Red dragon: in charge of natural disasters

A caravan headed north along the narrow Anzetta Corridor to the city of Romulo at the southernmost tip of the empire.

The leader is a famous big businessman in the Kingdom of Thracia, one of the principals of the Pearson Chamber of Commerce, and the general person in charge of trade between the Chamber of Commerce and the Empire - Joseph Salazar.

It is said that he has one-sixteenth of the elven blood, so he is quite handsome and younger than ordinary people. Although he is over fifty, he still looks like he is in his thirties.

At this time, Joseph looked at the long and narrow valley with no end in sight, and tapped the ground with his stick impatiently: "How long until we get there?"

"Sir, if you walk out of the Anzetta Corridor, you will reach the homeland of the Burning Ember Empire."

The guard replied.

"This is basic common sense!"

Joseph was a little annoyed.

"How long has this trade route been opened? You are not even familiar with the surrounding environment!"

"Lord Joseph, this is our first time too."

The guard smiled apologetically and apologized repeatedly, and Joseph's anger subsided slightly.

In fact, there was a teleportation circle in Tahan City in the Katpa region that led directly to Isdalia, but Joseph refused the other party's help on the grounds of "looking for business opportunities."

This is of course just an excuse. In addition to being the head of the Chamber of Commerce, Joseph also has another identity - the eldest son of King Wilham and the "white glove" of Prince Bowles.

He used his relationship with the prince to obtain inside information to make a profit, seize wealth for that highness, and handle some matters that he could not personally attend.

Although their trade with the Burning Empire has been quite frequent in recent years, the Thracian Kingdom is busy with wars, and most of those transactions are solely handled by the Empire's Southern Continent Company. They only need to wait in the south to receive the goods.

Coupled with the fact that the Burning Ember Empire is heavily defended and has a complete intelligence system, the top brass of the Thracian Kingdom actually know very little about the situation in the Burning Ember Empire.

This time he went to the Ember Empire with the task of collecting empire intelligence: including but not limited to drawing maps, exploring the defense situation, investigating the status of the army, and stealing ordnance blueprints

Of course, in order to better understand the situation, they also hired a guide from the empire named Heya Gati in Tahan City.

The guide had a beautiful appearance, but Joseph always felt that her pupils were a bit like those of a reptile, which gave him an inexplicable sense of danger.

"Mr. Joseph, don't worry, we can reach Isdalia before dark, and we don't need to walk out of the Anzeta Corridor."

Heya came from behind and said softly.

Joseph was a little suspicious and asked, "Why?"

Heya smiled, stretched out her hand, and pointed forward: "The Anzetta Corridor Station is ahead. We can just take the steam locomotive to Isdalia."

"Steam locomotive."

He has heard of this term. It is a unique mode of transportation in the empire and is said to be quite convenient.

Joseph looked in the direction of his finger and saw that a clearing was opened in front of him, and metal tracks were laid on the ground, extending to the end of the valley.

The surface of the steel was smooth and flat, the color was uniform, and there were no hammer marks, dents or cracks on it. It was obviously good steel.

"Such good steel is laid on the ground like this?"

Joseph was a little stunned. Even the former Fadland Empire would not be so extravagant.

Heya smiled and explained: "Mr. Joseph, the empire's steel output should be far beyond your imagination. They will use those huge furnaces to gather all scrap steel and pig iron together.

Moreover, these are His Majesty’s assets, and absolutely no one in the empire dares to steal them. "

Joseph quickly adjusted his expression and pretended to say: "I originally thought Anzetta was just a remote and barren place, but now it seems that it is indeed richer than I imagined.

However, compared with the once holy Fadlan, this is still nothing worth mentioning. "

"Woo——"

Accompanied by the roar of the whistle, the steel giant came with billowing steam and stopped in front of the caravan.

Suddenly, everyone present except Heya opened their mouths, and even Joseph was no exception.

Some guards even thought that an enemy was coming and nervously raised their shields to block the way.

"Everyone, don't be nervous, that's the Empire's steam locomotive."

Heya smiled and made a "please" gesture, and then said: "Get in the car, Mr. Joseph.

Don’t be ashamed of it, it’s how you react to everyone who sees it for the first time. "

Joseph quickly closed his mouth, smiled stiffly, and retorted: "Compared to the steel guards of Fadlan, this is also nothing worth mentioning.

I'm just curious, is this steam train open to ordinary citizens, or does it only serve the rich and powerful? Also, what should we do with our goods? "

Heya patiently replied: "The steam locomotive is a favor given by His Majesty to all the people. It only requires a small amount of money and can be used by anyone. It is very convenient.

A poet once said that His Majesty used steel to open up the mountains, rivers and plateaus, making the distance between people infinitely closer. "

She chuckled and continued: "As for the cargo? You don't have to worry, this steam locomotive can carry up to three hundred tons of cargo.

These steel behemoths roar between north and south laden with goods, transporting thousands of tons of goods every month, selling the empire's goods throughout Fyanthor. "

Joseph took out his handkerchief to wipe the sweat on his forehead and whispered, "It's really convenient."

At this moment, what he thought of was the Burning Ember Empire's military mobilization capabilities.

You should know that not every place has a constant teleportation array, and the manufacture and maintenance of such things are extremely expensive.

And these steam locomotives can carry hundreds of tons of cargo, let alone transporting soldiers.

In other words, as long as the emperor gives an order, the entire empire's army will quickly gather in the south - this is absolutely a disaster for the Thracian Kingdom.

And these things that are obviously magical creations can actually be used by civilians! Even the former Holy Fadlan would not do such a stupid thing.

Joseph thought so.

After paying the freight of twenty-one gold nars, all the members of the caravan of nearly a hundred people boarded the train, and their goods were also moved to the freight car.

"Woo--"

The whistle sounded, accompanied by billowing gray smoke, and the steam locomotive started running again, speeding on the track and heading north.

Its speed was not slow, and it soon passed through the Anzeta Corridor and truly entered the vast Anzeta Wasteland.

Joseph looked at the scenery outside the window and secretly recorded it with the photo stone disguised as a medal on his chest, but the train was speeding and the scenery outside the window passed by quickly, so he could only record a very limited part of it.

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes.

"Is that... farmland?"

In the distance was a vast and flat field, extending all the way to the end of the horizon, with rows of neat gullies in the fertile soil.

"Compared to the farmland in the central plains, this can only be regarded as..."

Suddenly, his eyes widened and the words in his mouth froze.

I saw steel monsters with huge wheels moving in the farmland, plowing the land with their wide "mouths" and sowing seeds.

There were also billowing smoke rising from the backs of those monsters, and this scene made Joseph feel particularly absurd.

Magic.

It must be a magical creation.

These Anzeta people in the magic wilderness actually used precious magical creations to do the lowest and most humble farming work?

What happened to this world?

You use magic creations to do this?

Even in the former Holy Fadlan, spellcasters were of noble status and would never do such menial jobs.

As if seeing the shock in Joseph's eyes, Heya took the initiative to say: "That is a combined seed drill, which is also a favor given to us by His Majesty.

She looked at the farmland in the distance and sighed: "Anzeta used to be shrouded in hunger and cold, but now we have gotten rid of the plight of insufficient food and clothing.

This Lier farmland is actually nothing. The most spectacular one is the Great Matra Farmland in the north, which used to be a desolate land.

A few years ago, His Majesty Cassius personally exerted his supreme power to make the earth rise, forming tall mountains, blocking the cold wind from the north, making it warm, and allowing the endless fertile black soil to appear from the snow.

Today, 70% of the empire's food is supplied by the Great Matra Farmland. "

Speaking of this, Heya's tone has become somewhat pious, and her beautiful eyes are full of reverence and fanaticism.

Hearing this, Joseph's eyes became particularly shocked, and even revealed a hint of disbelief.

Change the terrain?

Even create mountains?

If what she said is true, then even a legendary wizard would find it difficult to do this. It is probably an effect that can only be achieved by spells above the nine-layer magic net.

Before arriving at the legendary imperial capital of Istalia, just the encounter on the road gave Joseph a great shock, and even made him feel a little panic.

Such an empire, which is full of ambitions, will really be satisfied with Anzeta and Carterpa, two not-so-rich lands? (End of this chapter)