New Gods of North America.

Chapter 621 Visitors
The next morning,
Wayne was thinking that after everyone finished lunch, he would take the agents, who were recovering relatively well, to the dock area. Then the two groups found the workshop one after the other.

The first group of visitors truly took Wayne completely by surprise. They included Mr. Russell's butler, a technician from the Brooke factory, the manager of the plantation where the workshop was located, and servants from the homes of two city officials, among others.

The reason they flocked here was simple—the people they represented wanted to buy luncheon meat regularly, and even planned to buy more to give as gifts.

Although Wayne was pleased to see the luncheon meat market gradually expanding,
But upon closer inquiry, it turned out that their reasons for wanting to buy luncheon meat had absolutely nothing to do with the product's price, quality, or taste.

Their idea was roughly this: the cathedral had recently assigned senior members of its guard to work with the detective agency to investigate the plague in the dock area, while the detective agency had been sending people to aggressively promote luncheon meat in the dock area, and at a price so low compared to regular meat products that it seemed they would definitely lose money, or even sell it for free.
Therefore, some people believe that eating these luncheon meats may be beneficial in preventing the plague. The detective agency may have been secretly instructed by the church to do so, both to reduce the impact and avoid panic, and to control the scale of the plague outbreak, just like how the church sometimes seems to distribute holy water for free for no reason.

Otherwise, why would a normal person do something that has no profit to offer?

What the hell.

The transportation routes for livestock from Kansas to Virginia aren't even operational yet. Currently, the meat in the workshops is mainly purchased from local markets. If the demand for meat suddenly surges, the price of raw materials could rise, affecting the supply to restaurants.
Luncheon meat is already a product with low profit margins and high sales volume. If costs aren't controlled well, wouldn't we really end up losing money while just making a name for ourselves? And after a while, they might not buy it anymore. So who will we supply the extra production to then? We can't just give it all away, can we?

Some people might think that if meat prices rise, and everyone else is paying more, then it's as if prices haven't risen at all.
However, preservation technology was not advanced at that time, and the market sales logic was not like that. Since the daily supply of fresh meat after slaughter was relatively stable, local slaughterhouses and meat shops would give priority to supplying meat to long-term, stable customers. If someone suddenly bought too much meat in a short period of time, they would have to bear the brunt of the price increase.

We're all business people; we can still tell the difference between "one full meal" and "full meals every day."

That's why Wayne insisted on maintaining the workshop's current production even if it meant having the sales team send away the excess luncheon meat. This was to ensure the workshop's daily meat purchases remained stable, giving them the leverage to negotiate lower prices.
The current production volume is the optimal solution calculated by Wayne. The original plan was to produce about this much each day, ideally selling out completely, and limiting production if there were more orders. Production would be increased only when the market truly expands, rather than receiving a sudden surge of orders like this, which might then disappear altogether.

Unfortunately, these guys who came all had some connection to the detective agency, and Wayne didn't want to offend them. They also wouldn't listen to Wayne's explanation that "the sale of luncheon meat and the plague are actually completely unrelated."

So Wayne could only agree to their request while indicating that the workshop's current production might not be able to fully meet their needs and that there would be some limitations. He was both happy and distressed.

Sales have increased temporarily, but short-term profits may actually decrease instead of increase...

What left Wayne speechless was that when they saw Wayne seemed somewhat troubled and mentioned that the quantity was limited, they became even more certain of their guess.
Sigh, I can't explain it to you guys anymore.

On the bright side, if the workshop's meat purchases suddenly increase, local slaughterhouses and butchers might blindly expand their production capacity due to profit motives. Once this surge in demand subsides and the workshop's demand decreases again, the workshop could then exert some control over them. However, the workshop's ultimate plan is to use meat sourced from Kansas. If they fatten up the local slaughterhouses and butchers, and then the workshop stops buying from them in the future, those locals might cause some trouble...

There are pros and cons, but for now, this is the best we can do.

After that group of people left, the second group had already been waiting for some time.
These five are the second group of "friends from Kanx City" that Connor mentioned before. Their arrival was expected by the detective agency. There should be a final group with the largest number of people afterward, bringing the total to at least sixteen.

Compared to when "Slingshot" and his group arrived, the detective agency's situation today seemed a bit less than ideal.

Last night, everyone encountered two feathered serpents, their authenticity uncertain. If Wayne hadn't been there, they would have been wiped out. Although they had rested for half a day, they were still not in top condition, and Connor was still a bit pale.

The newcomers, who had been in high spirits, suddenly became somewhat uneasy when they saw "Slingshot," who had arrived not long before, looking exhausted, and upon hearing that the detective agency had almost faced an evil god the previous night.

Since Inessa, who had the most influence over the hunters, was not around, Wayne could only let them rest first and then arrange for Doug to slowly introduce them to the situation at the detective agency.

Fortunately, Connor's judgment was reliable. When they heard that the detective agency was about to go to the dock area to investigate saboteurs from the hidden organization, they stepped forward almost without hesitation:

“Although we don’t know the details yet, since it’s to identify extraordinary individuals who have committed wrongdoing, let us participate. The onboarding training can perhaps be done once everyone has arrived.”

Wayne doesn't like to force people to do things when he still has the capacity, but he still thinks highly of those who are more proactive in certain aspects. "Very well, let's keep things simple then. Let's deal with the immediate issues first."

So the spare red armbands were distributed, and the carriages set off one after another. Everyone could explain the general situation to each other on the way, so there was no need to waste time right now.

Inessa changed into her hunting attire last night and returned to the docks overnight. Even though Wayne himself wasn't particularly afraid of the "Koyatl," that alone told him that things were probably more serious than he had imagined.
It seems that the plans targeting the gangs in the dock area may have to be put on hold for the time being. After all, no matter how ruthless the gangs are, they are ultimately in it for the money, and they won't go too far, at least they won't indiscriminately commit murder.

(End of this chapter)