Troy City was still gloomy and suffering.
However, I couldn’t give my people time to rest or hold funerals for them. From their perspective, the anthropoids came from the end of the world, but to me, they were just a part of the map in the North.
At least, Ling Yue informed me of how many races there are in the North, though. At present, the anthropoids make up the majority of the population in the North, but they’re also separated into different tribes. At present, the four largest tribes are the Werewolves, Panthermen, the Winged Race, and the Fishmen. The Fox tribe was originally a very large tribe, too, but Ling Yue is the only survivor of the tribe.
According to the map, I think that our most brutal battle will be the large plains in the centre of the North. The North is surrounded by dangerous tall mountains. Once we pass by the Grand Canyon and a valley, we will arrive at a large plain. Two rivers initially ran through the plain, so it should’ve been fertile soil there. However, the river froze long ago; consequently, it’s just barren land there now.
We might have to fight a battle against a strong defence force in the valley. Once we pass the valley, we’ll arrive at the plains, where we will definitely engage in a long battle. As a matter of fact, I may struggle to find stable footing once I get to the plains after powering through the valley to get there.
I must come up with a way to defeat the enemies at the valley and figure out how to find stable footing once we arrive at the plains. Otherwise, we won’t be able to move our heavy cannons across due to the small space available from the Grand Canyon to the valley.
“Behind the palace of the monarch of the North’s palace is a snowy mountain. The stone walls are extremely thick. Extremely thick. Further, they’re also reinforced with magic, so cannons alone are unlikely to be effective.”
I aimed at the anthropoid in front of me and pulled the trigger. My bullet pierced through his left shoulder, and he cried out in pain, but he continued to look at me with a furious look.
“A shot fired from two-hundred yards away can wound them, but it won’t incapacitate them. That said…”
I picked up a rifle and pulled the trigger again. The bullet flew through the air and shattered the anthropoid’s head. It reduced the inside of this head to pieces, and then stayed stuck in his head. He cried out before dropping to the ground.
“You can still deal significant damage from two-hundred yards away with a shot to the head. It’s a direct kill.”
I placed the rifle down then looked at Ling Yue, who was next to me. I smiled, “Ah, I heard you. I’ll just utilise another method, since the palace walls are so thick.”
“If we need to take it down by force, we’ll suffer lots of injuries and deaths, because of the design of the city. I believe in the anthropoids construction capabilities. If you want to take it by force, you…”
“I never said that I would take it by force. I was saying that we could use another method.” I looked at the data in front of me and continued, “These prisoners of war are much more useful than the horde of anthropoids. I now have data on the bodies of the anthropoids. It doesn’t seem as though their fur can withstand the force of bullets. It’s just that we won’t be able to stop anthropoids that have no sense of pain if we don’t deal enough damage to wound them substantially.”
Ling Yue looked at the sheet of paper in front of me in silence. From my standpoint, it was data that I collected from thousands of anthropoid prisoners of war. To Ling Yue, however, the data was covered in blood that I gathered after savagely killing her own kind. I stroked her head then turned around. I wiped my hand, and then shouted.
Gunshots and final cries from the anthropoids went off behind me.
Ling Yue tightly grabbed onto my cape and left with me. She didn’t take a final look.
“That’s roughly it. I believe that you can make it for sure, Big Sis. We have the materials and funds to make them, so you don’t need to worry about a thing.”
A few minutes after, Lorana looked at me. She frowned as she scratched her head, “Your Majesty, I certainly can make them, but I don’t understand what you want these for… These things are heavy to transport, after all… Plus, we need to make ammunition…”
“You don’t need to worry about that. It won’t take many shots, and I have no intention of forming a team. My only intent for it is to use it as a weapon to attack their city.”
“To attack the anthropoids’ last castle? I’m honestly not sure if a cannon of this size is enough…”
“Obviously, I won’t do something so stupid. I have other plans; you, therefore, don’t need to worry, Big Sis. You just need to create it for me.”
Lorana looked at me and laughed as she rubbed her head, “You really have grown up, huh? You told me everything in the past, but now you’re holding back. I am only your worker, though, so I don’t have any right to ask too much. Nonetheless, since you have chosen to go to the North, would you be able to find something?”
I nodded and replied, “Of course I can; what is it?”
“Brilliant Moon Stone.”
Lorana enunciated a name that I’d never heard of before. I looked at her with a stupefied look, and she looked back at me the same way. She then made shrugged with her palms supinated, “Sorry, Your Majesty. I do not have a live example to show you, because it is only produced in the North. It no longer exists here. However, it is a great object for storing mana, hence why I really want to use it.”
“Store mana?”
My first thought was whether or not I could store some of the mana inside me that goes berserk on full-moon nights using it. Lorana didn’t seem to want to do that, though. She looked at me and took out her notes. She explained, “The truth is, trying to combine humanity’s machines with elven magic was researched long ago. Our seniors left behind high plenty of information and blueprints to examine and create some tools. The thing is, machines operated with mana in that fashion lack the most important component, and that is a mana supply.”
I lingered for a moment.
‘Mana operated machines? Isn’t that similar to relying on humanity’s internal combustion engine?! That could ignite an industrial revolution!’
“That is because mana cannot be stored. Ruby and emerald can store very little, too little, in actual fact. That’s not to mention that they are so expensive that they can only be used once. There is no way to use them as a source of energy supply.”
I nodded. I guess I could consider it to be akin to a battery that can supply mana to machines, then.
“Brilliant Moon Stones are the best stones for storing mana. According to what is recorded, only Brilliant Moon Stones can store mana once, and then be refilled using the moon at night. Further, they should be very cheap in the North, since it was produced mainly to the North of the Grand Canyon. It’s just that they were not important back then. After all, they did not think of that function. I have thought of many machines already. If you could find the area where it is manufactured, I will be able to make my designs a reality.”
I looked at Lorana, stupefied. I was lost for words. She, however, looked very serious. She wasn’t joking.
‘It turns out an industrial revolution was right by my side this entire time!’
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