old dream

Chapter 126 Profit and Cover Up

About 3200 boxes of whiskey were seized two months ago. After unpacking and counting, there were a total of [-] bottles. The products from the family workshop did not even have the same trademark.

After adding clean water, alcohol and a little caramel, at least 9600 bottles can be diluted.

Colin is not going to use industrial alcohol directly, because he can't be as hard-hearted as other bootleggers, adding this potentially deadly poison rich in methanol to his products.

However, because the petroleum industry has not yet started, industrial alcohol in this era is made by fermentation, but due to the relationship between the process and raw materials, there are more toxins left.

Pectin in materials such as overripe fruits, potatoes, and wild acorns, as well as insufficient fermentation in the process, are the main sources of these formaldehydes.

Therefore, this kind of industrial alcohol can be regarded as rough edible alcohol, and the toxic substances can be removed through rectification.

Chief among these are methanol...and those cyanides produced by the fermentation of cassava and wild plants.

Bootleggers do not do this, objectively because of limited cost and technology, and subjectively because they simply have no sense of responsibility.

The quality of the blended whiskey will not vary much, but some subtle flavors may be left.

But at this time, no one would pay too much attention to such details.

But the problem is that now Ke Lin and his party don't have so many rectification equipment.

Several people loaded the unblended forty cases of whiskey and the bottling tools in the workshop into two carriages and transported them to the first underground bar selected by Benedict.

The address is near the river port area, next to the notorious warehouse casinos along the river.There are many unattended and long-closed shops here, and Colin is going to rent a few of them.

One of them, a Nale simple restaurant that closed down not long ago, just reopened as a cover.Behind the scenes, they opened up those closed shops as their first underground bar.

"I'll fix my alcohol problem soon."

Still wearing a mask, Ke Lin watched the soldiers unload the wine boxes from the carriage.

And Benedict was beside Colin directing them to unload, because the usage of each location in the venue was planned by him.

In the period leading up to October, Benedict investigated five speakeasies in Stade, taking the addresses Colin had given him.

He spent every day in a different speakeasy, sitting from five o'clock in the afternoon until the early morning of the next day.

In order to avoid being thrown out, Benedict ordered a glass of low-quality blended wine every half hour, but he didn't take a sip and poured it all into the bottle he carried with him.

Of course, all the expenses were reimbursed by Ke Lin.

Perhaps thanks to the distribution center in northern Stade, the recent extreme shortage of alcoholic beverages has been alleviated.

The price of whiskey that has been blended "not so excessively" has dropped to 70 Aspen a glass.

On the contrary, those inferior products that no longer look like wine are still asking for 30 Aspen.

Benedict did not need to use pen and paper, and completed the statistics of passenger flow and sales of this kind of place just from memory.Even through a few overlapping customers occasionally, the approximate radiation range of each tavern and the possible locations of the remaining bars were found out.

The international student is naturally sensitive to these values, and in essence this is just some kind of jigsaw puzzle.It's just that the place has changed from that dilapidated apartment to the entire city of Stade.

"On an average estimate, there will be about 200 passenger flows to this address every day."

Benedict said that he has no business experience, but he can still make some educated guesses through the comparison of various values ​​​​between plots.

"It will take time to grow from growth to complete stabilization. But after all, this is the only place where you can get alcohol within a few miles. Even if the old people can only lead the new ones, it won't make us idle for too long."

Benedict estimated:
"So these thirty boxes of wine shouldn't last for a few days."

Insufficient supply, which seems to be the biggest factor limiting their expansion at present.Colin nodded to show that he understood.

The soldiers were transported here with the bottling tools, which is to prepare for re-bottling these whiskeys after the alcohol and distillation equipment are in place.

If the 9600 bottles of "well-blended" whiskey can be sold smoothly, it will bring in an income of about [-] Orie, and many things can start to work.

But if the wine is sold directly before blending, it is equivalent to reducing the income several times.In the end, there may only be a few thousand Ori in the account.

This is already about ten times the profit, but it is obviously not enough for Colin.

He didn't feel any qualms about the collusion.After all, in the previous life, most of the wines that could be seen on the market were already blended wines.

It's just that solving the problem of safe sources of alcohol seems to have to be put on the agenda.

……

……

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed since Giovanni was injured.Although the stimulus was injected again later, his body has not recovered so far.

Mr. Lantern Keeper No. [-] had come to visit him, but it must not be out of concern for Giovanni himself, but because of the disappearance of Alessio.

Colin happened to be there when he entered Giovanni's ward.

This is just an underground clinic, so we can't expect a comfortable environment.It was very dark and dank in the room, but at least the doctor kept it clean.This alone is enough to give this clinic a good reputation in the underground world.

Before the accident, Aresio had already dealt with his "behind affairs" very cleanly.After all, his original purpose was to take Julio out of Stade, so he cut off all the clues that could trace his whereabouts.

Julio remains intact as a key figure.Therefore, the Five Hands as a whole do not seem to care about Aresio's disappearance. After all, he is a person who is not surprising to leave at any time.

No one has linked him to the train tragedy.

After a while, Colin even began to wonder how many Sincilians in Stade had heard of the train tragedy a few days ago.

At least, the Five Hands showed no sign of knowing anything.

It seems that Mr. No. [-] is the only one who is really surprised by this matter.

The operation to kill Hilpert was again delayed.Until now, No. [-] has not contacted himself.

Colin was not too surprised by this change.After all, the hostility between No. [-] and Hilpert was caused by Aresio.

And if the strength of Lantern Girl Hilpert is still higher than Mr. No. [-], he probably won't choose to act alone.

Then Alessio may have made other promises to number one, such as providing some kind of assistance.

But now he is missing.So many plans on the [-]st will naturally have to be readjusted.

But if No. [-]'s hostility towards Hilpert is only due to a misunderstanding-Arecio interprets the reason why the new Lantern Girl has not taken office for a long time because Hilpert is unwilling to give up his current position.

Why hasn't number one approached Hilpert in person?Because he is afraid that being polluted by the lamp girl will also affect him?

Just like Arecio, under her influence, he even left the lights directly.

Colin has thought about these questions several times in recent days.But no meaningful conclusions were drawn.

And Giovanni on the hospital bed ignored him as if he didn't notice the arrival of No. [-].

Because of Aresio's death, Giovanni is no longer a fang, and has no obligation to take care of matters related to the lamp keeper.

"You were there and you watched him get killed."

Mr. One looked at Giovanni's wounds with empty eyes, and said the obvious truth without making any circles.

Giovanni was silent about his questioning, and Colin began to feel anxious.

Because the crisis was resolved, he stopped tracking hundreds of targets in the water for the past few days, in order to keep the gap in the heart shell from widening.

As a result, part of the heart shell has temporarily healed, coupled with the cover of the memory seal, it should not be seen by No. [-].

Because the belief of the lamp girl has been shaken, the influence of the lamp is weakening, and No. [-]'s ability is gradually reduced over time.

"Who killed him?"

Mr. No. [-] asked further.

Hilpert?Or the other enemies of the Five Hands?

"……it's me."

Giovanni replied unexpectedly.

Mr. No. [-]'s expression remained unchanged.

"You betrayed him."

"It is he who resigns himself to degradation," said Giovanni:
"He took that step voluntarily, leaving our sanctuary and becoming a plaything for the ghosts."

"He left a wound on you."

"Yes."

That was not a conventional wound, Giovanni was once deeply penetrated by those black grass blades, so there are still traces of spiritual essence in his body.

No. [-] walked to Giovanni's hospital bed expressionlessly, stretched out his hand to remove the bandages on his body, then poked his fingers into the half-healed wounds, and began to grope up and down.

Giovanni frowned, but there was still no fluctuation in his eyes.

As Colin watched this scene, he suddenly realized something.

Perhaps the current Mr. No. [-] can no longer directly see the traces of Lingsu.

After a while, No. [-] withdrew his blood-stained hand, already feeling the traces of those foreign bodies.It was indeed left by Aresio, but there was a subtle difference.

It was indeed the breath of a transcendent, and it was extremely frenzied.

Arecio had really fallen, and when he realized this, Mr. One suddenly felt strongly confused.

Because he no longer knows anyone else to trust.

Apart from him and Hilpert, there were three other lampkeepers in Stade, but I am afraid that their situation is not much different from that of Alessio.

The Lantern Keeper system in Stade in his hometown is slowly becoming paralyzed.Once another accident happens, they will no longer be able to escort these tribesmen in a foreign land.

The only consolation is that two weeks ago, Mr. No. [-] had truthfully provided the situation here to his hometown.

The most trustworthy lamp keeper of the younger generation has now left the library in his hometown and rushed towards this sinful and depraved land.

(End of this chapter)