Chapter 58: The New Arrivals in the City of Gaul (Part 1)

While Crow was greatly astonished to see Basalgin, the leader of the largest southern dwarf tribe, appear at a gathering of Valencia's nobility and rising merchant class, the young man Amongo had already set out as part of the first batch of new recruits toward the northern city of Bennisa; meanwhile, Wei Wuji was still escorting Lady Sarah and her daughter Cici on their return journey.

Left far behind by these three men, the city of Gaul was now undergoing unexpected changes—changes of which even Wei Wuji remained completely ignorant, as everything transpired after his departure.

After Wei Wuji left, Grant found himself grappling with a severe headache. Regarding the development of Gaul, he had originally intended to pursue a two-pronged approach. On one hand, he heavily favored Hegel. To a transmigrator, Grant firmly believed that a mechanical civilization similar to his former world could maximize the power of the masses to the greatest extent. Ultimately, a mechanical civilization suppressed individual heroism, turning everyone into a cog in an assembly line; even if you were the most crucial cog, you were still replaceable. Grant’s Commu-nism inherently valued the lower classes, and once he secured their support, he would have a vast reservoir of human resources at his disposal. Combining the two would generate immense power. The difference between this and what Fahrenheit represented lay merely in their attitudes toward each individual cog. Which approach was correct remained to be seen, but one could not deny that before contradictions with the cogs became acute, even Fahrenheit's system possessed tremendous positive drive, capable of uniformly coordinating and unleashing collective strength.

On the other hand, however, Grant clearly recognized the difference between himself and Grant—or rather, Fahrenheit (though Grant's thoughts contrasted his own situation with the enemy's). Fahrenheit had behind him decades of management and a vast, powerful organization supporting him. Although Landia’s external environment was harsh, its domestic environment was currently in the ascending phase of a decaying system (in Grant's words). Consequently, the short-term benefits of boosting productivity and engaging in aggressive foreign trade masked its systemic flaws and the dark, cannibalistic side of its domestic society. Because the contradictions facing the oppressed classes were temporarily delayed, many people were deceived—so much so that the magic apprentices, whom Grant regarded as intellectuals, hesitated or simply chose to flee Gaul and defect to Landia.

What Gaul lacked most right now was time. Although the Church's impending war against Landia had granted the revolutionary army a buffer period, this time could not be infinite. Moreover, the Church was already growing suspicious of Grant. Although the recent elimination of that law enforcement squad had bought some time during which the Church could not receive reports, the moment the Church confirmed their deaths, Grant would inevitably be placed on the blacklist, regardless of whether he was a genuine transmigrator. By then, the revolutionary army would be branded as enemies by both the Church and the indigenous empires.

Therefore, Grant’s alternative plan was to continue supporting Hegel while simultaneously making maximum use of the world's original native powers to serve the revolutionary army, thereby enhancing the army's combat effectiveness in a short period. At the same time, he pinned his hopes on whether he could reform people's livelihoods. The mages of this world, driven by stubborn minds and so-called dignity, indulged solely in their own isolated research. Yet in Grant’s view, while the mages' research was remarkable, it was profoundly chaotic as a whole. They lacked a grand strategic direction; many mages conducted research entirely on their own accord, driven by personal interest and varying financial backing, resulting in massive waste.

Grant’s plan was first to categorize research directions, strictly separating applications for warfare from those for production, conducting studies purposefully and categorically so as to concentrate resources more easily. However, as a saying from the Far East goes, even the most capable housewife cannot cook a meal without rice. Grant found himself in this very awkward predicament. Although he had established weapon design and agricultural research divisions, and even intended to set up a dedicated mechanical department to pave the way for industrial development, Hegel's death nearly fractured his already fragile system. The assistants previously assigned to Hegel were certainly diligent, but firstly, their caliber could not compare to Hegel, who was himself a transmigrator; and secondly, although Hegel had left behind numerous documents, mastering them and building upon that foundation would take time—something nobody knew how much of was left before the war between the Church and Landia erupted.

Originally, Grant had intended to leverage the world's native elements as one leg of a "walking on two legs" strategy to support the continued development of the revolutionary army in the short term. As a transmigrator, Grant did not consider magic inherently inferior to the science he knew; he merely believed that known technology could maximize the utility of ordinary people, whereas mastering magic was vastly more complex and cumbersome. In a contest between individuals, Grant would choose the magical system; but in a contest between wholes, success depended on whose organizational mobilization was stronger and whose collective power could be better unleashed.

Whether magic or alchemy—especially the latter—Grant perceived the embryonic sprouts of machinery forming within them. However, the current developmental model of alchemy still adhered strictly to the magical civilization, with mechanical elements emerging merely as incidental branches developed by alchemists for their own convenience, rendering alchemy a complex hybrid product. Yet, as long as both could aid him in the short term, Grant would not refuse either. Indeed, when he failed to secure the firm support of those who held esoteric knowledge, Grant had even contemplated utilizing the Daoist arts mastered by Wei Wuji—another system in this world akin to magic.

Regrettably, with Hegel's death, Grant and Wei Wuji had also experienced a falling out, meaning that path was closed off as well. Fortunately, the arrival of a single person at this juncture reignited Grant's hope.

Recruitment in Gaul was divided into several categories. The first was ordinary military recruitment; Grant currently had no plans to dispatch troops to conquer other parts of Landia, and thanks to the implementation of land reform, people's enthusiasm for joining the army to defend their own land was exceptionally high, rendering mandatory conscription unnecessary for the time being. The second category was the recruitment of specialized technical talent: anyone with a specific skill could apply, and after verification, they were assigned to various roles in military affairs, production, construction, education, and beyond. However, this was precisely the area that had caused Wei Wuji endless headaches, as those possessing magical knowledge played both sides, while individuals interested in mechanics felt Landia offered a better atmosphere. The final category was a special talent recruitment drive conceived by Grant because of Wei Wuji: regardless of what you studied or excelled in, as long as you believed you possessed extraordinary talent, you could apply here for employment. Naturally, the standards for this category were correspondingly much higher. The shadow mage Layard personally guarded the first checkpoint, and only after earning his approval would an applicant be granted an audience with Grant.

Thus far, not a single person had successfully passed this category, largely because Layard's horizons had expanded considerably ever since he met Wei Wuji.

This time, however, someone actually won his approval—meaning he had cleared the first hurdle. In terms of sheer combat capability, Layard did not consider this person particularly formidable, estimating his strength at most comparable to his own. The reason he earned Layard's endorsement was that this individual also practiced Daoist arts, and he informed Layard that he could help the revolutionary army resolve its major difficulties.

The man had a thoroughly ordinary appearance and went by the name of Machiavelli.