Chapter 17 I Will Be the Steer

Time is limited. It goes even faster if you wasted it.

-Wandering Philosopher

Hax exited his workshop and four riflemen saluted him. "Do you have any order, sir?"

"Where is Bodin?"

"He is administrating the people, sir. Because a lot of people is joining us every day, he has been busy placing them effectively."

"He's a merchant," Hax said. "How did he know how to order people around?"

"I learn by doing." Bodin approached. "Organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling thousands of people every day is a big job. But I'm glad I can do something useful. That said, are you looking for me?"

"I am. But first, tell me what have you been doing."

Bodin smiled. "I've been interviewing people about their talents and where would they be like to be placed. Most of them come to help, but they don't really good at anything so that brings me quite a lot of headaches. Thankfully the ones that are good at something are willing to train them. I was also lucky that I got some former village heads as administrators. I believe they can oversee and coordinate the people on a smaller scale."

"That is tough work. But what is the result."

"The result is that you can work on stronger weapons peacefully without a thousand people walking around not knowing what to do to help you. We have organized builders, guards, doctors, farmers, bakers, and much more."

"Wait a minute. Are we trying to build a state here?"

"I never thought about that. That's a good idea, Hax. We should make an empire and make you the emperor. I'm sure everyone will agree."

The four guards nodded.

Hax was shock stricken. He didn't want to be an emperor. That was too much work. He just wanted to have a lot of resources to get back to his old universe.

"Don't worry, Hax. You can focus on making more weapons. We can take care of the other work for you. What do you need? manpower? Resources? Lands? With the huge amount of support we have, we can get anything for you."

Hax nodded. He just thought about that in the workshop. If he became an emperor his authority would solidify and the people would move to his will much easier. He could set up an educational institution and research institution which will help him in reverse engineering blueprints or making new technology.

But he didn't really want to be burdened. After the rebellion, he planned to have nothing to do with the norms, but that didn't seem to be possible. The norms would chase him anywhere he go and the cultivators that knew his capability would kill him.

"Alright, but not now. We need to take the entire kingdom before we can announce that."

Bodin and the guards trembled in excitement.

Bodin let out a breath. "I believe that is not the limit of your ambition, right Hax?"

"What do you mean?"

"After we take the kingdom, we will also wage war on other kingdoms and free every norm in the world."

"W-What?" Hax asked.

"I know you would never forget about your goal, Hax. You want to help every norm just like me. At first, I don't think the cultivators are that bad to people, but you open my eyes, Hax. People have been telling stories to me, and the more I heard, the more I cannot believe my ears. Then I recalled your goal. You know much more than I do about the cultivators. You know what they have done to the people. This is why you wanted to sell the pistol cheap. This is why you develop so many things that could help the norms!"

The guards widened their eyes when they heard that. They didn't expect Hax had been making so many sacrifices for them. And apparently, his ambition was huge.

Helping every norm from the cultivators could not be lightly said. This was because there were many states that were bigger and stronger than the Avatar Kingdom. The Avatar Kingdom was just a low-level kingdom, and it was among the weakest in the group. The next level would be the mid-level kingdom and the high-level kingdom. The amount of high-class magicians or cultivators there was enough to fill an entire village. And just one of them could level a thousand low-class kingdoms.

They heard this from hearsay, but the story might as well be true because low-level states never attacked mid-level states. And wars between them would devastate thousands of low-level states that weren't even involved.

Hax was speechless. How should he tell them that he only helped the norms because of the system? No, he shouldn't say it. He should just swim with the flow and keep misguiding them, or else they wouldn't respect him anymore.

"Of course, I haven't forgotten," Hax said. "In fact, when I become the emperor, I would make schools so I can teach every norm how to make weapons."

He wouldn't personally teach them, but he would write his knowledge in a book for them to read. If someone smart succeeded, he would recruit them and filled his ranks with smart and capable people that can help him in his research.

Such a perfect plan!

The guards kneeled. "Your majesty!"

Hax sighed. "Don't do that anymore. An emperor without an empire is nothing. Wait until that day to come."

"Yes, sir."

"Bodin, come to the workshop with me. I want to discuss something."

The both of them entered the workshop under the nervous gaze of the guards.

"What do you need, Hax?"

"I need resources."

"We have a lot of that."

"We might need more than a lot of that."

Bodin frowned. "How come our resources isn't enough."

Hax leaned on the table and pointed towards the 3D Printer blueprint that he draw. "This thing needs a lot of material."

Bodin approached with curiosity. "What is this thing. It looks like a warehouse with ropes, metals, and glass. And it had a giant mouth with a long tongue."

"That's the railway where the printed products will come out. And the one you called ropes is actually cables."

"Printed? You mean like your manufacturing bot?"

"Yes, but much bigger. It's as big as this warehouse, if not slightly bigger."

"How much resources does it need?"

"I already list out the type and amount down there."

Bodin moved his eyes and was shocked. "Does this thing really need this much metal? And there are even some metals that I never heard of."

"I want you to try your best to find them."

"Do we really need this thing? What is it for anyway?"

Hax had been waiting for that question. "What do you think of the rifle?"

Bodin raised his eyebrow. "It's a good weapon. But that's not what we are talking about."

Hax smiled. "What if I tell you that this thing can make one thousand rifles a day?"

Bodin's jaw fell. "Hax, I know you never lied to me. But what you said is really hard to believe."

"But you do," Hax said, smiling. "You do believe me."

Bodin chuckled. "Yes, I do. It seems like yesterday I just return from trading some supplies, and now here I am becoming an assistant of a future emperor."

"Don't lose yourself, buddy. No matter what we've become, always remember who we are."

"I don't get it, but okay."

Hax sighed. "Nevermind. You can go now."

"Before that," Bodin said. "Can you tell me what you are working on right now?"

"I'm planning to make an arm."

"An arm?"

"Mechanical arms is what I called them. They are made with a combination of metals and simple levers and pistol mechanism—"

"Just tell me what it can do."

"It lets you punch harder, it can act as an armor to protect your arm, but most importantly you can lift more weight with it."

"Why would we need that?" Bodin asked.

"The more weight you can lift, the heavier and the bigger the weapon I can give you."

"Ah, you truly are a genius, Hax. That means the bigger your weapons the larger the damage, right?"

"Not exactly, but that's the general idea."

He had seen a small portable bomb destroy an entire battleship in his fragmented memories. He didn't even dare to imagine he could reverse engineer that in the near future.

"Awesome," Bodin said. "You do your work. I will try my best to get the materials that you want. We have a lot of experienced miners joining us, maybe they know some stuff."

Hax nodded. "I'm counting on you. I have no one else to rely upon."

"You can keep relying on me, Hax. I wouldn't mind."

"Thank you," Hax said.

"The one who said that should be me. As the light of hope for the norms, you have a great burden on your shoulder. I am grateful that I can share your burden."

Hax nodded.

Bodin smiled. "I'll be going now. Just tell someone to fetch me if you need anything from me. Anyway, are you hungry? I will tell the chefs to cook something delicious for you to eat."

"Now that you say it. I am a bit hungry. Just give me something easy to eat so I can work while I eat."

"Sure." Hax exited the workshop.

Hax sat on his chair and opened the simulation panel. The screen showed a blueprint of a crude mechanical arm that he had drawn. It looked too big to his liking, but he couldn't really do anything about it.

"I need more knowledge. I need more access points. Did the Man Hunter save the Black Wolves already?"

He planned to spend the access points on getting mechanical engineering knowledge. It could help him in analyzing, designing, and manufacturing any mechanical system. In summary, it helped him in improving any machine, making modifications, and even reverse-engineering them.

He also considered getting electronic engineering knowledge. With that, he could make transistors, diodes, and any other components that could improve the brain of a machine. With this knowledge, Hax could also design and develop electronic equipment such as broadcast and communication systems.

If he made this device, long-range communication would be easy. Hax could make deals with people on longer distances. His army would communicate and coordinate with each other to fight the enemy while they were kilometers away. This was normal in his universe, but it didn't exist on this planet. Espionage would be much easier with this device.

"I forgot to ask Bodin about Gaelin. Well, I shouldn't put my foot there."

Bodin and the rest were smart enough. He actually looked down on them at first, but his meeting with Balmar changed his view. They were actually capable people. Things about getting information about the enemy should already be in their consideration.

"I should just be the steer. Moving the big ship in the direction that I wanted. The rest of the job should be left to them."

If that was the case, then he could relax and develop in peace.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Sir Hax, sorry to bother. The Man Hunter would like to meet you."