Steel and Wizards

In the classroom.

The young teacher, who had arrived ten full minutes late, announced the start of class with an impatient look.

Awed by Bo Ning Academy's rules, the students didn't say anything.

The young teacher introduced himself as Ma Haohai. He had been teaching introductory classes at Bo Ning Academy for exactly three years, and it was said he had a good reputation.

However, Ronan didn't know that the moment this young teacher named Ma Haohai entered the classroom, he silently repeated Ronan's name three times before taking out the roll call list and starting attendance.

After the dull and boring self-introductions, the formal class began.

This was a general history class. Ma Haohai was responsible for explaining the historical changes of the Empire since the Final Battle. Of course, things always had to start before the Final Battle.

In the Steel Empire's textbooks, Wizards were demonized as cruel, bloody lunatics, violent individuals with terrifying energy, and mentally ill people who often conducted human experiments in the middle of the night.

The Wizards in Ma Haohai's words were naturally no better. However, despite Ronan's strong dislike for his narrative, he had to admit that the young teacher's eloquence was quite good, at least very engaging.

Aside from the initial murmurs of dissatisfaction among the students about the teacher being late for the first class, they gradually became immersed in his passionate lecture.

Their eyes were filled with shared hatred and indignation—as if the humans who had been enslaved for thousands of years, as described by Teacher Ma, were themselves.

Only Ronan's eyes showed a hint of boredom.

The content in the Steel Empire's textbooks... in his opinion, was at least three parts true and seven parts false. Crescent Prison had a large number of forbidden books. Regarding the Final Battle, Ronan probably knew more than Ma Haohai.

However, as a student, he still straightened his back diligently, pretending to listen attentively.

Ma Haohai held his lecture notes, spitting as he spoke, but his gaze occasionally drifted towards the student he referred to as having "pulled strings." Although the principal had appeased him with various means, persuading him to finish this class first, and he himself felt that he shouldn't let one scumbag affect the learning of other excellent students, ultimately choosing to compromise.

But the thorn in his heart still couldn't be removed.

He was a commoner.

He knew very well how much effort an ordinary commoner needed in this era to get into Bo Ning Academy; he himself had almost been squeezed out of a spot by a noble who secretly bribed his way in. Fortunately, during the high-level review at Bo Ning Academy, that noble descendant's Guaranteed Admission was not approved, giving him the chance to study at Bo Ning Academy.

He worked very, very hard to gain the appreciation of the academy's high-level staff and stayed on as a lecturer after graduation. It was only after that he learned about the incident where his spot was almost taken. Usually in the office, everyone would joke about his good luck, and he would laugh carelessly.

However, only he himself knew how much fear he felt deep down!

What if that high-level review had passed? Would he have forever lost the right to study at Bo Ning Academy? And then, according to his parents' arrangements, become a repairman at a Mecha service point?

Because he had personally experienced it, he particularly hated this kind of behavior.

This Young Master Ronan, who got a spot at Bo Ning Academy through Guaranteed Admission, then which poor young man, who studied hard all night, ultimately ended up with nothing?

"This kind of person who pulls strings, I will absolutely not let you stay at Bo Ning Academy!"

Ma Haohai secretly vowed in his heart. He might not be able to directly kick Ronan out, but he could make Ronan uncomfortable.

Plan after plan targeting Ronan surfaced in his mind, but this didn't affect his fluent lecturing.

"...So, the Kindling Tome is the source of our human victory over the evil Wizards..."

"We all know that the founding Emperor Chen Butcher obtained the method to restrain Wizards from the Kindling Tome—this, I believe, any student with a little basic knowledge should know, right?"

Ma Haohai said this, then suddenly his eyes darted around: "I'd like to ask a student to answer."

He paused slightly, and finally uttered the name: "Ronan."

Because of the commotion caused by Lin Chenluo earlier, Ronan immediately became the focus of attention in the introductory class. Ma Haohai's seemingly unintentional roll call secretly ignited the emotions of the crowd.

Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Ronan.

Ronan calmly stood up and said in an orderly manner: "Steel has a fatal restraint on sorcery, this is common sense."

"This is also why the Empire is named after Steel."

Steel has a fatal restraint on sorcery.

Seven hundred years ago, a man named Chen who worked as a butcher in an Elf family discovered this. Then he rose up, and with the help of the Kindling Tome, he extensively developed and built refined iron smelting technology and steel forging factories in the Eastern Star Region. And the numerous modern weapons produced as a result could completely immunize against Wizard magic, and even cause low-level Wizards to lose their magical abilities!

This is why the Wizard Alliance was utterly defeated in the Final Battle.

This is everything written in the Steel Empire's history books, but Ronan knew that this was not the truth.

Steel does indeed have a terrifying weakening effect on sorcery, and as a Wizard, he naturally felt it deeply; but the real reason for the success of the Final Battle was that man.

The man who refused to reveal his name throughout history.

He was the first Emperor of the Steel Empire.

He came from a butcher's background but concealed his name. To ensure that his descendants would forever remember the circumstances of their ancestors, he used only one name throughout his life: Chen Butcher.

Ronan had seen his portrait in some secret documents. This founding Emperor was unremarkable in appearance, said to be taciturn, but in fact, he was a rare genius! He comprehended the method of Mecha production from the Kindling Tome, discovered the element of iron, created Mechas that restrained Wizards, started from a small planet, and eventually swept across the Eastern Star Region.

When the Final Battle broke out, he was already the only verifiable Level 16 Mech Pilot in history.

Level 16, that is the so-called Legendary Realm.

He, alone with his Mecha, defeated the Wizard Alliance's most elite Wizard army, forcing the thirteen Great Wizards of the Wizard Alliance's high command, who were of the Mia level, to activate the mutually destructive Black Dragon Project.

It was precisely that Black Dragon Project that caused the Kindling Tome to collapse and shatter, leaving only some fragmented pages; a Great Vortex appeared between the Eastern and Western Star Regions, and the Wizard Alliance retreated to the west, remaining separate for nearly a thousand years since then.

If not for that Black Dragon Project, perhaps Chen Butcher would have unified the entire Galactic Empire.

After that came the reconstruction of human civilization. Chen Butcher was severely wounded after that great battle and passed away not long after becoming Emperor, but the constitutional monarchy he personally founded was seamlessly carried on.

The Chen family became the imperial family, the Ten Knights, and the Great Sage family formed the Upper House; local nobles and commoner representatives formed the Lower House.

This political structure has continued to this day.

It's hard to imagine that a single human could leave such a brilliant mark across the vast Galactic Empire.

Ronan had always admired Chen Butcher. Although in the Steel Empire, this man was somewhat overly mythologized.

Ronan's answer could be considered standard, with no obvious flaws, but also nothing particularly outstanding.

Ma Haohai looked at him seriously, as if to imprint the young man completely in his mind, before slowly telling him to sit down. He didn't intend to make things difficult for Ronan immediately, just wanted to gauge him first.

He has basic common sense. The current lessons are relatively simple, so I probably can't start from this angle... I'll have to find an opportunity later.

The young teacher thought this to himself. He suppressed his emotions and continued lecturing.

Time flew by, and the three morning classes finally ended amidst Ma Haohai's spittle and the long history of the Steel Empire.

However, for Ronan, such lessons were completely without substance.

I'll listen a bit more... he thought to himself.

After class, he also left the classroom alone.

Both the commoner faction and the noble side kept their distance from him. This group of teenagers seemed to be deliberately isolating Ronan, the one who "got in through the back door."

Ronan didn't care about this at all.

In his eyes, both Su Jie and Lin Chenluo were just two little kids.

The things he wanted to do were simply unimaginable to these children.

Among his list of goals, perhaps the simplest one was the one recently added.

Defeat Li Nanbei, huh...

As soon as this thought came to mind, Su Xiao's faint smile and her clear voice involuntarily appeared before his eyes.

She should have already set off by now, heading to the unknown Dragon Capital Province.

He shook his head, shaking these thoughts out of his mind, and quickened his pace back to the dormitory.

After lunch was free time.

Thanks to his roommate's indifference, Ronan didn't need to exchange pleasantries and returned directly to his room.

"Noah, help me find out the fastest way to obtain a large amount of Primal Stone!"

"Also, search the Azure Ring Island local network and see if there's any news about the Wizard Manual!"

Connecting the pocket watch-shaped intelligent life to the computer in the room, Ronan quickly said.

Soon, the Old Madman gave feedback:

"Although Azure Ring Island is an academy area, there are still a large number of Primal Stones for sale. However, the problem is that these Primal Stones are civilian grade, which is the X Series. They provide very little energy replenishment for me and are very expensive. The high-quality Primal Stone you gave me last time is military standard in the Steel Empire, belonging to the S Series. It's not sold on the market, but it is available on the black market, at an exorbitant price."

"As for the Wizard Manual, there is no news on the Azure Ring Island local network, but I found similar traces on a dark web. Specifically, I may need some time to locate and analyze it. After all, the Empire is very sensitive to wizardry and strictly regulates it. Although many people are interested in wizardry and trade Wizard Manuals in secret, they are very secretive about it. At the current pace, I will need at least a week to crack the dark web's communication."

Ronan frowned slightly.

For him, the most important thing at the moment was to improve his strength. Individual power was very slow and required accumulation over time, while external forces were relatively easier. If he could obtain a large amount of Primal Stone, Noah would undergo a predicted advancement, and its power would become even stronger.

And Ronan desperately needed its strength.

However, Primal Stone was the foundation of the Empire and not so easy to obtain.

"Ultimately, you need money."

The Old Madman summarized incisively: "You've been in prison for so many years and have no concept of money. However, as far as I know, in the human world, the most important thing is currency."

"Money?"

Ronan scanned his rose card. It contained the twenty thousand Eagle Horn living expenses given by the Earl.

However, Noah's search results showed that even the cheapest civilian X-grade Primal Stone cost several hundred yuan per piece. As for the S Series Primal Stone on the black market, the price was mostly over a hundred thousand.

The funds he had were simply not enough to replenish Noah's energy.

Without money, it was impossible to move forward. Ronan, who had just emerged from New Moon, felt troubled for the first time.

Good morning. Today's WeChat public account push content is [Galactic Empire Encyclopedia: Empire Structure]. There is some setting-related content. Friends who are interested can take a look and remember to like it conveniently. Let's get some recommendation votes!