When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 774 - 729: Rapids City in 1448 (Part 1)

With a sharp sound, the steel pen tip tore a large hole in the fragile paper.

Horn gently shook his head, recalling something as he looked at the dried ink on the pen nib.

He looked up at René, standing beside him, and asked, "René, do you think my methods are too extreme?"

"If your actions genuinely strengthen the Holy Alliance," René responded calmly, "and if it harms the interests of Moliat and the nobles, that means they were obstacles to victory. You are not wrong."

"Yes, some things are always hard to avoid," Horn understood this principle himself.

Three days had passed since his return from Xia Lvcheng to Rapids City, yet Horn was still troubled by the previous dispute with Moliat.

This wasn't a lovers' quarrel but a real internal conflict between the two giants of Thousand River Valley.

In Horn's original plan, Moliat and her army were indispensable forces.

Indeed, until the Demon-Loving Fungus vaccine was developed and the Helical Gun popularized, Horn still needed a large number of close combat troops.

In Horn's view, the Mountain Knights who had undergone rigorous training were exceptionally good melee soldiers; with two months of drill and discipline, they even surpassed the Salvation Army in combat.

Moreover, this past year, Moliat had been upgrading the Mountain Knights with new armor and horses, emulating the Royal Cavalry to reform the cavalry in large formations.

The only thing they seemed to lack was the extraordinary morale brought about by the revolutionary enthusiasm of the Salvation Army's two battle groups.

Over days of disputes, Horn had come to understand some of Moliat's thoughts.

Perhaps Moliat herself didn't realize it, but she indeed saw Thousand River Valley as her home, allowing Horn to share power only because he was her father's prospective son-in-law.

Moliat could not accept her father's legacy falling into someone else's hands, not even Horn's.

Co-ruling the Empire was no longer enough for Moliat; she wanted to gain the upper hand over Horn through the Battle of Shattered Stone Plain.

Since Thousand River Valley and the Holy Alliance are temporary nations for now, they will inevitably be forged into a true nation through war.

At that point, whether Thousand River Valley belongs to the Holy Alliance, or the Holy Alliance belongs to Thousand River Valley, remains to be discussed.

Setting aside the special hard tube steel pen crafted by the Dwarves, Horn stood up, stretched lazily, and walked to the window.

Horn was currently in an old noble tower in the Port District of Rapids City.

However, following several wars, the owner of this tower was buried by the flames of war, and it was transformed into a guesthouse for visitors.

Through the circular window shaped like cross petals, an expansive view of the majority of the Port District could be seen.

Horn's fingers subconsciously rubbed the colorful glass window frame, watching the shimmering waves of the canal dance into golden threads on the glass.

The Port District, once littered with charred wood and bricks three years ago, was now engulfed in a dazzling stream of wealth. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The spiral cranes hummed as they hoisted truck-sized heavy cargo from the deck.

Behind the green striped brick stone pavement quay, twelve red brick warehouse stacks lined along the river.

Behind the red brick warehouse stack, separated by a few low-rise shops and residences, was a ring-shaped four-story cement rebuilt exchange.

Rapids City Exchange was the only one integrating stock, bonds, and bulk commodity trading, and it was also a branch of Saintess Bank.

Brokers wearing fashionable domed felt hats, dressed in wool vests, tucked contracts and bonds printed on lead plates under their arms, scurried like worker ants among the Corinthian columns of the exchange.

And the queen bee among this swarm of worker bees was Catherine, the head of Saintess Bank, the mayor of Rapids City, and the County Governor of Lower Reif County.

Her "1448 Port District Vision Plan" had already been more than half realized, and the remaining parts were certain to be completed by the year's end.

Looking up at the azure sky, Horn temporarily cast aside the cloud of Moliat, redirecting his focus to the white cloud of Rapids City.

"René, get ready, I want to go out for a walk." Horn instructed, "Don't arrange too many people."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The previous assassination attempt at Celestial Maiden City was still vivid, yet René did not try to dissuade him.

At this moment, Horn was unafraid.

Because he knew that in the unseen shadows, Solan was constantly traversing to ensure Horn's safety.

After stabilizing the situation at Black Snake Bay, witches' transfer and dispatching began according to the initial plan.

Firstly, Solan from the Shadow Council resigned from the Divine Punishment Army and entered the Night Watcher system, specifically responsible for the personal safety of key political figures like Horn.

Secondly, the mechanical soul Novia rushed from Black Snake Bay to Mayo Town and ry Court Barracks to deeply engage in a series of Spring Technology and engineering research and design.

Meanwhile, "Phoenix" Selomis proactively applied to enter Saint Danji Military Academy.

As per Horn's promise, after graduating in three years, she would be eligible to become either a Battle Commander or Deputy Warlord of a battle group.

And Ottatila seems to still be persuading and gathering both local and foreign witches to enter the Holy Alliance.

Of course, until they make significant contributions, they wouldn't be granted the "Saintess" title; beforehand, they all only held the title of high-level Miracle Nun.

It didn't take long, under the protection of three to five constables, Horn and René lowered their hat brims and walked along the bustling streets of Rapids City.

Since Rapids City was an old town renovation with limited funding, it didn't have the orderly layout of ry Court Barracks.

Therefore, the streets and buildings remained distributed like spider webs, with wide and narrow streets and alleys, coupled with tall and short tower residences.

A newly erected bronze statue beside the fountain—a merchant holding scales and an abacus statue, with the base inscribed "Dedicated to all souls daring to calculate."

Standing before the fountain, Horn couldn't help but laugh.

If this was in the past, such an anti-feudal bronze statue would have been smashed by Master Knights in no time.

Freed from the suppression of the Church and the nobles, these citizens fully liberated their nature, especially after the Holy Path faction's debate within "The Truth Journal."

In theory, rural people should prefer the Holy Path faction, but in reality, despite Holy Path faction monks focusing on rural areas, the true strongholds of Holy Path and Juanist factions were in urban areas.

Rural areas became the strongholds of the old guard instead.

Passing the statue, Horn continued forward.

Iron signs hung above the shops along the street, with blacksmiths sitting in the doorway with bared arms, striking iron blocks; the showering iron flakes even fell on Horn's shoes.

Horn's ears were filled with the shouts of shipowners and brokers, the chants of haulers and boatmen, the cries of vendors, and the hissing friction of ropes.

Dock workers, artisans, citizens, and construction workers hurried back and forth on the street, while beggars and pickpockets fled scattered with their loaves of bread under the chase of Night Watchers.

Standing on the curb of the sidewalk, a boy with a leather box hanging from his chest simultaneously hawked potions and candies while waving the latest "Meigedi Business News."

Porters pushed carts, transporting the mortar, spices, paper ink, sugar, and grains to the canal on another track next door.

The most important project in the "1448 Port District Vision Plan" was constructing a dual-track canal and lock system over the ruins of Cross District.