Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

Within the carriage, everything was unexpectedly very basic. There were no cushioned seats, no silk curtains or beautiful paintings; instead, it looked crude and unrefined, like something that had been put together in the last moment. The disappointment on Sourigna Vongsas' face was visible for everyone to see, but Narai, being the more experienced person, didn't let his emotions slip out; instead, he actually walked forward, gently swiped at the rough wooden chair, and sat down without reservation. Looking at him like this, Sourigna Vongsa knew that he was being rude, so with slight embarrassment on his face, he quickly sat down in a hurry, not even remembering to wipe the chair.

'Weird, why am I not able to maintain my composure all of a sudden?' he thought to himself. As if thinking of something, he looked at Narai. 'Was it because of this guy?' He didn't know, but he felt like it was most likely the case. Travelling with a person you were supposed to be enemies with, and talking as if they were friends, was not something he imagined would happen on this trip. Maybe that is why his senses had been heightened, and so were his emotions, making even the smaller things trigger his response.

There was awkward silence between Sourigna Vongsa and Narai for a few minutes until eventually, the mayor got on the carriage himself.

" Haha, sorry for making your highnesses wait, I had to personally make sure that the canned foods were loaded up."

Narai, who was silent until now, smiled, " You don't have to apologise, Mr Mayor, your duty comes first," he replied, but in his heart, he became more curious about the canned foods of the Bharatiya Empire. Obviously, he had heard about the new invention of the Bharatiyas, an invention that's able to preserve food for a long, long time. But since his kingdom, or any other ASEAN nation for that matter, was in abundance of food, the importance he attached to the canned foods was not as high now that there was mutual trade between ASEAN nations.

Though hearing the mayor talk about it made him curious.

As for Sourigna Vongsa, he too said a few words of comfort to the mayor, but inwardly he was thanking him profusely for saving him from the awkward atmosphere that was there before. As for the canned food industry, his expression did not change much, not because he did not know the importance of foods with long shelf lives, but because he had already tried one of them during his journey. Although it felt like the taste was very lacking compared to professional chefs cooking the dish and serving it fresh, they were still incredible, being able to preserve the food for so long.

Though in the end, even he did not attach much importance to the canned food apart from using it as emergency stocks, because his kingdom was one of the largest producers of rice in ASEAN. Not to mention, the economic gains brought by having large-scale coffee plantations were enough to keep most of his people fed.

Just when everyone was lost in their own thoughts, a loud whistle was heard that sent vibrations through the carriage, making Sourigna Vongsa and Narai immediately wake up from their stupors.

Out of curiosity, Sourigna Vongsa stood up and went near the window to look towards the front of the train, but unfortunately, the window was covered in glass, making it impossible to stick his head out.

"Klang!!"

Suddenly, as if hot metal had been dropped into water, a loud exhaust was heard, and the carriage slowly began to move.

Sourigna Vongsa's eyes widened, and his heartbeat began to rise, and Narai, unknown when he appeared behind him, leaned forward and tried his best to look towards the front, trying to get a glimpse of the iron machine that was pulling them.

The train was slow to speed up. It crossed the railway station at only around five or six kilometres per hour, but as the distance continued to rise, Sourigna Vongsa and Narai saw how the railway station at the back was becoming smaller and smaller until eventually, it disappeared, leaving only the train tracks and the gravel left behind.

A few minutes later, with the rising adrenaline in their bodies, the speed of the train increased to the point where wooden poles right next to the railway tracks moved past so swiftly that only their glimpse could be caught.

" Amazing," Sourigna Vongsa unconsciously exclaimed, unable to restrain his awe for the invention.

" Indeed!" Narai, who was right next to him, did not deny it or try to conceal his amazement; instead, he readily agreed with his face completely red.

The mayor sitting in the carriage had a smug grin on his face. His pride was at an all-time high.

As the journey continued, the novelty for Sourigna Vongsa and Narai began to slightly wear off, but just when they thought they had seen everything, the train began to move in a curve, and when this happened, they watched a mesmerising sight. They finally saw the locomotive engine; it moved into the tunnel nestled within the mountain range as if an earth dragon burrowed into its lair.

Within moments, they were in darkness, but before they could process their current situation, there was light once again, and once they looked out of the window, they were completely mesmerised. Right out of the window was a river, a river so beautiful and pristine that it took their breath away.

"This is one of the lifelines of Bharat, Mother Godawary, one of the largest rivers in the empire and one of the most important rivers to the southern part of the empire, both economically and culturally."

"As for the mountains and forests as far as your eyes can reach, it is the Western Ghats. The natural border of the Bharatiya Empire on the west coast." The mayor's voice was filled with magnetism, as if he were not introducing the site, but a beautiful oil painting depicting an ancient epic.

Both Sourigna Vongsa and Narai felt like they wanted to stop the carriage then and there and directly dive into the river and explore the beautiful scenery they had just witnessed.

Unfortunately, though, along with them, the train was also carrying the logistics and military supplies that would be leaving for the Russian Empire, so the train could not be stopped. Still, for the next few hours, their eyes were completely glued to the window; it was as if looking at the scenery alone was a form of enjoyment.

As the travel continued, the rivers and forests disappeared, and the civilisation began to appear once again, but instead of being disappointed due to the beautiful natural scenery disappearing, the two kings were still excited and looking forward, because the urban scenery brought them a different kind of feeling. Looking at the carriages stopped on the other side of the track, they felt as if the whole world was on pause while only they were moving, or when they passed bridges built on lakes, they felt like they were floating on the sea, racing against the fish in the water and sparrows in the air.

They even saw a few kids running away after looking at the train in fear with tears in their eyes, which made them quite amused. But as the journey came to an end, their hearts were empty. They knew that they wanted such a machine for their own kingdoms, but they also knew that it was quite unlikely, at least until the Bharatiya Empire had popularised the trains in their own nation.

Also, deep in their hearts, the inevitable truth that they would never be able to catch up with the Bharatiya Empire made them unconsciously sober.

---

Just when the two Southeast Asian kings were greatly shocked by the locomotive of the Bharatiya Empire, Marquis Robert, the trustworthy right-hand man of King Charles Stuart, burst into the royal quarters in London without any politeness or etiquette.

Charles, who was about to finalise the allocation of finances to the army and navy that had been mobilised in order to march into the Ottoman Empire to beat back the Bharatiyas, was surprised. He was about to get angry, but when he looked at the ugly expression on his loyal retainer's face, he quietly put down the quill pen and clasped his hands, waiting for the news in silence with a hardened heart.

" Bang!"

Charles squinted his eyes as he looked at the papers that were slapped on his table. He took the paper into his hands and turned it over. It contained a drawing, a drawing of something he felt was very weird.

It was like a metal snake, but it had carriages tied to its back, and it was leaving heavy smoke from its head, from what he could decipher.

' What the heck am I looking at?' He was confused and looked at Robert with an inquiring gaze.

" This is the new invention of those hateful Bharatiyas, Your Majesty," Robert clicked his tongue and turned his head. " Apparently, this is a machine that could pull hundreds of tonnes of cargo on its own without the need for animals."

Stuart's eyes widened, " What did you say?" For a moment, he doubted whether he was hallucinating.

" It's true, Your Majesty. It is said that two months ago, this train had been put into service to transport military supplies from their factories to the port."

" According to the intelligence, the supplies that took a whole week to come from the factory to the port now only took two days."

Stuart's heart began to beat rapidly, and his fingers began to unconsciously tap the paper in nervousness, " How could they come up with such a thing so suddenly? What were our intelligence agents doing?" Unable to think straight, he exploded in rage.

Robert shook his head, unable to come up with an answer. He could say that in the last purge of the Bharatiya Empire, most of their spies were eliminated, but giving such a reason at this time would only make His Majesty angrier, so he simply kept quiet.

After pacing around his room for a few minutes, he finally came to his senses.

" The Bharatiyas are getting more and more powerful. If this continues, one day they might come up with something that would wipe us all out without us being able to resist."

A hint of ruthlessness appeared in his eyes, " Robert, secretly spread this intelligence throughout Europe. We should be able to increase the vigilance of all the kingdoms and empires."

" Also, contact Louie and Williams." Since researching the technology of the Bharatiya Empire alone was not enough, he would join forces and gather the smartest minds of the three kingdoms.