"Alexei, from now on, you're my, Jeremiah's, best buddy!"
"Let's raise a toast—to nitro, nitro..."
+T
"Nitroglycerin."
"A toast to nitroglycerin!"
Jeremiah gulped down Sweet Fruit Wine.
To hell with steel and lumber. With something fun that could blast a mountain flat, who needed steel and lumber?
Jeremiah would bet Gem Bay had no objections—if they did, it just meant the yield wasn't big enough!
The banquet had now ended, and the guests had all been sent home.
Watching the pirate captain in the distance clutching Alexei and refusing to let him leave, Theus couldn't help smiling.
There had been quite a few minor incidents, but overall, things had gone smoothly.
Judging by Jeremiah's state, the pirates would not be a problem anytime soon. They might even become an asset. They could sail freely through the Storm Ocean and might be able to help him obtain plenty of materials.
Such as saltpeter.
This stuff was easy to find on certain islands, especially those with lots of seabirds. More seabirds meant more droppings, and more droppings made saltpeter deposits easy to form.
There were islands like that in Blue Star's Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, Castel had no such resources, or black powder could have been mass-produced as well.
Still, it wasn't a major issue. Nitroglycerin was the better option for him.
He had brought out this explosive precisely to export it to the pirates.
Its various properties were particularly suitable.
First, it was powerful. That went without saying.
Second, it was difficult to store and hard to stockpile—perhaps disadvantages to others, but these were exactly why Theus had chosen nitroglycerin.
Its poor storability meant the pirates would have to depend on his long-term supply, while its difficulty to stockpile prevented them from using it against Castel if they ever fell out.
In