Munitions Empire

"The population on Dongwan Island is now about 200,000, distributed along the coastal areas on the west side.

Originally, there were more than 400,000 people from Zheng Country here, but after the Shenguo occupation, they began massacring the people of Zheng Country, which reduced the native population by about half," Luff glanced at the document in his hand and then looked up to continue speaking to Tang Mo.

The data was actually very inaccurate, just a rough estimate based on some temporary statistics.

The exact figures were estimated to be available after two months, as many civilians from Zheng Country had fled into the deep mountains to hide, and it would take time for them to come out.

However, for an island the size of Dongwan, a population of 200,000 could indeed be considered sparsely populated. Population growth is not something that can be rushed; it can only rely on immigration or accumulation, and it’s a task that takes time to build up.

Time was exactly what Tang Mo lacked, so he was indeed very angry about the goblins from Shenguo massacring the civilians of Dongwan Island.

Upon hearing the temporary figures from the military, Li’ao was also infuriated, "Damn it, that’s our population! Those unappreciative bastards! Don’t they know how many years it takes to accumulate that many people?"

"No worries, they will have to make up for our losses," Tang Mo said with a cold laugh, taking out a cigarette and putting it in his mouth.

"Compensate?" Li’ao was startled.

Tang Mo lit the cigarette, very confidently asking, "What do you think, if I demand Shenguo to compensate us with 200,000 laborers, will they agree?"

As the helmsman of the Great Tang Group, he had already thought of how to extort Shenguo and get them to come up with a compensatory solution.

Luff also scoffed, "If they knew the extent of their loss, I think they would agree."

The military was aware of just how much Shenguo had lost over the past dozen days. No one could continue waging war with such massive losses. No one could!

"But are we just going to let Shenguo off just like that?" Li’ao looked at Tang Mo again, somewhat reluctantly, hoping to get an answer from him.

Tang Mo sighed, replying with some reluctance, "I know you’re not content, and I’m not either, but unfortunately, there’s no way around it. We don’t have the capability to attack the large island of Shenguo in the short term, because we lack sufficient transport and weapon resupplies for the landing troops."

"If we were to forcibly land on Shenguo, we would end up in a tough battle and, in the short term, unable to decide a winner. A prolonged war would hold back our development and destabilize our economy," Luff added in explanation.

"Alright, I understand," Li’ao said disconsolately.

Tang Mo reassured him, "Since we can’t annihilate Shenguo in one fell swoop, why not shake them down? Bluff them and make them compensate us with plenty of stuff..."

...

"Grandpa!" Holding a "bundle" of tents, Liu Zhu had a look of unprecedented happiness on his face. In his past memories, whether living under the rule of Zheng Country or surviving under the occupation of Shenguo, it seemed that neither was as cheerful as today.

Today, just today, from the morning until this moment, everything he saw was overturning his past understanding.

The Great Tang Group’s supplies were incredibly abundant, so much so that many of them were carelessly discarded on the beach, as if they cost nothing at all.

Naturally, no one would take back the raincoats that the Great Tang troops had left for the women to cover themselves, and in addition to that, Cao Fei took Liu Zhu and some of the island’s native inhabitants to pick up a lot of scraps.

The Rangers’ job, since the end of the landing campaign, had become searching for the island’s native inhabitants and helping these people return to normal life as quickly as possible.

"What’s this?" The old man temporarily in charge of the surviving villagers looked at the thing that Liu Zhu was holding with some astonishment.

Liu Zhu didn’t speak. Following the steps demonstrated by Cao Fei, he quickly set up a tent, prompting gasps of amazement from the women.

They had never seen a "house" that could be set up so quickly, and even though other military forces also had tents, they had never seen a tent that could be set up so easily and quickly like this one. ȓАɴỐ𐌱Еš

"These are canned goods, and biscuits with a very long shelf life... Look, do you know what this is? This is sugar! Very tasty! Sweet!" Liu Zhu excitedly introduced the things he had brought back to the people around him.

Not far away, Cao Fei, having put down the things he had carried back on the ground, left it to the women, who were no longer so afraid of him, to divide up among themselves.

Stay tuned to empire

Frankly, he still felt that the things he and Liu Zhu had managed to bring back were too little—while they were picking up this stuff from the beach, they even saw people driving trucks to haul the supplies, a vehicle obviously able to carry far more than two people could.

Despite some regrets, Cao Fei already felt a great sense of accomplishment knowing that these beggar-like people had something to eat and a place to lie down.

Before he became a sinner and was exiled to Brunas, he was nearly indistinguishable from the people here. Until he set foot on the ship, he had never imagined that he could one day return, bringing so much with him and offering hope to those who suffered and endured hardship.

Perhaps, this was the reason why the gods allowed him to live until now. He smiled slightly, twisted open his water canteen, took a sip of the clear water inside, and immediately felt a refreshing coolness seeping into his heart and spleen.

In the past two days, he and Liu Zhu had discovered many mass graves. The surrounding seven or eight villages had all met with disaster; some had no survivors left, while others had lost the majority of their inhabitants, similar to Liu Zhu’s village.

The loss of life in the two large cities within Zheng Country was relatively smaller. Due to the dense population, the goblins from the enemy nation feared causing greater chaos and thus temporarily refrained from targeting Dongwan and Fengshun.

Nevertheless, thousands of people in these two cities had still perished. Many were killed simply because their houses were desirable, which were then forcibly taken over by enemy soldiers, leaving the property and homes to be looted by the murderers.

Cao Fei felt extremely fortunate, fortunate to have returned, and to have brought back a 98K rifle. He felt blessed to rescue his compatriots from the clutches of the devil.

A little girl wearing a raincoat approached. She had a pair of clear, large eyes. The petite girl curiously sized up Cao Fei, who was dressed in jungle camouflage, while her oversized men’s raincoat hung loosely on her frame.

Cao Fei noticed the skinny girl and, after rummaging through his own belongings, pulled out the remaining bread from his food bag behind his waist and handed it over.

"You’re a good person," the little girl said as she took the bread but didn’t leave. Instead, she spoke up shyly.

Cao Fei laughed and hung his water canteen back on himself, "I’m not a good person. I’m a sinner. Do you know what a sinner is?"

The girl nodded and then shook her head, "I know about sinners, but you don’t seem like one. You’re a good person."

She spoke defiantly, seemingly sure of her judgment. Cao Fei shook his head with a smile, "I am indeed a sinner. According to Zheng Country’s laws, I should never be able to return here in my life."

"Will you leave?" the girl asked again.

"Well... how should I put this, I will leave. I’ll head to Zheng Country, to King City... Why am I telling you this... you wouldn’t understand," said Cao Fei with a self-deprecating laugh, rubbing his nose before getting up to leave.

"Can I marry you?" The girl, seeing Cao Fei about to leave, suddenly became nervous. Some women in the distance were also looking this way, and it seemed a few elders were sizing up Cao Fei as well.

"Ah?" Cao Fei was startled, not expecting such a bold proposition from the girl and was at a loss for words.

"My man is dead. If you hadn’t come, I would have starved to death. Please have mercy, take me with you..." The woman’s voice grew sadder, and she suddenly knelt beside Cao Fei.

Cao Fei was completely unsure how to react—if this had been in the past, he might have laughed and taken the woman in without any psychological burden.

But he was no longer the person he used to be; he felt he hadn’t done anything to deserve taking advantage of someone in distress. And yet, when he saw the skinny figure kneeling before him, he felt a pang of pity because of all the wonderful things he had seen.

If she had been born in Brunas, maybe she would be... one of those schoolgirls in uniform walking on the bustling streets, respected as an honored student.

Even as a soldier like him, when confronted with such a scholarly young woman, would feel envy, consider her out of his league, and shyly avert his eyes...

"Please," the girl implored, looking up at him. Cao Fei could see she was only about fifteen or sixteen, gaunt and still holding tightly to the bread he gave her, afraid to let it go.

Cao Fei thought that if it weren’t for the bread in her hand, the girl would probably already be clinging to his leg.

With a sigh, Cao Fei reached out and tousled the woman’s dry, yellow hair, raising his voice as if to vent the indignation in his chest, "You’ve all got it wrong! From now on, you don’t have to beg anyone for anything! You will have food to eat, clothes to wear, books to read, the dignity of being human! Only in Great Tang can you live like a human being!"

"You’re all mistaken!" He glanced at Liu Zhu and ran off toward the distance, crashing through the obstructing branches without looking back.

The elder looked at the girl still kneeling on the ground, her face full of bewilderment, then turned to Liu Zhu and sighed, "What have we done wrong... We’ve taken food, so much... stuff. How can we rest easy without giving up a few women in return..."

He had seen too much and experienced too much... Whether it was the high-ranking officials of Zheng Country or the thugs from the enemy nation, weren’t they all the same?

They demanded women, gold, and food... They never left the common people a way to live, treating human lives as worthless.

As an elder, how could he have been wrong, after witnessing how many people lost their lives to arrive at such an understanding... Where had he gone wrong?

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