"Spinning machines... I never thought they could be applied in this way..." Hearing Chris say this, Desail wore a suddenly enlightened expression and nodded.

After a few seconds of silence, Desail suddenly looked up, staring at Chris. "I've decided to invest in your machines."

"Invest? That's interesting," Chris had been waiting for this opportunity. He was currently lacking the initial capital, which was why he had to opt for this modest expansion plan. "How much are you planning to invest?"

"1.5 million gold coins," Desail replied without hesitation, stating a price he considered reasonable.

Chris nodded and then suddenly realized something, looking at Desail. "You said how much?"

Deanse and Strede, who were standing nearby, were equally startled by the number they heard.The total value of all the projects managed by the Ceris City might not even exceed 1.5 million gold coins.

Yet, Desail had casually mentioned this number as if discussing the price of dinner, without any hesitation.

"You plan to buy these machines with this money?" Chris asked, intrigued by the unexpected offer.

"No, Lord Chris, although these machines are intricate, they are not worth 1.5 million gold coins," Desail shook his head and said formally. He looked at Chris and revealed his plan, "I want to have the exclusive rights to all your future developments. The Dragon Taite family wants to monopolize the sales of these machines."

"Hahaha," Chris burst into laughter upon hearing Desail's proposal. He laughed heartily, as if he had heard something incredibly amusing.

From Desail's perspective, this investor was undoubtedly a daring one. He was willing to invest 1.5 million gold coins to monopolize Chris's machines, an endeavor that could only be described as a great adventure.

However, from Chris's perspective, the crystallization of his scientific civilization in his mind could not be monopolized with just 1.5 million gold coins.

The disparity in their intelligence resources turned what was originally a high-stakes investment into a childish speculation.

"Mr. Desail, would you like to hear a story?" Chris asked patiently, noticing Desail's reluctance to make an immediate decision after hearing the amount of money.

Taking a deep breath, Desail nodded in agreement with Chris's point, "If you can indeed establish an empire, then my earlier price was indeed too low."

Afterwards, he looked at Chris and continued, "The question is, what can you offer to establish an empire? And after establishing the empire, how much are you willing to offer me?"

"I'll take you to see something shortly... I promise that after you see it, you will believe everything I say," Chris said confidently, tapping on the woodworking machinery beside him. "As for the benefits I can offer you..."

He paused, and his gaze became sharper, "The Dragon Taite family will become the wealthiest family in the world, without exception, and the only voice in this family will be yours!"

"Ah," Desail exhaled deeply, squinting his eyes. Although many members of the Dragon Taite family had dreams of this nature, hearing it stated so boldly was quite different.

"I want to see this thing before making a decision." After a long wait, Desail finally broke the silence between them. "Lead the way."

Chris didn't want to reveal his newly developed trump card to an unfamiliar person immediately, but this opportunity was too important to pass up. He wanted to secure the investment from Desail, which would accelerate his process of accumulating resources.

With financial and logistical support, Chris could quickly grow and expand his power within Ceris City, then proceed with his expansion plans to strengthen his position.

This was the only option: having a method to make money but lacking corresponding strength meant living under the oppression of others in Aranth. Taxes would only increase, and any slight dissatisfaction would be met with overwhelming force. Chris had crossed over and had no intention of leaving his fate in the hands of others. He wanted to seize control of his destiny and make his voice heard in this world!

Leading Desail out of the woodworking shop, Chris took him to his carriage. To maintain secrecy, Deanse personally drove the carriage, and neither Desail nor Chris brought their own guards.

The three of them arrived at the edge of a forest, where they saw a temporary military camp. Although it appeared rudimentary, it was heavily fortified.

"What is this?" Led by Valgon, Chris showed Desail something strange. Desail had never seen anything like it and asked with curiosity.

He touched the black iron tube lying between two wheels, and the coldness that passed through his fingers filled him with inexplicable fear.

"With this, thick city walls will become fragile sands, and there will be no fortress that cannot be breached in the world," Chris explained with a smile, revealing his most powerful weapon – the cannon!

It was an early 1880s European-style field gun, with a metal frame and a weight of 1.2 tons. The caliber was 90mm, an unusual figure for the time.

Even though this device was still quite primitive, the fact that Chris could manufacture it was an incredible feat. He had to locate various steel materials for smelting experiments and organize manpower to gather the raw materials for gunpowder. He had only finished manufacturing these cannons a few days ago.

Furthermore, both the cannon and its ammunition were almost entirely handmade. The production efficiency was extremely low, and Chris had put in a lot of effort to create a few of them.

Despite being a muzzle-loading cannon, it was the world's first cannon of its kind, a new weapon capable of changing the course of history.

"Forgive my bluntness, but even if you use metal to make a crossbow cannon, its power won't be much greater than a wooden crossbow cannon," Desail guessed the weapon's power based on his knowledge of weapons and commented with a wry smile.

His family also sold weapons. In fact, several of the oldest merchant families were involved in the arms trade. They profited from war and even manipulated it to make enormous profits.

"Hahaha," hearing Desail's assessment, Chris hadn't spoken yet, but Valgon couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Two days ago, when they were testing this new weapon, Valgon had said something similar to his lord, Chris. However, when the weapon roared to life for the first time, Valgon became an ardent believer in Chris.

He had even rewritten the oath of the cavalry unit, ordering everyone to swear allegiance to Lord Chris of the Island Hill with their lives.

"Please forgive his impoliteness," Chris said to Desail, who seemed somewhat embarrassed. "We will conduct drills with this new weapon shortly, and you can provide your feedback after witnessing it."

Desail didn't have to wait long. Several soldiers quickly approached and began loading ammunition into the two cannons in front of Desail.

They were well-trained and prepared efficiently according to the drill Chris had developed. They quickly completed their preparations for firing.

With curiosity in his eyes, Desail watched as one of the cannons fired a projectile at a target 1,000 meters away.

"Boom!" The deafening blast made Desail fall to the ground. He stared at the black iron tube, from which a white smoke emerged. In just a moment, the target, a mound of earth, was torn apart by the immense force, sending dirt flying in all directions.

"This... This is magic! By the gods... this is magic!" Ignoring his disheveled appearance, Desail gazed at the still unsettled mound in the distance and shouted in fear.

For the first time, a technological civilization had made its presence known in this world, and the sound it produced was deafening, capable of altering history.

"It's not magic," Chris laughed and extended his hand to help Desail up. "It's a weapon! Developed by the Iranchel family, a war weapon!"

"...," Desail looked at the firing cannon in amazement, finding it hard to believe. He clung to his last shred of hope and pointed to the remaining mounds in the distance. "Can I... designate a target?"

"Of course!" Chris took a torch from a soldier and handed it to Desail. "You can even fire it yourself!"

Desail took the torch, chose a target, had the soldiers adjust the cannon's angle, and stood beside the cannon.

After a short wait, he took a deep breath and decisively ignited the fuse with the torch.

"Boom!" With a deafening roar, the second cannonball flew towards the target Desail had designated, turning the area into a flat plain..."