Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 222: One hundred and sixty-four: Observation (2)

Chapter 222: One hundred and sixty-four: Observation (2)

As soon as Malin entered the Southern District, there was news from the police system that a private distillery was selling bootleg liquor in a warehouse. Police commandos swooped in on the scene, catching the criminals red-handed, and seizing at least twenty liters of alcohol. In the underground warehouse, they found another twenty gallons of distilled food and bootleg liquor products.

At the same time, they apprehended a dozen merchants involved in the purchase of the bootleg liquor. This was considered one of the biggest illegal liquor cases in Carterburg in thirty years. Taking into account Malin’s identity, the police were preparing a corresponding reward for him and initiating a witness protection program—such a big case was enough to strike fear into the hearts of the criminal masterminds behind it.

"I think we should get a liquor license," Malin turned to Clovis. "Those employees who perform well in their daily work and whose teams excel should receive a liquor ticket each month, allowing them to exchange for one liter of alcohol. They can use it themselves or sell it to their colleagues. I believe this small reward will enhance the workers’ enthusiasm for their jobs."

"Malin, your idea is brilliant. I’m thinking now that the God of Commerce would weep for losing you," although Clovis had no understanding of business, as a mage, if one doesn’t show enough curiosity about how to make money, there is no way to advance on the path of arcane spiritual energy.

Uh, speaking of the God of Commerce, before this, the Assistant Priest rejected our invitation due to an insufficient quota. I heard he has now been exiled by Bishop to some village.

Now, this same Bishop comes to Malin every day, swearing to get a hefty share in the next deal.

"Maybe we could collaborate with them. After all, the Church of the God of Commerce can issue liquor licenses as well, and with this license for brewing holy wine, applying for a liquor license at the city hall would also be easier." Although Malin could handle the matter without involving the Church of the God of Commerce, given his current stature, the previous collaborations with the Church had been quite pleasant. Even if the Church in Parol City was ultimately burned down to purge it of evil, the God of Commerce made it clear that the fire was well-placed—anyone who could replace a deity in purifying a desecrated temple was naturally welcomed by the deity.

As Malin was discussing this, he noticed a merchant convoy of the Church of the God of Commerce ready to set off; the Assistant Priest sat on his horse, looking haggard.

Seeing Malin, he didn’t seem angry but rather dismounted and walked over to Malin to apologize with humility: "Your Excellency, I apologize; I underestimated your business."

"It’s all right, Mr. Assistant Priest. Our previous cooperation was quite enjoyable, wasn’t it? Don’t worry—if I’m free later on, I’ll put in some good words for you with the Bishop," Malin patted his arm.

To be honest, this Assistant Priest was a young man, and during a series of past cooperations, he and Malin had always enjoyed working together. The last time, when he chose to give up after hearing there were so many collaborators, Malin thought nothing of it. But Bishop considered it a missed opportunity for the Assistant Priest to bond with Malin. For this reason, Malin felt a responsibility to help him out of his plight.

"By the way, where are you headed?" Malin asked, looking at the merchant convoy.

"We’re going to the Emerald Highlands in the northwest. The Highlander villages there produce large quantities of leather and medicinal materials, and we are bringing them salt, tea, and ironware."

"Hmm... let me show you something," Malin said. He pulled out a can of vegetables and a can of meat from his Spatial Bag: "You don’t need a dagger." Watching the Assistant Priest pull out his dagger, Malin showed him how to easily open the lid by pulling the tab on the can.

The Assistant Priest saw the vegetables and meat and had an expression of awe: "Highlanders have plenty of meat, but vegetables are a treasure..." He tried a bit of the vegetables: "The taste is strong. But they lack salt, that’s not a problem. Mr. Malin, you’re the most impressive merchant I’ve ever seen, and I’d like to distribute your canned vegetables."

"No problem, but we are not yet able to mass-produce them. When you leave the city, go to the Sheringham family; this is my order. Take it to the steward and he will unlock the warehouse for you. We made some cans before and stored them there," Malin took out a pen and paper, and quickly wrote down an order: "Mr. Assistant Priest, a pleasure doing business with you."

"Thank you, Mr. Malin. May our cooperation be blessed with eternity."

"Blessed with eternity. Work hard, Mr. Assistant Priest, and I look forward to the day you return."

After sending off the Assistant Priest, Malin turned to Clovis with a smile, while she responded with a smirk: "Why did you help him?"

"Showing kindness to those who mean no harm can save one from making unnecessary enemies," Malin certainly wouldn’t admit that he had just verified the Assistant Priest’s allegiance, which, despite his demotion, was still purely blue. Such a trustworthy person ought not to be buried among the ranks of merchants.

"Hmm... true. The Thainan people always say, ’One more friend makes one more path.’" Clovis walked beside Malin as she spoke: "Where are we going now?"

"Let’s go home. The sample vegetable cans we initially planned to trade with the Church of the God of the Seas are gone now. We’ll wait for the factory to produce new samples before we approach them again." Malin had little to discuss with the Church of the God of the Seas, after all, you can’t expect a duck that dislikes water to get cozy with the ocean.

.........

After getting home, Malin was busy—very busy.

The food processing factory site was quickly chosen near the Sheringham family estates. The city council provided the land to Malin, and his mother-in-law found him a team of elf builders who insisted they were only working for the sake of the Legendary Lady’s reputation. However, when Malin pulled out a set of construction blueprints from an elven civilization from another world (a game), these folk immediately began working with earnest zeal and hypocrisy.

In just a month, the entire factory was completed. Malin was a bit surprised by the living architecture—never did he expect that the exterior of his factory would be adorned by an ancient war tree.

He didn’t have much of a relationship with the elven deity, did he?

Then a Divine Envoy of the elven gods helped Malin solve this problem.

First, the emergency healing Spell Formation spread from the human Church to the elven one. Elves have long lifespans and their period of growth is extremely lengthy, so any method capable of pulling elves back from the brink of death was greatly welcomed.

Secondly, some of Malin’s blueprints were selected for the new Temple of the elven Hunting God.

Third, the Great Demon that Malin had killed in Parol City was a thorn in the side of the elves, having caused them loss centuries ago. Now that Malin, with his half-pointed ears, had helped them gain revenge, it was enough to ensure their goodwill towards him.

Fourth, the sights that Malin had previously made were extremely popular among the various elven races. With these devices, many elves who otherwise couldn’t become Sharpshooters could now take up bows and Firearms and play a role on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the veteran Sharpshooters said these devices definitely added to their abilities, as they greatly enjoyed watching the Chaos die up close—such a gift was too good to be true for these elves who were determined to take revenge on Chaos.

And so this ancient War Tree was gifted to Malin as a present.

The Sheringham family would almost laugh themselves awake in their dreams—with such a tree here, it was foreseeable that if Carterburg were to build a new district, it would certainly include their area within the third city wall.

Malin no longer had to worry about the security of this area either, as nearby Druids, hearing that there was a tree, directly ran over to ask Malin for a small plot of land to construct a watchtower—although they knew the purpose of the factory, faced with Chaos invasions and the Tide of the Dead from Spirits, the Druids were no longer those extreme naturalists Malin had imagined.

Without controlling the numbers of Spirits and wild beasts, where would humans find enough soldiers to defend the world?

So the Druids didn’t care much; their job was to stroke ancient trees, and when Malin took out an Acorn produced by the World Tree Sapling, the Druids looked at Malin as if they were seeing a Saint reincarnated.

They planted the Acorn and even brought together several small religious factions to establish a Druidic organization named The Oak Brotherhood.

In their view, their organization revolved around that Oak and would protect this Holy Oak to grow up, which would become the first World Tree of this world.

After the peak of summer, the factory district entered full swing and the lives of the civilians in the Western District visibly improved. While becoming a member of the Brotherhood used to be desirable, now being an employee in one of Malin’s factories was truly fortunate, and even many gang members chose to take up work.

A quarterly cleanse ranking contest for the blocks had already resulted, with a thousand families receiving a reward of at least five thousand gold—a significant sum to most, though Malin managed to recover a quarter of that within nearly half a month through recycling in his shops. Moreover, the newly established school taught children how to farm, hunt, work as factory workers, Hunters, and farmers, which was far more practical than teaching them how to write poetry.

With Malin’s help, the Assistant Priest at the Church of Commerce was reinstated to his position, and after hearing Malin’s advice, the Bishop also decided to let him off the hook.

Meanwhile, vegetable canning began on a large scale in the Highlander villages and towns, and the highly acclaimed vegetable and fruit cans also became a favorite in the eyes of the Church of the God of the Seas—during an era when sailors could only drink spoiled water and scurvy ran rampant on long voyages, how delighted the Church of the God of the Seas must have been once they confirmed that vegetable and apple cans could be preserved for a long time.

They weren’t without preservation techniques themselves, but when it came to costs, those methods using Spiritual Energy and Spell Formation engravements simply couldn’t compete with Malin’s canned goods.

After meat cans opened up the market throughout the Sydney Union, they soon became extremely popular. In the northern lands, the soldiers quickly started treating mid-grade meat cans as a new form of battlefield currency, demoting the value of cigarettes.

In the eyes of refugees and the poor, low-grade meat cans were also a good choice. They were cheap and available in large quantities; whether they were improving their lives with a bit of spare change or receiving them through local work-for-relief programs, it was a good option either way.

For the wealthier gentlemen and Nobles, the meat of wild beasts and Spirits was seen as beneficial for enhancing one’s strength, and spending money on such good products was never a waste.

Thus Malin’s assets began to increase.

"Perhaps ’expansion’ would be a more suitable description," Faye, who had temporarily joined the Merchant Sequence and started to manage the accounts, would often say before handing the task over to Lillim—it was too time-consuming, and she still aspired to become a seventh-ring Mage.

After two months, even Lillim was overwhelmed. She made no progress during that time, causing her family to be terribly anxious—while other girls were striving, their own child wasn’t advancing in Spell Formation. If it hadn’t been for the fact they were aiding Malin, the Sheringham family would have seriously considered hiring an assassin.

Eventually, Malin could only encourage the girls to strive to realize their own value, then he turned to seek a competent financial team from the Assistant Priest of the Church of the God of Commerce.

The requirements weren’t high; Apprentices would suffice, assessed based on ability, with the capable joining the group. They would handle all of Malin’s financial affairs, forming the financial foundation of the Malin’s Syndicate Group.

Then the Apprentices at the Church of Commerce were stirred up.