Chaotic Central Continent

The cooperation between Adam and the state of Otheni was finally achieved. Otheni agreed to the partnership with the condition that if the human side lost, Otheni wouldn't owe anything to Adam and his group. Additionally, the extent of the territory Adam would acquire depended entirely on Adam's performance and assistance in the upcoming grand war.

After the agreement was settled, all departments under Adam began to move. The finance department provided financial aid amounting to 15 million eons or around 10 million rent. Long before the independence of the Republic of Quiros, the finance department had purchased grains, especially wheat, in very large quantities.

Now, the price of wheat in the market had increased since the war between the Republic of Quiros and the Kingdom of Jorgun against the Kingdom of Clavender broke out, then continued to soar after the plan for the grand war was revealed. All of this was within Adam's calculations—every conflict that erupted would impact the price of wheat. That's why he bought a lot of supplies long before the war.

In addition to grains, other preparations had also been bought so they only needed to send them to the front lines of Otheni. The shipments were carried out by a caravan group under the auspices of the finance department.

All regular troops under the umbrella of the defense and security department were sent to Otheni, leaving only mage forces to protect Adam. The health department also dispatched medical forces specialized in providing first aid.

On the 17th, the Six Kings, six mage associations, and representatives of the international mage association gathered. The meeting concluded that all preparations had to be completed immediately; the great war of humankind against Arkmenom would be launched simultaneously a week later, on the 24th.

Mage forces sent from various countries finally arrived. The human border with Arkmenom suddenly became bustling. Sensing something amiss, Arkmenom also gathered its troops. The smell of gunpowder in the western part of the central continent started to waft.

Meanwhile, the Clavender-Jorgun war entered a new phase. On the 14th, Jorgun took advantage of the Clavender forces busy fighting in Shang Rose to launch a sudden attack in the Cattelan region, south of Shang Rose. Cattelan bordered directly with the Kingdom of Jorgun, allowing Jorgun to send many troops simultaneously.

This was never anticipated by Clavender; the generals in that kingdom initially thought Jorgun would send forces to save Shang Rose, but they ended up directly attacking Clavender's territory.

This change immediately forced Eric to withdraw his troops to provide aid and defend the Cattelan region.

On the 17th, the defense war of Shang Rose ended. The city of Shang Rose could still be defended even though their casualties were greater than the Clavender forces. If the war continued, Shang Rose might fall, but fortunately, the Kingdom of Jorgun kept their promise.

Of course, the Kingdom of Jorgun didn't solely want to assist the Republic of Quiros; they aimed to annex the fertile Cattelan region. The Republic of Quiros breathed a sigh of relief, but the war was far from over. The conflict between Jorgun and Clavender escalated drastically; the Kingdom of Clavender knew that their true enemy was Jorgun, so they desperately tried to drive out the Jorgun forces attacking Cattelan.

Meanwhile, Celine entered Adam's workspace.

"Master,the price of wheat has increased tenfold. Are you sure you want to sell the wheat now?" asked Celine.

A few months ago, Adam had instructed her to gradually buy large quantities of wheat and keep an eye on the market price. If it reached a tenfold increase, then start selling.

Now, the market price had risen tenfold. Celine felt the need to inform Adam first because the war hadn't started yet, so it was highly likely that the price of wheat would continue to rise.

Hearing her question, Adam knew that Celine wanted to profit more from this wheat hike.

"Start selling slowly now, do it in different places to avoid drawing attention. The price of wheat is very high; eventually, the Mage Association will intervene because such a steep increase is not conducive to the upcoming grand war."

In an era without capitalists, who could hoard wheat? Nobles, of course! Essentially, they aimed to profit from the six nations involved in the grand war, the Mage Association, and the warring parties, Clavender and Jorgun.

"What about our finances?"

"We've invested almost all our business profits in recent years in this war. If we fail, I'm worried we'll incur significant losses," Celine expressed concern about the worrisome financial situation.

"Selling the wheat should bring in some profit; keep it as a reserve fund."

The war between Jorgun and Clavender would affect Adam's business in that Kingdom. Furthermore, the worrying global situation would also impact business. In times of rampant conflict like this, weapon sales were the best business.

"Alright, is there anything else you'd like to convey?"

"No, you can go."

"I beg your pardon, Master."

Moments after Celine's departure, Adam went to the blacksmith and woodworker's workshops. From a distance, he could see about 50 woodworkers and 50 blacksmiths busy making weapons.

There was an iron mine in this area, actually quite narrow and somewhat deep. However, Adam had a mage with a C-level talent capable of manipulating earth—a talent known as an earthshaper.

The earthshaper's ability was somewhat similar to an A-level talent called a groundbreaker, albeit much weaker. Nonetheless, despite being weaker compared to a groundbreaker, their ability was sufficient to turn the mining area into a pit 20 meters deep and 350 meters wide.

This mage was named Vivian.

Aside from Vivian, there was another mage, Neilson, whom Adam had tasked to assist in iron production. Neilson, a chubby young man, had an F-level talent known as a windblower. His power wasn't strong enough to harm enemies; at most, his ability resembled a fan, but more superior.

Adam instructed Neilson to assist the ironworkers in experimenting with the Bessemer process. The Bessemer process was the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel from molten pig iron before the development of the open-hearth furnace. One crucial aspect of the Bessemer process was the blower machine, which used steam power to continuously blow air into the Bessemer converter.

However, because the steam engine had not yet been discovered or even researched, Adam instructed Neilson to assist the blacksmiths in experimenting with the Bessemer process.

Apart from the Bessemer process, which still required a mage, Adam also directed the blacksmiths in the production process of Chengzhou threads.

This process was renowned for its reliability in producing very high-quality iron for weapons, tools, and other needs. The technique continued to be used until the 17th and 18th Dynasties of Qing before eventually being replaced by more modern metallurgical technology.

In this process, the blacksmiths used a furnace heated using coal. Iron ore was inserted into the heated furnace, and simultaneously, air was forcefully blown through air channels connected to the furnace. The strong and continuous air pressure was created through the use of manual devices like large fans or blowers operated by hand.

These large fans were diligently operated by the blacksmiths to produce an intense airflow. The air blown into the furnace increased the combustion temperature of coal and iron ore. The pressure and speed of the air helped raise the temperature inside the furnace to the melting point of iron.

Through this continuous process, the iron ore melted, and impurities and non-pure parts could be separated from the molten metal. The result was high-quality iron that could then be shaped and processed into weapons.