Magic Industrial Age

Setting off again, Lorne was already part of the ruling class of the Old Continent, the most powerful Earl of the Duchy of Norman, bar none.

Naturally, he didn't need to be as cautious of the nobles along the way as before.

They even began to aggressively advance, with two hundred Earth Dragon Knights constantly pushing forward and sweeping, actively clearing out bandits and the like along the way.

These were their usual tasks, and they were quite adept at them.

With them sweeping through like this, there would hardly be any large-scale army gatherings.

If anyone wanted to threaten Lorne's safety, they would have to resort to experts or assassins.

However, although the three Calamity-class powerhouses were hidden, it didn't mean they had left. Without a sufficient number of experts of the same level, who would dare to cause trouble?

So, setting off again, the pressure from before was truly gone, and as they approached Flowerling Territory, everyone became more relaxed.

Only Lorne seemed to have fallen into some kind of madness.

Ever since Vincent and the others were sent out, Lorne hadn't left the carriage much, and even his unwavering training had stopped. Instead, he was writing and drawing, constantly searching for something.

At the round table in the carriage, Lorne wrote furiously, with every piece of parchment covered with various situations regarding Flowerling Territory.

First, they were neatly listed one by one, but later, they were constantly sketched, connected, altered, and added to, becoming a mess.

Such papers were scattered everywhere in the carriage, in complete disarray.

At this time, Lorne hadn't slept for days, his eyes were bloodshot, and stubble was growing on his chin, but he had no time to take care of it.

Lorne seemed to have fallen into his own world, pondering hard, trying to grasp a thread,

But it was elusive, and he couldn't hold onto it!

This made him extremely irritable!

His whole person was on the verge of madness and rage, as if he was about to go crazy.

Some situations in Flowerling Territory were minor annoyances, nothing much, but some were conflicts, major problems that had to be resolved!

In fact, the easiest way for Lorne to stabilize Flowerling Territory was to compromise, to compromise with all the nobles.

Restore the original system, become a noble of the old era, and almost no noble would oppose him.

On the contrary, the gathered strength could quell internal chaos and resist external harassment.

At most, win a few battles, and the County would be his County, and he would become the new Lion King.

Just like the other Raymond Earls for thousands of years!

But doing so would be equivalent to completely abandoning the development of arcane machinery and cutting off the process of industrialization.

In Lorne's view, it would be like crippling himself, a fool!

If you really wait for the tide of the times to surge past, and then you want to change, the price you have to pay will be more than just a little.

Therefore, Lorne had to find a suitable way out before arriving at the territory.

A way out that could ensure internal stability, defend against foreign enemies, and promote the development of arcane machinery.

This was really not an easy task!

But Lorne suddenly had a feeling that he had grasped the solution, the tail of inspiration.

Just a little bit more!

Just a little bit further, and it would be done!

Lorne's abnormal state frightened many people. Not to mention Lilia, even the three Fourth-Order Calamities were alarmed.

The Flame Sword Saint and the Iron Knight came more than once, wanting to interrupt Lorne's thoughts, but they were all stopped by Oliveira.

His reason was simple: the Earl is thinking, do not interrupt.

However, Madam Palacios was thoughtful, feeling that this was not a bad thing.

And this situation lasted for most of the journey, for more than ten days.

Finally, one day, Lorne went out with his sword.

He was unkempt and looked extremely sloppy, but holding the Dawnlight Rapier and the firearm Fury, he led Oliveira to find the Iron Knight, Phil Zech.

"Sir Phil, let's have a fight?"

"You want to challenge me?"

"Actually, it's not a challenge, but I want to release, to release the negative emotions accumulated in my heart, so that my mind can remain sufficiently clear."

"If that's the case, you can find Oliveira. He and you should be able to fight evenly, which would be more suitable."

"No, he's not suitable. If we fight, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold back. What I need is an opponent who is far stronger than me, so that I can output to my heart's content."

"So, you're just using me as a target. But, well, well, let me see your true combat power."

On a large open space, Lorne and the Iron Knight Phil Zech stood face to face, with a solemn atmosphere colliding in the air.

Until a gust of wind blew past, the whimpering howling sounded like a charge horn, and Lorne finally moved.

He didn't choose to attack from a distance, but instead, golden-red Battle Qi erupted, and he stepped on Gale Step, directly turning into a whirlwind and pouncing out.

The golden sword was entwined with Mach Rings and golden-red Battle Qi, the light it emitted was dazzling, turning into a swift thrust like a shooting star falling from the sky.

At this moment, the Iron Knight Phil drew his knight's longsword, and bronze Battle Qi rose, spreading outward like a tide, and entwined around the knight's longsword.

Then, the knight's longsword was held vertically in front of him!

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing was heard far away, and Lorne was bounced back and rolled out.

But the Iron Knight's expression also changed, and he had to take a step back, shaking his greatsword to remove the force.

He didn't expect Lorne's sword to have such an impact.

However, this was just the beginning!

Immediately afterwards, there was Void Slash, Battle Qi Blade, V-shaped Instant Kill, gun skills with armor-piercing rounds, and the newly learned Gale Ten Slashes.

Later on, Lorne even completely unleashed his combat power.

He first used [God's Sigh - Behemoth Heartbeat], feeling the huge pressure constantly spreading outward.

Even the Iron Knight had to use extraordinary combat skills at this moment.

He condensed his Battle Qi armor, and separately condensed nearly half a foot thick of three-sided Battle Qi shields, guarding in front of him, and forcibly resisting Lorne's attack.

Until the end, Lorne let himself go completely, and even used [Lion King's Mandate].

Then, Lorne slashed out his most peak Battle Qi Slash.

That was a strike that exhausted all his strength, almost releasing his Battle Qi in an instant, but instead, it lost its gorgeous appearance.

However, the Battle Qi Blade was as solid as substance, turning into a golden-red crescent moon, wrapped in a vortex that tore the air, and slashed directly out.

The Iron Knight actually dodged this strike!

Yes, in the incredible gazes of the Flame Swordsman Otto and Madam Palacios, he jumped up and directly avoided the Battle Qi Blade.

The Iron Knight Phil Zech's Battle Qi attribute is very unique. Strictly speaking, it belongs to the extremely rare gold element among the mutated attributes,

Moreover, it is the rare and rare bronze gold!

Therefore, he can turn himself into gold and iron, maximize the hardness, and almost possess an unsolvable defense.

To be honest, in terms of endurance, he is not as good as the Fourth-Order Oath Knight, but in terms of absolute defense, the Oath Knight's earth-based Battle Qi control is really not as good as him.

But even such an Iron Knight chose to dodge under Lorne's last slash.

And this Battle Qi Blade directly cut into the earth, penetrated dozens of meters deep, before it completely dissipated.

However, after this strike, Lorne completely collapsed to the ground.

He had saved up so much Battle Qi for so long, just to use it when needed, but he didn't expect that it would all be used up in a sparring match.

But at this moment, Lorne was also satisfied, because he finally grasped the tail of inspiration.

However, before he could say anything, he fell into a deep sleep!

……

When he woke up again, he was in the carriage. Lilia looked at him, her eyes full of heartache.

But Lorne sat up and said to Lilia almost ecstatically: "I've found a way, Lilia, I finally know what to do!"

Lilia knew what Lorne needed most at this time. She asked with a look of surprise: "Is there really a win-win solution?"

"Yes, there really is!"

Lorne enthusiastically found paper and pen, casually drew a few strokes, and said: "Before, I fell into a misunderstanding, a huge misunderstanding, always wanting to solve the contradiction itself.

But in fact, the first thing to solve is not people, not arcane machinery, but the sales channels of products!

It's the market!"

Lilia was quite puzzled and asked: "Sales channels of products? What does that mean?"

"The increase in production capacity brought about by arcane machinery is considerable, but where do you sell the produced goods?"

"Flowerling Territory is so big, and the small-scale peasant economy emphasizes self-sufficiency, and basically not many people have money.

Internal sales basically can't consume much!"

"Externally, Earl Carl Raymond has already done it, and then, the dumping of products led to heavy losses and strong hostility from the major nobles.

You saw the result, the powerful Raymond family, the direct descendants are only left with me, an illegitimate child."

"Those nobles may not be able to solve the problem of productivity, but they can solve the people who cause trouble."

"Unless the Raymond family can be as powerful as the Habsburg Empire, making everyone afraid.

But this is obviously impossible!"

"So, the biggest benefit of arcane machinery, the surge in production efficiency, but without a sales market, what's the use of increasing production efficiency?"

Lilia originally wanted to be a listener, just listening, but as Lorne explained in simple terms, she was drawn into it.

"Yes, if it weren't for increasing production efficiency, what would you do with arcane machinery?

Without a market, internal sales and external sales are not possible, what else can you do?"

Lorne smiled, smiling brightly: "This is what I thought of!"

"In fact, we can sell the products to the Habsburg Empire!"

Lilia was stunned: "Sell to the Habsburg Empire? That is the origin and core of arcane machinery, why would they need it?"

Lorne smiled: "If you have to focus on textiles and the like, that is naturally not possible.

The Habsburg Empire does not lack these either.

But, what if we sell arcane machinery, such as arcane hammer forging machines, arcane steelmaking furnaces, and other high-tech products?"

"Although the Habsburg Empire strongly promotes arcane machinery, the industrialization process has not been completed, and the country is also in a state of hunger.

As long as we produce the products they need, can we sell them to the Habsburg Empire?"

"At that time, we can exchange these products for various much-needed materials and enough gold Thalers!"

"As long as there is money, it will be easy."

"And this, I call it, Dislocation Trade!"

Another update is here, there are two more!