In the dark room, the white crystal reflected the candlelight, illuminating the details on both their faces with exquisite clarity.

Tony was somewhat incredulous: "You mean, Clan Leader, we’re building Wolf Castle and New Basilicata City on a ’volcanic crater’?"

The white crystal, which slightly added could massively increase the power of firearms as a catalyst, if there really was a vein that shocking, wouldn’t they be risking being blown to the skies every day?

Juliano shook his head with a bitter smile: "Relax, that thing isn’t that easy to explode. But the current circumstances aren’t much different from an explosion."

White crystal is an explosive item; once extracted, storage requirements are very high, especially for sea transport. Every year, some smugglers, taking risks during transport of white crystal and encountering storms, result in the explosion of the entire ship.

Actually, white crystal, under the precondition of not being exposed to air and embedded in the vein, is quite stable. Moreover, it requires a reaction with gunpowder to fully unleash its power.

The magic stone is the basis for advancing industrialization. Many machines powered by magic stones can deliver far higher outputs than before, significantly alleviating Texas’s labor shortage.

For Texas to develop, industrialization is essential. Even with a population in the millions, Texas remains incredibly vast and sparsely populated, fostering a thriving ranching industry. Conservatively estimated, just within Texas, the scale of the cattle herd reaches several hundred thousand.

However, this extensive economic model doesn’t earn much money.

The Wolf Race is notorious. European immigrants would never consider coming here unless they were mad, and labor-intensive industries are not suited for Texas.

The population of Texas is mostly composed of merged Hispanic immigrants, natives, and immigrants originally from Basilicata in the Apennine Peninsula, along with many descendants born from mixed Wolf Race and ordinary people without wolf characteristics.

In the early days, the Texas Wolf Race primarily maintained their livelihood by clearing fierce beasts from the wilderness, predicting natural disasters, and even capturing criminals, charging protection fees.

But with the victory of the First Texas Defense War and the heart-to-heart talks with Losa, Juliano changed his thinking and broke out from the shackles of family and clan, beginning to consider Texas’s development from a national perspective.

Juliano muttered to himself: "Thus, no matter what, the magic stone cannot be handed over."

Tony thought the Clan Leader was talking to him, and patted his chest, saying: "Indeed, we must not retreat. The white crystal and magic stone ore are even more precious than gold ore. Even if we don’t use them ourselves, just selling the ores can make us a fortune!"

The world hegemon, accustomed to being domineering, didn’t intend to gain mining rights through negotiations. If the British are allowed to succeed, all Texans would become second-class citizens, working as miners for the British lords.

During the Boer War, the British spent 220 million British pounds and embarrassed themselves, making their hegemonic status unstable. The two European powers, second only to the British, were planning to challenge Britain.

Germany started seeking "land under the sun," while France was directly opposing them in overseas expansion.

Facing an even stronger British Empire than in original history, the predicament now is more serious.

Even though this world’s Great Britain is strong, with Spain as unity, inherited its colonial legacy, France owning Hungary, Galicia·Lodomeira, and Illyrian Crown Lands with Habsburg Germany, across the vast Eurasia, alongside the land-greedy Polar Bear, and even the Eastern ancient Empire growing weak in body but still having significant size and extraordinary power—none of them are easy to deal with.

Although the British are world hegemon, maintaining this status is actually quite challenging.

Juliano resolutely slapped the table, startling Tony, who hurriedly hugged the white crystal box in his arms, afraid it might explode.

"We must deal a painful blow to the British, ensuring those colonists won’t dare to covet Texas anymore, letting the name of the Lone Star Republic echo throughout Europe!"

Juliano strode out of the room and ordered the two close centurions beside him: "Convey my orders. All centurions in Wolf Castle and New Basilicata must come to the conference room. Order the border guard to evacuate the border area population."

Behind him, Tony hurriedly came out: "Clan Leader, are we going to block the enemy at the Louisiana border? But what if they land directly in the Gulf of Mexico?"

"When I say border, I mean coastal towns like Astap."

Astap was once just a seaside town in Texas, the first port of call for immigrants and gold seekers arriving in Texas. Today, it has become Texas’s largest port and a gateway for external communication.

Sadly, Texas has no navy to defend the coastal towns. The mere fleet of more than ten purchased frigates, without the need for Great Britain’s naval hegemon to act, can be easily wiped out by a division of the Thirteen Colonies fleet.

Gazing at New Basilicata City below in the starry night, Juliano, standing on top of Wolf Castle, couldn’t help but smile bitterly: "We spent thirty years building it, but now, it may only take a month for it to become a white wasteland."

...

At the foot of the mountain, a group of strangers appeared out of nowhere, gazing at the mountain city before them.

Jeanne looked around and took a deep breath of the new world air, smiling as she asked: "Nina, how does it feel to revisit old places?"

Chelina was somewhat distracted.

"The change here is immense, and I wonder how much time has passed."

The former base camp of the Texas Wolf Race was an intermountain fortress named "Wolf Castle," now extended into an entire mountain city, known as "New Basilicata City."

Standing at the foot of the mountain, one can see the majestic city walls with standing prismatic towers.

Wolf Castle stands in the central area of the mountain city, and such "transformative" change certainly involved "magic" and the sweat of the Texas Wolf Race.

Furin twitched her nose: "Such dense magic aura. Underneath this city, there must be many magic arrays. If the Wolf Race invades again, they may not even reach the gates of Wolf Castle."

"So, how many years have passed?"

Cherina’s emotions were somewhat tense. The lifespan of the Wolf Race is naturally incomparable to ordinary people, yet injuries, battles... almost none of the Wolf Race lived to the natural end and died peacefully in bed.

Venezia couldn’t help but ask: "Um, Nina, are we in Texas now? Is this the new place your family moved to?"

Viviana, feeling somewhat conflicted, softly murmured: "Is this time travel?"

Lavinia smiled and asked: "Any thoughts?"

They were still young, both shaken and frightened in the face of the mighty power of time.

"I once thought of escaping that cage no matter what, and indeed I did. But thinking of the next time returning, father already frail, all acquaintances aged, and yet..."

Viviana hesitated to speak.

"I once thought of escaping that cage no matter what, and indeed I did. But thinking of the next time returning, father already frail, all acquaintances aged, and yet..."

Viviana hesitated to speak.