Munitions Empire

"He said that?" Tang Mo's face wore a playful smile as he put down his pen and looked up at Wes, "The owner of the place you often buy intelligence from wants to cooperate with me?"

"It seems so, and he also agreed to help find the intel we want from Shireck," Wes shrugged, "He hopes to talk to you."

"No problem, I have all the time in the world!" Tang Mo felt that Lady Luck was truly perched on his shoulder lately, bringing him pillows just as he fell asleep.

The attendant of that Beiji, had inadvertently presented himself at his doorstep, and now that he was thinking of setting up an intelligence agency, another agency conveniently showed up...

He even felt that this might be the legendary protagonist halo; capable underlings around him seemed to have a tendency to bow their heads in allegiance.

At that moment, Tang Mo was even a little impatient because for him, still so fragile, every increment of strength heralded a transformation.

Reflecting on this, he tapped his fingertips twice on the blueprints in front of him and spoke to Wes, "Although letting them dangle a bit longer, whetting their appetite, seems more in our interest... the current situation is, we don't have the luxury to waste time on such pointless psychological games."

After saying this, he issued a direct command and instructed Wes, "Go again, tell the manager of the Silver Fox Tavern that I'll treat him to dinner tonight."

"That's a good idea. Do we have anything tasty for tonight?" Wes perked up, agreeing while asking.

"Perhaps... you could bring back a fish when you return?" Tang Mo knew there wasn't much spare cash in his hands; in fact, he never really had any to speak of.

Wes's expression suddenly deflated, and he shrugged his shoulders, saying helplessly, "I really wish you'd treat yourself better."

"Don't worry, once I have money, you'll see what it means to throw gold around," Tang Mo laughed and then bent down to continue drawing on the blueprint.

Wes couldn't make head or tail of the blueprint Tang Mo was drawing, because it was a complex part in a three-view drawing.

If someone familiar with these parts saw it, they would realize that Tang Mo was drawing the components of a machine tool.

Tang Mo had always been trying by all means to enhance his industrial production capacity, and these precision machine tools, which had undergone countless improvements and had been developed over a hundred years, were a crucial support for his industrial revolution.

"I hope so." Wes nodded and then turned to leave Tang Mo's room. Just before the door closed, Dwarf Mathews walked in with an odd expression on his face.

He shut the door behind him, then walked over to Tang Mo and said, "Indeed, that thing started spinning, and I can't wrap my head around it, so I came here to discuss it with you."

"There's nothing surprising about that; it's just an application of electricity," Tang Mo replied nonchalantly, as he had grown accustomed to electricity before crossing over to this world.

"Electricity... to me, it's an unfamiliar word," Dwarf Mathews uttered in his resonant voice, "but... it truly is something grand."

The apparatus which used to require a jumble of chains, transmission devices, and a mess of gears to come together in a complex system, seemed downright primitive in front of Tang Mo's novel electric energy transmission method.

Now, with just a few special magic wires and some equipment, all the lathes and drill presses in the two workshops could be automatically started up, obviating the need for the steam engine boilers originally required.

That meant the future factories that Tang Mo would build needed only to be connected with these magic-like cables to operate. And the steam engines and other power-generating equipment could be centrally arranged.

This would not only save a massive amount of steel needed to manufacture steam engines, but it would also spare power transmission devices, extend the range of power transmission, and expedite the construction of the factories.

Such an incredible invention even filled Dwarf Mathews with fear—for he could no longer see just how distant the future that Tang Mo spoke of was.

The peculiarly coated copper wires accelerated the pace of building new factory buildings for Tang Mo, making his plans to expand the factories even more ambitious.

"The lightbulb isn't ready yet, which is a shame; otherwise, we could make this place a lot better," Tang Mo sighed with some regret and continued working on the blueprint.

His original hope was to set up an electrical lighting system in his factories at the same time. But things didn't go as smoothly as he had imagined, for he couldn't just hand-make an incandescent bulb.

Tang Mo could awkwardly carry out some simple chemical designs according to the data called up from the supercomputer in his mind and follow the steps on a blueprint to assemble parts into a handgun.

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But his manual dexterity was indeed limited; he truly had no way of making glass himself, blowing a light bulb, and completing the filling with krypton or xenon gases...

In the small town of Brunas, he also couldn't find a workshop that could produce such items for him. There were only glass workshops here, and none that could mass-produce tungsten filaments...

Although he could make some tungsten filaments himself, it was clear that in terms of quality and quantity, he couldn't reach the level he desired.

So, he had no choice but to continue using the frustratingly inefficient gas lamps, filling the entire room with a hopelessly unpleasant odor.

"Regarding... the Shireck Consortium's matter..." Mathews didn't leave but carefully chose his words as he broached the subject of Shireck to Tang Mo.

"Hmm?" Tang Mo lifted his head with interest, looking at the old dwarf who always called him master.

"I hope we can defeat them! No matter what happens, just command me if you need anything! I am willing to work for you into the late night every day..." Although he obviously prepared beforehand, Mathews was still somewhat nervous as he spoke, becoming somewhat incoherent.

Tang Mo finally understood what he was getting at. A smile appeared on his face as he reassured Mathews, "Don't worry! I won't be defeated by Shireck. Moreover, one day we will overcome this seemingly powerful but actually feeble and corrupt opponent! We will claim victory and then trample them into the dirt!"

"I will be hosting friends tonight, so I won't be going to the cafeteria. Do me a favor and tell Aunt Cui Xi to cook a few dishes and send them over here," said Tang Mo as he placed a completed blueprint on the other side of the table, then continued drawing on a new sheet of drafting paper.

Because he was merely tracing, Tang Mo drew very quickly, but the task still consumed much of his time, always reminded him of a protagonist in a boring novel he had read in his previous life.

That unfortunate protagonist was jokingly referred to as a "human-shaped self-propelled drafting machine," who also dedicated himself to the innovation of technology every day, creating many advanced blueprints, heralding many technological breakthroughs.

Compared to that fellow, Tang Mo's situation was clearly worse. He wasn't a lord, had no military or territory of his own, and didn't even have enough funds for development.

How he wished for some madman to discover this potential stock and invest a hefty sum of billions all at once, allowing him to immediately complete the accumulation of initial capital.

Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky and could only expand his factory bit by bit, train new recruits in stages, and start teaching little by little...

"Alright! May I ask, those strange substances wrapped in copper wire, are they a new material you invented?" Mathews bowed and then headed for the door; after opening it, he looked back and asked.

Without lifting his head, Tang Mo replied, "That's rubber. We had some stocked up in the warehouse before. A part of it was used for the steam engine's gas valves, and the rest were made into electrical wire insulation."

With his question answered, Mathews's mood clearly brightened. Although he still didn't understand the series of questions about electricity, at least he could be sure of one thing—Tang Mo would definitely tell him all about it in time.

What he didn't know was that, in the room, Tang Mo, whose thoughts had been prompted by him, sat with a face full of worry.

As soon as Tang Mo mentioned rubber, he suddenly felt immense pressure for raw materials: Brunas, where he resided, did not produce rubber.

This precious rubber material had to be shipped over the sea, available in limited quantities and not cheaply priced.

Tang Mo, aiming to develop industry, was extremely sensitive to these crucial industrial materials. He immediately realized that Brunas, the place he started from, was actually not suitable for large-scale industrial production.

While it had coal and iron, it lacked other things: rubber from the south and the so-called industrial blood, oil!

Without these two materials, Tang Mo's industrial expansion couldn't be completed, or rather, he couldn't truly establish a self-sufficient industrial base in Brunas in the short term.

Games were more convenient, Tang Mo lamented in his mind. If this were a game, just deploying a base vehicle would solve all problems!

Tang Mo rubbed his temples and started pondering how to potentially (co)operate (laborate) with the representative from the Silver Fox Tavern he would meet later.

Even a mosquito's leg is meat; any force that can be united or incorporated is too precious for him right now.

To face the upcoming waves, he felt he should enjoy this dinner thoroughly. If the Silver Fox Tavern proved useful, then he would recruit them.

As for the cost... isn't talking money too upsetting? Right?

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