Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 518 Hope and Ideal

Looking at the thousands of Northern Army soldiers standing in neat formation under the city wall, Ross Ralph felt unbelievable.

He was also a noble knight of distinguished birth, having undergone rigorous and orthodox knight training since the age of six. He naturally knew how difficult it was for even the most elite Royal Knights of the Principality to form dozens of hundred-man formations and maintain discipline while marching in formation.

Knights' battle formations required superb horse-controlling skills, while ordinary soldiers had to rely on the commander's commands at any time - but this was limited to the simplest attacks and retreats in actual combat. Once it involved changes in formations such as flank dispersion and encirclement, it was no longer something these ordinary soldiers of humble origins could do.

The soldiers before him were not wearing bright new armor or headgear, but rather dark military uniforms of completely uniform color and style. They carried their long standard weapons on their backs in pouches across their chests, and had short bayonets on their right waists... Their uniform clothing, weapons, and even their expressions seemed to be exactly the same seriousness, making the military formation formed by these soldiers look like a unified iron plate.

This direct visual impact made Ross feel the incomparable momentum. He truly knew that these soldiers who were being reviewed one after another were elite soldiers who had truly experienced the baptism of cruel battles...but this cruelty was brought to the enemy by their own hands.

The people watching on the city wall also responded enthusiastically.

"It's the First Battalion! Look! My brother is a soldier in the First Battalion! He's in the fourth row of the second phalanx!"

"Oh my god! They're lined up like alchemical beasts in a factory! They're truly the City Lord's elite!"

"With such a powerful army protecting our homeland, the church, the nobles, and the fel orcs will all be beaten to a pulp!"

"Haha, the ironclad ship just set sail a few days ago to wipe out the evil orcs. The mages from the Academy of Sciences went with them and brought back a lot of corpses..."

"I can't wait to see His Majesty's coronation ceremony! To celebrate, I need to drink that bottle of fine wine I've been saving for so long!"

"Eh? Didn't your son join the navy? Why don't I see him in the team?"

"Uh... He told me he was in the water, so he might not be able to see..."

……

The live-fire drill was drawing to a close. Ross was about to leave the crowded crowd when a familiar voice suddenly called out from a distance: "Mr. Ross! Are you here to watch the parade, too?"

When he turned around, it was Barron who was smiling and waving at him. Next to the sturdy and strong orc stood a beautiful and gentle young lady, who also smiled at him reservedly.

"This is Natalie... uh... my... uh..." Barron suddenly stuttered.

Miss Mills interrupted him and extended her hand to Ross, saying, "Natalie Mills, Barron's fiancée. Nice to meet you, Mr. Ross."

A lady from at least a middle-class family... Ross calmly shook hands with her. "I've heard Barron say countless times that during his arduous work at the East Expansion Base, the thing he looks forward to most is the weekly letters from the city."

Barron scratched his head and said a little embarrassedly, "I heard from my colleagues that you quietly quit your job at the base? Are you planning to return to the city and find a new job? The work at the Dongtuo base is really too hard..."

Ross smiled, but didn't explain further. He asked, "What about you? We're getting married soon after our engagement. You can't expect Miss Mills to go to the East Expansion Base and suffer with you then, can you?" Mills smiled sweetly and explained, "I was the one who suggested he quit his job at the theater and go to the East Expansion Base to answer His Majesty's call..."

It's not that being a drama actor isn't glamorous enough, but his work experience at the East Expansion Base is clearly more impressive... After the one-year contract expires, with the personal recommendation of the Minister of Culture, Mr. Yaxiu, Barron will be able to smoothly join the municipal department and start as a grassroots official, and he will also be able to return to the construction management work that he is best at.

Only someone like Natalie Mills, who comes from a wealthy family and has received higher education, can keenly see the future development direction and potential of the North, and clearly know that only by boarding the ocean-going ship of City Hall, which is full of power, can one have a truly bright future.

Ross looked at the young couple with relief and envy, and suddenly felt that they looked particularly well-matched.

"What about you, Mr. Ross? City Hall is expanding its recruitment after the spring. Your literacy is much better than mine. You should try to apply for a position like me."

Ross smiled and shook his head, then suddenly turned around and looked at the scene below the city wall. "I want to join the army..."

……

A cold breeze blew across the river bank, bringing the unique iron smell of burning dragon flame powder.

Chris took a deep breath with an intoxicated expression, raised his hand and tugged at his colleague Benoit, "How's it going? Now you understand everything, right? What is alchemy? This is alchemy!"

He said to Benoit with deep sorrow, "Soul refinement is only to provide us with a solid body and a long lifespan, but what is its true purpose? It's to give us more time for research!"

Ever since taking over the magical weapons research and development project handed over by Harvey, Chris's entire attention and mind have been diverted from the soul refining project, and he has completely fallen into a deep obsession with magical weapons. Harvey's frequent joking saying "art is explosion" is automatically transformed into "alchemy is explosion" for him.

After obtaining the supreme knowledge of the three forms of magic transformation from Harvey, Chris realized the wonderfulness of the fusion between magic weapons and soul refining. He firmly believed that there would be weapons with greater power and longer range than magic guns and magic heavy artillery, and he happily carried out research along the lines proposed by Harvey.

Benoit, as one of the later members, was originally just an ordinary high-level alchemist in the Spellcaster Forum. His thinking was far less fanatical and advanced than Chris. After witnessing Harvey use soul technology to save his dying teacher Duncan, he was determined to delve deeper into the soul field, hoping to surpass the Alchemy Exploration Society in the future and become an alchemy master who truly realizes the miracle of creation.

Chris felt that Benoit's conservative mentality was completely putting the cart before the horse.

Fortunately, after experiencing today's awe-inspiring military parade, this colleague finally felt a little relieved... He had been locking himself in the alchemy laboratory all day, and had no idea how shocking the power of the weapons he made with his own hands would be once they were delivered to the soldiers on a large scale.

Seeing him lost in thought, Chris decided to strike while the iron was hot. He leaned over to Benoit's ear and whispered, "Do you know what the research direction of magic energy applications will lead to after reaching the ultimate goal?"

"Legendary? No... could it be the rumored transcendence of one's own life level?" Benoit smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Alchemists aren't orthodox spellcasters. High-level is the limit of what we can achieve."

Chris suddenly grabbed Benoit's sleeve tightly, a look of madness in his eyes, "Master Harvey told me this himself, you have to keep it a secret!"

"The ultimate in magical alchemy... We... We can create a new sun!"

(End of this chapter)