In the Greycastle palace, Tifeike held the scepter, watching the smug Chief Alchemist, Ruili. Chenisi, below the stage. []
“Do you have any leads on the alchemy formula that the defector, Boer, took away?”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. This is the latest snow powder developed by the Alchemist Association. Please allow me to demonstrate it for you.” Ruili bowed.
After receiving the new king’s approval, he waved his hand, and two disciples immediately stepped forward, each holding a leather bag. He spread out two pieces of white paper on the ground, poured the snow powder from the bags onto them, and spread them into two thin lines. One was grayish-white, while the other was much darker, almost grayish-black.
“Your Majesty, please observe. This lighter one is the snow powder previously used for celebrations, while this darker one is the newly developed rapid-burning snow powder.” Ruili took out a flint and ignited the powder on the paper. The lighter snow powder burned slowly, emitting thick smoke, while the darker one burned completely in a few breaths, also igniting the white paper underneath.
“What does this mean?” Tifeike frowned. “The trinket my dear sister obtained wasn’t just about burning a piece of paper!”
“Of course not, Your Majesty,” Ruili stroked his beard and smiled. “I wonder if you noticed the fumes released during its combustion. The faster the snow powder burns, the more fumes are released in a short period, which is the source of its great power. I will prove this with another experiment.”
This time, it was two fist-sized parchment packages, tightly wrapped. The disciples ignited the slender ropes extending from the packages and covered them with two copper bowls. Sparks followed the ropes, gradually creeping toward the copper bowls.
“Your Majesty, please note that the sound will be quite loud this time. Please cover your ears.”
As the Chief Alchemist finished speaking, a loud bang was heard. One copper bowl was flipped upside down, while the other was directly thrown onto the roof, bouncing a few times on the granite slabs and making a crisp clanging sound.
Damn it! Tifeike gripped the scepter, which nearly slipped from his hand, and swallowed involuntarily. Why didn’t this old thing say so earlier!
The two disciples brought the blasted copper bowls to the new king. He suppressed the anger in his heart, focusing his attention on the bowls. After all, the other party was the mainstay of the Royal City Alchemist Association, and he still needed his help to research alchemy weapons.
The copper bowls now looked different, as if they had been hammered hard from the inside. The edges of the bowls were bulging.
“I have repeatedly verified that the power of the snow powder lies not in the burning itself, but in these gases, which is the truth behind Boer's taking the formula.” Ruili stood in the center of the hall, speaking eloquently. “If the amount of snow powder is increased and tightly compressed into a ball, its power is enough to tear apart armor and dismember the human body. I believe that this new type of snow powder will inevitably replace swords, spears, bows, and arrows. Even a well-trained knight cannot defeat a commoner clad in snow powder pouches.”
This statement caused a stir. Tifeike saw that the faces of several knights in the hall had darkened significantly. Weimasi, the Steelheart Knight, seemed to want to step forward and argue with the other party. He quickly tapped the floor with his scepter. “Silence!”
After everyone lowered their heads, he looked at Ruili. Chenisi. “Is the formula that the defector took away exactly the same as the one you developed?”
“No, Your Majesty,” Ruili shook his head, a hint of disdain in his words. “Although niter is a common item in alchemy workshops, the stock is not excessive. When grinding and preparing the snow powder, he just happened to discover this formula. Even if he wanted to test it further, that little amount wouldn’t be enough for him to use it a few times. My rapid-burning snow powder is the optimal formula derived from numerous tests, and its power is far greater than the product of mere chance.”
“That’s good,” Tifeike felt relieved. Although he knew that there were many of Jiayixiya's people already arranged in the royal city, he did not expect that even the Alchemist Association had her confidants. This defection was planned by a confidant, who took away the alchemist Boer and more than a dozen apprentices. Originally, it was not a big deal. Alchemists were very rare in other cities, but there were at least twenty in the royal city. Losing one was not important, but this person happened to discover a highly destructive snow powder before contributing the alchemy formula to the association, and then disappeared without a trace the next day.
Tifeike's
secret agents only managed to capture the confidants who stayed behind to confuse the issue, but failed to intercept Boer and his party. After learning the news, he immediately ordered the Prime Minister to acquire niter throughout the city and demanded that the Alchemist Association reproduce Boer's snow powder formula as soon as possible. Now, after two months, there was a clear result, which made him quite satisfied. Even this old fellow, who was slightly disrespectful to him, looked more pleasing.
Tifeike cleared his throat. “Well done. I will reward you with twenty-five gold dragons as a reward. In addition, I will open a snow powder workshop in the inner city of the royal capital to produce this rapid-burning snow powder in large quantities. You must not slack off and should further research its uses. If it can truly be like what you said, allowing commoners to defeat knights, it would be fine to reward you with a title and territory.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
After the Chief Alchemist left, Sir Weimasi couldn’t help but stand up and say, “Your Highness, although this thing looks scary, it is impossible to use it to defeat knights. As you have seen, it needs to be ignited to trigger, and the range of damage is only about half a step. Before a commoner can get close to me, I have dozens of ways to make them fall to the ground and die. Even if they get close, I can kill the opponent during the ignition gap and leave calmly. Ruili’s statement is just the conjecture of someone who has never been on the battlefield.”
“We also think so, Your Majesty.” Other knights spoke up one after another.
“That’s why I asked him to continue exploring better uses,” Tifeike comforted. “For example, shortening the ignition time, or being able to throw it, etc. Of course, no matter what kind of weapon it is, I believe knights will do better than farmers.”
Although he said that, he also had a hint of disapproval in his heart. Commoners were indeed useless. They were cowardly, ignorant, and afraid of death, but with the control of pills, snow powder could become a very powerful weapon. At least when attacking city gates and shield formations, just a few berserk militiamen clad in snow powder could get close to the target and tear a hole in the solid defense line.
At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door. A guard walked anxiously into the palace hall, knelt on one knee, and said, “Your Majesty, the militia team you sent to the Western Territory seems to have suffered heavy losses. Now the defeated soldiers have returned to the royal capital and have brought back a letter of questioning from Roland. Wimbledon. Now many people know about this.”
“What?” Tifeike was stunned. “Quickly shut them up. Bring all the survivors to the castle!”
……
In the castle courtyard, a group of ragged militiamen knelt on the ground like mud, begging, “Your Majesty, please have mercy and grant us some pills. I really can’t take it anymore.”
You group of trash, besides consuming the enemy, you are useless. Living is also a waste of food. You dare to ask me for pills? Tifeike looked at these people coldly and asked in a deep voice, “How exactly did you lose to your opponent? What was the battle process? Whoever can explain it clearly, I will give them the antidote.”
The crowd immediately clamored, “We were attacked on the ship, and the fleet was quickly in chaos. The knight ordered us to land and gather, but even after landing, people kept shooting with Gongnu, and it was very dense. We couldn’t fight back at all. The knight surrendered first, and we followed… surrendered.”
“What about the knight in charge?”
“I… I don’t know. They took us back to the camp, but we didn’t see the knight.”
Tifeike frowned, his voice colder. “How did you come back?”
“Prince Roland let us go,” one person said quickly. “He also gave us a letter to give to you.”
“You?”
“Yes, I have one too!”
“Your Majesty, I also have a letter!”
A group of people shouted and took out Roland’s letters from their arms.
Damn it! Did he really send this thing to everyone? Tifeike motioned for the guard to take the letters and found that the same passage was written on all the papers.
Your folly saddens me, Tifeike. Wimbledon. Repeatedly invading the Western Territory is a serious mistake, and you will pay the price for it. I will attack the royal capital at the beginning of the second month of autumn, and you will find that you are not as safe in your position as you think.
At that time, all the residents of the royal capital will see that your throne is already crumbling.
Roland. Wimbledon. (。、，Your support is my greatest motivation.)