Chapter 851 What Are Those? Ugly Ducks?

At the city lord’s castle, Michael handed the documents that he was holding over to Dicus as he said, “Take this to the principal. The first batch of funds for Miss Luna’s foundation has already arrived. The city lord’s castle will only be responsible for supervision, but won’t interfere with the operation of the foundation in any way. Also, due to the expected influx of elven children into the city in the near future, the city lord’s castle will also be contributing some funds to the foundation so Chaos School can hire more teachers and update their facilities in order to enroll more children.”

“Alright.” Dicus accepted the documents in a serious manner before turning to leave.

“Make some arrangements; I’m going to pay a visit to the headquarters of the Gray Temple,” Michael instructed the employee standing outside the door before also making his way outside. As he did so, a smile appeared on his face, and he thought to himself, Seeing as even Alex has made an announcement, it’s time for us to do something. If those demons and orcs dare to try and target Chaos City, they’re going to pay a heavy price.

Thus, a black horse-drawn carriage departed from the city lord’s castle headed toward the western part of the city, where the headquarters of the Gray Temple was situated.

The headquarters of the Gray Temple was an angular gray stone building that appeared to be quite solemn and intimidating, but all of the people passing through the streets near the building were quite relaxed.

Many of them wore expressions of awe and veneration as they cast their eyes toward the building. Not only did the Gray Temple exist to regulate the actions of all of Chaos City’s citizens, they also served to protect the citizens from the outside world.

They represented the order of Chaos City, and also the bottom line that couldn’t be breached.

A black horse-drawn carriage stopped outside the gates, and Michael disembarked from it.

An elderly elf in a set of long gray robes, who stood in front of the gray building, nodded to acknowledge Michael’s arrival.

Michael looked at the elderly elf with a serious expression, and said, “Rolan, the elven race is undergoing drastic changes, and Alex has reappeared; it’s about time we did something.”

…

As Mag was passing by the Blue Suede clothing store, he stopped outside to take a quick glance at it. He discovered that there wasn’t even a single item of clothing within the shop, and that there was a sign hanging from the door that read “new products are in production, please stay tuned”.

Even so, there were still noblewomen in lavish clothing constantly visiting the shop, asking the employees for an exact time and date of reopening, to which the employees could only apologetically reply that they didn’t know.

At the sight of all of the dejected noblewomen walking away from the shop, Mag shook his head with an amused smile. It appeared that Gloria was already employing hunger marketing tactics to increase the level of interest in her shop. Everything appeared to be heading in the right direction, and all they had to do now was increase production capacity in order to keep up with demand.

Aside from high-end female clothing, a large market also lies in mid-range and low-end female attire. However, production costs are still far too high at the moment. Once the steam engine becomes popularized, an industrial revolution will follow, Mag thought to himself as he continued riding his bicycle back to his restaurant.

With the enormous wealth of the Buffett Family and the skilled laborers provided by the city lord’s castle, it most likely wouldn’t take too long for the steam engine and the steam train to be popularized.

Furthermore, the Norland Continent was starting to enter a period of instability, so the Buffet Family wanted—more than anyone—to have more useful cards that they could play.

The profitability of banks relied heavily on a stable market, so its income was not always reliable during volatile times.

As such, Mag didn’t have to be concerned in the slightest that the implementation of the steam engine scheme would be delayed. Both the city lord’s castle and the Buffett Family were clearly extremely interested in this project.

…

Beside a lake in the Buffett Manor.

Scheer sat beside Ian, who was holding a fishing rod in his hand, and she said in an excited voice, “Grandpa, after repeated projections, our brains trust has basically confirmed that popularization of the steam engine and the steam train would completely transform the current energy systems, and impact everyone’s daily lives in all aspects. Those inventions will push the entire world into a new era, and all industries will be able to achieve a level of staggering efficiency that would’ve been unimaginable in the past. Cheap coal mines will become extremely important resources, and as the pioneer behind this revolution, not only will our Buffett Family be reaping significant profits in the long run, out status and position in the world will also enjoy a meteoric rise.”

Ian turned to Scheer and appraised her carefully for a moment before smiling as he said, “I’ve rarely ever seen you this excited, Scheer. The last time I saw you this worked up was back when you were preparing to implement the deposit system.”

A smile also appeared on Scheer’s face as she replied, “Change always fills one with excitement. Ventures into the unknown can always lead to brilliant opportunities. I’m not a fan of taking risks, but I’m filled with interest in the unknown. However, ever since King Andre’s birthday banquet, the Norland Continent has become rather unstable. Alex has returned from the dead, then killed six 10th-tier powerful beings, including Benson, with Irina by his side. After that, Chaos City announced that they’d be offering refuge to all wandering elves, and I’ve just received news from the Wind Forest that the elven queen has gone into seclusion, and Irina has been deposed as princess. Alex then made a public declaration that he’d be fighting for all wandering elves, thereby establishing a stance against the Wind Forest—the same stance that has been adopted by Chaos City.”

A slightly grim expression appeared on Scheer’s face as she continued, “During the re-signing of the peace treaty in three months, it’s most likely the case that all of the races won’t be able to reach a consensus, and another war among species could even break out soon.”

“Do you think this will affect our Buffett Family in any way?” Ian asked with a smile.

“The demons, orcs, and forest trolls initially had the initiative and wanted to start something, but they’ve lost over 10 10th-tier powerful beings in the past three years. In contrast, Alex has returned from the dead, thereby significantly bolstering the power of the human race. It’s unknown whether they’ll forge a new alliance with the elves and the dwarves, but even if no large-scale wars will break out in the short term, if the peace treaty isn’t re-signed, wars will inevitably break out on many borders.

“The relationships between all of the races will also rapidly deteriorate, and that could prove to be a lethal blow to our banks. The protection clauses signed between our banks and all of the races could be void, and war will prevent money from circulating between races, thereby spelling doom for our banks. As such, I think the most important thing for us now is to popularize the steam engine and the steam train as quickly as possible so all races can develop an interest in it.

“When that time comes, the steam engine will become our Buffett Family’s most important asset, which could perhaps also save our banks. Even in the worst-case scenario, we’ll be able to rely on the steam engine to cement ourselves a place in this world,” Scheer analyzed with a solemn expression.

“Do you know what is the wisest decision I’ve made ever since I decided to enter the business world?” Ian asked with a smile.

Scheer thought about this for a moment before replying, “Founding Buffett Banks?”

“No, the wisest decision I’ve made is making you the successor to the Buffett Family,” Ian corrected with a shake of his head.

…

“Father, what are those? Ugly Ducks?”

Not long after Mag returned to the restaurant, Amy also returned from her lessons.

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