Volume 1: Raging Waves City Chapter 163: Troll
No matter what the four people thought of the so-called Reform Society, this group that would soon affect the direction of the empire's situation was officially established in a private room in the Xisise Palace in Nutao City.
Inspector Meteorite was unanimously elected as the first executive officer of the Reform Society and the Prime Minister of all affairs of the society. Viscount Iscolan was responsible for intelligence and security; Councillor Ibr was responsible for the society's funding and finances; and Mrs. Michel was responsible for publicity and organization.
Then Kaileena was developed into a member of the Reform Society on the spot, and then promoted to a senior backbone, serving as the society's chief secret agent.
Luke gave the Reform Society the first task: vigorously develop members... implement a blanket propaganda bombardment in all walks of life in Nutao City. Let all citizens of Nutao City know the concept of the Reform Society, know that the Reform Society represents the latest trend of thought and is the weather vane of the times.
Establish a writers' association, a dancers' association, a painters' association, a tea art association, a flower arrangement association, a sports association... and bring together all the people who are related to the arts and culture. Give them money and let them promote the overall cultural accomplishment of Nutao City.
In order to allow the citizens of Raging Waves to have time to devote themselves to these hobbies, Luke asked Councilman Ibel to take the initiative to reduce the working hours of the workers he hired.
The working hours per day shall not exceed ten hours, and workers must be given one day of rest per week. At the same time, workers' wages and benefits shall be increased.
When hearing this request, Councillor Ibrahim was dumbfounded.
He didn't expect that the first blow after the establishment of the Reform Society would be his own head.
"Inspector, the workers in my factory cannot complete the orders even if they work fourteen hours a day. How can I run my factory if I only let them work ten hours and take one day off a week? And why should I pay them more if they work less?
Inspector, I'm one of us!"
Luke said to the begging Ibul, "Tell your workers that as long as they can complete fourteen hours of work within ten hours with guaranteed quality and quantity, let them leave work early, and they will definitely find a way to finish a day's work within ten hours. Instead of using time to squeeze the workers' labor, it is better to let them take the initiative to find ways to improve the production process. The same screw tightening can be more than ten times faster with the right method and tools.
Our innovation club needs a large number of people who have extra time to participate in our extracurricular activities. We also need them to have more money to invest in these extracurricular activities.
Don't worry about your workers having money, as long as we can lead all the factories in Raging Waves City to reduce working hours and pay workers more. Then you will find that this money will go back to your pocket after a round trip elsewhere."
"Really?" Councilman Ibel was skeptical.
Luke said: "If you pay your workers more and guide them to spend, they won't put the money away. If you give them time after work and entice them to have hobbies, they will be willing to spend money on their hobbies.
Congressman, wealth will only accumulate if it circulates. If your workers cannot afford the cars you build, the existing market will be saturated in a few years. "
Councillor Ibel said thoughtfully: “What you said makes a lot of sense, but I still don’t understand.”
"Then find out through experiments. If you are worried, you can use a factory as a pilot. As long as you learn to exploit the brain power of your workers, you will find that it is far more profitable than exploiting their physical strength."
"Okay..." Councillor Ibel felt that the inspector's first blow was to him, and he could only endure it no matter how painful it was. He would first use a factory to test whether the inspector was right, and then use facts to speak.
Luke continued to plan several major actions for the Reform Society's future, and pushed them all through regardless of whether the three executors could understand them or not.
He had already stepped into this vortex, and whether he was willing or not, he could only lead this new small team forward. This time, their fight with the old system of Nutao City seemed to be on the level of money, but no matter how much money they gained, it was only a temporary advantage.
Behind the old system of Raging Waves City is the entire new aristocracy. They can lose once, twice, or even more times without damaging their foundation. They only need to win once to take back everything they lost before.
The Reform Society seemed to be very strong now, but Viscount Iscolan did not get any substantial royal support when he went to the imperial capital this time. As long as these people could not withstand the attack of the new nobles, the emperor of the empire would definitely turn against him faster than turning the pages of a book.
At this time, he and the eldest princess had formed a tacit understanding, which was based on the resources in his hands.
As long as she has money and power, the princess will recognize this Meteorite Detective.
Luke founded the Reform Society and vigorously implemented the policies he formulated in order to elevate the simple struggle for financial interests to an ideological struggle.
To deal with these new aristocrats who started out in industry and commerce, I have a whole book of "Das Kapital".
After the first meeting of the Reform Society ended, Luke planted seeds according to his own ideas. It would take some time for them to germinate, bloom and bear fruit.
The struggle with the new nobility, and even the royal family, has just begun.
Luke left the Sisisse Palace and returned to the Cape District. As soon as he entered the Secret Service, he was told that Mrs. Tassia had found the person he wanted and brought him here.
They were at Rangers headquarters.
"Go to the rangers..." Luke turned around and got back into the car. The convoy rushed towards the rangers headquarters.
Under the leadership of Shelley, the Cape District Secret Service Rangers were conducting closed military training. The personnel were reduced to 1,000 people, and the equipment was exceptionally sophisticated due to sufficient funds and the assistance of Diagon Street. Basically, all members were motorized, and equipped with more than 50 war machines and other war equipment.
When Luke arrived at the Rangers headquarters, the former gang members were no longer carefree. Although their combat effectiveness had not improved much, their military appearance was very serious.
The Black Mamba's gun stuck in his leg is more than just a pretty sight.
Luke met Lady Tasia in the castle, and also met the people she brought with her...
It's a troll, Laconia.
Luke asked everyone to leave and met the old troll alone in a closed room.
Laconia sat in an iron chair fixed to the floor tiles, his hands and feet bound in steel shackles. His towering figure sat in a standard human chair like a human strong man sitting in a child's chair.
His knees were raised high and his butt was below his knees, as if he was squatting there, which was very funny.
Luke sat opposite Laconia, observing this legendary troll. He didn't have the irritability of an ordinary troll, but was quiet and gentle, a scholar's style.
Laconia is an outlier among the trolls. He was originally the heir of a troll tribe. His noble birth allowed him to live a pampered life. He likes things in civilized society very much and even often expresses his desire to bring civilization into his tribe.
But the trolls reject change. They are used to the unchanging rules of the tribe and live a life of fishing and hunting in their territory. They work during the day and sing songs passed down by their ancestors around the fire at night, drawing strength from the spirit of their ancestors.
Later, Laconia failed in the battle for tribal leader, and he was demoted to a slave and sold to other troll tribes, where he met a mentor who changed his life.
Archibald Darnell was a famous scholar who studied the history of trolls. He discovered the special Laconia while traveling in the troll settlements. He bought Laconia to be his guide and later took him as his apprentice.
Later, Archibald Darnell died unexpectedly from the swamp plague. Laconia took over his mentor's mantle and continued to explore and sort out the history of the trolls.
Laconia is the only troll with a doctorate degree. He has deciphered many ancient texts through studying troll history, and can even use some of the power of ancient languages, becoming a six-star warrior.
Of course, the fact that Luke dared to let Lady Tasia capture Laconia meant that he had not yet gained the power that he would gain in the future.
"Excuse me, who are you? Where is this place?" Laconia could tell that Luke was the leader of this place. Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, she took the initiative to ask questions.
Luke said, "Hello, Dr. Laconia, I'm sorry to invite you here in this way. This is the Secret Service of the Cape District of the Golden Shield Empire's Raging Waves City. I'm Inspector Meteorite. I can unlock your shackles, but I hope you won't act impulsively."
Laconia didn't know how he had gotten into trouble with the Golden Shield Empire's Secret Service. He said, "I guarantee in the name of my mentor Archibald Darnell that I will not do anything dangerous."
Luke released the Taotie on the back of his hand, and it flew to Laconia and flexibly untied the four shackles with its dragon claws. Then it flew back to Luke's hand and imprinted on the back of his hand.
Laconia flexed her wrist.
Although he was curious about what the dragon-like creature was, he refrained from asking more questions.
"Inspector Meteor, I think there must be some misunderstanding between us. I am just an ordinary scholar, studying the history of trolls, which is also a very unpopular subject. I have not done anything to endanger the safety of the Golden Shield Empire. I have only been to the Empire three times."
Seeing that Laconia was sitting quietly, Luke said, "I invited you to come to Raging Tide City this time because I am very interested in the history of the trolls... and for some reasons, I myself have acquired some troll blood."
"You have troll blood?" Laconia looked at Luke and expressed his disbelief. He sniffed the scent and said in surprise: "Swinburne Barry Snake... that 'dragon' just now was transformed from Swinburne Barry Snake! Did you obtain your bloodline through secret techniques?
How is this possible? "
Luke smiled and said, "Nothing is impossible in the face of the mystic arts. The Mandeljung trolls can obtain the abilities of the Swinburne Barry Snake through sacrifice, and I can also change the sacrifices and obtain the words of the mystic arts that I can use. After all... the mystic arts originated from sacrifices..."
Laconia could only accept this somewhat absurd secret technique: "Okay...but what does this have to do with me? Although I know a lot about troll sacrifices, I have never thought of improving them into secret techniques that can be used by humans."
"I just said that I am very interested in the history of trolls, and you are the troll in this world who knows the most about troll history. I have some questions that I hope you can answer truthfully."
Laconia looked at Luke for a moment and said, "Well, you ask... I hope that after this question and answer session, I can be free."
"I hope I can get what I want from you. The history of the trolls can be traced back to ancient civilizations, and your ancestors had many intersections with the five ancient civilizations. I would like to ask if the trolls have acquired ancient languages in their history and have passed them down to the present."
In his professional field, Laconia answered readily: "This is public information. The trolls had a very grand period in the ancient civilization era. It was because they obtained a part of the inheritance of ancient languages that they created a group of trolls comparable to gods.
However, ancient civilizations excessively pursued the ultimate in individual power, and learning ancient languages was extremely difficult. As a result, a great war caused the collective decline of ancient civilizations, and the ancient languages were lost.
The songs circulated in the troll tribes are the remnants of the ancient language. They can bring power to the trolls, but they are far inferior to the real ancient language. Now, five ancient civilizations have tried to restore the ancient language by collecting troll songs, and have achieved some success.
If you are interested in ancient languages, it would be more effective for you to visit five ancient civilizations rather than arresting me."
Luke smiled and said, "I 'invited' you here not to listen to these public materials, but to tell me some information that is not public. As a troll scholar, you must have some unique insights into the inheritance of ancient languages among the troll race, right?"
Luke's words made Laconia nervous, and he even showed a bit of an aggressive attitude. But when he saw the dragon transformed from Swinburne Barry Snake jump out from the back of Inspector Meteorite's hand and demonstrate to him, he immediately dispelled all violent thoughts.
"Inspector, I don't understand what you mean. I am just an ordinary scholar and have never studied ancient languages."
"Ancient languages are part of the history of the trolls. Do you think I believe you when you say you haven't studied ancient languages?
Dr. Laconia, don't play tricks on me. I know a lot about you. You have no secrets from me except the knowledge in your head. Tell me what I want to know, so that this conversation can end happily. "
"What will you do to me?"
Facing the notorious Golden Shield Empire Secret Intelligence Bureau, Dr. Laconia felt very guilty.
Luke said, "As long as you cooperate, I will not hurt you. And if the information you give me satisfies me, I can share with you some of the things I have related to the ancient language."
While talking, Luke used his fingers to fiddle with Taotie, who, like a spoiled kitten, rubbed his horns and neck against his fingers and purred comfortably.
Laconia looked at this strange Swinburne Barry snake thoughtfully.
