Situation is about to change

"Mr. Tucker, how is the production process I taught you both? Have you mastered those two processes?" asked Adam to Tucker, a blacksmith who was the head of the blacksmiths here.

"For the Bessemer process, we still need a few more experiments, especially because Mr. Neilson couldn't maintain a stable airflow. Meanwhile, the other production process, um—"

"Chengzhou."

"The Chengzhou production process has been successfully mastered. Now, we can build more furnaces to increase production output."

"That's good to hear. By the way, don't forget to start learning how to forge good swords; the human wars will escalate, and the popularity of swords will significantly rise."

"Understood, Master."

Apart from Tucker, Adam also met Neilson.

Neilson, with a remorseful expression, bowed his head and said, "I'm sorry, Master, I disappointed you."

"It's okay, keep trying. I believe you can do it."

"I'll work hard, Master!"

After leaving Neilson, Adam visited the wood workshop. The head of this group of woodworkers was named Palmerson.

"How's the progress on the bows I requested for research?"

"We've made several, but none yet meet the requirements you've set, Master. However, we'll keep trying."

"You may continue working."

After observing progress in the blacksmith and woodworker workshops, Adam walked to the mine. He saw people pushing carts from the mine that had turned into a pit.

Although the difficulty of the mining process had decreased, transporting the iron ore to the blacksmith workshop still required extra effort, especially when horses were used for war. Fortunately, the people here had better strength compared to humans in Adam's previous life.

"Master!"

From a distance, a 14-year-old girl ran toward Adam. She then stopped right in front of Adam, flashing a wide smile. Adam ruffled the little girl's hair until it got messy.

"You look very dirty," said Adam, looking at the soil covering the girl's body and clothes.

"I've been working hard, Master."

"Isn't this mine fully operational now? Don't waste your strength here. You can go to the construction department; they'll surely need your help."

"Okay, I'll do that, my lord."

'If the child protection commission sees me, they might immediately imprison me,' thought Adam. It's not that he didn't pity employing underage children, but her mage abilities were needed, and Vivian was also delighted to be useful to him.

Adam then concluded his journey at the Alchemist's laboratory. These alchemists were people willing to remain loyal to him and a group in whom alchemical knowledge had been embedded in their brains.

Adam knew that knowledge was crucial. But in his previous life, the invention of the bio-processor made humans increasingly lazy to learn, including Adam himself. They were more accustomed to storing knowledge in the bio-processor's database. That's why Adam regretted that his Alpha database didn't bring the knowledge he held in his previous life.

Though regrettable, the progress of knowledge had to align with the era's development so that it could be easily accepted by society. In this regard, what Adam did was accelerate that natural progression.

He popularized mathematics and rewarded those who developed the science. For these alchemists, the maximum thing Adam could do was provide a periodic table and instruct them to study atoms and natural laws.

These might not bring about changes in the short term, but as long as this knowledge continued to be popularized, progress would naturally emerge.

One relatively mature technology in the central continent was paper. The development of paper was driven by the establishment of mage academies and noble schools. Although most noble schools prioritized arts and culture, music, history, and geography.

Noble schools usually only allowed pure-blooded nobles, not nobles of mage descent like his family. That was the reason why he didn't attend a noble school.

Adam briefly met the Alchemists, but unfortunately, they hadn't discovered any breakthroughs yet and were still busy researching elements and their properties.

Meanwhile, the Republic of Quiros, having gathered more troops, suddenly attacked the city of Asterden. Asterden was situated near the Vardeun River.

This river was the longest in the central continent, cutting across it from the northern mountains to the south, serving as a major link between the continent's nations.

Many northern traders traveled southward, and vice versa, passing through this river. It could be said that this river held significant value. In fact, Asterden was a city built by the Quiros people, so reclaiming it became a political truth for the Republic of Quiros now.

The Republic of Quiros' attack on the Kingdom of Clavender once again added immense pressure on Clavender. The simultaneous pressure from both nations forced them to send reserve troops consisting of untrained farmers.

Clavender's folly was incorporating Quiros people residing in Clavender into these forces, which the Republic of Quiros exploited by delivering inspirational speeches, swaying these Quiros individuals to their side.

Now, the Kingdom of Clavender sent a request for aid to the Kingdom of Galic. The Kingdom of Galic, Clavender, the Republic of Quiros, Eragon, or the headquarters of the International Mage Association—all these territories bordered each other in the Raquyt Valley. Besides being nearby, the Vardeun River also passed through the Kingdom of Galic, enabling them to use water transportation to swiftly arrive at Asterden.

If the Kingdom of Galic joined the war, this conflict would escalate. The pace of this war was truly surprising. However, it all resulted from Clavender's weaknesses and unpreparedness. They didn't safeguard their borders with the Kingdom of Jorgun, leading to a fatal attack on the Cattelan region.

The Kingdom of Galic became the biggest variable. Adam might foresee the potential conflict between the Republic of Quiros and Clavender and the involvement of Jorgun in that conflict. However, the Kingdom of Galic wasn't in Adam's plans.

According to Adam's estimates, Clavender was at least capable of minimizing losses against Jorgun and the Republic of Quiros. Hence, although Clavender might lose, it wouldn't be a fatal defeat. Yet, who would have thought that the Kingdom of Clavender would be so weakened?

The assault on the City of Asterden couldn't be stopped because it wasn't just Adam's decision, but also Kaiwu's and the Quiros people's decision.

As it was beyond Adam's plans, he could only cease aid to Quiros and let the nation handle their own war. The Grand War was about to be launched soon, and it was clearly more important than the Republic of Quiros' war.

Furthermore, Adam had assisted as much as he could. The Republic of Quiros needed to display their capabilities if they wanted to continue aligning with Adam. Adam's primary interest in the Republic of Quiros was to trigger conflicts more swiftly, and now that goal had been achieved, making the Republic of Quiros not as crucial anymore.