A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 396 The Role of Canned Food

On the way, the two continued discussing the king's escape. Finally, Rorschach concluded:

"Charles XVI's hopes for intervention by a foreign monarch have been dashed. He must now pray that the Valois army can reverse the tide of the war. Otherwise, if they continue to lose, the newly-in-power Mountain Faction may very well sacrifice the 'number one traitor' as a sacrifice."

Rorschach was certain that the National Salvation Committee had now deprived poor Charles of his personal freedom and possessed substantial evidence. However, their refusal to release direct evidence implicating the King himself, instead using the head of a palace guard captain as a "hint," suggested that other factors were at play.

According to what he learned from his senior, "Rock" Maxim, this guy would never have the slightest bit of kindness towards the king that goes beyond what a human being would show to their fellow human beings.

Perhaps the trial encountered resistance; the royalists had only recently been ousted, and the king's loyalists still had the power to protect him, which made the Mountain Faction somewhat hesitant.

However, if the Imperial army continues to approach the capital, the public's anxiety and anger will continue to rise, and Charles XVI will become a human pressure relief valve, ready to be used as a human sacrifice at any time.

Some people are still eating, drinking, and relieving themselves in the palace, but they are mostly already dead, only the guillotine has not yet fallen.

Caroline suddenly thought of another possibility: "Do you think the royalists might hire a sorcerer to rescue them?" If a sorcerer were involved, a prison break to get them out wouldn't be out of the question.

Rorschach revealed information from the Valois-Bain secret route: "Initially, the Guardian's plan was to have a noble-affiliated mage perform a teleportation ceremony to send the royal family to the Duchy of the Lowlands."

"Unexpectedly, the noble faction of spellcasters turned against them at the last minute, almost sending Charlie directly to the central square of the royal city and closing the case ahead of schedule. However, it was precisely the 'square carriage case' that confirmed the king's intentions ahead of time."

Caroline suddenly said with certainty, "Then this is the will of the Tower of Stars."

"Huh?" Rorschach shook his head: "The remnants of the noble faction have already split off. They are conducting the ceremony secretly in the outskirts of the capital, without the participation of the Tower of Stars."

"However, even with technology from the Tower of Stars, such long-distance, large-scale teleportation would require the support of a Grand Mage or the latest equipment. So even if the tower couldn't monitor the location where they held the ceremony, Master Kano and the guild would certainly be aware of it."

Holy crap, I really didn't expect that. So the poor king was tricked from the start? Rorschach suddenly realized that this might be the opportunity for the noble faction of spellcasters to be reinstated, and that altering the destination of the teleportation ritual was a pledge of allegiance for those who wanted to return to the organization.

Rorschach nodded: "Therefore, a monarch who betrays his country and his people will never have a good end."

After their meal, the two took a walk to digest their food and naturally ended up at the "Fonda" food factory. Caroline observed the street scene and saw that the houses were brand new, the shops were all open for business, and the residents were dressed simply but cleanly and neatly, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

Even in the capital of the empire, many shops were closed due to the control of supplies, and the citizens, dressed in drab winter clothes, wore faces that were either serious or fierce. As for the streets of the Holy Kingdom... Caroline didn't know, and couldn't bear to imagine.

The relocated food factory is not far from the city center. The reason she sees only new houses is because Luo Xia is now taking her to walk through the new urban area.

The food factory relocated once, leaving the suburbs vacant for Bassford, while Lanster expanded in this direction. After moving in both directions, the food factory was surrounded by residential buildings, and most of the residents were employees of "Fonda". Employees who earned enough money moved to better living conditions and vacated their dormitories for new employees.

Before even entering the factory area, the streets were already filled with the aroma of peas. The gates opened, and a line of horse-drawn carts loaded with "pea sausages" drove out.

Luo Xia led the teacher on a tour of the factory, proudly introducing, "Our current product line includes concentrated energy drinks, Fangda series soft drinks, pea sausages, and potato starch sausages. We also have canned goods that will be launched soon."

"Sheet metal?" Caroline thought that the cost must be very high.

"Yes, cold-rolled thin steel sheets are less prone to rusting after being tin-plated, so they can be made into airtight containers, which can then be used to hold food. After sealing and boiling, the food will be sterile and can be preserved for a long time."

With the Kempson steel plant fully operational and the electroplating equipment powered by lightning arrays manufactured, the "canned technology tree" has finally been completed.

Luo Xia fished out a can of food from the packaging workshop and handed it to the teacher: "Just use a knife to open it, and the food inside can be heated or eaten cold."

Then Caroline opened it, and it was still pea soup. The clear broth had a raw, beany smell. Shaking it again, she found two sausages that looked like they contained almost no meat: "The contents of this package probably cost less than the packaging, right?"

What a rant! Luo Xia almost applauded, but this isn't business logic. Marketing and packaging costs exceeding raw material costs are nothing new: "But when the quantity is large, the unit price is still cheap. Compared to vegetables that are easily perishable and suffer huge losses during transportation, this stuff is enough to gain the approval of the military."

Whether the soldiers cursed or not was none of his business.

"We are also developing more canned goods, such as beef and pork knuckle, which will now be prioritized for distribution to the military."

When he led Caroline to the core office of the marketing department, Caroline was taken aback. There was a huge map hanging in the office with many markings. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a map depicting the distribution of Imperial Army forces.

"This is."

"Due to excessive logistical pressure, the military, after review, delegated some of the supply tasks to the Logistics Guild. Although we can only deliver supplies to supply centers slightly behind the front lines, we can roughly estimate the movements of the Empire's main force based on the speed and range of animal transport, combined with the volume of shipments."

Because pea sausages and canned food supplies were newly available and of high quality, the Imperial Army purchased and sent them to the front lines even without pre-war stockpiling. This allowed Rorschach to even roughly estimate the timing of large-scale Imperial operations.

"The battle lines are too long right now, so canning will be licensed to three other food factories, but the canning containers will remain an exclusive product of Kempson Steel."

Caroline looked at the map where "canned goods" were used to represent troop distribution, never expecting that this could also expose the Empire's military strength.

"Alright, you're very skilled. So, Mage Tower, please."

"Towers? 'Bain Amino Alkali Plant' has plenty of towers, we guarantee you'll be satisfied."

After visiting the food factory, Rorschach immediately took Professor Caroline to visit the more distant Basif new factory area. Due to concerns about industrial pollution, this industrial park was built further out.

When they arrived, they saw a forest of steel frames and crisscrossing pipelines, with five tall towers in the core area.

"This is the desulfurization quench tower. The main material comes from the reactor and has a pressure of 150 atmospheres." The entire tower is made of stainless steel, and the surface of the tower has a ring of shimmering loops.

"Is such high pressure maintained by magic?"

"Yes, the new steel from the steel plant has not yet met the requirements and must be reinforced."

"What if the alchemy equipment here is destroyed?"

"So, a small explosion will occur at this tower, and a large explosion may occur at the new high explosives production line further away. Hmm. A simple assessment is that it is equivalent to at least 580 [Explosive Fireball] spells."

(End of this chapter)