The King of Steel (RWBY/ Ozpin SI): Chapter 8

“Hm, these modifications are easy to achieve and can be implemented immediately, but, Sir, I must ask you, are you sure about this?”

I just smiled at the manager of my factory and nodded my head.

“Yes, Mr. Hallows. As you are aware, Vale has decided to reinstate its standing army and the council has contacted me to use my factories to create a mechanized force similar to Atlas as the front-line infantry.”

And it is the truth, although it was not the council that contacted me but I ordered the council to send through the paperwork approving me to do as I please.

If there is one thing that Remnant excels in due to its status as a death world, it is its adaptability, which also exists within its manufacturing and structural capability.

For example, every building within the city of Vale has an underground bunker built to shelter the people within the building in case of a breach. Many of the commercial and industrial spaces also house an armory filled with standard weaponry imported from Atlas so that the people will have the chance to fight for their lives.

This was a relatively new measure implemented after the fall of Mt. Glenn.

Unfortunately, I know that these things will soon be removed just as swiftly as they were implemented thanks to the radicalization of the White Fang which would have made the council paranoid about weapons falling into civilian hands and then finding their way into the hands of those terrorists.

And yes, I see the White Fang as nothing more than a terrorist organization despite their supposedly noble cause.

Anyone who promotes infighting during such turbulent times cannot be tolerated, ever, no matter what their goal is.

“…Are you going to slaughter those innocent people as well? You demon?”

“Not really. There exist other ways to remove a terrorist threat than simply killing, Ozma. While killing is the easiest method for me right now, it would also drastically reduce the manpower available for our future plans since the Faunus as a whole would rebel at such a large-scale massacre and lead to another Faunus Revolution. That is something we cannot afford right now. This means I will have to look at alternative methods to get rid of the White Fang threat once and for all.”

“It is not as easy as you make it sound. I have been trying to work with Ghira Belladonna to change the White Fang's new direction but Sienna Khan is a stubborn and ruthless woman who will not listen to anyone.”

I grinned at his words as multiple plans flashed through my mind, plans that Ozma must have seen since his tone took on a more desperate tone due to the horrific efficiency and trauma-inducing actions needed for them to succeed.

“Now, hold on a minute. Just because she is stubborn does not mean you have to go so far. At least try to look at things from her perspective-“

“No. Ozma. I will not. Why should I? Her problems are not mine, and neither are my problems hers. Do not forget our purpose here.”

“We will get rid of Salem and anyone that stands in our way is an obstacle that needs to be removed by any means necessary.”

“Even if it means that I will have to make it so that the White Fang is painted as a monstrous organization even by their own people, making them public pariahs and giving me carte blanche to do whatever I want with them.”

Ozma fell silent at my words as I continued looking over the plans of the new drones that I created based on the Atlasian Paladins.

There are many advantages to being a semi-immortal being, some of which include the ability to learn a lot of knowledge that took entire lifetimes, which also happens to include the engineering and scientific knowledge that allowed me to modify these things into what I wanted.

If James saw the monstrosities I created from his precious Knights, I have no doubt that he would faint from despair. However, these were changes that needed to be made for the sake of my plans.

Gone were the powerful defenses provided by Dust Metal alloys. In its place are ordinary metals such as Steel and Aluminum.

Gone is the all-encompassing sensory system that can pick up any kind of reading in existence. In its place is a simple sensory suite.

Gone is the humanoid form that Atlas created for the sake of appealing to the morale of their civilians and standing army. Incapable of carrying heavy loads and reducing their utility in industrial scenarios to near zero.

In its place is now a monstrosity with four legs, equipped with clamps capable of holding onto any surface thanks to the traces of Gravity Drust imbued into them. Its two arms were replaced by four manipulators that allow it to literally carry anything that it was tasked to.

Its powerful Dust generators were replaced by high-capacity Dust batteries capable of being charged wirelessly through microwave transmitters connected to the central power station that would be installed in the FOB from where the human commanders would be leading these troops.

The Atlas Knights were created to be the pinnacle of automated warfare. Filled with state-of-the-art equipment which allowed them to fight side-by-side with their huntsmen and specialists in the field.

And yet, their manufacturing cost is so high that only the Atlas armed forces could afford to manufacture them, rendering the original vision behind their creation, to provide cheap and safe labor for industrial tasks, impossible.

My drones, on the other hand, can be manufactured so cheaply that it would only cost as much as making a base model car for the working class for a single bot thanks to their heavily toned-down armaments and technology.

With this, I can pitch to the other manufacturing industries across the world to replace their organic workforce with my drones, directly cutting off the fertile grounds from which the White Fang recruits their forces nowadays.

And this is just the first step of the plan to eliminate the White Fang.

My drones can also be manufactured so fast that we can literally drown any enemy with sheer numbers should we feel like it.

The ease of manufacturing and cost-effectiveness meant that my drones could be easily treated as disposable e-waste should push come to shove and be used as cannon fodder or human shields for the sake of our real military power, namely, the Huntsmen, the Artillery, and the organic infantry forces, the armor forces and more.

“I think I will call them, Expendable Military Force model-1, or EMF-1 for short.”

“….”

I did not mind the silence from Ozma since I knew that he would be upset at the plans I made for the White Fang in the past few minutes.

It is cold and cruel, even monstrous, but it is necessary. As I said before to him, we cannot afford to be divided in these times and allow her an avenue where she can turn people against us. For such a goal, I am willing to go to any lengths.

“I have contacted the maintenance staff, they say that it will only take us a week or two to recalibrate our fabricators and start producing these drones.”

I nodded at those words and turned back towards the production lines that were visible from my office in this factory of mine.

Turns out, Ozma was not as clueless as I believed when it came to earning money.

In the past few incarnations after his work as the last King of Vale, he had done a lot of work to establish avenues to earn funding for his little group.

It is these preparations that are now coming in handy for my plans.

All across Vale, both the city and the kingdom as a while, we own multiple manufacturing units that produce various everyday goods that earn us ridiculously huge quantities of money. It also helps that these manufacturing units are so inconspicuous that no one can connect them with a high-profile person like us.

I mean, who would think that a large chain of factories that operate under the name of Seasons Inc.  which manufactures everyday items, such as nails, screws, automotive parts, maintenance tools, and other such low profile objects that are easily overlooked by everyone but are extremely essential for the daily life of people is connected to the strongest huntsman in the world?

“Mr. Hallows, please contact our factory in Frontier and tell them to recalibrate their fabricators as well. I want the drones walking off the assembly line within the next two weeks and ready to be showcased after the Initiation ceremony of my academy for the world to see.”

“Of course, Sir.”

The infantry forces are ready. Now, it is time to look at bolstering the weapon systems and long-range combat units.

To fight Salem and her forces of Grimm, I will need an equal force of my own. And what better way is there to fight a tide of darkness than a tide of Steel?