Munitions Empire

A group of people rushed into a local inn, slammed money on the counter, and exclaimed despondently, "Innkeeper! Prepare a few rooms for us."

"Certainly! Guests!" The so-called customer service manager naturally flashed a smile upon seeing the money, hurried to speak: "Please follow me, our guest rooms here can be said to be the best in the entire city."

To be honest, the conditions here were quite acceptable, definitely considered a decent inn. Only they did not yet know that there was a huge building called Silver Fox Hotel in the area.

Compared to the previous inn, other inns of this kind seemed somewhat inferior. But these people were clearly not here for enjoyment, they simply needed to rest, because they still had to hurry to another place.

"How many days will it take from here to Brunas?" An elf leading the group asked as they followed the inn's receptionist up the stairs.

"Oh, from here to Brunas, it will take roughly 20 days," the receptionist, who appeared to be about 50 years old, responded as he recalled.

"I mean at a gallop, not carrying goods," the leading elf reminded him.

The man quickly corrected his estimate: "In that case, sir, you will need about 6 days to reach Northern Ridge, and then another 2 days to arrive at Brunas."

"It still takes that long?" The leading elf clearly seemed somewhat dissatisfied, continuing to ask, "Is there a faster way?"

"A faster way? There is one. I heard that from Ice Crystal City in Northern Ridge you can transfer to an automobile, and from there to Brunas, it will take roughly a whole day to arrive," the old man answered seriously.

However, his answer was somewhat incomprehensible to them: they did not understand what an automobile was, so they also did not know what he was actually saying.

Nevertheless, they soon heard the old receptionist who was leading them upstairs continue to speak: "However, if you're just delivering a message, there might be an even better option."

"Ah?" The leading elf curiously stared at the man's back, asking, "Old sir, what exactly is the option you're talking about?"

"It's like this, we've recently set up a telegraph office here. If you want to send a message to someone in Brunas, you just need to spend some money at the telegraph office to send a telegram, and they will receive the message very quickly."

"Very quickly?" An elf with a sword at his waist asked in puzzlement.

"Yes, very quickly. A few seconds later, Brunas will have received the message," the old receptionist stopped in his tracks, turned to look at the young attendant, and said.

"That fast?" This time, the leading elf was taken aback. He had never heard of automobiles or telegraphs, but he was full of curiosity about these things.

"Exactly, that fast, but it's also very expensive. Sometimes, a single message can cost dozens of Gold Coins." The old man finished speaking and continued to lead these far-traveled elves to their rooms.

He opened the door, looked at the elves who had almost collapsed from exhaustion on their journey, and asked, "We have Brunas's famous hamburgers, Brunas pies, Brunas steamed buns, Brunas salty fish rice, guests... what would you like to order?"

"Why is everything from Brunas?" Another elf frowned, he currently had no fondness for Brunas at all.

If it weren't for the warships of Brunas blocking Southwater Port, they wouldn't have hurried so desperately here…

Moreover, based on the news they had received when they left, Southwater Port had plunged into paralysis, the Kingdom's expansion had stalled, the surrounding diplomatic environment had become extremely hostile, and the situation was very grim.

This group needed to hurry to Brunas as quickly as possible, find a way to contact the Great Tang Group of Brunas, and get them to stop their military actions against Poplar Kingdom so that Southwater Port could resume operations as soon as possible.

The plan included making concessions to Brunas, ready to pay Brunas 200,000 Gold Coins in compensation, but it expressly excluded any censure against Brunas for going to war with Poplar Kingdom.

It was less of a negotiation between Poplar Kingdom and Great Tang Group, and more of Poplar Kingdom begging Great Tang Group to spare it.

So, these elves responsible for escorting the envoys and vice-envoys were actually quite unfriendly towards Brunas. They didn't think the nation should compromise; they believed they should assemble the Fleet to punish such a presumptuous enemy.

Unfortunately... they didn't know that the Fleet they had placed their hopes in, that was ready to be assembled, had already become submersible vessels.

"Because they taste very good and are quite trendy lately. You're unaware that recently, anything related to Brunas is abundant, and whatever it is, as long as there's a slight connection to Brunas, the price is a bit higher," the old man chuckled as he answered the young elf's question.

"Sir!" Despite their exhaustion from the journey south, the leading elf inquired, "How do we go about sending a telegram to Brunas from this telegram office?"

"That I do not know," the old man said. The gossip he had heard on the way only went so far; he had no relatives in Brunas and had no need to puzzle over the one-Gold Coin per word charge for guaranteed delivery there.

Once the old man left, the group split up to start their tasks. The leading elf assigned duties to everyone: "You two, gather any information you can about Brunas and share it with us upon your return."

"You two, head to the local gambling dens and taverns, where the news is often mixed; try to understand our opponents as much as possible!" After issuing his orders, he turned to two other individuals.

Seeing them nod in agreement, he then looked to his deputy, "You and I will visit the telegram office, check out the situation there, and see if it's as miraculous as this old man described."

"Alright!" The middle-aged elf deputy nodded slightly in agreement. He was a distant relative of the Augustin Family and had recently been serving as a staff member for Marquis Augustine Reibert. He had come along with the envoy this time to ensure and oversee the interests of the Augustin Clan.

"Let's go and see... that telegram office or whatever it is!" The leading elf stood up, surveyed the group, and was the first to step out of the room.

The newly established telegram office was still quiet with little business, as the cost of one Gold Coin per word was too expensive for the average person.

It was intended for those who truly understood the value of the speed of information transmission, making money from the time difference alone! Thus, when the Elf Race's negotiation envoy entered the telegram office, he was stunned by everything he saw.

He had never seen such a business method before: individual private rooms, each with a well-dressed maid standing at the door. They were graceful and referred to themselves as personal secretaries to the guests.

They would explain in detail the modes of telegram delivery: if you had the money, you could even send a personal letter to any location with a telegram office.

There was virtually no delay, and the telegram office offered many related services. For instance, for first-time telegram users, there was a door-to-door delivery service available.

If one was willing to pay, they could even use the telegram to notify distant family members, delivering the message based on just a name and address.

Moreover, the telegram office also provided a service for mailing small amounts of Gold Coins—should the recipient lack the funds to reply, a customer could cover the telegram fees on their behalf.

In summary, the services here were very considerate, which made the elves present feel somewhat ill at ease. After hearing the usage rules, the envoy felt an impulse to send a telegram to Tang Mo.

So, he asked the girl standing before him with a smile, yet sprinkled with freckles, "That... if I want to send a telegram to Mr. Tang Mo of the Great Tang Group in Brunas, can I?"

"Certainly. However, we do not guarantee that Mr. Tang Mo will respond to your telegram, nor that he will even choose to read it," said the freckled, yet cute girl gently.

The Poplar Kingdom envoy verified once more, "Are you certain... that Mr. Tang Mo will receive my telegram?"

"If you are referring to the founder of the Great Tang Group, the esteemed Mr. Tang Mo from Leite Kingdom, then yes, the telegram will indeed be delivered to him directly. However, we cannot guarantee that he will read it or that he will definitely reply," the girl continued to explain methodically.

The elf thought for a moment and then said, "In that case, please help me draft a telegram."

"As you wish, you may begin now. I have undergone specialized training, but you'll need to speak more slowly for me to take notes," the girl sat down at the table, spread out a piece of paper, and took up a pen.

"Respected Mr. Tang Mo, I am Viscount Fitteral, an envoy from Poplar Kingdom, representing King Poplar the Eleventh to come..."

"Um, my lord, I apologize for interrupting, but... I still need to remind you to be sure, because each word sent from here costs one Gold Coin," the girl softly interrupted the elf to kindly remind him, "and the delivery charge is also quite expensive."

"..." The elves fell silent, realizing that writing a long letter was indeed... too costly.

"Perhaps we should forgo introducing ourselves... it's too expensive." For the first time, Viscount Fitteral lamented his own name, wondering why his father hadn't given him a shorter name like "Qin" or "Qiao."

Finally, the leading elf had a burst of inspiration and looked at the girl who was waiting for them, "Um, Miss, it is our first time using the telegram service, would you mind helping us draft a telegram... if you please?"

"Not at all. This is part of my job, just briefly state the purpose of the telegram..." the girl's smile became even brighter.