Munitions Empire

Some people are born with good fortune, some with meager fates, and yet others find their lives transformed, soaring to great heights upon meeting their benevolent patron.

Wes didn't know if he qualified as such a patron, but it was clear that he had altered the destiny of a beastkin cat girl.

The adorable kitten standing before him didn't even have a name, as many of the impoverished among the beastkin lacked one.

But this didn't entirely testify to the cat girl's dismal fate, as beastkin females of higher status had been caught up in the wars, some even sold off to other countries, never to be heard from again.

It was precisely because she was born into the poorest family that she had escaped tragedy and awaited the return of the orc prince.

This little girl, who had never had enough to eat or adequate clothing, was selected, well-fed for two or three months, and then dressed up and sent to Wes.

It was the decent food and drink that had allowed her beauty to shine through like a dusty jewel finally revealing its dazzling brilliance.

Now that this jewel had come into Wes's possession, he felt as if he had a bit of the savior experience.

He could save this girl, or at least provide her with a relatively stable life. Thus, he took interest in the girl who had been presented to him as a gift, asking, "You really don't have a name?"

"No! My mother always called me 'Stick', she thought I was too skinny to do any work," the girl said, hanging her head low and eyeing the food in front of her, not daring to reach for it.

The most powerful person she had ever seen was the prince of Gales. She thought she would become the prince's woman, but instead, the prince fed her well and eventually had someone send her to Brunas.

It wasn't until she arrived at the port in Brunas that she saw what real wealth looked like.

At the docks, a rich man propositioned the beastkin official escorting her, offering 1,000 Gold Coins to buy her.

But when the beastkin official mentioned something about presenting her to a gentleman, the other man broke into a cold sweat, apologized profusely, and hastily retreated to a distance without another glance her way.

Then... she got into a car and arrived at a place where tall chimneys belched smoke into the air. The air smelled somewhat foul, but she could still sense the prosperity of the place.

People seen through the car window dressed elegantly, streets brimming with laughing, frolicking children, and buildings that reached as high as ten stories—and there wasn't even a defensive wall in sight!

As these distractions filled her thoughts, a plate with roasted fish was placed before the little cat.

"I don't know what you like to eat, but I suppose cats always love fish," Wes guessed cleverly, sure he had guessed the girl's preference.

Seeing the fish, the little cat's face fell. She had eaten plenty of fish in Osa Port, thinking it might be the most delicious food in the world.

Then she ate fish for a long time at sea, and the mere sight of it began to make her feel nauseous.

Now... it seemed that this formidable person before her wanted her to eat fish again. She felt so desperate; she really wanted to try some of the more distant meats and the tempting-looking meatballs instead.

"It won't do to be nameless," Wes said, looking at the cat girl who wasn't interested in the fish. After a moment of thought, he spoke, "Stick definitely won't do. From now on, you'll be called Yue'er."

"Yue'er..." The girl found the name far nicer than Stick, and she shyly nodded her head.

"Try this," Wes pushed the plate of meatballs that Yue'er had long been eyeing towards her, suggesting, "These taste good, too."

Indeed, the girl reached out eagerly, feeling that the boy before her was the nicest person in the world.

However, seeing how the girl grabbed the meatballs with her hands and stuffed them into her mouth made Wes suddenly feel like he had taken in a child rather than a concubine.

After a moment's pause, Wes laughed, affectionately tousled the girl's fluffy hair, and said to the guard behind him, "Find her a teacher to instruct her in manners. Once she's learned them, send her to school."

"Understood!" Wes nodded, finding the somewhat simpleminded cat girl to be quite amusing.

"Eat here first! Eat whatever you like and feel free to look around, but don't wander into any dangerous areas." Wes stood, straightened his clothes, and started for the door with Parker following, "I have matters to attend to, so I won't be able to join you for the meal."

Reaching the door, he turned to a guard left in the room, "You know where to take her and where not to, right?"

"Yes," the guard said, standing tall.

Wes nodded slightly and then strode out of the room, leaving behind the pretty figure of the girl wolfing down her food at the table.

When Tang Mo pushed open the meeting room's grand doors, Harry had already been in a flustered discussion with several senior members.

The border war of Leite Kingdom had already erupted, and most of Brunas's merchants had heard the news.

In the past, they would have waited a week to probably confirm such news, but now it only took a telegram for these people to confirm that war had indeed broken out, with many goods beginning to become scarce.

Seeing Tang Mo enter the meeting room, Harry immediately went up to him and complained, "This might be the first time in human history that such a crazy transportation plan has been devised."

"Our Great Tang Group's transportation troops are actually preparing to transport so much material to the front lines at an unprecedented speed? This is practically suicidal." On the other side, a department head in charge of transportation shook his head.

Honestly, if the railway from Brunas to King City had already been connected, then these transports would not be too difficult to handle.

But the problem was, it seemed as though the other side had seized this timing. They had initiated this fatal war at a critical time when the investments Tang Mo and Leite Kingdom put into the railway had not yielded any return.

Severely lacking in transportation capacity, Great Tang Group's munitions and various materials could not be directly sent to King City, let alone to the front lines.

And at this moment, the only support for the eastern border could come from some of the resources Leite Kingdom had accumulated.

But moving those resources out of King City also meant that King City would become vulnerable, and now Leite VII's determination and resolve were put to the test.

"300 cattle, 700 sheep, 1,000 pigs, 200 tons of flour, over 40 C64 breech-loading recoil guns, 10,000 rifles, 3 million rounds of bullets… This is no small amount," Harry joined in the grumbling.

This was not World War II, with its railway transportation and complete highway system, where transporting so much stuff would have been a piece of cake.

Currently, Leite Kingdom's internal roads were mostly around third-grade, which meant there were hardly any proper concrete or asphalt roads, much less highways or railways.

The stuff just mentioned all had to be transported using horse-drawn carriages and the not-so-powerful T-model cars.

Additionally, since the eastern region of the kingdom had not established a complete system of gas stations yet, the cars' fuel might have to be carried separately.

This was not a transport operation; it was a disaster!

According to the analysis of Great Tang Group's Staff Department, the transportation troops could barely reach King City; they were already close to their limit.

"Master, according to the plan, of the 100 cars we've mustered, I expect more than half will be incapacitated before reaching King City," Luff gave a relatively pessimistic forecast, which was also a fair conclusion reached after discussion by a group of staff officers.

Pointing to the map spread out on the table, he waited until Tang Mo looked over before continuing, "There are not many gas stations along the way, so we need to prepare an additional 10 cars just to transport gasoline."

Tang Mo pinched his chin, staring down at the map, eying the uncompleted railway, as if lost in thought.

"The roads along the way don't have any asphalt; it's all bumpy dirt roads. The cars will be in poor condition when driving, and their wear rate will surely be higher than estimated," Luff observed Tang Mo's silence and continued, "Fully loaded with ammo, after the carts pulling heavy artillery pass through, these roads will certainly become damaged and deformed.

Cars traveling on such roads will take at least twice the time."

"What if, I mean what if, we reallocate resources and push through the completion of the railway from Brunas to King City in one go?" Tang Mo suddenly turned towards Parker, who had been silent this whole time, and asked.

"Master, that would require a construction team of 3,000 people and enough rails," Parker explained somewhat hesitantly.

"Divert the rails prepared for Dragon Island and ensure the railway construction from Brunas to King City with all our might! Any problems? How many days would it take?"

"Five days?" Parker estimated and replied, "No matter the cost, five days should be sufficient."

"That'll do! Harry!" Tang Mo looked towards his manager.

"Yes!" Harry immediately responded.

"Use our private communication channel and code, send a telegram to the people in King City! Have them present the telegram to Leite VII... and ask him if he can hold out with his troops and resources for 5 days!"

"In 5 days! He'll have no more worries about logistics," Tang Mo said confidently.

"Yes! I understand!" Li'ao, who stood there, immediately turned to carry out the tasks Tang Mo had arranged.
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Tang Mo then looked at Harry again, "Place orders with all the merchants we can contact, purchase food, steel, copper, horses, and any other strategic resources you can name... The bill, I will sooner or later send to the king of Germelin!"

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The second update will be made up during the day tomorrow; I won't stay up late tonight. Just informing everyone, so you don't wait, sorry.