Cassius's Musings

Atop the Grand Altar of Isdalia. "...I will confer with Lord Otis and give you an exact figure as soon as possible." At the center of the display was none other than Navin Bessarius. Seated upon the supreme throne, Cassius watched the projection transmitted from the Claubau Military Industry Group with a faint smile, nodding repeatedly. "Well done." Trump said excitedly, "Master, the empire's munitions will be sold across the entire Feanso Continent. As long as this war does not cease, it will bring us a ceaseless stream of gold coins." Yet a crisp female voice chimed in: "But... if we sell them all those weapons and equipment, won't those kingdoms grow stronger too?" "Why don't we just rob them directly?" The speaker was a young girl who looked to be around sixteen or seventeen. Her figure was slender and graceful, and her hair and eyelashes were a frosty white, pure as snow—it was the white dragon, Tinia. By now, she had learned Polymorph and could temporarily assume human form, though she was still rather clumsy at it. Cassius let out a sigh and shot a meaningful glance. Breaking into a cold sweat at once, Trump hastily explained, "Miss Tinia, there is much you do not know. According to the Starfallen in the Department of Technology, the arms we sell lag behind the empire's active-duty military equipment by fifty to a hundred years. "Furthermore, across the entire continent, only we possess fully integrated production lines and a complete industrial system. "Should war break out between them and us, their supply of weapons and ammunition will be severed immediately. When that time comes... the obsolete hardware in their hands will be nothing more than heaps of scrap metal. "Meanwhile, what we receive are solid, genuine gold coins that can fuel the empire's rapid expansion." After laying out every last detail, Trump pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Mmh... oh, I get it." Tinia nodded with half-comprehension, then stared blankly at Cassius. "..." Hearing Trump's words, Cassius grew rather curious about the players' scheme, so he asked casually, "How many product lines does the Claubau Military Industry Group plan to introduce?" "One moment, Your Majesty." Trump pondered for a second, then raised his staff and conjured a new magical projection in the air, displaying three-dimensional schematics of various firearms and artillery pieces. As an archmage with an Intelligence score of 22, Trump possessed a mental capacity far beyond that of ordinary mortals; claiming his oversized skull housed an entire library would hardly be an exaggeration. "The Foe-Breaker Fire rifle series has already seen three generations, primarily targeting the low-end retail market. "The Wyvern's Flame rifle series has its first generation currently on sale, while the remaining four generations have all been successfully developed with prototypes fabricated, aimed mainly at large-scale dumping onto the three great kingdoms. "The Arbiter artillery series has not yet hit the market; the plan is to roll out five generations within two years... "The Viper rifle series is also unreleased, with three generations scheduled for rollout within a year..." "They truly have this game figured out." Cassius skimmed the dazzling array of firearms in the magical projection, shaking his head with a chuckle. Thanks to Trump's explanation, he understood the players' logic. They would continually roll out diverse styles of "novel models," each generation marginally superior in performance to the last, and correspondingly a bit more expensive. Even their ammunition would not be cross-compatible. With every generational upgrade, customers would need to import new rounds from the Cinder Empire and purchase new supporting hardware. Another sweep of the reaping scythe. Yet that was not the end of it. The Kingdom of Thrace, the Kingdom of Cassander, and Seleucia were already resorting to any means necessary to outmatch one another. They would inevitably scramble to purchase more advanced armaments, giving rise to an arms race unilaterally controlled by the conglomerate. The fiercer the war grew, the better the empire's armaments would sell. These weapons appeared cheap on the surface. In truth, they were absolute, bottomless money pits. And when the Cinder Empire marched south to invade and formally declared war on the three kingdoms, cutting off their ammunition supplies and imposing a blockade would be all it took to drastically cripple their military strength. Such large-scale manufacturing would also put the empire's heavy industry on a fast track, bolstering its military production capacity to even greater heights, aligning perfectly with the "Three-Year Plan" that Trump had so meticulously orchestrated. On the other hand, due to the unique settlement methods enforced by the Claubau Military Industry Group, the three kingdoms would have to purchase vast sums of "gold dinars" issued by the Imperial Bank. These coins would circulate widely across the Feanso Continent, allowing the Cinder Empire to gradually seize economic initiative amid the chaos, and even steadily establish an international monetary trade network centered around the imperial gold dinar. Perhaps a few "men of vision" in Holy Fadlan might see through the empire's machinations, yet there was nothing they could do to stop it. The reason was simple: the Kingdom of Thrace had already bought arms, so would the Kingdom of Cassander buy them? Would Seleucia buy them? If they refused, they would likely find themselves at a severe disadvantage in this war, perhaps even courting total ruin. But if they bought in, it would merely strain their domestic economies and funnel wealth north to the empire. It was a completely open trap—an inescapable dilemma. A year and a half remained until the next version update. At that time, player spawn points would appear all across the Feanso Continent, and Version 2.0, *Clash of Kings*, would formally begin. What the empire needed to do was push industrial and technological growth to the limit, seizing this precious window to widen the gap and prepare itself to plunge into the all-out war sweeping across the Feanso Continent. At that thought, Cassius frowned. *Wait, something still seems to be missing...* *Wrath of the Cold Night.* Cassius's mind turned once more to that main storyline quest where he was originally meant to serve as the final boss. An invasion of the Northlands led by abyssal forces under a fiendish red dragon—that had been the main quest of *Northland Winds* in his previous life, marking the onset of the Great Demonic Cataclysm that swept across Elezerg. He closed his eyes, summoning memories from his past life. *Jezralslak's abyssal hive was already destroyed by my own hands, and the entirety of Anzeta lies within my Imperial Domain. He can only retreat deeper into the mountain ranges to build his strength.* *The lich who was supposed to deal with demons and seize the opportunity to unleash the undead scourge has also been brought under my heel, turned into a diligent, hardworking wage slave of the empire.* Cassius suddenly felt a twinge of wistful emotion. *As the Cinder Empire steadily grows, and as I become ever more powerful, this world's trajectory of destiny has veered far off course.* *The main storyline of this version is no longer a demonic surge, but... a Dragon Calamity.* As he was lost in thought, Cassius suddenly felt something squirming against his leg. He slowly opened his eyes. Tinia was clinging tightly to his thigh, her eyes brimming with adoration, her drool soaking his sumptuous robes—even in the form of a white-haired girl, Tinia's behavior differed little from how she had always been. Beside them, Trump was drenched in sweat, not daring to utter a word, even contemplating whether he ought to take his leave right this instant. Tinia lifted her head, gazing up at him dreamily with those large, icy-blue eyes, seemingly still immersed in a world of her own. Their gazes met. The air seemed to freeze. "Master, you're awake?" "Mm." Cassius looked down at Tinia with an imposing glower, a flicker of irritation rising on his face. Tinia stammered, "Um... let me think. Master, would you like dinner first, a bath first, or would you prefer..." *Bang!* "*Awooo—!*" Accompanied by a piercing wail, the white-haired girl was sent flying several dozen meters, tumbling right off the hundred-meter-high terrace of the Grand Altar of Isdalia. Immediately after, her petite frame expanded abruptly, transforming into a white dragon over ten meters long. She flailed frantically in midair until her claws dug into the cliff face, barely managing to steady herself. The white dragon whimpered indignantly from the sky: "Curse it..." "I recited the lines word for word! Why is Master still unwilling to lay eggs with me?" "And I clearly came first! Why should that rotten silver-hide and that ugly blue-hide..." Meanwhile, atop the Grand Altar of Isdalia, Cassius's expression turned slightly grim. "Trump, is this your idea of education?" "Is this how you've been teaching her?" "It's a misunderstanding, Master! We definitely didn't teach her that! Miss Tinia read those things the Starfallen wrote on her own!" "Everything Miss Tinia said was straight out of the lines from *A Red Dragonborn Won't Fall in Love with a Half-Elf Miss*, published by the Starfallen in the Propaganda Department!" Cold sweat poured down Trump's face as a thousand grievances welled up inside him, none of which he could voice. He had skimmed through that book as well. Though he held no interest in it and had even found it rather distasteful, his extraordinary intellect had committed nearly the entire text to memory. The primary reason was that the book had served as propaganda for the empire's "Racial Integration Initiative" and had become wildly popular in Anzeta. Not only the Starfallen, but even plenty of native residents had rushed to buy it, generating substantial revenue for the Propaganda Department. In his heart, Trump made a firm vow: one day, he would round up every last Starfallen who wrote those melodramatic romance novels. Such filth could not be permitted to taint the empire's soil! And under no circumstances could it be allowed to corrupt Miss Tinia!