I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution

【United Kingdom of Suria】

【Private Airport of Kawaventar State】

Four large fighter aircraft formed an aerial squadron and, under ground guidance, landed one after another, taxiing along the runway before finally stopping on a temporarily cleared apron.

With a wingspan exceeding 20 meters, a length of 16 meters, and a height of 5 meters, even while resting on the ground it resembled a steel beast crouching on the earth.

【Gringol Bomber】

The first generation large monoplane twin-engine bomber.

Each fourteen-cylinder radial engine could provide 1,200 horsepower. The aircraft had an empty weight of 9 tons, a maximum takeoff weight of 17 tons, and a maximum range of 1,700 kilometers.

The Alliance’s weapons were now all being modified along the path of combining them with Rune Technology. Of the 9-ton empty weight, two tons were allocated to the large rune package installed onboard, which integrated a large number of amplification magic arrays.

During flight, it could activate a streamlined wind-breaking shield around the fuselage, achieve invisibility both visually and at the magical level, while also reducing fuel consumption and increasing the thrust-to-weight ratio.

Aside from serving as a bomber, it also had various modified versions, such as radar aircraft, gunships, transport aircraft, and others.

Betty, dressed in formal attire, jumped directly down from the aircraft cabin door, not even bothering to wait for the boarding ladder vehicle to arrive.

She glanced at the double-gasbag super airship floating in midair not far away, nearly 400 meters in length, and clicked her tongue.

Soldiers from the Kingdom of Suria approached from the front. She nodded as a greeting, then looked at the Alliance Special Agent walking beside her holding a document folder and asked, “What exactly is the situation now?”

Two days earlier, Prince Bratt had been attacked by unidentified armed forces while conducting an inspection in Kawaventar State and had been abducted.

It was his first public appearance as the Crown Prince, and it had even taken place on his own territory. No one expected it to end up in such an embarrassing situation.

However, the escort troops could not really be blamed. Among the attackers was a Saint-level powerhouse. Even though Bratt had requested reinforcement from an Alliance Special Agent Unit to strengthen security, it had been useless.

Fortunately, Bratt had extremely close ties with the Alliance, and the Alliance would not stand by and watch a royal figure friendly to them meet with misfortune.

The Special Agent handed the document folder to Betty.

“Based on the intelligence we currently possess and reconnaissance from the ultra-high-altitude airship, the kidnappers have already crossed the border of the Kingdom of Pue Lent. Their current position has reached Mitra State.”

“According to the central command, the objective of this rescue operation is to bring Prince Bratt back safely and intact. Speed is essential. The King of Suria is currently not in good condition.”

“Prince Bratt possesses the national gift we presented to him. We have both the obligation and the right to ensure his safety.”

“Cross-border?” Betty asked. “What’s the authorization level?”

“Authorization A+. The Alliance’s top powerhouses cannot intervene. Each of their energy signatures is fixed and can be identified. The situation must be kept within a controllable range.”

“But aside from that, any resources can be provided to you.”

Betty flipped through the documents containing topographic survey maps of Mitra State, as well as estimates of the kidnappers’ armed forces, combat strength analysis, and other details. The corner of her mouth curved upward.

“Since when could kidnappers reach this level? The Kingdom of Pue Lent’s acting skills are really clumsy. Can we use special weapons?”

“Yes.”

“There are two withdrawal plans,” the agent continued.

“The first plan is to evacuate using an airship. With satellite-linked high-power radio communication, we can coordinate a detailed extraction point.”

“Using magical communication is not recommended. It could be intercepted by high-level mages.”

“The second backup plan is to retreat overland toward Kawaventar State if the airship plan fails. Vehicles will be reserved at designated route points, and Prince Bratt’s troops will meet you for extraction.”

“Hmm… that Saint-level guy is a bit troublesome. If he keeps chasing us, it’ll be hard to shake him off.”

She glanced at Miwei, who had just stepped down from the aircraft wearing full Exoskeleton Armor.

Closing the document folder, Betty said, “But difficulty makes it interesting. Assigning this mission to us is absolutely the most correct choice.”

Three Days Later

Ujekados

Using the route trajectory transmitted back by the high-altitude reconnaissance airship, Betty confirmed that the opposing side would most likely head toward a city in Ujekados State for resupply.

Because aside from this state, all other directions had vast stretches of uninhabited wasteland spanning thousands of miles where supplies could not be obtained. Their only options were either traveling straight from Mitra to Bas, or passing through Ujekados.

As the team leader, Betty ordered part of the squad to parachute at low altitude from a transport aircraft into a border city within Ujekados to lie in wait.

The remaining members carried heavy equipment and followed behind aboard an airship.

Nine hundred meters before the city stood a seven-shaped turning intersection that served as the only route into the city.

At a distance of 1,500 meters from the horizontal end of the “seven,” there was a small hill that overlooked the road junction from above—an ideal sniper position.

Miwei was assigned there.

After setting up a disposable anti-reconnaissance magic array created by Alliance elf scientists, Betty patted the golden-white mechanical body.

“Little Sister Wei, you get one chance. Make it count.”

“Okay…”

Miwei was fondly fiddling with the three-meter-long heavy sniper rifle in her hands and responded absent-mindedly. Seeing this, Betty smiled and shook her head before turning away to arrange the others.

This Special Operations Unit had dispatched a total of ten members, carrying two mecha. If they brought more, the load capacity of the small special-operations airship would be exceeded.

In theory, however, two were sufficient. If two could not solve the problem, adding several more would not make much difference.

As for why Miwei had joined the special operations team—it was because she had been stuck at Ninth Rank for too long.

Mitia had sent her to the Main Continent, where magical elements were richer, to see whether a change of environment might allow her to break through.

It just so happened that the Alliance currently could not deploy Saint-level powerhouses exceeding the Ninth Rank, giving her a perfect opportunity.

As the Saintess of the Holy Light Church, second only to Mitia in status, she naturally had access to all the Alliance’s finest equipment.

Moreover, thanks to her special talent, the testing and application of sniper rifles all passed through her hands.

She was also the best candidate to use what Betty called the special weapon—the AMRss-40 Sniper Cannon.

Time passed quickly, and before long evening arrived.

After a rustling sound, Betty—who was lying prone in a dirt pit, perfectly blended with the surroundings—heard a report from the reconnaissance vessel through the headset in her earmuffs.

“The carriage convoy is 1.3 kilometers from your position. Total vehicles: five. Personnel outside the vehicles: 164. Mechanical Soldiers: five. The mission target is inside carriage number four in the middle-rear section. Highest threat located in carriage number two at the front. Repeat, distance to your position is 1.3 kilometers… no further updates will follow. Over.”

“Received! Number One, wait until the first three turns are completed before launching the attack. The rest will use the muzzle flash as the signal to engage. After confirmation, enter radio silence.”

“Number One confirmed.”

“Number Two confirmed.”

“….”

Miwei, lying prone within her camouflage cover, took out the oversized custom bullet and examined it with excitement before loading it into the side breech of the weapon.

She then pushed in a cylindrical propellant charge.

She had begged Mitia for a long time to get the real version of this thing.

A hollow shaped-charge armor-piercing shell.

Its caliber was an absolutely insane 40 millimeters.

The internal explosive filling was a mixture of TNT and magic potion powder in equal proportions, producing a detonation velocity of 9,500 meters per second.

The internal trumpet-shaped liner of the shaped charge was made from Gold-Crystal Alloy, whose main component was gold.

Gold possessed better fragmentation and penetration properties.

But as for the cost…

This sniper cannon was less like a firearm and more like Mitia had transplanted the design concept of a tank smoothbore cannon onto a rifle. Even the ammunition followed the same concept.

It was essentially a miniature artillery shell.

Ordinary people absolutely could not use such a weapon—the recoil alone would shake a human to death.

But for Mechanical Soldiers wearing mecha, it was perfectly suited.