Chapter 107

Chapter 107: The Protagonist.

“…”

The industrial director, who was reading the documents with his eyes, had a very gloomy face.

His already dark circles seemed to have gotten worse in just a few minutes.

‘I feel like I’m doing something terrible to the industrial director.’

The industrial department had long been the largest in the entire department, and the gap with other departments was widening day by day.

It was inevitable because of the rapid development of the industry.

But thanks to the continuous expansion of personnel in the industrial department, it went smoothly without any major problems.

The problem was that no one could replace the work of the industrial director.

No matter how many staff members were hired, the work of the black feather, who was the final decision-maker, continued to increase.

And after today, it would increase even more.

Soon, Black Feather took his eyes off the documents.

“I have read them all.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“The budget that is newly invested is much more than I imagined. I wonder if we can use all this budget. It’s so huge.”

“Well, that’s how it is. We’re investing a large portion of the funds collected by the Finance Agency.”

“…Do we really have to do this? We are already steadily increasing the size of the steel industry.”

“We have to do it.”

“Hmm…”

Kim Ki-woo’s firm words made Black Feather sigh quietly.

As he said, regardless of the south or north, the steel industry was rising sharply.

But here, they were investing more money to increase its size intensively.

“I’ve already mentioned the railroad, so you should know. Soon we’ll need steel that can’t even be compared to what we have now. So please work a little harder in the industrial department.”

At that, Black Feather sighed deeply inside.

‘Sigh… I expected it to some extent, but. Is it going to be like this after all.’

He felt it.

Kim Ki-woo’s will was already firm.

And then he would follow Kim Ki-woo’s will as usual.

In the end, the industrial director had no choice but to agree.

“I will try my best.”

“Let me know if you need anything. I’ll try to accommodate you as much as possible.”

“Thank you.”

Bow.

The industrial director bowed to Kim Ki-woo and left the office with a heavy step.

“Good. This should solve the steel problem to some extent.”

The industrial director was very competent.

He had produced the best results within the given conditions so far.

It was thanks to Black Feather that the industrial department, which had grown rapidly, ran as well as it did now.

And he believed that he would do well this time too.

Time passed, and the next visitor opened the door and came in.

“Your Majesty!”

“Haha. Long time no see. How have you been?”

“Yes, I’ve been well.”

“That’s good to hear. Please take a seat.”

“Yes.”

He was none other than Sharp Teeth.

“You’re amazing. You could have lived comfortably as a dean, but you started researching again. And your research results are amazing, both then and now.”

“I’m embarrassed. The steam engine was thanks to Your Majesty’s guidance, and this time it was actually delicate glass that gave me the concept of railroad. I just spooned up a little bit.”

“What are you talking about? That’s all because you started researching. Opportunity comes to those who are prepared.”

“It’s an honor to hear you say that.”

At that, Sharp Teeth’s face brightened up.

Kim Kiwoo finished his official greeting and got to the point.

“I called you here today because of the research on the steam locomotive. Assuming that the research succeeds, where do you think the steam locomotive will be used first?”

“Um…”

Sharp Teeth was at a loss for words at the sudden question.

He had only thought that the steam locomotive would be installed in various places, but he had never thought about the topic that Kim Kiwoo asked.

“I apologize, but I cannot think of anything right away. Please enlighten me.”

“I think it will be used first to transport minerals from the mines.”

“Ah! That makes sense now that I hear it.”

As soon as Kim Kiwoo finished speaking, Sharp Teeth immediately agreed.

Until now, transporting minerals to industrial complexes or riversides was as hard as mining them.

But what if there were railways between the mines and the destinations?

It was obvious that the burden of mineral transportation would be greatly reduced.

‘Moreover, the price of coal will drop sharply.’

Coal was easy to mine compared to other minerals.

Yet, it had a high price solely because of transportation.

If coal started to be transported in large quantities by steam locomotives, the price of coal would definitely go down.

It was hard to find anything that was not related to coal nowadays.

That meant, the price of coal would lead to a general decline in prices.

Kim Kiwoo explained this to Sharp Teeth.

“Wow…”

After hearing all this, he exclaimed and exclaimed again.

‘His Majesty has foreseen everything that will happen in the future.’

He was just researching things that seemed possible in a haphazard way.

‘It was the same when he made the steam engine.’

Sharp Teeth recalled the past.

As soon as the steam engine was made, His Majesty applied it to the right places as if he had been thinking about it for a long time.

He drained water from mines, and made a tremendous thing called an electric furnace using a steam engine blower.

And this was also the case this time.

He had not even started serious research on the steam locomotive yet, but His Majesty seemed to have planned everything for the future.

“I would like you to do the research on the steam locomotive here, considering the future.”

Swish!

Kim Kiwoo spread out a map and pointed to a place.

It was near the mine connected to the black sky.

It was to use the railway and steam locomotive that were used for research if the research succeeded.

Sharp Teeth also understood Kim Kiwoo’s intention at once.

“I will follow your will.”

“Thank you. And one more thing. Take this.”

“What is this…”

“You can read it.”

As Kim Kiwoo gave permission, Sharp Teeth flipped through the document.

“…!”

And his eyes widened.

‘Is this a blueprint?’

Sharp Teeth felt a strong sense of déjà vu.

He had experienced something similar in the past, when he was researching the steam engine.

And after receiving a blueprint from Kim Kiwoo, didn’t the research on the steam engine progress rapidly?

Sharp Teeth read through the blueprint without any hesitation.

Soon, he realized something.

It was almost similar to when he made the steam engine.

The steam locomotive and railway in the blueprint had many improvements on what he had lacked in his own blueprint that he submitted to His Majesty last time.

“It’s still an imperfect blueprint. That’s why we need to research and find the right way to do it.”

“It doesn’t look imperfect at all. When did you come up with these ideas? I don’t think I can ever catch up with you, Your Majesty.”

“Ha ha. You’re not a criminal. You’ll only get scolded if you say that to someone else.”

“Everyone would agree if the subject was Your Majesty.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. I’ve already built a research facility in the area, so go there when you’re ready.”

“Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.”

***

All the researchers had gathered before the Sharp Fang arrived.

They all knew that Kim Ki-woo had summoned him, and they were curious about why he had called the Sharp Fang.

And as soon as the Sharp Fang returned to the lab, he told them everything that had happened with Kim Ki-woo.

“Is this really the blueprint that His Majesty gave you?”

“Ha ha. Can’t you tell? Who else but His Majesty could make such a blueprint?”

Among them, the researchers were most interested in the blueprint.

“It’s amazing. It’s like you already know what the steam engine will look like.”

“His Majesty is not someone we can judge.”

“That’s right.”

“The important thing is that His Majesty thinks the steam engine will be a great success, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. He even gave us this blueprint himself, so it’s certain.”

“And I heard that he’s spending a huge amount of money to supply steel for the railroad.”

“Ha ha! We made a good decision to start researching the steam engine.”

Kim Ki-woo’s every move pointed to the success of the steam engine.

Thanks to that, even though they hadn’t started their research yet, the researchers were confident of their success.

“I was sure of our success after meeting His Majesty today.”

“As expected…”

“But it’s too early to celebrate. What if we fail to meet His Majesty’s expectations even though we received such full support?”

“Hmm.”

“That would be terrible.”

At that, the Sharp Fang nodded.

“If that happens, I won’t be able to get rid of my guilt until I die. So let’s get rid of any complacency and do our best. That’s the way to repay His Majesty’s grace.”

The researchers all agreed with the Sharp Fang’s words.

Thanks to that, their eyes were filled with hot passion and firm determination.

After that, the Sharp Fang and the researchers packed up their lives at Imperial University and headed for their new home, which was being prepared.

***

Meanwhile, the second expedition team that had headed to Europe had started to return to their designated islands one by one.

“Yo-you’re alive…”

Of course, there were many more who couldn’t return than those who did.

It was inevitable that they would be infected and die in large numbers because they had to get antigens for the plague.

Even if they were careful, it was hard to prevent it when the plague bacteria or virus entered their bodies in a situation where it was game over.

The worst was when the plague spread on the ship returning.

Those who returned from such hardships were truly lucky ones.

“You’ve worked hard. Please follow our control for a while.”

“Yes, we understand.”

While they stayed on the island, a vaccine factory built on one side of the island proceeded with attenuation of the plague they brought.

And these attenuated vaccines were transported to the mainland and mass-produced.

‘We’re almost there.’

Kim Ki-woo was able to relax as the vaccine was gradually mass-produced.

The foundation for confronting the deadly plague of Eurasia was almost complete.

‘We can’t keep our doors locked forever.’

The protagonist of world history before arrival was Europe.

It was not a wrong statement since Europeans conquered America.

But not anymore.

The protagonist of world history should be Wakan Tanka Empire.

Kim Ki-woo had no intention of giving up on this until he died.

That is, he intended to proceed with globalization based on Wakan Tanka.

“First of all, vaccinate those who want it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The imperial citizens were already familiar with vaccination through Udu.

Moreover,

“I heard that full-scale exchanges with other continents will start soon.”

“Then we have to get vaccinated quickly, right?”

“If you don’t want to die.”

Rumors like this circulated, and the imperial citizens were active in vaccination.

Thanks to this, as time passed, at least within the empire, the risk of plague decreased rapidly.