Munitions Empire

"I hear you've kept a little orc cat-girl by your side?" After a spectacular and fierce bout of wrestling between two, Alice leaned against Tang Mo in bed, tracing circles on his chest with her fingers.

"The orcs sent her over…" Tang Mo really wanted to reach into his clothes for a cigarette, but he was simply too lazy to move at this point.

A smirk filled with deep meaning spread across Alice's face as she teased Tang Mo, "In that case, why don't you give her to me? I'll keep her by my side and treat her like a real sister, how about that?"

"Let's talk about that later," Tang Mo said, embracing Alice, with an air of a king who dodges the topic. Indeed, all those harmonious harem scenarios in the novels are deceptive.

Every woman harbors jealousy, and those men with multiple wives and concubines are unlikely to treat them all equally.

So, a successful man can certainly collect many women, but it's essentially a real-life version of 'Empresses in the Palace,' managing to maintain a facade of harmony is pretty much the limit.

"Hahaha!" Alice, upon hearing Tang Mo's insincere promise to discuss it later, laughed until she was shaking like a leaf, "I knew you wouldn't bear to part with her. Aren't all you men like that? Always indecisive, isn't having me enough for you?"

That's not something you can say lightly. I've seen plenty of women, but it's the first time I've come across a cat-girl. If I hadn't met her in person, how would I know I carried the gene for a cat-girl fetish?

Tang Mo lamented in his heart and then awkwardly changed the subject, "It's so rare that we meet, why discuss such things now..."

"Alright, alright!" Seeing Tang Mo's embarrassment, Alice knew that dwelling on this matter would only cause trouble for herself and the man she liked.

Not to mention far-off matters, even within the schools of Brunas, wasn't there a notorious big sister figure named Yulin? The little lass was as cunning as they come, practically considering herself Tang Mo's official wife already.

A couple of days in school, and her arrogance was unmatched—as if the other women who couldn't keep up with Tang Mo's thoughts were all as insignificant as chickens and dogs in Yulin's eyes.

Alice, in fact, had considered furthering her education at school, knowing well that Tang Mo's institution offered many interesting subjects.

But she still had vast estates to manage, the legacy of her father that she couldn't just abandon.

Every time she thought about it, she felt melancholic, so she could only get a full set of textbooks from Tang Mo to study by herself, becoming a graduate of the Northern Ridge Women's Academy in all but name—her major was in economics.

Since there was already a formidable queen in the Great Tang Military Academy, Alice didn't really pay much attention to another cat-eared girl.

She had been in noble circles for so long that she naturally knew and was accustomed to most nobles having a whole host of lovers and concubines.

Actually, her father, Ronin Fisallo, was the outlier, having loved only Alice's mother throughout his life, and even after her death, he did not remarry.

"I know not just any woman can catch your eye, so I can't be bothered with such things... You should be more concerned about your little sister Yulin. Make sure she doesn't cause trouble for Yue'er at school," Alice snuggled comfortably against Tang Mo, setting up a facade of obedience.

In truth, there wasn't really such a thing as male or female dominance in the world; it was just an excuse for the downtrodden to justify themselves. No man dared to show his dominance in front of Wu Zetian, and it was likely that no woman would cry for equality and freedom in Genghis Khan's tent.

In front of capable men, women often come across as gentle and lovely. Conversely, they can be irritable and strong-minded—a reflection of the author's own low status within the family.

Alice knew that Tang Mo was not a womanizer, wouldn't think about stripping every woman he met; it took him quite a while to even accept her advances beyond friendship.

Considering her beauty as the standard, a goddess that Tang Mo would actively pursue was probably as rare as a phoenix feather or a unicorn horn.

She had also heard that the new darling of the fashion and art world, Susan, boosted by Tang Mo, had long aimed to climb into Tang Mo's bed.

Unfortunately for her, Alice knew that the songbird had not succeeded to this day, Tang Mo hadn't even taken the initiative to touch her hand.

This filled Alice with a sense of accomplishment because, until now, although many different women had appeared around Tang Mo, she was the only one who had managed to lay in bed with him and talk about life and aspirations!

"I'm destined to be busy, you know that, and soon I'll be heading to Dragon Island…" Tang Mo meant to say he'd be too occupied to think about women.

But to Alice's ears, this inevitably caused some disappointment. For a woman, having her beloved man too busy to spend time with her was more disheartening than him having time to cater to other women as well.

So she spoke with melancholy, "I know... we're going to part ways again. And this time, I can't see you often, even by train."

"It's not as bad as all that, I'll still come back to Brunas often," Tang Mo realized that Alice was upset about him not being able to be with her, so he quickly tried to explain.

Alice's mood brightened a bit, she nuzzled Tang Mo's chest with her soft hair, finding a more comfortable position, "Mm, I will also often go to Dragon Island..." Explore new worlds at empire

"I've looked at the economic reports from Northern Ridge." Tang Mo was distracted by her actions and hurriedly found a serious topic to dispel his improper thoughts.

After several hours of exertion, he was out of strength, okay? By now, Tang Mo had entered sage mode, truly embodying the composure of a sage (albeit pretending), unmoved as Hui Shi under the willow.

"How is it?" Alice asked curiously, just like a student waiting to have her homework checked.

Tang Mo affirmed her because Northern Ridge had indeed presented a very impressive report card over the last six months: "Surprisingly good, it seems the books you read have been of great help to you."

Under Alice's leadership, Northern Ridge had built its own large-scale steel smelting base, expanded its steel output, and increased the production speed of end products like steel rails and screws.

The industrialization level of Northern Ridge was now quite high, to the extent that even Wolf City had begun to widely adopt electric lighting.

The telephone lines from Northern Ridge to Brunas were being laid, and they were also constructing an experimental power supply line to test the performance of transformers and the feasibility of long-distance power transmission.

All this was technological reserve; though Tang Mo could find relevant blueprints on his own computer, whether such technologies were truly useful ultimately had to be thoroughly understood by those implementing them.

Alice felt a touch of pride; she had self-studied Tang Mo's books and had indeed grasped their essence.

However, she was even happier about the fact that Tang Mo had provided her with a group of capable assistants—these girls from Brunas were each clever and remarkably skilled: "Your economic theories in the books are profound, and I only understand the surface. But the students you sent me are quite good."

"I'm glad I could help," Tang Mo was also satisfied with the girls who had gone to Northern Ridge; they had demonstrated capabilities and a level of ability that transcended their era.

Alice never ran out of praise for them. With their help, she was able to carve out time to visit Tang Mo: "They are all excellent, and their knowledge is extensive. Sometimes I even feel a little envious of them, being able to delve into such deep economic theories."

"You've actually expanded the workforce by forceful means from 40,000 to 90,000... The approach is a bit extreme, and it may provoke dissent from many." Tang Mo noticed the details of how Northern Ridge expanded its workforce in the report.

"It won't happen, on one hand, I've increased their remuneration, on the other hand, I have promised them sustenance. Most of them are children who would otherwise be idle at home, so I thought it made sense to bring them to the factories as apprentices," Alice said languidly, yawning comfortably as she spoke to Tang Mo.

"You should still be careful," Tang Mo advised.

"Okay, I'll ask them not to be so rough," Alice's hand glided over Tang Mo's chest, soft and smooth, and her gaze suggested... she was doing it on purpose.

Tang Mo caught her mischievous hand: "Cultivating barren lands to sow cotton is a highlight. Some regions in Northern Ridge have a climate well-suited for growing cotton, better than farming crops."

"Isn't it because your factories require a large amount of cotton that I started planting it?" Alice attempted to break free from Tang Mo's grasp with a mischievous smile, but inadvertently revealed her smooth, slippery shoulder.

"Thank you," Tang Mo conceded the struggle.

"You know... we don't need to say thank you to each other," Alice finished and kissed Tang Mo's lips.

...

"As a secret weapon, the C1 submachine gun has already been sent to Northern Ridge, and I've also sent people to train your guard and instruct them on this new weapon," Tang Mo said, lying more saint-like on the bed after an hour.

"I know," Alice's voice was as faint as a mosquito.

"I'm also keeping an eye on the latest upgrade to the 105mm howitzer. Aside from the special 122mm caliber artillery supplied to Ice Cold Kingdom, your artillery could be said to be the most powerful field artillery in the world," Tang Mo continued, looking at the ceiling.

"I know," Alice whispered again.

"As a new weapon, armored cars will sooner or later shine on the battlefield, replacing the cavalry, becoming the new darling of the battlefield. Have you seen the brand new armored cars?" Tang Mo asked further.

Alice's response was still the same distracted reply: "I know!"

"..."