Manager, give me a membership card too!

Suppressing his increasingly turbulent emotions, old Delapour put down his knife and fork, a kind smile typical of an elder appearing on his face. His right hand trembled slightly as he stroked the girl's smooth, golden hair.

"Okay, okay, good boy. You eat too, oh, you eat too..."

"Ok!"

In the midst of old Delapour's renewed high spirits, the dinner, though not particularly luxurious, was inexplicably delicious.

The servants at De La Pour Estate began cleaning up the mess, while the participants moved on to another battlefield.

Knowing that the men had serious business to discuss, Martha took the initiative to invite Nyarlathotep to tour the ancient De La Pue estate, while the underage children naturally followed the two female elders.

After the servants served refreshing tea and snacks and closed the door, Rorschach, old Delapour, and Thomas Wayne began their formal conversation for the evening.

Old Delapour, acting as both the middleman and the initiator, simply began by sipping a cup of slightly hot tea, giving the impression that he would listen without participating while the two of them discussed the matter.

Seeing his appearance, Luo Xia also picked up the slightly hot tea and took a sip, then looked up at the man on the opposite sofa who was doing the same thing as him.

"I wonder what brings Mr. Thomas here today? If it's something trivial, he shouldn't have gone through old Delapour; he should have contacted me directly as mayor."

Across from him, Thomas Wayne, seemingly unperturbed, calmly sipped his delicate tea. After a while, he spoke with a smile:

"In fact, I asked an old friend to help me make a connection because I needed to ask you, Mr. Rorschach."

"Oh? What could possibly warrant such a fuss from a mayor and a CEO of a major corporation? Tell us."

Thomas, sensing the interest in Rorschach's words, didn't keep him in suspense any longer. He gently put down his teacup, sat up straight on the sofa, and for the first time, a serious and earnest expression appeared on his face.

“I would like to work with you, Mr. Rorschach.”

As Luo Xia sipped his tea, a slight thought stirred within him, but he showed no outward reaction, and asked in a low voice:

In which aspect?

"all!"

"all?"

“Yes, all of them.” As if to prove the seriousness of his words, Thomas nodded slowly. But then he changed the subject and explained his specific plans.

"First of all, I hope to be able to participate in the 'cause' that you and Delapour are currently undertaking, Mr. Rorschach."

The store manager slightly raised his head and looked at the solemn-looking middle-aged man opposite him:

"You mean... Newhop Academy?"

Thomas nodded slightly at first, then suddenly shook his head and explained:

“Newhope College is also one of my goals, but what I most want to be involved in is the ‘points system’ that everyone in Arkham is talking about these days.”

Upon hearing this, the store manager showed interest for the first time. He straightened up and asked with a smile:

“Since Mr. Thomas is interested in my and Old Deraper’s ‘business,’ I will naturally not refuse. However, I have one more question: Thomas, are you saying this as the ‘Chairman of Wayne Corporation’ or as the ‘Mayor of Arkham City’?”

“I am speaking in my capacity as the mayor of Arkham City.”

Thomas first gave Rorschach an affirmative answer, and then slowly explained his reasons.

“When I was young, I left Arkham and went to Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After graduating, I worked hard in various major cities in the United States. With the foundation and connections of the Wayne family, I spent more than 20 years building the Wayne Group.”

"Just when I finally achieved success, I suddenly received news that my father was critically ill. When Martha and I rushed back to Arkham with Bruce, we only had time to see him one last time."

"I don't know if it was out of shame for not being able to take good care of my father or because I was tired of working in the business world, but I did not choose to return to New York or Washington, D.C., but instead stayed in the quiet little city of Arkham with my family."

"It was only at this moment, when I was looking at the city seriously for the first time, that I was surprised to find that my hometown was so barren and dilapidated."

Thomas's tone was full of emotion as he spoke, a sigh typical of a middle-aged man.

"Most ordinary people struggle to make ends meet, and many do not have stable jobs and can only rely on odd jobs to support their families, sometimes going hungry and sometimes full."

"The town's public facilities are old and dilapidated, and the houses are rotten. Apart from the area near the city center and Miskatonic University, the rest of the town seems to have remained unchanged for a hundred years."

"At that time, I was wandering the streets of Arkham with my wife and son. Looking at the poor people who were barely clothed and the emaciated children, I suddenly realized that I could do something else besides making money."

"Some more interesting and worthwhile things to do!"

Thomas's entire aura changed when he said the last sentence, radiating a unique brilliance of an idealist. Logically speaking, Thomas, who had built a large corporation like Wayne Enterprises, should have long been accustomed to the coldness and warmth of human relationships and shouldn't have shown such a 'naive' expression, but the brilliance shining in Thomas's eyes seemed genuine.

"And then? What did you do?"

“I ran for mayor of Arkham and won very easily.”

When Thomas mentioned becoming the mayor of Arkham, there was no joy or pride on his face; instead, he wore a rather strange expression.

"On the day I officially walked into the mayor's office, the previous mayor almost couldn't wait to leave that office and hand over the mayor's position to me. Originally, I was prepared to use the skills I had honed during my entrepreneurial days to 'spar' with him, but who knew that he would so easily hand over his position. It wasn't until I saw the reports on the Arkham municipal situation that I understood why he was in such a hurry."

Thomas gave a helpless, bitter smile, as if he were thinking of something unpleasant.

"There is a severe fiscal deficit, tax revenue is scarce, various urban facilities are poorly maintained, and public officials' salaries have been in arrears for several months. To put it simply, there is no money."

"I thought I would never have to worry about money again in my life, until I became the mayor of Arkham and realized that money is never enough."

"For a town with nearly 100,000 citizens, my seemingly enormous wealth is just a drop in the ocean. And after all, Wayne Group doesn't belong to me alone. The board of directors can't let me waste the company's money in this small town, even if I am the chairman of Wayne Group."

Hearing this, Luo Xia nodded. Many people thought that the president of a large corporation was richer than a country, but they didn't know that even the so-called richest person in the country might not have as much wealth as the official 'income' of a second-tier city. Correspondingly, the cost of 'supporting' the population of a city is extremely high, which is simply not something an individual can afford.

“Originally, I planned to build several factories around Arkham to revitalize the city’s economy, but many companies, including Wayne Group, were not interested in it.”

"Because the town is located in the mountains and has poor transportation, with only an old steam railway and a dilapidated narrow road, building a factory here would present a major problem in terms of logistics and transportation alone."

"The official funds are not even enough to pay civil servants' salaries, let alone repair roads."

“Without roads, factories cannot be built; without factories, there are no taxes; without taxes, towns have no money to build roads and houses. I am faced with a vicious cycle.”

“Most importantly, it’s not just the town of Arkham that’s poor; the dozens of towns surrounding Arkham are in even worse shape. I might be able to personally fund the repairs of the roads in Arkham, but I can’t afford to repair the roads in those dozens of surrounding towns. And the nearest port city, Newburyport, is hundreds of kilometers away!”

Chapter 426 Rat's Den

Chapter 426 Rat's Den

Listening to Thomas, who had previously been full of vigor and acted like a successful person, pouring out his grievances, Rorschach inexplicably thought of the impoverished county town in the northwest of his homeland in his previous life.

Impoverished mountains and bad waters with impassable roads, suffering people and limited access to information—even such a vast country still requires decades of administrative units to govern, all while being prepared to lose everything and not recoup costs for decades.

In a money-driven empire like the United States, where even the police force is deployed based on tax revenue, it's even more unrealistic to expect them to build a dilapidated and run-down town at a loss without any clear profit margin.

"After nearly three years of effort, I have only managed to barely balance Arkham's finances, pay civil servants their full salaries, and provide police with weapons to fight those strange creatures."

Seemingly a rare moment of venting to his friends without having to put on airs of a successful person, Thomas was unusually talkative today. Looking at his worried expression, who would guess he was the chairman of a famous company? He looked more like an ordinary middle-aged man.

Seemingly having finally released the pressure that had accumulated over the past few years, Thomas looked relaxed and his tone unconsciously became more cheerful.

"Just as I was considering whether to sell some of my shares to invest in Arkham, I received a call from Delapour. I was overjoyed to hear that he was planning to return to his homeland, because I knew that my most steadfast ally had returned. Only he would disregard his own interests and stand by my side all this time."

Thomas glanced gratefully at old Delapour beside him, and the old man raised his teacup in a gesture of gratitude, the unspoken understanding between the two evident.

"Indeed, it is just as I thought. The renovation, maintenance and transportation of the De La Pue Manor alone have provided hundreds of jobs, and the corresponding catering and raw materials have supported hundreds of families. Even after the manor is renovated, the long-term supply of food and maintenance of various facilities can support many people."

"Deciding to strike while the iron was hot, I took out a sum of my personal savings and together with Delapour, we established a machine shop. The construction of this one factory and the subsequent permanent positions injected new vitality into Arkham."

“And at this time, Mr. Rorschach appeared, bringing with him a grand plan that delighted me—'Newhop Academy'.”

Hearing this, Rorschach finally understood why Mayor Thomas had agreed without hesitation when he went to the Arkham city government to approve the plans for demolishing the slums and building the college.

Unlike the brief renovations of De La Puy Estate and the construction of the machine shop, Rorschach's New Hope College was built in the style of a modern university campus, covering a vast area and requiring at least several years to complete.

Aside from rushing to build a school building to promote education, Luo Xia plans to proceed with the subsequent construction slowly. This is a large-scale project that can at least feed thousands of families for several years and even allow them to save up a sum of money.

Creating thousands of jobs would be a significant achievement even in later generations of China.

"What surprised me the most was the 'work point system' that you brought, Mr. Rorschach. With the slogan of 'all workers own shares and all profits are distributed to all,' the work points you issued became the hard currency in Arkham, revitalizing the economy of Arkham."

"Everyone is trying to collect work points. As long as you are willing to work, even the dumbest person can help on the construction site. The work points earned can be exchanged for double or even more US dollars from other people as soon as you leave the site, or you can go to Umbrella's shop to buy some rare items in Arkham."

“If private assets don’t just sit at home and rot, but instead enter the market and become commodities that circulate, the economy can gradually recover.”

“If handled properly, Arkham can take the first step towards revival and become truly wealthy by taking advantage of this wave of benefits. Therefore, I hope to participate in it and accelerate this process.”

Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, whose face was full of enthusiasm, Luo Xia smiled slightly and pointed out the other party's true purpose:

"You're afraid I'll withdraw halfway through due to excessive losses, so you chose to get involved to cover your losses, right? Mr. Thomas, is Arkham really worth all that investment? You know, if I leave, the unpaid work points will amount to a considerable sum, plus the project costs for those unfinished projects, which could bankrupt you completely and even leave you with a huge debt."

“It’s worth it.” Even after the true purpose was revealed, the mayor still wore a confident smile.

“I, Thomas Wayne, have invested countless times in my life and have rarely failed. In my eyes, Arkham is a city with great potential, or more precisely, the Miskatonic River is a city with great potential.”

"As long as enough people are organized to hunt down those damned deep-sea divers at the estuary and prevent them from attacking ships traveling on the river, the Miskatonic River can immediately become an excellent waterway."

"In this way, Arkham, built on both banks of the Miskatonic River, can not only solve the problem of insufficient logistics capacity, but also become a port-type commercial city that radiates to the surrounding hundreds of miles. At that time, operating shipping or building factories around the town will no longer be a problem."

Hearing this, Rorschach nodded and exclaimed, "No wonder he's the founder of Wayne Enterprises; he's got some skills. But I'm curious, many people should know the value of the Miskatonic River, so why don't they take advantage of it?"

"Because the Deep Ones are a terrifying group with millions of tribes, who are not only difficult to find as they hide in the water year-round, but they are also extremely vengeful. It's not that no one has tried to blockade the Miskatonic River before, but all the troops and ships they sent were attacked and suffered heavy losses."

"Then how do you know that we can succeed by blocking the river?" Rorschach asked.

"Because Innsmouth is gone, the Deep Ones' 'recruitment base' in this area is gone, and with it, all traces of the Deep Ones in the nearby waters have also disappeared. They've all vanished, not a single one can be seen!"

Thomas's eyes seemed to be shining, and his tone was full of excitement.

“I’ve had my eye on the Miscatori River for a long time, and I’ve been keeping an eye on the situation in several Deep One settlements nearby. Since the mysterious disappearance of Innsmouth a while ago, several Deep One groups that used to roam the area have also vanished.”

“I don’t know where they went or when they will return. All I know is that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Arkham. As long as we successfully block the river and build a permanent fortification similar to a bridge over it, even if those Deep Ones return, we will no longer be afraid of them with machine guns, cannons, and concrete bunkers as protection.”

Thomas spoke at length about his arrangements and plans, including the later patrols and protection of the river, the local advantageous products and specialties, what kind of factories and workshops should be built in the future, and even the planning of roads and the construction of public facilities.

However, just as the mayor was getting more and more into his speech, and his emotions and charisma were about to reach their peak, an untimely knock on the door suddenly sounded behind the three of them.

The sudden knocking not only interrupted Thomas, who was getting into the swing of things, but also drew the attention of the other two people who were focused on him to the door of the room not far away.

The three men exchanged glances, and finally, old Delapour, with a slight frown, spoke up:

"what's up?"

"Lord Delapour, something has happened!"

Something happened?!

Rorschach and his two companions exchanged another glance, their faces filled with bewilderment. This was De Lapur Manor, everyone here was one of their own, what could possibly go wrong?

"what happened?"

"When Miss Nyaruko and the others went to explore the cellar, they discovered a mechanism. After moving it, a bottomless cave appeared in the middle of the cellar. Several servants took lanterns and wanted to go in to see what was inside the cave, but they were frightened back by a strange noise."

The expressions on Rorschach's and the other two's faces turned solemn, especially those of old Delapour, the owner of the manor. How could there be a cave in his own manor without his knowledge? Silently rising, the white-haired old man walked towards the door of the room, asking a question:

What kind of strange noise is that?

"The servants said it sounded like countless creatures running around in a dense swarm. It sounded like... there were a lot of rats inside?"

As soon as the servant outside the door finished speaking, old Deraper, who was about to open the door, froze on the spot, his eyes involuntarily widening slowly.

mouse?!

Chapter 427 The Darkest Dungeon, Part 1

Chapter 427 The Darkest Dungeon, Part 1

The cellar, filled with various oak barrels, was brightly lit, and the flickering firelight reflected on old Delapour's deeply lined face, just like his ever-changing mood.

The 'rat' has reappeared, the source of all evil that had kept him up at night and gradually drove him insane.

Old Delapour thought he would never encounter those repulsive rodents again. Since being treated by Rorschach using some unknown method, he hadn't had a single nightmare and slept soundly until he naturally woke up every night.

But to his surprise, shortly after he recovered, the terrible nightmare caught up with him again and even appeared in front of him on its own initiative.

Looking at the large crater, about two meters wide, in the ground not far away, old Delapour slowly clenched his fist.

Rorschach, standing beside old Delapour, was equally puzzled. The shopkeeper glanced at the bottomless cave, then at Nyarlathotep beside him with her carefree smile, and whispered in her ear:

"Are you causing trouble again?"

Upon hearing this, the silver-haired girl's smile instantly turned into a pitiful expression as she looked at the man beside her.

"Honey, you've wronged me. I really wasn't stirring up trouble this time."

"This time?" Luo Xia keenly caught the key point.

"Haha, they weren't causing any trouble before, they were just standing by and observing."

Shaking his head at the seemingly foolish evil goddess girl, Luo Xia gestured with his chin towards the large pit in the cellar and asked:

"Tell me, what exactly happened?"

Realizing that Rorschach wasn't going to pursue the previous incident, Nyaruko immediately straightened her attitude and began to explain the background of the discovery of the cave.