The broken form of Marshal Gwang was dragged away from the palace gates. His defeat marked the collapse of the military opposition in the capital. The elite City Watch, stripped of their leadership and demoralized by the ruthless efficiency of the Iron Standards, scattered.
But Arion's victory was only half-complete. Marshal Gwang was the muscle; the Black-Iron Guild was the infrastructure. This powerful guild comprised the city's master armorers and weapons dealers, who relied entirely on selling expensive, custom, non-standardized gear to the Empire. Arion's Military Summon module, which produced Stage 4/6 weapons for a fraction of the cost, was their extinction.
Arion's goal was not merely to defeat them, but to seize their assets and integrate their manufacturing power into his System. This was the final step in consolidating his Tier 1 Force Standardization.
"The Black-Iron Guild's strength lies in their specialized tools and unique knowledge," Arion stated, reviewing the next set of blueprints. "But their manufacturing processes are chaotic and inconsistent. We must seize their infrastructure and impose perfect standardization onto their means of production."
The problem was that the Guild's workshops were scattered, often hidden, and contained unique, custom-made forging tools that would be useless to the System unless they could be analyzed and replicated. Furthermore, the remaining Guild members were likely to sabotage their own facilities before surrendering.
Arion needed a logistical solution for rapid, standardized analysis and dismantling.
BLUEPRINT 106: STANDARDIZED TOOL KIT (LOGISTICS & REPLICATION)A Class 7 integrated toolkit containing hyper-accurate diagnostic sensors, auto-dismantling arrays, and replication schematics. Designed to rapidly assess non-standardized machinery and extract essential knowledge.Focus: Infrastructure Standardization, Asset Acquisition. Input Required: 5 Units Refined Copper (for precision wiring), 2 Units Purified Iron Alloy (for magnetic housing), 1 Unit Low-Grade Spirit Jade (for power source).
The resulting toolkit was housed in a simple, gray metallic box, small enough to be carried by a single Iron Standard. Its surface was covered in micro-sensors and ports, allowing it to interface with any piece of machinery and instantly extract its operational schematics.
The Raid on the Black-Iron Guild
Arion deployed Captain Joon's elite unit, flanked by five squads of Iron Standards, on a city-wide operation. Their objective was not combat, but logistical seizure.
Joon's first target was the Guild's most prestigious workshop, the Onyx Forge. The remaining Guild Masters, their faces grim with defeat, had barricaded the entrance. They planned to ignite the forge's central Qi reserve, creating a massive explosion that would destroy centuries of specialized knowledge and machinery rather than surrender it to the "metal tyrant."
Joon and his men, moving with synchronized speed, breached the outer barricades. They were met not by soldiers, but by master armorers wielding their own custom-made weapons.
"You won't have our secrets!" screamed Master Boran, swinging a massive, custom-runed war-hammer. "Our knowledge is individual! It cannot be standardized!"
The Iron Standards advanced. They did not engage the Guild Masters in an exchange of blows. Instead, they surrounded the key structural pillars of the forge. Four Iron Standards deployed the Standardized Tool Kits.
The Tool Kits extended hyper-thin copper probes that instantaneously interfaced with the forging mechanisms and the central Qi flow valves. The System, through the Tool Kits, analyzed the flow rate, the structural weaknesses, and the unique properties of the custom machinery.
Master Boran watched in horror as the Iron Standards ignored him, their perfect, emotionless focus entirely on the machinery. Before he could bring his hammer down, the Tool Kits completed their analysis.
IMPERIAL GROWTH SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:Onyx Forge – Black-Iron Guild Infrastructure. Analysis Complete.Weakness Identified: Non-Standardized Qi Flow Valve – Pressure Point 4.7.
A single Iron Standard moved to the flow valve and executed a precise, localized Stage 6 burst, aimed at a micro-fracture that only the Tool Kit could have identified. The Qi valve instantly sealed, harmlessly dissipating the imminent catastrophic explosion.
"Your ability to destroy your assets is inefficiently executed," Captain Joon informed Master Boran, the Drill Harness enforcing a cold, clinical tone. "The Emperor requires your resources, not your destruction."
The Iron Standards then began the standardized dismantling process. They did not smash or ruin the unique machinery. Using the Tool Kits, they expertly detached components, cataloged the resources, and stored the entire facility's knowledge base within the Tool Kits' memory cores for System replication.
The Market Shift and Tier 2 Preparation
Over the next five chapters, the entire physical infrastructure of the Black-Iron Guild was systematically seized, audited, and cataloged. The Guild's ability to manufacture custom weapons was permanently crippled.
LOGISTICS VICTORY: FORCE INFRASTRUCTURE SECUREDBlack-Iron Guild assets seized: 90%.Imperial Forges: Now fully standardized and run by Iron Standard Automatons.Supply Line Reliability: 99.8% (Weapons and Armor).
The immediate effects were staggering. The cost of military gear plummeted, and the quality soared. The Imperial Army, witnessing the superior quality of the System's standardized weapons compared to the expensive, inconsistent gear provided by the Guild, began to quietly shift its loyalty to the new Emperor.
Arion had fully achieved Tier 1 Force Standardization. He had the troops, the training, and now the means of production.
"The Black-Iron Guild has been neutralized," Arion stated. "Their failure was their reliance on custom inefficiency. They are irrelevant."
However, the exposure of the Imperial Jade Repository and the collapse of Marshal Gwang's authority had only forced Head Minister Jihun into a corner. Jihun was Stage 7; he would not engage in a physical fight he could not win. He would attack the heart of all power: Finance.
The System flashed a notification.
IMPERIAL GROWTH SYSTEM TIER UPGRADE PENDING:Prerequisites Met: Resource Standardization (Jade), Force Standardization (Black-Iron Guild).Required for Tier 2 Unlock: Financial Standardization.
"The enemy has already begun his final move," Arion noted, observing the subtle fluctuations in the city's gold and silver markets—chaotic, erratic movements that signified massive, coordinated manipulation. "Head Minister Jihun will attempt to crash the currency, turning all the Empire's hard gold and silver reserves into worthless metal."
Arion needed a tool to stabilize the currency, imposing the Order of standardization onto the chaos of the financial market.