Munitions Empire

Xi Mai was a farmer from Northern Ridge who previously had two acres of farmland, which later expanded to five.

However, he was still not content, and on the recommendation of an acquaintance, he sold his own land and then came to Brunas by himself.

Later, he signed a contract and arrived at Dragon Island alone, where he was no longer a farmer, but became a road maintenance worker.

Great Tang Group was engaged in infrastructure construction everywhere, which likewise required a large workforce for maintenance to function effectively.

On Dragon Island, maintaining roads and railways was an extremely arduous task, often lonely and solitary.

The road maintenance workers of Dragon Island could not live in big cities; they had to reside in "maintenance workers' dormitories" built for them deep in the jungle.

These dormitories were very simple, essentially just old wooden huts with basic furnishings, still relying on gas lamps for lighting and the most primitive stoves and iron pots for cooking.

Every two or three days, delivery vehicles would pass by their dormitory, and no matter whether someone was there or not, the drivers of these trucks would leave food at the doorway, then turn around and leave.

If Xi Mai and his colleagues were in the dormitory, these delivery drivers would stop to chat for a moment, but if no one was home, the drivers would pile the supplies at the door and then depart.

After all, in this forest, there was no one to steal these things, so at night when Xi Mai and his colleagues returned, they would carry the well-packed goods back to their little wooden huts.

The supplies included local fruit canned goods, ham and sausage filled with starch and other scraps, as well as bread sealed in cloth bags.

Of course, the bulk of it was ordinary food, such as grains like flour and rice, plus other ingredients like sugar and sea salt. There were also little items such as matches, which added some interest to these basic jungle hut dwellings.

In addition, according to the supply standards of the Great Tang Group, there were outdated newspapers and reading materials like comic strips promoting the Great Tang Group.

Such a primitive lifestyle was unbearable for the high-level workers of Brunas, so typically, these maintenance workers were recruited from the backwater hinterlands, and their work was very labor-intensive.

Every morning, Xi Mai had to get up according to regulations, then get equipped, and start working with the two companions from his dormitory.

His work equipment included a K1 Quick Gun, a set of individual soldier gear, a sharp mountain knife, and an Engineer Corps shovel and saw, along with a wooden mallet and a bucket.

As dawn just began to break, the three of them would set out in a group, proceeding along the newly laid road, inspecting every stretch within their patrol range.

He had to carefully observe the road surface, repairing any potential cracks, checking for collapses or landslides, and any damages.

Similarly, they had to chop down the shrubs that ceaselessly encroached on the road, uproot plants attempting to approach the road, and check road signs for being knocked over by animals or obscured by branches or the like.

Every day, they would sing long, drawn-out mountain songs as they walked along the deserted road, doing their best to eliminate all potential traffic hazards.

Occasionally, a vehicle laden with supplies or personnel would speed past them, with the driver sometimes loudly greeting them.

But most of the time, the cars that whizzed by only sounded their horns twice as a greeting, and they would remove their steel helmets and wave back in acknowledgment.

Frankly, it was a very monotonous job, but it was also very meaningful.

Because if no one did this work, in just a few days the forest would devour the well-built road, and all traces of civilization would be swept away by nature.

Moreover, for Xi Mai, it was also a very comfortable job with quite a lucrative income.

Great Tang Group always treated hardworking immigrants with considerable tolerance and favor. After working on the island for fifteen years, one could claim a set of housing on Dragon Island, which, considering Brunas's housing prices, was an extremely exciting and generous offer.

Additionally, every day these maintenance workers received an extra two silver coins on top of their regular income, and Xi Mai felt he had nothing to complain about.

It was much more than what he could earn from farming, at least far better than his previous income. Moreover, the Great Tang Group allowed a day off every month, a benefit Xi Mai had never even dared to dream of before.

On his day off, he could take a car to Dragon City to have some fun. Those tender-skinned girls, although pricey, were definitely worth it.

At least, for a man like him who had no family and had no intention of taking a wife, that kind of place was simply paradise.

Halfway up the empty mountainside, Xi Mai's mountain songs echoed once again. He was chopping branches off the roadside with his hoe while enjoying the world that belonged to him.

In his world, he didn't need to communicate with unfamiliar people, nor did he need to socialize with any leaders. He just had to complete the work he needed to do to enjoy every day that was his own. This was happiness, a tranquil happiness.

Not everyone aspires to study, to be known among lords... There are also many people who in times of chaos merely seek to scrape by within their own world, indifferent to worldly affairs and uninterested in fame.

Perhaps Xi Mai wouldn't attract universal attention like Strauss or Bolton, but he had a greater chance of honestly living out his own life.

This is the joy of the common folk, this is Xi Mai's... life philosophy.

Behind him, not far away on the mountaintop, a grand castle was beginning to take shape. It stood amidst lush jungle, seen from afar, where only the towering peaks could be glimpsed, the tall spires above adorned with the fluttering great Dragon Banner.

Xi Mai had already been living here for nearly three months. He passed by this spot every day and knew that the distant castle was a place called Dragon's Den.

It was a massive and impregnable fortress built on a mountain ridge, said to be the home of the island's master, Mr. Tang's castle.

As an employee of the Great Tang Group, Xi Mai naturally knew of Mr. Tang. He held a great reverence for this mysterious man he had never met, because he knew that it was Mr. Tang who had given him this elegant and peaceful job.

Another car sped past Xi Mai and the others, followed by a second, a third, and then a fourth and fifth.

It was the first time Xi Mai had seen so many cars driving on the road he maintained, and the first time he had seen so many people sitting in cars.

He saw that the drivers were soldiers from the security forces wearing steel helmets, with armed companions seated beside them.

It was also the first time he had seen these trucks, which seemed to be the latest models produced by Dragon City, more stable and upscale-looking than the improved versions of the T-model truck.

The trucks had a square front, with a long bonnet, round headlights on either side, and the whole back of the truck and roof were made of wood, with a dragon emblem of the Great Tang Group on the doors.

The back of the truck had no roof, just iron bars without a canvas cover, inside sat densely packed people in ragged clothes, numbly observing Xi Mai and others who stepped aside.

These weary-looking people came from the eastern part of the Leite Kingdom, a region recently conquered by Leite, all of them slaves, farmers from the conquered lands.

Having lost their land, they had been relocated to Dragon Island, where they were needed more—yet they were not as fortunate as Xi Mai.

They were simply here to work, with no stipends, no welfare housing benefits, just pure laborers.

At the very end of the truck sat soldiers from the Great Tang Group's security forces, fully armed, wearing long grey-green coats, M35 helmets on their heads, clutching K2 lever-action rifles designed specifically for guard duty, their faces expressionless as they slightly swayed with the jolts of the moving vehicle.

Clearly, these people were all being sent to Weigang—the place where Housen once killed the patrol captain is now a small town that has been given a new name in advance: "Weigang."

It was also set to be built as a port, moreover, a civilian port. According to the Great Tang Group's plans, this place would eventually become a super-large, civilian ship production, maintenance, and supply base.

Then, a railway and highway would connect Dragon City and Weigang, with the oil fields in between being developed into an industrial city centered around oil processing. Tang Mo even reserved a space at Weigang for building a nuclear power plant.

According to the plans of the Great Tang Group, or rather, Tang Mo's vision, Dragon Island would become the most concentrated industrial zone in the world, serving as the core technical research and development base of the Great Tang Group.

With Dragon Island at the center, the influence of the Great Tang Group would radiate out to all areas surrounding the Endless Sea, which would become the internal lake of the Great Tang Group!

Alas, for now, all of this was merely a plan. Weigang's shipyards were still just a construction site, and Weigang itself was only a small town filled with prisoners, captives, and slaves.

And Dragon City, rather than a super city under construction, might be more aptly described as a large work site.

But all this was of little consequence to Xi Mai. The expansion of the Great Tang Group, or rather, Tang Mo's empire, was far removed from him.

So, when the dust raised by the cars had largely settled, he opened his throat once more, letting his voice echo in the forest: "The mountain road winds endlessly... without end... With my ax in hand..."