Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

The conflict between the Vineta Army and the Navy has a long history. The bickering between the "Golden Brim" and "Big Boots" in the municipal hall, with faces flushed, is a remarkable scene in Sea Blue.

In a way, the entire Vineta Republic has managed to navigate through these thirty years of merchant guild-style quarrels without much peril.

An old saying goes: An adversary lasts longer than a friend. Over these years, Army officers and Navy officers have become accustomed to the atmosphere of mutual disdain and competition. Under the broad principle of conflict without breaking, they occasionally even showcase some tacit cooperation.

But in the past three years, the hostility between the Army and Navy has reached new heights.

In the year 558 of the Imperial Calendar, after Governor De Bella declared that "the war of Taniria conquest has achieved complete victory."

The Vineta Republic Navy and the Maritime Trade Affairs Committee (hereafter referred to as the Maritime Committee) ignored the overwhelming opposition and criticism and forcibly passed the proposal for "forming the Third 'Grand Fleet' in the Province of Taniria" in the Council of Five.

Subsequently, the Maritime Committee also pushed through the astonishingly sizable "Republic Navy Armament Supplement Plan, Year Twenty-Eight" in the annual budget meetings, passing both the first and second reviews.

In the final public vote, with all representatives from the Army system casting opposition votes, attendees from the Third Corps cast decisive supportive votes.

The debate between "slow shipbuilding" and "urgent shipbuilding" was thus concluded.

Rapidly rebuilding naval power at any cost became a guiding principle at the state level for Vineta.

On the Navy side, the addition of a main fleet formation equaled a sudden increase in numerous vacancies overnight.

A large number of Navy cadets and junior officers, who had endured hardship on deck for many years, finally saw the dawn, naturally filling the atmosphere with jubilation.

On the Army side, due to the overseer's government issuing massive bonds to raise shipbuilding funds, a large portion of the Army budget for the coming years, even a decade, would be swallowed up, causing inevitable discontent and resentment within the military.

The "betrayal" by the Third Corps still leaves many Army officers deeply resentful to this day.

To ensure that the Taniria Fleet, which existed only on paper, would quickly form combat effectiveness—and to quell public discontent—the drafter and promoter of the new fleet plan, the highly powerful Inner Sea Fleet Commander [Rinero de Naresio], voluntarily resigned from his position.

Admiral Nalesho left the power center and self-exiled to the Taniria Islands, assuming the role of "nominal head" of the newly established Grand Fleet.

Former Inner Sea Fleet Deputy Commander [Martino Dandolo] was promoted, succeeding as the Inner Sea Fleet Commander and Navy Admiral.

In other words, Martino Dandolo appearing at the Army Headquarters means it's the first visit by a Navy high official of fleet commander rank since the "Throne" was established.

And it has been three years since a Navy officer last stepped into the "Throne."

Previously—on the eve of the Taniria war—the Military Committee held a meeting at the Army Headquarters, and the Navy Command sent four brigadier generals to attend. Admiral Zio ordered the "Hall of Throne" opened as a gesture of sincerity.

This time, however, Admiral Dandolo, of an even higher rank, was not taken to the luxurious meeting room on the fourth floor of the Army Headquarters. Instead, he was led straight to the stairway leading to the underground building by the Army Colonel responsible for welcoming him.

[Wetter Pisani] was puzzled but did not ask.

As the least senior of the three captains and a "Pisani" with a glorious surname, Wetter couldn't afford to falter.

Thus, Wetter shrugged, smiled, and followed the Army Colonel into the underground of the "Throne."

Passing three security gates, going down two flights of stairs, and through a dim, damp corridor, the Army Colonel brought the three visitors to a basement door.

The Colonel opened the heavy wooden door covered with felt and iron sheet, and the strong smell of herbs wafted out, making Wetter cough.

He turned to look at Captain Tie and Commander Dandolo, noticing both were frowning.

When the oak door was fully opened by the Army Colonel, a small room came into Wetter's view.

Along the distant end of the small room, six rows of sealed archive cabinets for storing important documents were lined up against the wall. In the cramped space between the archives and door, a simple table barely bigger than a door panel was temporarily set up.

An old man with white hair and a dignified bearing was seated behind the table, resting with his eyes closed.

A burly, fearsome-looking middle-aged man sat heroically on the old man's left, fiddling impatiently with a ring.

The buttons of the man's shirt were undone to his chest, revealing a thicket of chest hair, threatening to burst his uniform.

When the door opened, he only threw a cold glance at the four people outside before continuing to turn the "Great Alliance Ring" on his knuckle.

On the old man's right sat another dignified middle-aged man, reviewing the documents on the table.

After the door opened, the middle-aged man placed down the file in his hand and nodded with a smile at the three people outside.

Without needing the Army Colonel to introduce them, Wetter Pisani already recognized who these three before him were:

Seated in the middle, the old man was Governor-General, one of the members of the Council of Five, Army General [Carlo Qiao];

The burly man on Carlo Qiao's left had gained fame as an Army Major General [Rost Layton] during the Taniria Conquest War;

The middle-aged officer on Carlo Qiao's right was the Commander of the Fourth "Florence" Corps, Army Major General [Jacob de Bal].