Mystery: A Spark

……

Top floor of the Umbrella Corporation office building, East Side of Backlund.

Inside the office, Audrey was listening attentively to her secretary's work report.

At this point, her demeanor had changed considerably. She was wearing a white shirt and a black suit jacket on top, and a black pencil skirt on the bottom, making her look like a mature, career-oriented woman.

"Ms. Hall, the film-related technologies that Mr. Heller mentioned before he left have now been successfully patented and can be officially launched on the market. However, in terms of scripts, we have not yet found any works that can be called excellent."

“I understand. I will find a suitable script as soon as possible. How is the renovation of the movie theater going?” Audrey asked.

"It's almost finished. It was originally a large hall, so the renovation wasn't too difficult," the secretary replied.

“That’s right. By the way, the scale of the food street still needs to be expanded. We can absorb those individual restaurant owners and let them join us. We can provide them with food ingredients at lower prices, and they must abide by the industry rules we set,” Audrey said in a deep voice.

"Yes, I will pass the message on." The secretary nodded in response.

"Well, you go."

The secretary left.

After the office door closed, Audrey let out a long sigh of relief and leaned back softly in her chair.

"Being a CEO must be exhausting! Arthur is such a lazy bum. He dumped everything on me and then ran off. He's so annoying!" Audrey angrily clenched her fist.

She initially thought being a CEO would be interesting, but she never expected the workload to be so immense that she couldn't even go back to her hometown in East Chestershire, as she was busy with various affairs of the Umbrella Corporation in Backlund.

Of course, although this is tiring to do, the sense of accomplishment is top-notch.

Seeing firsthand how the environment in the East End was improving, how the people's eyes were gradually brightening, and how their faces were no longer pale and thin, Audrey was overjoyed.

This is precisely what has motivated her to persevere until now.

"However, while it's true that young people should be as indomitable as steel, I can't exhaust myself. I need to find some intellectuals to share the company's responsibilities, but I can't ask those corrupt old hands. It's a real dilemma..."

Audrey rubbed her forehead and sighed.

But soon, her eyes lit up.

"I've got it! These second-generation nobles like Grelint seem like a good choice. Their knowledge is unquestionable, and they're young and easy to fool... cough cough, no, I should say their thinking is relatively easy to change. I can bring them over, so I don't have to worry too much about the company going astray. Hmm, let's do it!"

……

Peace Tavern.

The place was bustling with noise, but in an inconspicuous corner, a thin middle-aged man was enjoying his drink alone.

Looking at the bustling scene before him, and then at the vibrant pedestrians on the street outside—a stark contrast to their previous appearance—he couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of admiration.

"Incredibly, that kid actually managed to do it."

The middle-aged man was lost in memories. It was a month ago, when Arthur had asked him to have a drink before he was about to leave Backlund.

The two talked a lot at that time, including about the Umbrella Corporation.

That's what Pallas asked at the time.

"You started Umbrella Corporation, probably to make money, right?"

“Of course, what decent person doesn’t start a company to make money?” Arthur replied.

Then he added:

"However, I don't want to make money off the poor."

"Don't want to make money off the poor? Then whose money do you want to make?" Pallas asked with a smile.

“I’ll make money off whoever has it,” Arthur replied.

"Then who has money?" Pallas countered.

“You,” Arthur gestured with his cup towards Pallas, “you guys, I want to make money off you.”

“Trying to make money off us? That won’t be so easy,” Pallas chuckled.

"Not easy to make money?" Arthur pulled something out of his pocket and slammed it on the table.

"Can this make money?"

"A film entertainment plan?" Pallas glanced at the documents on the table, thought for a moment, and said:

"This thing looks interesting. If it can really do what's written on it, then many high-ranking officials and wealthy people will probably be interested. If it really becomes popular, it should be able to make a lot of money."

"So, can this make money?" Arthur reached into his pocket again and slammed it on the table.

"Clothing manufacturing?" Pallas asked, somewhat puzzled. "While some clothes can indeed sell for very high prices, it doesn't seem to meet your requirements, does it?"

"Hehe, the clothing manufacturing I'm talking about is a little different from what you understand. Anyway, just wait and see." Arthur smiled mysteriously.

"Looks like you've got some big ambitions, kid. I'll wait and see." Pallas downed the drink in his glass in one gulp.

Chapter 270 Put yourself to death and survive

The memories gradually faded.

Pallas downed the drink in his glass and then stood up.

He stepped outside the tavern and looked at the drastically changed streets around him, feeling quite emotional.

They use entertainment to make money off the rich who have nothing better to do than give back to the East District, allowing people to buy enough food to fill their stomachs and even some delicious food at low prices.

Such measures not only failed to exacerbate social conflicts, but also promoted the development of many industrial chains, such as the food processing industry and the clothing industry.

Only when ordinary people have enough to eat and have some extra money in their hands will they consider other things, such as clothes and knowledge.

When people have demand, the market expands, and the products produced in factories become more valuable than before.

In this situation where a single move could have far-reaching consequences, Pallas could foresee that the country would gradually awaken, begin to shed its past obsolescence and decay, and start to stride forward.

And all of this was done by that young man.

“He’s right. This country needs to change, or sooner or later it will be ridden over by the barbarians of Fussac and the nouveau riche of Intis.”

“However, what Emperor Roselle launched back then was called the Industrial Revolution, so what should we call this kind of change now?” Pallas murmured softly.

……

Mid April.

Inside a hotel in a small town east of Intis.

Arthur looked at the gem-like object in his hand, which was emitting a red glow, and sighed softly:

"Finally got it, it was really hard-won."

It has been more than two months since he set off for Intis, and in those two months, his life has been full of ups and downs and thrills.

Before coming to Intis, Arthur's impression of the country mostly came from its prototype, the romantic France from Arthur's previous life.

After all, Rune corresponds to the British Empire, and it's quite reasonable for Intis to correspond to France.

In addition, the romantic escapades that old rogue Russell wrote about in his diary made Arthur feel that this country was a country with a rich artistic atmosphere.

Arthur happens to be an artist, so he was quite interested in this place.

But to his utter surprise, after arriving in Trier, he didn't experience "romance," but instead felt "waves."

The entire city was not only dirty and chaotic, but also filled with an atmosphere of openness, or more accurately, decadence.

Not only are gangsters rampant, but we also keep running into cult members, and the kind of cult members who like to have sex.

Those who knew him would think he had come to Trier, but those who didn't would think he had come to Gotham.

But there's a reason why Gotham City is rife with crime: amber gold was added during the city's construction, which made the local people exceptionally kind and honest.

So what's the situation in Trier?

Instinctively, Arthur felt that there was something wrong with this city, perhaps like Gotham, with something extraordinary buried beneath it.

However, none of this concerned him, since he was only there to obtain the "Iron-Blooded Knight" extraordinary trait and, incidentally, to consume the "Reaper" potion.

After a period of hunting and exploration, the "Reaper" potion in Arthur's body has been largely digested, and it is only one step away from being fully digested.

He also successfully found a target to exchange his extraordinary traits with: a female member of the Soren family who was worried about not wanting to become a man.

Arthur and the other party met not long ago when they were raiding a cult's hideout.

After a period of probing, and finally after a relatively harmonious exchange, both sides offered their extraordinary characteristics in exchange.

The fact that the other party possessed a mysterious item related to "notary" facilitated their transaction.

After acquiring the "Iron Knight" extraordinary trait, Arthur distanced himself from Trier. Perhaps due to his unique constitution, he frequently encountered cultists there, never finding peace.

Most importantly, the cultists here are far more skilled at sex than any of the ones Arthur has encountered before, and their methods are much more varied, leaving even the seasoned Arthur feeling overwhelmed.

To avoid leading Arthas astray, he planned to leave and return to the sea after achieving his main objective.

Speaking of returning to the sea, we must mention Edwina.

When Arthur first came here, he talked to her about the "Spirit World Network Project".

The construction of large-scale portals is currently impossible, as it requires sufficient power to support it; otherwise, accidents could easily occur.

For example, a big guy who used a squat toilet suffered from this problem.

Arthur didn't want to be paralyzed by a psionic phone call from some evil god's follower while he was working on the portal project.

Therefore, he can only do this kind of thing after he has enough experience and resources.

However, while large-scale operations are not feasible, a few teleportation points are still possible.

Therefore, Arthur built a teleportation channel between his home and the Golden Dream, so that he could meet with Edwina at any time... no, it should be said that they could exchange knowledge.

No portal was built in Trier because Arthur felt there was something eerie about the place and he didn't want to come back.

In addition, after more than two months of research, a large part of the problems of the five members of the Dragon Slaying Team have been solved.

Shatas successfully ascended to demigod status and, with Mobert's help, made up for lost time. Longzel also obtained the extraordinary trait of "Punishment Knight".

The source of this extraordinary property was that Arthur obtained it from a viscount named "Sterford" when he returned to Backlund through his travel notes from Mano.

At the same time, he also gained another treasure, which was the magical item "Dark Cross".

After giving the "Dark Cross" to Little Sun, Arthur successfully obtained the "Demon Hunter" extraordinary trait in return.

However, since the ceremony is not yet complete, Grosser cannot be promoted for the time being.