Release that Witch

Anna was quite amused after hearing Roland’s account of the Society of Wonderous Crafts.

“If those people knew that you created most of the artifacts in the book, they would be astonished,” Roland said casually as he played with Anna’s hair. “They’ll definitely listen to everything you say.”

“We do need some new blood in the Ministry of Industry,” Anna replied with a smile. “But I don’t know how much they can help.”

“They won’t be too bad, as they saw the value of that book,” Roland said while shrugging. He remembered that he had lured the Chief Alchemist to Neverwinter with only a few redox equations back then. “They even brought their families here, which indicates that they’re indeed very curious about those innovations. Given that, I believe they’ll rise to fame once they have that opportunity.”

Roland paused for a second and then went on, “Of course, before they officially join you, they have to learn from the beginning first. I’ll leave it to you. This is also the first step to build up a healthy relationship with your subordinates.”

Anna leaned toward Roland and placed her beautiful head on his chest before she said, “To be honest, I don’t know if I can do this job well…”

“You asked me to appoint you as the Minister of Industy in the first place,” Roland joked. “So, you’re scared and want to bail out now?”

Anna stretched her hand, and a sliver of Blackfire ignited her fingertip. She drew a circle in the midair and said, “Do you want me to tie you up and tickle you with the Blackfire again?”

“Er… I mean, if you don’t know how to do it, just ask Tilly,” Roland said as he averted his eyes. “I’ve heard all the Aerial Knight trainees in the pilot school fear the princess.”

Anna’s face lighted up. She exclaimed in excitement, “Right! I can ask her, but…” she hesitated for a moment and said, “I haven’t talked to her for a while, and I’ve heard since the expedition, she’s been…”

“Don’t worry. She’s fine now. I believe she’s back to normal again,” Roland comforted Anna. “Perhaps, she’ll be extremely happy to see you. You used to give exams together.”

Roland had not told anyone else about the possible resurrection of Ashes because he was afraid that everyone would bet their lives on this battle if they heard Ashes could probably come back to life.

“OK,” Anna said as she nodded resolutely. “I’ll do it!”

Seeing that Anna was no longer annoyed, Roland quickly changed the subject. “By the way, how’s the project of the Cube-powered wheel truck going?”

“I’ll still need a few more days to complete the first sample truck. It’s pretty similar to the Cube-powered car in terms of structure, but it’s easier to operate and also more stable, although it isn’t that flexible.” Anna’s manner immediately tightened into formality once she started talking about work. “Also, I don’t see any problems using it to load and unload cargo, as long as there’s no issue with the road construction.”

“What about the tractor?”

“That I’ll need more time,” Anna said while shaking her head. “The drawing you gave me doesn’t provide many details. I’ll have to figure them out on the go. Its frame and operation systems are also quite different than the wheel truck’s, so it’ll still take me a considerable amount of time to create a usable sample tractor.”

However, they did not have much time left.

The demons would only become even harder to deal with in the future. The army thus urgently needed an armored troop to change the situation. The problem was that there were not many drawings of completed models of this kind of large, ancient automobiles in the textbook for reference. Roland could only find a few drawings of spare parts in the Dream World, and he was not sure whether these parts would fit the model Anna was trying to create.

The industrial technologies in Neverwinter were not yet so advanced as to allow them to directly use modern parts. Both the caterpillar tractor and the armored trucks were consumables. Anna could not make them all by herself.

She had practically nobody to help her.

When the industrialization reached a certain level, each major project would involve hundreds of derivative subprojects. Therefore, it was impossible to sustain the whole industry with only a few learned professionals. This problem would become even more critical as time progressed. For example, Tilly had pointed out the drawbacks of the biplane and also made suggestions to improve it. However, Roland did not have anyone at the moment to work on these issues.

Roland would need an extra 50 years to solve all these problems.

However, the demons would not allow this to happen.

“Let me think it over,” Roland said slowly.

“Roland, I remember you told me that the Dream World has become more and more diverse, right?” Anna said while blinking her lake-blue eyes. It seemed that she had an idea.

“Yes, like it’s now self improving. Thanks to that, I was able to bring new materials here.” According to Lan, this was a sign that the Dream World was expanding. It was now challenging God’s power.

“If that’s the case, why not seek help from the Dream World directly?”

“Are you saying… that we ask more people to look for help?”

“No,” Anna said as she smiled slyly. “I thought of a better way.” She then whispered to Roland and disclosed her plan. “I’m not sure if it’ll work.”

Roland was momentarily stunned. He lapsed into thought, feeling increasingly excited. “This… might work!” he exclaimed.

“You can try it later,” Anna said as she stretched her legs. “If my method works, it’ll make our life a lot easier. But now, stay with me…”

…

When Roland woke up in the Dream World, he already had a wonderful plan.

Anna’s idea was very simple. Since there were no learned professionals in Neverwinter, he could, alternatively, recruit talents in the Dream World. After a long contemplation, Roland decided to found an organization under the pretext of entertainment to recuit antique machinery collectors. He did not think the organization would raise suspicions. In this way, he could provide research and technical support to the real world.

He could even test and improve the completed product in the Dream World.

It would definitely be more effective to found such an organization than conducting research online.

Nevertheless, he would need raise enough capital to start this project.

The income from fighting Fallen Evils was definitely not going to be enough.

Unless someone provided him with great financial assistance.

Roland could only think of one person in this world.

That was Garcia’s father, Garde, a member of the board of director of the Clover Group.

Roland knew that Garde, shrewd as he was, would not easily agree to support him if he directly went to negotiate with him without any preparation. Even though it was just a small amount of money for Garde, he would not invest it for no reason.

Garcia could not help him much with this matter, so he had to think of another plan.

Roland thus picked up the telephone and called the Defender of the Prism City.