Smith looked up at Schubert, and it struck him that the man seemed no different from the one at the birthday party. He was dressed in a suit, his silver hair meticulously styled, and his gold-rimmed monocle gleamed just as before—
—of course, there was also that perfectly practiced professional smile.
"Truly a typical agent..." Smith muttered to himself. Whether it was instinct or years of upbringing, Smith had never had a good impression of people like Schubert. But, as the saying goes, one's position determines their perspective. Given where Smith stood now, he knew very well that neither he nor the Hohenzollern family could do without people like Schubert.
King Wilhelm's attitude toward Schubert was probably much the same as Smith's. As Schubert arrived, the king didn't engage in much pleasantry with the silver-haired man who looked quite presentable. After a brief greeting, Wilhelm got straight to the point:
"Schubert, perhaps you've heard that the Americans are in the midst of a civil war. They're facing shortages in everything, from firearms and ammunition to machinery and ships—especially the Southerners, who lack industrial strength! Even if the Northerners don't block their coasts, they can't muster enough ships for trade. So we need to build a ship capable of breaking through the Northern blockade—something we plan to call the 'Liberty Wheel'—to sell to the Southerners!"
"I understand," Schubert nodded quickly.
"Your family's enterprises have shipbuilding capabilities. While we may not be as advanced as the old maritime powers like Britain and France, building merchant ships should not be a problem."
King Wilhelm raised his hand.
"What we're building this time is no ordinary merchant ship!"
As he spoke, he gestured to Frederick, who understood immediately and handed Schubert a piece of paper filled with technical requirements.
Schubert took the paper respectfully, and Wilhelm continued,
"These are our technical specifications, but they only cover part of the requirements. There will be more to come, depending on our discussions!"
As Schubert read through the paper, Smith observed his expression. Schubert raised his eyebrows and muttered to himself,
"Hmm... steam-powered speed of 17-18 knots, combined sail and steam power reaching 20-12 knots?!"
Schubert's eyes widened, and he fixed his gaze on King Wilhelm.
"Are you sure this is certified?!"
"Of course, it's no joke!" King Wilhelm shrugged.
"The Northern fleet will soon block the Southern coasts. If the ship isn't fast enough, it won't get through!"
Upon hearing this, Schubert nodded slightly and continued reading,
"The power system of the ship should be as low as possible below the waterline... this seems more like a requirement for a warship!"
"It's for the safety of the power system," Frederick, the Crown Prince, interjected.
"Since we expect to encounter blockades, it's not surprising if we face interception. Placing the power system below the waterline reduces the chances of it being hit."
"Is that so?" Schubert's voice became almost inaudible, but Smith could detect a hint of amusement in his tone, which piqued his curiosity.
More precisely, it triggered Smith's sixth sense, honed by years of encountering all sorts of dangers. He could sense something was off, and from the faint amusement in Schubert's voice, he could smell danger.
"Could it be... the Temporal Management Bureau?!"
Smith immediately became alert. It had been over a year since he last encountered any signs of the Temporal Management Bureau, ever since "Prussian Superman" Bismarck had killed that guard with a single punch. For a while, Smith had even forgotten about it, but now, this slight oddity in Schubert's behavior had set off alarms in his mind.
King Wilhelm and Crown Prince Frederick, however, were focused on the matter at hand.
"So, can your shipyard build this kind of ship?" King Wilhelm asked, emphasizing the word "we" as if reminding Schubert of something.
"The hull itself doesn't seem to be too much of an issue," Schubert switched back to his professional tone, responding to King Wilhelm.
"But to achieve 17-18 knots of speed with steam power, the steam engine required will need to have enough output. I'm not sure if our factory can produce such a machine!"
This response was clearly not unexpected for King Wilhelm. In the early 1860s, Prussia was not an industrially advanced nation. In terms of overall technological level, it lagged behind both Britain, which had led the Industrial Revolution, and France, a long-established technological powerhouse. Most of Prussia's industrial products were inferior to those of Britain and France. Moreover, the industrial enterprises under the Hohenzollern family were far from the most advanced in the country, so producing such a machine seemed quite complicated for them.
"That's not a big problem. We can import it from Britain..." King Wilhelm waved his hand dismissively, seemingly unconcerned.
"Then there's no problem!" Schubert replied, finally giving a positive answer. He then shifted the conversation.
"Do you have any other requirements for the ship?"
"I don't know much about shipbuilding," King Wilhelm shrugged.
"In fact, all of these requirements you saw were created by my little grandson, Willy! Perhaps you can ask him!"
"What?!"
Schubert froze, staring at King Wilhelm, trying to determine if the usually stern king was joking. He quickly turned to Smith.
Smith met Schubert's gaze. In Schubert's eyes, Smith could clearly see shock and unease, but beyond that, he also saw a sense of satisfaction and realization, as if a puzzle had been solved.
"This guy who should be hanging the streetlights definitely has something wrong with him!" When Smith saw this, he already had an answer in his heart:
That's right, this Schubert has probably been possessed by someone from the Time-Space Management Bureau!
"What's meant to come will come..." Smith silently muttered to himself. From the moment he decided to exert his influence, he knew that sooner or later, he would cross paths with someone from the Time-Space Management Bureau or someone possessed by one of their agents. What surprised him, though, was how suddenly and quickly this day had come.
"So, what can you do?" Smith looked at Schubert with a hint of provocative curiosity in his eyes. Since fate had arranged for him to encounter this situation today, why not see what this visitor from the Time-Space Management Bureau was capable of?
"This... this is really surprising..." Schubert, of course, noticed the look in Smith's eyes, but it was clear that now was not the time for confrontation, so he tried to act as if he were a normal person, just recovering from shock:
"Please forgive my rudeness... this is just so shocking..."
"To be honest, I was shocked at first too!" King William waved his hand, his next words tinged with barely contained pride:
"However, since the Hohenzollern family has produced a genius like Frederick the Great, it's not too hard to understand that another genius has emerged—after all, Willy still has Hohenzollern blood running through his veins!"
"You make a very good point," Schubert said, casting a meaningful glance at Smith, speaking in a way that had a double meaning:
"The Crown Prince is indeed a pure and noble Hohenzollern!"
Not intending to dwell on this topic any longer, King William turned to Smith:
"Willy, my good grandson, don't be shy. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them!"
"Okay, Grandpa!" Smith answered nonchalantly, his voice still childlike. He turned to Schubert and said,
"Mr. Schubert, why don't we discuss the ship issue first?"
"As you wish! The genius Crown Prince!" Schubert adopted a listening posture, picked up a pencil from the table, and prepared to continue writing on the draft Frederick had handed him, making a "please" gesture toward Smith.
"Although it's a merchant ship, considering its impact resistance, the hull of this 'Freedom Ship' should be equipped with well-designed and subdivided watertight compartments, which should extend from the bottom of the ship all the way to the upper deck!"
Smith didn't bother with pleasantries, going straight to the point:
"Additionally, I suggest installing a double-bottom structure in the underwater and freeboard sections of the ship. This way, the ship's unsinkability will be greatly enhanced!"
"Hmm..." Schubert was now fully engaged in the discussion. He rested his chin on his hand, holding the pencil, and muttered,
"Subdivided watertight compartments... a double-bottom design in the freeboard and underwater sections... so the space on this ship..."
Smith knew what Schubert was about to say, so he picked up the conversation:
"Space is indeed very limited. If this were peacetime, then based on a cargo ship's standards, the 'Freedom Ship' would clearly not qualify. But in extraordinary times, extraordinary measures must be taken. Under these circumstances, I believe the Americans probably won't have any complaints!"
This was something that could be understood without much calculation, so Schubert nodded:
"I think you're right. In this situation, the Southerners indeed don't have much room for choice—so is there anything else?"
"I think these are the most important points," Smith's childlike voice remained steady:
"Of course, other aspects of performance are important, but compared to these points, they are secondary. The performance I just mentioned needs to be guaranteed as much as possible."
"Understood!" Schubert replied respectfully. He put down the pencil he had been scribbling with and turned to King William:
"If there's nothing else, may I respectfully take my leave? The ship design requested by the Crown Prince is unprecedented and novel. To complete it, we'll likely need to solve many technical problems, so I think it would be more appropriate to return and begin the design as soon as possible!"
"Alright," King William clearly had no intention of keeping him, gesturing for him to go:
"Please feel free!"
Schubert once again bowed to everyone and then turned to leave the hall with quick strides.
"Looks like there will be some tough challenges ahead..." Smith muttered to himself, watching Schubert disappear behind the door.
............
"This is troublesome..." After a long while, when "Schubert" was in a secluded area, a muttered sentence in a language that was not of Earth escaped his lips.
Along with this mutter, "Schubert" activated some kind of communication device and reported the situation truthfully to his superior.
"So, what you're saying is that the child who will eventually become Wilhelm II is very likely the time traveler who caused the world line change?"
On the other end of the communication device, the voice of Agent 5 sounded.
"I believe this is the only reasonable explanation," "Schubert" said firmly:
"With human intelligence, it's impossible for a child under three years old to know so much!"
"I understand. Good work." Agent 5's voice seemed unaffected, but from the tone, it seemed like they were about to end the communication.
"Boss, what should we do next?"
"Schubert" was somewhat surprised, because given the gravity of the situation, one would expect some new instructions from his superior. Yet, it seemed like Agent 5 was completely unperturbed.
"Don't act rashly. Wait and see!" Agent 5's tone carried irritation, as though "Schubert" was asking a question that shouldn't even need to be asked.
"Understood!" "Schubert" had no room to argue. Despite feeling dissatisfied deep down—
—As mentioned before, the Time-Space Management Bureau was a bureaucratic institution. In such an organization, the opinions of superiors were very important, but that didn't mean subordinates had no room for maneuver. However, what counted as "acting rashly" was determined by superiors, or even by their superiors.
And this standard could be flexible. If a subordinate's actions backfired and caused embarrassment for the superior, it would definitely be considered "rash." On the other hand, if the superior benefited from the subordinate's actions, it would be a different matter entirely…