After the Night of Blood Mist, the council reached an agreement with the werewolves and vampires of the Wildlands to develop the wilderness at minimal cost.
The Tor Trading Company hired an experienced railway construction team, who built a railway over 100 kilometers long in just one year. The construction speed was astonishing; the team worked day and night, desperately trying to meet the client's requirements.
This railway connected Fabro City and the Ruhr Mines. Steam locomotives ran along the tracks, continuously transporting minerals from the Ruhr Mines to the Fabro City freight station.
Some stories unfolded when this railway first began operating. The ore was mined by the Blood Servant of the Ruhr Mines, and transported by steam locomotives, thus jeopardizing the Red Wolf King's interests.
When the Red Wolf King realized his profits weren't as great as he'd imagined, some roaming werewolves suddenly appeared within his territory.
The Red Wolf King needed to expend considerable effort guarding his territory, while werewolves from other areas wanted a piece of the pie, constantly creating friction along the borders.
Prolonged patrols and battles inevitably led to lapses in defense, and some roaming werewolves entered the Red Wolf King's territory. These roaming werewolves, coincidentally, damaged the railway tracks.
The Alchemy Council understood that the so-called roaming werewolves were merely a pretext used by the Red Wolf King to negotiate terms. The railway, stretching over a hundred kilometers, was mostly located in the uninhabited wilderness. The Alchemy Council couldn't guarantee the safety of every section and was forced to compromise with the Red Wolf King.
The final compromise stipulated that the Red Wolf King would be responsible for operating the steam locomotives. He trained his werewolves to operate the locomotives and provided them with a guard. Only then was his interest secured, and he began collecting transport fees honestly.
At 4 AM, before dawn, Brion, one of the mine managers of the Ruhr Mine, a level 4 vampire, entered the Ruhr Mine freight station, looking very puzzled. The werewolves before him were unfamiliar.
"Who are you?" Brion asked.
"Martino, the new stationmaster of the freight depot."
"What about the former stationmaster, Valdo?"
"Dead."
"Good riddance! Why did he die so late? A whole year later than I expected. I saw him dying last year; he had that smell of congealed blood."
As a Level 4 vampire, Brion was genuinely pleased to hear of Valdo's death.
In the Red Wolf King's tribe, the freight depot manager was the most important position. Previously, it had always been held by Valdo, the Red Wolf King's confidant. Now, the manager had changed, signifying a major upheaval in the Red Wolf King's tribe. Brion scanned the old werewolf from head to toe. Could it be that this old man had killed Valdo? The old werewolf didn't seem particularly strong in combat, and his eyes weren't as ferocious as Valdor's.
"I don't care about your dogfighting, and it's fine that you replaced Valdor, but what about all the werewolves Valdor trained to operate the steam locomotives? Where did they go?"
"They're dead too."
"Dead? Do you know how stupid you werewolves are? Werewolves are so incompetent; training werewolf workers was incredibly difficult. Now that they're all dead, what will happen to the steam locomotives?"
"My new werewolf king told me to tell you... wait for me..." "We've mastered the operation of the steam locomotive and will continue transporting ore."
"The new Wolf King? What about the old Red Wolf King?"
"Of course, he's dead too. The Red Wolf King's territory now belongs to the new Wolf King, his tribe belongs to the new Wolf King, and his transport lines also belong to the new Wolf King."
Martino only refers to their Wolf King as the "new Wolf King," avoiding the name "White Wolf King." The consultant said that information should be kept secret for as long as possible.
Martino's werewolves boarded the steam locomotive, looking left and right, appearing completely unfamiliar with the world. They took out the instruction manuals they had left in the tribe and clumsily tried to learn how to operate the steam locomotive.
Operating a steam locomotive made by an alchemist is still quite complex. "You stupid dogs, you'll disrupt the transport! Don't you have any bottom line when you're fighting amongst yourselves?"
Hearing Brion's curses, Martino didn't know how to respond. Bottom line? The White Wolf King and Mr. Consultant had absolutely no bottom line; they showed no mercy when killing werewolves.
After Brion left, grumbling, Martino put up a sign at the entrance of the freight station: Employee Training, Freight Station Temporarily Closed.
Martino saw off the other mine managers, inspected the freight depot, and discovered a separate warehouse. The ledger inside indicated that the goods were destined for Guzman, the Level 6 Wolf King in the wilderness. He hurriedly took the ledger and returned to Mount Perdu, where the werewolf tribe was located.
When he met the White Wolf King, the White Wolf King was packing up the tent for Mr. Gu, who was gazing at the stars from the mountaintop.
Considering Mr. Gu's true identity—Rudolph the Scorpion Wizard Furnace—Martino found Mr. Gu's stargazing behavior unsurprising.
"Mr. Rudolf, I'd like to show you an account book."
Rudolf took the account book and saw it contained lists of goods destined for the Level 6 Wolf King, Guzman.
"What does this mean?"
"Mr. Rudolf, the Red Wolf King used to make offerings to the Level 6 Wolf King, Guzman. These are the monthly lists of the offerings."
Salt, spices, clothing, tents, paper, pens... not particularly valuable, but quite trivial.
"It seems living conditions in the wilderness are very harsh; they lack even these basic necessities."
"Werewolves don't produce goods; raiding is their greatest means of enriching themselves."
Rudolph asked疑惑地问道, "Isn't the hierarchy among werewolves much weaker starting with the Wolf King? Why does the Red Wolf King offer tribute to the Level 6 Wolf King, Guzman?"
Martino, having spent a long time in the werewolf tribe and possessing a deeper understanding of werewolves, explained:
"The hierarchy among werewolves above the Wolf King isn't strong because starting with the Wolf King, the territory becomes extremely large. Our current territory is about 200 kilometers in diameter; it's a very vast area.
The Red Wolf King needs to stay in his territory..." Inside, they couldn't reach the distant wolf king Guzman's tribe.
However, the Red Wolf King couldn't possibly fight the Alchemy Council alone; he needed the support of the Level 6 Wolf King Guzman.
"I robbed the Red Wolf King of everything, did I even take his debts?"
"It seems so."
Rudolph thought for a moment, then shook his head: "Alright, then continue supplying the Level 6 Wolf King Guzman according to this ledger."
"It won't be too troublesome, Mr. Advisor. Once we've prepared the goods, Wolf King Guzman's werewolves will transport them to the border of our territory."
When Martino descended the mountain, he saw that the White Wolf King had already packed up the tent for Mr. Advisor. He quickly turned his head, no longer looking at the large tent.
Rudolph entered the tent and saw four identical Ivonnes.
"Is this the Wolf King's ability to split?"
The four Ivonnes spoke in unison, "Isn't it amazing? I just learned how to transform my werewolf forms into human forms after splitting."
Rudolph looked around at the four Ivonnes, left and right. "I can't tell the difference at all!"
"You'll see once you're under the covers..." Ivonnes said playfully, "Still can't tell the difference."
Four Yvonnes, one on each side, pushed Rudolf onto the bed they had just prepared and began to strip him naked, then take off their own clothes, revealing a heavenly view of four identical, naked beauties. They began to pleasure Rudolf with their bodies.
"Is this the joy of having twins...?"