For the next few days, the three partners of the Detective Agency could be said to be

nightly revelers,

with an endless stream of ball invitations.

However, this was clearly not the limit of Richmond's high society for hosting balls; at least Olivia had also been busy with various social engagements these past few days, yet Wayne and his colleagues had not encountered her once at any of the balls.

Of course, it was also possible that they

had the opportunity to meet,

but Wayne and his colleagues

chose incorrectly

when selecting which balls to attend.

For Wayne, the biggest gain these past few days was attending a ball hosted by members of the

Industrial Alliance.

At this ball, he did meet a familiar old acquaintance: Miss Mary's brother, Alex Brook—the same young man who had been tinkering with

machine guns

before.

When Wayne encountered him at the ball, he remembered that this fellow had invited him a few days ago to

guide

his newly developed model, yet despite having been in Richmond all this time, he still hadn't gone.

So Wayne chose to

preempt

him, proactively setting up a time with the fellow, planning to drop by during the day sometime in the next few days.

Unexpectedly, the young man became

hesitant

:

Hmm... Although we are still solving the problems of barrel explosions and overheating, that thing probably cannot accept your 'technical guidance' anymore, Mr. Wayne. However, our cooperation on the invention of silencers and other items is still valid.

Wayne pondered for a moment and quickly understood,

Your new version of the machine gun, has the patent already been sold?

Alex glanced around, perhaps avoiding someone's gaze, and quietly nodded:

And we signed a non-disclosure agreement. If the research and development progresses smoothly, our factory might receive a large number of orders, and at the very least, we won't lose money. Moreover, we'll have the opportunity to become official members of certain industries.

Objectively speaking, Wayne only provided the

idea

for the

machine gun

invention; the actual research and development was entirely handled by this fellow. According to the current laws in America,

whoever applies for the patent first and produces the physical object first is considered the owner.

However, many inventions and creations throughout history sometimes lack that

flash of inspiration,

and in this regard, it's not easy to precisely measure

contribution value.

As a frontline R&D personnel, Alex had a deeper understanding of the

value of ideas.

Therefore, regardless of how their factory ultimately signed the contract, he felt somewhat in the wrong in this area.

So when Wayne proposed wanting

large-scale meat grinders, mixers, and canning machines that could be powered by windmills or water,

this fellow not only proactively offered to arrange people for research, development, and modification, but also, if it was for Wayne's side, he could even provide corresponding adaptation and installation services for free—provided the quantity wasn't too large, a few sets would be fine.

The technical content of these items was actually average, after all, windmill mills and water-powered mills were not new inventions, and converting them into equipment like meat grinders and mixers was not too difficult.

However, in this era where industrialization was not yet developed, these things were indeed unavailable on the market. Rather than relying on luck to find a craftsman to customize them, it might not necessarily be more reliable than Alex.

—At least this guy was of

military-grade quality.

Since many factory owners also attended this ball, under Alex's introduction, Wayne also managed to procure

large-sized steam ovens

and some molds that might be needed for Packages use, effectively solving the production problem of luncheon meat in one go.

Considering the fast-food restaurant, Wayne also took the opportunity to meet factory owners who sold cups, tableware, kitchenware, and even large iron griddles. If he didn't pursue maximum profit, it would now be easy to set up a restaurant that makes

teppanyaki

in front of customers.

And it's direct from the manufacturer, no middleman earns the price difference.

There was one thing that Wayne found rather difficult to accept: while both were industrial products, some goods from Windsor had to travel across the ocean and were subject to tariffs.

Yet, under the premise of

direct supply from the manufacturer,

local products in America weren't much cheaper...

No wonder even Tax Officer Quinn from the City Hall complained that

your industry is immature.

Then, at the ball held at Mr. Russell's manor, Wayne resolved the steam train freight issue from Blackstone Town to Richmond.

In this era, livestock transported from the West to the East Coast were all

live

—in a narrow sense,

cowboys

actually performed the work of driving cattle to trade markets and transportation hubs—the difficulty of transportation was not too great; the challenge lay in the specific

digestion.

After all, it's easy to imagine that in an era when even ice was not cheap, urban slaughterhouses also had

small, frequent

and stable demands. Live cattle and pigs might only lose a little weight after a few days, but fresh meat might spoil after a few days.

Additional supply, if it wanted to come in, would require new

buyers.

What Wayne could think of at the moment was probably making them into luncheon meat, hamburger patties, and hot dog sausages.

Other guests, hearing that Wayne wanted to transport large quantities of meat from the West, all assumed Wayne wanted to go into the canning business.

Wayne himself felt it was similar; broadly speaking, canned goods, ham, sausages, cheese, bacon, and similar items could all be considered

pre-made dishes.

With the transportation and production issues initially resolved, the next step was supply. Wayne wrote to the mayor that day, booking times in batches, and asked him to arrange for some live cattle, pigs, and wheat to be transported over.

The quantity for the trial phase was not much, just to see if the fast-food restaurant and the planned processing workshop could handle it, and if the cooperation with the local church's monastery for cheese production could be negotiated. If it couldn't be consumed, giving a small amount away for free wouldn't be too much of a loss.

This time, the letter wasn't

mailed out.

Wayne saw Connal wanting to pick fights all day, full of energy like a husky ready to tear down the house at any moment, so he arranged for him to go in person.

On one hand, it was because this guy knew how to travel, ensuring both safety and efficiency.

On the other hand, he also wanted him to take the opportunity to return to Kankakee and personally

recruit people.

Having someone familiar speak from experience would always be more effective than writing letters—and Connal could directly bring back anyone who agreed, and the Detective Agency still had a new office to open; passively waiting forever was not an option.

After sorting these matters out, as Wayne was preparing to attend the Beaton Family ball that day, he remembered to inquire about Willie's investigation progress.

Although the matter was mostly clear, it was Willie's first time in charge of an investigation, and completely

free-ranging

him wasn't ideal.

As Wayne walked downstairs, he saw that a monk from the Cathedral had actually come to the door and was currently conversing with Doug, who was in charge of reception.

So he curiously walked over,

Is there something wrong?

The Cathedral wouldn't be holding a ball, would it?

Logically speaking, it certainly wouldn't come to that... Not to mention that the church would at most hold some relatively simple

dinners

or

banquets,

and the Bishop's funeral was just two days away. No matter what, the local church wouldn't be holding social events at this time.

Notifying people to attend the funeral was possible, though.

The reason Wayne could recognize at a glance that this monk must be from the

Cathedral

was because his uniform was not the

standard issue

for ordinary monks. The last time Wayne saw such a uniform was among the

Bishop-level

security detail that Father Tyrrell had enjoyed in advance.

The other party seemed to recognize Wayne as well. Seeing the main person arrive, he turned and began to speak directly with Wayne:

Mr. Wayne, although your Detective Agency is allowed to have Extraordinary Persons and can investigate some cases within the state, we must still remind you—using Extraordinary abilities to threaten and intimidate ordinary people is strictly prohibited in Virginia.

Hmm?

Wayne was a little confused. Did the Detective Agency need to use Extraordinary abilities to threaten and intimidate ordinary people?

Wouldn't simply pulling out a gun and pointing it at their head be more effective?

The other party looked at Wayne's reaction and simply clarified the topic:

According to what we've learned, members of several gangs in the Dock Area have been affected by what is highly suspected to be Extraordinary abilities these past few days. And currently, the only ones investigating these gangs who also have the conditions to use Extraordinary abilities are your Detective Agency.

Tiriel... Father Tyrrell indicated that we don't need to follow up in detail, but he also asked us to come and inform you. We hope your Detective Agency will exercise restraint in this regard, so as not to attract extra attention, which would make things difficult to resolve.

Hmm?!