On an offshore small island, the Pirates' surprise force... His Majesty Louis learned the news over the following days.
Seeing the battle at sea had been fought to such a state, Louis could not help rubbing his forehead. "A single Leviathan takes roughly fifty Adventurers traveling by ship and fighting a prolonged battle to defeat."
"There were three of them."
"Fifteen thousand Serpent Race warriors and another five thousand Merfolk Race warriors were ambushed. The Leviathans returned badly wounded, and of the other twenty thousand sea folk, only ten thousand made it back."
"Ha..."
Mikhail sipped tea beside him. "Your Majesty, they've upgraded their weapons."
"I heard Saintesses of other gods from the old traditions have appeared as well—the Saintess of the Water God."
"It looks like they intend to keep fighting and pursue them out."
Louis set the document on the table. Rather than getting angry, he clasped his hands behind his back and paced back and forth. "How are the investments in our arms factories coming along?"
Mikhail froze for a moment, then spoke after some thought. "Your Majesty, your choice was more correct than that of the other factions."
"We did not continue dabbling in cannons."
"Instead, we first made rifles, then machine guns, as well as grenades."
"Mortars—their mortar design is simple and easy to imitate."
"All of them can be mass-produced."
"The bullets have also been improved. Your scouts obtained a bullet from Grand Duke Gaowen back then."
"It had the same structure as the Northern Alliance's artillery shells—a protruding rim, making it easy to extract the casing. Bullets no longer have casing-extraction issues now."
"The imitation of the Steam Engine has also been completed."
"As for output, that is not a problem."
"All the Central Plains nations need them. They borrow our money to