Chapter 180: Oil Field Extraction
Over the past year, Newhaven City had discovered many iron mines, copper mines, coal mines, and even deposits of gold and silver.
Caelum chose to extract all of them in secret.
Even though many of those mineral deposits lay within the territories of the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric, he had no intention of sharing the profits as long as no one discovered them.
The frontier covered a vast area and had few inhabitants.
The chance of being noticed was low.
This oil field was different.
It lay very close to an important frontier town of the Grand Concord Dynasty.
Once Newhaven began extracting oil, the dynasty would discover it sooner or later.
Then negotiations would become unavoidable.
Oil was not considered a strategic resource by the Grand Concord Dynasty.
They did not even care much about what they called rock oil.
Even so, it was still a resource found within their territory.
Now that they finally had something to use as leverage, they would almost certainly demand an outrageous price.
The Grand Concord Dynasty had coveted Newhaven City’s cement and other resources for a long time.
The greatest advantage of an airship was its unmatched endurance in the sky.
The Leader, the airship Caelum rode, could remain in continuous flight for more than two hundred hours.
Its speed reached eighty kilometers per hour.
As long as Caelum wished, he could fly to any location in the Grand Concord Dynasty or Thalric.
He could even reach either capital directly and drop bombs from above.
A round trip could easily be completed within ten days.
At an altitude of several thousand meters, only Newhaven City’s newest antiaircraft guns could reach it.
Every other weapon could do nothing but watch helplessly.
The large oil field lay several hundred kilometers from Newhaven City.
After only a few hours, the Leader arrived above it.
In the middle of a barren open plain, thick oil continuously seeped from beneath the ground.
Around the place where it surfaced, large numbers of workers had excavated a vast pit.
Conventional oil extraction was troublesome.
For Caelum, however, it was extremely simple.
At least this oil field did not require drilling equipment.
The airship slowly descended.
Caelum stepped out of the cabin.
At the same moment, every Warden guarding the oil field snapped to attention and saluted him.
Their movements were so perfectly synchronized that the sound seemed to come from a single body.
Every soldier’s gaze was sharp.
Their postures were as rigid as steel, and their presence cut through the air like blades.
The force of their discipline made the atmosphere itself seem heavier.
Caelum climbed to higher ground and looked down into the vast pit.
Oil flowed steadily from its center.
"Have everyone nearby withdraw."
"Yes, Leader!"
Once the area had been cleared, Caelum spread his arms.
An invisible force emerged.
[Energy and Oil Extraction Accelerated Production]
The ground suddenly began to tremble.
It felt as though a vast army was about to burst from beneath the earth.
Boom!
In the next instant, an enormous volume of oil erupted from underground.
The pressure was so immense that the oil shot upward like a fountain.
It rapidly filled the excavated pit.
[Energy and Oil Extraction Production Complete]
A new technology unlocked.
[Energy and Nuclear Fission Unlocked]
At the same time, activating the oil extraction branch triggered another series of modern technologies.
From this moment onward, Caelum possessed the potential to secure absolute control over both sea and sky.
[Vehicles and Automobiles Unlocked]
[Vehicles and Tanks Unlocked]
[Vehicles and Ships Unlocked]
[Vehicles and Aircraft Unlocked]
That was not all.
[Information and Wired Telephone Unlocked]
[Information and Radio Technology Unlocked]
The communications technologies gave Caelum the ability to manufacture such equipment through acceleration.
In truth, however, the students of the Physics Academy had already developed wired telephones and wireless telegraph machines.
For people who had completed advanced education, such devices were easy to produce.
Limited by the current electrical infrastructure, wired telephones could only be used within Newhaven City.
Telegraph machines had already entered service.
The Wardens used hand powered models.
Whenever they sent a message, someone had to stand beside the machine and turn a crank to generate electricity.
The electromagnetic waves produced by the telegraph could weaken depending on environmental conditions, causing the communication range to vary.
Under normal circumstances, the range exceeded twenty kilometers.
At greater distances, it could sometimes reach several hundred kilometers.
Drip.
A drop of oil landed on Caelum.
Edrick immediately handed him a white cloth.
Caelum took it and wiped the oil from his hand.
"Begin filling barrels and transporting it."
"Yes, Leader!"
Caelum acted without delay.
Once the technology tree had been unlocked, he returned to the airship.
The Leader slowly rose and began flying back toward Newhaven City.
"How is construction of the refinery progressing?"
"At the current pace, it will be completed in half a month."
"And the matter I asked you to investigate?"
"We have found nothing so far."
Edrick continued his report.
"Newhaven City gathers merchants from every corner of the world. Their information networks are the best available. I made inquiries, but neither the Grand Concord Dynasty nor Thalric has shown any sign of flintlock muskets or black powder."
Caelum had never lowered his guard.
Even though he relied on the technology tree to develop at incredible speed, he still remained alert for the forces of other players.
So much time had passed.
No matter how poor their abilities were, other players should have been capable of producing black powder and flintlock muskets by now.
If they could not even accomplish that much, then such opponents could essentially be ignored.
There were several possible explanations.
Perhaps the other players on the same continent were truly incompetent and had failed to develop black powder.
Perhaps they were hiding themselves extremely well.
There was also another possibility.
This continent might not contain any other players at all.
Their starting points could have been on distant islands or another continent.
Events at the oil field unfolded exactly as Caelum expected.
Once the Grand Concord Dynasty discovered that Newhaven City was extracting oil inside its territory, it immediately sent troops to confront the garrison.
Five thousand frontier soldiers faced one thousand Wardens.
The Wardens were badly outnumbered.
Yet if fighting truly began, they could immediately deploy more than one hundred cannons and give the enemy a taste of picric acid shells.
The importance of the oil field could not be overstated.
Several heavy machine guns had even been stationed there despite not yet being formally issued to the army.
If those several thousand soldiers truly dared to charge, the result would be interesting.
The two sides were not even close in combat strength.
The Grand Concord soldiers had never faced heavy machine guns or picric acid shells.
They had not even experienced the power of flintlock muskets and solid cannonballs.
Even so, they believed their numbers were enough to threaten the oil field garrison.
They had no idea that the Wardens had already positioned their heavy machine guns.
At that month’s meeting of the Newhaven Council, all thirty seats were occupied.
Every council member wore a white shirt, black trousers, and a black coat.
The outfit had become the accepted formal attire of the council.
Caelum sat in the First Chair without speaking.
Only when discussion reached the oil field did he finally open his mouth.
"Since the Grand Concord Dynasty wants cement, then give it to them. From today onward, lift the ban on cement sales. Anyone may purchase cement in Newhaven."
"Understood."
Whenever Caelum chose not to intervene, the council could discuss matters and decide on a response.
But once he spoke, his words became an order.
The Grand Concord Dynasty had coveted Newhaven’s cement for a long time.
Newhaven’s extraction of oil from within its territory now gave it the perfect excuse to make demands.
Caelum did not mind.
He could use the opportunity to lift the cement ban and sell it at the highest possible price.
There was no shortage of buyers.
The resulting revenue would greatly ease the financial pressure on Newhaven City.
After all, Newhaven had developed too quickly over the past year.
Its funds were beginning to run low.
Both the Grand Concord Dynasty and Thalric had enormous demand for cement.
With the money from those sales, many of Newhaven City’s plans could finally be put into motion.
