Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

4th June 1660

Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Imperial Capital Bengaluru

As the saying goes, the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be cut down. Similarly, the Bharatiya Empire is currently the most dazzling nation in the world, attracting the attention of all major kingdoms and empires. New inventions, better innovations, stronger weapons, and more geniuses are emerging every passing day in the Bharatiya Empire, so much so that the Baratham Daily newspaper could not cover everything. But the invention of the Kabbina Converter and the Devaraya Atmospheric Steam Engine was something so monumental that it was publicized throughout after hiding it was no longer possible.

The news did bring a lot of benefits for the empire and its closest neighbouring allies, both monetary and military, but it might not be the same case when the foreign diplomats and the European merchants heard the news.

For most of the merchants, it did not matter how strong the Bharatiya Empire became since, as long as they were concerned, making a boatload of money was all that mattered. But for some nobles among the merchants who were keenly aware of the kind of dominance the Bharatiya Empire was slowly gaining in Asia, they all had dignified expressions on their faces.

The secret networks and the hidden spies that had never been utilized were suddenly put into play. Like-minded merchants and people who had formed secret networks all gathered together in a discussion.

Somewhere in Thiruvananthapuram, a group of four to five men gathered together in a room, with the only light being from the candles.

The man sitting at the end of the table looked at everyone with a serious expression on his face and asked, his voice dignified, "Does anyone know what this steam engine and Kabbina Converter are? How are they capable of producing so much iron and steel for the Bharatiya Empire? What are their principles? Can we get them?"

"Tsk!" Suddenly, the clicking of a tongue was heard.

Everyone's attention turned towards a thin man wearing a mask who was shaking his head in amusement.

The masked man did not seem to mind everyone staring at him. Instead, it was the merchants who had no annoyance in their eyes but looked at the weird man with curiosity, almost as if waiting to hear what his opinion was.

"HAHA Jerome, Jerome, Jerome!" The masked man suddenly laughed and looked intently at the bearded man who started the meeting. He came closer to Jerome's face as if he was almost teasing. "The news about its existence was only revealed recently. How is it possible to know about its details? Jerome, darling, you should ask more intelligent questions." A hint of ridicule could be seen in the eyes revealed in the mask. Jerome immediately got angry, but looking at those deep blue eyes, which seemed to have come from the bottom of the ocean, he felt like he would be swallowed up by its depth. He quickly choked whatever he was about to say.

"Sorry, my apologies. Let me ask again. Is there a way to know about how the steam engine and Kabbina Converter work?"

"Mhm, that's more like it!"

*Clap!*

"Very good, dear."

Jerome flinched when his shoulder was hit. The merchants looked at him weirdly, but no one wanted to look at the masked man because they all knew how many resources he held in his hands. So, although a little disgusted, no one said anything about it.

A few merchants fell into deep thought. They considered all their personal networks, everything they knew about the Bharatiya Empire and its inner workings until most of them shook their heads.

Suddenly, "Oh right, I remember," a Germanic-looking man snapped his finger as he stiffened his back. "Although I do not know if this will work, but I heard from my friend who had gone on a tour a few months ago throughout the interior of the Bharatiya Empire that he came across many metal processing companies, which sometimes act as third-party manufacturers for the Sriranga Industrial tools."

"If I'm not wrong, Sriranga Industrial Tools is currently the sole manufacturer of the Kabbina Converter and the steam engines."

He stroked his chin with his eyes narrowed and continued, "I feel like it will be of no use if we directly target the Sriranga Industrial tools—no, scratch that, it will definitely not be possible to target the Sriranga Industrial tools."

His emotions suddenly became a little depressed. "Even the information of how the third-generation machine tool is manufactured couldn't be cracked by those big noblemen. How can we crack the manufacturing technology of the crown jewel steam engine and Kabbina Converter?" His expression was a little downtrodden.

The merchants sitting with him nodded their heads, as they could empathize with the man. This was the trouble for all Europeans who wanted to steal the technology of the Bharatiya Empire.

Although stealing the actual tool is much simpler, in the end, the benefit they obtained is not that great, since after a certain amount of time, the Bharatiya Empire ends up coming up with a new iteration, which makes it more precise and more useful. And when the products produced by this machine are dumped into Europe, the old machine tool is already useless. Hence, the aim of all the nations and empires in the world is to steal the manufacturing technology from the Bharatiya Empire, and this is the same for even friendly countries like the Republic of Venice, the Spanish Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and the Russian Empire.

Moments later, he cheered up and continued to showcase his idea, "My suggestion is simple: first, find out all the third-party manufacturing companies that produce parts for Sriranga Industrial Tools and see if we can bribe someone within the company to obtain design drawings."

The merchants were momentarily silent. They all looked towards Jerome. Jerome was deep in thought, stroking his beard. A few seconds later, he nodded. "It can work, but the problem is, as we all know, the third-party manufacturers do not know what they are manufacturing for Sriranga Industrial Tools. Not to mention, Sriranga Industrial Tools has many products under its roof. If we search through all the companies that cooperate with Sriranga Industrial Tools, the number of targets would be in the hundreds."

"The money we have to spend to bribe hundreds of employees is astronomical, especially since the engineers who could have access to the design drawings are not easy to bribe. These bastards earn more than some knight families."

"We should think of some other way," he concluded. The people in the room all let out a deep breath of disappointment.

"No, the idea is very good. We can actually use it, " suddenly, the masked man spoke out,

"It just needs a little bit of alteration."

Everyone's eyes became hopeful once again. They looked at the thin man with some expectation.

"Single out the third-party manufacturers who have the most dealings with Sriranga Industrial Tools. The probability of these industries having contracts for core parts is higher than other industries."

"After doing that, leave the rest to me. I will use all of your resources and connect them to the intelligence agents controlled by various diplomats in the empire. They should be very eager to get the design drawings firsthand."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. No one doubted whether the masked man could do what he said because everyone knew the power he held.

Jerome was about to call an end to the meeting, but suddenly he had a doubt. "Alpha, what if the Venetians or the Russians hinder our plan? They have a very close relationship with the Bharatiya Empire after all, and they do not need to steal the manufacturing technologies since the Bharatiya Empire is constantly selling them industrial tools and blast furnaces from a few years ago. I think in a few years the Bharatiya's will sell the converter too."

The masked man, Alpha, hearing the question, laughed out loud a little coquettishly. The merchants were confused as to why he was laughing; everyone felt that the question was very reasonable.

"Oh, you innocent little thing you are," "How cute!"

Alpha shook his head and covered his mouth a little mischievously. "Do you all really think these politicians are so loyal and kind-hearted?"

"Isn't it?" Jerome inquired, moving a little to his left. Although he didn't show anything on his face, his heart was beating rapidly with some fear.

"Ha ha, of course not. It was actually Russian Ambassador Simeon Brezhnev and Venetian Ambassador Leonardo Bellini who contacted me first to request my services. Now tell me, do you really think these politicians are so loyal?"

Jerome and the other merchants' eyes widened. Jerome looked at the masked man with some doubt. "But why?"

"Why?" "Huh?" "Isn't it obvious?" "They simply do not want to be controlled by the Bharatiya Empire."

"Compared to other empires and kingdoms, the Venetian Republic, Russia, Portugal, and Spain seem to have a head start in mastering technology invented by the Bharatiya Empire. But once this continues for a long time, the dependence of these countries on the Bharatiya Empire will only increase. And once the Bharatiya Empire suddenly decides that it no longer wants to export its technology or products, what will happen to these once-allies, who have attracted the hatred of the whole of Europe with the help of Bharatiya tools and equipment? And what will happen to their scientific community, which has fully become dependent on the scientific achievements of the Bharatiya Empire? Will they even be able to innovate? You see, these countries are like pigeons with clipped wings. Although outwardly they may look free, no matter how hard they try, they can't fly very far. Do you think all the kings, emperors, and nobles are blind and cannot see this? How naive."

Jerome seemed to have understood but at the same time not understand. "But... but isn't taking such steps so soon a bit paranoid?"

"Ha ha," Alpha shook his head. "No, in fact, this is how things should be. The people who are the most afraid of the Bharatiya Empire and the most greedy for its wealth are its allies, after all."

"These allies know deeply the strength of the Bharatiya Empire which makes them very anxious and a little scared, and at the same time, the wealth of the Bharatiya Empire, greater than any nation imaginable in the world, makes them a little greedy."

"So as long as they can obtain the wealth of the Bharatiya Empire without damaging their relationship, they will do it."

"Remember, it is the small tree surrounding the big tree that is most in danger of being sucked out of its nutrients, but it is still the small tree surrounding the big tree that has the most to gain once the big tree falls down."

"So these allies of the Bharatiya Empire will not do anything to the Bharatiya Empire openly, and will even cooperate with a lot of things in order to maintain the relationship and exchange the benefits. But internally, they will try their best to suck out as much blood as possible from this giant Eastern nation."

Everyone was stunned. The merchants thought that they were cunning enough, but compared to these politicians playing with the interests of a whole nation, they seemed to be simple fish in a pond.

It was this realization that made Jerome a little scared. "Alpha, is it okay for you to tell us all this?"

'This Lord won't try to silence me permanently for knowing the information, will he?'

Alpha could feel the worried and panicked gazes directed towards him, but he shook his head with a little teasing. "Haha, are you all worried that I will get you killed unknowingly?" "Ha?"

The hearts of the people tightened.

"Pfff, HAHAH, look at your faces, so stiff. Don't worry, I'm not so stupid. The news about all the European countries trying to steal the technology of the Bharatiya Empire is already known by the Bharatiya Internal Pragya."

Jerome widened his eyes and exclaimed, "What!"

Alpha looked at Jerome playfully. "hey, How can you be so cute? Just now, I said no ruling noble in the European Empire is a fool. Now, how can you consider the leaders of the Bharatiya Empire, who have literally risen from battling thousands of intrigues, be fools?"

"What did you all think? Were the four of you the only ones whose interests had been damaged by the industrial products coming from the Bharatiya Empire? Haha, in fact, there are hundreds of merchants worried about the same thing you four are."

"And this is not even the first time an espionage operation has been carried out."

"For the last three years, all European countries have been trying their best to steal whatever technology possible from the Bharatiya Empire."

"Or else, why do you think the technology in Europe is improving so quickly? Do you think everything was invented by those scientists in Europe?"

"Heh."

"Most of it is stolen technology, reverse-engineered by those guys."

"Bharatiya External Pragya already knew about the constant espionage strikes coming from Europe. A war has always been fought between this Eastern empire and the Western world. The only reason no one has torn the relationship apart is that there is a lot to gain from maintaining it."

"Remember, Selvan from Bharatiya Internal Pragya is not an easy person. He is always on guard against any espionage, no matter the country, ally or not, so it doesn't really matter if you spread the news about European diplomats supporting spies to steal technology. It won't cause much of a wave. At most, the Bharatiya Internal Pragya will catch a few spies and kill them. Soon, in their place, some other unlucky guy will take their spot—there are so many of these unlucky guys in Europe, after all."

"But darling, I really hope you don't, even by mistake, spread out the news."

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Alpha suddenly came within breathing distance of Jerome. Jerome felt a chill run through his back, and he immediately became startled.

"Although the Bharatiya Empire will not be able to find out about you guys, the nobles behind the spies that have been killed will definitely not let you go. And I, for one, as your very caring friend, would hate for that to happen."

Looking at the weird guy winking at him, Jerome was speechless, frozen in place.

Alpha got on the table and spread his hands out wide.

"Listen, everyone. This is a never-ending struggle between Europe and the Bharatiya Empire. It will never stop until one party ceases to exist."

P.S. Tsk could have made this 2 chaps, but time ran out, oh well

P.S. Alpha is a Discord friend BTW say hi to him if any Discord reader c him