Henwell personally inspects the changes in armaments.

  The improved steel boosts the performance of weapons and armor.

  But Henwell doesn’t pn to repce the entire army’s equipment just yet. With nearly 100,000 soldiers, even Peace Haven’s wealth can’t make a sudden overhaul feasible.

  Especially with Billie potentially facing major upheaval, Henwell wants to ensure the army’s combat effectiveness isn’t compromised by unfamiliar new gear.

  The pn is to let the technology settle for a while, rge-scale re-equipment won’t happen within at least three years.

  By the end of next year, the Ordnance Department will produce a batch of the test weapons at military factories.

  These will first be introduced to officers at the Military Academy.

  Some will also be sent to conflict zones to test their real-world performance.

  Feedback from actual combat will help refine and improve the designs.

  Henwell focuses especially on the development of crossbows, both the single-shot heavy crossbow and the rapid-fire crossbow.

  The heavy crossbow targets mid- to high-level extraordinary enemies, boasting fierce range and power.

  Battle Knights dare not face it head-on; the goal is to threaten even Grand Knights.

  The rapid-fire crossbow uses mechanical cooperation of cranks, gears, and bearings, operated by a lever for repetitive cocking and firing.

  It’s designed to suppress cavalry charges, delivering enough damage to knights while maintaining a fast rate of fire.

  Six people operate this beast: two crank the axle, one controls direction, one adjusts elevation, and two swap out the bolt magazines.

  Not counting transport and logistics staff, just handling this weapon requires a six-person crew.

  Watching those two-meter-long bolts pierce armored wooden targets several hundred meters away, everyone present is impressed, except Henwell, who frowns.

  Both the rapid-fire and mighty crossbows are powerful, but neither meets Henwell’s standards yet.

  The Mighty Crossbow poses a real threat only to Battle Knights; against Grand Knights, its speed is too slow and its power insufficient.

  It can cause some trouble, but threatening them? Not really.

  The Rapid-Fire Crossbow can indeed wound knights, but its firing rate and accuracy still need improvement.

  And the core issue remains, it still cks enough stopping power.

  Henwell has witnessed the Fighting Spirit bond that surges during a knightly charge and knows how formidable its defense is.

  Ordinary arrows struggle to penetrate it, greatly reducing the Rapid-Fire Crossbow’s effectiveness.

  After visiting the Western Federation, Henwell saw the scale of their professionals and the strength of the Holy Spirit Church and the Groias Empire.

  Their knightly units are outfitted with even more luxurious, full sets of extraordinary armor.

  This not only makes the Fighting Spirit bond easier to form and more stable but also significantly amplifies its effects.

  On top of that, the extraordinary gear’s inherent abilities further diminish the damage the Rapid-Fire Crossbow can inflict.

  The head of military research, looking troubled, says, “Sir, this is already the limit of current materials. To increase lethality, we’d need better materials. The core components must be made from extraordinary alloys. But that would make costs unacceptable. We simply can’t afford such consumption.”

  Henwell shakes his head. “That’s not a problem. I’ll send over Inksteel. Follow your pns and build me several prototypes. Don’t spare materials, make them as powerful as your designs allow. The armor-piercing tips can use extraordinary alloy too.”

  Henwell isn’t pnning to deploy these weapons immediately; this is a forward-looking strategy.

  Every major nation on the continent has elite knight units, which pose a threat to Peace Haven, but not one that makes Henwell lose sleep.

  These weapons are mainly intended for the Western Federation.

  He wants to stockpile the technology and push power as far as possible in this direction.

  Once Peace Haven can mass-produce extraordinary alloys, these designs can be adapted to manufacture high-powered weapons in volume.

  Later, Henwell pns to mount these weapons on carriages to create mobile strike forces.

  After inspecting everything, Henwell praises the developers’ work and promises monetary rewards.

  He also encourages them to keep striving to create even better, more powerful arms and armor.

  Next up is the military conference.

  Henwell calls together all the mid- and high-ranking officers in the army and rewards each legion with four sets of weaponry and armor.

  These are the high-grade sets originally given to Henwell by Newwood—gear that’s still competitive even for Iron Knights.

  Each legion’s commander, deputy commander, one battle group leader, and one cavalry group leader—four people total, each receive a set.

  This armor, woven in blood-red and gold, carries both a magnificent noble aura and a solemn, intimidating presence.

  Henwell names it the Blood Hill Battle Armor Set, reserved for Peace Haven’s senior officers.

  Peace Haven has three standing legions: one garrison legion and two mixed legions, distributing 24 sets there.

  The cavalry legion gets five sets, and the Lord Iron Guards receive eight sets.

  Additionally, the eight border defense legions each have a commander receiving one set.

  Military Intelligence’s Chick gets five sets as well.

  The Chief of Staff, the Military Academy’s head, the Recruit Camp commander, the Constabury chief, and the Technical Research Institute defense chief each receive one set.

  That totals 60 high-grade sets distributed, leaving Henwell with only 15 sets.

  But weapons are meant to be used, not hoarded, holding onto them serves no purpose.

  Every senior officer under Henwell’s command is precious and deserves the best protection these excellent armors provide.

  Among the 60 recipients, 38 are Grand Knights, and the rest are high-ranking Battle Knights.

  Under Henwell’s Civilization Aura, many will soon break through to Grand Knight rank.

  With so many Grand Knights, outsiders would hardly believe it.

  In the Vorry Kingdom, there are over a hundred Grand Knights, but most keep a low profile as behind-the-scenes pilrs of noble families.

  Henwell’s Grand Knights are all in their prime, fighting on battlefields and making their mark.

  This is one reason Henwell confidently navigates between the Holy Spirit Church and the Veil Organization.

  Besides handing out these high-grade sets, Henwell also distributes over 300 Inksteel-made sets to the mid- and high-ranking officers below.

  This serves as a recognition ceremony. Since Henwell hasn’t yet broken away from Vorry to establish his own order, awarding medals would invite gossip.

  So, he opts for tangible rewards to honor his officers.

  Every year going forward, Henwell pns to allocate 200 Inksteel sets to officers of all ranks.

  His goal is for every centurion—that is, every company commander, to have a full set of extraordinary alloy armor.

  That means Henwell still needs to distribute over a thousand Inksteel sets.

  He pns to complete this over five years, though if he’s lucky and breakthroughs in extraordinary alloy smelting come sooner, it might happen in just one year.