With the port of Tutujia becoming the economic backbone of Long Tail Island, Hobart has basically completed the plan for the past two or three months.

Land reform outside Tutujia Port has also been largely completed, but the elimination of the bad customs of the indigenous people of Changwei Island is a long and arduous task.

However, with Hobart taking the place of "Mountain God", this mission is sure to bear fruit within a year.

After handing over the operation of Tutuga Harbor to Firth and the administration of Longtail Island to Conrad, Hobert returned to Beckland and began to deal with the backlog of affairs on Beckland's side.

At noon, the office building "Earl's Light".

There was a sudden knock on the wooden door of the CFO's office, and Audrey glanced at the wall clock on the wall, and before she knew it, it was lunchtime, and she thought it was Anne who had brought lunch: "Please come in!" ”

There was a separate kitchen for the management of the "Earl's Light", which was not as extravagant as the MI9 lunch, but it tasted good.

Audrey didn't want to highlight how special she was, so lunch was settled at Earl's Light.

When I opened the door, it wasn't Anne who came in, but Hobert, who was handsome and somewhat stubble, wearing a trench coat.

Audrey, who wore a relatively simple dress today and looked somewhat workplace-styled, was a little surprised: "Hobert, you're back!" ”

"Yes, just came back from the Southern Continent." Hobert lied with great smoothness as he walked in with his lunch: "I didn't even have time to shave my beard, and when it was time for lunch, I brought it with me." ”

In fact, at his level, whether the beard and hair grow or not is up to him.

Audrey happily went to fetch lunch, only to see Hobert suddenly open his arms.

She didn't refuse, and hugged Hobart tightly.

After more than ten seconds, Hobert kissed Audrey on the forehead, and the two separated.

Hobert put lunch on the table, and it was quite hearty, two steaks, a plate of prawns, a salad platter, and two bowls of shallot soup.

Prawns are not often found in the kitchens of other companies, but the kitchens of the "Earl Light" often have some fish or shrimp and crabs that are more expensive in Beckland.

Not only the small kitchen, but also the staff's large kitchen.

Because South Coulson had already started fishing on Dock Island, they had been bothered by the fact that no one knew how to fish at sea, but as Longtail Island became Hobart's territory, they learned some fishing skills from the indigenous fishermen.

South Coulson has made systematic deployments, built a fishing port, purchased small fishing boats and many fishing gear, so now seafood is a relatively common food on the table of South Coulson residents in the interior.

At the same time, it can also be supplied to the more expensive Beckland "Earl's Light" factory, so that the workers here can also eat seafood.

Normally, Audrey thinks the dishes in the "Earl's Light" kitchenette are a little greasy, but with Hobert here today, she thinks it is particularly delicious, and in a short time she eats all her steak and three prawns.

Anne, the maid, cleaned up the dishes, and Hobert and Audrey chatted over tea.

Audrey whispered: "The second amount of money to be used in the Southern Continent, a total of 200,000 pounds, has been prepared. ”

Huo Bo nodded: "The southern continent has also found a location to build a factory, as long as the money is in place, large-scale construction operations can be carried out." ”

In fact, the place has been found for a long time, but because the land reform on Nagami Island needs to be carried out first, a large number of people are needed, and the personnel have not been in place.

Now, with the end of the land reform on Long Tail Island, Hobart can send a large number of officials and cadres to the southern mainland to start planning the infrastructure there.

This point has been prepared since the Battle of South Coulson, and in a week or two, a large number of grassroots officials from the cadre school in South Coulson will be sent to the South Continent.

These things flashed through Hobert's mind, and he asked Audrey, "How is the 'Earl's Light' working lately?" ”

"It didn't go very well." Audrey was a little worried: "There were two accidents each in Wood and St. George's, and the wires were blown by the wind and fell to the ground.

"A total of five people were electrocuted in four accidents, and almost all major newspapers reported on these accidents, which caused orders for light bulbs to plummet."

Hobart bowed his head slowly: "Has it been windy in the last week or two?" ”

Audrey was stunned: "It doesn't seem to be." ”

"You go on."

"Of course, the gas association will not miss this opportunity, and many prosecutors have immediately filed a complaint with the Supreme Court on the grounds that the electric light has caused great damage." Audrey said: "However, under the mediation of my father and others, the Supreme Court did not file the case.

However, the council has set up a team of investigators to investigate the potential hazards of electric lighting and its future prospects.

"Headed by the Prime Minister's secretary, the group includes parliamentarians, officials from the industrial sector, and members of the Gas Association.

"The group also sent you an invitation, but Todd refused on the grounds that he was on a business trip, as if a new invitation had been sent this morning, and it was said that a more important meeting would be held tomorrow."

Hober nodded, "I see." ”

The formation of this group is obviously intended to mediate the contradiction between the gas association and the "Earl Light", and at the same time, it is also hoped that the interests of the lighting industry will be redistributed, so that the gas association will also transform into the era of light bulb lighting, so as to avoid the "Earl Light" forming a monopoly and the government is not easy to control.

He asked, "So is our business going well in other cities?" ”

"It went very well!" "The 12 cities where we have built power plants have already attracted millions of pounds in the last 10 days since the lights went on sale, of which Upton went to Intis with £800,000 and £1.2 million for him for subsequent investments," Audrey said. ”

Hober nodded, with such a sum of money, Upton would be able to start business in Intis at a very fast pace, and quickly return new funds.

He asked: "Can you get 800,000 pounds on the books?" ”

Audrey smiled, "No problem. ”

"Take it out and pay dividends to shareholders." Hobert smiled, "Don't think about my part. ”

A few months ago, all shareholders except Hobart had a total of £1.4 million in shares, and now they can get £800,000, and for shareholders they used to invest in banking and finance, the same is how fast they can get their money.

Hobart said: This is the so-called, the dividend of the emerging industry.

"Okay." Audrey agreed.

Hobert also advised: "When you give dividends to shareholders, or when they come to receive them, you must explain to them that the company will have a lot of actions recently, so they don't have to worry, and I will solve it." ”

What he meant was: I'll take care of it, don't worry about it, and don't bother me.

After a few more small talks, and making an appointment with Audrey to visit her house tomorrow night, Hobert came to Todd's office to find out what was going on.

When there were several accidents before, the public relations team of "Earl Light" also reacted quickly.

But they were always one step too late, and when they went to negotiate compensation with the families of the deceased, the families had already taken the "Earl's Light" to court, and kept shouting that the people who made the lights and wires should be sent to prison.

By the time the rest of the public relations department arrived at the newspaper, the reports on the accidents had already been typed and began to be printed in batches.

While the editor-in-chief was discussing the cost of suspending printing, the printed newspaper was already on sale on the streets.

Todd said with a dark face: "If it wasn't for someone deploying in advance, I wouldn't believe it." ”

When Hobart learned about the situation, he instructed Todd a few words, took the invitation letter from the investigation team, and left from the "Earl's Light".

At this time, he suddenly found that he did not have an urgent contact with Hugh, and he was about to go to the telegraph office, and sent Hugh an urgent telegram telling her to go to the Earl's Court as soon as possible.

But it occurred to him that if Hugh had not been at home, he might not have received the telegram.

Hobert lamented that in the absence of extraordinary abilities, if there was a telephone, at least he could determine whether Hugh was at home or not.

So he used "travel" to the address left by Hugh, and sure enough, he was not at home.

If you use the ability of "association", you can find Hugh, but Hugh's current position only needs to be more than five kilometers, and it will take a certain amount of time.

Hobert thought that Hugh's hair could be used to "connect" from a distance, and as long as she didn't leave Bakeland, at least she could get a rough idea of where she was now.

But Hugh was a very good bounty hunter, and Hobart searched for a long time, but he didn't find a single hair.

He simply returned to the Earl's Court, intending to write a letter to Hugh and ask the messenger to deliver it.

As soon as he entered the halls of the Earl's Court, Dophys handed over an invitation reminding Hobert to go to his appointment in the evening.

It was Georgina's previous invitation to dinner and opera for Hobert and the others.

Hobert returned to the study with the invitation and exclaimed, "It's so fast, it's September 12th!" ”

He remembered that the war seemed to have broken out in October, that is, he had another month to prepare.

In this period of more than a month, it is necessary to use a large amount of gold pounds to invest in the southern continent.

The plan has been going on, with Audrey in charge on the Beckland side and Hobart's sister Donna on the Southland side.

In addition, it is necessary to prepare for the launch of the telephone product, at least before the start of the war, let the nobles of the Queens use it first, if the war starts, you will definitely be able to get a large number of military orders!

After only a little thought, Hobart wrote to Hugh and began to deploy a crackdown on the Gas Society.

Hugh came to the Earl's Court at about three o'clock, and before Hobert had assigned her a task, Hugh had already taken the initiative to say: "I investigated the four accidents of the 'Earl's Light', which were not real accidents, they were framed by the two gas companies together. ”

Hobert smiled and said: This is called professionalism.

Hugh's investigation was very comprehensive, and not only did he basically find out the planners of the gas company, but also found evidence that the gas association had bought several major newspapers.

Hobert looked at the information in his hand, took out his wallet and took out 800 pounds in cash: "Is this enough for you to pay for the informant, and the cost of your investigation?" ”

Hugh was a little confused when he saw the stack of cash: "I, I spent more than 300 pounds, mainly to buy the staff of the newspaper and the gas association. ”

Hobert took out another 200 pounds and handed 1,000 pounds in cash to Hugh: "It's all yours." ”

"It doesn't take so much."

"The rest of the money is a reward for you." Hobert smiled, "Your intelligence is too timely, which allows me to deal with the coercion of the Gas Association more calmly. ”

He paused and said, "You can do another survey for me, and help me find out all the storage locations of Becklandevas." ”

Hugh was slightly stunned: "Hobert, I know that the framing of the Gas Association makes you very angry, but you can't be too impulsive, otherwise you will hurt a lot of innocent people." ”

Hobert smiled: "Don't worry, I have the number!"

"Well, I promise you, I will never hurt an innocent person!"

Hugh nodded, she still trusted Hobert in this regard.

Hobart finally asked, "How do I contact you if I have another urgent matter?" ”

He smiled self-deprecatingly, "I'm not a 'soothsayer'. ”

When it comes to finding people, Hobert has the upper hand.

Hugh thought about it, and she didn't have a good way.

"Give me a strand of your hair." Hobert said, "So I can find you quickly." ”

"Okay." Hugh didn't hesitate for the simple reason that if Hobert was going to hurt her, there was no need for such a complicated operation.

The two of them discussed the task of assassinating the members of the Aurora Society, and Hugh went to do the investigation that Hobart had given her, and Hobart changed into his formal clothes and went to Georgina's previous invitation.

Georgina invited the same people as last time, and it was still MI9's colleagues who arrived first.

While chatting, Cunas said to Hobert: "I got some news that the accident that happened in the 'Earl's Light' was framed by someone, do you want me to help you investigate?" ”

"No, you don't." Hobart smiled, "I've found out!" ”

With his own intelligence officer, his waist is hard!

"Admiral Emilius has entrusted me to send you an invitation to play cards at the East Bailang Veterans Club tomorrow afternoon," said Cunas. ”

Hobart knew that it was another business coming to the door: "No problem. ”

A few people chatted for a while, and three members of the royal family arrived.

After everyone was polite, they came to the restaurant for dinner.

The dinner wasn't extravagant, or the unusual ingredients, but it looked very delicate and tasted very good.

The grilled lamb chops, in particular, were tender and juicy, something that Hobert had only eaten at a banquet hosted by the food-loving Earl of Wolf.

At the dinner table, several people chatted and chatted, and talked about the "Earl's Light".

After everyone saw that Hobert didn't care, they stopped talking about the topic.

After dinner, it's time to enjoy the opera.

In Georgina's courtyard, there is an open-air theater with only a few seats in the big stands.

Hobert sighed again: it is still the aristocracy who knows how to entertain.

He didn't listen to much opera, and he had been chatting throughout the whole of the previous salons, and he hadn't listened to a few words.

However, in today's environment, although the sound effect is not as good as in the indoor theater, it gives people a very good feeling, and there is no evaluation after appreciation.

In the interval between the transitions, several people chatted casually, and such a level of relaxation made Hobert also want to build an amphitheater in the Earl's Court for a while.

While calculating the cost of building the theater, Alice suddenly sat down next to Hobert and whispered, "I heard that you launched a war against the Mountain God Church on Longtail Island?" ”

"Yes." There is nothing to hide, Hobert said, "The war is over, and there has been no small victory. ”

"Of course this wild god will not be your opponent." Alice smiled pointedly: "I have something to ask you for, while the actors are preparing for the next performance, how about we go over there for a walk?" ”

Hobert was in good spirits today, got up and said, "No problem. ”

Within a few steps, Hobert felt Alice infuse spirituality into a seal.

In Sequence 4, Hobert's spirituality was not so sensitive, and by Sequence 3 he could probably detect Alice using the seal.

With this awareness, he can "exploit" the negative effects of other people's seals.

With a wave of his hand, Hobert "amplifized" the seal's power: "So that even the demigods can't hear us." ”

Alice used the same seal that had been used several times in front of Hobert before to prevent others from eavesdropping, but this seal was level 2, and only demigods and below could not hear their conversation.

She smiled, "That's great, after all, there are several demigods sitting over there." ”

Hobert asked, "What's the matter?" Are you afraid of others listening? ”

"Help me kill someone."

Hobert glanced at Alice: "Who?" ”

The princess replied, "James, the old butler of the royal family." ”

Hobart was stunned: Is this a housekeeper or an agent?

He smiled, "It's dangerous. ”

Although Ellie didn't say it, Hobart guessed that at the time of the Beckland Great Smog incident, it should have been the housekeeper James who went to make Prince Edsax "commit suicide".

"It used to be dangerous, but from today it's not dangerous." Alice said: "Recently, the king has been showing up less and less, and all the affairs of the palace have been entrusted to my mother.

'I used some tricks to get James out of position and move him out of Sodrrack Palace.

"He has a lot of enemies, and he has also worked for the Intis embassy, such a person will not attract much attention if he dies on the way to the post after losing power."

Hobart was stunned: what a spy!

He glanced at Alice with a serious face again, after the previous assassination incident and Ma Xi's trip, she seemed to have completed some kind of transformation, no longer so persistent, and more flexible.

"Yes." Hobert pondered for a moment and agreed, this time is different from the past, and the current royal family of Rune is in his eyes, and that's it!

Crazy to madness, but basic caution is still necessary: "Why don't you take revenge with your own hands?" ”

"This butler is a Sequence 5, I'm not sure." Alice said: "There may only be one chance, after all, this is a Sequence 5, and it should be possible to find a new backer soon." ”

Hobert gave me a "hmm": "Give me his details, including his extraordinary path, appearance, and where to go for the post?" Which route did you take? When to go? The more detailed, the better. ”

Alice pulled out a palm-sized notebook from her pocket: "I carry it with me. ”

Then she added, "Give me his head, if you can, and I will make it into a drinking utensil for Edsax." ”

Hober nodded: "No problem. ”

As he spoke, he put away the notebook that Alice had handed over.

Alice smiled, "I didn't expect you to agree so happily." ”

Hobert asked helplessly, "Do I seem to be the kind of person who can't talk well?" ”

"Yes."

"Okay." Hobert laughed.

He then asked, "How am I going to give you the head?" ”

"James leaves Sodrak Palace the day after tomorrow, on Thursday, to work as a steward in a royal estate." Alice replied, "Usually Georgina organizes a banquet on Friday or Saturday.

"She'll be sure to invite you again, and give me the head at that banquet when the time comes."

"In front of a few demigod-level leaders in MI9, trade a human head?" Hobert felt that he was not sure of this, these were all human spirits, and the two eyeballs were sharper than the other.

Alice smiled mysteriously: "I will create opportunities for you when the time comes." ”

Hobert nodded, "Okay." ”

"How can I thank you?"

Hobart thought for a moment: "I didn't think of it for the time being, let's talk about the remuneration when I have the opportunity later, well, you can rest assured, I will not make a request higher than this assassination mission." ”

"Okay."

The two of them chatted a few more words, and returned to the theater from the garden.

Because Alice did not go back, the following opera was delayed.

When they returned, the show continued.

After listening to the opera and chatting for a while, it was about ten o'clock in the evening before Hobert returned to the Earl's Court.

Hugh's investigation had already submitted a report to Hobart providing the location of some of the gas storage sites.

This survey is not difficult, you just need to hire some people in the Eastern District and do some statistics.

It was just a little more cumbersome, and Hugh left a note saying that he would be able to complete all the investigations by the next afternoon.

That night, Hobart had a good rest, and the next morning he received an invitation from Georgina's butler to go to the symphony on Friday night.

Hobert readily agreed, and chatted with the butler for a few words, before changing into his formal clothes and riding in a carriage to the Capitol.

With the invitation in his hand, he was invited by the servant to a small conference room.

At this time, there were already a few people sitting in the conference room, led by a middle-aged man in his forties, combing his back hair, wearing a dark vest, and looking very energetic.

This is the Prime Minister's secretary, Vito, who got up and smiled: "Ah, our Count Hobert has finally returned from a business trip. ”

"I'm sorry." Hobert said politely: "There are some things to deal with before. ”

"You're here at the right time." One of the councillors smiled and said, "Today we are discussing the future of electric light, and I don't think there is anyone who knows this issue better than you." ”

"Of course." Hobert smiled kindly: "Electric light is the future of the lighting industry. ”

But he changed his words and looked around: "It seems that the people haven't come yet, but it's okay, I'm here to announce an important decision to everyone." ”

Everyone looked at Hobart, whether it was his knighthood or his business achievements, it was impossible to ignore his words and deeds.

"'Earl's Light' makes a decision." "Until the investigation of the previous four incidents is clear, we are temporarily suspending sales at Beckland. ”

A room of people was stunned for two or three seconds before they understood what Hobart meant, and some people even wondered if Hobart was crazy?

Vito couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Count, you, are you serious?" ”

(End of chapter)