The reason why Hobart is now looking for a partner is that the brand effect of the "Earl Light" bulb is already there, at least in Beckland.

At the same time, because the light bulb is a very new thing, the major media began to rush to report it, and Hobart no longer spent money on new publicity.

Many aristocrats and wealthy people in other cities are also eagerly awaiting access to electric lights as soon as possible.

Then the negative public opinion on Longtail Island has been resolved, and Hobert is not short of money in his hands, at this time to seek cooperation, Hobert can occupy an absolute dominant position.

The officers of the club all know that the light bulb makes a lot of money, but they don't know exactly how much they earn, but today they know that they have made so much!

As of today, the bulb has been on sale for 11 days, although only the first day received more than 30,000 orders, and the number of orders has gradually decreased.

But now that Hobart says that the "Earl's Light" is worth 3 million pounds, no one dares to refute it, and there must be a premium for a share with such a good prospect.

After further understanding the situation, everyone expressed their willingness to buy shares in "Earl Light".

Hobart added: "There is one thing I need to tell you, this industry is not profitable at the beginning, although I have a huge amount of cash in my hand now, but I have to use it to build power plants and lay power lines, and I can't give you dividends!" ”

The construction of this kind of infrastructure is quite expensive for a company, and it is actually more appropriate to build it by the will of the state.

But counting on Rune to build a power plant to lay wires did not know that it would be the year of the monkey, so Hobert decided to build these supporting facilities himself.

No matter how much money you have, put it into it!

Hobert roughly calculated that the money in his hand was enough to build a dozen large power plants, but it couldn't just have power plants without wires!

If all this money is used to lay power lines, it may be possible to completely cover two or three cities, including Beckland.

Therefore, when it comes to infrastructure construction, the power of the individual is very limited.

However, Hobart believes that his goal has basically been achieved now, after all, Backerland has a population of 5 million, and even if only one-fifth of the people know about the "Earl's Light" light bulb, there are 1 million people who can associate the light bulb with Earl Hobart.

If you are promoted to sequence 3, the feedback of 100,000 people can meet the needs of the ceremony, and 1 million people will be more than enough!

Despite Hobert's words, anyone could see how promising the light bulb was, and everyone almost scrambled to buy shares.

After deciding roughly on the share to be purchased, the party ended in a warm atmosphere.

Back at the Earl's Court, Hobart took a short break and used his "travel" to get to Duke Bowen's estate in the suburbs.

At this time, the manor was silent, and only one room of the huge villa was lit.

Hobert "twisted" the distance, and "a few steps" came to the corridor of the lighted room on the second floor.

In the long hallway, a man in his thirties, dressed in a black knight's suit, stood in front of the door: "Hello Earl Hobert"

Hober nodded: "Hello." ”

He guessed that this should be the one who protected Duke Bowen.

The man knocked on the door, and a weak voice came from inside: "Please come in." ”

The other party politely opened the door and said to Hobert, "Please." ”

When Hobart entered, by the light of the gas lamp, he saw Duke Bowen with gray hair and a thin body, who seemed to be several years older than when they had last met.

His body was covered with a blanket, and he seemed to be unable to get up: "Young man, come and sit by yourself." ”

"Okay." Hobart agreed, but just stood across from Duke Bowen and stared at him for most of the minute.

The duke's spirit seemed to be covered with a thin layer of black mist, and there seemed to be some black lines in the black mist, tightly wrapped around the already weak spirit.

At present, the black mist and black lines have spread to the chest, and if the entire spirit body is entangled in the black lines and covered by the black mist, it will also announce that the duke's death has come.

As with Hobert's last judgment, this is a very typical appearance of a spirit haunted by a curse.

Hobert "twisted" and tried, and as mentioned by one of the demigods in the source, neither "twisted" nor "chaotic" had any effect, as if it could not sever the connection between the duke and the source of the curse.

Hobert took a deep breath and sat down across from Duke Bowen.

There are two places about this curse that Hobert has been unable to figure out, the first is that, according to the information, the curse has been going on for more than a year, but the duke has not yet been killed.

This is very strange, because the curse that usually spans a long time is because the caster's ability is too low, and it takes many rituals to curse the target to death.

But such a curse is easy to solve.

The second is, what is the medium of this curse?

Unless it's a face-to-face curse, hiding in the dark and secretly cursing must require a medium!

And if it was cursed in person, either Duke Bowen would have already died, or he would have already found a way to resolve it.

Because that curse is very aggressive, it will either kill the Duke on the spot, or it will definitely be defended, at least it can be detected by the people who protect Duke Bowen.

The problem now is that there is no idea what the medium of the curse is!

The seven demigods had tried many ways before, but they had not been able to sever the connection between the curse and the source of the curse, nor had they been able to find out what the medium of the curse was.

Duke Bowen knew that the young man in front of him was thinking about something, so he didn't speak, as if quietly waiting for his judgment.

Hobart thought for more than ten minutes before he suddenly smiled and asked, "There should have been many people who have asked about this, but I still want to confirm it." ”

He asked, "Are you feeling any discomfort right now?" ”

"Cold, weak, stiff muscles." Duke Bowen smiled helplessly: "It is very easy to get sick, and the organs seem to have failed, as if this body is becoming more and more strange to me." ”

Hobert bowed slightly, which was indeed in line with his reaction after being cursed.

Generally speaking, there are two main types of curses, one is to curse through fate, such as making a person very unlucky, and even unlucky enough to go to the toilet may fail.

Or if you are unlucky enough to let the fate of your loved ones around you also be affected, watching your loved ones die in front of your eyes one by one.

The other is to use the spirit world as a way to curse, Hobert talked to Helen about this a few days ago, and the general theory seems to be to use the spirit world as a way to directly attack the part of the spirit represented by a certain internal organ through some bonds.

This will cause the organs to be separated from the spirit body, exposed to the spirit world, and unprotected to the spirit world.

Specifically, the internal organs of the attacked will quickly fail, and it appears that they have died of some kind of disease.

For example, if you attack the heart, it will look like you will die of a heart attack, and if you attack the lungs or trachea, it will look like you will die of suffocation.

Like Duke Bowen's "chronic curse", the spirit body still has a certain degree of protection for internal organs, so the external manifestation is that it is very easy to get sick.

"It seems like an unsolvable problem." Duke Bowen smiled and said, "Young man, you just do your best, there is no need to push yourself." ”

Hobert glanced at the duke: "You're quite open-minded. ”

"The pain and suffering of more than a year has made me understand a lot of things." At this time, he had long lost the majesty of a duke, but seemed to be an old man who was about to die, and only sighed for life.

"To tell you the truth," he said, "I would like to thank the man who cursed me for not letting me die immediately."

"In the last year, I have only realized how arrogant and arrogant I used to be! is in his fifties, and he didn't even bother to support his son who inherited the title.

"I also found myself missing out on so many of life's truly precious things.

"After a year of preparation, I have no regrets, and for me, death is just like that."

The Duke smiled, "Sometimes I think that death should come sooner and put an end to my current suffering. ”

Hobart was tempted to tell him that the Grim Reaper had fallen for more than a thousand years.

Thinking of this, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he smiled: "Sure enough, philosophers are born from pain. ”

Hobert got up and walked in front of Duke Bowen and stretched out his hand: "But it is rare for an open-minded nobleman like you to come. ”

He looks like this, very much because he admires Duke Bowen and wants to shake hands with Bowen.

Duke Bowen weakly stretched out his hand, and was about to encourage Hobert a few words, but suddenly realized that the young man's handshake was too strong!

"I'm sorry." After shaking hands a few times, a smile crept up on Hobert's face: "I may have to pull you back from the Grim Reaper." ”

Duke Bowen looked at Hobert and was stunned for a few seconds, and then said, "If this is possible, it is not impossible. ”

"Then, please ask the Duke to ask the servants to send all the items from the Southern Continent here, if it is not convenient to carry them, you can take me to see them." Hobert said solemnly, "If I don't find what I'm looking for here, I'll have to look for it in other mansions." ”

Duke Bowen nodded, and asked the man standing guard outside to call the butler.

Soon, the entire manor seemed to be awakened, and the servants searched for items from the Southern Continent with their eyes in their eyes.

Most of these items were gold ornaments, all of which were gifts for Duke Bowen.

Hobert touched the same thing, and after looking for more than twenty minutes, he suddenly looked at the door.

A servant was bringing a beautiful walking stick in the style of the Southern Continent.

Hobert dropped the ornament in his hand and took the initiative to catch up and take the cane: "That's it!" ”

He asked Duke Bowen, "How often do you use this cane?" ”

"I used it a lot for a while." Duke Bowen thought about it for a moment: "But that was probably two years ago, and it doesn't match the time of the curse. ”

Hobert laughed, "It's not a curse at all. ”

He paused and said, "I've found what I'm looking for." ”

Duke Bowen understood, and asked the butler to take the servants back, and only he and Hobart were left in the room: "Young man, can you tell me what is going on?" ”

"Of course." Hobert put the cane to the side: "I guess this cane must have been 'blessed' by some god." ”

Hobert spread his hands: "I don't know if the person who gave you the cane was intentional or unintentional, but not every god's 'blessing' is good.

"For example, this cane, if I'm not mistaken, you should have used extraordinary abilities while holding him, which is equivalent to your spirituality activating that 'blessing' and making you marked.

"Although the connection between this cane and the god is very weak, and you no longer use it, your spirit body is still faintly polluted, and you are gradually moving closer to the underworld.

"Because it's a simple contamination of the spirit, and it's very slight at first, you don't notice it at all, until the pollution makes your body pathological!"

Hobert crossed his hands and held out an index finger: "It's a very clever trap, because it looks so much like a curse, both in the form of a spirit and the manifestation of your disease."

"So everyone focused on how to break the connection with the curse, and of course it didn't come to fruition."

If it weren't for Mr. Azik's mark to Hobert, he wouldn't have been able to confirm it.

In the conversation just now, when Duke Bowen mentioned the Grim Reaper, Hobert had a flash of inspiration and wondered if it could be a curse from the underworld?

The Immortals of the "Grim Reaper" path also have the ability to curse, but their curses are more like attacks like "Words of the Dead", which are easy to distinguish.

But many underworld creatures also have the ability to curse, and their curses are strange.

That's why Hobert took the initiative to shake hands with Duke Bowen, and used Mr. Azik's mark to test the black fog and black lines.

As a result, his spirituality immediately felt the familiar "touch": artificial death!

After encountering the feathered serpent on the primordial island, Hobert was able to immediately distinguish the "touch" of the "artificial death", and he immediately realized that it was slightly contaminated by the "artificial death".

Because the contamination spread so slowly, Duke Bowen didn't develop the hallmark symptoms of yellowish oily feathers.

Hobert replied again, although there were seven demigods who came to diagnose the duke, but there were no demigods in the "Death" path.

And even if it is a demigod of the "Grim Reaper" path, without the mark of Mr. Azik, it may not be possible to distinguish that this is a "blessing" from the "artificial Grim Reaper".

All that remains is to find the way for Duke Bowen's spirit to be contaminated, since the "artificial death" is most likely an item from the Southern Continent and has been used regularly for at least some time.

According to the professional ethics of the noble butler, there is a high probability that such a thing will be in the manor where the Duke of Bowen is, what if the Duke wants to use it again?

As a result, he found the cane.

These logics and ideas, Hobert can't explain too clearly to Duke Bowen, and can only roughly explain the ins and outs of the matter.

Duke Bowen looked at the cane, his expression changed from solemn to sad, and after a while, he said, "That's, that's a gift from Achill when he came back from the Southern Continent." ”

Hobert recalled that the Duke of Bowen's heir was called Achill.

He really believes now that Duke Bowen really didn't bother to cultivate an heir before he was "sick", which should make Archer very insecure.

Then Hobart recalled the list of political enemies and enemies provided by Duke Bowen, and the end result made the list ridiculous.

Hobert asked Duke Bowen, "Can you still maintain your previous open-mindedness for such a result?" ”

If it had been before, he would certainly not have asked that.

But now, when asked, he looks like a "demon".

Duke Bowen stroked his chest for a long time before he said, "Young man, my heart can't stand your 'thrashing'. ”

After a while, he took a deep breath and said, "Please help me keep this secret." ”

The duke looked at the cane: "I will take it into my grave." ”

That is, he does not intend not to make this matter public.

This is the most likely choice that the aristocracy will make.

"I will." Hobert smiled, "But I don't think it's a good burial object with a cane." ”

Realizing that his words seemed ambiguous, he simply explained, "It might cause some mutation in your corpse." ”

Duke Bowen nodded: "I see." ”

Then he asked, "Can you treat the pollution on my body?" ”

Once the duke's "illness" is cured, his heirs will definitely be able to detect something, but this can be covered up with some lies, such as only curing the "disease", but not finding the source of the "disease".

"I can give it a try, but I can't guarantee it." Hobert Road.

He had just imagined using the mark given to him by Mr. Azik to mobilize some of the power of the underworld to see if he could suck this pollution into the underworld.

It is also possible to perform rituals to pray to the underworld for strength and the removal of the contamination of the spirits.

However, the underworld is not a "country of disorder" after all, and Hobert is not sure that the underworld can give a response that meets the needs, in case he directly sucks the spirit of Duke Bowen into the underworld and can't find it, it will be interesting.

Duke Bowen seemed to regain his composure just now: "Please." ”

Hobert got up again, came to Duke Bowen's side, drew the rapier hidden in his cane, took the duke's hand with one hand, and cut a "crack in the underworld" with the other.

The whole room suddenly became cold, and even the flame of the gas lamp turned green, which made everything around it cover with a green film of ground light.

Duke Bowen felt like a piece of paper floating in mid-air, helpless, and could float into the cold abyss at any moment.

This made the man who was protecting Duke Bowen immediately enter the door, and he was surprised by the "spiritual gap" in front of him, and after Duke Bowen made a gesture with difficulty that he was not in danger, the man closed the door and stared at Hobert's operation.

Using Mr. Azik's mark, Hobert mobilized a part of the power of the underworld and sucked the black mist from Duke Bowen's spirit according to his intentions.

Then, Hobart drove an evil spirit to grab the black thread on the body of Duke Bowen.

Duke Bowen immediately seemed to be twisted by his throat, his eyes turned white, and his limbs twitched involuntarily.

Soon, under Hobert's orders, the evil spirit dragged the black line back to the underworld.

Duke Bowen's spirit has become pure enough, but the slight pollution of the past year, and being tossed by the underworld, make the spirit look a little weak.

A period of rest is required for a period of time to fully recover.

Hobert checked it and made sure that all the contamination had been sucked away, before swinging his sword again to close the "crack in the underworld".

Duke Bowen was buried in the couch, gasping for air, as if a drowning man had just been rescued ashore.

Hobert found a bottle of spirits in the wine cabinet and poured two glasses, one for Bowen to pour and one for himself.

He let out a cheerful "ah~", feeling like a fire burning in his stomach.

Duke Bowen also felt a lot better: "Just now, was that the underworld just now?" ”

The man guarding the door was slightly stunned, because the duke's voice sounded more powerful than before.

Hobert put the glass down, "Yes." How does it feel? ”

Duke Bowen moved his arm: "It feels like he's taken off his heavy armor." ”

"Looks like the problem is solved." Hobert put away his rapper: "If you still have any questions, you can send someone to find me."

"Oh, by the way, I remember that the Church of the Night Goddess has a potion that can quickly restore the damage to the spirit."

"Thank you!" Duke Bowen thanked him very sincerely.

Hobert smiled slightly: "Goodbye, gentlemen!" ”

He took off his top hat with one hand and stepped into the illusory space.

After a few seconds of Hobert's disappearance, Duke Bowen asked the man guarding the door, "Am I really okay?" ”

"So far, your problem has been solved."

"Hobert." The Duke of Bowen read his name and asked, "How do you feel about him?" ”

"He's a very powerful and extraordinary man, and he's shown to be very knowledgeable."

……

The next day, June 27, the officers who had been at the club yesterday went to Hobert's Earl's Court, where the contract for the purchase of shares was signed.

After seeing off the officers, Hobart ushered in the queen's emissary.

Again, the queen gave Hobart a lot of rewards, but she didn't explain why, and it was all in plain sight.

At noon, after having lunch, Hobert prepared for the afternoon tea party in his study.

Suddenly, he felt something spiritually and saw a figure wearing an intricate and gorgeous black dress with four heads in his hands appear in the study.

One of the heads had a letter in his mouth, and it landed lightly in front of Hobart.

Hobert immediately realized that this was Klein's messenger.

He was about to open the letter when he suddenly found the messenger still at our desk, so he asked, "Is there anything else?" ”

The four heads, from left to right, each uttered a word that formed a sentence: "The messenger...... The remuneration is...... One ...... Gold. ”

Only then did Hobert remember that there was such a thing, which made him can't help but praise Klein: "What a slam on the door!" ”

Are they all rich in Beckland, and they are still so "thrifty"?

He rummaged through the boxes and cabinets for a long time, but he didn't find a single gold coin: "Is the banknote okay?" You can go to the Spirit Realm and find other Spirit Creatures to trade. ”

The messenger's four heads shook together: "No,...... Spiritual ...... No...... Bank. ”

Hobert had no choice but to call Dophes and ask him to find a gold coin to pay the messenger, who left.

Hobert opened the letter in a not very beautiful mood and looked at it, it turned out that Klein had asked him to meet on the riverbank in the evening.

He pondered for a moment, it should be a matter of infiltrating St. Mussel's church.

Thank you for the 20220923193549982 of the book friend.

Thank you [High Lord of Tadarin] for your tip.

(End of chapter)