"Hey, over there! Be careful. Don't fall when you get off the ship!"
"Any slight damage to the things here, and you'll be locked up for a few days right away! Stay on your toes!"
Lüshun, Liaodong Peninsula.
In this era, this Russian Empire leased territory known as "Port-Arthur (Порт-Артур)" has been in an uproar since early morning. Sailors and crew members are busily unloading goods from the ships.
"It's been so noisy since the morning. What on earth are they doing?"
A man passing by the port street saw the sailors shouting and bustling about unloading goods, so he asked a nearby soldier.
The soldier, however, asked him in a suspicious tone, "Who are you? Why are you asking these questions?"
"Me? I'm just a businessman, that's all."
"A businessman?"
"I'm in the timber business. I like to take a walk along the wharf in the morning. I just happened to pass by here and heard all the commotion, so I wanted to see what was going on."
"Huh, rich gentlemen really do have a leisurely life."
The soldier muttered something about the man's casual attitude, then replied impatiently,
"I'm not really sure myself. I heard from the sailors that it seems to be beer brought from Jiaozhou."
"Jiaozhou? The German leased territory?"
"I guess it's for the high-ranking officials to drink. The taste of that German beer is truly unrivaled in the world."
But for a low-ranking soldier like him, he definitely won't even get a chance to touch it. The soldier mumbled in complaint. It's really exhausting to have been busy since the early hours of the morning.
The man didn't care about all this. What he was concerned about now was the real content of those boxes.
The man carefully observed the stacks of boxes that the soldiers had placed on the port ground with a suspicious look in his eyes.
"They say they're beer boxes, but they're rather too big. Also, the security here is way too tight."
Having made up his mind, the man nodded slightly in thanks, and then quietly headed towards the warehouse where those "beer boxes" were being transported.
There were two soldiers on guard in front of the warehouse, but—
"What's going on? There's smoke over there!"
"This is not good. Is there a fire?"
It was no difficult task for the man to draw them away. Just a cigarette was enough.
While the guards went to check out the smoke, the man skillfully pried open the lock and quickly entered the warehouse.
The pitch-black warehouse was filled with the boxes that the Russian sailors had just unloaded from the ship.
Creak—!
There was no need to waste time. The man immediately took out the dagger hidden on his person and opened one of the boxes.
However, the moment the box was opened, the man's expression instantly turned as cold as ice, more serious than ever before.
"Hah, beer? Is this beer?"
Damn Russians.
What was inside the box was definitely not German beer, but a machine gun.
If his eyes didn't deceive him, this was undoubtedly a machine gun.
Not malt-brewed beer, but a deadly weapon specifically designed to kill people.
"Is it a Maxim machine gun? No, this... it's an MG99."
There was no doubt that this was a machine gun used by the German Empire.
Why on earth did the Russian Empire have German machine guns?
The man was filled with doubts and felt an even stronger urge to smoke to relieve his stress. He continued to check the other boxes.
But the contents of the other boxes were the same.
"They're really crazy. How on earth did these Ivan guys get hold of these things?"
German machine guns, German rifles, German bullets, and even some tube-shaped weapons of unknown origin.
Everything here was war weapons manufactured by the German Empire.
After a rough inspection of the contents of the boxes, the man let out a sigh.
This matter might set off a huge storm in the international community.
Especially if this wasn't just a unilateral action of the Russian Empire but also involved the German Empire...
"I must report this as soon as possible."
Losing his previous leisurely demeanor, the man quickly left the warehouse before the guards returned and carefully erased the traces he had left behind.
"You're back, boss."
"Maria, I have some matters to attend to. Don't let anyone into my office."
"Okay, I understand."
Returning to the company set up under his disguised identity, after giving instructions to his secretary, the man immediately entered his office and locked the door.
"There are no wiretapping devices..."
After inspecting the office, the man walked towards the telegraph machine in the corner.
"I'm really lucky. I actually discovered such a huge clue when meeting the intelligence agent."
While muttering to himself, the man began to prepare to send a telegraph.
The recipient of the telegraph was his contact in Saint Petersburg, and also his wife, Marguerite.
Di—di di di—di di di—
[The Russian Empire has imported a large number of weapons made in Germany at Port Arthur.]
[It has not yet been ascertained whether these weapons were purchased in response to the conflict with Japan, or whether the German Empire is directly involved in this matter.]
[Considering the seriousness of the situation, before receiving further instructions from our country, please do not disclose this information to Japanese spies, including Lieutenant Colonel Akiyama Saneyoshi.]
[To my beloved Marguerite, Sidney Reilly.]
...
"Friedrich! Maximilian!"
At the same time, as the cold of winter gradually faded and spring began to quietly arrive, in the garden of the Castle of Friedrichshof, another Princess Marguerite was searching everywhere for her eldest son, Friedrich, and her second son, Maximilian.
"Sigh, where on earth have these children gone?"
It was clearly time for their studies, but the tutor came up empty-handed. Where could they be hiding?
Just as Princess Marguerite started to feel a little worried, her gaze landed on some unpleasant little creatures.
"Co... coo coo."
They were actually a flock of pigeons.
A large flock of pigeons.
"Mr. Tesla!"
Princess Marguerite called out that name with anger, as if cursing.
Nikola Tesla.
This strange scientist came to visit Hans at Friedrichshof one day and simply stayed.
Out of consideration for Hans' request, Princess Marguerite reluctantly endured the noise caused by Tesla fiddling with machines she had never seen before all day long.
She even tolerated him erecting a strange iron tower that spoiled the view beside the residence of the Dowager Empress Victoria Adelaide, her mother.
However, she simply couldn't tolerate the act of him scattering feed in the garden to attract flocks of pigeons, filling the entire garden with them.
"I absolutely won't tolerate this this time!"
Previously, out of deference to Hans, she had only issued a warning. But this time, she was determined to deal with Tesla and those annoying pigeons.
With determination, Princess Marguerite strode towards the detached building where Tesla's laboratory was located.
"?"
However, unlike his usual appearance of being holed up in the laboratory and engrossed in work, this time Tesla was actually standing in the courtyard in front of the detached building.
He was with the two sons she had been searching all over the castle for just now.
"Friedrich! Maximilian!"
"Hey!"
"I'm asking where on earth you two have been! What are you doing here?"
"Ah, well... it's like this..."
Friedrich and Maximilian stammered in their replies, avoiding the angry gaze of their mother.
It seemed that they also knew they had done something wrong.
Just as Princess Marguerite was about to give her two sons a good scolding, Tesla, as if trying to stop her, scratched his messy hair and interjected,
"Ah, please don't be so angry, Your Highness. Friedrich and Maximilian have just helped me a bit with an experiment."
"What?"
Princess Marguerite was even more shocked.
Although she didn't know much about the so-called radio that Tesla had developed with Hans' financial support, she knew that thing required electricity.
And electricity, if not handled properly, was extremely dangerous and could even be fatal.
"You actually let my children do such a dangerous thing?"
"D-dangerous thing? There's no such thing! How could I casually let children come into contact with dangerous machines! I'm not the kind of person who lacks a sense of propriety!"
Seeing Princess Marguerite looking as if she was about to eat him alive, Tesla was so frightened that he babbled incoherently, but still firmly denied it.
Although thinking of the way Tesla had always spared no effort for science and research, even risking his own body, Princess Marguerite really couldn't fully believe him.
"Then what exactly did they help with?"
"Oh, it'll be easier for you to understand if you see it with your own eyes. Friedrich, Maximilian!"
"Yes, sir!"
At Tesla's call, Friedrich and Maximilian ran towards a certain place in response.
If only they could put such enthusiasm into their studies.
To Princess Marguerite's regret, her two sons seemed to prefer staying with this eccentric scientist rather than studying.
"Where have the children gone?"
"To the other side of the residence."
"The other side?"
"Yes, you will surely be surprised."
Tesla replied excitedly, looking quite thrilled.
He usually sat lazily on the bench feeding the pigeons, but he was so full of energy during the experiment.
He was really a complete oddball. Were all scientists this strange?
Di—!
Just as Princess Marguerite was thinking this, a huge machine beside Tesla let out a harsh, shrill sound.
...
And then, not long after, a familiar voice came out of the machine.
"Hello, can you hear me clearly?"
"Mom! Mr. Tesla!"
"Friedrich? Maximilian?"
Princess Marguerite momentarily doubted her own ears.
Friedrich and Maximilian.
These were clearly the voices of her two sons.
"What on earth is this...?"
The first things that came to Princess Marguerite's mind were the telephone or the phonograph.
After all, in this era, the only two machines that could produce human voices were these two.
But she quickly shook her head.
The machine in front of her that could emit her sons' voices didn't look like a telephone at all, no matter how she looked at it, because it didn't have a telephone line.
"Ahem. Currently, young masters Friedrich and Maximilian are speaking through the microphone on the other side of the residence. Their voices are transmitted as electric waves through that transmitting tower and clearly reach our side! Ah, this is the wonder of science!"
Tesla shouted proudly, which made Princess Marguerite's eyes widen.
To be honest, she only understood half of what Tesla said, but she was well aware that it really took quite a bit of time to get from one end of the residence to the other.
"This is the 'radio'! No matter how far away, as long as the electric waves can reach, voices or songs can be transmitted. Of course, there are still many aspects that need to be improved if we want to stably transmit voices to even more distant places..."
Tesla began to talk at length about the scientific principles of the radio and the methods for its improvement.
However, for Princess Marguerite, a typical noblewoman in the 19th century lacking scientific knowledge, all of this was completely beyond her comprehension.
'However, it seems that there is a reason why Hans specially invited Mr. Tesla to create this so-called radio.'
Although for now she just thought this machine was novel, wasn't it precisely a characteristic of this era that such novel machines were changing the world?
"Ah, by the way, has the baron already returned from Russia?"
"Yes, he has been back for a while."
"Is that so? Maybe because I've been staying in the laboratory for a long time, my sense of time is a bit blurred. Well, I have to write a letter to report to the baron. There are still some things that need to be prepared in order to put the radio into practical use."
However, when Tesla's letter arrived—
"Stand up straight, Hans."
"Huh? Your Highness Prince Adalbert?"
"You devilish fellow! Why did you do such a thing to Admiral Qi!"
"?!"
Hans von Tschö had now run into an unprecedented crisis, that is, the fury of a fanatic.