Morning came, and the first light of dawn illuminated the earth. Iris opened the door and looked at the sunlight filling the courtyard, taking a deep breath and enjoying the warmth. "So comfortable~" she murmured softly. All the fatigue in her body disappeared, and she felt full of energy. Iris stretched her arms and moved her muscles, a slight smile on her face. Ever since Violet informed her last night that the divine gun had been successfully developed, her dreams had been filled with thoughts of the divine gun. The thought of the vampire army armed with divine guns and their unparalleled power made her unable to contain her excitement.
Immediately, Iris took out paper and pen and wrote the production document, then stamped it with the bat seal and personally went to the military office. "Knock, knock, knock." "Who is it?" Upon hearing the knocking, the head of the military office, Violet, opened the door. When she saw Iris, a look of surprise crossed her face. "Your Majesty, why have you come in person?" Iris smiled lightly and said, "Of course, I came to deliver the documents to our head of the military office." "Um..." Violet paused for a moment, then spoke in a reprimanding tone, "Iris, you know the current situation. The Ruined Land barbarians are invading the Divinity and Demon's Continent and are currently engaged in battle with the Crescent Empire. Within three months, the Crescent Empire will undoubtedly be conquered, followed by the recently occupied White Stork Empire, then the Sun-Moon Empire, and finally our country. As the Queen of Shuowang Empire, you should strive to improve your own strength as much as possible so that you can play a more important role in the upcoming wars."
"Hehe." Iris covered her mouth and laughed lightly, saying, "Violet, there's no need to be so nervous. The barbarians are still far from overturning everything. Besides, we have you, the head of the military office. Just study some large-scale divine machines and arm our army with them. It'll be fine."
Violet widened her eyes and retorted, "Nonsense! It took me a year just to develop the divine gun, and that was with a sample as a reference. Plus, my master explained the principles of the divine gun to me, even though I didn't listen attentively, I still remember some of it. As for other divine machines, it would take at least five years to develop them, and the principles behind them need to be carefully considered."
"Oh~" Iris drawled and then said, "Only five years? That's not too bad."
"It's five years or more, and 'or more' means there's no limit." Violet gave Iris a stern look and said, "I even have the urge to beat you up, but you're the noble vampire queen and I'm just a subordinate, so I wouldn't dare to cross that line."
Fighting was possible, but whether one could win or not was another matter. Of course, whether she won or lost, Violet would be accused of plotting regicide. As for how to deal with her, it was entirely up to Iris's decision.
"Don't worry, we vampires are not that weak. And of course, my idea of unifying the two continents is not just empty talk." Suddenly, Iris became serious, gazing at Violet and said slowly, "Violet, you and I are close friends, and when we're together, I won't put on the airs of a queen. You can treat me as the princess from before, and you are the granddaughter of the prime minister."
Iris is indeed still Iris, changing faces faster than flipping through a book.
"Enough with the joking, let's discuss the real matter," Iris composed herself and said seriously, "The manufacturing technology of the divine gun must not be leaked. I don't want the enemy to be able to use divine guns and kill our vampire warriors."
"Your Majesty, don't worry," Violet promised solemnly, "The technology for making divine guns will definitely not be leaked."
Iris handed the official document to Violet and said in a deep voice, "The factory is only responsible for manufacturing the parts needed for the divine guns. Another person will be in charge of the assembly. He will come here to find you this afternoon."
"One person?" Violet looked puzzled, "So it's just the two of us assembling? Iris, aren't you being too demanding? It will exhaust me."
"You misunderstood me. You don't need to assemble the divine guns, that task will be solely assigned to him. Your task is to select a group of elite warriors from the vampire army and form a team that can use the divine guns. This team not only needs to be skilled in using the divine guns, but also have precise aim and strong individual qualities. The team will be called Firefly."
"That's a good name!" Violet nodded in agreement, "Firefly symbolizes the faint light in the darkness, representing the hope and unity of the vampires."
"Alright," Iris nodded slightly, then said, "I'm going to practice."
After that, Iris walked out of the military office.
On her way back, Baixi passed by Iris. Iris didn't pay any attention and continued walking towards her own palace.
After Iris left, Baixi stopped and turned to look at the figure of her mother, murmuring softly, "It has been over a year, is Mother still mad at me?"
Since leaving the confinement room, her mother hadn't really spoken to her much. The only communication was a year ago, when her mother asked her to deliver the document to Violet. She wasn't even informed when they went into battle. Baixi only recently found out that the White Stork Empire had been occupied by vampires, which is why her aunt and the others were not in the Shuowang Empire.
This incident happened over a year ago, causing Baixi to feel neglected. Now, seeing her mother ignore her once again, there was a hint of bitterness in her heart.
Her nose turned slightly red and she lowered her head, looking like she was about to burst into tears.
She wanted to cry, but didn't want to shed tears because her mother would scold her if she saw her crying over something like this.
She tried to control her emotions and rushed back to her own room, then collapsed on the bed, hugging a pillow and crying out loud, "Wuwuwu... Mother hasn't eaten the food I cooked for over a year... She must hate me..."
As she cried, she fell asleep, but tears still stained her face.
Coincidentally, Qizhou heard crying from Baixi's room. He initially wanted to go in and check, but found that Baixi had already locked her door, so he went towards Iris's palace instead.
"Your Majesty, did you summon me?" Qizhou respectfully stood before Iris and asked.
"This afternoon, go to the military office and find the director of the military office, Violet. She will teach you how to assemble the divine guns, and you can summon the ghost soldiers for assembly. The reason is that the divine gun is powerful. It can kill enemies from a distance, unlike traditional magic which requires casting movements. I don't want this technology to leak, so I want you to be in charge of the assembly task," Iris instructed concisely.
"Understood, Your Majesty," Qizhou responded, before informing Iris about the sound of little Baixi crying that he had heard. "Your Majesty, when I came to find you, I heard little Baixi crying in her room. She sounded very sad. I'm concerned that she may have some psychological issues."
"I'll go check on her now," Iris said as she stood up.
"Your Majesty, perhaps you should go a little later. When I heard Baixi crying, I wanted to go in and comfort her, but I couldn't open the door. I believe Baixi had already locked it. I listened for a while, and her crying gradually stopped. She must have fallen asleep," Qizhou explained.
"Very well, I understand. I'll go see her tonight," Iris nodded.
"If there's nothing else, then I'll take my leave."
After Qizhou left the room, Iris began to practice, waiting for the night to come.
