"Amelia, how is the glider training going?" Lucas turned his head and asked. He knew Amelia went to the air force base to train whenever she had free time.
"I can fly now," Amelia said indistinctly, her mouth full of egg. "I'm preparing for my second test flight."
"That's good. Ten successful test flights, and I'll give you your own glider," Lucas chuckled.
Ten successful test flights meant graduation from the air force base. There couldn't be a single failure in those ten; otherwise, it would take twenty successful flights to graduate.
"Okay." Amelia's eyes lit up. She wanted a glider like that so she could fly for longer.
"Don't run around too much these days. Your big sister should be arriving soon," Lucas said softly.
"Okay." Amelia froze for a moment, then nodded obediently.
"Elisa, how is your training going?" Lucas turned his head to ask. He knew the cat-eared girl had dragged the elf off to learn to fly gliders.
"Ah..." Elisa froze, her eyes looking down. She said timidly, "I... I haven't started yet."
"Not yet?" Lucas nodded. He knew everyone had been busy lately.
"Master, I want to learn to fly gliders too!" Ayesha shouted, not wanting to be left behind. She had heard Annie bragging constantly about how great and how thrilling gliders were.
"Alright. Go and learn when you have time," Lucas replied gently, finishing the porridge in his bowl.
"Yay!" Ayesha cheered, pumping her fist. She even deliberately jiggled her large chest, as if showing off to the fox-eared girl.
"You... dammit!" A vein popped on Annie's forehead. She bit down hard on her tea egg, gritting her teeth. "You big cow! So what if your boobs are big!"
"Let's go to the R&D department," Lucas said, reaching out to pat the fox-eared girl's head to keep her from blowing up.
"Master, I'll go arrange for the men," Mina said, grabbing a tea egg and heading out.
"Let's go." Lucas stood up and walked outside, followed by a chuckling Nicole.
"Oh." Annie stuck her tongue out at Ayesha and quickly followed. She knew something important was happening.
"Ayesha, I need you to keep an eye out for a beastkin named Karl," Freya suddenly said to the ox-horned girl.
She had seen Karl last night, one of Prince Santner's men. Although she had cooperated with Lord Lucas's act before, leading them to believe she was dead, Karl had definitely seen her this time. While he might not necessarily suspect her (after all, they could have rationalized her 'death' away), there was no guarantee he wouldn't try to test her in secret.
"Huh? Should I capture him?" Ayesha paused. "The 'little black room' is pretty full right now."
"No need." Freya quickly shook her head. She couldn't interfere with Lord Lucas's plan.
"Then I'm off on patrol," Ayesha stood up. "The city's been a bit chaotic lately."
"Go on." Freya waved her hand. She still had to escort Hazel and Amelia to school.
Tap, tap, tap…
The carriage left the castle, entered the main street, and headed out of the city under the escort of the War Wolf squad.
"Why does that group look so familiar?" Karl muttered, holding a bag of buns. He watched the carriage convoy depart, focusing on the backs of the riders.
"My lord, we should get going, or the buns will go bad," The jackal beastkin said, licking bun crumbs from his fingers.
"Mhm, let's go." Karl nodded, walking ahead. He was preparing to leave the city and return to Blade's Edge City to deliver the treasure map to Prince Santner.
There were many people who had the same idea and were taking the same action as Karl. A large number of people were leaving Sedona City today.
Tap, tap, tap...
"Master, will they believe the treasure map is real?" Mina lifted a corner of the curtain, her eyes watching the pedestrians outside.
"Someone will always believe it, won't they?" Lucas said, resting with his eyes closed. "They don't necessarily have to believe it. They just have to be greedy."
"Master, I'm worried about Big Sister Perry. If she finds out the Valtoria Kingdom treasure map has appeared, she will definitely get involved." Annie's brown eyes flickered with worry. "As the Princess of the Valtoria Kingdom, she would never allow the kingdom's treasure to fall into others' hands. And that fool Bella, she'll definitely get involved too. Aren't we just trapping our own people?"
"Didn't you say the Princess has half of the real Valtoria Kingdom map? If she gets a fake map, she will definitely compare them. No need to worry about her being fooled," Lucas said with a faint smile. "In fact, I'm counting on her to come looking for us."
"Oh, right! I almost forgot." Annie paused, then stuck her tongue out cutely.
*
"City Lord, we've arrived at the R&D department."
While they were chatting, the carriage had arrived at its destination.
Creak...
The carriage door opened. As Lucas stepped out, he saw Henry already waiting at the main gate, as if he knew Lucas would be coming.
"Master," Henry said respectfully.
"Take me there," Lucas said in a deep voice. Nicole, Mina, and Annie followed him out.
"Yes." Henry, with a serious expression, led the way.
Tap, tap, tap...
Ten-some minutes later, Henry led Lucas and the others to a top-secret courtyard. Dozens of soldiers stood guard, and there were even heavy crossbow ballistas hidden in concealed positions.
This courtyard represented the pinnacle of the R&D department and one of Lucas's foundational assets in this era. They entered the courtyard, took several turns, and arrived at a room. A wave of heat hit them as soon as they entered.
In the middle of the room was a wooden table. On the table, a quadrangular object was spinning. It had a large wheel that was turning continuously. This must be the steam engine prototype.
Besides this, there were seven or eight bald-headed men. They stared nervously at Lucas and his group, looking extremely reserved.
"Huh? Where's the old blacksmith chief?" Lucas scanned the room but didn't see the familiar old man.
"R-reporting to the City Lord! M-my father... he's sick," A bald-headed middle-aged man in his thirties stammered. He was the old blacksmith chief's son.
"What happened?" Lucas frowned. With a constitution built from smithing, the old blacksmith chief should be very resistant to illness.
"Master, the old blacksmith... he pushed himself too hard. He was only sleeping four hours a day," Henry reported in a low voice.
"What? Only four hours a day?" Lucas's eyes widened. He looked at the blacksmith's son's eyes—the dark circles were severe. It was obvious he was also suffering from a lack of sleep.
"My father... to not disappoint the City Lord's expectations, he ran experiments every day. As soon as it was finished, he collapsed," The old blacksmith's son said, his voice choking up
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