"What?!"

The voice suddenly rose, sounding a bit harsh.

However, it was confined to the room, and the maids and guards outside seemed not to hear it at all. In this boudoir, Oda Chi unconsciously took a step back, always feeling that the fox-eared girl opposite her suddenly became aggressive from her previous enthusiastic state.

"Damn it! How can this happen!!"

Tightly clutching the intelligence report just handed over by Oda Chi, her slender, pale fingers exerting unusual strength, even trembling slightly, Miss Tamamo no Mae widened her eyes in disbelief. After confirming it several times, she suddenly felt bad, her eyebrows arched in anger, and her beautiful eyes glared.

"Who on earth is this Saito Yoshihiko, where did she pop out from..." She was both angry and anxious, gritting her teeth, muttering the name as if grinding her teeth.

"This person... I heard that she is Lord Dao San's daughter, but she got lost a long time ago and was only recently found..."

Oda Chi spoke softly, trying to soothe Miss Tamamo no Mae's anxious mood.

She no longer felt the initial fear and unease, not completely gone, but at least no longer so jumpy, almost to the point where she couldn't eat or sleep.

Although this fox elf was indeed frightening, especially since just the name was enough to make her lose her composure.

However, after these days of getting along, the deep-boudoir girl slowly discovered that Miss Tamamo no Mae was actually quite easy to talk to, except for that initial issue where there was no room for negotiation. As they became more familiar, she naturally didn't feel so afraid anymore.

Of course, she still harbored some caution, but at least it wasn't the kind of fear that left her feeling absent-minded.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it, even that witch... such matters must follow a first-come, first-served principle, right?"

Mumbling such words, Miss Fox Spirit seemed a bit angry, staring fixedly at the intelligence report in her hand, as if flames were about to shoot from her eyes. She had just heard the Master information, and initially felt very happy, indicating everything was going smoothly.

But at this moment, she wasn't happy at all, instead finding certain characters on the intelligence report to be so... glaring.

"Wha-what do you mean by first-come, first-served?"

Miss Ah Shi cautiously asked, "Are you referring to the issue of that Miss Saito Yoshihiko possibly agreeing to a marriage proposal with the person you're looking for?"

The intelligence report clearly stated it, although it couldn't yet be confirmed, nor was it publicly announced like a national bulletin, but it seemed like that "Fuma of Mino" had such an idea, so the spy sent back this piece of information together...

On further thought, Miss Ah Shi felt this was probably the case.

This fox elf had previously hinted every third sentence would indirectly reference that man, with words showing a strong desire to become a virtuous wife, so it's not so surprising she felt a bit unbelievable at first, and now thinks her previous impression of "Tamamo no Mae" has been overturned.

Clearly such a pitiful beauty, difficult to connect to the notorious Nine-tailed Demon Fox that brought devastation upon the nation.

"If not for this, what else could it be!" Miss Tamamo no Mae gritted her teeth, her full chest heaving dramatically.

Originally thinking she could come over and steal the deal, feeling smug about having the upper hand... now it seems good, not only realizing she might not steal the deal, but also that if she hadn't come over, someone else might have. How could she not be fuming?

No, no! Absolutely not! This matter must be stopped!

With intense urgency, Miss Tamamo no Mae felt an urgency to leave immediately. Since she already knew the Master was over in Mino, very close to Owari, just across the Nongwei Plain, there was no time to delay.

She wouldn't give that fox elf a chance! — Seems like she was too angry to remember she herself was a fox elf.

"But... it might not be true..." Oda Chi struggled to find the right words, awkwardly comforting Miss Tamamo no Mae. Although she was not as afraid of her as before, she also worried that Miss Tamamo no Mae might do something terrible in her excitement.

If she knew that Miss Tamamo no Mae was actually preparing to leave right now, she wouldn't have said such a thing.

"What do you know, there's no smoke without fire, if nothing really..." The fox elf girl shook her head vigorously like a rattle-drum at high speed, but her quick pacing words suddenly stopped as she thought of something.

Through her interactions with Oda Chi, and the time she spent exploring and gathering intelligence, she somewhat discovered the peculiar nature of this world, besides having a synchronized history and similar timeline, like a parallel world, there also existed some special factors.

For example, a strange power system called Guardian Spirit, either through Harmonious Soul Transformation or Desolate Soul Manifestation, it would always provide the Guardian with incredible protection and power.

Recently, she pretended to be Oda Chi's Guardian Spirit, acting with her when she left the room, leaving Oda Chi with no way to get rid of her, or find a chance to resist... and she wasn't exactly unfamiliar with this.

Because the Spirit Base of this body was Master's Guardian Spirit...

If it were also a feature of this world's system, then it's possible that Master left traces in this world long before her and his encounter—resulting in a troublesome question.

Who really came first, who came last?

Suddenly realizing this point, Miss Tamamo no Mae's vigilance instantly heightened to its peak, evoking a hair-raising sense of crisis.

She stopped her prepared steps, seriously contemplating, then in Oda Chi's puzzled gaze, she repeatedly shook her head, as if quickly thinking of many methods in a short time, but soon dismissing them without a hint of hesitation.

It seems none of them are working, the disadvantage is still too great.

Hmmmm, or maybe...or maybe...

Her beautiful eyes shifted, and she thoughtfully glanced towards the young lady in the deep chamber opposite her. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Miss Tamamo...?" Oda Chi felt a bit uneasy. Why did she suddenly become quiet and look at her with such eyes? This made her feel a subtle ominous premonition in her heart.

......

...

On the other side of the Nongwei Plain.

Outside Rice Leaf Mountain City in Mino Country.

"What are these..."

Muttering almost from her throat, Miss Saito felt shocked once again, incredulously turning her gaze to someone who was busy commanding everyone. She initially wanted to have a firsthand look at what kind of Power was behind this person.

What kind of cultivation and quality he possessed, and to what extent his background was. Although she couldn't glimpse it fully, she could at least speculate a bit about his trump cards.

With such curiosity, she decided to follow out of the city.

But she didn't expect to see such a scene in front of her—

This was outside Rice Leaf Mountain City, in a selected open space, but the ground had been occupied by enormous steel beasts.

Each was a modern heavy box truck, exuding an industrial beauty with polished metal smoothness, a sense of heaviness and lines, emitting a cold and heavy steel aura from their entire bodies.

In the modern world, these common transport tools present a strong challenge to people's vision and imagination in this era, truly "monsters."

The soldiers following them out of the city all turned pale, thinking they were going to confront some demon. The commoners brought along with the army, or rather, those who were recently urgently trained and cultivated for professional jobs, looked at these gigantic objects with stunned expressions and, after realizing it, were elated.

"According to previous training, try going up, one per vehicle, and try driving them back..."

Gu Mo calmly commanded, even though these people didn't have licenses before, they had been intensively trained through the Learning Device. So they did indeed master the corresponding driving Skills, and now it was time for them to transport the first batch of supplies back.

"..."

"..."

A brief silence.

The hastily trained professional drivers exchanged a few glances, gathered their courage, and walked towards the trucks. Under the frightened and admiring gazes of the inexperienced soldiers, they approached the heavy trucks step by step, then cautiously opened the doors and climbed up.

With new knowledge and Skills directly added to their brains, they found it easier to accept such things... At least they didn't know the principles involved, but knew what was happening and understood that this was a special transport tool, not some terrifying monster.

Gu Mo, having given the order, looked on satisfied at this scene, then leisurely turned around to the shocked Second Miss and explained slowly:

"Inside these are some agricultural machinery and some other things we might use next, including seeds and the like..."

"Agr...agricultural machinery?" Second Miss looked utterly puzzled.

"Yes, since it's about liberating productivity, naturally, we should start with Mino's biggest advantage. Along the way, we can familiarize people with the concept of machines..." Gu Mo explained with extraordinary calm, this being his first step of the plan, and it was reasonable.

Food is the priority of the people.

Whether it was the world of the 16th century or the modern world thereafter, food was the foundation of survival, and food security was of utmost importance.

In the feudal agricultural era, possessing the fertile land of the Great Plains, developed agriculture... Even in later generations, Mino Region was an important granary. In this era, its significance was self-evident, even in historical accounts where Oda Nobunaga sought to rule the country, capturing Mino was the first step.

Thus, the entry point chosen by Gu Mo was precisely in this aspect. Moreover, this was already the advantage of Mino Country. He aimed to magnify this advantage, laying a solid foundation, and then gradually extending throughout Mino, rushing into the industrial era.

"I don't quite understand, but...those things you mentioned, they are like these... these so-called cars, right? Are you sure about this..."

Shaking her head a bit, Second Miss felt slightly dizzy. This person said meals should be eaten bite by bite, and roads walked step by step, but to her, it seemed overly aggressive. Agriculture was the lifeblood of Mino, a core of Nongzhou.

Why did this person, upon arrival, start in this area and do it so thoroughly, apparently aiming for a comprehensive transformation from production to management, inside and out.

"I understand your worries, but these guys didn't know how to drive before either..." Gu Mo chuckled lightly, pointing with his hand to the distance.

Just then, the roaring sound of an engine began.