Not to mention... According to daily intelligence reports, over in the Star Forging Territory, there's a type of metal—Burning Ember Sunken Iron, which possesses an extremely strong capacity to conduct Fighting Energy.

If it could be mixed with Cold Iron for trial manufacturing, it might be possible to craft a batch of combat equipment specifically for the knight class, forming the prototype of the Red Tide Elite Knight Order.

But that is for later; the most important thing now is to keep pushing forward with this meeting.

Louis came back to his senses and scanned the industrious craftsmen gathered around the conference table: "I've noticed all your efforts during this period. You've done very well."

Just a simple sentence, yet it flowed like a warm stream from above into the hearts of everyone present.

A compliment from the Lord himself!

The craftsmen's eyes turned slightly red, and a lump formed in their throats, as their long hours of silent dedication in the furnace and flames seemed visible and acknowledged by the great Lord at this moment.

"It's what we ought to do, for Lord, for this land," Mike said softly, with a gleam in his eyes.

Many veteran craftsmen also nodded firmly.

"...Lord really holds us old rough folks in high esteem."

"Haha, I'm happy to forge iron for Red Tide my whole life."

"Lord Louis is the backbone of us working folks."

A wave of enthusiasm surged along both sides of the conference table, even Bradley couldn't help but nod slightly.

At this moment, Louis smiled faintly and discreetly drew out a roll of blueprints he was carrying and spread it open at the center of the table.

Everyone immediately fell silent, their gazes converging on it.

On the blueprints were not intricate urban designs, but rather sketches of mechanical structures, with clean lines and clear annotations, evident of being drawn by Louis himself.

Standing at the head, Louis steadied the corner of the blueprint with one finger while gently pulling away a translucent sheet overlay with the other hand.

"The first item: a foldable wooden and iron barricade, paired with a Burning Ember Oil Fire system."

The paper gleamed with light, the complex yet meticulous design depicted on the blueprint.

A three-section interlocking folding structure resembling a beast's exposed spine, every spike angled precisely.

Inside, a dense network of pipelines leads to an oil reservoir and terminal nozzle, ultimately connecting to a central trigger ignition core.

"Requiring only two people to operate, it unfolds in three seconds, ignites in ten, instantly establishing a line of flames.

For use at mountain passes, valleys, and narrow roads, capitalizing on the terrain to abruptly halt the Barbarian Race's charges," Louis introduced steadily.

As soon as he finished speaking, Mike slapped the table with a boisterous smile on his face: "With a thing like this, the Barbarian cavalry may charge fast, but they'll roast their bellies!"

A metal craftsman in the back row, wearing goggles, frowned and muttered, "But with such thin oil pipes, won't an outside petroleum shot make it all explode?"

"It's feasible, we've already tested similar structures on the flamethrower," someone countered.

"Exactly." Mike stroked the rough stubble of his chin, nodding with a smile, "This thing, we can build it."

Louis glanced at Mike: "You seem confident."

Mike grinned and pointed to the other craftsmen: "If you had asked me a month ago, I would've said it was hard to say. But since you've had us make the new flamethrower structure, rework the pipeline compression and ignition core... Now? Piece of cake."

He paused, his tone becoming solemn: "I swear on my sledgehammer head, not only can we build it, but we can mass-produce it too."

Seeing Mike's chest-thumping assurance, Louis smiled and nodded: "Excellent, then the first item is assigned to you."

Without stopping, he drew out a second roll of blueprints, unfurling the large scroll with both hands this time.

"The second is this."

With a "rustling" sound, the blueprint covered half of the conference table, the thick parchment densely inked, a uniquely contoured, heavy-lined massive vehicle body leaping off the page.

It resembled both a carriage and some kind of mechanical beast, sparking a murmur among the craftsmen.

"Is it... a vehicle? Or a tower?"

"Why does it look like a porcupine studded with rivets? Is that the front or a gun muzzle?"

"With this size, it would take at least ten war horses to pull it..."

Frowning, Mike poked at the blueprint with his finger: "You're not thinking of deploying this on the battlefield, are you?"

"Not thinking, absolutely essential." Louis slightly smiled, a sharpness in his tone he couldn't quite suppress, "This is the 'Steel Beast', our Red Tide Territory's land-based armored tactical platform."

As he spoke, he unfurled the detailed cross-sectional diagram on the right side of the blueprint, "Reinforced with a magic steel skeleton, encased in heavy armor, can advance fully sealed, equipped with firing ports and armored hinges, allowing teams to perform long-range striking and defensive operations."

"Not only can it escort supplies, but also push the front lines, suppress enemy forces, block valleys..."

The conference room fell silent, all the craftsmen wide-eyed, staring at the shield wall installations and vertical slide rails embedded on the vehicle's side.

"...Isn't this thing a fortress, rather than a carriage? What are those holes on the side for?"

"Fully sealed propulsion? What kind of monster would be used to pull it then?"

Someone started to frown: "In our territory's current magical beast reserve, there doesn't seem to be a type capable of pulling such a heavy vehicle... If forced, the cart might fall apart first."

Louis turned to that person, his tone confident but not heavy: "You don't have to worry about that; I'll handle the magical beast issue."

Everyone was taken aback, indicating that Lord Louis had made preparations.

Before they could fully absorb this information, Louis had already encircled a spot on the side of the "Steel Beast".

"Someone just mentioned they couldn't understand the purpose of these apertures on the vehicle," he said, pulling out another smaller blueprint and quickly spreading it on the table.

"This is the formation-breaking hook spear, a specialized device for use with the Steel Beast."

The blueprint detailed a long-handled weapon, the front end shaped like a three-pronged hook, with saw-toothed barbs on the side, and a reverse blade-like protrusion.

"This is no ordinary weapon. It can hook horse legs, dismantle shield walls, specifically designed to disrupt enemy formations and destroy cavalry charges.

Mounted on the side retractable arms of the Steel Beast, it actively harvests heavy enemy units during advancement, pairing with my designated shield array advancing mode to forcibly tear open the Barbarian infantry-cavalry mixed formations."

Louis then picked up another small-sized paper roll from beside him, lightly unfurling it onto the table corner.

"Finally, there's this." His tone was calm, yet it drew everyone's attention back.

The blueprint displayed an arrow-like projectile—the Magic Explosion Bolt.

The arrow body appeared slightly thick, with its tail illustrated with a detailed decomposition structure diagram:

The head embedded with a thumb-sized magic energy crystal core, etched with micro-explosion patterns on its outer ring, triggering detonation within milliseconds upon impact.

"Magic Explosion Bolt." Louis named it calmly, "Embedded with a small Magic Explosion Crystal, fired by a heavy crossbow, detonating instantly upon hitting."

His fingertips tapped a corner of the blueprint, "Though small, the explosion can penetrate half an inch of steel plate. It's very suitable for hitting dense arrays or taking out distant enemies."

At his words, the craftsmen couldn't help but gasp.

"Explosive... arrows?" someone murmured, "Never thought such a thing was possible?"

"No wonder the 'Steel Beast's' top was specifically designed with long-range slots, this really is an internal weapon..."

The crowd buzzed with discussion, evidently, this was a form of weaponry they'd never imagined.

"Can this thing... be built?" Mike furrowed his brows, instinctively looking toward the other end of the table where the head of the Alchemy Workshop, Hillco, sat yawning, with smudges of ash on his face, "Hillco?"

"What did you say?" The man looked up, his bleary eyes sweeping over the blueprint, then lazily scratched his head.

"Oh, this thing, no big deal." He stretched, grinning in a carefree yet unusually confident manner.

"We already have existing Magic Explosion Bullets, Lord Louis had mentioned it to me before, so I made some in advance. You just need to tell me how big you want the explosion, and I can control the precision of the explosion point, whether you want small explosions, directed explosions, or delayed explosions after penetration."

"But speaking of which..." He squinted at the blueprint, "Do you really plan to equip this inside the Steel Beast?"

Louis nodded: "It's one component of its long-range weapon system. Firepower strike is needed not just for field battles, but also urban combat and valley blockades for rapid disruption and precision assaults."

Mike couldn't help but grin: "You're planning to pack an entire tactical squad inside, with tactical accessories all pre-arranged?"

Louis gave a gentle nod, a satisfied smile in his eyes: "That's it for now. As long as you can make it, I'll get it onto the battlefield."

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