Munitions Empire

A middle-aged man walked into the room, bowed his head in respect, and politely began, "Your Honor! Thank you for taking the time to see me amidst your busy schedule."

In the King City of Leite Kingdom, an elderly man dressed in decent clothes was sitting in his own office, watching the middle-aged man walking in.

"My time is very precious," said the old man, seated in a chair that was at least twice as big as his frame, still holding an exquisite fountain pen, as he spoke to the other man.

"My uncle is your close friend, so I came here seeking your help," the middle-aged man said as he respectfully placed a bag of money on the judge's desk, almost ingratiatingly.

The old judge glanced at the money bag, and his tone became noticeably kinder as he spoke, "So, what can I do to help you? Let's hear it."

The middle-aged man immediately began his complaint, raising a name that made the old judge somewhat apprehensive, "You simply cannot imagine what changes the Great Tang Group has brought to this world! Yes, changes! The things they've brought with them are much more formidable than guns, cannons, trains, and ships."

"Hmm?" The old judge leaned back in his chair, looking at the grumbling man in front of him with a long, questioning sound.

The middle-aged man continued, sharing the information he had gathered: "In Brunas, a hundred percent of the people are working for the Great Tang Group, where even the old ladies sweeping the streets are with the Great Tang Group."

"Every morning, the whole city seems to come back to life, countless workers walk out of their homes, and then enter the factories of the Great Tang Group to work." He rambled on as he spoke.

But he didn't care, for he had given a bribe, this was his time to complain. He had bought this time, so he had the right to squander it.

He continued, "Every machine there never stops running, only halting when something breaks... and then, a few workers would immediately repair the damaged machinery, and work would resume without pause in production."

"Never has a city operated so efficiently, nor has production ever been raised to such heights." The more he spoke, the more frightened he became, feeling as if he was facing a colossal behemoth that blotted out the sky.

"The Great Tang Group is the largest industrial organization in our kingdom..." the old judge nodded and said, "How does this relate to the problem you want to solve?"

"Have you ever been to Brunas? The chimneys there are denser than forests, and the black smoke never ceases. If you look carefully, even by the moonlight, you can clearly see the billowing smoke pouring out of the chimneys!" As he reminisced, the middle-aged man's beard trembled slightly.

After a few seconds of silence, he then looked at the old judge and came to a conclusion, "Before the Great Tang Group appeared, everything was so primitive. Compared to now, many things simply shouldn't exist."

Compared to the Great Tang Industrial Group, his small workshop couldn't even be called a production organization; his workshop was just wasting labor...

The two were not even on the same level, as different as a little rabbit is from a colossal beast.

"Some things are so disturbing, to anyone who isn't blind, that just one look will make your skin crawl! The terror of the Great Tang Group, is tenfold, a hundredfold, even a thousandfold more than we could have imagined!" He suddenly stood up and walked over to the old judge excitedly.

He lowered his voice, pointing towards the door, "Think about it! The thugs that Shireck hired, the underground grey industry that was built; they're nothing compared to the Silver Fox from Brunas."

"Shireck just organized the thugs, while they trained these thugs into a military! They have guns, organization, discipline, and even a belief... Damn it, can you believe it?

Those bastards from the Silver Fox Company wearing black top hats, Brunas suits, and carrying pistols, they pray to Tang Mo's family crest every morning!" After saying this, he even took a moment to catch his breath and calm his heartbeat.

He remembered that night, the people who came to his house as guests, claiming they wanted to buy his business, the cold, terrifying faces.

As he spoke, he once again began to get agitated, "He turned the thugs into... the mafia! Yes! That's the word! That damned word comes from Brunas!"

"Those former ruffians and hoodlums couldn't possibly stand against this regular army! Do you know who they are? They kill without blinking an eye and can rally half a street at a word." While he spoke, he flailed his arms, imagining how much negative impact that night's conversation had on him.

But indeed, he had no choice, because the other party hadn't acted yet, not even a harsh word had been spoken. Yet, the oppression they brought made him feel a sharp longsword hanging over his neck.

"You talk sense to them, and they threaten you; you pull a knife, they use a gun; you draw a gun, they use dynamite to blow up your house..." He murmured in fear, his voice disheveled.

"What do you want me to do?" asked the old judge calmly.

"Protect me... please. Drive those villains out of our homes..." the middle-aged man pleaded.

The old judge met the gaze of the other party, still speaking calmly, "However, as far as I know, they are not overbearing in business."

The middle-aged man was taken aback, then had to explain, "That's precisely what makes them so troublesome, they have guns, they have money, no matter what I do, I can't compete with them."

"I'm familiar with their people, know how they operate... Did they... give you a choice?" the old judge continued to inquire.

Indeed, he understood the way Silver Fox Company conducted its business, most of the time they were law-abiding, seemingly more approachable than the bastards of the Shireck Consortium.

It was only when money didn't resolve issues that they would use somewhat radical methods, but they managed to handle things very neatly, providing explanations all around.

Such a way of operating was greatly admired by him, the King City judge, because he needed a dark force to help him stabilize the other dark side of the entire King City.

Sure enough, the middle-aged man, seemingly shaken, responded, "…They did."

He also picked up on the fact that this venerable judge, whose reputation for justice was well-known, seemed to have a not-so-shallow relationship with Silver Fox Company. Thus, he started to consider whether to change his own attitude.

The old judge continued with a hint of a smile, "Can you talk about it?"

"They hope to buy my workshop for 3,000 Gold Coins…" The middle-aged man said with the truth, swallowing hard.

"Do you have any dissatisfaction?" the old judge pressed on, "How much do you think your rundown workshop is worth?"

"…" The middle-aged man fell silent—What could he say after that? If you call my workshop rundown, then of course, it's not worth much…

The old judge did not rush to speak, waiting for the man to gather his thoughts, before continuing, "You know that behind Silver Fox Company is Great Tang Group, you know they can't be messed with, do you think just because I round up a few idle thugs for you, they will let you off?"

"…" The middle-aged man knew what the other party said was true—Even if the judge ruled justly, he still couldn't hold onto his workshop…

The judge waited a few more seconds, letting the man process, then spoke again, "I can talk to them for you, 3,150 Gold Coins, and I'll take 25 Gold Coins as commission."

"Alright, I'll listen to you," the middle-aged man immediately nodded, resigned to his fate.

"All right, he's gone." After seeing off the middle-aged man and closing the door, the old judge saw another door being opened from the side and spoke up.

"Thank you, Your Honor," said the man in the black Brunas suit with a bowler hat, nodding slightly in thanks.

"This is the last plot of land. You really should tell me what you're planning to do with all this land," the old judge asked the representative from Silver Fox Company, curious.

"We plan to build a racetrack in King City," the representative answered matter-of-factly.

"A racetrack? Is there really profit in breeding horses here?" the old judge asked, puzzled.

"Not just breeding horses, but also racing them. And it's not just horse racing, we can also bet on the horses," the man representing Silver Fox Company, or rather Great Tang Group, explained with a smile.

"You really know how to have fun, but this isn't something I can cover by myself," the old judge cautioned.

"Don't worry, Your Honor, His Majesty the King has a ten percent stake in this project, you, the Prime Minister, everyone… also gets to share ten percent," the man explained with practiced ease.

"You're already offering out twenty percent of the profits for sharing before construction has even started?" After pondering for a few seconds and looking expectantly at the other party, the old judge inquired, "What do you think, how much can you make from horse racing?"

"I'm not entirely sure about the specifics, but… your share of the profits, a year… might be about a thousand Gold Coins," the company representative replied with a smile, "If everything goes smoothly, maybe in the future, just from this income, you could afford to let your sons live a carefree life."

"…I'll get him to move out as quickly as possible." After doing some quick calculations and estimating his sons' spending habits, grasping the meaning of living carefree, the old judge fell silent for a moment, then said.