Munitions Empire

The heavy door of the room opened from the inside, and the three-story castle seemed to bear the weight of many years. The ground around was strewn with decayed leaves.

Two women dressed in black stood to the left and right of the hallway when they saw Sofia, each bowing slightly and greeting, "Lady Sofia."

"Is she ready?" Sofia asked over her shoulder, without turning her head, as she walked forward.

"Reporting to you, my lady, she is ready at all times," one of the women following Sofia responded.

Sofia said no more but walked straight to a large door and stopped. The two women in black moved forward and pushed the door open for Sofia.

The room inside was lavishly decorated, in stark contrast to the dilapidated exterior of the castle. A woman sat inside reading a book and slowly lifted her head when she heard the door being pushed open.

The woman's face was delicate and by some measures, very beautiful. However, her presence here at this time made her appearance all the more sinister.

She bore an identical likeness to Sofia, with fiery red hair like Sofia's. When she looked up at Sofia, the latter even felt as though she was looking at another version of herself.

But she knew that this woman was not her. She was a nameless daughter of poor peasants.

"Your chance to repay me has come," Sofia said to the woman seated on the sofa, her tone cold.

"Thank you, my lady, for your care over these past decades. What do you wish me to do for you?" The girl looked up at Sofia's exquisite face and asked calmly.

"Die... for me," Sofia stated the girl's fate indifferently, as if it was a matter completely unrelated to her.

Indeed, even though it was a woman named Sofia who would soon die, it was not her; it had barely anything to do with her.

"Very well, Lady Sofia." The girl smiled. She knew that the years of glory and riches had not come without a price. From the moment her parents had received the Gold Coins, she had become an object owned solely by Sofia.

"Do you have any last wishes? I can fulfill them," Sofia asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Thank you, but there's nothing else I require of you," the girl said thoughtfully, bowing to Sofia before leaving with the two women in black.

"Use a gun..." Sofia chose a method of death that might further damage the face, to minimize the difference between the corpse and herself.

The two women in black who closed the door after Sofia acknowledged the instruction and then followed "Sofia" out of the decrepit castle.

"You drove me to this... a blood debt must be repaid with blood!" Sofia knew she would probably have to hide in this castle from now on, her complexion turning exceedingly grim.

She walked to another door at the end of the room, opened it herself, and step by step, passed through the corridor to another building. Here, her confidantes awaited her, ready to report on the transfer of her wealth and the progress of hiding it.

Faking one's death was not a simple affair. To preserve her vast fortune and still keep the capital needed for revenge, Sofia meticulously managed the transfer of her assets.

Everything had to be prepared without anybody noticing before presenting her own "corpse" to Tang Mo—only completion of all the steps would make her "death" truly established.

It was a long process, yet she had plenty of time. The battle between Dahua and Tang Country over Fengjiang City would not end before the winter; the war would continue.

Everything remained under her control. The only variable was Tang Mo's lack of lustful intentions; he truly considered her an opponent and employed ruthless measures in dealing with her.

With these thoughts, her face became even more wretched, twisting grotesquely in the candlelight of the threadbare chandelier, like some demon or goblin.

To maintain secrecy, this place had remained unchanged for more than a decade, and only a select few knew of its existence. Only Sofia's most core subordinates knew of this Sofia doppelgänger.

But the current Sofia, accustomed to the products of Tang Country, found the place unbearably uncomfortable.

Had she not feared assassination by the Tang People, she wouldn't have resorted to switching with her doppelgänger so soon... All these thoughts intensified Sofia's irritation. She grabbed a cup and violently threw it to the ground, where it shattered, its crisp echo reverberating through the empty room.