Mystery: A Spark

"As for why I make this guess, it's because I met a lady today who looks very much like you, Mr. Nalzdo. Don't tell me she's your long-lost daughter."

"So? What do you want to do?" Nalzdo asked, his expression unchanged.

“I think that messenger lady is destined to be with our Scourge,” Arthas said with a smile.

Chapter 279 What are our duties?

Somewhere in the spirit world.

A completely black castle floated in the air.

Its pointed top is covered with vines and has a strong Gothic style.

At the top of this castle stood a semi-transparent woman.

She was almost as tall as the castle, dressed in an elaborate, gorgeous, and somber black dress, and carried four blonde, red-eyed, and strikingly beautiful heads in her hands.

Suddenly, all four heads turned to look in one direction.

And there, a little white puppy appeared silently.

"Hello, Miss Messenger," Arthas waved his little paw.

“Is there…” “What…” “Is there something wrong?” The three heads spoke one after the other.

"Well, Miss Messenger, I have a small legion that I'd like to invite you to join. What do you think?" Arthas said with a grin.

Renette's four heads remained silent, but their expressions clearly revealed a hint of confusion.

Seeing this, Arthas turned around and shouted:

"Mr. Nalzdo, what are you hiding for? Come out and show us your sincerity!"

A few seconds later, a blond, red-eyed middle-aged man appeared behind Arthas with a helpless expression.

The moment he appeared, all four heads of Renée Tinicol focused their attention on him, and their expressions changed noticeably.

"You..." "Are you?"

"Do you remember me, child?" the handsome middle-aged man asked softly, his expression complex.

“Never…” “Never…” “Forget…” “You.” The four heads of Renée Tinicol spoke in turn.

"I'm sorry, child," the handsome middle-aged man said in a low voice, looking at the headless woman before him. "I'm truly sorry."

“You…” “Don’t…” “Say it like that…”

“It was my… my own… lack of ability… that led to… defeat.”

“This…” “Not…” “Your…” “Responsibility.” Renette Tinicol spoke a long passage, a rare occurrence for her.

The handsome middle-aged man was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said:

"No, this is my responsibility. When you needed me the most, I failed to do anything, which led to your near annihilation. This is a responsibility I absolutely cannot escape."

He looked at the severed neck of Renette Tinicol, his eyes filled with deep sorrow.

"I have successfully obtained your body, and now I will take back the rest of you."

“Sear…” “Dead?” Renette Tinicol’s four heads showed deep surprise.

"Hmm." The handsome middle-aged man nodded and took out a female torso dressed in a black court dress, without limbs or a head, which looked quite horrifying.

Arthas couldn't help but shrink back; the scene was still too bizarre for him at the moment.

“Thank you…” “My lord.” Renette Tinicol bowed and then opened her arms to embrace the torso.

Soon, her body, which had previously seemed ethereal, became solid, and her aura became even more profound.

“I…” “I am willing…” “to join…” “The Scourge,” Renette Tinicol said.

……

“Miss Messenger, look, this is our Scourge's base. It's not very big.” Arthas pointed with his little paw at the wide open space in front of him.

On the open ground, rows of tin cans stood neatly in place.

They possessed thick, technologically advanced armor, menacing masks, a cold and murderous aura, and a dark, deathly aura that enveloped their bodies.

Arthas leaped up, transforming into a majestic, silver-white giant wolf, and appeared before all the Scourge soldiers.

It asked its first question in a solemn voice:

"What is our duty?"

"To the Emperor's will!" the metal cans below replied in a cold, mechanical voice.

"What is the Emperor's will?!" Arthas raised his voice considerably as he asked his second question.

"Fight to the death!!" the tin cans roared in unison.

"Then what is death?!" Arthas roared back.

"It's our duty!!!" The roar echoed through the sky.

……

"Achoo!" Arthur covered his mouth and sneezed loudly, then muttered:

"Who's been talking about me like that?"

"What's the connection between muttering and sneezing?" Audrey asked curiously.

"Well, there's no necessary connection, it's just a folk saying," Arthur replied, rubbing his itchy nose.

"I see." Audrey nodded, seemingly understanding.

"Speaking of which, I never expected you to have developed Umbrella Corporation to this extent," Arthur said, looking at the modern-style decor of the building in front of him, which was completely different from the rest of the buildings.

This building is tens of meters tall, far exceeding the surrounding buildings, and it connects with another building next to it, forming a twin skyscraper that is extremely rare in this era.

Yeah, it's the kind of building that looks like it could easily be hit by a plane.

"It's mainly because of your good idea, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make it go so smoothly," Audrey said with a reserved smile.

When film as an art form first emerged, she searched far and wide for suitable scripts, hoping to make the film an instant hit and quickly become a popular form of entertainment in Backlund and even the entire Loen region.

However, while the scripts she found were decent, she quickly discovered many problems after trying to film them.

One of the biggest problems was that the initial film production costs were too high, especially since film was initially made using film as the medium.

Even a short film of several tens of minutes or even a dozen minutes can cost a considerable amount.

At that time, Umbrella Corporation was just starting out. Without going public and raising funds through shares, they simply did not have enough capital to support the creation of a long and excellent film.

However, if they were to go public and raise funds, it would mean the dilution of their equity, which was not what Audrey and Arthur wanted.

Audrey, in particular, has always maintained tight control over the Umbrella Corporation, preventing anyone, including her father, from getting involved.

Because she knew very well that once someone else obtained shares in the company and began to have the ability to influence the company's decisions, the degeneration of the protective umbrella company would be an inevitable result.

Umbrella Corporation is different from all other companies in the world, including Ruen Corporation. It bears extremely important responsibilities, and making money is merely a means to achieve its goals.

Therefore, going public to raise funds is absolutely not feasible.

Having no other option, Audrey turned to Arthur for help, hoping the all-powerful president of the Aid Society might have a solution.

Not long after, she received a stack of manuscript paper from Arthas.

On the cover of the manuscript paper were three words: "Tom and Jerry".

Yes, Arthur's solution was that since they didn't have the capacity to make a feature film from the start, they shouldn't make one. Instead, they should start with the classic animated short "Tom and Jerry" to accumulate initial funding and popularity.

"Tom and Jerry," a work from the 1930s and 40s, has accompanied the growth of countless generations, and its popularity around the world is unmatched by any other work.

Most importantly, the work itself is extremely easy to understand; even a three-year-old can easily comprehend its content and be amused.

Furthermore, this work requires almost no dialogue; all that's needed is music to accompany it and a way to simulate the barking of Tom Jerry and the big dog.

Its low production cost and excellent quality made it arguably the best choice for the Umbrella Corporation at that time.

Sure enough, after "Tom and Jerry" premiered in Backlund, it immediately became popular with everyone from high-ranking officials to ordinary people.

Of course, the viewing conditions differ depending on one's social status.

The dignitaries enjoyed films in the luxuriously decorated Backlund Grand Cinema and received services befitting their status, naturally requiring them to pay exorbitant ticket prices.

Ordinary people can only watch movies in open-air venues, and tickets usually cost only a few pennies.

Such differential treatment did not make the high-ranking officials and nobles dissatisfied that the common people enjoyed the same things as them. On the contrary, they were greatly satisfied by the higher-level service they received.

The common people were naturally not dissatisfied, because they only needed to pay a few pennies to watch such an interesting work.

In an era where entertainment options are scarce, the emergence of "Tom and Jerry" was almost a game-changer, instantly making this new form of entertainment incredibly popular.

This also allowed the Umbrella Corporation to expand its size, embarking on a path of four parallel operations.

"Speaking of which, do you have any good scripts on hand? The scripts I've been looking at lately are alright, but they all seem to lack a bit of excitement." Audrey scratched her hair in frustration.

"Yes, I have quite a few projects with potential for explosive releases, and I already have an idea of ​​which one to film." Arthur chuckled as he walked into the Umbrella Corporation building.

Taking the elevator to the top-floor office, Audrey asked about the contents of the work like a curious child, but Arthur only smiled and remained silent in response.

“Don’t rush, this is related to what I’m about to say,” Arthur said, sitting down in his executive chair.

"What is it?" Audrey asked curiously.

“Miss Audrey, after working for this period of time, what do you think is the most crucial thing for a society to remain stable?” Arthur asked with a smile.

“It’s about jobs,” Audrey replied affirmatively. “Only by providing enough jobs and reasonable wages can we prevent people from becoming homeless and ultimately starving to death in some corner.”

“That’s right, but how do we create more jobs?” Arthur continued to ask.

“Create demand,” Audrey replied confidently.

“Yes, creating demand. So, for the current Umbrella Corporation, what kind of demand is most urgent?” Arthur asked another question.

“This…” Audrey stammered.

She felt that the current protective umbrella was already well-developed and belonged to the top level in the entire Ruen, so what other needs were more urgent?

“Logistics,” Arthur uttered a newly coined word. “Our logistics capabilities need improvement. Only with sufficiently strong logistics capabilities can we easily sell our products.”

“That seems to make sense, but what does it have to do with the movie?” Audrey asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Logistics on land requires smoother roads and faster, better vehicles, while logistics on the sea naturally requires ships."