glorious Empire of the New World and have even started long-distance trade.

This matter actually happened only recently; it was initiated by the Glorious Empire.

They came with a large number of guns, ammunition and magic cannons to do business, but they ran into the two armies and three major powers who were engaged in fierce fighting and were short of weapons. What else is there to say?

Of course, it was an instant agreement!
However, the Glorious Empire was not exactly a timely help; they had come with their own agenda.

If we go back to the Age of Exploration, when the various races retreated from the Old World and migrated to the New World, these empires of the Old World were not idle either.

For example, at the beginning, they used the New World as a prison, exiling a group of criminals, thieves, robbers, and murderers.

Later, after discovering the potential for profit, they sent legions to occupy the territory, and over time, they gained a large amount of land.

At this time, the Glorious Empire arrived, genuinely wanting to make money through trade, but also genuinely wanting to reclaim those territories. Especially since the Glorious Empire had vast territories in its interior, effectively cutting off the empire.

Now, while the three leaders of the coalition are preoccupied with their own problems, they want to legally reclaim these lands.

For this reason, they were willing to betray the Habsburg Empire and provide large quantities of magical weapons.

This matter was approved with almost no opposition within the coalition forces.

Although they were reluctant to give up these enclaves, especially the Kingdom of Sardinia, the so-called "empire on which the sun never sets" was due to these overseas colonies.

But given the current situation, priorities must be prioritized, so selling these colonies is the best course of action.

As a result, the Glorious Empire acquired vast tracts of land, expanding its territory without bloodshed.
The coalition forces gained a considerable amount of weaponry, and most importantly, opened up new trade routes, alleviating their need for ammunition.

Of course, this matter remains a secret.

The reason is simple: the magical energy industry of the Glorious Empire was built up by the empire itself, even more so than that of the Flower Territory, which truly provided manpower, money, and effort.

Previously, the Glorious Empire had closely followed the Empire's lead. If this is exposed now, it will be a loss of face.

Luo Yi received the accurate information, but she didn't feel anything was wrong; in fact, she was quite happy.

Because, compared to the Flower Territory, if the Empire were to truly pursue the matter, its primary target would be the Glorious Empire, thus diverting some of its firepower.

As for trade?

The Glorious Empire is too far away, and the sea routes are not very stable. Those sea creatures are not to be trifled with.
These are all risks, but comparatively, the flower-themed brand still has sufficient priority.

Therefore, after clarifying her business rivals, Luo Yi completely let go of the matter and did not take any further action.

Following that, in his spare time from handling official business, he spent more time in the library in Xianhualing.

He intends to use Deep Blue scanning to incorporate all the newly added data into the database.

Although Deep Blue does not have a clear hierarchy, its capabilities increase with the size and completeness of its database.

For example, the speed of optimization for the three new sacred skills has been significantly improved after the data was entered.

Time flew by while scanning documents, and the entire month of April was gone just like that.

The Verdun battlefield has reached a stalemate, and the allied forces have finally caught their breath. However, the protracted war has also depleted the magical tanks rented by Flower Territory.

However, the Empire demonstrated the strength of a long-established industrial power, quickly assimilating the technology and launching its own tanks.

They called it the 'Tiger,' which was a slightly modified version of the first-generation king of the battlefield.
And so, they were pushed onto the battlefield.

On the Flower Territory side, the three divisions of the Imperial Guard have also completed recruitment, equipment deployment, and initial training.

All three tank regiments have completed their re-equipment, receiving the full set of second-generation Land Warfare King tanks.

As for the third-generation Land Warfare King, it is already under development. This time, Luo Yi proposed three directions for improvement.

First, there's the duration of the mana shield.

While briefly activating it can certainly have some effect, it requires very precise control, and given the poor visibility inside the tank, it's not easy to make it truly effective.

Therefore, it is best to keep the magic shield active at all times.

What appears to be a tank issue is actually a research project on magic energy carriers; a better alternative to magic pearls must be found.

After a moment's thought, Loy assigned the task to the mechanical genius Nehemiah von Braun and the great alchemist Benito Freud.

The collaboration between a modern mechanical mage and a classical alchemist will surely provide him with a satisfactory answer.

The second direction is short-range wireless communication.

After several battles, Roy discovered that the coordination and cooperation between tanks were relatively poor.
Even when coordinated tactics are occasionally employed, it is only due to the good relationship and tacit understanding between the tank commanders.

But what Luo Yi needed wasn't just tacit understanding, but genuine following orders. Therefore, this short-range wireless communication technology was essential.

As for this project, it was naturally overseen by Hill Douglas, the inventor of the Magic Walkie Talkie.

As for Luo Yi, she also provided a small amount of wireless technology.

In this regard, Luo Yi doesn't know much. Even though there are some records in Deep Blue's database, he doesn't really understand them.

Therefore, he only provided the principle and let Hill study it on his own.

Finally, there's the concept of infantry fighting vehicles.

Modern infantry can't possibly travel on foot!
It's not just a matter of speed; it also consumes too much energy, making it impossible to immediately engage in combat.

The magic-powered heavy truck can be used as an troop transport, but its defense is extremely poor, and it has almost no resistance to attacks.

If it were an artillery barrage, a single shot could wipe out an entire vehicle of people.

Therefore, tanks with high defensive capabilities, high mobility, and the ability to transport troops were developed.

Lilia was undoubtedly suited for this task. Loy offered an idea: to weaken the offensive capabilities of the tank while increasing its internal space.

After these plans were laid out, by late April of the New Divine Calendar 316, Luo Yi felt the time was ripe.

So a letter was sent and arrived in Griffin Town in the Dome Mountains.

Just one night later, several streaks of blood-red light ripped through the sky, only stopping outside the city of Brussels.

Then, someone was waiting there to guide them through the streets and alleys until they finally arrived at Lion Manor.

(End of this chapter)