Returning to an Old Haunt

In the dark room, the white crystal reflected the firelight from the hearth, casting both their faces in a deathly pallor.

Tony could hardly believe it. "So, Patriarch, we built Wolfsborg and New Basilicata City atop a 'volcanic crater'?"

"That's white crystal!"

Just a small amount could serve as a catalyst that dramatically increased the power of firearms. If there really was an entire vein of it, didn't that mean they were risking being blown into the sky every single day?

Giuliano shook his head with a bitter smile. "Don't worry. That stuff doesn't explode so easily. But with things as they are now, it wouldn't make much difference even if it did."

White crystal was explosive, and once mined, it required extremely strict storage conditions. Sea transport was especially dangerous. Every year, smugglers willing to take the risk encountered storms while carrying white crystal, resulting in tragedies where entire ships exploded.

But in truth, white crystal was very stable as long as it remained buried in the vein and did not come into contact with air. Moreover, it needed to react with gunpowder before its power could be fully unleashed.

Magic stones, meanwhile, were the foundation for advancing industrialization. Many machines powered by magic stones could produce far more power than before, greatly easing Texas's labor shortage.

If Texas wanted to develop, it had to industrialize. Even with a population in the millions, Texas was still vast and sparsely populated. This had also given rise to Texas's thriving ranching industry. By conservative estimates, Texas alone had herds numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

Yet this kind of extensive economic model simply did not make much money.

The wolf clan's reputation preceded them. Unless European immigrants were insane, they would never consider coming here, and labor-intensive industries had nothing to