Chapter 40: You are absolutely right.

"What is it?" the mayor looked at the other impatiently and asked. He hated when someone interrupted his train of thought, especially when he was contemplating how to embezzle money.

"An officer wishes to see you..." The servant, knowing his master's habits, immediately explained.

"An officer?" both the mayor and the sheriff were surprised.

"The one who came last time, the one with Tang Mo, the officer from Northern Ridge..." the servant quickly added.

"Oh... let him in!" The mayor came to a realization and immediately ordered. He glanced at the sheriff and the tax officer, his eyes clearly conveying the message—it seemed that the visitor was worthwhile.

Sure enough, his speculation was confirmed. Tagg had indeed come to offer them benefits. Tang Mo was true to his word and delivered the promised benefits to them.

Tagg arrogantly handed the bribe to the three main officials of the small town, and this attitude further solidified the mayor's and sheriff's and tax officer's belief—Tang Mo was likely a man of Count Fisheo, and an important confidant at that.

Therefore, after the mayor and his colleagues received the second installment of bribe from Tagg, they put the matter of the school on hold.

After all, such matters were usually ignored if the common folk did not report it, and there were no accusations to field. They naturally wouldn't meddle needlessly—and even if someone did accuse, they would let it slide for sake of the Gold Coin and help Tang Mo take care of the fool who dared to accuse...

...

In the workshop, Tang Mo was assembling the first batch of K1 Quick Gun with Mathews and others. Currently, this was the flagship product of Tang Mo's arms workshop and the source of its income.

The smelting furnace, after resting for seven or eight days, finally started belching black smoke again, enlivened by the raw materials transported from Northern Ridge.

In fact, Tang Mo had not deceived Tagg; he truly planned to produce a batch of arms and send it to Lord Earl.

He was an arms dealer, and his ultimate goal was to supply Lord Earl with sufficient weapons and to establish a reputation for his weapons in future wars.

If he did not provide Lord Earl with weapons and set aside ample training time, the effectiveness of these weapons on the battlefield would decrease, and Tang Mo would suffer great losses.

Therefore, this time, Tang Mo planned to provide as many K1 Quick Guns as possible and transport these weapons to Northern Ridge.

And Tagg, returning with this batch of arms, would personally bring Tang Mo's demands back. As long as Earl Fisello was willing to continue providing support, Northern Ridge would receive a steady supply of arms.

Tang Mo was confident about Earl Fisello's continued backing, for he was very certain that, once Tagg brought the Revolver back to Northern Ridge, the Earl would definitely recognize its immense significance.

This was no joke—if the Earl truly had ambition, with Tang Mo's weapons, he could even surge out of Northern Ridge, vie for the Kingdom's throne, and claim the seat right beneath the King's posterior!

In fact, Tang Mo's plan was roughly the same—he would supply Lord Earl with enough military arms, enabling the Earl to aim for a higher political status.

"Very good! Now, screw it tight, secure them... There, the internal structure of the K1 Quick Gun is complete! Pretty simple, right?" Finally, after a not-too-long wait under Tang Mo's supervision, the worker completed the entire procedure.

A complete firing mechanism was created and then passed to the next worker, who would be responsible for installing it and assembling the rest of the rifle.

With the addition of the front barrel, the entire rifle was put together to become a true K1 Quick Gun.

"Yes, I think all the workers should have mastered it." Parker nodded and assured Tang Mo, "The rest can be left to me, I will watch over them and let them familiarize themselves with the whole process."

"Good! Get started!" Tang Mo nodded his head and then stood aside, watching the workers assemble the already polished parts one by one according to the steps he had outlined.

This was his weapon workshop's first time producing the K1 Quick Gun on such a large scale. Previously, the prototypes were entirely handcrafted, with production cycles so long they were almost tear-inducing.

Now was different, for as the workers in front of him assembled their parts, in another workshop, two steam engines continued to work non-stop.

Over thirty apprentices were operating the machines, drilling barrel after barrel—by tonight, the workshop would have produced at least 50 high-quality barrels, almost perfectly identical!

These barrels were uniformly high quality, far more reliable than those drilled by workers using hydraulic windmills or purely by hand.

"Click!" Tang Mo cocked the bolt of an already-manufactured K1 Quick Gun to reveal its smooth bore and nodded in satisfaction.

Though still far from the advanced military hardware Tang Mo dealt with before his transmigration, this weapon was quite ahead of its time for this era.

"It's truly very beautiful!" Tang Mo said, smiling at the weapon in his hand while speaking to Parker and Mathews beside him.

"Indeed, after mechanical processing, this is more like a work of art compared to Shireck's flintlock guns," Mathews agreed.

Then, he continued to reflect on everything, "Compared to such results, it should be said that the entire process is even greater."

With that, he, along with Parker and Tang Mo, looked towards the other side where the finished K1 Quick Guns, identical except for the production numbers, were being packed into wooden crates one by one.

"I'm back! Everything is settled. They won't trouble you anymore and are willing to sell you some more land... Also..." Tagg was rambling as he walked into the factory, but when he saw the neatly stacked K1 Quick Guns in the wooden crates, he found himself at a loss for words.

He swallowed, his gaze fixed on the workers as they placed each freshly-made, rustproof-oiled gun into crates one after the other.

Then he glanced at the several large sealed boxes not far away and couldn't utter a word for a long moment.

"Exactly, you are completely right, those boxes contain the K1 Quick Guns you will take away," Tang Mo nodded.

Then everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.