Desell let out a sigh of relief, a smile returning to his face. "Since these weapons are effective, my investment is worthwhile."

Standing up, he walked over to Chris, placing a hand on Chris's shoulder and solemnly said, "This world is filled with countless contradictions, and wealth disparity is just a negligible fraction of it."

Withdrawing his hand, Desail created a small distance between his thumb and forefinger, continuing, "So, even though I may be wealthy, in the eyes of a mage, I am nothing more than an ant."

"The oppression and bullying of the Magic Empire on ordinary nations are the cruelest and most intolerable in the world!" Desail's face twisted as he brought up the matter, "We are not considered human! We are just livestock they keep. Can you understand that feeling?"

"We are born in ordinary lands, destined to bear the fate of ordinary people." Desail stared at Chris, gritting his teeth with each word, "But I refuse to accept it! I am Desail! Dragonite Desail! I will change the fate of ordinary people!"

"You've shown me hope! The hope that an ordinary person can defeat a dragon, the hope to kill those mages! Chris!" Desail clenched his fists, questioning, "What about you? Are you willing to be a lifelong dog for those self-proclaimed god-mages?"

"I never thought of being a dog, Desail," Chris shook his head, stating, "I just know that there's no problem in this world that can't be solved with a cannon... if there is, then fire two!"

"Hehehehe." Desail laughed as he looked at Chris, becoming more unrestrained, "Hahaha! Well said! We won't be slaves and lapdogs! We will be honorable people!"

"That's why I sponsored you! Because when you asked me, 'Investing in a monarch of a country, how much profit can one make?' I knew, you and I are the same kind of people!" Desail said with a serious expression, "Now, what about it? Am I investing not in a monarch but in overthrowing everything in this world. Are you still willing... or dare to take my investment?"

Chris didn't immediately respond to Desail's words. Instead, he tapped the hilt of his sword, a habit he had when deep in thought.

As a transmigrator wanting to change the world with industrial civilization, as an anomaly in this world, Chris naturally wanted to make a difference. If he just wanted to live a comfortable life, he wouldn't need to go to the trouble of manufacturing cannons.

In any case, deep down, he wanted to challenge this world. There was no doubt about it, so he was very interested in Desail's proposition.

Indeed, he needed a reason, or rather, he needed a flag to unite all the forces he could muster. Dominating this world couldn't be done by one person alone; he wasn't like the top-tier experts in novels who could challenge the power of order on their own.

The power of ordinary people... challenging the Magic Empire... it was truly a slogan that made one's heart pound. Chris weighed the pros and cons in his mind, calculating the gains and losses.

Desail didn't rush Chris to make a decision. In his view, the more cautious the other party, the better. He wanted to cooperate with a prudent and capable leader, not an impulsive madman.

Once this banner was raised, all ordinary people in the world would long for the rise of Irelandhill, and if he failed, the mages of the Magic Empire wouldn't give him any chance to rise again. He would be burned on the flagpole by dragon's breath, becoming a piece of history no one dared to mention.

However, even if he didn't cooperate with Desail, one day he would still become an anomaly in the eyes of those mages. Modern technological civilization would inevitably become a formidable opponent for magic. This was an inevitable outcome.

Science and technology gave humanity the ability to travel with the wind, transmit messages over long distances, convey influential patterns, and travel 80,000 miles in a day - abilities that were once the privilege of mages.

Similarly, terrifying technology could destroy the heavens and the earth, instantly annihilate a city, and these were things only mages could do in the past!

Under Chris's influence, ordinary people would have countless means comparable to magic, even more powerful in some aspects. At that time, would ordinary people willingly accept the enslavement of mages? Would mages sit idly by as ordinary people rose?

So, the facts were in front of him. Even if Chris didn't go looking for trouble with the Magic Empire, he would eventually be at odds with the mage group. It was a deadlock that had to be faced sooner or later, an irreconcilable contradiction.

Thinking to this point, Chris felt he had no choice: on one hand, he had to face the pressure from the Magic Empire; on the other hand, he indeed needed Desail's financial support. So, he could only cooperate with Desail and take up the banner representing the rise of ordinary people.

"Airenhill needs a flag... and ordinary people should control their own destiny! We will never be slaves!" After careful consideration, Chris finally stopped tapping his fingers on the sword hilt, earnestly saying to Desail, Airenhill, from now on, is the hope of all ordinary people!"

"Pleasure to cooperate!" Desail's smile on his face was even brighter. He slightly bowed and said, "Then, I, Dragonite Desail, am your most loyal follower! King Chris of Airenhill!"

Chris rubbed his nose and smiled shyly, saying, "I'm still not used to being called 'Your Majesty'... Also, did you really bring all the money from your family?"

"How is that possible..." Desail glanced at Chris, feeling somewhat disdainful of Chris's financial knowledge, "When I said 1.9 billion, that's the total wealth of the Dragonite family for hundreds of years. Real estate and businesses all over the world, numerous caravans, and secret formulas, all added up!"

"Oh..." Chris thought Desail was talking about a huge cash amount, so he was a bit disappointed after hearing Desail's explanation.

Seeing Chris's expression, Desail suppressed his anger towards the ignorant, explaining, "Do you think I'm a god? Even an empire can't produce so much gold coins all at once! The amount I can gather now is just a little over a million gold coins."

In fact, Chris was unaware of the difficulties in managing finances. Desail being able to gather over a million gold coins in just over a month was the best proof of the Dragonite family's deep background.

"Bribing the Prime Minister of Arlandt, buying this position of Grand Duke, cost 250,000, and we still need some for next year's taxes... You now have about 600,000 gold coins to spend." Desail decided not to argue with Chris like an ignorant person, directly giving him an approximate number.

Hearing this number, Chris suddenly felt like a rich man. He immediately smiled and said, "Great! With this funding, we can immediately purchase supplies and accelerate the industrialization!"

It was like a player in a strategy game using cheat codes. These players had countless money when building cities, ignoring various commercial rules and directly constructing the needed buildings.

With Desail's funding, Chris was like such a player. He could purchase the necessary raw materials extravagantly and quickly establish the industrial foundation of Seris City.

Thinking that his wallet would shrink at an unprecedented speed, Desail felt a sense of powerlessness, having spend his entire family's fortune. He supported his forehead, reluctantly saying, "I'll go!"

...

Just when Desail felt like he had blown up an elderly home in his previous life and was now facing retribution by meeting Chris in this life, in another room, Mr. Gullo was staring blankly at a stack of data.

This was the first time he had seen such a frightening production capacity. The reserve supplies of a city were completely depleted within a month.

Except for the steel and wood that Seris abundantly produced, all other raw materials were basically exhausted. These seemingly unrelated things were organized together and turned into strange products: mechanical equipment!

The production in Seris City was basically completed with the support of these devices, and the production speed was extremely fast. It could be foreseen that as long as there were enough raw materials, Seris could continuously produce goods, flooding the entire continent.

Gullo had been serving the Dragonite family for thirty years, and in all these years, he had never seen such a production capacity that subverted his understanding. He now believed Desell's statement when he came to him: "This world is changing!"