Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 463 - 462: One Fact, Two Descriptions

Chapter 463: Chapter 462: One Fact, Two Descriptions

Princess Rose continued, "Under such circumstances, almost half of the students, out of fear, ran away immediately. Macbeth led the remaining half of us, waiting until the aftermath of the asteroid impact dissipated, then carrying out rescue operations in White Stone City. We exerted a great deal of effort and indeed dug out many people from the ruins, but the majority were ordinary people. The living White Stone Tower Wizards were really few and far between.

Because of the energy wave targeting mana I mentioned earlier, it was truly terrifying. Therefore, unless it was someone like Macbeth, who had no more Magic Origin, or those who, for some reason, had completely depleted their mana, survival was possible; otherwise, the rest were essentially dead.

In the end, I remember there were fewer than ten White Stone Tower Wizards gathered together, and when you added those who were severely injured and close to death, there were only about twenty.

Then there was the assembly of wizards on the ruins of the White Stone Tower complex, who announced to us students, who had been exhaustedly busy for many days, that from today on, White Stone Tower no longer existed. We were told to go back to wherever we came from.

Damn it! If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn’t have worked so hard, not even some compensation, and we were just sent away with that one statement. I should have just left from the get-go."

Princess Rose couldn’t help but complain. After her complaint, she summarized, "The situation with White Stone Tower is more or less as follows: the students have all dispersed, some, like me, have returned home, and others have gone off to who knows where, possibly trying to join other Wizard Organizations, who can say.

As for the wizards, I’m not too sure. It seems like they didn’t scatter but instead gathered together, doing something I’m not quite aware of, but it has nothing to do with me now."

Having heard this, Richard nodded his head, which allowed him to have a rather complete understanding of the developments following the asteroid strike on White Stone Tower. Thinking of Gro, Nancy, Macbeth, Alex, and others, Richard let out a long breath and thought to himself, "Perhaps they all had relatively good outcomes."

At that moment, Princess Rose spoke out, "Alright, I’ve told you what you wanted to know, and the favor you asked of me, I’ve done. Now, it’s time to listen to what I want from you."

"Hmm?" Richard raised an eyebrow, "A favor? You didn’t mention this before, did you?"

"Of course I didn’t," Princess Rose replied defiantly. "If I had told you, and you outright refused, wouldn’t that be embarrassing for me?"

"But now, I can still refuse, can’t I?"

"You wouldn’t dare!" Princess Rose’s eyes widened as she spoke, "You ate the food I provided for you, and I personally cut those pieces of bread for you. Moreover, you’ve listened to so much about White Stone Tower from me! If you don’t agree to help me, then how can you have any face?"

"What do you think?" Richard countered.

"You’d still want to maintain your pride, wouldn’t you?"

"Unfortunately, you guessed wrong," Richard said expressionlessly, "What I want is brains. Surely you don’t think that just because of a few words from you, I’ll obediently undertake something I have no complete understanding of?"

"I—" Princess Rose faltered.

"Alright," Richard interjected, "Instead of continuing to come up with schemes to trap me, why not just tell me what you need help with? I generally prefer to have a clear understanding of all aspects of an issue before making a decision."

"Okay then," Princess Rose inhaled deeply before saying, "Actually, the favor I need from you is rather simple. That is to help us in Black Holy Mountain Kingdom win..."

"Hold on a second!" Richard interrupted Princess Rose, his expression slightly odd, "You wouldn’t be expecting me to lead your Black Holy Mountain Kingdom to victory in this war that’s currently ongoing, would you? From what I’ve come to understand so far, it seems this would indeed be quite difficult."

"Where on earth is your mind going!" Princess Rose glared as she spoke, "The war between Black Holy Mountain Kingdom and Luobu Kingdom doesn’t require your worry at all. In fact, it’s not difficult for us to win—do you get that? We are currently in a superior position! It won’t be long before we can pressure Luobu Kingdom into seeking peace."

"Hmm?" Richard raised an eyebrow, looking intently at Princess Rose, "Is it possible we are hearing different news? I heard that Black Holy Mountain Kingdom is defeated in every battle, no matter the land forces or the naval fleet, suffering heavy losses. On land, several defense lines have been breached, and at sea, they are tightly blockaded by the Luobu people’s fleet."

"That—," Princess Rose drawled, then said earnestly in the next moment, "That’s actually all intentional, you know!"

"Intentional?"

"Yes, intentional!"

Soon, Richard heard another version of the story about the war from Princess Rose.

According to Princess Rose, although Black Holy Mountain Kingdom was rich and strong while the neighboring Luobu Kingdom was poor and weak, Black Holy Mountain Kingdom had never bullied Luobu Kingdom. On the contrary—they had helped Luobu Kingdom through difficult times on multiple occasions.

The so-called disputed plain territory at the border was originally Black Holy Mountain Kingdom’s. It was long ago that Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, seeing the Luobu Kingdom’s shortage of arable land and difficulty in producing food, leased it to them for cultivation at a low price out of goodwill.

Who would have known that after the lease period ended, not only did Luobu Kingdom not return the land, they claimed it as their own. Black Holy Mountain Kingdom naturally wouldn’t accept this, beginning to use various methods to prove ownership and engaged in numerous negotiations with Luobu Kingdom.

And when negotiations repeatedly failed, Black Holy Mountain Kingdom was even willing to pay a hefty sum to settle the matter—considering the deal as letting Luobu Kingdom farm the land for free for all those years.

Who would have known that Luobu Kingdom’s conscience turned out to be so rotten? Discovering they couldn’t monopolize the territory, they launched an unannounced attack, marching their preassembled troops rapidly toward Black Holy Mountain Kingdom. Caught unprepared, Black Holy Mountain Kingdom faced defeat on both land and sea.

But to the upper echelons of Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, this was all insignificant. Yes, insignificant.

Why? Because they are wealthy!

Money, while it can’t settle everything, surely can settle a war—war is fought with money.

If the army is scattered, no problem, throw money at it, and soon enough it can be reorganized and expanded. Ensure that compensation is given properly, guaranteeing that families of fallen soldiers won’t have any grievances, providing one hundred percent support to Black Holy Mountain Kingdom. A never-ending supply of troops, using manpower alone could wear down Luobu Kingdom’s invading army to death.

If that’s not enough, they could hire armies from other countries to fight, for after all, what’s the point of money if not to spend it?

As for the fleet, yes, indeed, many ships were sunk by Luobu Kingdom, but those were the most outdated part of the fleet, intentionally handed over to the enemy; most were even scuttled by their own hands.

Ships aren’t precious—sailors on board are what’s valuable. Before every ship sank, the sailors were fully transferred to other intact vessels. In this way, although the naval battles always ended in defeat, the sailors’ experience grew richer. Once the ships currently under construction are launched, Black Holy Mountain Kingdom’s fleet will only grow stronger, not weaker.

In contrast, the Luobu people, for the sake of victory, put their finest troops and ships at the forefront to break the enemy lines. As the war drags on, these forces suffer heavy losses and can’t be resupplied on Black Holy Mountain Kingdom’s territory, not even provisions, leading them to weaken continuously.

Once they weakened to a certain point, the already fraught Luobu Kingdom would see its internal powers lose balance and implode—internal strife would break out, and they’d collapse without being attacked—Black Holy Mountain Kingdom wouldn’t even need to fight a real battle to win."