Chapter Summaries

Victor praised Luda’s discovery of a flavorful mushroom and asked him to keep trading with the northern forest tribes to learn how it was produced. After refusing Luda’s attempt to curry favor with two girls, Victor confirmed Luda’s tribe supported his plans and sent the girls to Wood Fort Town to serve Veronica.

• Victor learned that the mushrooms came from tribes in the Frost Tear Mountains and told Luda to investigate their cultivation while continuing caravan trade.
• Victor found Aprily and Luxi'ai waiting in his room and refused Luda’s arrangement, questioning the girls about the tribe instead.
• Aprily and Luxi'ai confirmed that Luda’s tribe had about three thousand people, ample food, and broad support for settling and farming.
• Victor concluded that Luda’s submission and leadership were genuine, then told Luda not to use schemes to win his favor.
• Victor had Luda take Aprily and Luxi'ai to Wood Fort Town to serve as Veronica’s maids.

Victor and his troops encountered an enormous herd of yellow sheep while traveling north, and he diverted his force to investigate and hunt. The herd continued moving across the snowy plain as the soldiers joined the hunt, with well-fed wolf packs following behind it.

• Victor left Luda behind to prepare land for sowing winter wheat and led his troops north toward Blue Lake.
• Rangers reported finding a yellow-sheep herd so vast that they could not see its boundaries, prompting Victor to change course and investigate.
• Victor split his force and rode closer to the herd, where he saw sheep covering more than ten square kilometers and tearing grass roots from the ground.
• Victor allowed his soldiers to hunt the sheep and sent for the cavalry to join them.
• The sheep began fleeing after many were killed, while Victor noticed more than a hundred well-fed wolves following the herd.
• The cavalry arrived and joined the hunt.

Victor discovered that the mutton soup contained an unusually high concentration of magic-energy particles, traced it to a sheep's brain, and learned from Number One that eating it could grant him a modest special ability. The sheep brain would soon lose its magic energy, so Victor prepared to use it while it was still potent.

• Victor tasted the mutton soup and Number One detected that it contained far more magic-energy particles than the lamb.
• Victor questioned the head cook, who revealed that he had added sheep brain to enrich the soup's flavor.
• Victor took the remaining sheep brain to his tent, where Number One identified it as a natural treasure infused with magic energy.
• Number One explained that Victor could eat the sheep brain to let the system modify his organs and create a limited special ability.
• Victor agreed to try the sheep brain despite the ability becoming obsolete once he reached transcendence.

Victor learned that his modification was complete but would take two or three months to fully manifest, then led his party north to Blue Lake. He arrived at Blue Lake Bay Outpost, where the commander and Cavalry welcomed him.

• Victor asked Number One about his modification and learned that his body needed time to adapt before he could master his Transcendent Organ.
• Number One explained that concentrated mana could produce basic Transcendent Organs in creatures, but the Beacon Lighthouse let it modify Victor despite the low mana concentration.
• Victor declined the sheep brains prepared for breakfast, then led his party north and gathered gazelles for Blue Lake Bay Outpost.
• Victor’s party repaired old wooden signposts along the route and reached Blue Lake shortly after two in the afternoon.
• The commander of Blue Lake Bay Outpost led several Cavalry to greet Victor, and they dismounted and saluted him.

Victor inspected Blue Lake Bay Outpost and promised its garrison additional supplies despite the difficulty of transporting them. He revealed that the territory would expand northward to Blue Lake after the Civil War and assigned Parisben to scout key routes and waterways.

• Parisben showed Victor around the outpost, including its dock, livestock, fields, and buildings.
• Victor promised Parisben that he would send additional supplies, including canned fruit, to the outpost.
• Victor told Parisben that the territory would expand northward to Blue Lake after the Civil War.
• Victor tasked Parisben with finding the fastest route to Supply Station Number Three and checking whether nearby rivers could connect to Lime River.
• Parisben accepted the assignment, and Victor told him there was no need to rush before resting for the next day's survey.

Victor explored a forest near Blue Lake with Parisben, then discovered a rich natural copper mine in hills once forbidden to the Blazing Fire Tribe. The find promised to supply Two Rivers Territory’s growing demand for copper.

• Parisben showed Victor a large forest near Blue Lake and described the animals reported there by captured Blazing Fire Tribe slaves.
• Victor assessed the forest’s timber and potential value, then ordered Parisben to search it for unusual plants and animals in spring.
• Parisben led Victor to rugged hills that had once been forbidden ground for the Blazing Fire Tribe.
• Victor cleared snow from the reddish rocks and identified sandstone containing native copper as a rich natural copper mine.

Victor surveyed the Blue Lake region, discovered a rich native copper mine, and gathered ore for Two Rivers Territory to assess. He left Parisben responsible for securing the mine and returned south with plans for future exploration and development.

• Victor and his men broke open the mine’s sandstone and collected raw copper ore before returning to Blue Lake Bay Outpost.
• Victor estimated that the ore contained a remarkably high proportion of usable native copper, while Parisben reported that former Blazing Fire Tribe slaves knew little about the mine.
• Victor ordered Parisben to patrol and protect the mine, warning that the outpost could not yet develop it and needed to maintain Two Rivers Territory’s military presence in the region.
• Victor inspected the Blue Lake area over the following days and gathered more than 1,400 kilograms of ore for transport to Two Rivers Territory.
• After five days at the outpost, Victor led his party south to return and planned to send survey teams to investigate the area.

Victor led his troops back toward Two Rivers Territory, inspecting the supply stations and arranging armor for the new garrison at Supply Station Number Three. After surveying the Lime River for six days, he returned to Wood Fort Town in early January as heavy snow began falling.

• Victor found that the once-massive yellow sheep herd had dwindled to several thousand, and his troops captured half of the remaining animals before the rest scattered.
• Victor inspected Gansen and Luda's new garrison at Supply Station Number Three, which had grown to more than six hundred men, and promised to send it armor from Two Rivers Territory.
• Victor explained that the territory had stopped producing cloth-faced armor but promised to check the warehouses for any remaining stock to send to Gansen.
• Victor left most of the captured yellow sheep at Supply Station Number Three and exchanged them for supplies before continuing his journey.
• Victor rested at Supply Station Number Two, considered how future development there would be managed, and continued surveying the Lime River on his return.
• Victor and his troops reached Wood Fort Town in early January after heavy snow began falling.

Victor returned from an expedition with high-quality copper ore, which Octavia and Veronica began testing at the laboratory. After spending time with Veronica and sharing dinner with his family, Victor told Wembley that the territory was nearly ready for war and promised his father he would see a grandson before the end of the year.

• Veronica corrected Octavia for carelessly assuming the native copper was pure enough for motor coils, then let her take charge of smelting the ore.
• Victor admitted to Veronica that he had been jealous of how affectionately she treated Octavia, and Veronica explained that she saw her as a younger sister.
• Victor teased Veronica about becoming a mother, and the two flirted in the carriage before arriving home.
• Butler Downs told Victor that Wembley and Irene had arranged his favorite dishes for dinner, while Veronica went ahead to speak with them.
• Victor told Wembley that the expedition had uncovered a copper mine and other resources, and that the territory's war preparations were nearly complete.
• Wembley urged Victor to help Veronica and hoped to meet his grandson soon, and Victor promised it would happen before the end of the year.

Victor visited the Steelworks with Veronica and Octavia, learned about Octavia’s research and rewarded her with land for her family. He then arrived at Riverside, which had grown into the Two Rivers Territory’s third town, and the chapter left him there to see its industrial facilities.

• Octavia reported that smelting the copper ore had yielded 970 kilograms of high-purity copper, and Victor planned future exploration of Blue Lake.
• Octavia explained that the Steelworks had refined the copper in a modified small blast furnace, so Victor traveled there with Veronica and Octavia.
• Victor heard that Octavia was leading generator and telegraph optimization projects, and he praised her work and awarded her family thirty mu of land.
• Victor arrived at Riverside and learned that its population had grown enough for it to be officially elevated to a town, with Bob as mayor and Ramsay as deputy mayor.
• Victor planned to establish a new industrial base near Lime Wharf as the territory expanded northward.

Victor visited the Steelworks in Riverside Town and learned that winter had reduced freight-train operations because Sunflower Oil solidified in the cold. He approved two research approaches to restore service and promised rewards for the teams that succeeded.

• Bob hurried to meet Victor in the snow, and Victor gave him a fur cloak to celebrate his promotion to Town Mayor.
• Bob arranged for Victor and his companions to stay in the Arms Factory's unused expert quarters for the night.
• Rafam showed Victor around the Steelworks and said winter had only slightly affected production because they had stockpiled fuel and the mines were still supplying ore.
• Octavia told Victor that solidified Sunflower Oil had cut the freight train's operating time in half and its freight capacity to sixty percent.
• Octavia described experiments with fuel additives and a switch to a Steam Traction Engine powered by Black Oil Pine, and Victor approved both projects and offered rewards for success.

Victor inspected the Steelworks and saw its new iron rails, which were intended to replace the territory’s wooden tracks. The Steelworks had cast three batches so far and expected to produce enough rails to replace the existing tracks.

• Victor and his companions put on protective helmets before entering the furnace area, where workers poured molten iron into molds.
• Veronica led Victor to a warehouse, where Rafam revealed neatly stacked iron rails cast for the territory’s tracks.
• Rafam told Victor that the Steelworks had produced sixty-six tons of rails and estimated that thirty more batches would replace the wooden tracks.
• Victor approved of the rails and learned that they were made from leftover materials while the Steelworks maintained enough production capacity for other needs.
• Victor picked up a copper ingot with one hand, surprising nearby workers with his strength.

Victor toured the Steelworks and discussed Riverside Town’s industrial capacity with Bob, explaining why factories and workers would be redistributed. He planned to transfer charcoal production to Black Pine Territory to balance trade while building up reserves of timber and charcoal.

• Victor inspected the Steelworks, where Octavia prepared copper for experiments and Rafam showed him the new heating pipes.
• Bob told Victor that Riverside Town had over 130 factories and more than 7,000 workers, and asked him to reconsider splitting up its industries.
• Victor said Riverside Town had reached its limits and explained that he would reduce the logging camp and move its workers to factories in need of labor.
• Bob reported that the Machine Factory had produced faster saws, and Victor said he planned to develop powered logging machines.
• Victor explained that most of their timber came from Black Pine Territory and that he would transfer the charcoal plants there to balance trade.
• Victor said he had begun building timber and charcoal reserves in case Black Pine Territory resisted his plans.

Victor explained how the Two Rivers Territory could bind the Black Pine Territory through trade, then inspected the Machine Factory’s new tinplate production. He ordered tinplate sent to the cannery for canned food and told Bob to increase production.

• Victor explained to Bob how trade, a garrison, and local cooperation would make the Black Pine Territory dependent on the Two Rivers Territory.
• Victor visited the Arms Factory and Machine Factory and watched workers produce and tin-coat thin iron sheets.
• Bob reported that the factory made about 1.4 tons of tinplate per month and that a 500-milliliter can required 19 grams.
• Victor ordered Bob to send tinplate and tin-plating craftsmen to the cannery to make sealed canned food.
• Victor told Bob to find ways to raise tinplate output five- to tenfold, and Bob said the factory’s engineers were designing machinery to improve efficiency.

Victor investigated a farm steward who embezzled winter supplies, causing hundreds of indentured servants to die or become disabled, and imposed harsh penalties on the steward and the merchants who bought the stolen goods. He decided to establish an independent Supervision Department and appointed Kublai to lead it, with Powell’s supervision team placed under its authority.

• Victor returned to Wood Fort Town and reviewed documents in his office before ordering the detailed investigation into a farm steward’s embezzlement.
• Victor read that the steward had sold winter clothing and fuel meant for indentured servants, causing several hundred to die or suffer disabling frostbite.
• Victor ordered the steward’s property confiscated and his immediate family enslaved, while the merchants who bought the stolen goods faced confiscation and fines five times the amount.
• Victor told Powell he intended to establish an independent Supervision Department with authority to investigate without prior approval.
• Powell recommended Kublai to lead the new department, and Victor appointed him and placed Powell’s supervision team under it.

Vincent confronted Bard over the slow expansion of Sea Song Town’s docks, which needed to be ready for Victor’s troops to sail south in April. Bard explained that severe winter ice had stalled construction and, fearing he would lose the project and go bankrupt, asked Vincent for one hundred more workers.

• Vincent inspected the delayed dock construction and rebuked Bard for falling behind schedule.
• Bard said thick coastal ice had slowed the piling work, but Vincent refused to accept excuses and threatened to ask Levant to replace him.
• The chapter recounted how Bard had grown from a struggling merchant into a successful private contractor through projects secured with his brother’s connections.
• Bard had won the dock expansion contract with an ambitious schedule, but the unusually cold winter and a flawed construction plan left him short of progress and heavily in debt.
• Bard asked Vincent to provide one hundred workers so he could finish the docks on time.

Vincent arranged extra labor for Bard’s dock expansion and checked on the ship upgrades at the Sea Song Town shipyard before attending an emergency meeting in Wood Fort Town. Victor announced a new Supervision Department and another mobilization for the coming civil war, and Vincent pledged to finish his assigned work on time.

• Vincent refused Bard’s request to reduce labor costs but arranged one hundred workers and tools for the dock expansion, with wages due after the project finished.
• Bard learned that Vincent had offered low labor costs and future project opportunities, and he promised to complete the dock expansion before the deadline.
• Vincent visited Coru at the shipyard, where Coru reported that the fleet’s rams and angled bows were being modified successfully.
• Vincent traveled to Wood Fort Town for an emergency meeting, but his old friends could not tell him what it would cover.
• Victor announced the creation of a Supervision Department and a new mobilization for a war across the nation.
• Vincent explained the difficulties facing the dock expansion and fleet upgrade, and Victor urged him to report problems and complete both tasks on schedule.

Victor reviewed preparations for the Civil War with Lodan and learned that most supplies were ready, though the Machine Factory still owed four hundred sets of vehicle parts. The chapter left Victor aware that delivery delays were expected because the new parts had slowed production.

• Rabik worried to Weber that the new Supervision Department might affect the Commerce and Finance Departments, and Weber reassured him that they had nothing to fear if their work was proper.
• Weber explained that the Supervision Department appeared to have a separate budget and confidential personnel, and Rabik stopped worrying about it.
• Victor summoned Lynn and asked him to bring Lodan in to report on preparations for Civil War supplies.
• Lodan told Victor that military supplies and thirty-four tons of canned goods had been delivered, but the Machine Factory was still short four hundred sets of vehicle parts.
• Victor noted that the new vehicle parts and adjusted production line explained the slower delivery.

Victor ordered the logistics troops to move military supplies to Sea Song Town ahead of the planned southern campaign. Meanwhile, the Silver Maple Secret Guard tried to rally nobles against Count Colt and assassinate him, but the mission failed and few guards survived.

• Victor told Lodan to send the stored supplies to Sea Song Town, and Lodan agreed to oversee their transport.
• Logistics troops moved the supplies through the snow to Sea Song Town over several days as March arrived and northern armies gathered.
• The Silver Maple Secret Guard captain sent agents to approach noble houses and encourage them to raise troops against the rebellion.
• The secret guards struggled to gain support, while many nobles attacked them and publicly pledged loyalty to Count Colt.
• The captain failed to find a way into Iron Mountain Fortress and abandoned his attempt to assassinate Count Colt after more than half a month.
• The captain reunited with only a handful of surviving secret guards and nearly lost his temper.

Silver Maple’s court decided to send the First, Third, and Seventh Legions toward Sextus County while directing secret guards to support an attack at the Carson Mountains. After Alex reported the Duchy’s troop movements, Count Colt ordered Iron Birch’s forces to reinforce Bria County as the Civil War approached.

• The Silver Maple secret guard captain led his surviving squad out of Iron Birch Territory after abandoning its assassination mission.
• Mora approved a plan for the secret guards to gather intelligence, spread rumors about the Barbarians, and target Northern Alliance commanders near the Carson Mountains.
• Mora ordered Viscount Borey to prepare the First, Third, and Seventh Legions for deployment toward Sextus County, while Count Lagos arranged for the Sixth Legion to go to Carn City.
• Viscount Borey told Count Lagos that Count Carter was seriously ill, so they agreed to send Turas and the Sixth Legion to help command the Second Legion at Carn City.
• Alex told Count Colt that three Duchy legions were moving north, and Count Colt ordered Iron Birch’s First and Second Legions to Bria County and called on the Northern Frontier nobles to advance.