Dragon Gate Swordsman

Compared to the study that had been messed up by Chongxiao and the Emperor, Wei Yanwu's office in the Governor's Mansion was much more spacious, with better lighting and greenery.

Especially when standing in front of the window and looking at the fountain rockery in the courtyard, one will involuntarily feel relaxed.

This is not some psychological suggestion… When the Governor's Mansion was being built, Wei Yanwu specially invited the Feng Shui master and the formation master from Dayan to design the small garden in the mansion into a formation with some kind of power, which can really have some effect of soothing the mind.

"If I remember correctly, you have only come to my place three times in the past two years, Xie Ming."

"Yes, my lord."

Xie Ming said respectfully: "I'm sorry to bother you, but I do have something important to report."

"Report to me? What's the matter?"

The first time he came to the Governor's Mansion was to handle the official procedures for taking over, and the second time was to discuss the security and legal publicity ceremony held by the Guard Bureau and several major groups. Neither of them was a bad thing.

Therefore, even if Chongxiao and Haoyun followed him, Wei Yanwu did not think that Xie Ming was going to report any bad news.

But unfortunately, Wei Yanwu, who was known for his shrewdness, miscalculated.

Xie Ming pondered for a moment and organized his words, then reported on some of the vicious cases he had handled in the past two years.

Terrorists are bound to appear in any mobile city on this land... Some of them are deserters from the battlefield, some are pure vicious criminals, some are just mercenaries who do things for money, and some are professional fighters sent by certain forces for certain purposes.

Longmen's geographical location is not very good. To the west, it is far away from the ancient ruins of Kazdel, which has been ravaged by wars for years. To the north, it is not far from the militarily fanatical Ursus Empire. Although to the south is the relatively closed Rembilto, Sarkaz mercenaries often plunder Sakota caravans between it and Lateran.

Therefore, among the four main types of terrorists, the first three are not uncommon.

In the past two years, with the rise of the Guard Bureau, deserters and mercenaries have begun to restrain their behavior, most of the desperate criminals have been dealt with by special inspection teams, and the number of serious cases has also decreased.

However, amid this downward trend, Xie Ming discovered something was wrong.

"You mean... more than half of the serious cases are related to the Ursus caravan?"

"Yes, Governor, the former Longmen..."

Xie Ming paused awkwardly, "Longmen's public security was not as good as it is now. Various cases were more common, so it was not obvious."

What this means is that as the crime rate has dropped significantly, cases related to the Ursus caravan have come to the fore.

And if it were just ordinary people carrying weapons for smuggling, it would be acceptable, but the appearance of high-level warlocks means that the nature of the situation has changed.

You know, a high-level warlock who specializes in combat is not an unknown person in any country, let alone someone like this who can carry out large-scale Originium bombing. Even if he doesn't have any special attribute tendencies, he is an extremely scarce talent.

"So what is your inference, Chief Xie?"

"...Most of the Ursus caravans that came to Longmen departed from Chernobog, and the high-level warlocks and armed personnel should be the same. Perhaps... there are organizations there that are hostile to our Longmen."

Xie Ming said this in a very tactful way.

As an old man who joined the Imperial Guard Bureau when it was founded, he had experienced the Longmen War back then, and he also vaguely knew that the enemy that Wei Yanwu, Lin Gerui and others were fighting against was from Ursus.

So to put it more clearly, "Ursus may have ideas about Longmen."

Wei Yanwu narrowed his eyes slightly, picked up the pipe and took a puff.

Xie Ming and others could not see any expression on his face, only Chongxiao could vaguely sense that Old Wei was in a heavy mood at this moment.

After a long silence, he asked, "Where is the high-level warlock?"

"He was severely injured by your niece, Governor Wei, and is still being treated for the disease."

Haoyun, who was in charge of the specific case, reported truthfully, only to find that Chongxiao was desperately winking at him.

And Wei Yanwu's subsequent reaction explained why he did this...

“…By whom!?”

The air suddenly became quiet, and after a brief moment of daze, Wei Yanwu instantly turned his head and looked at Chongxiao.

You know, when this guy reported that he sent Huijie to Chen's house, he didn't mention that she was involved in the investigation of the case...

"This...this...Old Wei, calm down first."

"Explain it clearly to me!"

Wei Yanwu frowned and glared at Chongxiao. The oppressive feeling emanating from him made Xie Ming and Haoyun feel a little overwhelmed.

Knowing that he had "made a mistake", Chongxiao quickly told Wei Yanwu the details of the battle... He didn't mean to conceal it deliberately, but seeing that Chen Huijie was safe and sound, he didn't take it to heart.

It was not until this moment that I realized that Lao Wei was Xiao Longnu’s uncle!

"You let Huijie deal with the high-level warlock!?"

"No, no, no... I'm just watching from the side!"

"Can you guarantee that everything will be safe?!"

Wei Yanwu first subconsciously shook the pipe in his hand, perhaps reluctant to use it to hit Chongxiao, and then looked at the inkstone on the side of the desk...

But to be honest, Chongxiao could feel that he was actually very calm and not anxious at all.

Either he was deliberately putting pressure on himself, or he was acting for himself... I guess it was the latter, because as long as he talked about what happened today with Xiaolongnu later, wouldn't their stiff relationship be eased a little?

Humph... old fox.

Sure enough, after Wei Yanwu pretended to fumble with the inkstone a few times, he seemed to have controlled his emotions and only warned Chongxiao not to let Chen Huijie fall into such danger again.

"Anyway, if we want to confirm it, we have to send someone to Chernobyl to investigate. If there is any situation, we can take precautions in advance."

"That makes sense... Thank you, Chief. You will make the final decision on this matter."

"Yes, Lord Governor."

After reporting the situation, Xie Ming and the other two were about to get up and leave, but Chong Xiao was stopped by Wei Yanwu in a very unfriendly tone.

"Chongxiao, please stay. I have something to ask you!"

Chief, brother, save me!

Chongxiao used his eyes to tell Xie Ming and Haoyun what he meant, but the two of them quickly left the room as if they didn't know him at all, much faster than when they came in.

What a rude guy!!!

Fortunately, what Wei Yanwu talked about next was not about Chen Huijie.

……

Compared with the rapid changes in Longmen’s core district, the changes in the infected settlements may not be so obvious.

However, if you look closely, you will find that these changes can truly be called "earth-shaking."

What Chongxiao proposed two years ago was just an idea, or a rough prototype. Not to mention reversing the situation of the infected, it was still a long way from actually getting it into operation. And all the aspects involved were obviously not something he could accomplish alone.

But he has a "partner" who has the highest execution ability in Longmen, that is Wei Yanwu.

The two explicit foundations of the jewelry industry are sufficient ore supply and processing technology, and one implicit foundation: the accuracy of ore identification.

The reason is that this land is covered with a special mineral called source stone. It has a certain "growth ability" and can be integrated into various stone materials. Therefore, mineral crystals that can be processed into luxury goods often do not appear alone. They must be identified by professionals or rely on luck to gamble on stones.

The sensitivity of those infected with oripathy to Originium allows them to have higher accuracy and lower technical threshold than ordinary people in gambling on stones, but it is not easy for them to pick out the required mineral crystals.

If Chongxiao wants to realize his idea, he needs to first invest in establishing the system foundation of the jewelry industry... To put it bluntly, it means spending money.

Except for companies engaged in large projects such as wilderness development and mobile city construction, the residents of Terra are not very fond of long-term investment. This is because natural disasters and wars occur frequently, and many people cannot guarantee that their property can be preserved smoothly. It is even a question whether they can live in peace and stability.

Therefore, under normal circumstances, no company would be interested in a project that first spends money like crazy and then relies on infected people to make profits.

Unless its leader's name is Adams Swire...an entrepreneur who was known for his foresight and adventurous spirit many years ago.

Even the wealthy Shihuaiya Group took fifteen months to build large-scale workshops, assembly lines and dormitories in the infected community and successfully recruit the first batch of infected people.

You know, this is not an easy thing.

The infected were very sensitive and resistant to minerals. Even though the HR of Adams Group repeated over and over again that the content of this job had little to do with physical labor, few people were willing to apply.

In the end, it was Chongxiao who secretly mobilized the relationship between Lady Audrey and Ilona, ​​and only then was he able to recruit the first batch of "mineral appraisers".

And today is the day when the first batch of ore they processed will undergo "verification".

"Awkward... If Lao Wei hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten it was today."

"Don't say that, Chongxiao. From what I heard from Governor Wei, he was willing to take the lead in developing this project because of your suggestion."

"A proposal is just a proposal. Whether it will work depends on the results of today's stone-cutting."

Compared to when she was forced to leave the Guard Bureau, Ilona Goss now looks pretty good. At least she has not become taciturn because of her identity as an infected person.

Her oripathy has been kept under control at an acceptable level, and her physical fitness has not been greatly affected.

Considering that many police officers were reluctant to enforce the law in the infected area, Ilona volunteered to form a security team composed of the infected people themselves, and managed the area with the secret support of Madam Wen Yue.

When the Shihuaiya Group was recruiting "mineral appraisers", it was she and Mrs. Audrey who helped with the publicity.

Chongxiao, who is not afraid of oripathy at all, has become well-known and respected by many infected people in the past two years... After all, there are very few famous people like him who don't care about the infected people.

Therefore, as the two men walked towards the assembly line workshop, many residents greeted them.

Although the assembly line workshop funded and built by Shi Huaiya Group is called this name, in terms of function, it should actually be called a "giant artificial diversion room". Its internal structure is also extremely simple. The main large equipment is the large conveyor belt system with diversion function.

The infected people all have their own workshops, which were built with special attention paid to sound insulation. They are equipped with some basic tools, such as hammers and chisels, but these are actually just decorations.

What we really need to rely on is the infected person himself.

When Chongxiao and Ilona arrived at the production gate of the assembly line, they just saw the crane transporting the last batch of ore selected by the infected workers to the storage area of ​​the processing equipment.

There were no infected people here, and Ilona stopped consciously and did not get closer.

The team responsible for mining the rocks were not infected, but a mineral processing team hired by the Shihuaiya Group at a high price. After all, safe mining requires a technical foundation, but not many normal people are willing to work in such a place...

It's not just the infected workers in the workshop. Just look at the large number of infected people watching outside the railings in the distance and you will understand why.

"Mr. Faber."

"Hmm? Hello, Officer Chongxiao."

The bearded jeweler strode over and shook hands with Chongxiao.

This is a sixty-year-old Caprini man who works in the jewelry industry in Letania. He is experienced and has a keen eye. He was specially invited by the Shihuaiya Group to help.

Given his status, he naturally would not stay to work, but he has agreed to help process the first few batches of minerals.

The old man had no problem with his attitude towards the infected, but he was not very optimistic about this project... He believed that being sensitive to Originium and identifying mineral crystals were two different things, and Terra had never conducted any related academic research before.

Moreover, in places where there is a huge demand for jewelry, there will be warlocks who are proficient in the corresponding Originium skills, such as Letania.

Therefore, this industry often relies on personal ability rather than industrialized standardized processes.

"Isn't it that we in Longmen don't have such conditions..."

"Indeed, but this investment is too huge and it is likely that the income will not cover the expenses."

“So I’m hoping for a good outcome.”

Chongxiao smiled and said nothing more.

Wei Yanwu was really nice to him. Although he was the one who went to find Adams, the shares he requested were all counted on Chongxiao's head, which was why he always had to ask him for help.

Soon, several tons of ores of various sizes were sorted and entered the vibration processing stage.

Terra has not yet developed large-scale frequency-modulated ultrasonic technology, but the Originium circuit itself has the ability to release basic types of Originium skills, just like battery memory. Therefore, it is possible to create equipment that emits fixed-frequency mechanical waves to peel off the outer layers of various stones.

This kind of equipment is very expensive and is considered the largest part of the investment of the Shihuaiya Group. It is basically impossible to use it for large-scale mineral processing, so Faber said that this project is not profitable.

Ten minutes later, when the first vibration treatment was completed and the surface of many ores were shattered and fell off, revealing the crystals contained inside, his expression showed a hint of surprise.

It is visible to the naked eye that crystals appear inside many ores... Regardless of whether they can be classified as processable luxury goods, this ratio has exceeded Faber's expectations.

When the technical team finished the preliminary statistics and handed the results to Faber...

"Officer Chongxiao, maybe you are right."

After carefully observing the statistical table, he looked up and said to Chongxiao: "The crystal reserve rate is eleven percentage points higher than the international observation standard."

But Chongxiao seemed a little disappointed, "...Only 11%?"

He had thought it would be at least close to 20%, because the test he had conducted with Mrs. Audrey previously showed a rate around that level.

"Oh my God, did you misunderstand something? This is the first batch of ore. If every batch in the future is the same..."

The jewelry industry and related material markets have always been characterized by high investment, high risk and high return, which means that for every few percentage points higher in crystal reserve rate, the expected profit can be greatly increased.

Of course, the premise is that every batch of selected ore can reach this level.

Leaving Faber there to further process the crystal-containing ore, Chongxiao turned to Ilona and told her the good news.

"I don't quite understand... But according to what the old gentleman said, not every batch of selected ore can reach this level, right?"

"Don't forget that these infected people are also doing this kind of work for the first time. Once they gain experience, their accuracy should be even higher."