Munitions Empire

Chapter 66: 66 hurts feelings

"He said that?" Tang Mo's face wore a playful smile as he put down his pen and looked up at Wes, "The owner of the place you often buy intelligence from wants to cooperate with me?"

"It seems so, and he also agreed to help find the intel we want from Shireck," Wes shrugged, "He hopes to talk to you."

"No problem, I have all the time in the world!" Tang Mo felt that Lady Luck was truly perched on his shoulder lately, bringing him pillows just as he fell asleep.

The attendant of that Beiji, had inadvertently presented himself at his doorstep, and now that he was thinking of setting up an intelligence agency, another agency conveniently showed up...

He even felt that this might be the legendary protagonist halo; capable underlings around him seemed to have a tendency to bow their heads in allegiance.

At that moment, Tang Mo was even a little impatient because for him, still so fragile, every increment of strength heralded a transformation.

Reflecting on this, he tapped his fingertips twice on the blueprints in front of him and spoke to Wes, "Although letting them dangle a bit longer, whetting their appetite, seems more in our interest... the current situation is, we don't have the luxury to waste time on such pointless psychological games."

After saying this, he issued a direct command and instructed Wes, "Go again, tell the manager of the Silver Fox Tavern that I'll treat him to dinner tonight."

"That's a good idea. Do we have anything tasty for tonight?" Wes perked up, agreeing while asking.

"Perhaps... you could bring back a fish when you return?" Tang Mo knew there wasn't much spare cash in his hands; in fact, he never really had any to speak of.

Wes's expression suddenly deflated, and he shrugged his shoulders, saying helplessly, "I really wish you'd treat yourself better."

"Don't worry, once I have money, you'll see what it means to throw gold around," Tang Mo laughed and then bent down to continue drawing on the blueprint.

Wes couldn't make head or tail of the blueprint Tang Mo was drawing, because it was a complex part in a three-view drawing.

If someone familiar with these parts saw it, they would realize that Tang Mo was drawing the components of a machine tool.

Tang Mo had always been trying by all means to enhance his industrial production capacity, and these precision machine tools, which had undergone countless improvements and had been developed over a hundred years, were a crucial support for his industrial revolution.

"I hope so." Wes nodded and then turned to leave Tang Mo's room. Just before the door closed, Dwarf Mathews walked in with an odd expression on his face.

He shut the door behind him, then walked over to Tang Mo and said, "Indeed, that thing started spinning, and I can't wrap my head around it, so I came here to discuss it with you."

"There's nothing surprising about that; it's just an application of electricity," Tang Mo replied nonchalantly, as he had grown accustomed to electricity before crossing over to this world.

"Electricity... to me, it's an unfamiliar word," Dwarf Mathews uttered in his resonant voice, "but... it truly is something grand."

That unfortunate protagonist was jokingly referred to as a "human-shaped self-propelled drafting machine," who also dedicated himself to the innovation of technology every day, creating many advanced blueprints, heralding many technological breakthroughs.

Compared to that fellow, Tang Mo's situation was clearly worse. He wasn't a lord, had no military or territory of his own, and didn't even have enough funds for development.

How he wished for some madman to discover this potential stock and invest a hefty sum of billions all at once, allowing him to immediately complete the accumulation of initial capital.

Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky and could only expand his factory bit by bit, train new recruits in stages, and start teaching little by little...

"Alright! May I ask, those strange substances wrapped in copper wire, are they a new material you invented?" Mathews bowed and then headed for the door; after opening it, he looked back and asked.

Without lifting his head, Tang Mo replied, "That's rubber. We had some stocked up in the warehouse before. A part of it was used for the steam engine's gas valves, and the rest were made into electrical wire insulation."

With his question answered, Mathews's mood clearly brightened. Although he still didn't understand the series of questions about electricity, at least he could be sure of one thing—Tang Mo would definitely tell him all about it in time.

What he didn't know was that, in the room, Tang Mo, whose thoughts had been prompted by him, sat with a face full of worry.

As soon as Tang Mo mentioned rubber, he suddenly felt immense pressure for raw materials: Brunas, where he resided, did not produce rubber.

This precious rubber material had to be shipped over the sea, available in limited quantities and not cheaply priced.

Tang Mo, aiming to develop industry, was extremely sensitive to these crucial industrial materials. He immediately realized that Brunas, the place he started from, was actually not suitable for large-scale industrial production.

While it had coal and iron, it lacked other things: rubber from the south and the so-called industrial blood, oil!

Without these two materials, Tang Mo's industrial expansion couldn't be completed, or rather, he couldn't truly establish a self-sufficient industrial base in Brunas in the short term.

Games were more convenient, Tang Mo lamented in his mind. If this were a game, just deploying a base vehicle would solve all problems!

Tang Mo rubbed his temples and started pondering how to potentially (co)operate (laborate) with the representative from the Silver Fox Tavern he would meet later.

Even a mosquito's leg is meat; any force that can be united or incorporated is too precious for him right now.

To face the upcoming waves, he felt he should enjoy this dinner thoroughly. If the Silver Fox Tavern proved useful, then he would recruit them.

As for the cost... isn't talking money too upsetting? Right?

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