Chapter 295: Black Dragon City's Rapid Development
Ryan had talked to Cavo about Black Dragon City when he was in Black Wind Territory before, but Cavo's position was still uncertain at the time, and many strategic secrets were not discussed in detail.
There is no such concern now.
Kavo agreed to join the Glorious City, which means they are allies on the same front.
The two chatted as they walked towards the inner city.
Here lies the biggest secret of Black Dragon City – the mechanical airship manufacturing workshop.
Kavo: "The foreign race outside the mist? The war that destroyed the Monk civilization?"
"Yes, it's a long story..."
Ryan: "Not only have we confirmed that there is an extraordinary sixth level above the fifth level, but I now have several sixth-level genetic potions brought from the world outside the fog."
"Sixth-level potion?!"
When Kavo heard this, an incredibly solemn expression appeared on his face.
Although he knew that Ryan would not say something irrelevant, reason told him that this was unlikely.
Over the past hundred years, he has collected ancient historical materials from all over the world and solved one puzzle after another. It can be said that there is no one in the world who knows ancient history better than him.
In the nearly 100,000 years since the fall of the Monk civilization, the path to advancement to the extraordinary has been broken. Although he speculated that there are higher paths above the fifth level of the extraordinary, after all, he has touched a higher level of power.
But... a finished "sixth-level magic potion"?
This was something Master Kavo never expected.
Just when he was stunned, Ryan handed him a potion.
Master Kavo looked at the green potion with an extremely complicated expression on his face.
After all, the extraordinary paths above the fifth level have been cut off, and no one in this world has ever heard of anyone being able to refine a finished sixth-level magic potion.
The source of the finished medicine can only come from "outside the fog"!
At this time, Ryan said, "Aren't people curious about how Black Dragon City built such a large city overnight? In fact, the most important reason is that... we found the remains of a mechanical city."
After a pause, he smiled mysteriously at Kavo and asked, "Master Kavo, can you imagine that there is actually a mechanical city flying in the sky in the world?"
"A flying mechanical city?"
The shock of the sixth-level potion hasn’t brought Kavo back to his senses yet, and now a flying mechanical city has appeared?
He thought for a moment and said, "If it were modern steam technology, we should be able to create a flying steam machine in a few decades. But a mechanical city... I'm afraid it's difficult."
A city that can be named "city" must be a huge thing, and it is not easy to make it fly.
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly thought of something and looked at the closed factory in front of him with a shocked expression: "Could this be...?"
Ryan nodded and said in a loud voice, "Yes! We found the remains of a flying mechanical city!"
At this time, the two had already reached the door of the airship workshop. There was a magic ban on the steel door made of rivets and iron sheets, and no one could sense what was going on inside.
At this time, seeing Ryan coming, the high-level extraordinary person in charge of vigilance opened a small door.
Ryan made an inviting gesture to Kavo beside him and said, "Master Kavo, please come in."
Kavo had a vague feeling that he was about to see something that would refresh his cognition. He exhaled slowly and followed Ryan in.
…
"this……"
Although he had prepared himself to be shocked, when Kavo saw the huge machine in the workshop, this legendary wizard, who was known as the most knowledgeable in the world, still showed unprecedented astonishment.
This was even more unexpected than seeing the evil god's will coming!
Although the evil god's arrival was sudden, it was something we could expect.
But the steel behemoth before him opened his eyes to a completely new world.
There are no tracks, no wheels, no suspended and shock-absorbing ground moving equipment... From any perspective, this steel monster in front of us does not look like a regular mechanical city.
Could it be... a flying mechanical city?
Kavo frowned.
Everything in front of him was a bit overwhelming.
In the workshop, hundreds of mechanics are busy.
This is not an ordinary mechanical workshop. Every mechanic wears an external mechanical skeleton with various tools, allowing them to easily move steel parts weighing several tons or even dozens of tons. Precision-structured large mechanical arms and lifting equipment can be seen everywhere in the workshop...
This is a workshop with a high degree of mechanization, where the power of machinery is demonstrated to the fullest.
The Radiant City was originally
Just by looking at it, he knew that the technological level of this workshop was at least twenty years ahead of its time.
“It’s simply unbelievable…”
Kavo looked at everything in front of him, and Whitebeard twitched unconsciously.
For so many years, his mood had never fluctuated as drastically as it did today.
It turns out that Black Dragon City has such technological background!
This level of technology is even higher than that of Omar, which is known as the "holy land of steam machinery", but how did they do it?
At this time, Kavo saw a steel furnace with green flames smelting a metal that looked very special.
"Angela Black Iron?"
How could he, who was knowledgeable and well-informed, not recognize this metal that required special alchemical methods to smelt?
But then I suspected I had seen it wrong.
After all... this extremely rare metal, even in his hand, is only as big as a fist, but it is all over the ground here?
That random piece of iron at your feet must be the divine blood black iron that is worth a million times more than gold?
Ryan said: "Yes. We found an [Angela Black Iron] mine in the basin. So, we plan to use it to build the main armor of the mechanical city."
“…”
When Kavo heard this, his eyebrows twitched suddenly.
Hearing this, it feels like hearing someone say: I plan to use gems to pave a road connecting the two imperial capitals.
The feeling of being rich enough to rival a country!
If we estimate based on the current market price of [Angela Black Iron], the amount consumed by this steel behemoth is enough to buy out half of the empire of Theed or Omar. (The larger the amount, the lower the price)
And...the external mechanical skeletons of ordinary craftsmen here all use "eight-cylinder power boilers"?
As for power boilers, aren’t the best ones on the market only four cylinders?
Even for the Omar military, it seems that the six-cylinder is still in the experimental stage?
Is this eight cylinders?
After the shock, Kavo's expression returned to normal.
He also figured out that there must be a top mechanic in Black Dragon City who is far superior to Omar's "Grandmaster of Mechanics".
After seeing this, the old wizard finally understood that the strength and foundation of Black Dragon City far exceeded people’s imagination.
I originally thought that the "Flying Dragon Legion" would be invincible in the world, but I never thought that they actually had a level of technology that was unimaginable to the world.
Kavo's cloudy eyes were filled with smiles. He said with emotion: "Lord Ryan, you really surprised this old man. With this kind of mechanical combat power, Black Dragon City has already stood at the top of the world."
Ryan smiled and said, "Master Kavo, our goal in Black Dragon City has never been to become the Third Reich. The world outside the fog is what we pursue most."
After a pause, he pointed at the unfinished machine in front of him and continued, "This is a steam airship that came from outside the fog. It crashed here and we modified it. One day, we plan to walk out of the fog and take a look at the outside world..."
After listening to Ryan's story, Cavo laughed and said self-deprecatingly: "It's just that the old man has a narrow mind..."
At this moment, a sharpness that had not been seen in many years flashed across the old wizard's cloudy eyes, like the flash of lightning before the spring thunder exploded.
He let out a sigh and said slowly, "Can there be an extra space on this mechanical city? It doesn't have to be too big, just enough for my 'Valenda's Shackles of Order'..."
When Ryan heard this, he was delighted and immediately responded, "Of course!"
He had heard from Basel that the central library of the former Glory City was the holy relic that had been nurtured by the legendary "Order Sequence" of Kavo for a thousand years, and its name was [Valenda's Order Shackles].
And the Master Kavo in front of him is his real self!
…
The news that Master Kavo had come to Black Dragon City quickly spread throughout the city and the two empires.
A group of very powerful magician instructors came to the "Black Dragon Academy" and brought a complete magician training system. This also provided a way for those children in Black Dragon City who had magic talent and wanted to learn magic to learn.
"Black Dragon Academy" has the largest and most beautiful building in the city.
Universalizing education is also one of the key “innovation policies” of Heilongcheng!
One of the views that Ryan insisted on when he first built the city was that "education" must be a key project that must be given top priority in the construction of the territory.
As a time traveler, he is very clear that "education" is the cornerstone for the revitalization of Black Dragon City and social progress, and it is the only way to ensure long-term stability in Black Dragon City.
Because of the huge amount of funding, the reputation of this academy spread throughout all human territories in a short period of time.
The academy has the world's top mechanic inheritance, magician inheritance, warrior inheritance, magic potion, medicine, military...
Even culture, economics, architecture, etc. have been opened one after another.
The college not only recruits students, but also recruits top talents from all walks of life as mentors.
Those master craftsmen who had no status in other noble territories could use their skills to find a well-paid job here. If they were willing to share their skills, they could pass on their skills to others, gain people's respect, and even directly obtain "permanent residence rights."
In a very short period of time, this "talent settlement policy" brought in a large number of talents to Heilongcheng.
However, due to the limited enrollment scale of the academy, Black Dragon Academy currently only enrolls children of "permanent residents". Other temporary residents who want to study in the academy need to undergo extremely stringent talent screening.
Although it is harsh, it is a huge surprise for civilians.
Because this is the only way for civilians to learn knowledge systematically!
In fact, "college" is nothing new. There are royal academies in both empires.
However, that kind of academy only enrolls nobles.
"Knowledge" is also one of the means used by the nobles to enslave the common people.
In order to maintain social class stability, the Royal Academy only admitted aristocrats, no matter how talented the commoners were. This backward educational concept was very beneficial to class stability, but it had very limited impact on social progress.
The emergence of "Black Dragon College" broke the monopoly of knowledge.
…
On the other hand, the territory's economy also grew explosively.
In other territories, 99% of the wealth is in the hands of 1% of the noble lords.
Apart from the necessities of life, buying a few fruits is considered a luxury for the common people. They have no consumption capacity at all, and the trade economy is like a stagnant pool.
But in Black Dragon City, the booming economy is like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger!
Everyone in the city can earn money through their own labor, and because the tax rate is low, there is more surplus money. With money in their pockets, they will spend, and consumption stimulates production, which in turn generates profits, which in turn stimulates consumption... a virtuous cycle.
Consumption means goods and services.
The "commercial taxes" (agricultural taxes and hunting taxes levied by nobles on farmers) that were once despised by nobles in other territories also created huge amounts of tax revenue for Black Dragon City.
The various chambers of commerce will bring in specialties from the territories of the two empires, including fine wine, textiles, cigarettes, sugar, food, and various basic materials...
Resources that require intensive labor to produce are largely dependent on "imports".
While the Chamber of Commerce brings goods, it will also take away some high-level materials, finished mechanical equipment, magic potions, high-level minerals from Black Dragon City...
It seems that the import volume is much larger than the export volume, but the "trade surplus" is huge!
Before the two empires could react, a large amount of wealth poured into Black Dragon City.
As a result, the extremely low agricultural and hunting taxes did not bring the territory's finances to a standstill. Instead, due to the huge circulation, wealth accumulated more and more...
Everyone knows that Black Dragon City is rich, but they don’t know how rich it is.
…
Among the top leaders of the two empires, there were also some far-sighted people who saw that there was something wrong with the "trade deficit" and wanted to work hard to change the situation.
It’s easy to imagine, but it’s impossible to do in reality!
With 300 percent profit, businessmen dare to trample on all laws.
What's more, the profit from trading with "Black Dragon City" is far more than three times, even five times or ten times!
The newly built city requires a lot of materials, and the influx of refugees requires a lot of supplies...
The profits are high and the demand is growing. The goods circulating in Black Dragon City are equivalent to the combined demand of several large territories of the two empires.
Those noble merchants don't care about surplus or deficit, it is enough for them to make a lot of money.
Even if there is a policy that explicitly prohibits it, it can only ban some private chambers of commerce. For example, in chambers of commerce with official backgrounds such as the "Sunflower Chamber of Commerce", there will also be people with connections who take the lead in "smuggling".
In just a few months, the names of Black Dragon City as the "City of Free Trade", "Entertainment Capital", "City of High-end Technology Products", "City of Freedom", "City of Miracles"... spread throughout all human territories.
The senior members of the old nobles also thought about imitating Black Dragon City, lowering the tax rate, attracting merchants, and stimulating consumption...
But it's totally unrealistic!
The social system determines the route of Black Dragon City, which is impossible to imitate!
It is impossible for the nobles to give up the rights they already have and make concessions to the common people.
Just like when Ymir's attempt to "reform" Omar was strongly resisted by the old nobles, any policy that dared to touch the interests of the nobles would be resisted before it was implemented.
Various "new policies" instantly became a joke.
It also contributed to the rise of Black Dragon City.
…
The rise of Black Dragon City caught the two great empires of Omar and Theed off guard.
Originally, the old nobles thought that Black Dragon City would be the "second Glorious City".
But unexpectedly, in terms of influence and consequences, Black Dragon City is ten or even a hundred times that of Glory City!
If Glorious City was "plucking the feathers" of the two empires in the beginning, then Black Dragon City was directly "sucking the marrow and knocking the bones" to cut off their foundation!
The policy of "equality for all" gave a heavy slap in the face to the old aristocrats and this era.
In this era, everyone is "rotten", and the common people have no choice;
But suddenly a "good" appeared, and everyone flocked to it.
The two empires could do nothing but watch their population and wealth disappear.
This is because Black Dragon City's superior geographical location makes it impossible to conquer it by force.
What’s more, this new city is not a “soft persimmon”!
Now everyone knows that there are more than ten "legendary" masters in the city, including [Great Polymath] Master Kavo, [White Wolf] Bazel, [Vajra Rakshasa] Kanossa, [Sword of Justice] Guy, as well as Mafa of the Coleman tribe and several elders...
In terms of the number of top-level experts alone, the two empires combined are less than Black Dragon City.
And the invincible dragon army...
That is also the "Invincible Legion" that can kill any conspiracy or trick!
In just a few months, the population of Black Dragon City has reached tens of millions and is still growing rapidly.
The resources brought by refugees, chambers of commerce, and wasteland hunters were used to build large steel mills, forging plants, and machinery factories... Machines of all sizes sprang up from the ground, and the territory became larger and larger...
The two empires had no choice but to close their borders.
Move the city away from the Alcolon Mountains, then enclose the territory, send troops to patrol the border strictly, and prohibit all population migration.
Of course, this has also given rise to an increasingly developed "smuggling" industry, but that is a story for another time.
…
The development momentum of Black Dragon City is getting stronger day by day. The two empires are eyeing this piece of "fat meat" and naturally have not given up the desire to bite the meat in their mouths.
On this day, Black Dragon City welcomed a special team, which was the official diplomatic delegation of the Omar royal family.
