Roland secured his first purchase order for steam engines since he started manufacturing them, and it was also the largest transaction to date.

The price of a bare engine was five hundred gold dragons, with the first two delivered in the first month, followed by a monthly increase of one, totaling ten units. Technical support, parts replacement, and equipment improvements for the steam engines would require additional gold dragons. As for quality after-sales service and a three-guarantee commitment, Roland stated he had never heard of such a thing.

Barov was the most excited about this deal. In his opinion, any act that increased revenue for the town hall—whether it was trade or plunder—deserved high praise. There were also opponents, such as Carter, Scroll, and Nightingale, who questioned whether it was too early to sell these powerful machines to outsiders, as Border Town itself didn't have enough for its own needs yet.

Roland didn't explain too much, because he wasn't approaching it solely from the perspective of a lord, but from the standpoint of an industrialization promoter.

Trying to promote the process of societal industrialization single-handedly was an almost impossible task, even with his knowledge exceeding the era. The town's absorption capacity was extremely limited, and if the manufactured industrial products couldn't be sold, they were no different from scrap iron. More people had to join this revolution to spark a new wave of power applications.

What could he gain by selling steam engines?

Sufficient currency, plenty of jobs, and a batch of skilled workers—the latter being the most important of all.

This was also the reason Roland was keeping production low.

After Anna's ability evolved, her production efficiency was completely different. As long as there were enough raw materials, she could now cut a dozen steam engines a day.

But selling such products was merely selling machines.

To drive this industry, a dedicated team had to be formed to be responsible for production, assembly, and maintenance. In Roland's plan, he only needed to open a factory, prepare production tools such as boring machines, planers, milling machines, etc., and hand over all steam engine production to the workers. It was foreseeable that the factory's early production efficiency would be low and the product qualification rate would be appalling, but slowly, everything would get on track. With the blessing of a master bed created by Anna herself, as long as they were familiar with the operation, the output would inevitably increase steadily.

Next, the profits from selling machines would be used to expand production scale and train more technicians. Experienced old workers would enable the town to produce more advanced products, such as steam trains, steamships, and so on. Undoubtedly, this was a virtuous cycle. And those steam engines that were sold could indirectly create benefits for himself—if they were used in mining, they could reduce ore prices; if they were used in shipping, they could promote trade; if they were used in textiles, they could make up for his own shortcomings.

Roland couldn't wait for steam power to be rapidly popularized throughout the country—as long as these machines were all produced in Border Town. Once he unified Graycastle, it would save him a lot of effort.

He had also considered the possibility of buyers imitating the steam engine, but the new steam engine would use circular cylinders drilled with boring machines, plus some deliberately designed complex parts. Relying on current craftsmanship, it would probably be difficult for them to build qualified machines in a short time, even with witches who possessed high-temperature abilities.

Being able to negotiate such a large order and find a channel for selling industrial products should have been exhilarating, but Roland found that he didn't feel any joy at all.

"It's already sunny outside, why do you still have such a bitter face?" Nightingale lifted her long legs and sat on the desk, holding a plate of dried fish slices in her hand. "Still worried about the Church's news?"

When Scroll wasn't around, Nightingale's behavior became particularly casual. A corner of the desk and the chaise lounge by the wall were her regular spots. For other lords, such actions would obviously be offensive, but Roland knew he didn't care, and she knew it too.

"I've always wondered why the Church would support both me and Garcia in vying for the throne, but now I think I understand. If I'm not mistaken, Timothy must have received an invitation from the Church as well," he frowned.

In addition to the order, Margaret also brought him a lot of information from the royal capital. One thing that surprised Roland greatly was that the Church attacked and took over Neverwinter, and according to the female merchant, they seemed to be planning to go further and launch an attack on Wolfheart Kingdom. This news was like a bolt from the blue, connecting all the ominous omens that had been lingering in his mind.

"Support the three of you to compete for the throne at the same time?"

"Not support, consumption," Roland shook his head. "The Church doesn't care if the war spreads throughout the country, or rather, they are happy to see Graycastle embroiled in infighting. As for the churches and believers being caught in the crossfire, it's completely outside their concern. Graycastle is not as weak as Neverwinter, with a vast territory and a large population. If they attack head-on, the Judgment Army will also lose most of its strength. Only when we have killed each other off can they occupy Graycastle at the lowest cost. After that, they can have as many believers as they want, and build churches however they like. Those pills... are just carefully prepared traps."

Wimbledon III's decree for the throne competition was equivalent to giving the Church the opportunity to manipulate the situation. If Graycastle, Wolfheart, and Neverwinter were successively destroyed, the sole Kingdom of Dawn would have no chance of surviving alone. The Church's real goal was probably to unify the four kingdoms. Considering the slow speed of information transmission and the public's indifference to the political situation, it was very likely that everyone would suddenly wake up when the enemy had already arrived at the door.

This was also the reason Roland felt anxious.

There was no basis for establishing a united front in this era. Expecting the nobles of Graycastle to cross borders to provide assistance was even more of a pipe dream. When the Church's army approached the city, what he could ultimately rely on was probably the limited number of troops in the Western Region.

"But you also have new weapons. The Judgment Army is not much stronger than ordinary knights. I don't think they can win against you."

He remembered that Nightingale used to feel only fear when she mentioned the behemoth of the Church, so it was slightly beyond Roland's expectation that she could have such great confidence in him now.

He forced a smile, but sighed in his heart. There was no difficulty in Anna producing the revolver. The performance of the one revolver and two revolvers that were trial-produced was excellent, whether it was trigger reset or automatic revolver. But if the problem of bullet firing wasn't solved, the new weapon would have no practical value. Without developing fulminate of mercury, he had to use some alternative materials as primers.

He hoped that the guards who went to Clearwater City would bring good news, Roland thought.

Just then, Lightning, who had regained her former vigor and was conducting daily training, flew into the office. She brought an unexpected message: the flag on a mound in the woods east of Border Town had been changed to blue.

According to the contact method agreed upon in the rumors secretly spread by Roland, a blue flag meant that a new witch had arrived.