Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

13th May 1658

It has been a month and a few weeks since the diplomats of the Bharatiya Empire departed from the port of Mangalore.

While there was a huge craze for the new book released by Kavya sweeping through back home, the diplomats on board the Pune-class battleship were either chatting with each other to pass the time as they did not have any entertaining novels to read or were simply staring at the approaching land with great interest.

As the land got closer, most of the diplomats got on deck, looking at everything around them with great curiosity and interest. If anyone were to look at them, no one could guess they were the people travelling for almost a month through the sea with their upbeat expressions.

But truthfully enough, the reason they were able to stand this long journey was because, in their diplomatic lessons, there was also a physical course that required them to spend a lot of time on a naval vessel in turbulent waters in order to build up their resistance to the sea. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Compared to the two weeks they had spent in constant heavy tides of certain parts of the Indian Ocean, the month-long journey they went through was not too harsh, with only a few people getting uncomfortable towards the end of the journey. Overall, most of the diplomats were in top shape. On the other hand, the agents sent by Bharatiya External Pragya were not so lucky.

Due to the information about sending agents along with the diplomats being highly confidential and only known to a handful of people, Vijay did not intend to let many people know about this, so prior training was not given to these agents.

Hence, they fared much worse than the diplomats, but fortunately, due to their semi-military background, most of the agents had fit bodies and healthy physiques, apart from a few getting motion sickness and vomiting, most of the others only felt lethargic and uncomfortable, with no actual loss of life.

"Mr. Gordon, there are so many onlookers staring at our fleet. Is it because of the battleships we are on?"

Aviraj Jadhav, the diplomat selected to be stationed in the Spanish Empire, asked with a curious expression on his face as he looked at the various merchant ships constantly tailing them from behind or at the side.

Gordon Valdemeer Khrushchev was a middle-aged man from the Russian Empire who was employed by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Bharatiya Empire to act as a guide for the diplomats and people of the Bharatiya Empire in order to first establish contact with the different empires and kingdoms of Europe.

Gordon had rich experience in both areas of business and politics and had significant influence in Europe since he was the son of a Duke of the Tsarist Russian Empire. The only reason he took up a civilian job like a merchant was because he was the 4th son of the Duke and did not have any inheritance rights.

More importantly, his father was a duke without much power in the empire, so he did not hold many noble titles.

All the noble titles in his father’s possession were to be inherited by his three brothers. As a result, Gordon chose not to fight for the small title of a baron and instead opted to work for his family and gain experience.

Fortunately, his father was an enlightened noble, allowing him to work in the family’s trading business, which led to Gordon accumulating not only personal connections throughout Europe but also a lot of experience in naval trading.

After Prince Peter praised the Bharatiya Empire so much, Gordon became interested and travelled to Bharat In search of opportunities, where he stayed ever since, constantly learning about the Bharatiya Empire.

When a notice came up from the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the need for a guide, he readily signed up, as he not only wanted to go home but also wanted to form better connections with the decision-making core of the Bharatiya Empire, especially after seeing all the potential in the Eastern Empire. According to him, the Bharatiya Empire was a huge monster that was awakening.

Taking his qualifications into consideration and surprisingly receiving a letter of recommendation from the Russian diplomat, Jaishankar agreed to let Gordon be the guide for the diplomats of the Bharatiya Empire.

Looking at the busy ships in the Gibraltar Strait, Gordon was a little lost in thought. He hadn’t been to Europe for almost half a year, and returning to his home continent felt somewhat soothing.

"Mr. Gordon..."

Gordon suddenly felt his shoulder shake a little and was startled awake from his thoughts.

"Ah, Mr. Aviraj, what?" Gordon was a little confused as he hadn’t heard anything Aviraj had said.

"Mr. Gordon, why do you think there are so many onlookers looking at us, and why are so many ships following us? Is it because we are travelling in a fleet that has three warships?" Aviraj’s expression was a little smug, but he hid it quite well.

Gordon’s mind immediately became clear as he looked around and noticed various small ships following the fleet. "Part of your speculation is right, sir, as they are indeed surprised by the warships in our fleet, but that is not the whole reason."

"Warships on the scale of the Pune-class are unusual, even in the Mediterranean Sea, but it’s not too rare in the place we are in."

"And that is?" Aviraj was curious.

"It’s the Gibraltar Strait, sir, the most important waterway for all of Europe. This is the one and only waterway that connects the Mediterranean Sea, the main economic channel of Europe, with the North Atlantic Ocean or any other ocean."

"The strait is only 15 kilometres wide, so you can imagine the amount of traffic in this small area, which is the only entrance to the internal naval economy of Europe."

"And as you can see..." Gordon pointed in a direction. Aviraj looked at where Gordon was pointing and was surprised to see a ship that wasn’t too different from his own.

"That’s a Pune-class battleship, isn’t it?"

"Yes, it is, but here in Europe, it’s not called the Pune class. Instead, it’s called the San Marco class, and that particular ship is owned by the Venetian Republic, according to the flag on the ship."

"So the onlookers are not curious because of our battleships?" Aviraj looked around a little lost.

"Correct, but not completely. You see, although the Pune-class battleship of the Bharatiya Empire has become quite famous in the European Empire for its durability and undead attributes, there are still only a total of 50 such ships in use all over Europe."

"So when compared to the total number of battleships of about 1,000 tons in Europe, the Pune-class battleship is actually an unusual find on the ocean. The only reason we ran into a similar battleship is a total coincidence which can be considered very rare."

"But our fleet currently has three such ships, which, no matter how you look at it, is very unusual, and that is not even the main reason we are attracting so much attention."

"Oh!" Aviraj’s eyebrows were raised.

"The whole of Europe has many countries, but the ones capable of having their own warships, especially warships of 1,000 tons and above, are only under 15 countries. So usually, when any warship crosses the Gibraltar Strait, the people travelling through and out of the strait immediately recognize the warship and the nation it belongs to.

But the flag our fleet is hosting is a saffron flag with the Blazing Sun Cycle in the middle."

"It’s Ashoka Chakra..."

"Ah, sorry, Ashoka C-Chakra," Gordon’s face was awkward. "Blazing Sun Cycle is much easier to pronounce. Anyway, the flag hung on our fleet has never entered the shores of any European country or even touched the Mediterranean waters."

"So it is natural that we would attract a lot of attention from the people who are curious about it, especially more from those who may be aware of the identity of our fleet."

Aviraj nodded, raising his head in realization. "No wonder there are so many onlookers; it is fully natural if you think about it. But according to you, are we— I mean, is the Bharatiya Empire famous?"

Gordon let out a chuckle. "Haha, it can’t be said to be famous since the Bharatiya Empire and Europe are too far away, but there are a lot of legends circulating about the Bharatiya Empire in Europe, especially the legends about the empire being a place of opportunity and a place of wealth."

"And this is only news that I know from when I was in Europe; right now, I don’t entirely know what the word of mouth is like."

Aviraj realized the truth. After chatting for a few more minutes, he saw that he was getting close to a dock and knew that his destination had arrived. He left the deck and went to his personal quarters to prepare, as he was the first person who would get off and separate from his colleagues to start his new life in the Spanish Empire for the next 12 months.

---

"The fleet from the Bharatiya Empire has arrived." A white merchant travelling in a small boat immediately wrote a letter with all the details he had observed about the fleet and sent it to his superior without wasting much time in the Gibraltar Strait.

Several such people were present in the vicinity of the Gibraltar Strait, informing various countries in Europe about the arrival of the Bharatiya Empire.

The news spread relatively quickly; within a week, nations with formal diplomatic relations with the Bharatiya Empire, like the Holy Roman Empire, Spanish Empire, French Kingdom, Republic of Venice, Swedish Kingdom, Brandenburg-Prussia, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Portuguese kingdom, and other nations and kingdoms were immediately alerted.

Most of the reactions were not too intense, as they had expected this day to come, but it was the enemy’s reaction that was more intense.