Chapter 807 Nora's New Job
Nora was silent for a moment, then the canopy popped open, and she jumped out and stood on the armored plate, looking at the dock not far away with a shocked expression.
The self-propelled artillery was too heavy to be moved by machinery. A huge gantry crane unloaded the artillery along with its cargo containers from the cargo ship and then loaded it onto a train.
The train's steam engine emitted a loud chorus, trailing a long column of smoke as it sped away into the distance.
These enormous steel structures lined up in a long row behind the steam locomotives, heading towards the front lines along the tracks.
"How could there be so many?"
Nora and Gwen launched a surprise attack without the Vatican's knowledge, destroying four steam tanks at the cost of completely losing a self-propelled gun.
Although she didn't actively show off, she was actually quite proud of herself.
The appearance of a steam tank on the battlefield can almost change the outcome of the entire battle. The soldiers of the Duchy of Tis were retreating when Nora and Gwen destroyed four steam tanks, directly leading to a reversal of the battle.
This is a remarkable achievement. The last time something similar happened was when the Silent Sanctuary's "Undertaker," clad in heavy armor and wielding flailes, routed the Empire's musketeers, bringing years of peace to the North.
Nora felt that her achievements were worthy of being recorded in the holy book. Such a powerful steam tank was something that even four or five superhumans might not be able to deal with; it was an existence of the level of a holy relic of the Mechanical Sanctuary.
She destroyed three vehicles in one go; in the past, Ignatius would have personally come to praise her.
But now.
"One, two, thirty-five, sixteen."
The steam locomotive in front of her was pulling twenty self-propelled artillery pieces, and behind it, the entire square was piled high with self-propelled artillery pieces ready to be loaded onto the locomotive.
She saw dozens of self-propelled artillery pieces. She could fight a legendary battle every day, destroying three tanks, enough to keep her busy for a month.
A month later, there were far more than just a few dozen artillery pieces on the front lines.
She knew Castells had a high production capacity, but she didn't expect it to be this exaggerated.
"How about it?"
"It's very impressive."
"The manufacturing of self-propelled artillery is not yet mature. A single production line requires about eight hundred workers from start to finish. If these eight hundred people were placed directly on the battlefield, they might not be able to defeat one of you. But if they are in the factory, then the entire Papacy and the entire Empire might not be able to withstand them."
"Do you know how many man-hours it takes to build a self-propelled artillery piece? About two thousand. A military factory can produce five a day. Once the process is optimized and the skills are mastered, that number can even double."
"This is the power of industry."
Nora's eyes flickered; she knew Hughes was telling the truth.
The Burialers fight on the front lines, often charging into lines of thousands with only a few dozen men, and they have a significant advantage.
Self-propelled artillery, even just one, can completely change the course of a battle, but superhumans cannot.
For the first time, Nora felt the insignificance of the extraordinary. She had witnessed too many extraordinary beings, but today she witnessed the power of mortals.
No matter how strong she is, she only destroyed three tanks, which is nothing compared to what's here.
“I want to go to the front lines,” Nora suddenly said.
Hughes raised an eyebrow: "You can rest for a few days first. Didn't you want to see Blood Harbor? You can take this opportunity to explore more."
“Blood Harbor is nice, but I’ve seen it before. These…” Nora looked at the steel torrent before her, her eyes sparkling with wonder, “I’ve never seen anything like these before. I want to see them engulf the enemy!”
This reason is indeed very convincing; to be honest, even Hughes himself wanted to see it.
"Alright, I had arranged a long vacation for you, but it looks like I can end it early now."
"I'm a little curious, why did I get a day off but Gwen didn't? Is it because I destroyed more tanks than she did?"
"Ahem." Hughes coughed, his eyes slightly unfocused. "Because she belongs to the warriors, you belong to the martyrs."
Before leaving, Nora went to the fish and chips shop again. To be honest, she liked fried fish, but unfortunately she might not be able to eat it once she got to the front lines.
She can come back and eat after she wins the battle.
That was her initial thought, but after some hesitation, she decided to pack one portion to take away first.
But this time, when she stopped in front of the fried fish stall, she was somewhat surprised to find a familiar figure.
The fried fish stall was doing quite well today, with many people queuing up.
Bettis is not tall, so she always has to stand on a special box to reach the counter when she fries fish.
Today, there were two boxes placed inside the counter as step stools.
Another short person stood beside her.
The man was wearing a slightly worn suit of armor, the classic icefield heavy armor of the Silent Sanctuary. The design of the neckband was somewhat unreasonable, making it easy to get stuck when looking up, which left a deep impression on Nora.
Of course, it's not possible to get stuck now.
The people in line were somewhat intrigued; most of them had seen Big Nora before, but wasn't she just someone who wandered the streets?
In front of Nora's cold iron armor, she wore a small apron; her longsword was not carried on her back, but hung inside the house.
She herself was awkwardly holding the packing box.
"Look, use this shovel to scoop it full and then pour it all into the box, that's a medium portion. If you fill the box completely, that's a large portion. By the way, we don't have small portions, the smallest one is a medium portion." Betty patiently demonstrated to Nora, though it was unclear how Nora, without a head, could see it.
"Will it work?"
Big Nora puffed out her chest and punched her breastplate with her fist.
"Okay, then you can serve the fries."
The fish and chips stall was very busy, especially with Gwen, who was in charge of frying the fish, and Amy, who was in charge of collecting money, both absent. Betty couldn't pay much attention to Nora.
"Three extra-spicy fries, one serving of fish and sweet sauce, here you go~" Betty flashed a professional smile, then called out, "Next!"
After waiting for a while, but still no order was placed, Betty looked up curiously, only to see a dark, gaping cannon muzzle.
And Nora, who was standing next to him, had a complicated expression.
Nora looked at Nora in the display case and didn't know what to say for a moment.
Her body seemed to have made friends, and even found a job.
What should I do? Should I offer my blessings? But something just feels off.
Nora hesitated for a moment, but she didn't hesitate at all. All she had learned to do here was to pack fries, so she packed a large portion of fries and handed it to Nora.
Nora paused for a moment, then hesitated before asking, "This is... for me?"
Nora swayed slightly, as if nodding.
Nora instinctively reached out to take it, but then realized she didn't have hands; the hands were with Nora, so she stopped awkwardly.
Before Betty could step forward to help, Nora, who was next to her, suddenly braced herself with one hand and deftly flipped herself off the counter amidst gasps of the crowd.
(End of this chapter)
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