"Times have changed, My Lord."
When Laing's Gun Workshop was completed, Count Laing held a long-barreled musket produced in the workshop. He caressed the black barrel and wooden stock and said, "The era of firearms is inevitable. We have to build a new army. Firearms are the best weapons against the Orcs and Green Dwarfs."
His chief steward Katzenberg, the chief tax officer Gasparton, Baron Deven Hex, the captain of the Ugur Mounted Archers, Mikoyan Ivanovitch Govorov, and the sorceress Teresa stood beside him.
The Gun Workshop was completed, and Laing held a standard long-barreled musket in his hand.
The design of the musket was simple. It consisted of an ignition device, a lead wire, a barrel, and a stock. The long-barreled musket was powerful and easy to use. It was simple, crude, and effective.
This would be the standard equipment for Laing's future Gun Squad.
"My Count, are you planning to build a Gun Squad?" Baron Devan Hex was wearing a kite helmet. The scar on his face looked ferocious.
"Why not?" Laing skillfully operated the long-barreled musket. He cleaned, loaded, ignited, and pulled the trigger.
"Boom!" The long-barreled musket shot out a lead ball that hit a mound three meters away from the target.
"Pfff!" The Sorceress couldn't help laughing as she covered her mouth.
Laing blushed, but he pretended nothing had happened. He changed the topic awkwardly and said, "You know, I'm not good at using this … Ivan, has the compensation been paid?"
"It's all been given out, my Count," the big Captain Wugol said loudly. "Thank you for your generosity, my Count."
"You fight, and we pay. This is a business. You help me fight against the enemy, and I'll pay you enough compensation. It's fair." Laing changed the topic and said, "Yes, I heard that Kislöw is also equipped with firearms?"
"That's right. In order to equip our army with firearms, the Tsar family almost went bankrupt." Ivan smiled bitterly. "In order to import firearms and recruit engineers from the Empire, His Majesty Tsar had almost emptied the entire treasury. The few major families had also paid a heavy price. However, the Kislöw army in the south had indeed been equipped with firearms on a large scale. Firearms are extremely lethal against the Green Dwarfs and Chaos creatures. At least, they are much more powerful than bows and arrows. In exchange, the Tsar family still owes the Empire's royal family a huge sum of money. It will probably take more than eighty years to pay it off."
"Look, since Mrs. Kiesler has chosen to empty the treasury of every single gold coin, why can't we form a musket squad?" Laing said with a smile as he held the musket in his hand.
Hex had studied in the Empire's academy for a period of time. The new baron knew the power of firearms. Seeing Laing's firm attitude, he nodded gloomily. "Of course, I know the power of gunpowder, my Count. But I'm worried that you will face serious opposition."
"There has never been such a precedent, my Count." Butler Katsenberg also raised an objection. "Giving firearms to the serfs? That's crazy. "
Laing expected someone to object. The count signaled everyone to come to the gun workshop. He played with the long-barreled musket in his hand. Laing's face was very determined. He said to Katsenberg, "But I think that now is the best time."
"The best time?" Katsenberg asked doubtfully.
Laing explained his thoughts to everyone.
At first, Laing didn't have the means to spend a few thousand crowns to build a gun workshop. Each musket cost eight crowns, so forming a squad with a hundred muskets would cost around a thousand crowns. Coupled with the ammunition for training and the possibility of the barrels being destroyed, he would have to prepare at least a thousand and three hundred crowns.
After that, it was just as Katzenberg had feared. Due to the rebellion of the northern serfs, it was very difficult for the nobles to hand over these weapons to the serfs. If Leon dared to take the risk of forming a serf musket squad while the serfs were still in rebellion, he would be condemned by the nobles of the entire kingdom.
That wouldn't be the best time.
But after the siege of Montfort, the battle of Blackstone Stronghold and the battle of La Messenell Abbey, Laing believed that the time was ripe to form a squad of muskets.
After several battles, the knights of the southern part of the kingdom had witnessed the might of firearms. The knights weren't really that stupid. After witnessing it with their own eyes, their voices of opposition would definitely be much quieter. At the very least, they wouldn't continue to oppose it.
As for the Knight King Richard, Duke of Montfort, Duke of Montfort, and Duke of Pallavon, Duke of Pallavon, they had also lost their stance. Richard had already delegated military and political power to Duke Laun of Connet. After Leon and Francois formed an army of chivalry to deal with the threat of Kemmler once and for all, if Richard were to oppose Leon again, it was very likely that all the Dukes under Kemmler's influence would collectively retaliate.
Laing had saved Forde's life before and even cooperated with him on the trading post. Forde didn't oppose it either and even hired quite a number of freedmen from the Empire to protect his castle.
Kasvane also had to thank Laing for his contributions. If it weren't for him stopping Kemmler, Pallavane might've had to face the undead army's blades.
"I don't plan on giving these weapons to the serfs." Laing gripped the barrel tightly with both hands and continued, "I plan on giving the order to recruit new soldiers from all the freedmen's families and form a freedmen's gun squad."
Kasvane let out a sigh of relief. Freedmen were people who were promoted because of their loyalty in battle. It was more reassuring to hand over firearms to them than to the serfs. The butler thought for a moment and continued, "If we do that, we'll face much less resistance. However, this means that we'll have to spend a lot of money. Count, forming a new standing army will cost a lot."
"It'll be worth it." Laing, of course, knew the power of firearms. The dwarves had spent two thousand years debating whether a flintlock was better than a crossbow. Laing didn't dare to say that a flintlock soldier would be better than a longbowman or crossbowman, but it had to be.
"Apart from the standard long-barreled muskets, the factory can also produce standard dwarven handguns, slow-firing dwarven shotguns, and the best continuous handguns, the ones used by the Empire's vanguard cavalry that can fire several rounds in a row." Laing continued, "Especially the best dwarven four-shot musket. It's paired with quicksilver bullets. Even Brother Anglo said it was good!"
"Oh! That must be a killing machine. Laing, I think I'll need one! "Teresa's eyes lit up when she heard that. She whispered into Laing's ear," Can you give me one? "
"Two hundred crowns, Sheng Hui." Laing laughed. Seeing the earl laugh, everyone laughed as well. The sorceress gave Laing a dirty look and unreasonably took the finished product from the table. She then moved her long legs and disappeared from the factory.
Her wizard tower was almost finished. Recently, she had been busy checking on the completion of the project. The sorceress was just passing by to take a look.
It was said that her mother was preparing to organize a large witch delegation to visit Laing's territory, but there was no news of the delegation gathering or preparing to depart. If there was, the sorceress would definitely tell Laing, so Laing was not in a hurry.
Speaking of which, it had been quite some time since Angelo's elder brother had gone to the south. Ryan thought of Angelo again.
…
Old World, Tyrell, West of Milagliano Swamp, where the legendary city of Titus disappeared.
A tall hippogryph was flying in the sky. The hippogryph was loaded with goods. The World Eater Geno Prototype was overlooking the muddy swamp.
The swamp was called the Withered Swamp, and it was located west of Milagliano. The swamp had always been synonymous with mystery. All efforts to build villages and colonies in the swamp had failed because all the migrants and their buildings would disappear completely.
Yes, completely disappear. The whole village would disappear completely, and nothing would be left.
According to the legends of Tyrell, the most glorious civilization, Titus, once lived in the swamp. There, the dwarves and the humans formed a strong country and continued to prosper. They planned to build a tower to show their power and glory, as well as their gratitude to the gods.
Strangely, the tower was not completed even after hundreds of years. Then, a man in a robe came with his own design. He added a big bell to the top of the tower. A week later, the tower was finally completed.
The bell rang thirteen times in Titus, and the whole city was on the road to destruction. All the humans and dwarves were drowned by the rat tide. There were no survivors. Titus disappeared in history. From then on, it became a forbidden and desolate place.
After Anglo finished buying goods in Milagliano, he ignored the advice of the halfling and the merchants of Tyrell and insisted on flying there to take a look.
At first, the World Eater Geno Prototype was bored by the endless swamp. The bright green swamp was like an abscess on the earth. It was disgusting. There were all kinds of strange animals in the swamp. Their filthy and bizarre shapes made Anglo feel slightly uncomfortable, especially when he saw an animal with the head of a rat, the body of a snake, and the tail of a deer. Anglo almost ordered the hippogryph to cut it in half.
However, he was no longer the mad man who acted on anger and hatred. He signaled the hippogryph to continue flying.
"Are you tired?" After flying for another forty minutes, Anglo noticed that the wings of his hippogryph mount, Nukailia, were starting to show signs of fatigue. He had to order the hippogryph to land. The hippogryph landed behind a hill that was still big enough for people to stand on. There were a few half-dead trees there.
"Take a rest, Nukailia. Then, we will continue." Anglo tied the hippogryph's reins to a tree. He gently stroked the feathers on the hippogryph's neck. The hippogryph chirped happily. The creature was now Anglo's loyal mount. It opened its mouth and tasted the dried meat and water.
Halfway through the dried meat, the World Eater Geno Prototype was alerted. Almost instantly, it reached out and grabbed the pair of axes on its back. "Who is it?"
"Dart!"
What answered him were six poisoned shurikens, which flew towards Angelo from six directions at the same time.
"Argh!" Holding the axes' Flesh Cutter 'and' Ripper ', Angelo was surrounded by the blood-red airwaves. After a few moves, all six shurikens were blown away by him.
His opponent also appeared in the fog.
They were three Skaven rat-men assassins in dark blue tights. They had face scarves on their faces, and their feet were bound with leggings. Their tails and hands were holding dimension stone daggers. "Diedie!"
"Come on!" Anglo held the axes tightly. He felt like he was going to be fired up.
"Shadow!" One of the rat-man assassins performed a spell. Smoke came out, and it disappeared into the air. Pang!
"Child's play." Anglo did not care. He squinted his eyes and waited for his opponent to attack.
"Lie!" Of course, three seconds later, the rat-man assassins appeared behind Anglo. The two dimension stone blades left two green trails in the air. They went straight for Anglo's throat and the back of his head.
But Anglo was faster. He roared. His muscular body was more agile than the rat-man assassins. He turned around easily. The Vibrantly Gold Battle Axe, Ripper, left a blood-red trail in the air.
Blood rained down from the sky. The two dimension stone blades and the rat-man assassins were torn into pieces by the sawtooth axe.
This shocked the remaining two rat-man assassins. One of them immediately said, "Wash Horse Tower! Retreat! "
"Dodge!" The two rat-man assassins immediately performed a second spell. A green light flashed, and they appeared five meters away. They wanted to escape.
"Don't even think about running! Cowards! " Anglo grinned. He raised the battle axe Slicer with one hand and slashed it into the soft ground. The muscles of the World Eater geno prototype's left arm expanded. He pulled Slicer, which was embedded in the ground, back. "Come back!"
The blood-red air billowed out from the ground. In the vortex created by Anglo's power, the two rat-man assassins lost their balance in the air. They desperately found that their bodies were being swept up by the vortex. They were flying toward the scary human.
"Die!" Anglo held Ripper and swung the battle axe. Blood flashed. The heads of the two rat-man assassins were separated from their bodies.
The battle was over.
"They don't look like very collectible trophies." Anglo squatted down and checked the heads of the two rat-man assassins. They were his trophies. He wanted to take them as souvenirs, but considering the weight of the hippogryph, he gave up. "Never mind."
"Do you want to die, too?" Anglo looked at the other side of the hill.
"I don't want to be your enemy, elite." A human wearing a sun-blazing helmet of the Goddess of War Milmidia, a divine silver breastplate and a full body armor of golden scales walked out from behind the tree. He raised the gun in his hand, indicating that he meant no harm. "We're all fellow humans. Uh … I mean, I'm happy to meet fellow humans in this godforsaken place."
His body had a faint presence. His eyes were shining. Blood was rolling around him, and space was collapsing. Clearly, he was a Sacred elite. He was not very old. No one knew why he was there.
"If you were not a human, you would be dead." Anglo hesitated for a moment and put down his battle axe. "This is not a place for you, young man. It's too dangerous for you."
"You may be right, but we bounty hunters are paid to work for them. That is the creed of us bounty hunters." The man cautiously approached Anglo and reached out his hand. "Let me introduce myself. I am Brenner from Tyrell. I am a bounty hunter."
"Brenner the bounty hunter? Oh! I've heard your name before. You are one of the three strongest mercenaries in Tyrell. "Anglo suddenly remembered something. He frowned." Why are you here? "
"I received a commission." Brenner, the bounty hunter, had a row of daggers and daggers hanging from his chest, two muskets around his waist, a string of bullets on his back, and a saber decorated with gems in his hand. "In the depths of this swamp, there is an army of the dead fighting with the Skaven rat-men. Prince Milagliano paid me a lot of money to investigate."
"A vampire count against the Skaven rat-men?" Anglo was intrigued.
"Yes." The bounty hunter obviously wanted Anglo to join his team. "I know you have the ability to survive in this land, so I won't warn you. Are you interested in seeing this war? We can investigate it together, and I will give you thirty percent of the commission. You have seen the power of the rat-men assassins. It is too dangerous for me to investigate alone. "
"Interesting." Anglo thought for a moment and smiled. "Let's go. Show me."
"Okay."
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