Unable to repay my student loans, I had no choice but to work part-time as a demon hunter.

Chapter 112 Full Encirclement

In order to make money, Gordon went to Montfort Spiritual Industries for in-depth investigation.

Despite being called a company, it currently only has one sludge refining plant.

The factory buildings are located along the river, with a track laid around the perimeter to facilitate the movement of transport vehicles, with virtually no safety standards whatsoever.

"By Saint Joshua—Sir, we did nothing." The security guard at the door was terrified when he saw Gordon's investigator's coat.

"I don't believe you," Gordon said, pointing at him. "Tell me the truth."

"No one died this week, no machines exploded, and we didn't discharge anything illegally." The security guard's legs went weak.

"Drinking, playing cards, gambling?"

"This—" The security guard looked terrified.

"Relax, I'm a shareholder in the factory. Gordon Vick." Gordon dismounted and came over. "Of course, I'm also here for an inspection."

The security guard ran upstairs several times before finally figuring out Gordon's identity. He returned and bowed and scraped as he opened the door for Gordon. His fear hadn't disappeared; the boss coming to check the accounts was just as terrifying as the agency arresting people.

Gordon was very interested in the factory; he needed the money.

After the student loans were paid off, the firm saw only expenses and no clients. The sludge refinery was currently the only industry with the potential to significantly increase revenue.

He needs to examine how the raw materials are sourced, the production losses, the staffing situation, the bottlenecks in the process, and the potential for future expansion.

Upon entering the main plant, Gordon saw a massive industrial-grade spiritual reactor standing there.

It is made of riveted black iron, with pressure valves and observation windows all around it, and dozens of copper pipes connected to the bottom. It makes a loud noise when it is in operation.

Workers carried iron barrels filled with black river mud, shuttling back and forth amidst steam and smoke. Every now and then, the reactor would emit muffled sounds, discharging grayish-green crystalline sand into the settling tank.

[Low-quality water-phase spiritual crystal. Doesn't look very good.]

He strongly agreed.

Gao registered that the river mud crystals he extracted using the spiritual reaction vessel at the university were beautiful silver-green crystal sands of very high quality, unlike this dirty-looking gray substance.

Factory manager Pemberton walked very carefully beside Gordon.

"Sir, this is the most promising asset of the Monford family."

Pemberton was over fifty years old and had previously only managed some peripheral businesses for the Monford family. He was a fairly considerate person, and now that it was a crucial moment for him to enter the industrial world, the Earl of Monford transferred him to oversee the factory.

"It certainly has unlimited growth potential." Gordon carefully examined the product. "It's fine for making ordinary industrial consumables, but it's far from suitable for making profitable alchemical solutions."

Most potions require aqueous spiritual crystals for preparation, and there is a reliable demand gap for them. Gordon's own homemade crystals can sell for 50 copper coins per gram, while these inferior crystals are only worth 20 copper coins per gram—a complete waste of time.

Gordon carefully observed the industrial reactor.

The spiritually charged sludge swirls wildly inside, but in the end, it's just a superficial taste. The amount processed at once is too large, the stirring is uneven, and the processing method is too rough. The activation of the spirituality is very sensitive to temperature; even a difference of a few degrees can affect the quality of the product.

Many spirits initially shine brightly upon entering the vessel, begin to flicker when heated, dim after high-speed stirring, and eventually become only incompletely active, decaying in rudimentary processing techniques and turning into mediocre gray-green crystal sand.

Modern industrial reactors have only one large, high-speed rotating impeller, a single feed inlet, and extremely uneven internal temperatures.

"We've done our best," Pemberton reported.

"Single-point feeding leads to excessively high local concentrations. The large blades can only produce overall rotation, resulting in insufficient mixing—the raw material differences were not recorded, and there was no sampling in the intermediate steps. Give me this drawing; I'll need to work with others to figure out how to improve it."

"Yes." Pemberton ordered his men to prepare. He felt that Gordon had seen through the current problem in a few moments, and his attention span was astonishing.

"What is the current management style like?"

"I'm currently in charge of the factory, which is divided into four sections, each with a foreman. We take roll call before work each day and tally up losses and output after work."

"So all you know is how much was produced today, but nobody knows exactly what it was or why."

"Hmm—" Pemberton hesitated, "We've always done it this way."

"No, no, no, we need to be scientific." Gordon began to plan, "From today onwards, raw materials must be numbered, and the source and initial inspection results of the mud must be recorded. After entering the reactor, a designated person must record the temperature, pressure, rotation speed, and duration, as well as the start and end of each step—"

"We have people watching the temperature and time," Pemberton quickly said.

Gordon called out to a worker.

What is the current temperature of the reactor?

"It's almost hot," the worker said.

“Listen, I’d rather hear specific numbers,” Gordon said, turning to Pemberton.

"Then we'll need to hire more literate and numeracy-savvy people."

"Of course, we're doing spiritual industry, not some street-side workshop." Gordon picked up the grayish-green crystal sand. "I'm very dissatisfied with this stuff. We'll be recording the effective spiritual content and the proportion of impurities. I'll teach you the specific methods. Each batch of product will be sampled and sealed as evidence for future investigations."

Pemberton wrote them down one by one.

"More importantly," Gordon nodded, "rewards and punishments cannot be based solely on output. If you talk about output, everyone will exaggerate their output."

"yes--

"In the future, we will also assess the pass rate and stability to ensure that we produce high-quality goods. For each process, we will assign responsibility to specific individuals so that we can identify where the problem occurred when it arises. Ultimately, everything will be compiled into a production report. Only after the data has accumulated will we know what the normal operating state of this factory is like."

Pemberton nodded slowly.

He realized that this young technical consultant clearly planned to take this extensive factory management model to another level.

Apart from large conglomerates like Midas Industries, most so-called "factories" still operate in an unprofessional manner.

Gordon's insights were clearly not comprehensive, but they made them realize the possibility of refined management and also made them aware of...

Industrialization isn't something that can be achieved simply by finding a few machines and hiring a group of workers who would waste raw materials; it requires a whole set of ways of thinking. Pemberton hoped he could keep up with Gordon's line of thought.

"There's one more thing," Pemberton reported. "The low quality of the product is also related to our low efficiency in collecting silt. Even if we know where the silt is abundant and may contain spiritual energy, it is difficult to mine it on a large scale."

"Are they Tobias's men?"

"Yes." Pemberton's heart skipped a beat. "Yes, you know that name. They run rampant on the river. Whenever our men try to dredge the silt in large quantities, they are stopped and even injured. As a result, the dredgers dare not go into the river, and we dare not buy large steam excavators."

Gordon nodded.

He can improve industrial reactors and factory management models, but if raw materials cannot be obtained stably, production capacity will still be subject to others.

"I'll take care of them." Gordon turned around. "By the way, where's the byproduct pile? I need the crystalline salt with scales. I'll tell you what it looks like, and make sure no one touches it again."

Golden Lion Avenue, the study of the Montfort family.

Earl Guy Monford was so worried about his daughter's source material that he finally had some free time to go home. Sitting behind the long table, he bumped into Gordon again.

"I heard from Charlotte that you want me to turn down the professional alchemists of the Hermes School and have you refine the source material for her?" Earl Monford was quite skeptical.

“Of course I can,” Gordon said quickly, “but there’s something more important right now. Montfort Spiritual Industries.”

"If you don't break even in the first year, you'll lose your shares," the Earl said.

"That's exactly why I'm here." Gordon took out the reports provided by Plant Manager Pemberton. "The quality of the raw materials is not good enough, the refining process is not advanced enough, and the management methods are not scientific enough. These are all problems that need to be solved."

"And those who have seized control of the river, I've heard of them, the cultists who have intricate connections with the river workers." Earl Montfort snorted. "Now you're involved too, and everyone knows Gordon Vick is after the Blackwater Hermitage as soon as they hear the name."

"I have several ideas." Gordon stood up and began to outline his grand plans.

"The worst option is to fight violence with violence, mobilize hunters and patrolmen, blockade the Black Ferry Wharf, arrest and kill people, and destroy their warehouses. The advantage is that it is effective in the short term, but the disadvantage is that they will infiltrate deeper. That's their cunning. If they can't beat you, they'll swim."

"The middle strategy. To cure the disease and save lives. Blackwater syndrome is a disease caused by pollution and chronic poisoning, which causes people to grow gills and become mutated. But I am also developing a special medicine. Once there is a way to allow the disciples of the Hermitage to slowly return to human society, they will no longer have to serve the so-called Fishing King in despair."

"The best course of action—and that's still my idea—is to increase the employment rate."

After Gordon finished speaking, he looked at the Earl.

Earl Guy Monford rubbed his eyes.

"Employment?"

"Yes, a stable income and job can help you cope with cults that only offer hunger and fear."

"This doesn't sound like the kind of thinking a college student, hunter, or investigator should have."

"Of course, this is my idea, Gordon Vick. I've always been against people labeling me." Gordon nodded vigorously.

Which of the three strategies do you plan to use?

"I want it all." Gordon placed his hand on the table. "In the near term, we need to continue raiding the various strongholds of the Blackwater Order and cripple their manpower. In the medium term, we need to advance the research and development of a comprehensive antidote for the Blackwater Syndrome. Finally, we need to use the flood control project itself to employ ordinary people in the Order who just want to make a living."

"They are cultists, morally corrupt people."

"Not necessarily. We need to distinguish who our enemies are and who our friends are. We must resolutely crack down on those who are stubborn and incorrigible. We should give leniency to those who are moderate, wavering, or even those who were not so evil at the beginning."

Gordon paced back and forth in front of the Earl, his hands behind his back.

"Go on," the count said, listening intently.

“Work instead of relief,” Gordon explained. “If their only way to survive is to join the Blackwater Hermitage, then they’ll have to become cultists. But if the Empire gives them plenty of work—I’m referring to the flood control project itself, with wages and bread—they’ll behave. Those willing to undergo treatment and re-education can get stable jobs, and those willing to provide information about the Hermitage can be given housing.”

"So much gold was given to the poor."

"Not at all. They took the money and bought bread, clothes, and gas. Merchants took the money and continued to buy goods, hire people, and pay taxes. The million pounds spent on managing the Blackwater River circulated around the city a few times, and the economic benefits it brought far exceeded one million."

Earl Montfort pondered it carefully.

Gordon is indeed like a scalpel, sometimes not only cutting through the flesh and blood, but also cutting straight to the root of the problem.

Divide and conquer, create full employment, invest in public works, provide medical treatment, and physically eliminate—these methods are indeed far more promising than simply killing a group of cultists.

Could it be that—

Can the Blackwater River really be cleaned up if things continue like this?

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