Chapter 16: Warfare Preparation
Five days had passed since Archie's visit to the liquid mana vein, and the first batch of it had finally arrived at the Royal Palace.
Archie ventured into the palace's basement to conduct experiments on it.
While doing so, he decided to do some shopping.
"Since I received 50,000 Achievement Points for discovering the liquid, I should probably start using some of it," he thought.
Archie began scrolling through the system store catalog:
[Steel Battleship Blueprint - 20k AP]
[Carriage Blueprint - 2k AP]
[Cannons Blueprint - 20k AP]
[Logistics Vehicles Blueprint - 30k AP]
The choice was quite obvious to Archie.
Sieges couldn't progress without a competent and effective logistical supply chain supporting the front lines with essential resources, food, and enemy intelligence.
Archie decided to purchase both the [Logistics Vehicles Blueprint] and the [Steel Battleship Blueprint].
Even though he had considerable engineering knowledge, his primary expertise lay in civil engineering.
Archie promptly retrieved both of the newly acquired blueprint scrolls from his inventory and traveled to his newly built, well-equipped workshop, a space his father, Henry, had dedicated to his development.
Henry had recognized his son's future potential and invested significantly in his workshop, which was the size of a warehouse, located near the military harbor next to the capital, Avalonia.
As Archie entered, the gate was guarded by disciplined knights who neither wavered nor became distracted by his presence.
His first task involved crafting new navy ships. The current Avalonian Navy boasts around 100 battleships that were poorly built.
Using the design from the battleship blueprint, all the necessary materials were already prepared, requiring Archie to complete the construction process.
Archie envisioned something grand with a sturdy bow. This ship would be equipped with the lightning ballista he had previously designed, as he currently couldn't afford the cannon blueprint available in the system store—a rather unfortunate circumstance.
Slowly but surely, the battleship took shape.
It didn't resemble modern ships. Instead, its ship deck was constructed of wood, while the bow was forged from steel. Archie had the ability to alter the properties of iron, making it possible to create steel that was even more powerful than modern variations.
The ship's design was inspired by the 15th-century Chinese Treasure ship, measuring 200 meters in length and 60 meters in width—a true behemoth in the current world.
After thinking about a name for it, he declared, "I shall name you the M1 Orca Battleship."
The "M" represented Melee, and it was the first version, named after the menace of the sea, Orcas.
With all the readily available resources, Archie successfully constructed about 50 of these battleships, each equipped with the newly developed lightning ballista.
The battleships were manned by their respective newly trained crews. Saint Maritus, the navy admiral, expressed awe at Archie's skills and the speed of production. Crying tears of happiness every time a ship departed from the dock.
Archie's next objective was to produce logistics cargo ships for the supply chain.
He created 10 S1 Tortoise Cargo Ships, with the "S" standing for Support 1st Edition.
These ships would be responsible for resupplying the battleships patrolling the Jade Sea around Avalon Island, preparing for potential naval warfare at any time.
All these ships that Archie made for the past month were powered by formation arrays, which were imbued around them for defense, power, speed, and stealth.
The substantial amount of liquid mana they had extracted provided sufficient energy to power the ships for years on end without refueling if necessary.
One of the advantages of formation arrays was that they eliminated the need for sea monsters to fulfill the mundane task of propulsion. This removed a significant weakness from their navy ships, as sea monsters often served as engines and made them highly vulnerable to enemy attacks.
Archie continued to work hard, but he couldn't help but wonder if this was essentially child labor.
***
In the imperial palace of the Edenian Empire, Luscius Edonia received concerning news from his intelligence network about the Sunfire Empire amassing a significant quantity of weapons, indicating potential preparations for warfare.
His initial plan had been to launch an offensive battle against them promptly. However, something was amiss, the Avalonian Royal family had requested that they abstain from immediate action.
Feeling a sense of helplessness, Luscius pondered, "Perhaps my sister believed it was in my best interest not to get involved, but does that truly make sense?"
Gideon Winifred, his butler, offered a suggestion:
"Sir, I believe this might be related to their hidden card, the one they revealed when dealing with the pirates."
He continued, "There's a possibility that they have been anticipating this situation, preparing for it long in advance. They might have acted as if they were weak at the last moment to catch all their enemies off guard in one fell swoop."
Luscius acknowledged the point with a slight nod.
"You may have a valid point about them foreseeing this situation. However, it still doesn't explain how they managed to develop weapons of mass destruction on short notice without the assistance of multiple formation array masters and skilled craftsmen. Practitioners of these professions have been avoiding anything related to Avalon like the plague, unwilling to engage with them in any way."
He added, "Even those within our own empire have refused such jobs."
Both of them sat in the study, deeply contemplating the situation. After some time, Gideon proposed a plausible answer.
"Your Majesty, I believe I may have figured it out!" he exclaimed.
Luscius raised his brows and inquired, "How so? Does it involve secret support from an unknown nation, assisting them in exchange for resources, and exploiting their current predicament?"
Gideon shook his head, "No, sir. We need to think back to when this all began. Strange events have been occurring within the Royal Palace for the past five years."
He continued, "Do you recall what happened within the Royal family five years ago?"
Luscius sat there, pondering intensely, attempting to recall the events from that time.
After a period of contemplation, he murmured, "Archie Avalon...?"
Gideon didn't directly confirm but merely nodded slightly, reaffirming Luscius thoughts.
Luscius exclaimed excitedly, "Haha, my dear daughter truly reeled in a big catch, didn't she?"
"Indeed, Sir. She deserves nothing but the best. It's only a matter of time before he demonstrates his cultivation prowess at Gaia Academy, alongside the other prodigies of his year."
Luscius commented, "I've heard there are multiple young talents from other empires, some possessing unique mana, and a few even with dual mana, just like Archie."
Luscius gazed out of the window into the dark sky adorned with glimmering stars and mused, "This generation is truly exceptional..."
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