Everyone was well aware of how things stood.
However, it was clear that up until now, no one had truly realized the sheer power of technology.
At most, the combat capability of those armed airships was essentially just a flying artillery platform.
Jet fighters and long-range missile strikes were still far off.
Perhaps the gnomes simply hadn't found the right direction for their research yet?
But that didn't matter now. What Luo Li wanted was very simple.
She wanted to give her soldiers the ability to fight as a coordinated team.
To achieve this, she needed an automated production line.
This included a gun chamber production line and various parts like springs.
But the most important component was the rifle barrel.
"None of that matters for now. Nara, bring me the file from the bookshelf."
"Yes, Your Highness."
The girl looked down at the gnome. With the current technology of the Kingdom of the Moon, rifling could be created, but it relied entirely on master craftsmen and could not be mass-produced.
But Egbert had presented Luo Li with a new option.
Machine tools.
While she didn't know how far the gnome race could go, even if they couldn't make them perfect, they should at least be able to manage something functional, right?
With these, the combat effectiveness of ordinary soldiers would be vastly improved.
Even without levels like knights, if they could form a military formation and fire ten thousand rifles at once, there would be almost no chance of survival for anyone below level thirty.
Luo Li herself was level thirty in her witch form, and at that level, dynamic vision and neural reflexes were significantly enhanced.
To threaten an existence above level thirty, one would need an ultra-dense covering attack.
Egbert looked up, the smile on his face becoming much more natural now that his secrets had been ruthlessly exposed.
He had nothing left to hide.
"Your Highness Luo Li, I must ask, what exactly is this 'machine tool' equipment you mentioned?"
"You will find out in a moment," the girl replied casually.
After a short wait, Nara returned with a folder.
Luo Li took it, flipped casually to a specific page to find the blueprint she needed, and handed it to Egbert.
"Mr. Egbert, take a look and see if you can manufacture this."
A look of confusion appeared on Egbert's face as he took the blueprint and studied it for a long time.
"This... spiral grooves inside an iron tube? It is not particularly difficult. Based on my experience, I can already propose a solution. We can use a solid iron pipe, drill and ream it, and then use ultra-miniature grinding wheels to polish the interior into these tracks."
He looked up as he spoke.
"Your Highness Luo Li, the manufacturing process for this is not complex. The main problem lies in hollowing out the interior. A material hard enough to hollow out an iron pipe is something only a few dwarves possess the formula for. We cannot handle that part ourselves, but I can manage everything else."
"You do not need to worry about that. I believe you know the name Anton. He should have what we need, right?"
"Mr. Anton? If it is him, then there should be no problem."
At this point, Egbert looked at the silver-haired girl with a hint of curiosity.
"Your Highness Luo Li, may I be so bold as to ask what you intend to do with this?"
"You will know in the future."
Luo Li kept him in suspense. In any case, this sort of thing couldn't be kept secret forever, especially since the other party's technology far surpassed her own.
These kinds of war materials would eventually be replicated.
But that didn't matter.
Luo Li's primary enemy for now was still the demon army.
Finding ways to increase the nation's combat power was the most urgent task.
"How long until you can give me this equipment?"
"Well... as long as we have the cutting heads, I can arrange it quickly. It can be delivered here within a month at the latest."
Luo Li nodded.
"Then next, let us discuss other things. For example... airships. I need airships with a massive capacity, and they cannot be too slow."
She turned and returned to the sacred bed, looking down at Egbert.
"Flat rate, fifty thousand gold coins per unit."
Egbert frowned slightly.
"May I ask what you plan to do with such airships? Are they for war, or..."
"Mainly for transport," Luo Li added.
"Fifty thousand per unit... is that price not a bit too low?"
"Fifty thousand each, and I want a hundred of them."
"Deal!"
A hundred airships meant a solid five million gold coins.
In terms of copper coins, that was fifty billion!
While it might not seem like much on the surface, the sheer quantity made it a massive business deal!
Furthermore, this girl acted with such efficiency that there was no point in haggling. Once this deal was successful, there would surely be more in the future.
Everyone on the continent knew the state of the Kingdom of the Moon.
She would not stop here; her demands would only grow!
"Additionally, I need a hundred rail machine tools."
Egbert pondered for a moment before replying immediately.
"For your sake, fifty gold coins each."
"Deal. When will they arrive?"
"Within a month. Cash on delivery!"
"Good. I will await your good news then, Mr. Egbert. Nara, see him out."
Luo Li watched Egbert's departing back with a smile until his figure vanished from the hall.
Only then did her expression return to calm.
"Nara, I do not want any word of today's events to leak out. You understand."
Nara nodded solemnly.
"Rest assured, Your Highness. Not a word will get out."
There was no need for further explanation; Nara naturally knew what to do.
Once the negotiations were finished, Luo Li let out a long sigh of relief.
"Phew... finally handled."
Momoka, who was watching from the side, couldn't help but giggle as the girl suddenly relaxed and slumped onto the bed.
"Hehe, Luo Li, seeing you like this is completely different from that domineering aura you had just now."
"That was for the sake of the Kingdom of the Moon. I had to put on an act."
Luo Li looked back at Momoka.
"Speaking of which, aren't you the same? If it were for your people, you would put on an act when necessary too."
Momoka nodded.
"That is true."
The room suddenly fell silent.
The current situations of both the Kingdom of the Moon and the Kingdom of the Sun were far from optimistic.
Now, the two of them were completely bound to the same front.
Luo Li was the one steering the ship, and Momoka had boarded later.
But now, even if she wanted to get off, it was impossible.
Lying on the sacred bed, Luo Li rolled over to face Momoka.
"By the way, how are things on your end? Is progress smooth? Any problems?"
Momoka shook her head.
"Thanks to you, General Yanagi Musashi sent word this morning that he has already made contact with the leading group of immigrants. I expect more news in a few days."
"That is good. If you have any issues, do not be polite—tell me immediately."
"I will."
After chatting for a while about trivial matters, Momoka went off to attend to her own duties.
She needed to select a group of people to serve as judges, so she was quite busy.
As order was re-established, Brilliant City began to stabilize.
In the evening, Luo Li knelt before the statue and began her long-awaited prayer.
As she prayed, the long-absent interface finally reappeared.
It had been nearly three months since she last opened this interface.
However, the interface that appeared this time was different from before.
A loading bar appeared first, and as it reached the end, an image materialized before her.
Unlike the previous image of the Saintess being crushed by the demon army, this time, the Saintess was being pinned to the ground by a group of humans.
Behind this group stood a man whose face was obscured, dressed in an ornate black robe.
Luo Li was stunned, instinctively examining the image.
It was a beautiful picture that would make many veterans lose their minds.
A beautiful girl was currently being pinned to the ground by a group of faceless men.
The background of the image was a dim, yellowish hall.
The face of the man in the ornate robe in the distance was hidden in darkness.
Beside him, there seemed to be a woman standing as well.
And the person being pinned down... was undoubtedly herself!
"How... can this be?"
Luo Li was dazed. At the same time, a 'ding' sounded in her mind.
A line of text appeared like a system prompt.
【Congratulations, player, on briefly overcoming the demon crisis. However, do not let your guard down; the next crisis is approaching.】
"WTF? Excuse me?"
Since when did this system interface have quests?
This wasn't right!
This wasn't right at all!
But before Luo Li could make sense of it, the interface shifted and became the background.
What appeared in her field of vision was the familiar status screen.
【Name: Luo Li Saint Sariel】
【Class: Saintess of the Moon, Saintess of Brilliance (Divine Arts Saintess)】
【Level: 17 (Apprentice Divine Arts Saintess)】
Attributes:
Strength: 20
Agility: 22
Endurance: 22
Recovery: 52
Mana: 106
Free attribute points: 45
Free skill points: 67
Basic Skills:
Invigoration LV1, healing art LV10, Swordplay LV5, Light Sword LV1, Chain Healing LV10
Special Class Skills:
Protect the Brilliant Night with My Moon Banner LV1.
Light up the Brilliant Night with My Moon Banner LV1.
Special Class Authorities:
Hero Creation.
Moon's Protection.
Eyes of Judgment.
Sacred Treasures:
Moon Banner — Brilliant Form.
Sword of Fidelity — Holy Cross Sword.
Summary:
Congratulations, player, on finally entering the junior ranks. Go forth! As the Mother of All People, nurture your subjects!
...
Nurture... my ass!!
What kind of perverted god would write such a summary that begs to be roasted?!
She instinctively looked down at her own chest.
Well... is this amount even enough for one person?
Wait, no!!
However, looking at the interface and recalling the past, it seemed mostly the same.
Because of her level, no new skills had unlocked yet.
However, several level fifteen skills had become available.
Upon closer inspection, there weren't many useful ones.
But there was one called 'Saint's Armor' that provided a defense buff to the entire army.
After some hesitation, Luo Li added this skill.
Although class skills provided significant attribute boosts, this skill could not be leveled up.
It was fixed at level one because it was a class skill.
Therefore, other forms of support still needed to be stacked using different skills.
【Saint's Armor — Area skill. Within the field of vision, applies 'Slow Recovery' and an 'inferior Holy Guard' to everyone. Prerequisite skills: healing art LV10, Holy Guard LV10】
"Holy Guard?"
Luo Li's gaze followed the skill branch of Saint's Armor downward.
Sure enough, she found 'Holy Guard'.
【Holy Guard — Single-target skill. Applies holy light to a target. It breaks after a certain amount of time or damage taken. Can briefly provide 'mental interference resistance'.】
Looking at her skill points, she still had 67.
Maxing out this skill was not a problem.
Luo Li didn't hesitate and directly maxed it out.
After all, she needed so many things right now.
Her current class could compensate for the battlefield, but for 1v1 combat, she could only rely on the enhancements of her demonized form.
Soon, the skills were allocated.
Twenty skill points vanished in a flash.
Both Saint's Armor and Holy Guard reached LV10.
Turning to her attribute points, she thought for a moment... instead of adding anything else, it was better to put them all into Mana.
After all, all her skills required Mana.
As a result, her Mana attribute surged from 106 to 151.
On the other hand, she also noticed a slight change in the interface.
Notes had appeared in some places.
Basic skills had a unified cost of ten Mana.
Regardless of the level, using them cost ten Mana.
Special class skills depended on range and quantity, with no fixed cost.
The minimum consumption was 50 Mana.
Special class Authorities did not consume any Mana.
The new interface left Luo Li unsure of what to say.
But from the warning just now, it seemed... another force was threatening her.
Who were these people, where did they come from, and what did they want?
Luo Li was completely in the dark.
But at the very least, this interface served as a warning.
External threats had been eliminated for the short term, but internal threats still existed.
She needed to find a way to drag this force out from beneath the surface.
However, she had no idea what this force was, so she had no way to start.
Unless the other party made a mistake.
As for the remaining 47 skill points, she decided to keep them for now.
After all, there were several skills she desperately wanted once she reached level 20.
Was she really brought here by a "god"?
Or was there another reason?
Sigh.
She thought for a long time without finding any clues.
It made sense; without evidence, there was no way to deduce anything.
Blindly guessing was useless.
The girl took a long breath and exited the interface.
Just as she stepped away, a sudden sound of footsteps came from behind.
From outside the hall, a familiar voice rang out—Anton's deep, gravelly voice, filled with excitement.
"Your Highness, Your Highness!! I did it! I've made the gun you wanted!"
Rate on N.U.
