Luke returned to 236 Copper Mulberry Avenue in a carriage.
There were not many people on the roads of the imperial capital at night. The street lights illuminated the smooth bluestone ground. Occasionally, a night bus passed by in the middle of the road, and a sheriff patrolled along the roadside with a sword. After a while, a light rain fell from the sky, and the north wind blew the raindrops against the glass of the carriage.
Luke stretched out his hand, and a ball of fire emerged from the palm of his hand, and the heat dispelled the cold air that came in.
His thoughts went back to what had happened since arriving in the imperial capital today.
Queen Christina was capable and talented in handling government affairs, but her understanding of the inner world of the court was too superficial. She was not aware of how much power the Crusaders had in the imperial court, nor did she know how deeply the two princes were tied to them.
With regard to the matter of the sky-high purchase order, no one except Emperor Augustine has the ability to investigate the case thoroughly.
And what was Augustine doing?
According to his understanding of the emperor, as long as he can still think, he will never easily give up power to others. This time he closed the door to rest and gave all the power to the queen. There must be something important that forced him to do so.
Did he really fall ill due to overwork?
Or is it for some other reason?
Without clues and intelligence, it is impossible to make accurate judgments.
So Luke thought of using the eldest prince Fania as a stepping stone. With Fania's personality, he would be less patient when the final blow came. And the last attack on Dale proved his gambler mentality, and family affection was worthless in his heart.
Therefore, Luke judged that Fania would not go to the Cross to discuss countermeasures after knowing the sky-high purchase order. And when the queen went to the north, she would definitely take a group of royal knights and palace guards with her.
The palace guard strength has been greatly reduced, and Fania is likely to take risks.
Let Fania test what Augustine is doing in hiding.
Luke clenched his fist to put out the fire, then knocked on the carriage and said, "Let's go to the Adrian Alchemy Factory in the Lower City."
The carriage turned at the next intersection and headed towards the lower city.
The massive amounts of money invested in the lower city of Saint-Lon have already begun to show results.
Once people have hope, they will burst out with positive energy. The previously dirty streets were spontaneously cleaned up by the residents living nearby, and the potholes were filled.
Gang members organized patrols according to their respective territories. Even on rainy nights, they patrolled in raincoats and carried weapons in a proper manner, and their diligence and responsibility were no less than that of the sheriffs in the upper city.
Therefore, Luke's carriage was stopped by a patrol team not long after entering the lower city.
The rain is getting heavier.
The gang members surrounded the carriage in the middle. The heavy rain washed away their raincoats. Everyone held their weapons and stood alert.
The carriage is very luxurious, which represents the noble status of the people in it.
Normally, someone of this status would not come to the downtown area on a rainy night, but since he came, it must be something important.
A leader walked up and knocked gently on the carriage door.
"This is the lower city of Saint Lun. It is very unsafe at night. May I ask who you are? What are you doing in the lower city so late at night?"
The leader examined the carriage decorations and the driver's attire, wondering if he could extort some money for wine from him.
At this time, the window of the carriage opened a small gap.
"Raging Waves, Luke! Come to see old Adrian."
The chief saw the profile of the person sitting inside through the gap in the window. After hearing the person inside say his identity, he immediately stepped back and bowed.
"Good evening, Mr. Luke. I apologize for any offense I just caused."
When the gang members heard that it was Mr. Luke in the car, they immediately put away their weapons and saluted.
"Good evening, Mr. Luke!"
Luke said calmly: "It is your duty to maintain the law and order of the downtown area at night. You did not offend me, so I naturally do not need to forgive you.
Take me to Adrian's alchemy factory. I don't want to stop at every patrol I see."
"It's our honor to lead the way for Mr. Luke!"
The leader pulled over a quick-footed subordinate and asked him to go to Adrian's alchemy factory to report that Mr. Luke had arrived.
Then he and the rest of the gang stepped into the rain and trotted forward along with the moving carriage.
As the number of patrols increased, the number of people escorting the carriage also increased. At the same time, the news that Luke had come to the lower city spread quickly to the streets of the lower city. Those who had already gone to bed got up in a hurry, waiting for the news from the Adrian Alchemy Factory.
When the carriage arrived at the alchemy factory, old Adrian was already waiting outside with his son and the leaders. Lightning streaked across the sky, and heavy rain poured down. Everyone stood in the rain, wondering in their hearts... Mr. Luke came to the downtown area in such bad weather, there must be something important.
The car door opened.
Old Adrian stepped forward and held out an umbrella to shield Luke from the heavy rain as he got out of the car.
"Mr. Luke, has something serious happened?"
Luke stepped forward in the puddles, waving to the people who greeted him, and said to Old Adrian, "It's something important. Notify the major shareholders of Polaris to come to the meeting. We'll talk about it at the meeting. Is Ed here?"
Old Adrian thought Mr. Luke blamed Ed for not coming to greet him, and immediately explained: "Ed is in the alchemy laboratory. Since you taught him the formula of the mysterious substance mixture, he has been obsessed with studying more advanced mixtures. Due to the danger of the mysterious substance, I did not send anyone to inform him.
Please forgive me, sir."
"It's a good thing to like researching new mixed substances." Luke took the umbrella from Old Adrian: "You go prepare for the meeting, I'll go see Ed."
"Yes, Mr. Luke."
Old Adrian sent someone to the alchemy laboratory first and asked the guards there to let Mr. Luke go immediately upon seeing him.
Luke skillfully found the factory's alchemy laboratory.
The alchemy laboratory in the factory was much better than the alchemy house in the workshop next to the sewage reservoir. Old Adrian, who had money in his hands, purchased a batch of second-hand alchemy equipment, making the entire alchemy laboratory full of high-end feeling.
The first generation of mysterious substance mixtures were prepared in a special workshop, which was guarded 24 hours a day.
When Luke saw Ed, he was carefully mixing a mysterious mixture of experimental reagents on a workbench full of various experimental vessels. He was wearing a protective mask, his expression was calm, his wrists were steady, and he already had strong confidence and experience.
Luke didn't disturb Ed, but just watched quietly.
Ed didn't notice Luke's arrival either, his whole mind was on the mixture reagent in his hand.
After an unknown amount of time, the originally stable reagent suddenly became unstable. The liquid evaporated, and the mysterious substance turned into colorful gas and sprayed out of the test tube.
Ed expertly used a special vacuum machine to suck up all the mysterious substance before he couldn't help but sigh.
“Failed again!”
“But we are one step closer to success.”
"Mr. Lu...Mr. Luke!"
When Ed saw Luke, he immediately put down the test tube in his hand and saluted in panic.
After using the first generation of mysterious substance mixture, Ed became very strong, but when he saw Luke he was still shy as when they first met.
Luke walked over, picked up the lab notes from the table, and pointed to a few places and said, "Adjust the measurement here to 12 ml, heat it to 60 degrees, then lower it by 5 degrees every ten minutes, and keep it at a constant temperature for 20 minutes after reaching 40 degrees.
Here we need to use purple light for irradiation; here we need to add stable quartz powder..."
Ed took notes carefully. When Luke finished speaking, he couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Luke, this is the advanced potion I came up with based on the first generation of mysterious substance mixture. How do you know its correct formula and production process?"
Luke put down his lab notes and said with a smile, "I know a lot more formulas for mysterious mixtures. Where is the mysterious substance I asked you to collect ?"
"All of them are in the mysterious substance vault. Please follow me." Ed led Luke to the depths of the studio and said, "Since my master asked me to pay attention to the special mysterious substances produced in the sewage reservoir, I have sent people to patrol around the sewage reservoir every day. Once I find them, I will collect them immediately. Now I have stored a lot.
It’s all here.”
Ed opened the safe and pulled out a large storage box. The box was filled with glass test tubes, some of which were empty and others were filled with mysterious substances of different colors.
Luke took out the test tubes one by one and observed the color and changes of the mysterious substances inside. He gave those that were needed to Ed. After a while, he selected seven special mysterious substances.
Luke then took some regular mysterious materials and left the vault with Ed.
"The quantity and variety of special mysterious substances collected are quite good. Keep paying attention to collecting them in the future. They will all be useful to me."
"Yes, Mr. Luke."
"I need to mix a mixture of mysterious substances, and you will be my assistant. Old Adrian and the others are waiting for me for a meeting, so we have to hurry."
Hearing that Luke was going to mix a new type of mysterious substance mixture and allowed him to be his assistant, Ed said happily: "Thank you, Mr. Luke!"
Luke placed the selected mysterious substances on the pharmacy shelf on the laboratory table, labeled them one by one, and then took out the beaker and alcohol lamp to start making the mixture.
"I'll only do it once. It's up to you whether you can learn it or not."
"I will learn by heart, Mr. Luke."
"Go, mix No. 4 and No. 5 in a ratio of 1:3 and dissolve them into the 60-degree wine. Place it in a zero-degree thermostat."
"Yes, Mr. Luke."
Ed followed the instructions and began to prepare the ingredients for the mysterious substance mixture. Luke picked up the mysterious substance No. 1 and poured it into the beaker, then lit the alcohol stove to heat the flask.
The two were busy in the laboratory. Apart from brief experimental exchanges, the only sound in the room was the collision of bottles and jars.
At the same time, the news that Mr. Luke was going to convene a meeting of major shareholders of Polaris spread from the Adrian Alchemy Factory to the entire downtown area. The gang leaders who received the notice set out immediately. Although the outside was flooded due to the heavy rain, they did not dare to delay.
The north wind blew even harder, bringing cold rain to wash over the entire city.
In the laboratory, Luke worked quickly, and with Ed's assistance, the entire process of making the mixture was greatly shortened.
After being refined, concentrated, mixed, and modulated, the eight mysterious substances finally turned into a small square crystal. Each side of the crystal showed a different color, and the internal lines of the crystal formed countless cross-sections, with a burning fire point in the middle.
The light from the fire point is refracted by the cross section, emitting a brilliance brighter than diamond.
" Bring the refrigerated wine."
"Yes, Mr. Luke."
Ed took the wine prepared at the beginning of the experiment out of the incubator and placed it on the table in front of Luke.
Luke picked up the square crystal with tweezers and held it over the wine glass.
"At this point, you need to be careful to adjust the height of the crystal so that the light from the crystal is focused on the surface of the wine. When the wine is on fire, you can drop the crystal into the glass."
As he spoke, Luke adjusted the height of the crystal, and a fire spot appeared on the surface of the wine. The wine mixed with the mysterious substance was ignited, and a blue flame rose upward. Luke loosened the tweezers, and the crystal fell into the wine and melted the moment it touched the wine.
Then the flame that was burning upwards turned into burning downwards, and the entire interior of the glass of wine was filled with blue flames.
Luke picked up the wine glass and said to Ed, "This is a second-generation mysterious substance mixture called 'Passionate Wine'. This mysterious substance mixture is not suitable for everyone. It only has a beneficial effect on people with an affinity for fire. People with other physiques will suffer from it.
The method of use is..."
Luke raised his head and drank the entire cup of liquor in one gulp. The burning liquor left a trace of light from his throat. Then, the burning liquor emanated from all the pores of Luke's body, forming an explosive expansion of air pressure.
At this moment, Luke felt like he was bathed in flames inside and out, and his lava stone demon bloodline was stimulated by the strong fire attribute ability. More powerful flames erupted outwards, mixed with flowing lightning.
Feeling that the energy in his body was about to get out of control, Luke immediately activated the Thunder Fire Pupil. The chaotic current was controlled and concentrated in one place, forming an electric chain that circled Luke, and then gradually disappeared. The erupting fire was also forcibly suppressed and retracted into the body.
The Thunder and Fire Pupil burst out with an intense light, and the entire right eye was filled with compressed energy.
As Luke gradually gained control over the runaway energy, the vision soon disappeared and his right eye returned to normal.
Ed, who was stunned, dared to ask at this time: "Mr. Luke, are you okay?"
"No..." Luke opened his mouth and a mouthful of fire spurted out, almost burning Eddie. Luke immediately closed his mouth, and after regaining control of the energy, he tried again and said, "I'm fine. This 'passionate wine' gave me too much power, and I almost lost control.
Looks like you need to redecorate your place."
Luke looked around. His energy had gone out of control in a short period of time, and the laboratory was in a mess. The instrument racks were twisted and fell, and broken glass was scattered all over the floor.
Eddie immediately said, "Compared to the potion formula you taught me, these are nothing. Thank you again, I have learned the manufacturing process of a precious mysterious substance mixture."
"You're talented if you can learn it in one go. I'll leave this to you. I'm going to preside over the North Star shareholders' meeting.
The use of the first generation of mysterious substance mixture will increase in the future, so you should make more reserves. "
"Don't worry, Mr. Luke."
Luke said goodbye to Eddie and left the alchemy laboratory. The guard outside told him that all the major shareholders of Polaris were present and were waiting for Mr. Luke to arrive in the conference room.
Luke took out his pocket watch and found that it took three hours to make the potion.
…
As the night deepened, the wind shook the windows of the conference room wildly, and the rain hit the glass with a heavy slapping sound.
Both sides of the long conference table were filled with gang leaders who came for the meeting. The chandelier on the ceiling was swaying in the air currents, and the swaying light illuminated different faces.
No one spoke, everyone was quietly waiting for the person in the main seat to arrive.
The door to the conference room was pushed open, and the gang leaders all stood up immediately when they saw someone coming in.
"Hello Mr. Luke!"
"Hello everyone, please sit down!" Luke strode to the main seat and sat down, then asked old Adrian beside him: "North Star Small Commodity Production Company has been established for a while. I have been busy and have not paid attention to it recently. Please report your current business situation to me."
"Yes, Mr. Luke!"
Old Adrian was prepared and took out a document and read what was written on it...
Everyone listened quietly.
The production of small commodities does not require large equipment. Small production tools such as sewing machines can be produced and imported in large quantities in Nutao City, then transported to Saint Lun City by rail, and then distributed to family production units in the lower city.
Production can be carried out after simple training.
As long as the supply of raw materials and the sale of finished products are guaranteed, the return on investment will be seen soon.
Raging Waves City is a large market that connects the empire and the world. In this era of rapid economic growth, demand is something that has no upper limit. As long as there are channels, there is no problem with selling the goods once they are produced.
Therefore, with the continuous supply of equipment and endless orders from Nutao City, family production has been rapidly expanded in the Lower City. Although the profit is very thin, compared with the previous life of having no food to eat, a stable income is too precious.
In the downtown area, everyone knew who gave the meal, and everyone respected Mr. Luke.
The Xiacheng District, which now has some money, is preparing to raise funds to rebuild the city's roads and dig drainage pipes. In bad weather like today, it is difficult for people to get out, let alone vehicles transporting goods.
If you want to be rich, you must first build good roads.
Old Adrian also wanted to lay a set of power lines and purchase some large steam engines. If the energy supply in the lower city is abundant, the production speed can be increased.
After listening to old Adrian's report, Luke asked Alice about the use of the investment and the revenue status of Polaris Company.
Then I talked to Melken about how extraordinary pets are sought after by the upper class in the City of Raging Waves.
Finally, he made a concluding speech: "In fact, from everyone's attitude and expression, I can see that the current development momentum of the Lower Town is very good, and everyone can feel that it will be even better in the future.
Today you are considering building roads and laying power grids; someday you may consider demolishing all those low-rise houses and building high-rise buildings or opera houses instead. "
Luke's words caused everyone to laugh lightly.
The future is so bright!
"But... have you ever thought about how to preserve the wealth you have now and will have in the future?"
Luke's next words brought the laughter to an abrupt end, and everyone's face changed from friendly to fierce, as if they would fight to the death if anyone dared to rob their wealth.
The true nature of the villain is revealed.
Old Adrian asked Luke quietly, "Sir, is it because of your investment income in the Lower City that the imperial officials are coveting it?"
"Have the imperial officials given you any trouble?"
Old Adrian answered without thinking: "No."
Melken said puzzledly: "This is very strange! In the past, there was no money in the Lower City, and those imperial officials didn't care about this place at all. Now that so many goods are coming in and out of the Lower City through the Saint Lun City Railway Station, the imperial officials didn't make things difficult for us, and let us go smoothly after paying the taxes.
This doesn’t make sense.”
Melken had worked in the Empire's Extraordinary Biology Cultivation Center and knew what the Empire's officials were like. When they saw that the Lower City District had hooked up with the big merchants of the Raging Waves City, they should have jumped on them to get some benefits.
It's not like them to do anything now.
Others also found it very unusual, as if some force was protecting them.
Luke looked at the gradually growing discussion in the meeting room, his eyes swept across everyone's face, and then said: "The Princess said that there are people working for the Secret Service among you, stand up!"
Princess! Secret Affairs Bureau!
The venue was instantly silent. No one had expected that there was an agent from the Secret Service here. Everyone looked at the people in the venue with vigilance, thinking about finding the traitor and then punishing him.
A man sitting at the end of the conference table stood up.
When everyone was about to slam the table and curse the traitor, the man showed a helpless expression and said, "It was me... Governor Meteor. I was working for the Secret Service, but I didn't know it was you at that time.
Her Royal Highness the Princess asked me to fully cooperate with your work in the Lower City and to protect your safety."
Meteor Governor!
Everyone in the meeting room was stunned. Meteor, that was the most popular figure in the Empire right now, could it be that Mr. Luke was...
Facing the gazes, Luke said to the CIA informant, "We all work for the CIA, and you are just fulfilling your mission. Since you know who I am, please confirm my identity."
"As you command, Governor." The informant saluted Luke first, and then introduced everyone present: "Mr. Luke, who funded and saved our homeland, is actually the Viscount of the Empire, the Honorary Royal Knight, the Director of the Special Sixth Division of the Imperial Secret Service, the Senator of the City of Raging Waves, and the Governor of the Falling Star of the City of Raging Waves."
As the informant introduced themselves, everyone in the conference room opened their mouths wider and wider, and then stood up one by one.
The informant breathed a sigh of relief after introducing Luke. Keeping this secret was too much pressure on him.
Old Adrian said excitedly: "Mr.... Governor."
The puzzle just now has been solved. The one who saved the downtown area was Mr. Luke... and the one who protected the downtown area was Governor Meteorite.
"Everyone, sit down!" Luke pressed his hand: "Don't stand, sit down! If it weren't for something urgent that forced me to reveal my identity, I would prefer to communicate with you as Mr. Luke."
Everyone sat down again at Luke's command.
Old Adrian said, "Governor, the entire Lower City is yours. If you need us to do anything, please let us know."
"Let's start with the new position I just got." Luke paused, and seeing that everyone was listening attentively, he continued, "I am now the newly appointed special cabinet minister, in charge of the Special Transportation Office for Northern Materials."
Seeing that everyone was about to stand up and salute again, Luke immediately stopped them: "It's too late today. I have to go back to Raging Tide City early tomorrow morning. Let's skip some of the formalities for now.
In this meeting, I want to tell you that the northern border of the empire will soon face a full-scale attack from the Art County Alliance. The situation is extremely unfavorable to us. Even the Empress of the Empire will lead the army on behalf of Her Majesty to boost the morale of the northern border army.
If the Art County Alliance's army breaks through the northern fortresses, the entire empire will fall into turmoil."
The information Luke revealed was too shocking for the gang leaders in the conference room.
During the war, the Empire's internal propaganda was to report good news but not bad news. The attack on the southern front against the Tedega Hills was not going well, and the people heard that the Imperial Army was advancing vigorously and killing the barbarian army, as if capturing the Celtic Duke alive was just around the corner.
Although there was publicity about the crisis in the North, the powerful Northern Army was exaggerated. They only talked about the "glorious record" of the Northern Army against the Art County Alliance in the past, but never mentioned that half of the Northern Army was transferred to the South Front, nor did they say that the Art County Alliance came in full force this time, and the scale of the war was not of the same magnitude as the previous border skirmishes.
There was no publicity for the Western Crisis.
In short, the people of the empire remained very optimistic about the war, and their daily lives were hardly affected.
Now after hearing Luke say that the North was so dangerous that even the Queen had to go to the North to supervise the war, these gang leaders realized that the war was so close to them.
Old Adrian asked, "Mr. Governor, what do you need us to do?"
"I'm going to recruit soldiers in the lower city!"
"We will definitely recruit as many people as you need for your Excellency."
The gang leaders did not hesitate at all. Whether it was to stop the Art County Alliance and protect the good days they had just gotten, or to repay Governor Meteorite, they were willing to risk their lives.
"5,000 people!" Luke said the troops he predicted might be recruited from the Lower City: "The soldiers from the Lower City will go to Raging Waves City for reorganization in the name of laborers and receive at least three months of military training.
When the situation in the North is in crisis, Raging Waves City will send troops to support the North."
On the train, Luke received a lot of news from the City of Rage, including the formation of the city militia.
Viscount Iscolan has expanded the size of the city militia in Fury City to 2,000 people. And because the residents of Fury City are generally well educated, Viscount Iscolan suggested that the city militia be equipped with a large number of war machines, alchemical puppets, magic projection cannons, small reconnaissance airships, and armored trucks to form an armored assault division to accompany the war fortress into the northern border for combat.
At the same time, Viscount Iscolan also expressed his difficulties. In order not to cause panic among the citizens of the city, he could not recruit soldiers on a large scale in the city. Before the city of Raging Waves entered a state of war, the size of the city's militia could only reach 4,000 to 5,000 people.
This number is slightly insufficient for a pure armored assault division.
The armored assault division is the strongest and most expensive main combat force for any country.
The reason why the Imperial Northern Legion is so strong is that it has thirteen armored assault divisions built with the Empire's utmost efforts.
Each armored assault division is equipped with: ten offensive and defensive war fortresses; sixteen logistical war fortresses; 1,000 to 1,500 war machines; 3,000 alchemical puppets with various functions; 800 combat and strategic magic projection cannons; 20 small reconnaissance airships; and 3,000 vehicles of various types.
The military strength ranges from 10,000 to 15,000 people.
It can be said that an armored assault division's attack is a steel torrent, and its garrison is a steel fortress.
The combat effectiveness is amazing, and the cost is amazing.
At the same time, if you want to form an armored assault division, you need a large number of high-quality soldiers. Because of its special economic status, Nutao City has a lot of high-quality soldiers. Even the gangsters in the port can operate machinery and drive cars.
The soldiers recruited in the City of Rage can be placed in the technical positions within the Armored Assault Division to build the skeleton. In addition, light infantry is needed to coordinate with war machinery in attack and protect expensive weapons such as magic projectile cannons.
So Luke thought of the downtown area.
The people here would definitely stumble if they were asked to drive war machines, but if they were given a knife and asked to fight, they would definitely rush forward screaming. With such fierce light infantry around, the technical soldiers could drive war machines and war fortresses to boldly carry out attacks and defenses.
Old Adrian talked with other gang leaders and felt that it was not too stressful to recruit 5,000 soldiers from the lower city in a short period of time. Moreover, the development of the lower city and the large number of low-skilled jobs have begun to attract the slums and rural areas of the imperial capital, and many relatives and friends of the residents have come here with their families.
If you want to settle down in the Lower Town, then send a man to fight.
Old Adrian whispered to Luke, "Sir, are 5,000 soldiers enough?"
Luke asked, "Can there be more?"
Old Adrian replied: "I promise to send all these 5,000 soldiers to report to Raging Waves City within half a month. Give me another two months, and I should be able to recruit another 5,000 soldiers."
Luke was delighted: "Very good! All families with male offspring will be given better treatment. Raging Waves City will specially allocate a batch of high-profit orders to military families, and Lower City District will also take special care of their lives, and all benefits will be distributed first."
10,000 people is the minimum number configuration for an armored assault division. If 10,000 soldiers can be recruited from the lower city area, the Nutao City Armored Assault Division can reach full strength.
Only when such an armored assault division with complete combat capabilities is deployed to the northern border can it play its due role.
The harvest in the Lower Town this time was greater than expected.
Luke discussed the details of recruiting and how to send them to Raging Waves City with the gang leaders. When he left the alchemy factory, the rain outside had stopped at some point.
The dark clouds dispersed and a full moon hung high in the sky.
Luke looked at the moon in the sky, and Qingkong, who was riding a horse in the desert far away in the West, also looked up at the moon.