General Winter left with disappointment.
He sent a telegram to the Minister of the Navy in Antwerp:
"We all know Shire will not sell this technology."
"If we hold a gun to the enemy's head, we can unabashedly take his bag of gold coins and everything he has."
"At this moment, we would not agree to let him buy this gun with that bag of coins."
"So, Shire will not agree either."
Belfort had not slept for two days and three nights. Seeing this telegram, he could only nod helplessly: "It seems we have no choice but to find a way to keep up with Shire ourselves."
He gazed out the window of the War Office Building.
The sky over London was still filled with snowflakes, shrouded in a depressing fog. It showed no sign of winter giving way to spring, as if brewing an even fiercer storm.
...
Albert I was quite pleased with this trip.
He even hummed a tune as he returned to Hasselt in his car.
