Even if we take ten thousand steps back and assume the whole of Tiee Fortress is willing to bury the hatchet.
What about the high command of the Roland Empire? Will His Majesty your Emperor agree?
Will those fat-brained, arrogant grand nobles agree?
They'll only brand your father a traitor and send an even stronger army.
They'll raze us to the ground and send your father, your entire clan, to the guillotine—to be hanged, every last one!
Aniya, you must understand one truth.
Wu Liang turned, looking down at the girl whose face had already turned ashen.
Peace has never been gained by begging or negotiation.
The weak have no right to speak of peace.
Only war—only by beating the enemy until it hurts, until they're terrified!
Only when they realize the cost of being our enemy far outweighs the price of peaceful coexistence will they willingly sit at the negotiating table.
We wage war so that every soul in the Great Desolate Mountain may live with dignity.
So that our children need not spend their lives in fear of plunder and slaughter like their forebears.
The roland people wage war for nothing but greed and gain.
Now do you still think this war can be avoided?
Hearing it all, Aniya's tears could no longer be held back; they slid down her pale cheeks.
No! I didn't know—stop talking!
She shook her head in anguish.
Every word Wu Liang spoke was blood-soaked reality.
She had no strength to refute it, even less to change it.
Watching her crumble, Wu Liang finally felt a pang of pity.
He sighed, crouched, and gently wiped the tears from her face.
I can only promise you…
Wu Liang's voice softened considerably.
During the war, I'll do my best to avoid unnecessary casualties.
As for your father and family—so long as he doesn't do anything too outrageous, I won't harm him.
One day you'll stand before him, upright, as a victor.
Aniya's sobs gradually ceased; she lifted her tear-blurred eyes to Wu Liang.
She knew this was the best promise she could hope for.
With a choked voice she finally nodded, powerless.
The only thing she could do was pray.
Pray that the land once called home and now her homeland would suffer a little less sorrow in the coming storm of blood and fire.
Aniya, you'll understand.
Only absolute strength is worthy of protecting everything.
With that, Wu Liang stood and left the conference room.
He left Aniya alone in the dim light to digest the cruel reality.
Outside, the sun shone brilliantly.
The sounds of construction, drilling, and the laughter of the Black Rock tribespeople blended into a vibrant vitality.
The conversation with Aniya had been only a small interlude in the western campaign planning meeting.
Afterward, everyone threw themselves into preparations for the expedition.
Wu Liang devoted all his energy to optimizing the Tribe's technology.
Inside the Military Workshop the steam hammer thundered; every blow made the ground tremble.
Beside it a steam-driven lathe whirled, cutting metal parts.
Suina wore tight, oil-stained work-clothes that outlined her fiery figure.
She reported the latest progress to Wu Liang, face alight with excitement.
Wu Liang, per your request we refined the piston and cylinder of the steam engine—power's up another ten percent!
Now the forging press flattens steel ingots as easily as squashing mud!
As she spoke she wiped sweat from her brow with an oily hand, leaving a black smear.
Combined with her sharp, heroic features, it gave her a wild charm.
Wu Liang wiped away the oil for her, but his gaze fixed on the roaring steam engine.
He saw that at the joint between piston rod and cylinder, and at every pipe junction.
With each stroke, wisps of white steam hissed out.
Suina, our steam engine still leaks far too badly.
Wu Liang sighed, pointing out the flaw.
Suina answered helplessly: We're using the best tanned leather, plus asbestos and grease, for gaskets—but that's the limit.
The steam's pressure and heat age and harden these materials quickly; they lose elasticity.
It isn't just the steam engine…
Wu Liang walked to a newly assembled giant generator destined for the power plant.
He indicated the armature wound with copper wire and the outgoing cables.
There's also the electrical system.
Right now we insulate with hemp cloth soaked in tung oil—fine for a short while.
But over time, or at higher voltages, it breaks down, causing shorts or even fires.
That's dangerous!
Steam sealing and electrical insulation.
These two problems are thorny; Black Rock's industry can't advance without solving them.
Without good sealing, steam engines can't reach higher pressures or efficiencies.
It also bars the power system from higher voltages and longer distances.
To solve both we must have rubber for seals.
Suina, we have to tackle the rubber problem.
Wu Liang looked at her and said slowly.
Suina nodded firmly.
I know. I've never seen rubber, but you've mentioned it often.
It's elastic, can stretch a long way without breaking and springs back.
It's watertight, airtight, a fine insulator.
Most important, it withstands fairly high heat and pressure.
Wu Liang nodded, glad she remembered.
Exactly. rubber comes from the rubber tree.
Wu Liang continued.
That tree grows in hot, humid rain-forests.
Cut the bark and a milky sap flows; process it and you get the material we need.
Suina's eyes lit up as she suddenly recalled something.
I remember Akomann saying that on their last mineral survey to the Wailing Swamp they saw such trees.
But that place is dangerous.
Akomann said the Wailing Swamp is full of venomous bugs, snakes, beasts, as well as orcs and Goblins.
Right, you remember well.
But we can't let that scare us; we must secure rubber.
I've decided to head for the Wailing Swamp before the western campaign.
The western expedition against the Roland Empire will be a hard battle.
It will decide the fate of the Great Desolate Mountain; there can be no failure.
Now that Black Rock has rifles, it's time to blood them and sharpen their edge.
Suina, my plan now is…
First, seize the rubber-producing area, break the industrial bottleneck, and pave the way for a future technological leap.
Second, use war as training—let the newly formed Rifle Battalion temper itself in real combat, testing new weapons and tactics.
Third, clear the southern threat to the Tribe and bring that rich rain-forest into Black Rock's territory as a future resource base.
Thus one stone kills three birds!
When Wu Liang finished, Suina's eyes blazed.
Suina, keep industry moving per schedule.
Especially the precision workshop—don't stop.
Try producing higher-precision lathes and boring machines to prepare for more complex machinery later.
Wu Liang instructed her.
I understand—rest assured!